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wri0thesley · 3 years

Note

Nat, what are your headcanons for what kinks the JJK boys might be into? You choose which ones!!! (but it would be nice if you included sukuna ok bye👉👈)

anon you do not know what you are unleashing

warnings: mentions of dom/sub relationships, sensory deprivation, gags, blindfolds, pet play, spanking, jealousy, marking, pegging, breeding, bondage, humiliation, toys, dacryphilia, dumbification, corruption kink, predator/prey, unhealthy dynamics, somnophilia, guns, knives, needleplay, medical play. there’s a lot here.

♡ —-> below the cut: gojo, nanami, geto, toji, sukuna, mahito <—- ♡

♡ Gojo is one of those men who will try anything once, just to both say he has tried it and to see if he likes it. He hasn’t found something he hasn’t good at yet, and he sure as hell isn’t about to start with sex. He’s mostly a top; one of his absolute favourite things to do with you is to remind you of his strength. How powerful he is - he likes taking you against walls, holding you up with nothing but his own arms. He likes reminding you of what power he has over you. Big fan of you on your knees, looking up at him, pawing at him for attention. He likes overstimulating his partner until they don’t think they can come any more, and then they do. He also loves getting you to come without touching you; just seeing how utterly whipped you are for him. He also really likes sensory deprivation; gagging you, blindfolding you, tying your wrists together so you can’t touch him and all you can do is feel his hands sliding all over you. Has a bit of a kink for you dressing up cute; put on some cat ears, some frilly lingerie or a maid costume and he’ll be ripping it off of you in moments. If you’re smaller than him, he’s got a size kink - interlacing your hands with yours and smirking about how small they are, how small they’d look wrapped around his cock. He’s also a big fan of marking; he has a jealous, possessive streak. He hates thinking of other people touching you - hates it when you come home and other people’s cursed energy clings to you, and wants to ensure that it’s covered only with his. You can get him to sub for you, but he’ll be topping from the bottom, a bratty, cocky little monster as you peg him and he taunts you with ‘come on, you can go harder!’.

- ♡ -

♡ Nanami’s kink is making you feel good.

Oh, he’s a top alright - he’s one of those stern, caring dominants who loves heaping praise on you when you’re good, and punishes you as if it’s your own fault, acting as though he’s sorry to have to do it as he spanks you even though his cock is hard and straining by your cheek. He mostly likes your obedience; likes you to cockwarm him if he asks, with any of your holes - likes it if you run to do whatever he says. He loves tieing you up with his tie - he also loves shibari, though he clicks his tongue and admonishes you when you squirm. He’ll take you out with a rope harness under your clothes to a fancy restaurant and his eyes will darken as you squirm and the ropes press against your most sensitive areas. If you want him to be a mean dom, though, he’ll gladly provide - just expect to be absolutely smothered with gentle aftercare afterwards.

He’s got a bit of a hard-on for the idea of you being cute and domestic at home, waiting for him - wearing a frilly apron and nothing else, asking him how his day was, wearing a pretty night set and letting him slip inside of you while you’re half-asleep. He has a big breeding kink; he just wants you to know that you’re his, and he wants to spend the rest of his life with you. Perhaps has a little bit of a thing for public sex, though he’d deny it if asked - still, on a train, he always presses himself very close to you so you feel the hardness in his crotch and one of his arms wraps around you, big hands dangerously close to your more intimate areas.

Also, call him ‘Sir’. Secretly very into the power dynamic of you being helpless for him; try a sexy secretary roleplay with him and he may or may not absolutely lose it.

- ♡ -

♡ Geto can be nice, or can be mean - it depends entirely on what he thinks you deserve. If the two of you are on even footing, he’s a fairly traditional man. He likes you in fancy, elegant lingerie - he likes you with his cock in your mouth, deep-throating as far as it can go. He likes you in short skirts and no underwear, likes to watch his come trickle out of you when he’s fucked it as deep in you as he can go, likes to make you scream and moan out his name.

If he thinks you’re lower than him, or less than him, though--

That’s when he starts being mean. Orgasm control, a collar around your neck, a leash that digs into your soft skin when he makes you walk behind him like a dog. Degradation (and he’s very good at that); name-calling, leaving toys buzzing inside you and telling you you’re not allowed to come, gagging you - coming inside you and plugging you up so you don’t waste a drop, because you should feel lucky to get to have any of him inside of you. Very much likes using toys on you.

Spanking, pulling your hair, choking you. Fucking you silly. Dumbification, so all you can think about is him (it’s not like you had much in your pretty little brain to begin with, is it?). If Geto is going to be mean to you, Geto is going to be mean, and you are going to love every second of it.

- ♡ -

♡ Toji has a huge corruption kink. Taking someone innocent and wide-eyed and cute and just absolutely ruining them? Nothing gets him harder faster. He’s another with a size and a strength kink, too - no matter what size you are or how tall you are, he will push you around easily and you will have the breath knocked out of you because of how he hasn’t even broken a sweat.

Predator/Prey kink. Let him take you on a picnic and tell you to run; he loves the thrill of chasing you, of hunting you down - and probably, let’s be honest, eventually rutting into you like an animal with a hand pressed down over your mouth so you don’t alert any passers-by to the fact you are currently being fucked between the trees.

Likes ruining you. Pulling your hair, making your makeup run, making you drool and slur your words because of how fucked out you are. Ripping your clothes. His favourite place to come is always inside you, but he also likes seeing his come spread all over your chest, your face, your thighs. Likes petplay, too - only instead of being in it for the cute ears and tail, he’s in it to have you on all fours whimpering like a bitch in heat. Will spank you, and you will say ‘thank you’.

- ♡ -

♡ What isn’t Sukuna into, is more of the question here. Don’t even think for a second he’ll do anything like ‘sub’ for you - what he requests from his ‘partner’ (though it’s not really an equal partnership) is nothing less than total control. Everything you do will now be managed by him; he’ll decide what you wear (nothing), when you’re allowed out (never, you’re his now), and everything - down to how many breaths you should be taking in a minute. Will occasionally trip you up on his rules because he absolutely loves punishing you - spankings just seem to hit different when he has four arms to do them with.

Sukuna will accept nothing less than total power exchange. You belong to him now; and that means he can do anything he wants to you. Definitely into you being fucked silly, over-stimulated - size kink, belly bulges, the whole nine yards. He does have two dicks, and you can and will take them both at the same time. If he says ‘jump’, you don’t ask ‘how high?’ - you just do it.

On your knees before him at all times. Always ready to serve him, whenever he wants, never mind if people are looking at you - he gets a thrill out of people eyeing you up because he knows only he gets to touch you. Yes to cockwarming. Yes to degradation. Yes to being his human pet. Yes to fearplay - seeing the worry in your eyes is enough to have him wanting to fuck you right there and then. Yes to somnophilia, being touched whenever he wants to touch you, calling him ‘Master’. Yes to a chastity belt. Yes to you being humiliated, degraded, spanked, bitten, branded, spat on, choked, fucked until you can’t remember what it’s like not having one of Sukuna’s cocks inside of you--

Another one with a corruption kink, though his is a little more . . . sacrilegious than most. He is your God, now, and you’ll treat him as such - and that means serving him without hesitation. Knowing that you’re lucky to get a whit of his attention.

- ♡ -

♡ Mahito will sub and dom you with equal pleasure; he’s bouncing with curiousity to try absolutely everything that human sexual intercourse has to offer, and you’re his helpful little guide to that. He’s going to explore some of the weirder kinks with you, but his favourites always seem to come back to those uniquely human ones - there’s something, for instance, about medical play that gets him excited. All of those interesting new clinical words, getting a chance to study your body up close and personal, watching how you move and squirm and twitch with equal precision!

He’s a curse, and a curse born specifically of human hatred - he’ll let himself be degraded, and absolutely love it, but he’ll give back to you twice as hard and he’ll think it’s cute if it makes you cry.

You’re his favourite toy, so he’s not going to fuck with your soul - but that doesn’t mean he won’t fuck with you in other, permanent ways. Mahito’s very interesting in exploring scarring and branding with you; very interested in kinks that other people might worry are dangerous. Wax play? Yes, he’ll try it, but don’t be surprised if you get hurt! Needleplay? Ooh, he’s itching to see how you’ll respond to it - and don’t worry, he’ll let you do it to him too!

Big exhibitionism kink - for you, that is. He’s had to accept not many people can see him, but the idea of someone stumbling across you in public half-naked and watching your hole be pumped by an invisible cock? Very fun! Very good! Mahito’ll try knife play, gunplay, fearplay - with him, you never know if you’re about to meet your expiry date, because he’s always smiling and laughing even when he’s deadly serious--

Oh, and being able to change his body at will? He definitely wants to explore that. Being able to make his own limbs into knives and guns and tentacles, give himself a dick that gets bigger and stretches you out more as he fucks you - there’s no way he’s not going to use that. He gets very interested in all of that human pornography (there’s so much of it) - and Mahito wants to watch it with you, and explore the things they do in those films with you - for your own good, I suggest keeping him away from hentai.

- ♡ -

#jjk x reader #jjk smut #jujutsu kaisen smut #gojo x reader #nanami x reader #geto x reader #sukuna x reader #toji x reader #mahito x reader #not sfw #gojo smut #nanami smut #mahito smut #sukuna smut #toji smut #geto smut #Anonymous

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slasherbaby · 3 years

Text

Danny Johnson Kinky Alphabet

warnings: nsft, choking, knifeplay, stalking, consensual-nonconsent

𝓐 is for After-Care

‣ He is very big on aftercare. If there was any impact play involved (or anything rough enough to leave marks) he’ll insist on it. He’ll kiss every bruise, massage all over your body, and (if he spanked you) rub lotion on the more sensitive areas he hit. If you let him take some photos of you during it, it’s even better. Running you a warm bubble bath, massaging your shoulders, bringing you water and some snacks. Just let him snap a few pictures of your relaxed face as you enjoy the hot water. If you forgo the typical aftercare he likes to give and just want to be held, he’ll also be down. As long as it’s okay that he gets a few pictures of you in his arms, looking completely blissed out and comfortable. Seeing how trusting and reliant you look, especially when you’re in a vulnerable, post-sex space... it would be criminal for him not to capture the moment.

𝓑 is for Bruises

‣ Danny loves to mark you up. How else will people know that you’re spoken for? He doesn’t just want people to know that you’re dating, he wants people to know that he owns you. And it’s not like he can put a collar around your neck with ‘property of Danny Johnson’ engraved on it (though he’d love to), so he’ll bite and suck hickies all over your neck instead. He loves to see the physical marks of your time together, and he especially loves to photograph them.

𝓒 is for Choking

‣ He’s obsessed with choking. After all, what’s more intimate than holding someone’s life in your hands? Even if he’s not trying to asphyxiate you (in a kinky way, of course) he loves to hold your neck while you fuck, especially in the missionary position. It’s definitely a bit of a power/control thing for him, but also he loves how you react to it. Whether it’s the little look of fear you flash when he tightens his grip, or the way your pupils dilate in anticipation- he laps it all up.

𝓓 is for Dirty Talk

‣ This man will talk your damn ear off- it’s one of his specialties. More than anything, he loves to humiliate you verbally. Mocking you when you beg, calling you names. In general just being a degrading bastard. But with the mocking comes sweetness too, mostly sugary sweet words that make you feel like you're gonna melt right through the mattress. In one breath he’ll woo you with the most naughty (but sweet) compliments, but in the next he’ll be calling you a dirty whore, demanding that you beg for his cock.

𝓔 is for Electro-Stimulation

‣ He isn’t into electro stuff. It’s for the same reason that he prefers knives over guns, Danny needs his ‘instruments’ to be personal and intimate.

𝓕 is for Flogging

‣ It’s not his favorite thing in the world (he’d much rather spank you with his hand) but if you’re into it, he won’t deny you. Danny likes to start out with soft strokes, either on your ass or thighs. Just enough to give you a taste of pain, but not enough to really make it hurt. He’ll run his hands up and down the arch of your back between swats, acting like he’s worried about you not being able to handle ‘so much pain.’ Only once you’re good and frustrated (or begging for more, which he eats up) will he start to go harder. He’ll never draw blood (he’d much rather use his knife for that) and he’ll never actually push you to your breaking point via flogging.

𝓖 is for Gagging

‣ Yes. He’ll ball up your underwear and shove it into your mouth, or maybe even strip off one of his gloves and push it in to shut you up instead. He isn’t a big fan of ball gags, but he’ll gladly gag you with his cock if you need something in your mouth that desperately.

𝓗 is for Hair-Pulling

‣ Danny loves taking you from behind, but he also loves to watch your face as he fucks you. He gets off on your reactions, but also loves the way you arch your back and the moans you let out when he hits it from the back. A great solution to this is to grab your hair and pull until you’re forced to arch unnaturally, your neck straining against the position. He might even pull so hard that it lifts your hands up off the bed, all so that he can tower above you and watch your face as you struggle under his grip.

𝓘 is for Impact Play

‣ He loves to give it, especially with his bare (or gloved) hand on your ass. If you ask for it, he’ll even give you a few slaps to your face. Danny wouldn’t ask you first, however. No, he’d make you beg for it. Especially if you got flustered/embarrassed when asking. He’d definitely make fun of you for it as well, mocking you for asking to get hit (as if he doesn’t get off on it just as much as you do). He won’t slap you very hard on the face unless you’re really really begging him for it, and even then he won’t do it a lot.

𝓚 is for Knife Play

‣ Danny likes to hold his favorite hunting knife up to your throat while he fucks you, usually in the missionary position. He loves the way your pupils dilate now whenever you see him holding a knife, whether its the knife you know to associate with sex, or even if it’s just a simple kitchen knife during dinner prep. Either way, you’re like Pavlov’s dog when you see him holding his weapon of choice, automatically acting more bratty, flaunting around, practically begging him to use the knife on you and put you in your place.

𝓛 is for Lingerie

‣ Danny loves seeing you in lingerie. No matter your gender, seeing you get all dolled up for him is enough to drive him close to crazy. He doesn’t know which one he loves more, though. Watching you wear lingerie or ripping it off of you. To be honest, it’s probably a mix of both. It drives Danny crazy when he comes home from a long day at work to see you wearing nothing but the lingerie he picked out and bought for you. You both act like everything is normal while you finish cooking dinner. Eating will probably go just as smoothly, but there’s no denying what's going to happen when you go to take the dishes to the sink. He’ll bend you over the counter, rip the pretty lace to shreds, and fuck you until you can’t walk straight.

𝓜 is for Masks

‣ Ohhh boy, does he love masks. Wearing them of course. Well, one specific mask. The only type of mask he’d let you wear is a blindfold- he loves your reactions, after all. What good would it be if that handsome face was all covered up? If you don’t know about him being Ghostface, he’d love to tie you up, blindfold you, and then come out wearing his Ghostface mask and outfit. Run a knife up and down your skin, just how he knows you like, maybe even cut off your clothes as well. Before cutting off the blindfold. He wouldn’t ever actually hurt you, he just loves to see you scared.

𝓝 is for Neko

‣ You wearing cat ears and a cute, frilly outfit? As long as you let him rip the frilly little outfit off of you, he’s down. He’s totally gonna make fun of you for it, though.

𝓞 is for Outdoors

‣ BIG YES. If you bring it up first, Danny will 100% tease you. Making fun of you for being such an exhibitionist. What, you wanna get fucked where anyone can see you? He’ll call you a slut and mock you for being so dirty. It embarrasses the hell out of you, even though him mocking you always leads to great sex, so you don’t ask again. But that’s just part of Danny’s game, to watch you get all flustered and demure before springing what you crave on you without warning. So that’s exactly what he does. A little while after you first asked, you two will be going on a hike, maybe with the promise of a picnic at the top. He’s taller and faster (also he’s possessive and protective) so he always walks in front of you. At one point, there’s a sharp turn. When you catch up, he’s disappeared. You’re terrified for a moment, looking around like a lost fawn, but right as you're about to call out for him, he grabs you from behind and shoves you up against a tree. He’ll put an index finger up to your lips, flash you a grin, and shove his hand into your pants. He won’t just finger you, though. No, this man will give you a proper fucking, loud enough to scare away any other hikers that are nearby.

𝓟 is for Phone-Sex

‣ Ohhh yes. If you aren’t in a relationship with Danny yet, and he calls you up as Ghost Face, you might just get him in the mood for it. Depending on how you steer the conversation, of course. This works especially well if you have a fear kink, though it might just end with him busting in through your window and putting his money where his mouth is. If you are in a relationship, and you know about him being the Ghost Face, he’ll still call you up. But when you hear the voice modulator through the phone, you automatically know what you’re in store for ;)

𝓠 is for Quickie

‣ While he usually likes to take his time with you, quickies are great too. Especially if you have somewhere to be. If you guys are going to a party together, he’ll pull over a few minutes away from wherever the party is and toss you into the backseat before fucking the daylights out of you. He loves making you walk into public places looking freshly fucked, with your hair askew and your clothes wrinkled. He loves how everyone knows not just how well you were fucked, but that he was the one who did it. Which is obvious from the way he keeps his hand on your lower back for almost the whole night.

𝓡 is for Restraints

‣ Yes with a capital Y! Tying you up is one of his favorite things to do, especially when you're not expecting it. Sometimes he’ll tie you up and tease you for a bit before going and sitting down at his desk to do some writing. It drives you absolutely crazy with want, and sometimes he’ll leave you there for close to an hour while he works. If you’re lucky, sometimes he’ll use rope and tie you up, but then tie a vibrator right against your sex. It’s fun until the orgasms get to be too much, but he ignores you until you become a sobbing, sniveling mess on his bed. He’ll take some pictures before taking away the vibe and replacing it with his cock.

𝓢 is for Squirting

‣ If you can, this man will try his hardest to get you to squirt. He loves it if you get embarrassed or beg him to stop, saying that you don’t want to get the sheets wet. It won’t deter him at all, honestly it will only spur him on even more.

𝓣 is for Takedown

‣ He’s veryyyy into this. Though it’s something that he would make sure he knew you were into/interested in before proposing it as a possible kinky scenario. The scene would probably involve something Ghostface-related, knowing Danny. Like him calling you on the phone, threatening and scaring you, before jumping out from somewhere in your house and typing you up. Of course then he ‘has his way’ with you ;)

𝓤 is for Underwear

‣ Danny’s a stalker- of course he’s into underwear. He’s not the type to sniff your panties, but he definitely will steal your underwear and keep it with the photos he has of you. He also loves to use your underwear to gag you during sex or make you walk around in only your underwear when you spend time together. He loves seeing you in lace, so he’ll buy you loads of it specifically to watch your ass as you walk around the house. He’s super into being fully clothed while you only get something skimpy to cover up with.

𝓥 is for Voyeur

‣ While Danny has quite a few voyeuristic habits, he isn’t the type to get off alone while watching/stalking you. If you aren’t in a relationship with him, he’ll definitely get off to you masturbating when you think that no one is around to watch. He’ll try to time when he comes so that you both climax together, all while stifling his groans behind his leather glove.

𝓦 is for Wax Play

‣ He doesn’t really care for wax play unless you let him turn your kinky session into a photoshoot. Then he’d really get into it. Candles for ambient lighting, tying you up with fancy ropework, and then slowly dripping the hox wax over your body. The wax would definitely be colored red, and after he gets his fill (and filled his camera with pretty photos) he’d scrape the wax off with his favorite knife.

𝓧 is for X-Frame

‣ Eh… He’ll tie you up like that anytime you want (or anytime he wants), but Danny isn’t the type to have a kinky dungeon space or bondage furniture. So he’ll just use some rope or cuffs and tie you against the doorframe.

𝓨 is for Yes Sir

‣ Calling Danny Sir in bed? It usually isn’t his thing, but it would definitely give him an excuse to make fun of you if you called him that unprompted/by accident. As for names in bed, he loves hearing you say his name. Danny, of course, not Jed. As for titles, he'd mockingly demand that you ‘tell daddy what you need’ or ‘beg for daddy’s cock.’ He doesn’t have a daddy kink, but he definitely is a sadist. Whenever he makes you call him that it’s just to degrade you and make you squirm.

𝓩 is for Zelophilia

‣ Danny is more possessive than anything, so if someone else comes up and flirts with you, it’s more likely to send him into cold, calculating anger than it is to make him horny. Unless you go out flirting with other guys on purpose, in front of him. Just a little tease or a little smile at someone is enough to make him slam you up against a wall and leave his teeth marks all over your neck, maybe even rip your clothes up a bit and make you keep wearing them for the rest of the night.

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badassbuchanan · 3 years

Text

No Goodbye

Part 2 Part 3

Plot: Bucky’s left to pick up the pieces of a broken heart

Warnings: you will cry, angst, this is very very sad, sweet Bucky

Word Count: 4295

A/N: decided to branch out and do a non-smut angsty fic - it’s my first one please be nice 💕

“Bucky?” Y/N’s voice whispered worriedly as she watched the small team walk back through the compound with their heads hung low. The long haired super soldier looked over at her with saddened eyes, his heart sinking when he saw the hopefully look on her face.

Y/N’s hearted thudded against her chest, her bottom lip quivering as she watched the team look at her sympathetically. “Bucky, where’s Steve?” Worst case scenarios fled through her mind as she noticed the heartbreak in Bucky’s eyes, she’d never seen her boyfriend’s best friend look so sad.

Bucky’s eyes closed for a moment too long, the raw emotion in her voice breaking his heart. He felt tears begin welling up in his eyes, knowing he had to be the one to break the news. He let out a deep sigh, trying to steady his breathing and keep his sadness at bay as he braved a glance over at Y/N.

“Steve’s gone, Y/N.” Bucky mumbled, hearing a whimper of pain leave the girl’s lips as she broke down in front of him. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, loud sobs filling the room as Bucky flinched in weakness, he couldn’t stand to see her like this. “He’s not coming back, Doll.” He was still trying to process the fact himself, saying it out loud only made it that much more real.

“No,” She shook her head in denial, tears streaming down her face as Bucky let his head fall back to conceal his tears. He started walking towards her, only knowing too well how hard it was to lose Steve. “No, Bucky, he promised.”

“I know,” Bucky blew out shakily as he tugged her almost lifeless body towards him, wrapping his arms around her tightly as she sobbed against his chest. He sighed solemnly when he felt her hands clinging to the material of his t-shirt, her tears soaking through the thin material and onto his chest. “I know, Doll.”

