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sixosix · 9 months

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I DRIVE DOWN DIFFERENT ROADS | S. HEIZOU

“you look so pretty,” the stranger with twin moles murmurs, “like it’d be a crime not to want you.”

or, you met a detective once on an unexpected night; fate decides that it won’t be the last time

tags cw drunk character, POV meet-cute and he makes a fool out of himself but u want him anw, drunk heizou, pre-relationship, bff!kazuha

a/n wc 1500, wow this is the longest i’ve written this month!

next part

inazuma wasn’t your first region of destination in mind when listing down vacation ideas. going on vacation wasn’t even on your to-do list—it has been that way for the past three years.

“don’t be ashamed to ask. you know i would say yes,” yelan, your distant relative who is somewhat of a mentor to you, had told you herself when you briefly mentioned your plans.

yet as you trek through the dewy grass of chinju forest, you mourn all those years when you could’ve taken in inazuma’s sights much earlier when you needed it the most.

chinju forest is completely different from liyue harbor. it’s dim; the sun mysteriously never rises, and it’s filled with flowers—the same ones that glimmer so brightly that everything about the forest looks blue, overpowering the lanterns and candles spread throughout. and although it doesn’t feel like home, you wouldn’t mind spending a few months or so in here.

liyue harbor is always bright with splashes of color: bustling with merchants and tourists, with storytellers and friends you see on occasion. friends who wanted you to see the beauty of other places, too.

kazuha had let you in on his plan to return to inazuma for a bit to visit old friends—and since the traveler had worked the traveler magic on inazuma, too, it became safe enough for kazuha to invite you along with it.

it took some convincing and some restless nights of you imagining yelan saying no, but it turns out she is more than happy to send you off to another region, oceans away. says she could use one herself. and now here you are, freely exploring, taking in new, breathtaking sights, meeting new people, fawning over their food, realizing the world is much bigger than you thought.

and also stumbling into a drunk man tipping side-to-side as he weaves through the forest.

cautiously, you sneak behind a tree, watching the inebriated stranger walk like he’s about to twirl around, catch his own feet over his ankle, and fall face-first.

he looks young. if he were next to you in liyue they’d assume he’s exactly your age, with unruly hair and a short height. in the soft, blue glow of the forest’s fluorescent flowers, this stranger looks like the type of handsome you’ve read in books. soft, striking.

“who’s there?”

your eyebrows shoot up in disbelief. for someone barely able to walk a straight line, he’s able to sense your presence the moment your breath hitched; a concealed disturbance in the air.

should you leave?

unfortunately, the thought that kazuha would want you to guide this vulnerable man back to the city torments your conscience. even if you’re oceans away, protecting people and keeping them safe is still your duty.

with a sigh, you step out from the shadows, catching the way the man takes your figure in with squinted eyes. you respond with an inquisitive expression, and he stumbles nearer.

“there…there are— are they still chasing…?” he asks, and you first notice how he has a mole under each eye.

“chasing you? are you a criminal?”

“what….” he looks around, head spinning so fast even you got a little dizzy. “criminal? where?” he garbles, looking as if he’s a second away from throwing up.

“no, i’m asking you— ugh, never mind. who’re you?” you hold him up by the arm, feeling merciful. his weight suddenly doubles as he leans over you, leaving you no choice but to pin him against the tree to keep him from falling.

“the name— i’m,” he manages to say, his words sticking together stubbornly. “shikanoin…sharpest, most successful—”

“okay, okay,” you exhale loudly, not understanding a thing, “let’s just go back.”

“who are… you?” he asks, spitting the last word out, trying to mimic your tone. it fails miserably. his eyes widen as if he sees you for the first time. “oh, wow… you’re pretty. wow. where did you come from? why are you holding me up like this? are you weird?”

baffled by the onslaught of questions, you can only blink at him incredulously. “i’m not a weirdo! i’m trying to help you. you’re drunk out of your mind. and alone!” how did he even get here?

“you look so pretty,” he murmurs instead, “like it’d be a crime not to want you.”

this is getting nowhere.

you pull away in favor of checking if the stranger has anything of use to you. all you can note is a sheathed jitte, a particularly revealing top, and an anemo vision. he wavers again with the loss of your support, resulting in you reflexively reaching out to hold onto the side of his torso. where it’s bare.

“you— you like what you see?” he slurs, and impressively strikes a million-dollar smile despite the droop of his eyes and flush on his face.

“not at all,” you lie. “let’s get back to the city.”

you are, to be frank, tired and ready to slack off for the rest of the day, finding kazuha be damned. staying too long in chinju forest messed with your sense of time; you were expecting sunrise by the time you returned to the city, yet it had only just set.

( not to mention, on the entire way back, the stranger kept talking your ear off, going on and on about how extraordinary and young he is—how pretty you are and how mystified he is. you can guess what his role is here in inazuma judging from his jitte, though you hardly care about how his superiors belittle him and how he laughs in their faces when he solves cases they rip their “receding” hair off dealing with. )

men dressed in various shades of purple saw you dragging him and rushed over to you, crowding over and filling up the small circle with more stench of alcohol. they were all varying levels of drunk, which explains a lot of what happened to the one you met. one of them apologized profusely, though you weren’t listening at all, gaze caught on the way they dragged your stranger away, verbally assaulted with berating left and right.

they were holding him by the arms, looking too much like an apprehended criminal. all that you could think back to was the way he was staring intently at you, too, as if he can’t take his eyes off.

“he’s not usually like this.” the man apologizing is still talking, you faintly realize, zoning back in—yet your eyes never strayed, even as your stranger is far enough to be out of earshot. “he got too competitive.”

“it’s fine,” you say, clipped. “did he win?”

he blinks. “did he— sorry, what?”

“did he win?”

“...yes.” the man’s brows furrow, looking confused.

you bow in respect, smiling politely when your head tilts back up. “i’ll take my leave now, thank you.”

two days later

kaedehara kazuha sits on a rock, watching the sun rise in silence that you quickly disrupt the moment you spot the mop of light hair. he turns his head curiously, having noticed you before you even spoke.