Bucky knew more than anyone how it felt to have a promise broken by Steve. Bucky had just had to say goodbye to his childhood best friend, but Y/N had just lost the love of her life.

She’d fallen for Steve the first day she met him. He was like a prince in a world full of frogs. She didn’t know if it was a forties thing, or a Steve thing, but he was everything she’d ever dreamed of. Steve loved Y/N just as much, she was his little piece of light in a cruel world. She reminded him of what was important and made him feel like part of him was still normal.

Shhh.” Bucky soothed her quietly, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he rested his chin against the top of her head. Her head began to spin, trying to process what was happening as she cried helplessly against Bucky’s chest. “It’s gunna be okay.” Bucky breathed out shakily, repeating the words that Steve had said to him before he left, hoping it would somehow calm her down. Although right now, he didn’t even believe those words himself.

———

It had been a few weeks, but the days seemed to all blur into one for Y/N. She didn’t leave her room unless it was to run errands, but even then, she avoided everyone. She felt so out of place, like everywhere she was, it was wrong. It didn’t matter if she was making a cup of tea in the kitchen, reading a book in the living room, taking a shower in the bathroom or trying to have a nap on her bed. It all seemed so wrong, like she shouldn’t be doing anything without Steve.

“I don't know who I am anymore, Buck.” She sighed numbly, her mind spaced out in mourning, her eyes damp with tears just as they had been every day before. Bucky was the only person she’d spoken to, and that was only because she knew he needed someone to talk to. Maybe he liked talking to her because she reminded him of Steve.

Bucky’s heart ached as he watched her face, so straight and emotionless. She was so broken, he heard her crying when no one else was around, especially at night. It was as if she was so tired of being in pain that her face was no longer able to show expression.

“I think if anyone can relate to not knowing who they are, Y/N. It’s me.” He pursed his lips together in a sympathetic smile, leaning his hands against the edge of the mattress from where he sat on her bed. He watched her carelessly fold the clean washing, trying to harden the pain inside her heart.

“Yeah and who helped you through that, Buck?” She hissed out sadly, angry at herself for still being so helpless and lost after weeks. She hadn’t said Steve’s name since the day she’d found out he’d gone. Bucky had noticed it, but he wasn’t sure if anyone else had.

Bucky sighed as he tilted his head absentmindedly, he hated Steve for leaving him, but he hated him more for leaving her. A frown crinkled on her forehead as she concentrated on stopping her tears from escaping her eyes, letting out a quiet sniffle as she kept her eyes focused on the washing in front of her.

“God, I just feel so alone.” She sighed in frustration, throwing the pair of shorts she was folding down on the bed. Her eyes closed as she wrapped her arms around herself, a tear trickling down her cheek as she sniffed again.

“You’re not alone, Doll.” Bucky whispered sadly, trying to be supportive as his eyes softened and he carefully reached his flesh arm out to hold her hand.

“But I am, Buck.” She pulled away from his hand as soon as she felt it, the action so sudden it made Bucky jump as she took a step away from him. “You’ve got Sam and Sharon.” She gritted her teeth at the mention of the girl that Steve had once kissed, her hands balling up into fists out of frustration. “Pepper’s got Morgan, Clint has his family, Peter’s got May, Fury’s got Maria, T’Challa’s got Shuri. But who do I got?” Her lips trembled as she pressed them together in a hard pout, looking down at the space in front of her. “He was everything I had and now he’s gone.”

Bucky listened silently to her rant, hanging his head as his heart broke at the shakiness of her angry voice. He fiddled with his hands, he knew nothing he could say would make her feel better. All she wanted was Steve.

“I don't even know why I’m still here.” She mumbled weakly, looking around the room that had once been filled with happy memories. It hurt, everything hurt. Living at the compound was a constant reminder of the life she had once shared with Steve. Her anger faded back to sadness as she closed her eyes tightly, breaking down in silent sobs as she thought about how they’d planned to spend their future together. They’d talked about it a lot. “When all this is over, we’ll move to Brooklyn. We’ll get married, pop out a couple of babies. Oh, and we have to get a dog.” The memory of Steve’s words caused an aching cry to leave her lips, his voice ringing through her mind as she felt her whole body go weak. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Bucky’s watery eyes widened in panic at her words, his head immediately turning to her as he instinctively reached his arm out towards her again. She was too helpless to pull away this time, letting his strong hand pull her body into his lap as she collapsed against him.

He was worried about how she was handing the process of grieving, knowing how much it had the power to manipulate thoughts. He didn’t want her doing anything stupid, anything irrational, anything harmful. He’d become so protective over her, knowing that she was the only other person who really understood what it was like losing Steve. Anytime she cried, Bucky was right there holding her.

“I’m sorry.” Bucky sobbed out, unable to control his emotions as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as tight as he could. Y/N’s arms wrapped around his neck as she cried against him, a position she’d come to know so well. “I’m so sorry.” Bucky felt guilty, like he was the one responsible for Steve not coming back. He was there, he should’ve tried harder, said something to make Steve change his mind.

She whimpered against him, erratically breathing against his chest as she felt her throat closing up. The all too familiar feeling of heartache took over as her hand dropped to his metal arm, clinging to him tightly as she relaxed against his chest.

Bucky rocked them back and forth lightly, trying to soothe her as he broke down. He rubbed her back with his flesh hand, his head dropping close to hers as he held her close.

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” She sniffed sadly, her eyes puffy and cheeks red from the crying. Her face was lightly stained with red lines from where her tears had fallen, the salty liquid stinging her skin.

Bucky let out the breath he’d been holding in shakily, his heart aching at her words. Their burning cheeks touched as Bucky’s hand came up to massage the back of her head. He felt so responsible for Steve not coming back. “I’m sorry.”

She stayed there in his arms, his chest rising and falling against her side as she closed her stinging eyes. She inhaled the scent of his cologne, feeling safe in his lap as her heartbeat began to steady itself.

Bucky noticed the way her head pressed limply further against his bearded cheek, turning his head to face her as his hand cradled the back of her neck. “It’s gunna be okay.” He whispered as a soft smile washed over his reddened face, noticing her falling asleep in his arms.

”Will you stay with me tonight?” She whispered tiredly, her eyes blinking rapidly as she fought the inevitable exhaustion. “Please Buck, I don't want to be alone.”

A selfish wave of relief washed over Bucky as he held her, still processing Steve’s absence himself, he thanked his lucky stars that at least for one night, he wouldn’t have to be alone.

———

Weeks of Steve being gone had turned into months, his absence left a void, an emptiness that was inevitably never going away, both for Bucky and Y/N.

“Y/N?” Bucky’s voice deepened with concern as he threw the car keys in the fruit bowl, being warned of her bad state by F.R.I.D.A.Y as soon as he’d walked in through the front door. “Y/N.” He called out again, picking up his pace as he rushed through the compound to find her.

“She’s in Mr Roger’s room, Sergeant Barnes.” the AI spoke as Bucky began to panic, his heart sinking as he burst through the door of Cap’s old bedroom. No one had gone in there since he’d left, not even Y/N.

But that’s where she was, lying on the floor, looking up at the blank ceiling. Bucky sighed with his eyes closed before he walked over to her slowly, aware of her almost unconscious state.

His heart sped up immediately as he was hit with wave upon wave of memories of his best friend. The smell of the room, the shelves covered with small trinkets that were important to him, his record collection, the framed photo of Y/N and Steve next to his neatly made bed. It was all too overwhelming.

“What did you do, Doll?” He breathed out sadly as he crouched down next to her, his flesh fingers tracing over the empty bottle of asgardian liquor that lay in her limp hand. He carefully took the bottle from her, his eyes looking up at hers, glazed over with dilated pupils.

Y/N kept her head facing the ceiling, only moving her eyes to glance over at him. “I got lost.” She mumbled almost inaudibly, catching a hiccup in her throat as her eyes closed.

How could she tell Bucky the truth when it was so silly. She’d gone in there to talk to him. No, she wasn’t crazy, she knew he wasn’t going to be there. She thought she would find comfort in being around his belongings, that it would make her feel connected to him. But it didn’t work.

Bucky sighed, letting his fingers intertwine with hers as he held her hand. His thumb rubbed over her skin soothingly as he bit the inside of his lip, the helpless feeling inside of him was starting to become permanent. He desperately wanted to help her, to make everything okay. But there was nothing he could do except be there for her.

“I wasn't good enough for him.” Her words made Bucky’s heart ache with sadness, his eyes closing as he squeezed her hand a little tighter. “Maybe if I was better, he would've stay-”

“Don’t say that.” Bucky shook his head, his voice cracking a little. Y/N was the most beautiful, funny, talented girl he’d ever met. The more time he spent with her, the more he realised that. It hurt him to hear her say that she wasn’t good enough, that she had convinced herself that was the reason Steve had left. Bucky cursed Steve in his head, frustrated with what his decision to leave had done to her.

Y/N blamed herself for Steve not coming back. She hated herself for not being a good enough reason for him to stay. She sat up most nights trying to figure out exactly what it was that made him decide to go, but she couldn’t understand it.

"I thought he loved me.” Bucky felt the tears streaming down his face as he squeezed his eyes shut tightly. It physically pained him to hear how much she was hurting, the constant torment going on inside of her mind. How lost she felt, how deep Steve’s leaving had cut her up inside.

“He did, Y/N. He still does.” Bucky’s words spluttered out between sniffs. The alcohol was helping to numb Y/N’s pain, her tears silently rolling down her cheeks instead of her usual aching whimpers and heavy breathing.

“He didn’t even say goodbye.” She mumbled painfully, her wording changing from the perspective she’d had a few weeks ago. Her sleepless nights had given her more than enough time to think, and she’d come to the conclusion that Steve knew what his plan was, so he had the chance to say goodbye, to be upfront and tell her, but he didn’t. Why? The most obvious answer in Y/N’s mind was because he didn’t care, not about her anyway. “Don’t sit there and tell me you do that to someone you love.”

Bucky stayed silent for a moment, pondering in his own thoughts as Y/N went back to staring at the ceiling. At some point since he’d left, Bucky had questioned continuing to defend his best friend. Bucky had watched what Steve’s decisions had done to Y/N, what his actions were still doing to her and in Bucky’s eyes, nothing on earth was worth causing her this much sadness.

“C’mon, Doll. You’re tired, I know. Let me take you to bed.” He whispered through his heavy breathing as he scooped her up, lifting her body effortlessly as he cradled her in his arms. Y/N didn’t object, nuzzling her face into his chest as her arms wrapped around Bucky’s neck.

Bucky going go bed with Y/N had become routine most nights since the first time she’d asked him to stay with her, they both enjoyed the company and knew neither of them expected anything more than a warm body to hold.

He carried her down the hall until they reached her room, laying her carefully on the bed once they were inside. He pushed the loose hair away from her face, rubbing his thumb lovingly over her cheek as he admired her.

“I’m just getting you some comfy clothes, I’ll be right back.” Bucky whispered as he leaned over her, pressing a gentle kiss on her forehead. She nodded softly, not taking her eyes off of him as he she watched him move around the room.

Y/N was beyond grateful for Bucky, he’d been by her side the whole time. Whenever she needed him, he was right there. She felt guilty for lashing out at him sometimes, when all he’d ever done was shower her with love and patience. She wondered if he’d had time himself to process Steve leaving, or if he was suppressing his emotions in order to support her. Either way, Bucky had always made sure that she never felt completely alone, he took pride in looking after her, sometimes it was the only distraction from his destructive thoughts.

“Here you go.” He hummed sweetly, sliding his hand under her back to lift her torso up from the mattress. She sat up obediently as Bucky’s hand let go of her, turning around so that she could get changed privately.

She smiled shyly at his gentlemanly ways, somewhat reminded of the way Steve was. She looked down at her body as she pulled her shirt over her head, maybe if she looked like a supermodel, Steve would’ve stayed.

She blinked rapidly to contain her tears, her lips dropping into a pout as she quickly changed into the clothes Bucky had set out for her. A sudden wave of self consciousness hit her as she turned her body to face away from Bucky, laying back down on the bed to hide her body under the covers.

“It’s okay if you want to leave, Buck. I understand.” Her voice came out as a whimper, her eyes dropping to look down at the mattress as she heard Bucky turn back around to face her.

He sighed sadly as he looked down at her curled up alone on the bed, wishing she knew that he needed her as much as she needed him. He knew after tonight that she was blaming herself for Steve leaving, forcing herself to feel unworthy and unloved.

“Hey,” Bucky called out to her softly, pulling back his side of the blanket as he slid in beside her. He gently rotated her body to face him, her eyes avoiding his as he pulled her against his chest. “I’m not going anywhere. I pro-”

“Don’t.” She cut him off, shaking her head as she slid her arms up around his neck. “Don’t make any promises.” Her heartbeat quickened as the sadness engulfed her. “Please.”

Y/N woke up the next morning in a dream like daze, feeling strong arms wrapped tightly around her, her cheek pressed against a warm chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm.

“Steve?” She whispered out sweetly, it was the first moment of peace she’d had in months. Then reality came crashing down on her, remembering Steve was gone. Bucky heard her say it, it was the first time she’d said Steve’s name since he left, his whole body froze as his heart ached sympathetically for her.

Y/N sighed sadly, pressing her face further into Bucky’s chest as she began uncontrollably sobbing. Wave upon wave of misery flooded her body as Bucky rubbed her back under the thin material of her t-shirt, trying his best to soothe her.

“Shhhh,” Bucky whispered gently, his metal hand playing with the back of her hair as he held her close. “It’s gunna be okay.”

Bucky had repeated Steve’s words to her almost every day, not that she knew they were Steve’s words, but he didn’t know if he was saying them to comfort her or himself. Either way, as time went on, it was getting harder to believe that it was going to be okay.

———

Y/N had taken a nap for the first time in almost six months. She’d woken up to an empty bed, an unusual occurrence, especially since Bucky had been wrapped up in her arms when she’d fallen asleep.

They’d grown so close since Steve had left, their friendship had blossomed into an unbreakable bond, a deep connection that no one could explain. They understood each other on a level of complexity that formed so rarely it was unheard of. They relied on each other.

She padded softly down the hallway, heading towards the sound of Bucky’s voice coming from the common area. She slowed her steps, gliding her palm along the cold wall as she caught part of his conversation.

“No, I can’t do this anymore.” Bucky hissed to whoever was on the other end of the phone, his voice agitated yet quiet, as if he didn’t want to be heard. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m leaving.”

Y/N’s heart sunk deep into her chest, her head spinning in disbelief as she moved into view of the doorway just in time to see Bucky hang up the phone.

“Bucky?” She whimpered sadly, her chest heaving as it tightened around her heart, her eyes widened innocently as her bottom lip quivered. “You’re leaving?”

Bucky looked up at where she was standing, his eyebrows arching in panic as he realised what she’d walked into. “Y/N.” He started deeply, a lump forming in his throat as he watched her react. “I can explain.”

She shook her head rapidly as she squeezed her eyes shut, a bubbling sense of betrayal and anger erupted in her body. “You’re just the same as he is!” She yelled as she felt tears welling up in her eyes, turning to run back to her room as she thought about going through the process of losing someone again. She couldn’t take it.

She slammed the door behind her, bursting into tears as she paced around her room, slightly hyperventilating as the fear overwhelmed her.

“Y/N,” Bucky burst through her bedroom door, shutting it loudly behind him without a care as he walked over to her. “Calm down.”

She shook her head as Bucky grabbed her by her upper arms, forcing her to stop pacing as she hung her head to avoid his eye contact. “Were you even going to tell me?”

“Stop.” Bucky’s voice hardened as he tried to get her to listen, his eyes softening with worry as his heart raced.

“Or were you just going to leave without saying goodbye?” She disobeyed his command, her anger turning into sadness as she looked up into his gorgeous blue eyes.

“Listen to me,” He spoke softly, gripping onto her arms tightly as his thumbs rubbed over of skin. She looked away from his eyes, her eyebrows arching in sadness as she anticipated what he was going to say. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I can’t lose you too, Bucky. I can’t.” She panicked as she thought about losing Bucky the same way she’d lost Steve. She wanted to believe him, but how could she possibly know if he was telling the truth? Her lips stayed in a pout, her eyes glued to the right of his body.

Bucky sighed in frustration, his heart broke knowing she didn’t believe him. “Look at me!” He spoke loudly, shaking her arms a little as her glossy eyes finally met his. “I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Y/N lifted her hands to hold onto the material of his shirt over his stomach, holding him close as if it would keep him there forever. “I heard you on the phone, Buck.”

“Yeah, I know.” Bucky smiled softly, slightly relieved that she was listening to him now as he admired her face. His flesh hand moved up to cup her cheek, rubbing her temple with his thumb. “You heard me telling Fury that I’m leaving, as in leaving the team, not leaving you.” He shook his head, his eyebrows arching as a sympathetic look covered his face.

Her eyes looked up at him with a soft sparkle that he hadn’t seen in a long time, he let out a shaky breath, his eyes softening as he smiled down at her. “You’re really not leaving?”

He shook his head as he watched her sigh in relief, his arms wrapping around her to hold her close. “I’m not going anywhere, doll.”

“Trust me, Y/N.” Bucky whispered as he admired her face, his thumb rubbing across her cheek soothingly. “It’s gunna be okay.” Something about the way Steve said those words made it sounds true, but when Bucky heard himself say it, it was hard for him to believe.

———

“What the hell am I supposed to tell Y/N?” Bucky looked over at his oldest friend, his eyes saddened with stress and responsibility. “She’s gunna ask questions, Steve.”

“Tell her I’ve left. That I’m not coming back.” Steve instructed the long haired super-soldier, sadly running his hand through his blonde hair.

“And you think she’s just gunna accept that?” Bucky shook his head as he kicked a pebble next to his foot absentmindedly. He looked back up at Cap, trying to make him understand. “She loves you, Steve.”

“Bucky, you know I have to do this.” Steve pressed his lips together as he looked sympathetically over at Bucky. His decision wasn’t an easy one, and his best friend trying to change his mind was only making it harder. “I’m leaving her with my best pal.”

Steve grabbed Bucky’s shoulder reassuringly, witnessing the distress on his face, what Steve was asking him to do was huge. “It’s gunna be okay, Buck.”

Bucky sighed, trusting that Steve knew what was best as he wrapped his arms around his friend to say goodbye. “No matter what happens, she can never find out the truth, Buck.”

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memestockpile · 3 years

Text

downton abbey (2010-2015) feel free to change as needed.

sometimes i feel as if i were living in an h.g wells novel.

i said you could go get a drink of water, not a trip up the nile.

you are quite wonderful the way you see room for improvement wherever you look.

i know it’s not ladylike to say so, but i’m not a lady and i don’t pretend to be.

at least i’m not fishing with no bait.

you have a good cry. that’s what’s needed now.

next time, ask your uncle [name].

i’m not a romantic, but even i concede that the heart does not exist solely for the purpose to pump blood.

war has a way of distinguishing between the things that matter and the things that don’t.

i never argue. i explain.

what is a “weekend”?

i’ve never been special to anyone.

well, now you’re special to me.

you are being tested. and you know what they say, my darling: being tested only makes you stronger.

seems a pity to miss such a good pudding.

i am not a complete stranger to romance, if that’s what you’re implying.

how you hate to be wrong.

heavens, girl. you’re building a fire, not inventing it.

the nature of life is not permanence, but flux.

hope is a tease designed to prevent us from accepting reality.

your strength has made me strong.

you can always hold my hand if you need to feel steady.

sympathy butters no parsnips.

there is nothing more ill-bred than trying to steal the affections of one’s dog.

we must always travel in hope.

my dear boy. my very dear boy.

you’re late when i say you’re late.

oh dear, have you swallowed a dictionary?

life is a game where the player must appear ridiculous.

you know me... never complain, never explain.

love is like riding or speaking french: if you don’t learn it young, it’s hard to get the trick of it later.

real love means giving someone the power to hurt you.

meaning well is not enough.

i always think there’s something rather foreign about high spirits at breakfast.

principles are like prayers: noble, of course, but awkward at a party.

nothing makes you hungrier or more tired than grief.

you’re nervous because you’re intelligent; only stupid people are foolhardy.

we can say what we like down here.

oh, you’re such a sentimentalist.

i’ve decided to live in the present and not spend my life regretting the past or dreading the future.

if you’re tired of style, you’re tired of life.

you are stronger than you think.

aren’t we the lucky ones to be loved.

stop whining and find something to do.

if you can’t say anything helpful, please stay quiet.

[name] is lovely in every way. he’s funny and handsome and he’s got such lovely teeth.

now listen, you filthy little rat.

if you don’t lay off, i’ll punch your shining teeth through the back of your skull.

you never disappoint.

all this unbridled joy has given me quite an appetite.

i have plenty of friends i don’t like.

all my life i’ve been pushed around just because i’m different.

what’s the matter with everyone this merry morn?

it’s not against the law to hope, is it?

it’s easy to be generous when you have nothing to lose.

don’t do anything i wouldn’t do.

and you’re wrong about me. i mind what people say.

you are my darling daughter and i love you.

hello, my dearest little chap.

the business of life is the acquisition of memories. in the end, that’s all there is.

there’s more true goodness in him than i give him credit for.

i was cheering him up.

he’ll be lucky if he gets a civil word out of me.

i can be as contrary as i choose.

at my age, one must ration one’s excitement.

vulgarity is no substitute for wit.

every woman goes down the aisle with half the story hidden.

remember i will always be your friend wherever i am.

do you ever wonder why people dislike you so much? it’s because you are sly and oily and smug.

cheer up. there are worse things happening in the world.

i am not the same as you, but i am not foul.

in my life, i can tell you, not many have been kind to me.

there are times i’d like to belong. does that sound funny?

you won’t let me be fond of you, will you? no matter what i do.

i think it shows you to be a very brave person.

you’re in the soup. i wouldn’t be in her bad books for a gold clock.

it feels good. just to be two blokes, having a chat, not trying to fit in for once.

we all need a special friend from time to time.

i’m afraid i’ve been a silly boy.

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staysaneathome · 3 years

Text

The Lonely Boy

(A second part to the Entity-swap WIP, where the swap is the places the Entities hold in the world rather than the people who serve them) Jon is cold, and tired, and hungry.

But he’d rather be all of those things than back in The Collection.

He stays away from libraries, from universities and schools, from police stations and research institutes, from everywhere that has learning and investigating and knowing. They call to him, sing to his mind with the promise of knowledge and answers, and that’s how he knows they’ll betray him.

That’s where the man found him the first time, after all.