“kazuha!” you exclaim, picking up your pace. “kazuha, there you are. i couldn’t find you at all yesterday. you should’ve seen it—gorou showed me some good views of watatsumi island.”

“i apologize…” he says sheepishly, and to his credit, he does look guilty. “did you have fun? a friend caught wind of my return and whisked me away before i could warn you.”

you laugh, nudging your shoulder with his. “it’s alright. it’s what you’re here for, isn’t it?”

“how are you liking inazuma so far?” he asks, shifting to give you more space.

you try to think back to the beauty of watatsumi, gorou’s enthusiasm, and kokomi’s hospitality, but all you can think of is luminescent flowers and twin moles and your hands meeting a bare waist instead of fabric.

“i met this drunk guy in chinju forest. he was just really weird, though, no one worth worrying over,” you recount, pointedly leaving out other details. “i helped him get back in the city. reminds me of what i had to do to you and beidou.”

“sounds eventful,” kazuha muses, hiding a smile behind a leaf he had snatched out of the air. “where did you leave him off?”

“some guys took him. his co-workers, maybe. hope he doesn’t get fired, poor guy.” you’re starting to not like kazuha’s stare, like he can see the images you’re getting in your head. swiftly, you change the topic back to him. “how about you? what were you doing yesterday?”

“well.” he clears his throat, straightening. hesitantly: “you see—and please, hear me out before you say anything—this friend of mine wants to meet you. urgently, in fact.”

“in a few hours, if possible, he said.”

kazuha should’ve started the conversation with that.

a/n no way heizou fic No way...... no way!!! anyway this was actually rlly fun to write i love heizou so much i can only hope i do him justice in the next part where i have to write him in all his heizou glory </3 title is from ts song guess which one

#606:GENSHIN #genshin impact x reader #shikanoin heizou x reader #heizou x reader #heizou fluff #heizou x you #genshin impact x you #shikanoin heizou x you #genshin x reader #heizou fanfiction #shikanoin heizou fanfiction #heizou x gender neutral reader

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thehusbandoden · 10 months

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Cold- Shigaraki x Fem!Reader Part 2

Surprisingly this and the alternative ending only took me today 😅. I finally got an oomph after a few weeks of a writing block and wrote this, the alternative ending, and like 3-4 other things along with some add-ons to a few unfinished drabbles.

Angst to fluff | 1,899 words | Happy ending + an alternative ending if you'd rather have it end differently! <3

Y/h- your height

Warnings!: Shigaraki dusting multiple people, choking (not sexually), mentions of blood, cutting off a limb (an arm), self harm (Shigaraki), breaking down, Dabi x reader but could be seen as platonic, mentions of season 6 (Machia and the Liberation army), mentions of killing heroes. Pls let me know if I missed any!

Part One | Part Two | Alt. Ending

Shiggy's P.O.V:

Shigaraki paced back and forth in the meeting room, ap hand scratching at his neck. Nothing but guilt consumed him. He's been a complete a-hole to you, treating you horribly. You don't deserve that. You deserve better.

After asking Toga for advice the man decided to apologize and change his sickening behavior. He had only acted like that due to many people criticizing him behind his back. Telling one another what a bad partner he was. It killed him to think that he was.. and so he pushed you away.

He kept you locked away for your safety, there were so many bad people around, he didn't want anything to happen to you. But he couldn't, no. He wouldn't tell you that. He wouldn't act like some over protective psycho who works with people he wants to protect you from.

He took things from you to enforce the rules. He had to keep you safe. He needed you. He said those horrible horrible things to you for what? To push you away further so he would make sure not to be a piece of crap boyfriend? Pathetic.

He only showed his true colors when he held you at night or in the soft hours he was in your shared room. Though you probably didn't even recognize that. He loved you so, so much. And today he'd make it up to you. Today, he, Shigaraki Tomura, would apologize.

Reader's P.O.V:

You grumbled as Dabi picked you up, successfuly avoiding the patrolling heroes.

"Dabi! Let me down!" You whisper-shouted, resulting in Dabi pinching your side. "Ow~!" You whine, smacking Dabi's head as he chuckled.

After the hero passed Dabi sprinted toward the alley across you, pressing himself against the wall, and unfortunately you with him.

"Dabi! It hurts!"

"Will you just- be quiet. For like two minutes." You huffed as you bit back a retort, pout stuck on your face.

After a while of rushing past heroes you both finally made your way out of the city. "Okay y/n. You can talk now."

"Oh can I? Thank you your grace." You bite back sarcastically, e/c eyes glaring into Dabi's turquoise.

"Aww come on now. I was just protecting ya."

"Yeah yeah. Whatever." Dabi just chuckled before splaying his arm over your shoulders, grasping at your right one as he made his way forward.

"Where are we going?" You ask, following suit as he tugged you along.

"To the bar. I can hopefully get you safe before coming back. And we only have a short amount of time so we need to hurry."

"But.. you're not gonna stay with me?"

"No. You know what I need to do y/n."

"So.. you're just going to leave me?!"

"I'll make sure you're safe and have a way to contact me at all times."

"B- okay.."

Shigaraki's P.O.V:

Shigaraki paced back and forth as he practiced what to say. He had everything ready, but the actual apology. Shigaraki has never really apologized before, so this was quite nerve wracking. After another half hour of practice he decided that it was good enough.

Walking toward his shared bedroom, he shifted his hold as he juggled a bouquet of your favorite flowers, your favorite treat, and three more teddy bears to try and fill the hole of the one he dusted. Not to mention an entire box full of books and a TV he left in his office. Where you would be the majority of the time. E

With him, your husband. Slightly knocking on the door, he stepped in. "Y/n my love I know I messed up, but I hoped that-" he stopped as he looked at the room.

It looked perfect. The sheets were cleaned and the bed was made, the floor was spotless and the clothes were perfectly hung up. But, that wasn't the unusual thing. You were gone. You weren't tucked away in bed like usual, you weren't soaking in the bath, and you weren't curled up with a book.

Panicking, Shigaraki dropped his armful to scour the room, ripping apart the closet and flipping the bed.

"Y/N! Y/N WHERE ARE YOU!" Shigaraki yelled, starting to hyperventilate. As he realized you weren't in the room he ran out, searching for you desperately.