He compromises with large bookstores and cafes, places of learning that have become diluted over the years with the need to turn a profit, making them safer for him while still making the pouding, watching thing in his head go quieter. Plus the staff usually derive more satisfaction from letting him sleep outside of their places of work and sneaking him food and water on the sly than in turning him over to the management that treats them so poorly.

He learns quickly that he’s in London, capital city of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It’s something of a blessing to be left in a city this size.

That when he gives in and guiltily Asks someone the Right Question to satisfy his cravings for stories, he can disappear back into the crowd much more easily than he could back in Bournemouth, or in some of the tiny villages down south or up north The Collection passed through.

Nobody really looks twice at another kid left alone and homeless in this place.

He learns quickly that he’s not alone here.

He goes into the house because it’s pouring and he’s soaked to the skin. It takes him far longer than it should to realize that the wet schlurp schlurp schlurp noise is coming from the inside rather than outside.

The Hive wears a red dress and smiles at him when he screams at the sight of her. But she stops smiling very quickly once he Asks, “Where did you first hear the Song?”

She tells him, each word torn from her lips, exposing her essence to him, filling in a way none of his other meals have been before. He’s so transfixed, he doesn’t notice her attempt to bring him down with her. He’s lucky, really, that the silver worms could only get to his leg before she collapsed, unmoving and pale, and that there were so many sharp things left around the discarded house.

He’s more careful after that, limping on the leg that the Watcher told him how to bandage properly.

Not long after his first ill-fated encounter with servants of other fears, he finds another one.

Jon’s looking for a place to spend the day so nosy people like irritable old people and police officers won’t ask him why he’s not in school. It’s most difficult to do now it’s late autumn, when most other children are safely sequestered away in various schools. Luckily London has a tendency to attract school field trips, so if Jon just hovers around the edges, most people assume he’s part of that other, larger group of screaming children even if he isn’t in uniform and are more likely to overlook him that way. He’s just found one such group in a large park that he can use as protective coloration, content to much on the contents of an unopened packet of prawn cocktail crisps someone threw away as the kids on this school trip gorge themselves from colorful lunchboxes and chase each other around the playground they’re too old for.

It’s then that he spots him.

There’s a boy in the playground. He’s round and soft-looking and see-through, wearing the same uniform as the others. He’s picking at the splinters on the balance beams he’s sitting on. Thin fog wisps around his ankles.

His eyes are very large and liquid as his head suddenly whips around and he stares up at Jon, blink-blink-blinking like he’s gazing at the sun.

He’s obviously a servant of the Forsaken, but unlike the Hive he doesn’t seem like he’s about to hurt Jon for seeing him. He’s still feeling full from the stories he pulled from a man who stank of alcohol last night, so he’ll hold off on Asking anything for now. He tentatively nods his head to the soft-looking boy. “Hello,” He mutters through a mouthful of crisps.

“You’re very pretty.” The boy tells Jon, almost absent-mindedly. Then his mouth snaps shut and he goes ridged like he’s stuck his finger in a power socket. He’s got a bit more color to him now, like he’s been brought into focus.

Jon stares at him. Stares down at his mismash of clothing pulled from bins. Then back at the boy. “No I’m not. Are your eyes working?”

The boy sputters, high-pitched. “Wh-I-um, um? I-I, I think so?”

Jon shoves another handful of crisps into his mouth. “What’s the best animal?”

”U-uh,” The boy stutters, twisting his fingers together. “I-I don’t know? I, I like fluffy ones, like there was a nice spaniel I met earlier that made friends with me, and, and some kinds of spiders can be very cute and fluffy, did you know, like tarantulas?”

Jon doesn’t disguise his shudder. Obviously this boy has something wrong with his tastes if he thinks things like spiderscan be cute and things like Jon can be pretty. “Cats are the best animal, obviously.”

”O-oh.” The boy says timidly. “W-well, I like cats. Too. Um. Sorry. Who are you? Are you here with your parents?”

He curls in around his crisps, feeling uncomfortably small. “No. They died when I was small. I’m on my own now.”

“I-I’m sorry.” The boy gets up from the balance beam and drifts closer, fog faintly eddying around his heels. “My dad left, a while ago now. So it’s just me and my mum. But she’s not well, and I dunno what I’d do if she—if she—” He takes in a deep breath, shakes his head like a dog shaking off water, and sticks a hand out. “A-anyway. My name’s Martin. Martin Blackwood. Nice to meet you.”

Jon eyes the hand, then wipes off one of his own on his too-big, stained trousers. Martin Blackwood is warmer than he expected, but cooler than a normal human should be. Maybe the Forsaken doesn’t have as tight a grip on him yet?

”Jonathan Sims.” He recites mechanically, a little rusty with introductions. Then, desperate to break the awkward silence and cover up his discomfort, Jon does the worst possible thing he could do. He Asks a Question.

“Why is the Forsaken attached to you?”

And he stares in horror as Martin’s large, liquid eyes go soft and unfocused. “There were all these adults in for this careers day thing, at my school, like firemen and lawyers and things. And one of them was this tall ship captain, like out of a storybook. And he kept talking about his ship and how even if his crew had nobody on land, they could enjoy hard work alone out on the waves, and it felt like he kept looking at me while he said it, and—”

”Stop.” Jon clamps his hands over Martin’s mouth, pretending he doesn’t feel the Watcher’s flare of anger as Martin’s eyes come back into focus and he tenses up. “I-I’m sorry, I, I didn’t mean to, I—”

”Di-did you do that?” Martin breathes. “H-How did you do that? That was amazing, it, it was like I was right there…” He’s fully solid now, like someone has turned the colors on him all the way up. He has very nice colors.

��It’s not.” Jon mutters, sourly. “The Watcher lets me pull stories out of people, to, to feed it. Like how the Forsaken makes you go invisible—“

”I can go invisible?!” Martin all but yells, covering his mouth when several other kids look over and snicker.

”Yeah?” Jon raises an eyebrow. “It’s the entity of the fear of being alone. Didn’t you notice the fog and people ignoring you?” ”Lots of people ignore me anyway.” Martin says, far too matter-of-fact for comfort, and gaze fixated on the fog around his feet. He leans down and drags his hands through it, giggling as it swirls away from him. “It’s kinda tickly?”

Jon opens his mouth to say something, but he’s interrupted as his stomach growls loudly.

Jon looks down at where his prawn crisps fell in his rush to stop Martin and mourns. He’d been looking forward to finishing those… ”U-um. You can have half of my sandwich, if, if you want it.” Martin says, pulling a squashed, cling-wrapped object that the Watcher tells him contains cheese and bread within. “And you can tell me more about these fear things?”

They end up talking so long, Martin’s teacher has to come over to shout at him that it’s time for the school trip to leave. She looks suspiciously at Jon, so he quickly makes himself scarce as Martin scrambles over to where all of his classmates are lines up in disorderly rows.

Jon hides behind a tree and watches Martin’s school trip leave the park.

Martin Blackwood sticks near the back of the class, even as some other kids keep pushing him every time he slows. When he spots Jon, he smiles widely, and waves his hand. Like Jon’s a friend of his, or something.

Against all logic, Jon tentatively waves back.

Martin can’t come into London often, of course. He lives too far away, up north, and he and his mum aren’t the richest people in the world, from what Jon will later gather. Train rides are a luxury that it’s pushing it to afford, and he’s got to take care of his mum into the bargain. And it’s not like he can send Jon emails or text messages or letters, given that Jon has very limited access to electronics and no address to send post to.

But somehow, against all odds (and likely using the Forsaken more than is probably healthy), Martin does make the trip down to see Jon, always waiting for him in that playground where they first met.

And Jon gets used to dropping by the park several times a week, just in case Martin’s there.

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gdcee · 3 years

Text

Road to Nowhere

Pairing: Loki/Sigyn - mild, might have to squint to see it.

Summary: Loki and Sigyn talk while she escorts him to Kid Loki's Kingdom.

Warnings: Panic attack.

=================

"You know I'm only going to keep pestering you until I have the answer."

"I wish you luck in your endeavour," Sigyn returned coolly, stepping lightly as she began to climb the massive pile of garbage blocking their path. "Nevertheless, my lips remain sealed."

Loki huffed, a slight quirk at the corner of his lips which was not quite a smirk. He set off after her, determined to be the first to the summit of Rubbish Peak.

He had to admit he was quite intrigued by that tantalising crumb of information this Sigyn (so very like and yet not quite like his own) had dangled before him. Of course he was curious about the identity of the lucky bastard who had won her fidelity.

All he had was a preferred pronoun. That at least eliminated half of his (admittedly rather short to begin with) list of possible lucky bastards.

After he had gone through the list (which did not take long because as stated earlier, it was really quite short), he started throwing out random names to see if any of them got a reaction.

No such luck.

His attempts to tease and fluster the information out of her had been just as ineffective.

Her reaction to his puppy dog eyes routine had been...perplexing. He'd gotten one soft, achingly tender smile before a heavy melancholy had descended upon her. Like the dark shadow of a mourning veil stealing the brightness from her eyes and the colour from her cheeks.

She had not reprimanded him, but he made a note not to pull that trick again anyway. Besides the practical reasons for keeping her goodwill (survival, information, mental stimulation), the simple fact was that she was Sigyn.

He didn't want to be the cause of her unhappiness. Not anymore.

Being a harmless annoyance and pest was still perfectly acceptable though.

He stood atop the great mound of refuse, his hands and face smeared with oil and other liquids of questionable origin, grinning triumphantly down at Sigyn. He vanished the grime he'd accumulated before gallantly holding out his hand to her.

Sigyn huffed a soft little laugh, the barest hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. Without any hesitation, she reached out and allowed him to pull her up.

Loki glanced down to where they had started and noted that it was a long drop. Not nearly enough to kill an Asgardian or a Frost Giant, but enough to hurt.

Trust.

It made him feel as giddy as the first time he'd tasted the enchanted, heady liquid gold that was the mead brewed from honey harvested from the hives of the talking bees that resided near Iðunn's famous apple orchards.

"Ahem."

Loki realised with no small degree of embarrassment that he was still holding Sigyn's hand. He hurriedly worked a spell to remove the dirt under her fingernails and let go. Then to cover up his embarrassment, he resumed pestering.

"I don't understand why the identity of your beau necessitates such secrecy," he sighed with the lightest touch of a pleading whine, "Do you think I would object to your taste? He can't possibly be worse than Theoric."

"I think my life choices are none of your business."

"Exactly! You should forget about my opinion. Shout his name to the world and damn the naysayers and killjoys."

"I would but sadly, Alioth has a sense of hearing."

With that, she picked up a flat sheet of metal lying loose and proceeded to slide down Rubbish Peak on the improvised board. Despite being only at most a quarter Ljósálfar on her mother's side, she moved with their characteristic effortless grace.

Loki peered down, did a couple of quick mental calculations and snapped his fingers. He disappeared from the summit with a flare of green light and reappeared at the bottom no more than a second later in similar fashion.

"Good to see your teleport still works," Sigyn tossed her wind-mussed hair out of her face, "Why didn't you use it earlier to get to the top?"

"Too much debris and no decent eyeline. I didn't want to risk getting stuck under a foot of garbage." He frowned, pondering. "Still works?"

"Not a reference to you personally," she moved forward without looking behind to see if he followed, "Just something I noticed about some of the other Lokis around here."

"Power loss? Nothing to do with you and that coven of other Sigyns whose domain I and the other Lokis are forbidden from entering, I presume?"

"No, I've seen it even in Lokis on their first trepass - if something is limiting their power it's not us. In any case, we would never do anything to permanently disable a Loki's magic. There's just some things you don't do to a fellow mage, you know?"

"You just rough them up a little and kick them off the property?"

"More or less. Except for the kid and alligator."

"Do I want to know how one instance of me ended up as a semi-aquatic Midgardian reptile?"

"You can ask him yourself when we get to the Kid's Kingdom," she paused for a moment, as if she'd just remembered something, "Or maybe not, I think only the old man you knows how to talk to him."

Loki blinked.

"There's an old me?" He asked, disbelieving, "As in a wizened, wrinkled, looks like your grandmother me?"

"Eh, not quite as old as Grandma Hretha. Maybe about 4,000? 5,000?" She shrugged, "Either way, your vanity may rest easy; you look perfectly fine as an old man."

"Thank you for that milquetoast endorsement of my future self's good looks," Loki said dryly, "I was more perturbed about...something else."

Curiouser and curiouser.

How had the aged variant escaped their destined end? How had he managed to grow old before the TVA arrived to arrest him for cheating his final death?

He thought about the tape featuring all the TVA approved highlights of his life.

He thought about that other Loki, the Loki who had played out the role assigned to him and how very young (the same face as his own) and terrified (the same fear as his own) he had looked with the Mad Titan's monstrous hand around his throat.

Loki swallowed thickly and pulled at the collar of his TVA issued office shirt which suddenly seemed far too tight. The tie impeded his work and as he struggled to loosen it he could feel his terror rising up to choke him.

there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you

inevitable

you think you know pain?

Inevitable

HE WILL MAKE YOU LONG FOR SOMETHING AS SWEET AS PAIN

He felt his legs buckle and his knees hit the ground as if it were happening to someone else.

"Loki!" Sigyn's voice was close but he heard it as if a great distance separated them, "Loki, breathe."

"What do you think I'm doing?" He wheezed.

"I am going to remove the tie and unfasten your collar," Sigyn continued as if she had not even noticed his rudeness, "I will need to touch you to do this. Alright?"

Needing help for such a pitifully simple task was galling. But he didn't want Sigyn to leave him. Loki managed a shaky nod. He let her ease his trembling, sweaty hands from his shirt collar. With quick, brisk movements she pulled the tie loose and tossed it somewhere to join the rest of the garbage.

"Follow my breathing now." Her voice was clearer to him now, more present. She was kneeling next to him, so close and warm and oh, her hair did still smell like apple blossoms. He watched the regular rise and fall of her chest and tried to match it. "That's it. Very good. Nice and slow."

Her fingers were at his throat for a mercifully short time. Just long enough to pop the top button loose and push the starched fabric away from his neck.

"Stay with me. You're doing very well. Breathe with me. In. And out. In. And out."

Without really thinking he grabbed her hand and pressed her palm against the centre of his chest. Perhaps he was possessed by some irrational notion that the pressure against his breastbone could keep his thundering heart from beating right out of his chest.

She didn't try to pull away. Her hand was warm, even through the shirt fabric. She moved a little, and one of her dainty fingers slipped into the open gap of his unbuttoned collar and brushed against the dip between his clavicles. His breath caught in his throat for a moment before Sigyn's gentle prompting had him matching her rhythm once more.

"Feel better?" She asked after what seemed an eternity.

"Yes," he breathed, "Yes, much." His chest still felt a little tight but the worst of that dreadful episode was over.

"Good." She lifted her hand from his chest and patted his shoulder firmly - a gesture that he had seen Týr bestow upon struggling Einherjar recruits after they'd passed the final leg of their training. "You did very well."

He didn't feel like he'd done anything worth praising. He'd collapsed like a pack of cards. This wasn't the first time he'd experienced terror but every time before now he had been able to push past it - stamp it down through sheer force of will and that primitive, animal part of his brain that knew that danger was never far away.

Why had he folded now? Now - when he was probably the most at ease he'd been in ages (months? Years? How long had it been since New York?) and the threat of Thanos was no longer an issue-

...a terrible thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Just out of curiosity," Loki tried to sound nonchalant, "Have you ever come across a fellow by the name of Thanos here?"

"Thanos?" Sigyn's brows drew together in a frankly rather adorable expression of pure befuddlement.

Ah. Well, at least he could place whatever nexus event had led to her pruning as occurring before Ragnarok and Thanos's massacre of half the Asgardian survivors.

"Big purple fellow," he explained, "Quite ugly, enormous chin, has rather disturbing ideas about resource management."

"Uh, no, I can't say that I've ever met anyone like that here."

"You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "I can swear on my magic if that would reassure you."

Sigyn had always been very leery about oaths, especially ones bound with magic. Most mages worth their salt were.

And yet...he couldn't really explain why, but he'd always felt like her issues with them were less about best practices and more about some personal grievance.

That she would offer him such a thing...

Loki felt completely undeserving.

"No," he said hurriedly, "No, no, it's fine. I...I trust you."

Sigyn smiled. It was the first real smile he'd seen so far and it was like watching the sun come out from behind a cloud. He didn't know if it would last - if that melancholy from before would snatch away the sweetness of this moment.

So Loki ruined the moment before it could be stolen from him.

"...even though you refuse to tell me about your paramour."

Sigyn scoffed, all exasperation but it was better than seeing her sad.

"You are insufferable."

"Thank you, I do try."

She snorted and shook her head. "Alright, come on, you goose," she helped him up, and even though his legs were slightly shaky, he stood and did not fall. "Our first rest stop is about 20 feet...thereaboutish-" she waved vaguely in the direction of a mostly empty grassy knoll upon which a gaggle of the oddest creatures scurried. They resembled iridescent headless chickens with little purple spheres hovering over their severed necks.

"I still think we should have taken the car."

"Ugh," Sigyn wrinkled her nose, "Cahrs. Nasty, noisy, smelly things. I swear, Midgard really went downhill after those monstrosities were invented. "

#loki #sigyn #mcu #logyn

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havethetimeofyourstyles · 3 years

Text

Chapter Three.

a/n: get ready for the yearning in this chapter! also please make sure to reblog to share and leave feedback — it really helps writers continue wanting to post and continue writing.

SERIES MASTERLIST | word count: 8.2k

come talk to me about wtsgd! i’d love to know your thoughts!

April 30, 2017

Luci woke up to loud knocking on her front door, too loud for eight in the morning when she wanted to sleep in. She thought she was dreaming, like someone was knocking directly onto her head, telling her to wake up. But the knocking increased, making her scream into her pillow, getting out of bed. Her pink soft house slippers that Ren made sure she brought so she wouldn’t get her new floors dirty with her outside shoes padded on the wooden floor and towards the entrance, opening the door.

Once she opened her door, her parents and Nathan were behind it, smiling as they waved their hands into a jazz-like movement.

“Lulu!”

“My Lucky!”

“Ana!”

Her family charged through her doorway, bringing her into their arms for a family group hug. Luci was wide awake and smiling at the sight and presence of her family. They all eventually let her go to give her individual hugs to have their own moment because they just missed her that much.

They made their way out of the front entrance and hallway, walking more into her apartment as Ren and Beatrice looked around in awe of how much natural light that was provided. She gave her parents a tour before they all settled into the living room where they had a cup of coffee in to-go cups and ate breakfast sandwiches.

Luci then told them the events that happened yesterday, minus her unexpected hangout with Harry, and they were furious. All at once, their hearts broke but were quick to ignite with anger.

“How could she do that?!” Ren had an angry expression on his face, and it was one that she and Nathan had always been afraid of ever since they were younger; it was rare to see their father angry since he was much softer as it would take a lot for him to get him to that state.

She shrugged her shoulders. “People favor power over fairness these days, or else they’d lose their biggest stars.” Nathan scoffed from the sofa chair next to the couch, but didn’t say anything more.

It was the harsh truth of showbiz that almost everyone knew—it was a fact; Broadway and Hollywood don’t play fair, it’s obvious they want the best of the best, and if that’s passing up a new talent that could take them to the moon over the seniority of actors who’ve been in the industry for much longer, they’ll take that opportunity. And Luci knew that when she signed up for this.

Beatrice told Luci that she was sorry this was happening, and they all agreed that whenever her time to perform on stage comes, they’d be there. Luci smiled at her lap, appreciating their support. The Suki family talked for another hour and a half, catching up on the month that passed when they weren’t all together, before they took the subway to the hotel they were staying at to catch their flight out of New York. Luci said her goodbyes to them in front of the hotel, apologizing that they had to come out here for nothing, but they brushed it off, saying that they would do it again just to see her.

She watched them get into an Uber, waving at her family as they took off down the streets of Manhattan. She took the subway back to Brooklyn as she wrote down a list of what she wanted to do today; find more decorations, clean, eat pizza, and crack a bottle of wine because she damn well needed it.

It was almost eleven a.m. when she got back to her apartment and decided to get ready for the day. Her throat felt incredibly dry, so she hydrated herself, gulping the liquid down her throat until she heard a knock on her door. Luci furrowed her brows, wondering if it was Nathan or Beatrice behind that door, asking if they’d left their wallet or phone since they were the more forgetful ones in the family, but when she looked around her living room, she didn’t find anything.

A knock on the door was heard and Luci sighed, walking over to open it as she didn’t expect the person behind it.

“Samuel?”

“Hey, babe.” A smug smile was present on his face, but a scowl was present on hers, rolling her eyes at the pet name.

“What are you doing here—no, how do you even know where I live?” Luci placed her hand on her hip, a wrinkle in between her eyebrows.

“Not gonna let me in?” He gave her an amusing smile, and she rolled her eyes, huffing before moving to the side and letting him in. He walked into the main part of the apartment, looking around.

Luci crossed her arms, trailing behind him. “So, are you gonna answer my question?”

“I got your address when you texted me to come over that one night, remember?”

She mentally cursed herself. Her relationship with Samuel had done a complete one-eighty. After the afterparty on opening night, things were very weird between them after she denied his request to have sex with him in the bathroom of the longue. He had avoided her unless it was work related, but even then, he kept the conversation and words to a minimum, adding attitude and rudeness. If she thought things were weird then, it got even weirder the night leading up to when Daisy took her spotlight on stage last night.

During rehearsals, he’d flirt with Daisy sometimes even kiss her up. Daisy would give Luci a snarky look every time his face was in her neck, biting her skin, and that was when Luci found out the real reason why Daisy despised her. All because of Samuel. All because of a man. The bitter looks didn’t bother Luci and it wasn’t like she was jealous, but it simply confused her because one day he wanted to fuck her and was sweet to her but when she said no, he was rude and would fuck someone else—there was no real type of closure. He probably took her into the bathroom after she left, Luci thought.

So, she didn’t really care for him anymore because after all, he was just a someone to fuck; all she cared about was why he decided to show up at her apartment unannounced and uninvited.

“That was a very weak moment for me.” Luci rebutted mockingly; Samuel scoffed and smirked cockily. He leaned against her countertops, and she hated that she still found him attractive because anyone with eyes knew very clearly that he was a very sexy guy, and the worst part was that he knew it too—he knew it very well. “So, tell me what the fuck you’re doing here?”

“I’m here to tell you that you’re probably not going to perform anytime soon…” he said in a mocking tone, a fake pout on his face as he gave her puppy-dog eyes.

She scoffed, shaking her head lightly. “Aww, did Daisy tell you to come all the way here and tell me that?”

“And if she did?”

“It’s cute that you’re a messenger now. It suits you since you have all this time to waste, like you did mine.” She breathed out a laugh, making him roll his eyes, and it only brought satisfaction to hurt his huge ego. “Well, how about you tell your little Daisy to stop sending people to tell me things because if she had the balls, then she would tell me herself. Plus, you’re wasting your time here to tell me one little thing that doesn’t affect me.” Luci dramatically gasped. “I’m really living in both of your minds rent-free, aren't I?”

Samuel inhaled heavily, biting back his words as if Luci had offended him, but it would only make sense that he felt that way because of his feelings for Daisy. He headed towards the door with Luci hot on his tail as a way to push him out faster than he came in.

“Well, I’ll see you Luci—not on stage, but yeah, I’ll see you.” She wasn’t going to lie, but those few words took a dig at her heart; luckily, she’s an actor, so she was able to mask her pain and anger, giving him a scornful smile as she opened the door. Samuel chuckled, not amusingly but in a way that made him think that she was an outright bitch.

Harry’s door suddenly opened, making him stop in his tracks as he witnessed the interaction happening because it definitely looked like this guy was just leaving her place. Luci’s head turned towards him as her eyes widened slightly; Harry had a weird look on his face, looking back and forth between her and Samuel.

“Hey, Harry.” Luci broke his train of thought and Harry looked directly at her, smiling slightly.

“Hi, Luci.” She suddenly felt a wave of nerves wash through her, butterflies erupting in her stomach once he said her name, thinking that he was by far the best person to say it.

She felt antsy, fiddling with fingers as she started bouncing on the balls of her feet—a habit that she did when she started to feel nervous. Samuel could see straight through her, catching all the signs when she was a bit anxious and he had a feeling that it had something to do with her neighbor.

Samuel brisked past her, giving her a kiss on the cheek to mess with both of them; Luci’s eyes widened, pulling her face back but it was too late as his lips had already connected with her skin.

“See you, Luci.” Instead of the cocky smirk he had when he arrived, he had a loving and kind smile as he left because he wasn’t the only actor in the room.

Once Samuel rounded the corner, Luci looked at Harry and there was a crease in between his brows.

“I-I, uh, that’s not-”

“No worries. You don’t need to explain to me, honestly.” Harry walked out into the hallway, locking his door before giving her a toothless grin and walking down the hall.

Luci’s mouth was slightly ajar as she watched him. She closed her door and placed her forehead against it quite harshly, letting out a frustrated groan.

After much sulking, she decided to get on with her day, hoping she can be as productive as she hoped to be. But the thought of if Harry liked her—even as a person or ‘friend,’ if she could call herself that—lingered around in her head; and she doesn’t know why what he thought of her had so much of an affect on her, but it did. Maybe it was because she had a sort of infatuation with her neighbor, or that she couldn’t stop thinking about him and what he was doing across the hall. Whatever it was, she only hoped that he liked her too.

May 13, 2017

Quite early, Luci received a phone call from Tal.

Her phone was buzzing rapidly on her brown wooden nightstand; and in her sleep, she was trying to determine if she had set an alarm the previous night. When she thought she did, she let her phone snooze for ten minutes. But it was certainly not an alarm because just a few seconds after the buzzing stopped, it had started again.

Grumpy as usual in the morning, she groaned, propping her elbows on her mattress as she pried her eyes open and picked up her phone. When she saw Tal as the caller ID, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Hello?”

“Luci? Luci? Hi, can you hear me?” The gauging sound of the city was heard on the other end of the call, and she could just imagine Tal placing one hand to her ear as she walked through the bustling streets.

“Yeah, I can. Hi.” Luci’s voice increased, becoming more audible for Tal.

“Great! So, I’m glad you answered. I know things have been a bit weird lately ever since, y’know…” she said, referring to when Daisy had stolen her spotlight. “But I want to let you know that you’re performing tonight. I’m saying this in a calm manner because I know you know the shit in the show, so I’m not worried about it. But I need you to play Kim tonight.”

Luci’s breath hitched in her throat as her eyes widened. She was completely speechless and she felt like she was dreaming. But first thing’s first, she needed to know why Tal’s statement at the end was demanding and slightly panicked.

“What happened to Daisy?” She wondered, sitting up fully on the gray wrinkled sheets from her slumber.

Tal sighed deeply, perceptible through the chaos of the outside. “Last night, she partied a bit too hard. She’s just getting back to her place, according to Samuel, and she was high off her ass. I don’t need that today, or ever. So, I figured this would be the perfect time for you to step in.”

“And why me? Why not Wendy?” Luci referred to the understudy for Kim.

“Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t stick up for you when I should’ve. Daisy has always been…intimidating to me, which is crazy because I run the show, but I should’ve been more stern with her. So, with Daisy out of the picture for today, I want you to perform tonight.”

Tal genuinely felt guilty that she wasn’t being the stage director that she should’ve been. She let Daisy control some of the show when it should’ve been her to direct everyone. Tal loved her job, she did, but every time she had Daisy as one of the lead characters, she almost dreaded work. She didn’t want to be one of those people who dreaded work because although theatre is stressful at times, it’s also fun and her passion.

“Okay…” Luci couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I’ll perform tonight.”

Tal let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much, Luci. I’ll see you at five.” \

“I’ll be there. Bye, Tal.”

Luci hung up the phone and sat on her bed for what felt like forever, simply gazing into the sheets as she couldn’t believe what had happened. Luci was going to perform tonight; her dream was finally coming true.

When the realization hit her, the corners of her lips turned up into a bright and excited smile. She laughed and screamed and squealed into her pillow, doing a little mini dance on her bed. Looking at the time, it was nearing eight so she had plenty of time to start her pre-show morning routine. But the first thing that she needed to do was to text her family.

I’M PERFORMING TONIGHT!

Instantly, she got responses from them.

Nathan: REALLY?! I get off work at four, I could take a last minute flight.

Luci hearted her brother’s message.

Pa: Luci, I’m so happy for you! Your mother is still asleep but I’ll wake her up and tell her the news. We’ll see what we could do to make it to the show.

She thanked them, texting that she hoped to see them tonight, but would understand if they couldn’t make it since it was last minute.

Hopping out of bed, she washed up and changed into her workout clothes to go on a walk and grab a smoothie. It was such a beautiful day out that there were more people out on the streets in the morning than usual as they were basking in the bright sun and lovely weather.

Once she got back home, she made her favorite breakfast—a bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel with cream cheese; and rehearsed some of the more emotional and dramatic lines, taking notes on which parts needed more depth of emotion.

The day had gone by relatively fast as she showered, tidied, and packed her belongings; and it was already 3:45, so she headed out the door.

As Luci was locking up and about to walk down the hall, she looked at Harry’s door. She hadn’t talked to him in about two weeks, since the time he opened his door to Samuel kissing her cheek. She had sort of missed him, and she felt like the event with Samuel had put up a wall; she felt like he was avoiding her.

Thinking back to their conversation at the diner, she remembered that he told her he would be there when it was her time to perform, and she didn’t want to not inform him on that because she had a feeling that he would be disappointed hadn’t he known.

Bravely, she stood in front of his door and knocked, hoping that he was home because she didn’t have his number to tell him. Luci waited one minute before she knocked again and waited another minute before sighing. Just as she was two feet down the hall, his door suddenly opened, making her turn around quickly. Harry looked out into the hall without taking a step out of his apartment and saw Luci with a tote bag on her shoulder, wearing leggings, a vintage tee with Stevie Nicks printed on it, and a beige cardigan.

“Luci?”

She turned around. “Harry, hi. Uh, how are you?” Her attitude had visibly changed and brightened as she was ecstatic to see that he answered the door. His hair was wet, separating the strands of hair into slightly thicker chunks as water droplets lingered at the tips; which explained why he didn’t answer the door right away.

“Good, good. How are you?”

“Good—great, actually. I-I’m actually performing tonight and I wanted to tell you that in case you wanted to watch the show.” She suppressed a wide smile, linking his hands together to refrain herself from jumping up and down in excitement.

Harry raised his brows before the corners of his lips turned upward. “Really?” She nodded. “Luci, that’s amazing!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, I’m really excited. I was just called this morning that I was performing tonight, so I’m heading to the theatre right now.”

“I’m so happy for you. But I, uh, have plans already tonight. I’m sorry,” he said sympathetically. Luci couldn’t deny the ache in her chest when he said that, but she completely understood as it was a last minute decision for her to perform.

“Oh, no worries. Maybe another time whenever I get to perform again. I’ll let you know?”

“Yeah, please do.” He nodded. There was a bit of silence after as there was nothing left to say. “Well, uh, good luck out there.”

“Thank you.” She smiled. “Maybe we could get some coffee or a smoothie. There’s this really good smoothie place down the street-”

“Brooklyn’s Smoothies?” He asked; Luci nodded. “That’s my go-to smoothie place. But yeah, I’m down for that. Just let me know when.”

Now, she had another thing she could be excited about: her second hangout with Harry.

“Great!” She headed towards the hall before she walked back towards him, pulling her phone out. “Here, put your number in—only if you want to.” He chuckled, grabbing her phone as he quickly put his number and name into his phone before handing it back to her. “I’ll text you. Bye, Harry!” She waved as she walked towards the end of the hall; Harry waved back before walking back into his apartment and closing the door.

Once she was on the subway, she found Harry’s contact, which he named himself ‘Harry (neighbor)’ as if he thought she was going to forget who he was. But it was quite the opposite as he seemed to invade most of her mind as she mindlessly thought about him. She almost always curses herself for being so nervous around him, but that was because he somewhat intimidated her; and that said a lot because she’s very confident in her own skin and rarely finds anyone intimidating. But there was just something about him that made her nervous, and that thought slightly scared her.

Hi, Harry! It’s Luci, here’s my number.

She placed her phone face down on her thigh that was relentlessly bouncing before she hit send. Before sending it, she looked over the text, practically overthinking a simple greeting that didn’t need any more thinking. A few minutes later as she was transferring trains and sitting on the blue bench, her phone vibrated. She picked up her phone as the screen lit up; Harry’s message appeared on the screen.

Hiiii, thank you. Good luck tonight x

Luci smiled crazily at her phone, putting her chin to her chest as she hid her smile from the many people on the subway with her. She thanked him, and decided to start another conversation after the show so she could tell him how the show went, which was an excuse to text him again. She locked her phone and turned the volume up higher as G Luné played through her Airpods.

Her cheeks had started to hurt due to the fact that she couldn’t stop smiling, like it was genuinely difficult for her stop. A surge of happiness and relief had washed over her that she felt the happiness line on her chart increase. With a little over two months of living in New York, she had felt like her career was going nowhere when that was the entire reason why she moved there; the whole situation with Daisy had made her life plateaued as her happiness line wasn’t moving upwards. But tonight, it was skyrocketing.

T-minus five minutes until showtime, and Luci was bouncing on the balls of her feet. She started humming and whistling to get her mind off the perturbation that ran along the linings and spaces of her body; it didn’t help that everyone was literally running around, passing by one another through the dark corridor.

Obviously, everyone knew that it was Luci’s first night performing, so they tried keeping everything light and easy for her, which she appreciated. Once she walked through the doors of backstage, she was immediately greeted with warm and excited smiles—the complete opposite as the last time she walked through the door. Nina squealed and hugged her as they both jumped around in elation; Luci truly missed the first friend she’d ever made on Broadway, and they promised each other that they’d hangout more often outside the theatre.

After Luci had her hair and makeup done, changed into her costume, and was mic'd up, she was standing on the side of the stage where she could hear the crowd settling into their seats as they talked amongst themselves. Peter, who was playing Chris tonight, stood beside her, rolling his neck in circles and moving his jaw around. She was glad to know that Samuel wasn’t performing tonight because god only knows what he would say to her, only to get inside of her head right before the show.

She heard the technical and stage crew speak into their headsets, asking if everyone was ready as they counted down from ten. The lights went out, the curtains were pulled to the side, and Luci’s mind went blank as ‘Kim’ took over, completely owning this character because it was fucking showtime.

After two hours of pouring emotion to give her best act while the spotlight was on her, shining brighter than ever before so she couldn’t see the audience below her, watching intently, her first performance was successfully over.

She’d earned a majority of standing ovations and was called for another curtain call, where she ran back on stage to overwhelmingly smile brightly, waved, bowed, and blew kisses to the crowd who were whistling and cheering for her wonderful performance. This amazing and exhilarating feeling was something she anticipated, and it did not disappoint; it was a feeling that she wanted to feel every other night. She loved the praise, the cheers, and the claps that were thrown at her so fast that she could cry at how hard the impact was.

When she left the stage and headed over to the dressing room, her cast members cheered for her as Luci clapped all around the room for everyone’s hard work tonight as well. They all took pictures with one another to share this memorable moment; Luci told everyone to send her the pictures because she wanted to get them framed for her apartment because this moment was definitely frame-worthy.

When it was time to leave, they all took off their costume and hung it on its rightful rack, and changed into their own clothes before walking out into the lobby where the audience could meet and greet some of the cast. Cheers erupted in the lobby once the cast walked through the doors, and they all smiled, mouthing ‘thank you’ and bowing their heads in appreciation.

Luci walked through the crowd as they stopped her to tell her that she did an amazing performance; she was grateful and said thank you to everyone she came across. She weaved through the crowd, trying to find Nathan or anyone she could share this moment with; and she was lucky that Nathan was tall because she spotted him instantly.

When she finally reached him, she was somewhat surprised to see their parents with him because they didn’t mention they were coming tonight, just that they had to see what they could do in order to make it.

Beatrice was the first one to hug her. “Oh, my Lucky Star. I’m so proud of you!” She hugged Luci tight, swaying to the side. Once her mother let go, she hugged her dad who had the proudest and biggest smile on his face.

“Lulu, you did amazing up there.” She smiled into Ren’s shoulder, feeling herself tear up from the positive reaction of her performance.

Nathan was patiently waiting for his hug; and Luci pulled away from her father, giving him a smile before hugging her brother.

“Ana, you’re so talented.” He squeezed her, patting her back as she always found the action comforting since she was a little girl. Beatrice was taking photos of her kids, tears glossing her eyes at her greatest accomplishments.

“Thank you for coming. I know you’re tired from work, but thank you for being here anyways.” She could tell that Nathan had just put a long coat over his navy blue scrubs, meaning that he had flown to New York straight from work.

“No worries. We wouldn’t miss this for anything, honestly.”

Luci pulled away, smiling as she faced her family. She thanked her parents for coming, still surprised, and they said the same thing Nathan did: that they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

They took pictures amongst each other, taking a family selfie before Ren had just asked someone nearby to take a proper photo of them.

“Excuse me? Do you mind taking a picture of us?” The man turned around, making Luci softly gasp. Tonight was just full of surprises because Harry was the one who turned around and nodded, grabbing her mother’s phone to take a picture of her family.

Harry looked dashingly handsome; he wore black trousers, a baby pink shirt with a black coat over. He held a bouquet of flowers in his arms as he took the picture; and for the life of Luci, she couldn’t dare to stop smiling at him instead of the camera.

Ren was the first to walk over to him and thanked him, but Harry didn’t walk away, he simply stayed put until Luci walked over towards him. Her parents and brother were looking at each other warily, wondering how Luci knew the man who took their picture.

“You’re here.” She smiled so brightly as if the spotlight was glued onto her.

Harry blushed, looking down at his feet before looking back up. “Yeah, I told you I would be here when you were going to perform, right?” Something that she hadn’t witnessed yet until now, that took her by surprise, was the dimple that indented his left cheek, more so than his right cheek. He looked absolutely adorable when he smiled, on top of being handsome; Harry was simply a beautiful man.

“You did tell me that, I remember.” She couldn’t stop the giddy grin that felt like it was permanently placed on her face because she couldn’t believe that he was here.

“Oh, these are for you. You did an amazing job—the crowd loved you.” He handed her the mixed bouquet of pink peonies, baby pink roses, white lillies, and baby’s breath wrapped in brown paper. Luci smiled down at the bouquet, admiring how pretty the colors and how well the different flowers looked together. She wondered if Harry picked these out himself; if he individually picked every single flower that was in the bouquet.

Feeling her face heat up, she unexpectedly leaned in for a hug; and this time, he was ready as he opened his arms and hugged her. He squeezed her tighter than he did when she was crying in his arms, making her heart flutter in her chest. Luci had completely forgotten that her family was behind her until she pulled away. Her eyes slightly widened, knowing that they were most likely enjoying the show that was happening off-stage of her hugging a man they didn’t know.

“Thank you so much for coming, Harry. It means a lot to me.” He simply nodded. Luci slightly turned her body, presenting herself to her family. “Uh, Harry, this is my family. And this is Harry; he’s my neighbor.”

Beatrice brows raised, and Luci gave her a knowing look that told her not to say anything weird.

“Hi, I’m Beatrice, Luci’s mom.” She shook his hand.

“Hello, I’m Harry. Nice to meet you.” Beatrice turned towards Luci with wide eyes once she heard his accented voice, and she chuckled at her mother’s reaction.

Ren and Nathan introduced themselves, and they all made conversation quite easily. It was a side that Luci’s never seen of Harry—quite talkative. She wondered if she was the problem as to why he wasn’t so talkative. But she figured that almost everyone wanted to impress and get along with their friend’s parents.

Once they were finished talking amongst themselves, Beatrice whispered into Ren’s ear and then Nathan’s; and Luci wondered what they could be so secretive about that they couldn’t say it out loud.

Suddenly, Nathan said, “Well, we’ll see you soon, Ana.” He gave her a quick hug as Luci furrowed her brows, confused.

“Oh, I thought we could get dinner or something.” It was like her parents didn’t even consider her suggestion as they were hugging her goodbye.

“I have to get back to Boston, work tomorrow, y’know?” Nathan excuses; Luci nodded, understanding before turning her head towards her parents, seeing which excuse they’ll use since tomorrow was Sunday.

“Uh, we have a flight to catch—red-eye.” Beatrice spoke up, a little white lie slipping so easily on her tongue. Luci looked at Ren, finding him nodding, warily looking at his wife.

She could tell, inside and out, that her parents weren’t being truthful because she knew that they’d want to spend every minute with her while they were in the city so they wouldn’t get a red-eye flight on her opening night. Plus, Beatrice had been eyeing her and Harry ever since he introduced himself, so she knew that her family acting weird and how they suddenly had to leave was most likely them wanting Luci to hangout with Harry.

“Plus, don’t you have an afterparty to go to?” Ren asked.

“I mean, yeah, but I could always skip it-”

“Now, why would you do that? It’s your opening night; people are gonna be wondering where you are!” Ren did make a point, making Luci mentally agreeing.

Luci didn’t bother asking any more questions, and decided to let them leave, although she was a bit sad that they had to leave again. They said another round of goodbyes and hugged each other tightly; they planned to come to New York again so they could properly hang out, and Luci said that she’ll see what she could do with going back home to visit. Of course, they didn’t forget to say goodbye to Harry; Ren and Nathan shaking his hand as Beatrice gave him a hug. Luci watched them interact as if he was an old boyfriend or a new boyfriend that they happened to like and adore so much.

She waved to them as they headed outside the Broadway Theatre doors, and then she was left with Harry. He shyly smiled at her, and Luci hugged the bouquet of flowers tightly to her chest.

“Uh, would you like to go to the afterparty with me?” She asked.

Luci watched as Harry considered the invitation in his head. There were two options that he was debating from: go home and have a boring night in, or go to an afterparty with his insanely beautiful neighbor that he was slowly but surely taking a liking to. He realized that wasn’t such a difficult decision after all, so he chose the latter.

“I’d love to.”

The entire cast settled into the same lounge that held their very first afterparty. The lounge apparently didn’t mind since everyone contributed to buying lots of alcohol, so they obviously wouldn’t pass up the opportunity of business.

Luci introduced Harry to the cast who decided to show up, and she was happy that they were very friendly and welcoming to him because the last thing she wanted was awkward tension between her neighbor and coworkers. She wished Nina had gone to the after party because Luci knew that she would get excited about the neighbor she’s crushing on.

Luci and Harry decided to pace themselves with the drinks as they didn’t take the shots that were given to them at the same time as the rest; instead, they nursed and sipped their drinks. They were towards the end of the circle, in their own world as they talked to one another. Luci was happy they were getting to know each other better, but she figured that was the help and magic of what alcohol did. They told each other childhood stories that made each other laugh, increasing the buzz going on inside their heads.

Harry had an additional glow to him when he was tipsy, and Luci thought it was the cutest thing ever. He was very touchy—placing a hand on her arm, shoulder, or knee at any given moment—and his laugh was contagious as it was loud and he threw his head back. It was a side that pleasantly took her by surprise, and she hoped that as they continued talking and hanging out, this side of him comes out more when they’re sober and comfortable with one another.

“Can I ask why your brother calls you Ana?” He wondered, asking at the same time Luci was taking a sip of her drink.

She nodded. “Yeah. So, Nathan is five years older than I am, and my mom and dad said when he was five, he still had a hard time speaking, like he’d babble and seem to talk gibberish. Anyways, when I was born, my parents were trying to get him to say my name, but couldn’t pick up on the first part of it; he started out with ‘An,’ but eventually picked up ‘Ana.’ And since then, it just seemed to stick—he’s the only one who calls me that and would personally get offended if someone else called me that.” She ended with a chuckle and a sip of her shot.

“What’s your full name?”

“Luciana Ivy Suki.” She said slow and a bit sultry, which she hadn’t meant to. The dark light and booze didn’t help that she felt a bit sexy.

Harry smirked slightly. “Luciana.” He stated as if he was testing how it sounded and felt on the tongue. Luci felt a chill run down her body, making her skin prickle from the goosebumps.

If she was starting to melt from the sound of her nickname from his lips, the sound of her full name had completely liquified her.

After an hour, the two moved to the bar, completely forgetting that they were with the cast. Luci suggested getting more drinks for them, and Harry told her that he’d come with. He said something along the lines of “don’t want to miss a moment hanging out with you,” and Luci swore that her heart was becoming a butterfly’s nest as it sank down to her stomach and made her smile.

“It’s genuinely insane how talented you are, like I was nearly crying by the end of the show!” He complimented, sipping on a Pomegranate Paloma through a thin black straw. Harry was genuinely so amazed as he watched Luci act, alas he was near the rear mezzanine, which was towards the back, he was still blown away by the entire production, especially Luci’s talents.