"B-boss?" A villain huffed, azul eyes glued to Shigaraki's crazed form.

"WHERE IS MY Y/N!?"

After scouring the place and demanding answers from everyone and anyone Shigaraki found himself back in your shared room, the room a mess from his search. As the reality sunk in he dropped down to his knees, despair overwhelming his senses.

You were gone.

You left.

It was all his fault.

Sobs racked through Shigaraki's being as he clawed at his neck, crying for his missing love. His other half. His reason to live. You were gone. And it was all his fault.

Reader's P.O.V:

You smirked as you passed Dabi, turning to stick your tongue out at him. Dabi just glared at you as he picked up speed, passing you once more.

"Hurry up loser! You wouldn't want to be left behind!"

"Dabi you're such a bully!" He just laughed as he ran down the hill, and into a rice farm. You've been traveling for two days, and are nearing a town that Dabi thinks would be okay for you to shelter at.

Giggling, you ran after him, jumping into his back when you came in range.

"HEY!"

"Shh you'll wake someone up!" You giggle, nuzzling your face against his head. Dabi just scoffed before slowing his pace to a safer one.

"Hehe I knew you cared." You tease, poking at his cheek.

"I can and will drop you off here and now you pest." Dabi growled, cheeks a bright pink.

You just giggled before resting your head onto Dabi's shoulder, thoughts of your former lover plaguing your mind. You missed him. A lot. Not Shigaraki, the leader of the Liberation Army, but Tomura. Tomura, the leader of the humble LOV with a soft spot for his lover and partner.

Before you knew it silent tears rolled down your face onto Dabi's shoulder. If he noticed he didn't say anything, instead opting to stay quiet as he made his way across the rice field.

Shigaraki's P.O.V:

Shigaraki awoke to the shuffling of footsteps outside of his room. "Sh-Shigaraki! We have a clue to where y/n san-"

Shigaraki lunged at the man, grasping his arm in his hand as he whispered in his ear, "Don't you EVER utter her name again. Your filthy mouth isn't worth it."

The man screamed as his arm started decaying. As Shigaraki dropped him in disgust another man quickly moved to cut off the limb, stopping the decaying.

"Where is my y/n." Shigaraki demanded, glaring at the group.

"Ti' yoon saw Dabi taking a young lady about y/h outside of the base. She had clothing that looked similar to yours, and he says she had e/c eyes." A woman reports, arms crossed over her chest nervously.

Rage shook Shigaraki as he glared at every member of the group, neck scratching over his blood-stained neck. "Why didn't he tell me this EARLIER?" Shigaraki demanded, crimson eyes glaring.

"B-because he didn't suspect anything... He thought that it was someone else because he didn't know that your chick was disloy-" the man was cut off with a scarred hand to his neck, a finger short from decaying him instantly.

"DON'T EVER INSULT MY Y/N YOU SWINE!" Shigaraki yelled, choking the sobbing man before finishing the job, decaying him instantly.

"Bring me to Ti' yoon. Now."

After gathering as much information as he could, Shigaraki quickly made his way toward where they were headed on Machia, killing any hero that dared try and interrupt him.

Reader's P.O.V:

"Y/n. Give me that back. Now."

"But Dabi! Look at how good it looks on me! I thought it was ugly before but it must of just been you!" You tease, sticking your tounge out.

"Oh that's it. You're dead. " Dabi growled, lunging toward you.

You yelped as you threw yourself into a bush, getting you and Dabi's jacket stuck in the branches.

"Aha! Got you!" Dabi grinned, tickling your form as you shook with laughter.

"Da- Dabi! Come on! Help me up!" You giggle, e/c eyes shining.

"Nah. I'm good thanks." Dabi grinned, pinching your side. Dabi just gazed at you as you cussed him out, trying to wiggle free from the bush's grasp to ring his neck.

You both froze as you heard a familiar voice calling the two of you.

"Is that.." you whisper, eyes moist.

"Yeah.. let's get out of here." Dabi replied, scooping you into his arms. You worriedly looked back as Dabi sprinted away, searching for a hiding spot.

Shigaraki's P.O.V:

"Y/N MY LOVE! DABI YOU MORON I'M GOING TO SLOWLY TURN YOU INTO DUST! LIMB BY LIMB YOU WILL SUFFER FOR TAKING MY Y/N AWAY FROM ME!" Shigaraki yelled, crazed eyes scouring the rice farm.

Shigaraki had quickly found footprints, and his rage only deepened as he saw them interlap, and yours going as far as to disappear at times. Following the tracks, he reached a rice farm, where the prints were fresher. You were near. His other half was near.

"Y/N MY LOVE PLEASE COME HOME!"

Reader's P.O.V:

Tears ran down your cheeks as you listened to Shigaraki's words. He was going to find you. You knew it. But he was going to kill Dabi. Not only that- but torture him?

"Hey y/n. It will be okay. He won't find us."

"Yes. Yes he will Dabi. And you will die. I'd rather live with the shell of the man I fell in love with rather than flee and have my best friend be tortured. And don't you argue. I know you Dabi."

"Y/n. No. You are not going back to him."

"Dabi.. you aren't going to be tortured just so I can be happy. He hadn't physically hurt me. He's still my Tomura.. maybe one day he'll change."

"Y/n no-" as Dabi reached for you you activated your quirk and froze him, stopping his movement entirely.

"Y-y/n.. no."

"You'll be free by tomorrow. Hopefully I can convince him to not-"

"Y/n! Y/n my darling!" Shigaraki exclaimed, rushing toward you.

"Tomura..?" You ask, hesitation evident in your voice.

"Oh y/n I- I am so, so sorry. Please. Please my Love. Forgive me? I- I promise to do better. To go back to normal. Y/n my dear you are the most important thing to me, please. Please, please forgive me? I promise to change. My love please." Shigaraki begged, moving to his knees and grabbing your hands.

"Tomura.. you hurt me. A lot."

"I know- I know but baby please." "

"Oh baby.. how could I say no? J-just look at you. What happened to your neck?" You ask, a tear sliding down your face.