“That’s so sweet. Thank you, Harry.” She smiled down at her Royal Manhattan, swirling the drink around in its glass. She was used to taking compliments about her acting and talent, but when Harry complimented her, it made her insides jittery and her face heat up; she felt so honored that Harry was praising her for her talents.

“Now, can I ask…I thought you had plans tonight. What happened to that?” She wondered.

Harry blushed, nervously chuckling. “Uh, I canceled them.”

Her eyes widened. “W-Was it anything serious?”

“It was a date that my friend, Jeff, set me up with but I wasn’t all that interested in the first place.

She pouted. “Harry, I feel bad.”

“Don’t be. I wanted to be here.” She smiled at that, looking at the contents inside of her glass.

“I’m really glad you’re here.” She reciprocated the thought, clinking her glass with his as they both sipped their drinks.

After another hour, the cast was lessening one by one, calling it a night as they said their goodbyes to Luci and Harry. She hadn’t realized how quickly time had gone by until the bartender of the lounge had told them that they were closing in a few minutes. Luci looked at her phone as the time read 12:55 a.m., which her and Harry laughed about because they were both in shock about the night being so late already. So, they left the lounge, not before generously tipping the bartender $40 each and gathered their belongings; Luci made sure to not forget the beautiful flowers Harry gave her.

Neither of them felt like they were sober enough to get on the subway themselves, knowing they would probably get on the wrong one or fall asleep and end up somewhere else. So, they decided on an Uber, seeming as that was the most responsible and safest option there was.

Luci got inside the black Honda, saying ‘hi’ to their driver. The entire ride back to Brooklyn was quiet, only the soft breaths they both exhaled and the pounding of their hearts. Harry felt himself getting sleepier, and unexpectedly resting his head against Luci’s shoulder. She tensed up at first, not expecting the action, but she welcomed it, placing her head on top of his. They both watched the city through the car window as it disappeared from their sight once they were in Brooklyn.

Once they were in front of their apartment complex, Harry offered her his arm and she looped her arm through his, leaning into his side as he guided her to the elevator. He leaned against the corner of the elevator with Luci pressed up against his side with her arms still around his, and he looked down to see her eyes closed. He softly smiled, moving the strand of hair that had fallen in the middle of her face to the side.

The loud Ding! of the elevator seemed to wake Luci up as she startled awake, making Harry chuckle. They walked down the hall and towards their door; Harry occasionally had to tell Luci to keep quiet as she was singing ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls, but Harry couldn’t help but join in.

When they got to their doors, as usual, they unlocked and opened it; but they didn’t immediately go inside their apartments. Instead, they turned around to face each other; both of their eyes droopy from the slight buzz that was still in their system.

Luci smiled before leaning in to hug him. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders as his arms went around her waist. The hug was sweet and warm as it definitely fed to the touchy-feely side of their buzz.

When they pulled away, Luci leaned up to boldly plant a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for being here, Harry. Shall we hang out next week?” Harry nodded, not trusting his voice to say anything as his heart erupted into flames. She gave him a smile as he was frozen from the chaste kiss; and Luci walked into her apartment, waving at him before she closed the door.

Harry was out in the hallway, stunned as he blushed from the small kiss she had left on his cheek; and it was something he was going to be dreaming of until he wakes up, only to think about it over and over again.

Harry was cooking breakfast when he heard relentless knocking on his front door. He peeked his head out from the kitchen to look at the door, like that would tell him who was behind it, as he was whisking some eggs in a white glass bowl. Setting the bowl down, he walked over to the door and opened it.

To his surprise, Luci was behind it as tears streamed down her face with her phone in her hand; she was in her soft blue pajama pants with a black hoodie over, and despite her recent state, Harry thought she looked absolutely adorable and cuddly. But he pushed that thought to the side; immediately, Harry was concerned. His eyes widened and his protective side turned on, thinking he was going to lose his shit on whoever caused this poor girl to cry.

“I-I’m sorry. I just…” she hiccupped, and Harry took her into his arms. He was slightly confused about what had happened during the six hours he’d last seen her—when they were coming home from the lounge. He still couldn’t get that kiss out of his head; in fact, it was difficult for him to sleep because he kept reiterating it in his head.

He pulled her into his apartment, closing the door as he sat her down on his brown leather couch. She cried into his shoulder as she passed him her phone that was unlocked on an article. He grabbed it, not letting go of her while he rubbed her arm.

The article read on the bright screen read:

Miss Saigon or Miss No-BE GONE!

Just twelve hours ago, I went to see the show ‘Miss Saigon; for the second time. The first time I went to see it was last month when Broadway star royalty, Ms. Daisy Beck, was playing the role of ‘Kim.’ With its amazing cast, production set, and story-telling, I knew I needed to see the play again.

My hopes and dreams were crushed when I didn’t see Ms. Beck on stage, but instead, a newbie Broadway actress known as Luciana Suki. Before writing this review, I did some research on her to my very best ability because she’s practically a nobody in this business, and found out that she had been in several commercials since she was a child (great another child actor) and has been on Off-Broadway, which definitely explains the acting! At least give a man a warning before I decide to put up with a shit-show of a performance. I couldn’t even stay for the entire show because it was completely horrifying to see injustice served to Kim and a downgrade from Daisy Beck.

I tried, I really tried; but I left during intermission. Luciana Suki is not meant to be playing the part of Kim—almost everyone agrees. There was no connection, no emotion to the character, and it was a poorly done job in Luciana’s part and the casting.

It’s Daisy Beck or no production. Simple as that, or else, the show will lose its audience and precious money that they wasted on paying Luciana Suki.

Harry sighed, balling his hands up into fists as he locked her phone and set it aside. How could anybody be so cruel? He understood the importance of critics to the theatre, but to outright insult and humiliate someone wasn’t even critical—it’s being straight up rude.

Once Luci was ready and had somewhat calmed down, she pulled away from Harry’s embrace, looking at him. Poor Luci’s eyes were swollen and her eyes were red from the crying, and she was a sniffling mess. Harry quickly grabbed her a few tissues to dry her tears, and she blew her nose into the soft cotton paper, not really caring how unattractive she thought it was.

“That article was written by Adam West—the most important critic in Broadway.” She wiped the snot under her nose. “H-He practically just ruined my career and any chances I have on Broadway ever again.” Luci sobbed as it was difficult for her to accept the fact that she may never act ever again because of a senior journalist. Her chest hurt and her eyes started to become sore from the amount of times she squeezed them shut, freeing her tears.

“No, come here.” Harry’s heart ached for her, and he couldn’t imagine what she must be going through when that article was directly made towards her. He pulled her in for another hug, and she softly cried against his chest, staining his white t-shirt with her tears, but he couldn’t care less. “You’re insanely talented—critics or no critics—no one could deny your talent. What he said was unprofessional and poorly written, and that’s coming from an English major and a teacher. Now, I’m sure that you know you’re extremely gifted and you’ve worked hard to get to where you are. So, don’t let him get to you because almost everyone loved your performance last night.”

Harry reassured her quite well that Luci had calmed down; it helped that the vibrations from his chest to her ear as he talked had soothed her—it was quite relaxing. She pulled away again, looking at him through glassy eyes as another tear threatened to fall. He placed his palms against her cheeks, taking his thumbs and running it across her skin to wipe her tears away.

“Would you like some French Toast? Heard it’s a comfort-food, but I may be wrong. Maybe I’m being biased because I think my recipe is good.” He tried lightening up her mood, and it’d definitely worked because she breathed out a chuckle and nodded.

“I’m not intruding, right?” He shook his head. “No significant other to get mad at me and throw me out?” She slyly asked as she had been wondering if he had someone. Plus, she was still wondering about the red-hair woman who frantically left his apartment.

“Nope.”

“The…red-haired girl. You’re not with her?”

Harry smirked as he definitely indulged into the slightly jealous feeling that Luci was portraying. “No, we’re not dating. She’s just a friend.” He chuckled. “What about you? Someone I should be worried about?” He stirred the topic towards her as curiosity also got the best of him.

“Nope.” She answered the same way he did. “Do you make out with all of your friends? Noticed her lipstick was a bit smeared off.” Luci knew later on that she would regret opening her mouth and spewing out those particular choice of words. Her tone also seemed a bit jealous, and she had no right to be, but her crush on Harry was quickly increasing.

“I mean, some of them; when the time comes.” He somewhat joked.

“Would you make out with me?” Luci spat out, but quickly slapped her palm against her mouth, eyes widening. Her mind was speaking for herself as she’d been dreaming of the way Harry’s pink lips felt against her mouth and other places she wouldn’t dare speak aloud. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why-”

“Yeah, I would,” he responded honestly. This was the most honest and straight-forward he’d ever been, which only occurs every few months, so it was time to close that window again and wait for it to open. But he also couldn’t deny his attraction to her, like it was difficult to not be so enticed with her. He felt at complete ease with her, and it felt incredibly easy to talk to Luci and be open. “So, the French Toast?” He changed the subject, walking over to the kitchen, leaving Luci glued to her seat on the couch.

Astonished by his words, she was extra shocked that he was so quick to move on from his response. But she was glad to know that he would want to kiss her, maybe, some time in the future; but the thought made her giddy because she undeniably wanted to kiss him too.

come talk to me about your favorite moments and scenes, and your thoughts and feelings! thank you for reading <3 next chapter will be posted next saturday!

#harry styles fanfiction #harry styles au #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #harry styles x ofc #harry styles ff #harry styles fanfic #harry styles series #harry styles writing #teacher!harry #boyfriend!harry #actress!oc

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beebrainedstudios · 3 years

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A Few Notes About ADSOM’s Writing/Themes Type Stuff

Because I’m in the mood to ramble and have a few opinions about some smaller things in the series that I actually think are really cool/smart writing. This is all personal opinion and is based on a bunch of half-formed thoughts and realizations, so if you disagree or think I missed something, please know I probably did, I’m just jotting this down for fun and have not fully explored all these concepts yet. They just seem neat at first glance. Also, other books have probably done some of this stuff too; I’m not saying Schwab is the only one who’s done any of this stuff, I’m just saying that it’s cool that it’s in ADSOM.

- First of all, props to Schwab for Alucard. I know there have been plenty of authors who have brought new characters in later in a series with no prior warning, but I have rarely seen one so immediately popular and gripping in a trilogy as Alucard except for Finnick from the Hunger Games. Alucard’s introduction doesn’t come at the cost of another character (as in, he’s not there to make someone who’s supposed to be bad look even worse) and his arc doesn’t supersede anyone else’s. He’s great, and the fact that he is generally considered part of the main group despite being introduced a whole book later is awesome and a testament to his character.

- Sort-of connected to the previous point, but I think one of the reasons Alucard works so well is that he doesn’t have a giant arc. Everyone else in the series has a fairly complex internal conflict going on (excluding Lila, but she still has a long arc even if it’s shallow) and Alucard does too, but his is one that suits his shorter presence in the story; he doesn’t have to become king/learn to stop running from responsibility/change allegiances every five minutes. He just has to figure out how to confess a painful secret to several people who aren’t willing to listen. Schwab, especially in ADSOM, isn’t afraid to give characters different size arcs at different times; if you graphed them all, it wouldn’t be a bunch of near-identical lines that could be mistaken for one, it’d be a bunch of crazy curves that start and end at different times and reach different heights. When authors who have larger casts do this, it instantly makes the story twice as engaging. Alucard’s just a good example of this.

- I know this one’s a bit more controversial, but Kell/Lila actually has a lot of narrative potential for Threads of Power. In the main series, it’s framed against Rhy/Alucard, which is already an established relationship (even if it took a break) where the two characters know each other well; this is why, once Alucard can confirm he never meant to leave, the two get back together relatively smoothly and happily. Their relationship is much more matured than Kell and Lila’s, which is why Kell/Lila’s chemistry can sometimes read as a little strange (at least to me), and why I don’t think it’s necessarily a perfect relationship just yet. Lila is a very strong personality with a bit of a demanding streak; Kell in turn has a massive problem with caving to others and refusing to stand up for himself (I’m gonna talk about this later). Left unchecked, this will become a problem, but if addressed in Threads of Power, it can lead to two really engaging arcs with Kell learning he does not have to be everyone’s emotional punching bag and with Lila learning that it isn’t enough to just stay in a relationship- there has to be give and take, something she hasn’t demonstrated well yet. Maybe they’ll even take a break in Threads of Power to give the pair time to mature (I’m personally rooting for Alucard and Kell to somehow get stuck together while Lila gets stuck with Rhy). IDK, I think Kell/Lila is cool, especially when taken as a work in progress over a fully fledged relationship.

- This is part of the previous point and part of the following one, but I think the fact that Kell’s personality and problems are largely focused on his tendency to avoid conflict is a really cool idea for a protagonist, especially a man (note that I’m not calling him weak here). This may not sound like Kell’s personality, but let me explain. Kell is insanely noncombative, and almost everything he does to try and solve a problem reads to me as him actively trying to avoid confronting someone about it. “I don’t feel like part of the royal family because I have no princely attributes despite being one in name, and while I acknowledge I’m lucky I still can’t get rid of these feelings”- Smuggles instead of talking to the Maresh (he tried with Rhy and Lila and look how that turned out). “I’m feeling pent-up because I almost died multiple times in less than twenty-four hours/have trauma and am being punished with isolation/no longer even being called a son despite the fact my magic acts up when this happens”- Competes in the Essen Tasch instead of talking to Maxim. “I hate you because you hurt my brother’s feelings when you abandoned him and I had to pick up the pieces”- Consistently antagonizes Alucard instead of really confronting him/letting him explain himself because that would mean that Kell’s ingrained-trained protectiveness of Rhy has caused another problem. Kell is a character who seems very proud and sure of himself, but when one looks closer, he actually has very little confidence. He has no self-respect, and that sets him up great for his narrative foil- Holland.

- Holland and Kell have a complex narrative relationship as two very well developed foils, and a lot of this has been addressed by the fandom before, but one of the most interesting points I haven’t seen much of is their thematic exploration of respect vs pride. Holland is a character who doesn’t like himself- this much is obvious- but while he takes no pride in his own actions, he has an insane amount of self-respect. He has to be literally forced into following another’s will, he doesn’t let other people’s opinions get himself down, he gives as good as he gets always no matter how hard it is. Holland has to be beaten into submission, and even then he simmers with righteous anger over it because he knows he should get to make his own choices. Holland has self-respect; I may hate myself, but that doesn’t mean I will let you disrespect me.

Meanwhile, Kell is a people-pleaser who puts on a facade of confidence who never actually uses it. Kell has pride in himself- in things like his magic, his coat, his wit- but he doesn’t actually have a lot of self-respect. He folds to anyone who is more demanding than him (AKA everyone else in the series), and the other characters abuse this constantly. Rhy, whether he means to or not, uses his influence over Kell to keep him from standing up to the Maresh over their constantly-shifting parenting positions. Maxim and Emira use their affection and respect like bait to get Kell to do what they want even when he’s uncomfortable. Lila can yell at Kell about his upbringing or accuse him of overprotectiveness (sometimes fairly, sometimes not) and Kell will simply stop talking. Kell just lets this happen; he doesn’t ever stand up for himself because he has been convinced things are usually his fault. I may like myself just fine, but I will let you walk all over me because it’s not my place to stop you and I’m probably the problem and also I shouldn’t have wanted XYZ in the first place. It doesn’t matter how much Kell debates with himself if he started the conflict or if he rails against the way he’s addressed- as long as Kell isn’t respected by his loved ones or the people around him, he won’t respect himself, and that is simultaneously really interesting and really, really sad.

- Also on the Holland and Kell front, Holland using Kell as the metaphorical scapegoat for his issues makes perfect sense, especially since I think he actually knows he isn’t in the right. Kell is often in places where Holland is at least uncomfortable and at worst in pain, and he is the tangible representation of Red London, the world Holland hates most of all. I’m convinced Holland’s brain put two and two together, which is why Holland often punishes/hurts/hates Kell for Red London’s systemic issues even when it is obvious to everyone involved Kell isn’t to blame. Holland lashes out at Kell in their first meeting because he’s offended that Red London is successful and White London is not; this isn’t Kell’s fault. He blames Kell for a)killing him and b)killing the Danes and stealing his vengeance; this also isn’t Kell’s fault. He even seems to get a little bit of satisfaction over the idea of sicking Osaron on Red London through Kell, despite the fact that making a deal with Osaron wasn’t Kell’s idea either; it was Holland’s (Kell didn’t have a choice to kill him and didn’t think he’d survive, but Holland still seems to interpret it as Kell banishing him to Black London, even though he would absolutely do the same thing in his shoes). Holland is a very angry person and Kell is unfortunately put in his way a lot, but I still think it’s neat that the very-rational Holland seems to have an awareness that this behavior isn’t fair/has unfair intentions but still is unwilling to stop anyway. He’s using this grudge as a coping mechanism and that feels really realistic to me.

- Minor point here, but the knowledge that eye color and stuff is incredibly varied and changes with magic use makes my little artist heart very happy indeed.

- I’m a big Osaron fan, and one of the things about him that I think is really cool is how completely unconcerned with revenge he is. Yes, he holds grudges against the Antari, but he doesn’t seem to care that he got locked in Black London for centuries. He has taken no personal offense over it, and that makes him seem even more inhuman to me- Holland spent like six hours in Black London and he carried that grudge for ages. Also, his complete certainty that he was not going to repeat the Black Plague in Red London is hilarious to me- he’s like a dog that keeps knocking its toy somewhere it can’t reach because it doesn’t compute that repeating the same action will always have the same result. Surely this won’t go wrong again, Osaron thinks, as the world once again starts dying off. He’s kind of an idiot, and I love that.

- The fact that Kamerov is both a knight and silver themed during a time when Rhy is throwing himself into his role as the Golden Prince may be unintentional, but is still cool nonetheless.

#i may reblog this later with more if i have any other revelations #but for now this will do #adsom #a darker shade of magic #shades of magic #ve schwab #agos #a gathering of shadows #a conjuring of light #acol #adsom theory #adsom headcanon #bee rambles #alucard emery #rhy maresh #kell maresh #lila bard #holland vosijk

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mageofseven · 4 years

Text

The Brothers’ Reaction to MC smuggling in a pet from the Human World

Depressed MC asking the brothers to let her back into the human world to “grab something important” but won’t say what it is. Once back from the human world, they reveal that the item of importance is actually her pet. Let the battle to keep it commence!

Lucifer:

Being the observant guy he is, Luce notices MC’s change in mood rather quickly

Thinking maybe you were just having an off day, he didn’t say anything about it

But then the end of the week came and you still seemed out of it, lacking your usual enthusiasm

When finally approached about it, you wouldn’t meet his eyes

“There’s...something I need to get from home. Back in the human world...”

A moment of silent passes.

“Would you care to elaborate on what that may be?”

Avoided answering like the plague. Instead, a day of constant begging ensues.

This man is usually pretty resistant to such a thing, thanks to his brothers (especially Mammon).

Still, your their low mood mixed with his mild curiosity led him to give in.

Next day, he agreed to let you go, under the condition that you show him whatever items you took as soon as you’re back.

He never expected that the “something important” was going to be a small, chubby dog.

Cue the frustration

“MC, you are well aware that no animals are allowed in the dorm--”

“BUT YOU HAVE CERBERUS!”

“Cerberus doesn’t live in the dorm with us and actually serves a purpose--”

Angry Dog Mom™️ activated

For once, Lucifer is the one on the receiving end of the lecture as you list all of your dog’s important qualities and why you need your furbaby with you.

Man is stressed out just wants to be down with the conversation; time to choose his battles. Spoiler: he doesn’t choose this one.

Negotiation ensues. Outcome? Two weeks. MC gets a trial run for two weeks. If they can take care of the dog by themselves for two weeks without any major issues caused by the dog while also taking up the grocery shopping for the next month, the dog can stay.

This man does not have high hopes for the dog, but will humor MC for the time being.

Mammon:

Of course he’d know when his human was feeling down. Who do you think he is?

In truth, it took him about a day and half to realize that they were feeling sad and not just too busy to hang out.

To his credit, he didn’t wait around for MC to perk up on their own.

“Yo, what’s the big idea? If you’re sad, just say so!”

Don’t bother denying it; the poor boy is already worried.

“Mammon... I kinda need a favor...”

Boy wouldn’t admit it, but he was eager to do what ever he could to cheer you up

Until you say you need to get to the human world to grab something

He already knows he’ll be hanging from the ceiling when Lucifer finds out, but this boy just can’t say no to you.

Makes a few deals with some witches and has you out there the next day

Is confused as hell when you bring back a cage

“What even is that thing??”

“It’s my chinchilla, Kiwi.”

This boy is dead when Lucifer finds out, by hey, at least the little rodent is kinda cute?

Leviathan:

This boy was too absorbed in the anime to really notice anything wrong with you at first.

He was a big fan of the manga series the anime was based off so when he heard they made the anime for, Levi needed you to watch it with him.

When he had paused it to rant about an inconsistency between the manga and the anime however, he noticed you were spaced out

Poor boy is instantly insecure.

“Of course you’d ignore a waste-of-space otaku like me...”

“No, no! I’m sorry! It’s just...”

It takes a moment to explain why you zoned out.

“Levi...can you please help me get home? Just long enough to get what I need!”

Boy is lowkey worried that you actually plan to leave and not come back. After spending time reassuring him that you really do just mean a quick trip to grab something important from your home, he’s a little more comfortable with helping.

Luckily, your goals seem to align with his.

He recently found out that his favorite mangaka is doing a book signing in the human world, but Lucifer had already refused his request because he didn’t trust Levi to go alone.

So guess whose making this trip a reality? You!

The two of you go to Lucifer right away to beg him to let you to go to the human world just for a day.

Though still a bit iffy about his decision, he did eventually agree since he knew if Levi were to fall out of line for some reason and do something he shouldn’t, MC could use the power of their pact to bring his actions to a halt.

Mission one success!

Two days later, the two of you are on the way to the human world.

You had to spend the first couple hours of it in line at the manga shop so Levi could get his book signed.

Not as boring as you may think. You got to talk to Levi for a while and it was really cute seeing him all excited.

Once the boy got his book signed though, he was too absorbed in the fact that his favorite manga artist wrote on his book cover that he forget his end of the deal. This dude was totally ready to head home till you reminded him about why you’re here.