"Shhh nothing. Don't worry about it my baby." Right as Shigaraki pulled himself up to kiss you, you put a finger to his lips.

"But. Under one condition. I will forgive you if you promise not to hurt Dabi. He's like a big brother to me Tomu. So please?"

Shigaraki growled softly before glaring up at Dabi. "Fine. For you." He hissed.

You just smiled before tip toeing to kiss Shigaraki, entangling your hands into his hair and pulling him down to deepen the kiss. There were so many emotions poured into it.

Guilt.

Regret.

Hurt.

Acknowledgment.

Anger.

Relief.

And most evident; love.

Part 1 | Alt. ending

Shigaraki's masterlist | Main masterlist | Requesting Rules (requests open and appreciated <3)

Do not copy, repost, nor plagiarize my work. Ask before you translate or use my work in any way, minus reblogging.

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just-imagine-that · 1 year

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Ateez Reaction - What You Love About Him

Quick reminder that this is what my opinions are, you don't have to agree, just be respectful of our differences

Another reminder that I DO take requests, you can basically ask for any group, and I'll try my best lol

All Gifs Are From Pinterest

WARNING: Fluff, Directed more to FEMALES, but no pronouns mentioned

Seonghwa

The thing you love most physically about him is his smile. The shape of his mouth makes his smile seem a bit awkward, but in a really adorable way, and you can't help but laugh when he smiles. His smile is very contagious!

As for personality-wise, you really like his caring nature. He's always making sure you're taking care of yourself, always asking if you've eaten. He asks you how your day was at work, and if it was a bad day, he'll shower you in love and affection, and, on occasion, might even give you a bit of a back and neck massage. Also very stubborn, if he knows you haven't eaten and you say you're not hungry (even though you obviously are), he's gonna drag you to that goddamn kitchen and you're gonna fuckin' eat what food he gives you.

Hongjoong

Physically, you really like his hands, they're very small and cute. You also really like when he wears nail varnish aswell, because he really looks good with it on, especially if it's a darker colour.

Now personality-wise, you really like how stern and blunt he can be. Like, the days where you just wanna lay in bed and sleep, he's just like, get the fuck up, you gotta work, you want money, don't you? And with him being blunt, you really like and appreciate it because his bluntness lets you know his boundaries. If he doesn't like something, he just says so, and if he needs his space, he tells you.

Yunho

Okay, I think everyone saw this coming for the physical one, his height makes you swoon! The sheer size difference between you two is so astonishing to you, he really makes you feels safe and protected, because I don't think anyone wants to mess with someone that tall unless they have a death wish.

Personality; this man is the biggest puppy EVER. He might be tall, but he is such an innocent soul, and that makes you love him even more! He's tall, handsome, and is very gentleman-like! He's the type of man that you could take home to your mother and she would 100% approve of you dating him. Also, gotta say, he is the best person to give you comfort, he's just so soft and understanding, honestly he's just perfect!

Yeosang

Another physical I think we all saw coming. His birthmark is your favourite physical thing about him, because it shows that he is human and that not everyone's skin is flawless. His birthmark is also super cute, and he can expect you to give him kisses on the mark a lot.

Personality wise, you love his sass! Like, when you're having a bad day and some bitch is keepin' you down, you know he's gonna have some shit to say about it. His savageness never ceases to make you laugh and smile, when it's not being directed at you of course. Even when he is sassy towards you, you're always prepared to come back at him. Normally after you've out-sassed eachother, you look for one of the other members.

San

Another smile to appreciate! With one smile, this man can make the darkest days turn to sunshine. Often times when you're down, all he has to do is smile and your heart immediately feels lighter. His smile is very healing and you absolutely love that.

Okay, so, as for personality, you really like how energetic he is. Because he has so much energy, he is always keeping you on your toes. You guys are constantly fooling around, and often times you drag the other members into it. Also, I imagine a lot of pillow fights with San and they guys when you come over for a movie night. It starts with San hitting you with a pillow because you made a really cheesy pickup line, and then everything loses control, and somehow everybody has pillow fluff all over them.

Mingi

I really don't know if this counts as a physical aspect of him, but how deep his voice is has to be your favourite. His voice is really deep and kinda raspy, which you find really pleasing to hear. Not gonna get too deep into this cause if I do, we're gonna start getting into a voice kink, and I wanna try to keep these wholesome.

He's kind of an awkward person, and it's honestly so cute. Like, he's all tall, and intimidating looking , but when you get to know him he's so awkward and adorable. Also, he is such a cuddler, he could cuddle you 24/7 if he was allowed to. He also buys you little presents a lot, and even more flowers! God, how can I keep these short, there's so much to love about all of the boys!

Wooyoung

Physically, you really like his hair! No matter what colour or style his stylists choose, his hair is always so fluffy and full. You also like the fact that no matter the length or colour, everything suits him!

This isn't really personality or physically, I don't know what you'd call it, but you really like his laugh. His laugh can get really high, and the higher it gets, the more likely you're gonna laugh with him. His laugh just makes everything 1000× funnier than the situation already is. You love to try and make him laugh, because it gives you so much joy to hear him be happy; his happiness is your happiness.

Jongho

Okay, we all know what the physical one is here. His strength, man. You are constantly on his arms, like, just knowing how strong he is, is a very comforting thing for you, because, yes, you can defend yourself perfectly fine, but sometimes it's nice to know that someone can defend you if you are unable to at the time!

Personality-wise, he is so cuddly with you, it's unreal. Cuddles 24/7, man, everyday all day. No joke, he will NOT let you get up in the morning, he clings to you like a koala. He might let you up to let you use the bathroom, but the moment you come back into the room, he's pulling you back onto the bed to get his cuddles. Ah, just thinking about it makes me smile! He always has to be touching you in some way, and that is completely fine with you!