Right, onward to MC’s house.

Awkward boy is awkward. He waited outside as you rushed into your house so he didn’t have to deal with uncomfortable conversation with your family.

You eventually come out with a backpack full of who-knows-what and a fish bowl with a tiny, almost translucent fish.

“Okay, I got her! Let’s go home!”

“Wait, you have a fish too??”

You two would get in trouble if Lucifer found out you made an unapproved stop at home, so you decided to pretend that the fish is Levi’s for now.

He’s actually glad to know you both have another thing in common.

Satan:

It was just a normal Sunday afternoon. You were relaxing with Satan as you both read your individual books.

However, he looked up from his book to find your eyes staring out the window instead of on your book.

Satan knew since he saw you at breakfast earlier that morning that you were upset about something, but decided to wait and see if you’d to come to him first.

So far, that hasn’t happened yet. He sighed and lowered his book.

“Okay. So what is the problem?”

Denying it just receives an eyebrow raise from the blonde. Try again.

“Look...there something from home that I miss. Like, a lot.”

Even after asking a series of question about this ‘something’, all he got in return was a sad shrug.

“Do you think...is there any way I could go home and get it?”

Satan questions if the item is truly that important, but of course you say yes.

Only Diavolo and Lucifer can activate the teleport magic in the student council room because of a series of issues that took play like 50 years (three of them were Mammon’s while one was Levi’s) so now all of the brothers are locked out without explicit permission. Satan was never particularly interested in going to the human world before, but once Lucifer decided he wasn’t allowed to anymore, Satan started searching for a way to do so.

And he succeeded. Lucky you.

It took three days for the perfect opening. Lucifer had to handle some legal matters with Diavolo further to the west of the Devildom. He let everyone know at breakfast that he wouldn’t be back till later that evening.

The two got to MC’s house without any problems (well, except for Beel, but a promise to get him something from Madam Screams when they got back helped him to ‘forget’ the comment MC made about their trip before they left)

Your family was out when you got there so the two of you entered the house without distraction.

As soon as you entered, you started searching under the couches, behind the TV, in your room under your bed, various different spots.

Satan raised an eyebrow at your actions, curious about what you were searching for, but didn’t ask. After all, you already decided not to tell him earlier. He just had to be patient and see for himself.

While you did that, Satan wandered into the kitchen to see more of the house. That’s when he spied an orange ball of fluff on top of the fridge.

He smiled at the cat as it jumped down to counter to meet with him. Reaching out to pet the orange tabby, it purred against his hand.

“CHEESE!”

MC raced into the kitchen to embrace the cat.

“Cheese?”

“Yeah, her name’s Cheese.”

So this was what you were looking for. Hmm. That explains the secrecy, he supposed.

Not sure how you both are gonna hide the cat from Lucifer back at House of Lamentation, but hey, Satan’s all for cats.

Asmodeus:

Asmo was actually pretty observant when it came to your mood change.

He didn’t really ask about it though. Instead, he launched into just comforting and cheering up.

As soon as he saw the mood shift, it was officially a spa day; he had you take a nice relaxing bubble bath, lit scented candles, and even gave you a makeover. Picked out an outfit that he had been practically dying to see you in and did your hair and make up too.

Honestly, you did feel a lot better. All the attention Asmo was giving you really did help you cheer up and you even felt extra beautiful by the end of the night.

It was while he was doing your nails and you both were talking about anything and everything when you finally confessed to why you were so sad today.

“It just hurts, ya know? I know I really didn’t have a chance to bring it with me, but still...”

Before you even a chance to say what ‘it’ is, this boy already saying you should just go get it. As if it’s that easy.

Or is it?

The next day, he talks Lucifer into letting you both go grab a few things from your home in the human world.

Honestly, things should not have worked out as well as they did, but no complaints here.

When you get there, this boy is exploring every little corner of your house and isn’t even being subtle about.

Oh well, you start packing up different items from your room as he judges the brand of shampoo and skincare products in your bathroom.

Wasn’t as surprised you might think to find a ball python snake in your tub.

Boy has obviously dealt with bigger snakes in the past.

Decides to the charm the little boop noodle and comes into your bedroom with the snake on his shoulders.

“MC, look at this! Isn't this the cutest little thing I could find?”

“Oh nice! You found Lyla!” You smile. “She always finds away out of her tank, but I was worried about how far she made it.”

Asmo wasn’t particularly interested in helping you carrying the tank back so you had to call Beel to come help you.

You two are basically in trouble the moment you walk in to the door and Lucifer sees the snake.

You have to do the dishes for the next two weeks and Asmo has to pick up more days to cook dinner, but you somehow manage to keep the snake here with you.

Beelzebub:

Another brother who notices your sad mood fairly quickly

But he doesn’t really know what to do about or what to say

So he basically just tries to spend more time with you when he can so you aren’t stuck being sad and alone.

Starts walking you to class and doing homework with you more. He even skips his workouts some days so he can take you out some where and keep you away from your room.

He takes you out to eat a lot over the next week and you have to admit, it really does cheer you up when you see him happily munching on his favorite meal.

Beel’s presence is a mostly quiet one, but very comforting.

Still, you can’t help but to miss a certain piece of your home.

When the weekend comes, you finally confess to Beel about what has you down.

“Can’t I just...just real quick? I just want to stop at home to get something.”

He tries to ask about what it is specifically that you need, but you just get all fidgety and deflect from his question.

Poor boy is worried that he just upset you more by asking so he drops it.

Helps you get permission from Lucifer, who relents that it wouldn’t hurt for you to have more personal items here with you during your stay in the Devildom.

In the human world, you hadn’t even put your key in the lock before barking was heard from inside. As soon as the door opened, an excited husky jumped you.

You give out a big laugh as the dog puts its front paws on your shoulders and licks your face.

“Chaos, down! Down boy!” You say between laughs. I takes a minute for the good boy to settle down and put all his paws on the ground.

Beel’s original surprise melted away to a sweet smile.

The three of you went inside. As you went to grab a bag and gather different items, Beel sat on the couch (after his offer to help was rejected and he was told to relax).

The slightest movement made by the demon made the fluffy boy jump and let out small barks; he wants to play!

Beel finds a ball on the other side of the room and starts throwing it for the husky. The good boy duo plays fetch!

Eventually, MC comes back in the room, beaming at the sight.

“Aww you’re such good friends now!” You say before picking up a leash and calling Chaos to you. “Come on, boy; you get to come back with me.”

“...What?”

You explain to him that you came all this way for Chaos because you missed your big fluffy furbaby so much.

Sweet boy doesn’t have the heart to tell you no, that Chaos can’t come back with you.

Lucifer, on the other hand, had no issue telling you such when you got back

And, in fairness, its kinda hard to sell the idea that a dog named Chaos won’t cause any trouble in the dorm.

Beel steps up and says he’ll help you take care of the dog.

Lucifer let’s the dog stay

...for now

But if the dog does anything at all wrong, both of you are expected to take responsibly (and punishment) for it.

Belphie:

This boy noticed you started sleeping more, which was the telltale sign that you were feeling sad to him.

Believe me, this boy gets it

And honestly, seeing you turn down spending time with his brothers just hide away in your room to sleep, it hurt to much to see and really hit close to home

Like, only he is allowed to be that depressed. You’re suppose to be cheerfully buzzing around the house like always.

At first, he just kinda inserted himself in your nap times

I mean, he always felt a little better when you or Beel joined him, so it was a good place to start.

He was honestly kinda hurt when you rejected his offer and said you just wanted to be alone for a while.

It only made Sleepy Boy a bit grumpy though. He still laid right beside ya and wrapped an arm around you.

Sleepy Boy wasn’t accepting a no from you

Belphie wasn’t going to leave you alone because he knew all too well that just because you said it, doesn’t mean you actually want it.

“Watching you be like this is just making me sick. I’m not leaving you.”

So yeah, cuddle time is non-negotiable.

One day, you laid there, but couldn't really sleep.

Your problem was just spinning through your head. You wonder if you told Belphie... would help you? Could he help you?

"Hey, Belphie?"

Opens an eye just slightly to look at you.

"Is...is there anyway I could go home? A way that doesn't....doesn't involve Lucifer knowing?"

That got his attention and the boy wasn't too pleased. Opens both of his eyes.

"You've only been back for like a month and you already want to leave us?"

"No! Just...look."

You explain to him the situation and how you just want to grab something from home, but you know Lucifer wouldn't allow you to bring back what you need.

A chance to go behind Lucifer's back and piss him off? Well, why didn't you say so?

Gets help from the other member of the F.A.L.L. (Former Anti-Lucifer League), aka Satan.

Basically gets you home the same way you did in the Satan scenario, but with Belphie tagging along instead.

When you get to your house, you raced inside with Belphie just trailing behind.

Doesn't make it passed your living room, just kinda lays on your couch till you're done grabbing things from your room.

Has to be woken up from his nap when you're ready to leave.

You decide to wake him up in a cute way.

Sleepy boy wakes up to find a fluffy long-earred creature on his stomach.

"What the hell am I looking at?" He yawns.

"Its my bunny, Bella." You grin. "She says 'hi'."

He reaches out to pet the bun's soft fur.

Doesn't really ask anything about it.

I mean, if all it takes is a rabbit to make you happy then it's nothing to question.

Not sure how you'll be able to KEEP the rabbit with you in the Devildom, but hey, that's your problem when you both get back.

Masterlist

#obeyme #obeymeotome #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me mc

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imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl · 4 years

Text

The Perfect Bad Boy (Pt. 08 of 18)

Pairing: Billy Hargrove X Reader

Summary: Working as a lifeguard in the Hawkins Community Pool, you try to fit in after moving from New York. Things were going pretty well when you notice you've been under someone's stare. Billy Hargrove, Hawkins' bad boy, has been staring at you since day one. You never intended to have anything to do with him, judging by the reputation he has. But Billy won't leave you alone, determined to show you his feelings are different this time...

Word count: 2.2K

As if your heart flooding you with confusing feelings wasn't enough, there are weird, strange animals lurking in the woods... But those have to be just part of the wild live of the woods surrounding Hawkins... Right?

<- Previous part (07)

Next part (09) ->

{Stranger Things Masterlist}

Something In The Woods...

To say you're pissed is an understatement. A storm is passing by, which brought a heavy summer rain over Hawkins. And since the pool is closed when it's raining, you called Billy, inviting him over for lunch. But minutes later Monica called you to say that the manager wants to make a training session on first aid with all the lifeguards. As if you didn't know. You, as did everyone, had to go through a test before getting the job.

It's impressing to know that you wouldn't be so mad if you didn't have plans with Billy. So you make sure to close the meeting room door with a loud thud when you get in, muttering good morning to everyone before sitting beside Billy in the back.

“So much for that lunch date.” He says.

“It wasn't a date,” you tell him. “I just wanted to make a lasagna and since my aunt had to go to the clinic, I thought you'd like to join me.” Shrugging your shoulders, you give him a sassy look. Of course you wanted to spend time with him, and this rainy day would make it perfect...

“Doesn't Diane get tired of driving all the way to Indianapolis? It's a two-hour drive.”

“Diane loves driving. And she owns the clinic so she can pretty much make her own schedules.” You feel when your leg touches his. “Why do we have to do this training thing? As if we didn't know how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.”

“Anthony is a dick.” He mumbles as the manager starts talking. But you don't plan to pay attention. Billy suddenly pulls your chair closer, so it's glued to his. He then puts an arm around your shoulders. “Better.”

Rolling your eyes, you pretend to listen to the long speech Anthony gives. It goes on for two hours, and you can't help but make funny comments with Billy, as he holds back the laughs, what makes the manager give you both angry stares. When the training is done, Anthony says that those who were supposed to be working today will have to stay. Which is great because it means you.

“I swear to God I'll report Anthony,” Monica complains, sitting beside you and Billy by the pool, your legs on the water. The rain stopped, but the heavy clouds are promising that more is to come. “May I sit here or will you guys make out?”

“I'm down for it if she is,” Billy smirks.

“Of course you can sit here, Mon.” You elbow him, rolling your eyes. “How's Christopher?” You decide to change the subject and tease her instead.

“He gave me this.” She shows her hand, which has a ring on it. “It's nothing but... It means something to us.”

The sweet smile on her lips brings joy to your heart. It's no doubt they're in love with each other. You wonder if you'll be attending to their weeding someday.

Your hand comes to the necklace Billy made you, which you've been wearing every day. As you feel Monica's ring has a secret meaning, known only by her and Christopher, this necklace has a secret meaning too. You give Billy a quick glance, just to check if he's wearing his. And you smile to see he is. Your stomach burns when your eyes meet, and you look away.

“You look very good together,” Mon says, gesturing at you and Billy.

“I know,” Billy says, and you can hear the cocky smile through his voice.

You elbow him again, a little harder, and you laugh at the exaggerated groan he makes. “I–” You're cut off because you're suddenly lifted and thrown in the water. You sink right before pushing yourself up again. “You idiot!” You throw water at him, and Monica moves away

“Oh, he got ya,” Mon yells in between her laughs.

“I hate you!” Using both his knees as a support, you push yourself up, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him into the water too. You're aware he actually pushed himself because you wouldn't be able to pull him all by yourself. But you ignore it, slapping him lightly and throwing water on him.

He does the same, but soon enough he starts pulling you close. You're a breathless mess, trying to swim away from him. But, obviously, you slowly surrender, allowing him to hold you. “We should get out. Anthony won't like it.”

“As you wish, princess.” He won't push you. That much is clear.

At the end of the day, you're walking to your cars under light rain. You invited Billy for dinner since lunch was ruined by Anthony and all the small amount of power he let get to his head being the manager. He gives you a glance when you part ways. “What?”

“Come in my car.”

“But I have to drive this baby home.” You gesture at your car, walking backwards.

“Why don't you let me pick you up and drive you home from now on? Save up some gas.” It's so stupid how his smile makes you blush even from afar.

“What about your gas, Hargrove?” You ask as you get into the car. “Let's get going. That lasagna won't make itself.” Winking at him, you speed away, determined to get to your place before he does.

He does make a mess on the road since he was quick to follow that you were trying to outrun him. The dark clouds are making the night crawl in faster, and it's getting dark soon. Eventually, you both get stuck on the same red light, and you take a look at him through the review mirror. You're growing closer, way too close, but you're trying not to think about it too much. You're enjoying it, taking in all the moments you share.

You still can't force yourself to kiss him... It would make you go way too deep in this, head first, and you think you need some more time. But it doesn't mean it's not torture when he stands too close. It's a freaking war against yourself to step away. That's the big decision you've been avoiding.

Taking a deep breath, you look at your right, at the woods. This road is one of your favorites because it cuts through the forest, and you have the trees surrounding you from both sides. It looks beautiful, even through the darkness. You would certainly get lost in there. Guess you'll still need some time for that too, to get used and learn your way through Hawkins woods. A smile comes to your lips when you see something moving, among the trees. A deer, maybe. You know there are deers here. Squinting your eyes, you try to see it better, to find out what it really is. Most of its body is hidden behind a thick tree, and when it moves, slowly, you can see the head. You're suddenly taken aback because that's not a deer. It bolts away, further into the woods. A strange sensation builds up in your core. But you push it down. There must be several wild animals here, and that must be one of them... It looks more like a dog, a strange dog because its skin looked weird, naked. Sticky, even.

You're dragged out of your thoughts when Billy's speeds pass you, blasting the horns. Rolling your eyes, you set in motion too.

Billy gets to your house first, waiting by the front door with a smirk on his face. “You won the battle, Hargrove, not the war,” you say, unlocking the door and stepping in. “I saw something in the woods back there, by the way.”

“Another squirrel?”

“No, it was bigger.” You move to the kitchen and he follows you. “I thought it could be a deer but the head was shaped differently. And it looked like the fur was ripped off.”

As you start getting what you'll need for the lasagna, you wait for him to say anything. But he doesn't, so you turn to look at him. Billy is frozen, by the table, his eyes with a blank expression, suddenly glued to the floor. You've never seen him like this, worried as if there was an imminent danger around you right now. “Billy? Are you ok?” You walk over him, taking his hand. He takes a deep breath before looking at you, his eyes softening.

“Yes, I just remembered the accident. Not a very pleasant memory.”

“Well, try to relax.” You pull the chair and gestures for him to sit down, and when he does, you start trying to massage his shoulders. By what he told you, Billy had a rough life, and you hate to see how sad he gets when a bad memory hits. You like him, so very much, that you just want to make him feel better. “I suck at this, hope I'm not hurting you.”

“Uhm...” He grabs your arms and pulls you suddenly, making you bend over until both your arms are around his neck, your face is next to his. “But this is much better.”

“Jerk,” you mutter, standing back up and going to the kitchen counter. “Now come help me.”

“Immediately, ma'am.”

“So... You kept your promise,” you say, avoiding his eyes. “You've been wearing your piece.” You gesture at the earring.

“I told you I would.” He moves closer, a hand taking the earring that's around your neck. “I'm glad to see you're using your piece to, princess.”

“Stop calling me that, Billy,” you say in a low voice. The name makes you so damn nervous, and the tone he uses only makes it worse. It's low, calming... And it feels like it burns right through you.

“Why? I know you like it.”

“I–” You're interrupted by the front door being open, and Diane's light voice greeting you.

The night goes on pretty nicely. Your aunt gives you some space, only joining you for dinner. When Billy goes home, it's almost eleven. But in the next three days, the summer storm keeps the pool closed, and lucky for you, one of the days was your day off. So you went to his place, spend all day there, doing literally nothing, just laying on the couch and talking.

All the time you spend with him is never enough. You always have to go back home, and when you do, you're missing him already. You usually wake up holding the pillow and imagining how it would feel like to lay on his chest and fall asleep beside him...

Today, the storm finally was blown away, and it looks like the sun is angry for being hid for days because it's so damn hot. You've never seen the pool so crowded, and you've been walking around all day, looking out for the kids. You're drained out after lunch, and despite trying to stay on your chair, you can't. A five years old kid slipped and fell into the water, and you had to pick him up. Thankfully, he was well and resumed playing in seconds. But the sun is being rough on you today, and the heat is so much worse. Even in the shadow, you feel it like you're in a damn oven.

“(Y/N). Drink some water.” Billy hands you a bottle and you take a sip. “Have more. You're a little pale today.”

“Yeah, this place is overflowing. Half of Hawkins is here.” You tell him, eyes still scanning through the sea of people. “I need you to go back to your chair, please. The kids are crazy today, Billy, help me out.” You touch his shoulder, using his body as a support for a few seconds. “If you yell, they'll obey.”

“Alright, but drink some water every once in a while, ok?”

“Alright.” You let go of him, offering a small smile when he worriedly looks down at you.

You start pacing around again, warning the kids over and over again not to run. Your head is killing you, like the sun is hitting you with a freaking hammer. And you're so damn tired already, but the people just keep coming, diving and yelling. You're usually happy to see them having fun, but today you're beaten up as if you were hit by a car this morning. The ground bellows your feet starts moving, and you have to use the wall to regain your balance. Your throat is dry, but the cafeteria is on the other side of the pools and you're way too exhausted to walk all the way there. You decide to just head back to the chair to rest a bit.

You see white dots on your sight as you walk, struggling to move on a straight line, using one of your hands blocking the sun from your eyes. When you finally reach your chair, you breathe out in relief. You're about to push yourself up when you lose your strength, lowering your body until you're sitting on the ground.

“Are you ok?” Someone asks, and you see her figure kneeling by your side.

You nod, trying to get back up, but your body doesn't seem to work. You close your eyes shut when everything spins around, and then it just goes black.

@chloe-skywalker @dpaccione @tilesandtokens @dreamin-of-dacre @funeral-7 @uncookspaget @youhavemyfantasticbeasts

#billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove x y/n #imagine billy hargrove #billy hargrove #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy stranger things #stranger things imagin #stranger things imagine #imagine stranger things #stranger things fanfiction

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avengerscompound · 4 years

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Running to a Standstill - 18

Running to a Standstill: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count: 2893

Rating: E

Warnings: Smut (mmf bisexual threesome, oral sex, vaginal sex, anal sex)

Synopsis: While on the run from an unknown organization trying to take your son, you meet two super-soldiers. While they try to help you get to the bottom of who is hunting you and your son, feelings come out and admissions are made that make your personal life even more tricky.

Epilogue

Your feet hurt a little and you were hungry to the point that you were considering just tearing a piece off the sourdough loaf you’d bought, and eating it plain before you even finished your ride up in the elevator. Even with these minor discomforts, you felt really good. You had just ventured out to the nearest bodega alone for the first time since moving to the Tower.

It had been eight months since the raid on Madripoor and while everyone had doubts that HYDRA was gone for good the new rightful ruler of Madripoor was pretty thorough with cleaning the NAZI organization out of their nation. Not for any particular need to clear out all criminal organizations mind you, just to clear out the one creating the most competition. Madripoor was for all accounts, still lawless.

All the people involved in the production and distribution of the super-soldier drug had been arrested. You had hopes that the drug might end up virtually extinct the way the Quaalude was now. However, you logically knew someone who still had them would try and replicate them. Given the fact that the drugs existed in the first place because someone was trying to replicate what they’d done to Steve way back in 1943.

What you’d stopped being worried about was them bothering you anymore. The Avengers, thanks to Tony, Vision, FRIDAY, and with a little help from Geo, had managed to remove any details regarding the names of people who were experimented on. Which meant there was no one left to know that Geo had powers and no one left to hunt you. You were safe and you could finally have some semblance of a normal life.

It had taken you a while for any of you to trust that. For a month you still didn’t want to go out at all just in case there was some kind of retaliation or last-ditch effort to grab you. When you finally did it was with Bucky and a group of guards. Gradually the guards dropped in number. When all the HYDRA members were convicted you started to go out with just Bucky and every time you went out, there was no one watching you that shouldn’t be. No one followed you or made you feel unsafe. Sure, Bucky would get looks but you could tell the difference between Avengers groupies and the people who had been trying to kidnap your son.

Today was the first time you’d ventured out alone. It was only down the street and you still weren’t brave enough to take Geo out without at least Bucky or Steve with you, but it was a start. You’d only looked over your shoulder a few times. You’d done this alone for years, you knew what to look out for and it wasn’t there. You were safe.

More than safe, you were happy. With all that weight off your shoulders, you were able to just enjoy life again. Every part of it. Being a mother wasn’t just a case of protection and high alert twenty-four/seven. You played with Geo more. You let your guard down and let him get on with the job of being a kid. You started to look back into the things you had studied in college and were seriously beginning to consider studying again so you might be able to have an actual career and not just a cash-under-the-table job that paid your bills but kept you off the books. You were looking at schools for Geo. You were letting yourself be a girlfriend and opening yourself up to the fact that this could be it. You might have actually found two people that were your people the same way your husband had been.

The apartment was alive with sound and smells as you stepped in. Bucky was cooking, he’d just started when you’d ducked down to the bodega for a couple of missing ingredients and now the whole place was full of the scent of garlic, herbs, and cooking tomato. Music was playing over the speaker and Geo seemed to be talking animatedly with the AI as the two of them played some digital version of snap using his tablet. Steve sat with a sketchbook on his knee. There were crayons scattered over the table from when he’d been drawing with Geo but now he was just sitting with his pencil poised but not actually drawing anything.

“He looked up when you came in and smiled. “Hey, sweetheart. How did you go?”

“Good,” you said, as Bucky abandoned whatever it was he was stirring and rushed over to you. “Got a little jumpy at the alleys but there was nothing to worry about.”

“Did you get what I needed?” Bucky asked, digging around your fabric bag while it still hung from your elbow and fishing out items as he found them.

“Yes, honey,” you said, pushing the whole bag into his hands. “Here take it.”

Bucky took the bag and you went to sit down with Steve and Geo. Steve took your hand as you went to pass him, and you let him pull you down into his lap. “I’m proud of you,” he whispered.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” you said. “I used to go out on my own all the time when I was on the run. I didn’t have a lot of other choices.”

Steve’s arm circled your waist and he nosed at the side of your neck. “I know. Still. I’m glad you're starting to feel safe.”

You relaxed in his lap and Geo climbed up onto you. You did feel safe. And loved. And all the things you had missed for three years. Despite the fact you had been trying to go slow for Geo’s sake, it was hard when you felt like this with them. It was clear that Geo was feeling just as safe and at home as you were.

When he was very upset he was still the mommy’s boy he’d always been, but more and more he was turning to Steve and Bucky. Not just when he wanted to be comforted. He did it when he was excited about something, or wanted to play a game, or have a story told to him. He’d ask them to take him out or take him up to the pool. As scary as it was for you to see Geo starting to treat these two men the way he would have his own father, as melancholy as that hit, it was still happening. Geo now had two father figures where he once had none.

Even though neither had said anything about it, you could tell they were seeing Geo as a son too. This was your family now and some moments terrified you, but mostly you couldn’t believe how lucky you were. There were days where you thanked whatever force it was that had led you to not only apply for a lease in Clint Barton’s apartment block but to begin dog sitting for him so that you just happened to be dropping Lucky off at the same time Steve and Bucky were there.

Bucky called you all for dinner and you ate around a table sharing stories about your day and making plans for the following day. Just like a family on an old sitcom, only with extra dads and you all genuinely liked each other.

After dinner you gave Geo his bath and took him to bed, reading to him from a comic about Figment the dragon from that old Disney ride at Epcot. It was a comic that Bucky owned for some reason which was odd because he would have been in cryo freeze during the entire time that ride even existed, yet he had it none-the-less. Geo spent a lot of time looking at each picture so that the thin comic that would normally only take five minutes to get through was being dragged out so it was closer to twenty.

“Bug-key sayed dat dis dwagons was a robod,” Geo said, tapping the cover when you were done reading.

You chuckled. “It was, and it’s weird he even knows that,” you confirmed. “The robot dragon is gone now. We can take you to Disney World some time, then you can see all the different robots. I don’t think any of them will be as smart as FRIDAY though.”

“No…” Geo said, shaking his head. “FWIDAY is da smartest.”

“Thank you, Geo,” FRIDAY replied, the fondness of the little boy evident in her voice.

“Alright, you,” you said, putting the comic away. “Lie down. Time to sleep.”

He flopped back onto the pillow and you kissed his forehead. “Good night, I love you,” you said.

“Wuv you too, mommy,” he replied. “Have sweed dreams.”

“You too, little one.”

“Mommy,” he said as you got up. “I dotta say goodnight to Bug-key and Steeb.”

You chuckled. “I’ll send them in.”

You stepped out of the bedroom to find Bucky and Steve sharing the recliner as they watched the news. “He wants to say goodnight to both of you too.”

“We can manage that,” Steve said as they both got up.

Bucky and Steve went into Geo’s room as you went and got ready for bed too. It was still early but you figured whatever the plans were for tonight, they’d be more enjoyable in your pajamas. When you came out into the bedroom you shared with Bucky and Steve, they were there getting undressed.

“He didn’t cause you any trouble?” You asked.

“No. He just said goodnight and had FRIDAY turn out the lights,” Steve answered.

“I like when I’m here to say goodnight to him,” Bucky added. “He’s so funny how he wishes you sweet dreams too.”

“Yeah, we can use them,” Steve added.

“Speaking of,” you said and looked over at Steve. Lately, when you and Steve had been alone, you’d started talking about Bucky moving in. He was here a lot anyway and the times he wasn’t it felt like he was missing. The three of you still took time to enjoy each other one-on-one, but now you were all happier and more relaxed when it was the three of you.

Bucky froze in the process of stepping out of his jeans and stared at you like a deer in headlights. “What? What did I do?”

“Nothing, Buck,” Steve chuckled. “We were wondering… hoping really, that you’d move in here with us.”

“What? Really?” Bucky said, standing up straight and looking between the two of you.

“Yeah. You don’t have to decide right now…” Steve said.

“No, I want to,” Bucky said, lurching forward, completely forgetting he was still in his jeans and falling flat on his face.

“Bucky!” You yelped, rushing to his side and helping him back up, while Steve watched on with a slightly bemused look on his face.

“I’m okay. I’m good,” Bucky assured you as he got back up and kicked off his pants. “I want to move in. When?”

“Whenever you like,” Steve said. “We can bring your stuff down tomorrow if you like.”

“I do like,” Bucky said. He pulled you close and cradled your face. “Yes, I want to.” He leaned in and kissed you deeply. As the two of you kissed, Bucky reached out to Steve, pulling him closer, so when Bucky pulled back from you, he moved straight to kissing him. You ran your hands down Steve’s chest and nuzzled at Bucky’s neck, nipping at his throat gently.

Bucky pulled back and smirked at you. “You tryin’ to start up some celebrations, huh?”

“Maybe?” You giggled, tugging on his boxers.

“I think that might be something that can be arranged,” Steve teased. He picked you up like you weighed nothing and tossed you onto the bed. You squealed and quickly spread your legs and opened your arms to Bucky as he crawled up your body. He began to unbutton your flannel pajama top and kissed your skin along each new part that became exposed to him. His fingers brushed over your breasts as he pulled the fabric apart and your right nipple, puckered and hardened under the cool metal of his left hand.

Steve took off his boxers and moved up beside you. He leaned in and kissed you. His lips moved slowly against yours and his tongue teased the corner of your mouth. You reached down and massaged his cock. He was already semi-hard and as your palm moved up and down his length and you curled your fingers around his shaft, the blood rushed to it.

Bucky began to grind down against your cunt. You could feel the press of his cock through the fabric of your pants, the thick shaft pushing between your folds and rubbing up and down against your pussy, making your whole body tingle and your cunt start to drip. He leaned down and pulled one of your nipples into his mouth. His teeth pressed against it and you moaned, breaking the kiss with Steve and arching your back so you pushed your breast up into Bucky’s greedy mouth.

Steve moved to his knees, pumping his cock as he looked down at you. You leaned up and lapped over the head as it disappeared and reappeared under the foreskin with each pump of Steve’s hand. He teased the head over your lips and you opened your mouth, letting him guide his cock into your mouth.

As you sucked hard up and down Steve’s shaft, Bucky moved from one breast to the other. His hand slipped down into your pajama pants and he quickly fingered your clit in small circles as he ground his cock against you.

Your whole body buzzed like an electric current was swirling through your veins, making your body thrum. You moaned into Steve’s cock as a hot pit pressed down inside you and your fluids slicked your folds. Bucky pulled back and pulled your pajama pants off. You released Steve’s cock and no sooner had you sat up that Steve was up beside you and pulling you into his lap.

“Mmm… did you want something?” You asked as you straddled his lap and started to grind down on his cock.

Steve cradled your jaw. “I think you know,” he teased. You smirked and leaned in and kissed him deeply. As you dipped your tongue into his mouth, you guided him inside of you.

You both moaned into the kiss and you slowly rolled your hips with his, appreciating the way he stretched and filled you. Bucky got up and grabbed the lube. He moved behind you and kissed your shoulder as he put his hand on Steve’s chest and pushed him back on the bed. You lay down with him, pressing your body against his chest and continuing to bounce on his cock as Bucky lifted Steve’s legs and pushing them up against your sides. He began to apply lube to Steve’s ass, sinking a finger into Steve’s ass.

Steve gasped and bucked up under you. You broke the kiss with Steve and you looked down into his blue eyes. “Feel good, Steve?” You purred.

He groaned and closed his eyes. “Yes. Oh god, yes.”

“You want my cock, Stevie?” Bucky teased.

“Please,” Steve groaned arching his back and forcing his cock up into you deeper.

Bucky took his hand away and slicked his cock. Steve raised his hips needily and as Bucky sunk in Steve groaned and dug his fingers into your hips. You started kissing Steve again and moved with Bucky as he started to thrust. Bucky’s stomach pushed your forward with every snap of his hips, pushing you up and down on Steve’s cock. Steve was breathless and moaning under you both. He reached up and grabbed Bucky’s hand, holding it against your back as the two of you fucked him.

A sheen of sweat began to cling to your skin and your skin prickled. A dull ache built in your cunt, making your walls clench and spasm around Steve’s thick shaft. Steve groaned and his hands opened and closed on your back. You slipped your hand between the two of you and began to finger your clit.

It brought you over. Your orgasm shuddered through you and you moaned loudly. Steve gasped and jerked up under you, coming deep inside your pussy. Bucky kept thrusting. His hand tightened in Steve’s and his hips began to stutter. You kept being bounced forward on Steve’s now softening cock with each thrust of Bucky’s hips. With a groan and a hard thrust, Bucky came.

The three of you slithered into a pile, your breathing coming much more labored than theirs. Bucky rolled on his side and ran his metal fingers down your stomach. “We break you?”

“Mm-hmm…” You hummed. “In the best way.”

“Well we can now do that any time,” he said.

You laughed and pushed him. “Did you forget I have a toddler?”

Bucky hummed and kissed your shoulder.

“Big changes,” Steve said. “It’ll be good though. Us together.”

You smiled and cuddled in between us. He was right. It was a big change. You had been through a lot of change in the last five years, but this was the first one since Geo was born that you felt truly excited about one.

To be continued in Until the End of the World...

#steve rogers #bucky barnes #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #stucky #steve rogers x bucky barnes #stucky x reader #steve rogers x reader x bucky barnes #captain america fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert

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gamerwoo · 4 years

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[Tales from the Pack] Seungkwan: Void (Part One)

Characters: Seungkwan x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, a little angst, fluff

Word count: 3,379

Summary: Seungkwan can’t resist the urge to go searching for the banshee any longer, but his trip into the woods has him coming face-to-face with a strange girl who doesn’t seem to remember anything about where she came from or how she got where she is. The only things she knows are the things the voices in her head that Seungkwan doesn’t know about tell her. And that strange girl is you, his mate.

Next | Void Masterlist

“I’m sick of this! Which one of you keeps doing this?!” Jihoon demanded, looking around at the pack with a scowl on his face.

Another night, another clap of thunder booming over the shriek from the banshee in the forest that was starting to get closer again. While the banshee was definitely more frightening than the thunder that made the house shake and woke everyone up, the latter was what was pissing everybody off because they knew it had to be somebody in the pack. Everyone just wanted to know when they’d be able to control their power.

“The lightening or the screaming?” Jia wondered.

“We know what the screaming is,” Soonyoung sighed, “Can whoever it is just hurry up and get their power already? I wanna sleep.”

“Well it’s not me,” Joshua shrugged, folding his arms over his chest.

Fingers were pointed at each other, but nobody wanted to take the blame. Even if it meant getting a new power, the pack clearly didn’t really like said power, and would definitely give the werewolf dealing with it a hard time.

“Seokmin’s always loud, so it only makes sense he’d get a loud, annoying power,” Jeonghan sneered.

“Me?” Seokmin’s eyes went wide as the older wolf glared at him accusingly. “Seungkwan’s way louder!”

“Actually, Jun is,” Wonwoo said, rubbing one eye as he leaned against the doorway.

Just then, there was another scream. Everybody clamped their hands over their ears, some of the wolves even crumpling to the ground in pain at the high-pitched noise. Yeji scurried over to Jihoon with her ears flattened on her head as she buried her face in his back and whimpered.

“Holy fuck,” Jihoon groaned once the noise had died down, “that’s the worst noise I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“Hold on,” Jooyeon interrupted after she’d lifted her head and looked around, putting her hands up to signal the pack to be quiet. She stepped further into the hall, looking over to Seungkwan’s doorway – his empty doorway, “where’s Seungkwan?”

The members of the pack looked over to where he had been standing, but now was missing. Jihoon walked over and entered is room, but saw that nobody was there. Instead, he was met with a draft from Seungkwan’s open window.

“Seungkwan?” Jihoon called out the window, but there was just silence, and no sign of him outside. “Seungkwan!”

Seungkwan knew very well that the alphas wouldn’t want anyone going to look for the banshee, but his instincts were telling him to. He’d been ignoring those instincts every night, but he just had to go now. Everyone was distracted by the lightning and thunder so this was his only chance.

As soon as he was outside, he shifted to make sure he’d get away as fast as possible so that by the time anybody noticed him missing, he’d already be gone. The second scream was just lucky timing that gave him cover to leave. It hurt his ears immensely, but he had to sneak out while nobody could hear.

Despite the sudden lightning, there wasn’t any rain up until Seungkwan got deep into the forest. There was thunder grumbling somewhere far away as rain began to trickle from the sky in small drops, but the leaves still crunched under his paws as he ran toward where he had heard the noise.

As he ran further into the woods, he could smell…something. It was a smell that definitely drew him in. It almost smelled sweet; intoxicating, even. He followed it, wondering if that was where the noise was coming from. Even if it wasn’t, maybe he’d find something that could point him in the right direction.

It didn’t take long after picking up that scent to find you standing alone. You were wearing a long, tattered, dirty dress. You didn’t have shoes, your hair had leaves sticking out of it, and you were starting to get pretty wet from the rain that was picking up. You were facing away from him, but Seungkwan had already felt something just from looking at your back.

That intoxicating smell was coming from you, and he suddenly realized why it smelled so good as the rest of the world was blocked out around you: you were his mate – his mate that was lost in the woods for some reason. The question was why were you wandering around the forest at night – it wasn’t super late but it was still too dark for someone to be out here alone.

You heard a whisper in your head, ‘There’s something behind you.’

Slowly, you turned to see a large wolf behind you, it’s golden eyes following your every move. You gasped, falling to the ground in surprise. You scrambled backwards into a tree, your wide eyes never leaving the wolf in front of you.

‘I know him,’ the voice said, almost fondly.

That didn’t really make you feel any better, but it was all you had considering you were the only person out in the woods. This voice knowing this animal was your only hope at somehow staying safe. You had only recently started hearing this one voice – one of many – but this one was more prominent, and sounded too sweet to be malicious.

The wolf didn’t make any moves to attack you. Instead, it looked at you like a human would, which concerned you. He -- the voice said it was a he so you assumed that’s what the wolf was -- studied you, bowed his head, and slowly walked toward you. You couldn’t back up anymore, and you were too afraid to run because you knew it could easily catch you. So you sat as still as stone and kept your eyes on the wolf’s every move.

Slowly, it approached, until it laid at your feet. Your breath was held, waiting for its next move, but all it did was nudge your shin with its wet nose. Then it licked your knee – both of your legs were pulled to your chest in protection. Why was it acting friendly?

What happened next, you definitely didn’t expect, let alone that fact the wolf licked you: the mousy wolf shifted to a man right before your eyes. He had high cheek bones, light brown hair, and his eyes were the same gold as the wolf’s.

‘No, not a wolf,’ you corrected yourself, ‘a werewolf.’

“Don’t be afraid,” the man said softly, cocking his head to one side as he offered you a small smile. “My name’s Seungkwan; I promise, I won’t hurt you.”

You watched Seungkwan without saying anything, keeping your knees to your chest. You tried to not notice his extreme lack of clothes, focusing more on the voice you were hearing inside your head.

‘You can trust him,’ it told you softly.

‘How can I trust you?’ you quizzed, your eyebrows furrowing together.

You were too spaced out, focusing on the voice, that you didn’t even notice how cold you were. Your body was shaking, your teeth were chattering, and your lips were faintly tinted a blue-ish purple. Seungkwan frowned as he observed this.

You were pulled from your internal conversation when you felt a warm hand on your knee. You almost put your hands over his, wanting to get closer to the warmth out of instinct, but you resisted. Instead, you just looked at Seungkwan curiously, wondering how his body temperature was so warm when you were freezing out here. Then again, he did just shift from a giant animal to a man, so his temperature was the least of your worries.

“You’re shivering,” he noted quietly, the frown still on his face. “I can take you someplace warm if you’d like. Or I can bring you back home if you remember where it is.”

Slowly, you shook your head. Your voice was just above a whisper when you spoke, “I-I don’t remember how I got here…”

“Well, you should get out of the rain,” he chuckled softly.

It was then you noticed his hair was flat against his head, dripping with water. You hadn’t even noticed how quickly the rain had picked up, and how it was now pouring even through the thick forest.

“Let me help you,” Seungkwan’s voice was low and quiet as he held his other hand out to you. “You’ll freeze out here, or some wild animal will find you. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

Between staying out in the forest and ensuring your death, or going with a strange man who was just a wolf a few minutes ago who may actually be telling the truth, your best bet was the strange man. You cautiously took his hand as he got to his feet, helping you up. He smiled, and you swore you heard a faint grumble in his chest – then again, it could’ve been the thunder.

“I’m going to shift back to a wolf,” he told you, “and I want you to climb on my back and hang on, okay?”

You nodded before you saw him shift back to the brown wolf from before. He laid down so it was easier for you to get on, so you straddled his back and gripped his fur at the scruff of his neck.

Seungkwan stood again before taking off back home, going slower than he had when he was going to find the banshee because he didn’t want you falling off. He was a bit disappointed he didn’t find the banshee because he wanted to ask her what her deal was, but he found his mate, which was better than anything he could’ve imagined.

Truthfully, Seungkwan was lonely. Seeing his brothers finding their mates made him a little depressed, and he wanted someone of his own he could hold and make happy as much as they’d make him happy. Finally, he would have that. You were going to fill that little space in his heart that he felt was missing.

You kept your face down so the rain wouldn’t pelt it, your eyes squeezing shut. Seungkwan’s fur was quickly becoming just as soaked as your clothes were, and the smell of wet dog became very prominent. Still, you held on with whatever strength you had left in your body.

It didn’t take very long for Seungkwan to reach the large house. He lowered his body so you could climb off, and then he shifted back to his normal self. You assumed you were at the backdoor of the house considering the large space and the gardens.

“We’ll have to be quiet or my pack will wake up,” he whispered, taking your hand in his and pulling you toward the door. “I don’t want you to get overwhelmed.”

“P-pack?” you stammered.

Seungkwan turned around, a finger pressed to his lips, “I promise I’ll explain after I get you inside, but you need to be quiet for now.”

You nodded, not wanting to cause more trouble for yourself.

Seungkwan grabbed what the pack called ‘the emergency shorts’ from by the backdoor. He tugged them on before leading you inside, keeping his movements completely silent. He knew a human wouldn’t be as stealthy as him, so he lifted you in his arms with minimal warning. You inhaled sharply out of surprise, but didn’t make any noise other than that, your arms wrapping around his neck in case he dropped you – that was definitely something you were afraid of.

He easily weaved through the dark house even though there was no light. Seungkwan saw perfectly even without any light, but you were completely lost. You didn’t know where you were until a light was turned on after a moment, and you saw you were in a bathroom. The door closed softly, and Seungkwan set you on your feet before going to the shower and turning it on.

“I’ll bring you a change of clothes,” he promised, going back to the door. “They’ll be a little big because they’re mine, but…they’re dry and clean.”

“Thank you,” you mumbled shyly.

“Of course,” he grinned a bright smile before leaving the bathroom to go get clothes.

Seungkwan went down the hall to his room to grab some clothes like promised. However, his room wasn’t empty like he left it. Jihoon was sitting on his bed, staring at the open window before his eyes shifted to the younger werewolf.

“Who did you bring home?” the alpha questioned.

“How did you–”

“I’ve been awake since Jooyeon realized you left,” Jihoon informed him, standing up and walking over to Seungkwan. “I heard you outside when you came back.”

“There was a girl in the woods, and…” Seungkwan trailed off, a smile taking over his face as he thought about you, “I imprinted on her.”

“Of course you did,” Jihoon sighed, shaking his head although he was laughing. “What’s her name?”

“I have no idea,” Seungkwan admitted, slipping passed the alpha to get clothes from the closet. “She’s in the shower right now – poor thing’s freezing.”

“Do you know how she got there?”

“She doesn’t even know. I don’t want to push her for information, though. She seems pretty afraid, but that’s expected.”

“You did shift in front of her,” Jihoon shrugged. “I don’t blame her for being scared. Just…keep an eye on her. We don’t need another Jooyeon situation.”

“She won’t run away, Hoon,” Seungkwan assured him, grabbing a shirt he was sure would be long on you since he wasn’t sure if his bottoms would fit you correctly. “She doesn’t know how to get home. I’ll see about somehow getting her into town to see if she remembers how to get home from there.”

Jihoon just nodded, going to exit Seungkwan’s room, “Good luck with that, Seungkwan. Go get back to your mate.”

“Not so loud,” the younger boy whined, going to bring the clothes to the bathroom. “I didn’t really explain…anything.”

“Considering how well the rest of you have explained imprinting to your mates,” Jihoon joked, rolling his eyes. “God, you’re all hopeless.”

“Speak for yourself,” Seungkwan shot back. “Yeji can back me up, too.”

As Jihoon disappeared back into his room with an amused chuckle, Seungkwan went straight to the bathroom, knocking softly twice before he entered. He was surprised to find you still in your clothes, but he understood when he saw you staring at yourself in the mirror, picking leaves out of your hair. He laughed softly, going behind you to help.