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the-whispers-of-death · 29 days

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girl dad Stone with dilf reader who has a kiddo of his own

Saira is like 15-16 and wants to have some big girl money of her own but most places won't hire her so she's stuck doing stuff like mowing lawns and babysitting nightmare children for the neighbours. reader moves into the house next to Saira and Stone with his little daughter. reader is hugelarge and built like a grizzly (Stone is chest height at best). reader is a big, strong man, bit of a dad bod, has some beard, longish hair (basically a viking looking dude. make him scandinavian fuck it. probably has been in the military at some point). despite his looks reader is the chillest man alive. soft voice, even tone, very soft and chill, down to earth nature vibes (basically like one of those monk/mentor characters from the medias) like a huge cuddly bear that could bend metal with his bare hands. his daughter is chill too. like scarily chill. no roughhousing, no tantrums or screaming, the lil thing is like 5-6 years old and is more mature than some teens (reader may or may not be a little concerned and trying to encourage his daughter to be a little rowdy even if she prefers napping on her dads chest more than any game). readers daughter is also really smart for her age, likes technology and numbers while still appreciating nature.

okay now onto the meeting.

Saira rocks up on readers doorstep to offer babysitting services and reader is delighted that he wouldn't have to break himself trying to find someone to look after his little bird(he calls his daughter little bird because she often climbs him and perches on his shoulder). when reader needs to leave for work he brings his daughter over to Saira and meets Stone. greetings are exchanged and reader skeddadles and his daughter is left with them. Saira and readers daughter spend the time playing, doing homework and hanging out (readers daughter is complimenting everything and everyone because she's a kid and has 0 filter). at some point readers daughter and Stone end up in the same room and readers daughter looks at Stone and goes "you should tell my dad to take you on a date" (not ask tell daughter is straight up telling Stone to command reader to take him on a date) if Stone or Saira have any questions about what just came out that child mouth daughter just says that she likes them both and her dad needs a friend. anyway reader comes back, picks up his child, pays Saira hella cash for her services and goes home (maybe brings over some baked goods the next day as thanks and a sign of good will).

(also it would be lowkey hilarious if they met in a different way and readers daughter got protective of her dad when she noticed Stones attraction to her dad and is @Stone like "i know where you live" trying to be all intimidating but it doesn't really work when the person threatening Stone is knee height at best and weighs less than the weights he lifts when working out)

anyway idk what this is. this is just wordwomit at this point i just want Stone to get a hot dilf and for Saira to get a lil sister and a second dad. just found family vibes

I love word-vomit, yes tell me everything about your idea even—no, especially if it leaves me to just add on a tiny bit. I love it.

Anyways, Girl Dad!Stone would be so confused by your daughter telling him to tell you to take him out on a date. First of all, he's used to most kids (save for Saira) being scared of him but that can just be explained by you being taller than Stone. Second of all, huh???

He's never had a kid be so demanding before and he has no idea what to do about it. Like what if you don't actually like him? What if he asks you out on a date and you reject him? Telling you to take him out on a date just seems too... bold, but it's what your daughter said to do.

Saira would love you daughter, would happily play with her. She's content about not having to deal with rowdy younger kids.

(She swears she wasn't rowdy when she was younger, but Stone has the moments written down in his diaries and he's not afraid to whip those out.)

Stone is enamored with you because not only are you a father like him, but you're also taller than him? Have his heart already, okay.

14 notes · View notes

emotionalcadaver · 3 months

Text

Part 1: The Clockwork Laws

Fandom: In Time

Pairing: Raymond Leon x OC

Summary: Life as Raymond’s partner isn’t everything she was hoping it would be.

Word Count: 6,015

Notes: Warnings for references to prostitution.

Masterlists: Main • Series • Fic

Previous Part • Next Part

Chapter 3: Partners

Rose stared up at the Timekeeper headquarters building nervously. She had nothing but her bag with her, hair tied back in a braid, dressed in black with a pair of heavy combat boots on her feet.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. She forced her shoulders to relax before stepping forward, pushing open the doors.

The woman at the front desk greeted her with a warm smile, whisking her to the back where she measured her shoulders and general height with a tape measure before pulling from the closet a long, leather black coat.

“Try this on. To make sure it fits.”

Taking the coat from her, Rose slipped her arms tentatively through the sleeves, rolling her shoulders under the heavy leather. It was warm, the inner lining soft. It felt like armor.

“How does it fit?”

“Yeah, it feels good.”

“Good. Come with me, then. I’ll show you to your desk.”

Wrapping the coat around her more tightly, enjoying the protectiveness that the layer of leather provided, she rushed to follow the secretary down the hall. “I get a desk?”

“Of course,” she giggled, still smiling at Rose warmly. They came into a room made almost entirely of white marble, huge columns spaced evenly across the entire length of it. Desks with four people to each, a computer screen erected in front of them, were spread throughout, and a massive map displaying the time zones and the amount of time currently in each zone was displayed on the wall. There was no decoration on the walls, leaving the space to feel sterile and cold. She was suddenly even more grateful for the coat she’s just been issued. A handful of people were already milling about, some in their leather dusters while others were in suits. But all were dressed in deep black.

“You're over here,” the secretary guided her to a desk. “Cassius and his partner Joelle are there,” she pointed to two of the other chairs at the table. “And Raymond’s here,” she pointed to one of the seats next to Rose’s. “He’ll be your partner.”

“I’m partnered with Raymond?” Rose asked, the knowledge startling her. The secretary shrugged.

“We’re all as surprised as you are. Word is, Raymond’s been refusing getting a partner since he first showed up here. What did you do to change his mind?”

“I–nothing?” her brow stitched together in confusion. Considering that her last interaction with Raymond ended with him behaving cold and aloof towards her, she couldn’t for the life of her think of any reason why he would be even somewhat willing to be partners with her.

“Well, either way, it seems that the tin man has a sliver of a heart after all. Go ahead and get settled in. He’ll tell you about what you’ll be working on when he gets in.”

“Thanks.”

The secretary nodded and bustled away. Sliding her bag from her shoulder, Rose sat gingerly down into her chair, fiddling around with the computer as she waited, mind twirling a little from overstimulation over everything that had just been thrown at her.

“You must be the new rookie,” looking up, she was met with a woman with dark features, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. “I’m Joelle.”

“Hi,” she shook Joelle’s outstretched hand. “I’m Rose.”

“I know. Raymond’s new partner,” Joelle gave her a sympathetic look. “Listen. He’s a hard ass, but he means well.”