You let your hands drop to your sides as you studied Seungkwan in the mirror. His eyes were a warm gold that were somewhat comforting to look at, and the warmth his body emitted made you want to back up into him and use him as a human blanket.

“Seungkwan,” you spoke up, though your voice was soft, “what…are you?”

Seungkwan continued to untangle a leaf from your hair, and didn’t speak until he had dropped it in the sink, “In short: I’m a werewolf.”

“I didn’t know werewolves existed,” you admitted. “I thought werewolves were just scary stories.”

He scoffed, “I’m not that scary, am I?”

“Not really,” you decided with a sheepish smile. “I did think you were going to eat me, though.”

‘Well…’ Seungkwan tried to not smirk to himself.

“One of our alphas has a mate who thought we were going to eat her, too,” he chuckled, remembering the fight Jooyeon put up against the pack – specifically Seungcheol – for a long time. Thankfully, you didn’t seem to be that guarded. “She’s gotten used to us, though. She’s very comfortable here.”

“A…mate?” you repeated. “What’s that?”

He took the time to explain how imprinting worked, what a mate was, and every question you had about werewolves. He spent the time picking leaves out of your hair while he spoke and you took in information. Throughout his explanation, you could hear faint voices in the back of your head, but you chose to ignore them this time in favor of listening to Seungkwan. He cracked a few jokes to make you feel at ease, and you found yourself smiling a lot more, even as he excused himself to find some clean towels.

You stripped yourself of your sopping clothes, leaving them on the sink before getting in the shower. The hot water made the tips of your fingers and toes burn from how cold you were in contrast, but you enjoyed it. The water relaxed your tense muscles and warmed you quickly.

Seungkwan entered the bathroom again, leaving the towels on the short rack across from the sink before he took your clothes and left to put them in his laundry basket. He then went to make some tea before you got out of the shower so he could at least get something warm in you. Tomorrow, he’d make sure to feed you – well, he’d make sure that somebody who made food better than him fed you.

When he went back to the bathroom and knocked, you opened the door wearing the shirt Seungkwan had given you. He grumbled happily as he looked you over, loving that you were wearing his clothes.

“Feel any better?” he asked as he handed you the mug.

You let your hands wrap around the sides to warm them more, “Yes, thank you.”

“Are you tired?”

“A little.”

He had checked the time and it was almost 2am, so he was shocked you weren’t more tired than you seemed. He gestured with his head for you to follow before leading you down the hall. Your bare feet padded against the hardwood as you sipped your tea, sniffling because of your drippy nose. Seungkwan obviously heard and turned around, pulling his sleeve down to wipe your nose before he opened the door.

“You didn’t have to–”

“Ah, ah, ah,” he tisked, putting a finger to your lips, “don’t worry about it.”

You noticed Seungkwan was a bit more touchy, but you didn’t mind it. You were still a bit chilly, and Seungkwan’s heat was something you wanted to stay close to.

Seungkwan gestured for you to go into his room, so you did. He didn’t bother turning the light on since you were going to sleep anyway, but you could see his bed from the light that came in from the hallway. You went straight to the bed and sat down, still sipping the tea that was given to you.

Seungkwan closed the door, easily walking over to the nightstand and turning on a lamp. He sighed as he sat down beside you, one hand running through his hair, “We can’t really go into town, but I’ll find someone who can go with you to bring you home.”

You knew you couldn’t stay with the pack – Seungkwan was just a nice werewolf that had saved you from probably dying in the forest later – but you didn’t know how to tell him that you really didn’t remember how to get back. So instead, you just nodded, “Okay.”

“Do you want to sleep now?” he offered.

“I’m not terribly tired,” you shrugged, taking another sip of your drink.

“We can talk a bit more if you’d like.”

So you did. He told you about the pack, the mates, and a few of the things they were going through, like the half-cat girl that lived with them and the couple that had a baby together that he warned you might cry at any moment. He explained that some of the pack also couldn’t go into town anymore -- one of them being an alpha named Soonyoung who used to go into town at night for hookups before coming home. He also warned you about the sudden thunder that might wake you up, but he hoped not because it had already happened once earlier. This pack was certainly something, as Seungkwan had plenty of stories to tell you about.

Beside you, you could feel the warmth from Seungkwan’s body. He really was like some kind of space heater. You found yourself leaning into him until your head was resting on his shoulder, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he put an arm around you, resting his cheek against your head, and that was how you eventually fell asleep.

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princesspiratecat · 3 years

Photo

The Rise and Fall of the Shepard Family Part 29: Summer, 1084 & Fall, 1085

Part 1& Part 2

Part 3 & Part 4

Part 5 & Part 6 & Part 7

Part 8 & Part 9 & Part 10

Part 11 & Part 12 & Part 13

Part 14 & Part 15 & Part 16

Part 17 & Part 18 & Part 19

Part 20 & Part 21 & Part 22

Part 23 & Part 24 & Part 25

Part 26 & Part 27 & Part 28

It was strange to be back.

Most of Gwendolyn’s memories of the Allard estate were from a time when Aélgarda had been alive. During her exile at the hovel, she had come to miss so many things about it, and had reveled in the little luxuries she had once had. The fire was always roaring, the meat had always been cooked to perfection, and her feather bed had always afforded her a good night’s sleep when her mind was quiet. But now the house had a coldness about it that she hadn’t remembered from before. It was dark and damp and surprisingly dirty.

Gwendolyn wrinkled her nose at the smell of dog and garlic from last nights’ dinner that hung in the air in the Great Hall. There was something else there that she couldn’t account for....rotten vegetables perhaps?

Yuck.

They made their way to down the hall to the stairway and she could feel her palms getting sweaty. Frances met her eyes and offered her a reassuring glance, but she still felt a burning tightness in her chest as they treaded up the stairs.

Courage. You need courage.

“Oh brother! I am so glad you’re here!” Francine’s face was a mix of nervousness and fear as she hugged her brother tightly, and then hugged Gwendolyn. She had never seen her so frazzled before. Francine had always been the girlish one, full of giggles and frivolousness. But today, that was all gone, and she looked older than her eighteen years. “He is getting worse by the day, yet he still insists on coming down to sup and drink his mead. Then he is in his cups until he passes out. Frédérique says she will be here in the morning with her husband, but I am hoping they will arrive sooner. I cannot handle him anymore.”

“Mead? Is that wise?” The beautiful features on her husband’s face flashed with a look of concern.

“I cannot stop him. He won’t listen to anyone and keeps ranting about how he cannot trust women. I don’t know what to do!” The look of helplessness and hopelessness on her face disarmed Gwendolyn. She had seen that look before. It was the look her father had shortly before her mother died.

“Take us to him.” Gwendolyn could see exactly what he was feeling without him having to say anything, just by the tone in his voice. He was nervous and slightly terrified.

We all are.

The room smelled of sweat, vomit and stale air. She had never been in the Master’s bedroom before, but it was a beautiful room, despite the smell. The bed was large with fine fabrics that seemed to shimmer in the light, and the furnishings were inlaid with beautiful carvings done by a highly skilled hand. The light streamed into the room through long windows, which, under different circumstances would have been pleasant, but just then it made her feel exposed. The floors were covered in a variety of fine furs, and the niches were filled with silver candlesticks and beautiful decorative wooden boxes. In the corner sat a bucket of unknown contents, and Gwendolyn tried not to think about what might be in it.

Marcelle had lost a considerable amount of weight since she had last seen him. He was frail and old looking, with dark circles under his eyes. But she noticed he was dressed in a long elaborate robe in the Norman fashion that set him apart from all the other men who wore the Saxon style. There was a finely carved silver medallion at his breast, which Gwendolyn found an odd thing to wear when one was sick. Had he dressed purposely for the occasion?

He still wants to remind us of his status. Of course.

“What are you doing here, Shepard girl?” The raspy words slithered out of his mouth like a snake before she could even think. Upon his features was a look of disgust, reserved especially for her. She bristled under his gaze and felt her anger surface.

“I am come to support my husband.” She looked away, intimidated by his hatred of her. She wanted to add that she had also come in the hopes that the breech between them could be healed, but after seeing his face she knew that it had been a foolish hope. Why was she here? The whole thing seemed like a stupid idea now, and she wished she had stayed away.

“Get her out of here, Frances.” He said his son’s name between clenched teeth, and her heart fell. What had she done for him to hate her so? Besides being born and falling in love with his son, she had never caused him harm or hurt him purposefully. If anything, it should be her that hated him.

Perhaps it was better for her to go. If Frances wanted peace, then she was likely standing in the way of that just with her mere presence. But a small part of her hated being rejected by him, and it hurt her more than she expected it would. She got up and looked at what seemed like dead eyes and held his gaze to the point of making him uncomfortable. She wasn’t going to waste this chance to speak her bit, and he was going to hear it.

“I have come to inform you that I have forgiven you for all of the terrible things you have said and done. For exiling me, and for stealing my dowry, and for the hurt you have caused both of us. Although you really don’t deserve my forgiveness, nor my pity, I give it anyway.” His gaze was empty, as if he found her ridiculous.

Then she moved closer to him and half whispered in his ear, ”Your time has come old man. You better get down on your knees and pray hard that your God will forgive you too for all of the rotten and disgusting things you have done.” She could feel her lip quiver in anger as she reflected back the look of disgust he had given her. His eyes grew wide with surprise, and it gave her a slight thrill. He hadn’t been expecting her to speak that way to him. In the past she would never have dared.

Before he could respond, she walked out of the room with more confidence than she felt. She noticed that her hands were shaking and her heart seemed to want to burst out of her chest.

As soon as she walked into the long hall she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had said what she come to say, and now it was over. She never had to think about that man again, and once he died, she would be free of him forever. But she couldn’t stop her tears from falling, yet she refused to give into the ache in her heart.

Not here.

She left word with a servant to tell Frances that she would be at the orphanage, and on shaky legs made the short walk down the lane to see her sisters. She wanted so much to collapse into Gwyn’s embrace, and after a few short moments, she did exactly that.

She told her everything, in between sobs and sniffles. And when she had gained enough composure over herself, she asked her sister’s opinion. “Do you think I was too harsh on him? Do you think I should have said something kinder to a dying man?”

“Marcelle?! No. He is lucky indeed that more don’t make their opinions of him known. His wealth protects him. But most people have turned against him since what he did to you has come to light, they whisper about him. People are disgusted by his abuse of power against a helpless orphan girl. He’s no longer seen as a gentleman. If I were you, I would have said much more.”

Gwendolyn felt a small sense of relief that the village was on her side, but she was still worried about the rest of her new family. Where did they stand on the issue? Would they turn their backs on her once Marcelle was dead?

During the ride back to the Inn, Marcelle explained everything that had happened and what his father had said.

“Of course he chided me for leaving, and for marrying you and called me a simple fool. He called me simple!” Gwendolyn said nothing at this, as it was hardly a surprise. “Honestly, I thought he was going to be more angry and refuse to see me. But Gwendolyn, then he said the strangest thing- he called my mother a whore and said that myself and Francine are the only ones he can be sure are really his!”

Gwendolyn gasped in shock. “How could he say that of Aélgarda?! What an absurd thing to say! She dedicated her life to all of you, and the village. And as for your parentage, one only has to look at your siblings to know they have the same parents as you do. They are all different arrangements of his own face!”

Frances nodded in agreement. Every one of his siblings had the same dark eyes as Marcelle, the straight sharp noses, and even the same shade of that beautiful sable colored hair. Gwendolyn thought that Frances was the best looking out of all of them, of course, but there was no denying that they were all related. It was as plain as day to anyone that cared to look.

“I can only imagine that he is suffering from delusions. Perhaps a combination of poppy juice and mead?! He looks awful. I’ve never seen him so weak. It made me pity him.”

“Well, did you make your peace with him? How did you leave it?”

“In a way, I suppose. He said that I would inherit the estate since I am the only son he can be sure of...which shocks me to my core. I think the things you said to him had quite an affect on him, because he then told me to leave so that he could ‘make peace with his maker.’” He gave her a look just then, and she could see he was still recovering from shock. “What exactly did you whisper to him when you got close? I’ve never seen him pray in my life!”

She pinched her lips together and said quietly, “I told him what needed to be said. It was for his ears only.”

His mouth curled into a little smile and he let out a chuckle. “Something about god? I’ll make a note never to cross you, as I have to say that I never want to see the look you gave him directed at me.” His eyes were teasing and he kissed her gently on the neck. “What a saucy Tigress you are.” She laughed and then he kissed her again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In just a week’s time with the arrival of autumn, another nasty illness had spread to Barton Upon Humber from the North, and then made it’s way to Grimsby. Most people remained indoors, fearful that another plague would wipe out as many as it had several years ago, or more. Their fears were not unfounded, as it had been reported that twelve people had already died in the nearby farms and villages.

First it hit the Merchant household of Handel, and killed not only Master Uddulf Handel, but his young son as well. Everyone was surprised it had brought down such a large, healthy man, but luckily his wife and daughter were spared.

Next it hit the Merchants, and killed the Irishman, Fáelán. For a time people thought that it would take Aoifé and the children as well, but they narrowly escaped death after several weeks.

Soon after it traveled to the house of the late Olric, where it bedded his widow, Agatha. The three children had to be sent to the orphanage while their mother was too sick to care for them, and she died just days afterwards, alone.

But finally it ended it’s travels at the Allard estate, where it made short work of Marcelle, who had been hanging on. It also banished Francois to his bed, where he clung to life. Yet just as quickly as it had spread, it was gone again, leaving the living to mourn the dead one more time.

As soon as Marcelle died a messenger was dispatched to the Inn. Frances had been summoned to the estate where the reading of the will was to take place, and they hastily began to pack their trunks. As Gwendolyn began to carefully fold her clothing, she couldn’t help but wonder why she felt as if someone had punched her in the gut. It was true that she mostly hated Marcelle, but now that he was gone she remembered the days when he used to come visit their father and offered them fresh cherries from his orchard. He would sup with them sometimes, and her father had always been so proud when he did. She had considered him a father figure for so long.

What had made him change so much?

She glanced over at Frances, as tears silently rolled down his cheeks, and she could feel his sorrow. She stopped folding and clasped her hands in his. He looked away at first, too ashamed to look her in the eye. Then the tears gushed out, and he quietly began to sob. He rested his head on her shoulder, and she could feel him shake with misery. She gently rubbed his back up and down, up and down, until he sobbed even harder and it all came sputtering out.

“Now we’re both orphans,” he whispered.

#sims 2 stories #sims 2 challenges #new foundations

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mahvaladara · 3 years

Note

For the OC questions (Sorry for being so late, been a busy.. gaming wise, weekend!) 90-100 for Mal 1-10 for Annika 20-30 for Maeve 40-50 for a teenage Syra perhaps?

[Ga]Mal[l] Sullyvan

90. What is their occupation?

Gamall is a full-time Wanderer, which is a type of Valasyr who specializes in wandering between cities, countries, planets, and even universes seeking to harness as much knowledge and power as possible. They are also often called knowledge and power devourers.

Currently, Gamall is a full-time Biologist and freelance Gardener.

91. Do other characters respect your OC, if so, is it out of fear? Or do they respect your OC because they like them?

Depends. His family respects him dearly. From where he came he was respected out of utter fear. But those days are in the past and he is living a new life and earning respect by hard labor.

92. If they were given minutes to live, what would they do? Who would they want to see and say?

Gamall once was in this position, and he had wanted back then to see his former wife Caitlyn and former son Seimei before disappearing. He went and got a few last minutes with them, but he didn't die. He wished he did. For time came to claim Caitlyn eventually, and as for Seimei, he killed the boy when he came seeking "revenge" for the death of his father.

He now has come to the conclusion that if death ever comes for him, it's not like he can prepare for it. So he lives every day as if he only had minutes to live, seeking to amass as much fulfillment as he can, rather by the form of material goods, personal knowledge, spiritual power, hedonistic pleasure, or life experiences.

93. How do they deal with stress?

Gamall is already quite the shittalker and blabbermouth, but when under stress that becomes worse. But he is paradoxal and it mostly depends on the type of stress, it can either be met with agression or silence and either of the two are always foreboding.

94. Do they have a more submissive or dominate personality type?

Versatile personality. Gamall adapts well to the people around him, but he is not a pushover and he despises whoever tries to dominate him by force. He does enjoys playing the sub as much as the dom and though Gamall can actually be very manipulative, it is not on his interests to dominate or command others, usually his manipulation only working to make sure people don't bother him.

95. Do they have a pet?

Currently no. But they'll have a lot of chickens and a lot of cows.

Gamall used to have a horse called Eggplant, but there's a running gag that if he gets a horse it'll die, so... yea, that happened.

96. Do they have a stash of weapons?

Pffft. They don't exactly need too, they can kill you with their mind alone, but this is the type of asshole who will kill you with a duck if you tell him he can't.

97. Where do they live? Who do they live with?

The farmlands. Gamall isn't keen on big cities or places with a lot of people around because it usually means trouble and pain for him and he'd rather not.

98. How do they calm themselves down?

Depends. He has found out that addressing a fireball to whom it may concern is a great way to calm down, but he can't exactly commit capital murder everytime someone annoys him. Gardening currently has been providing him a lot of calm and quiet he needs.

99. Are they co-dependent?

No.

100. Are they a day, or night person?

Night person, it helps that he doesn't need sleep.

1. How do they present themselves to others?

Anika comes off as a smart, kind and fun girl, your level-headed rich girl who's always had everything she needed.

To her dad however, she's a rebelious teenager finally breaking free from a sheltered and controled life. She is finally learning magic rather he wants her to or not and continuing on his footsteps trying to find a way to return Apollo's heart and find a way to save Arlo.

2. Do they like animals?

Yes. Anika had a cat as a child, but due to her mother's illness she had to give away the cat. After her mother passed away, Anika and Apollo adopted a dog. Anika ended up being the one to keep the dog, since Arlo hurt their dog when they tried to take it to Apollo's home.

3. How do they dress?

Anika dresses in a very sporty rich way. She prefers wearing high end sports clothes, leggings, crop tops and track suits, anything she can move well in and exercise in. Sometimes she pairs them with fishnets and accessories that give her a more sporty witch feel.

4. How many languages do they know?

Anika speaks english and spanish.

5. How big is their family?

Currently it's just her and her father. Her mother used to be around but she was killed by an unknown dragon who her father refuses to name.

6. What is their purpose in the story?

Anika is Apollo's best friend and girlfriend, she is also a witch and a dragon hunter, who is currently aiding Apollo in finding a cure for Arlo's rot the same way her father before sought her mothers. After her mother's death, Anika decided she had a duty to Apollo to help him save her brother, as it was Anika who lured Arlo to the trap.

7. Do they know how to fight?

Anika is petite, but Anika can kick your ass. Her father taught her kickboxing.

8. What is their back story?

Anika is the only daughter of Isaiah and Melantha Lorenn, she moved with her father to Windenburg when he was offered a position as a principle at the school. She lived a pretty uneventful life despite her father's side work as a dragon hunter and spellcaster. Anika herself was a powerful spellcaster but her father kept her away from the major things he was doing. Eventually, Anika fell to a trick to capture the two child dragons, her best friend Apollo and Arlo.

9. Why is their name, their name?

I really liked the sound of Anika, and since Isaiah and Melantha also had unique names, I wanted Anika to have a name that would feel like she's a girl born into the 1%.

10. Do they have any nick names?

Ani, by Apollo, Queen B(itch) by Arlo. Princess by many of her school peers.

20. What do they look like?

See thee above.

21. What are their hobbies?

Maeve's hobbies include watching football and baseball games, writting research law papers, cooking and working out.

22. What are their ticks?

Their what?

23. Do they like children?

Maeve has five children, her eldest twins Arlo and Apollo, her middle daughter, Syracusia, and her youngest twins Talia and Dimitri.

24. How do they react to being around wild animals?

Maeve is pretty brave and adventurous but as most people she tends to avoid wild foxes and other animals.

25. If they were given the task to prank someone, who would it be, what would they do, and would the prank work?

It would be Mal and it would be the yelling "I feel good!" prank when he was busy spraying bugs, doing the laundry or when he's vacumming.

26. Do they have any survival skills?

Yes, she can pitch a tent, filter water and cook most wilderness food. She also knows how to hunt, since her father enjoyed hunting pigeons, ducks and rabbits. She knows how to make a snare trap.

27. Are they more book smart or street smart?

50/50. She's very book smart when it comes to education and law, but has a lot of street smart when dealing with her clients, and the cases she has. She knows what the jury are more likely to simpathise with and usually builds her case defense around this.

28. How do they get out of a difficult situation?

Usually by trying to solve it. If she can't solve it, she asks for help, but she is not one to run away from a situation.

29. Do they use their body, mind, personality or force to get what they want?

Personality and smarts.

30. What music do they enjoy?

Maeve enjoys rock, old school rock and roll.

40. How do they become who they are?

Syra is the lucky three. She has a very calm and uneventfull life despite what luck befalls are siblings, and she is lucky to get two younger siblings, so she never got very cotroling parents breathing over her shoulder, so she was allowed to be herself. She has a very supporting father in Mal, who supports her every decision, and a big brother who loves her and whenever he is well, Arlo will go with her to do whatever she wants.

41. How was their childhood?

She had a happy childhood. Though they moved when she was a kid, she was young enough for it to not cause a negative impact on her growing up. At the contrary of her older siblings, Syra wasn't forced to go to a private school, and being in public school allowed her to be a regular girl without the pressure of being examplar.

42. Are they close with anyone who is going to screw them over?

One of her friends is a mooch, who's only around her to get good grades and to steal her stuff, she doesn't know this yet.

43.How do they adapt to different situations? Do they adapt at all?

Syra adapts pretty well to her surroundings and situations. She's a versatile girl who knows she has parents and siblings who will help her if she needs.

44. How do they speak? Examples - Are they soft spoken, hot heated, vulgar

Syra is soft spoken, quiet and calm.

45. Are they opposed to violence?

Very much. Syra grew up watching her two older brothers getting into very violent altercations, especially when Arlo was feeling well. She usually would get in the middle of the two. She now knows why they'd fight.

46. When is their birthday?

Syra was born in Autumn, I think.

47. Are they quick to judge?

Not really. Syra is very empathetic.

48. Do they have anything they are trying to hide from others?

No.

49. Do they act different around different people?

No.

50.Do they enjoy the arts?

Syra enjoys theater, film and music.

#syra #mal #maeve #anika #izayoichan

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