“Um, okay?”

Joelle looked her up and down. “You’ll be fine.”

She left Rose alone at the desk, to twiddle her thumbs as she waited. Her eyes darted almost of their own accord to the map on the wall. It was big enough to span out between two columns, the different zones indicated on it glowing in different colors, with a huge number in the middle of each one.

The squeak of shoes against the floor made her turn. Raymond was standing there, hands shoved into his jacket, his jaw working around a wad of gum. When he saw her he stopped, those expressionless eyes looking her up and down.

“You’re here,” it was hard to tell if he was disappointed or not.

“I am,” Rose forced her chin to remain high. To not give into the slight intimidation that he made her feel. Or the way that her body flushed when he looked her up and down like that.

Raymond didn’t say anything else, just moved to sit at his desk, fingers flying across the keyboard as he logged in. Rose squirmed in her seat. So he was still pissed over…whatever it was she had said that angered him the last time that they saw each other.

“So, um,” she cleared her throat. “What should I do first?”

Raymond heaved out a sign, as if the question alone was of great inconvenience to him. The wheels of the chair made a rumbling noise as they wheeled against the floor towards her when he scooted closer, shoving a huge file onto her desk.

“Read this,” he went back to clicking through something on his computer.

“All of it?”

“Yes,” he didn’t look up.

“O-kay…” she drew the word out, opening the file and freezing at the name that greeted her. “Cyrus?” looking up at Raymond, she found that his expression hadn’t changed.

“We’ve been tasked with hunting him down.”

“I see,” he didn’t offer anything further to her comment. “Look, I just wanted to say thanks for–”

“Save it,” his teeth gritted as he said it. Still he wouldn’t look at her. Rose fought the urge to shrivel in on herself. Just nodding, she focused her eyes instead on the pages in front of her.

∗ ∗ ∗

“Ah, shit,” she muttered, fingers rubbing at where the papers she’d been filing had sliced into her finger in a tiny, stinging cut. That had been how she’d spent most of her day. And the day before that. And the day before that. Tucked away in the records office, filing paper after paper from the stack Raymond had dumped on her desk.

She tried to be a good sport about it. Everyone had to pay their dues somehow, after all. But still, considering Raymond’s clear hostility towards her, it was hard not to take it personally.

Pushing the last paper into place and shoving the filing cabinet closed, she sucked on her cut finger as she left the room, heading back to her desk. There was a rush of Timekeepers heading towards the doors, many checking their weapons and tugging on their coats.

“What’s going on?” Rose asked, approaching Joelle who was sitting at her computer. She just shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“There’s a hostage situation in New Greenwich,” Raymond swept around them both, shoving his gun into the holster on his thigh. “All available units are getting called in.”

Cursing quietly, Joelle jumped from her seat, rushing for the door. When Rose moved to follow, Raymond held out a hand to stop her.

“Not you.”

“I can help–”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Raymond sighed heavily and pinched at his brow. She was pretty sure that she was going to kill him.

It wasn’t even the mindless, mundane tasks that he assigned to her day after day that was getting to her, but the blatant, obvious distrust. So he didn’t like her. That was fine.

Okay, it actually really wasn’t, but that’s not the point.

The point was that he clearly didn’t want her around.

She’d considered asking for a transfer to another partner, but he’d so neglected to show her how anything there worked, she didn’t even know how to do that.

“Look, I don’t know what I said, or did to make you so dislike me–”

“I don’t dislike you,” Raymond defended.

“Stop interrupting me!” it came out louder than intended, and a few passing Timekeepers shot them funny looks. Raymond’s brows rose, but he stopped talking. “I just don’t see the point in being here if you’re just going to treat me like a glorified secretary.”

“Everyone starts out with menial work until they’ve learned the ropes.”

“And yet you haven’t done shit to even try to teach me anything. You won’t let me onto any crime scenes, you barely even let me look at crime files. So how the hell am I supposed to learn how to do my job when my own damn partner barely trusts me to file correctly?”

“It’s not an issue of trust. You don’t have any experience in this line of work. You want me to send you into a situation that’ll likely just get you and several of our other Timekeepers shot?”

“How the hell am I supposed to get any experience when you keep me locked up in here then?”

Raymond’s jaw twitched, arms crossing over his chest. She was suddenly aware of just how much taller he was than her. “Listen to me. Do you realize how goddamn lucky you are? No one from Dayton gets accepted here. Ever. Do you know how many people are just waiting for one little slip up, one tiny little mistake to send your ass packing? So you are going to keep your goddamn head down, you’re not going to make any trouble, and you will do what I fucking tell you to. Got it?” his tone was low, trembling with anger, eyes narrowed to icy slits as he leaned into her space. Rose could feel her resolve crumbling away into nothing but dust as she realized there wasn’t really any point in arguing. She knew that she wouldn’t win. Much as it begrudged her to admit it, he was right. And the last thing she wanted to do was to make him somehow hate her even more. Looking down, she couldn’t help it as her shoulders slumped slightly. “Okay.”

Raymond moved to walk around her, then paused, heaving out a deep sigh. “There are some notes on my desk regarding the Cyrus case. Go ahead and read through them. See if you can spot anything useful,” his hand just barely grazed along her shoulder for a brief sliver of a second. And then he was walking away, so quickly she thought for a moment that she might have imagined the light touch had it not been for the way her skin tingled in memory of the weight of his hand.

She tried to be a good sport about it. Everyone had to pay their dues somehow, after all. But still, considering Raymond’s clear hostility towards her, it was hard not to take it personally.

“What’s going on?” Rose asked, approaching Joelle who was sitting at her computer. She just shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“There’s a hostage situation in New Greenwich,” Raymond swept around them both, shoving his gun into the holster on his thigh. “All available units are getting called in.”

Cursing quietly, Joelle jumped from her seat, rushing for the door. When Rose moved to follow, Raymond held out a hand to stop her.

“Not you.”

“I can help–”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Raymond sighed heavily and pinched at his brow. She was pretty sure that she was going to kill him.

It wasn’t even the mindless, mundane tasks that he assigned to her day after day that was getting to her, but the blatant, obvious distrust. So he didn’t like her. That was fine.

Okay, it actually really wasn’t, but that’s not the point.

The point was that he clearly didn’t want her around.

She’d considered asking for a transfer to another partner, but he’d so neglected to show her how anything there worked, she didn’t even know how to do that.

“Look, I don’t know what I said, or did to make you so dislike me–”

“I don’t dislike you,” Raymond defended.

“Everyone starts out with menial work until they’ve learned the ropes.”

“How the hell am I supposed to get any experience when you keep me locked up in here then?”

∗ ∗ ∗

Head resting on one arm while she scribbled notes down, cursing quietly when the ink smudged, she barely even heard the doors open, nor the heavy footsteps behind her. Someone had turned on the television in the breakroom, the majority of those left behind at the headquarters gathering around it to watch what happened with the hostage situation. Rose had wandered in once to get another cup of coffee, only glancing at the news anchor speaking on the scene before returning back to her desk to continue reviewing the notes Raymond had left her with.

“You’ve been busy.”

Head jerking up at the sound of Raymond’s voice over her shoulder, she glanced back at him, cheeks heating against her will as she looked at the array of notes and papers scattered over her desk. “You said to go over those notes on the Cyrus case.”

There was a long, long, stretch of silence, his eyes just staring at her, analyzing. Tucking a loose curl behind her ear, she squirmed in her seat, trying to act collected at the sudden attention.

“It’s late,” he said finally. “I was expecting you to have already gone home.”

It was hard to determine what exactly he wanted her to say to that, so she just shrugged sheepishly, trying to straighten out the papers on her desk into a neat stack. “How did the hostage situation go?”

Rubbing a hand across his neck, he huffed. “It went fine.”

That was probably about as much detail as she was going to get out of him. “Good,” she nodded. “That’s good,” tentatively, she set the stack of papers on his desk. “I wrote down what I thought, about the case.”

Nodding, he skimmed a finger along the stack. “I’ll read through it tomorrow.”

“Okay,” massaging at her brow, she hastily held her hand to her mouth to hide a yawn that was powerful enough to squeeze her eyes shut. When she opened them, Raymond was looking at her strangely. The coldness in his eyes seemed to have thawed, if only by the slightest amount.

“Go home, Rose. Get some sleep.”

It was impossible to stop the stutter in her breathing when he said her name. But she couldn’t deny how exhausted she was. Logging out and locking her computer, she stood, brushing herself down carefully before grabbing her bag.

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Okay.”

While heading to the doors, she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder once. And when she did she found him still standing at his desk, watching her walk away with inscrutable eyes.

∗ ∗ ∗

The thump as a new stack of papers were deposited onto Rose’s desk made her teeth grind together.

“More to be filed?” glancing up from the pile she was currently working on, she bit back a bitter scowl as she met Raymond’s cold eyes.

“Yes.”

“You know, I could be helpful in other ways than just filing shit.”

“What I have you doing is helpful,” he didn’t look at her as he said it, instead glancing down at his phone when it beeped. Rose bit her tongue to keep herself from saying something that would begin an argument. They’d had enough of those since she’d been assigned as his partner.

She wasn’t entirely sure if it was being paired up with a rookie that made Raymond so dislike her, or if it was just because it was her.

She was beginning to suspect that it was the latter.

But the constant stream of meaningless work was starting to get on her last nerve. They were supposed to be hunting down leads on Cyrus, and yet half of the time he had her doing filings that really should have been relegated to one of the interns.

“Any new leads today?” she asked. A muscle in Raymond’s cheek twitched, a sign that she’d learned indicated that he was trying to hide his annoyance.

“No.”

“Are you still sending search squads out to Dayton?”

His back turned to her as he examined the huge map of the time zones projected onto the wall. Shoulders heaving with his sigh, he settled his hands on his waist. “Yes.”

“You should have them check out the red light district by the entrance to the subway tunnel. Some of the rebels would frequent there.”

Blinking once, his eyes continued to stare at the map, but there was a haziness in them all of a sudden. Like his mind wasn’t quite there for a moment. “I know.”

Rose raised an eyebrow, but just as quickly as his eyes had lost focus they snapped back to reality, staring intently at the map. She almost wondered if she had just imagined the uncharacteristic, haunted look that passed over his features.

“One of Cyrus’s favorites worked that area,” she tried to add, though she wasn’t sure how any of that would be useful.

“What do you mean?” when she looked up, Raymond was staring at her.

“Yeah…at least that’s what Luke told me,” she winced as the file she picked up sliced a thin papercut into her thumb. “I think that her name was Sasha?”

“Hm,” Raymond’s hand braced against her desk, eyes still looking the map up and down. His foot tapped, brows knitting as he rolled something over in his mind. “Come with me,” spinning on his heel, he began to move towards the doors. Rose remained just sitting for a few seconds, blinking in shock as her mind processed what he’d just said. Leaping to her feet and snagging her leather duster from where it was hanging over the back of her chair, she rushed to follow him.

“Where are we going?”

Raymond didn’t answer, just unlocked his car and slid into the driver’s seat. Climbing into the passenger’s side, she adjusted her coat around her shoulders, clicking her seatbelt into place. Raymond drove fast, with a level of abandon that was probably useful when in pursuit of a suspect. She wondered if it was an old habit from living in Dayton, similarly to how she had yet to unlearn that she didn’t need to speed walk or jog everywhere anymore.

“Did your brother tell you anything else about the relationship between the rebels and the prostitutes?” Raymond asked, eyes glued to the road.

“Not really. Just that it was contentious.”

“Did he say why?”

“No, he didn’t.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn that some of the tension in Raymond’s shoulders relaxed. A part of her wanted to ask more questions, but her instincts told her that would just get her head ripped off. Instead she let her forehead rest against the window, watching the people going about their lives as they sped past them.

“Raymond,” she said quietly as soon as she recognized the streets they were pulling towards. “Why are we here?”

Parking the car, he smoothed a hand through his hair, an apprehensiveness in his steely gaze that left her uneasy.

“Look,” he licked his lips. “Just stay close, alright?”

Her brows furrowed. “Okay.”

As he unlocked the doors, she checked the green countdown on her arm before slipping her hand into the silver ring of metal behind the gearshift. “Dispatch, wire me my per diem.”

“Time transfer,” the automated female voice said. She waited for the numbers to tick upwards before removing her arm.

“Do you need to get yours too?” she called as Raymond stepped from the car, but he shook his head.

“No, I’ve got enough.”

As they walked towards the red light district of Dayton, she adjusted her coat against her shoulders. The leather felt like armor, a protective shield against anyone or anything that may try to harm her.

“What makes you think that any of them will actually talk to you?” she asked. He didn’t respond.

The streets had more people on them than the last time Rose was there, though several ducked back into their houses at the sight of them approaching. Others, however, just eyed them curiously.

“Hey, Ray!” shouted a woman dressed in a fishnet shirt and mini skirt, teetering on the highest pair of heels Rose had ever seen. She waved enthusiastically with a grin.

“Hi, Tara,” Raymond called back, and for a moment a friendly smile stretched across his features. Rose almost tripped over her own feet at the sight, all but gaping at the exchange. She wouldn’t have thought Raymond to be capable of friendly greetings at all. Chancing another glance around, at the other sex workers lounging in the streets, she realized that many of them were looking at Raymond with a level of familiarity.

So he must be a regular here, then.

Wrapping her arms around her middle, she gulped down whatever the fuck the feeling was that twinged in her chest. It didn’t matter. She didn’t care.

Following Raymond when he turned down an alley, she lingered silently behind him as he approached three women talking in hushed voices to one another.

“Hey, Janet,” the woman with a bright red streak in her hair lifted her head at his voice. “Can I have a minute?”

The woman shooed the other two away, leaning against the wall and looking Raymond up and down.

“Been awhile since I’ve seen you down here, Ray. You get too good for the likes of us?”

“Work’s been busy.”

“I heard,” Janet shot a lazy look at Rose. “Who’s this?”

“This is my partner,” he couldn’t have sounded any less enthused about it if he tried. Rose bit her cheek and kept her head lowered, burying her hurt feelings under a blank, neutral expression. “We need to ask you some questions.”

Janet crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. Raymond heaved out a dramatic sigh, taking her arm and transferring some of the time on his arm over to hers. Checking her numbers to see how much he’d given her, Janet nodded. “Okay. What do you want to know?”

“We know that Cyrus Langley still comes around here. Does he see anyone in particular?”

“Yeah, actually. Ever since the shit you pulled though, he only goes to the same two girls. They’re both hardcore rebel sympathizers. Practically rebels themselves. I’m guessing that he trusts them not to blab any of the shit he shows or tells them.”

“Who are they?”

“Sasha and Emmie,” Janet’s eyes narrowed. “You know, none of them really trusted any of us after what you did. Some even come out to harass us while we’re trying to work. It cost us all a mountain of customers.”

Raymond looked down, shoving his hands in his pockets and clearing his throat. As if ashamed. Rose looked between him and Janet in puzzlement. There was some piece of all of this that she was missing, and judging by how cagey Raymond was with her, she doubted that he was about to volunteer any answers.

“Are either of them around?”

“No. They both skipped town after they heard about your big round up of all the rebels at the base.”

Raymond cursed quietly under his breath, running a hand over his slicked back hair. “Anything else?”

Janet cocked her head, and pursed her lips, clearly considering before holding out her arm again. Raymond rolled his eyes, grabbing her arm and transferring over some more time to her.

“Sasha had a big mouth on her. She liked to brag about all of the expensive gifts Cyrus would buy her. Pompous bitch,” Janet scowled bitterly. “She mentioned some sort of…I don’t know, apartment, a safehouse, maybe, that he liked to take her to.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“You got a pen?”

Rose rummaged around in her pocket, handing Janet her notebook and a pen. She scribbled down an address and handed it back. Raymond nodded to Janet.

“Thanks.”

“Sure thing.”

Raymond’s footsteps were fast as he walked from the alley and back along the road they’d come down on. Rose had to all but jog in order to keep up with him. Questions danced on the end of her tongue, but one look at Raymond’s face had her biting it instead. His eyes were focused firmly ahead, hands clasped behind his back, expression bordering on tormented.

“Raymond?” she didn’t know what else she exactly wanted to say to him. They were nearing the car.

“Give me the address,” was all he said in response. Pulling her notebook from her pocket, she tore the page out with a satisfying rip, holding it out to him. When he reached out a hand to take it, her eyes widened to nearly the size of dinner plates. There was only a little more than a minute left on his clock. “Jesus, how much time did you give her?”

Before he could react, she grabbed his arm with hers, turning it, watching the numbers count up until he had ten minutes on his clock instead of one. Dropping his arm, she raised her eyes to find him just staring at her. His face was close enough that she could distinctly make out the light freckles dusting his cheeks.

“Sorry,” she said, suddenly feeling as though she crossed some sort of line. “I didn’t want you to time out.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s just ten minutes. Don’t worry about it,” shifting from foot to foot, she wrapped her arms around her middle. “Can’t have you timing out on me when you’re my ride and all,” a smile cracked along her lips at the joke. Raymond scoffed, but she could have sworn that before he turned away to resume walking back to the car that she caught the very beginnings of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“I’m touched.”

“Mhm,” she didn’t mention that she’d noticed he seemed to have a bad habit of doing that; of running his clock down to the last possible second before collecting his per diem. She wondered where he’d picked up the disposition. “So, now what?” sliding back into the passenger seat, she closed the door, reclining back into the soft leather.

Raymond collected his per diem and turned on the car, pulling away from the red light district at breakneck speed.

“Now we go find Cyrus.”

∗ ∗ ∗

It was just their luck that there was a hotel right across the street from the safehouse that Janet had given them the address to. They wouldn’t be able to move on the apartment until they knew for certain that Cyrus was there, so the Timekeepers had booked them a room at the hotel for them to use while they staked out and waited for any signs of the rebel leader.

Sitting on the windowsill, with her legs curled to her chest and a pair of binoculars pressed to her eyes, Rose pouted, blowing a raspberry as she let the binoculars fall to rest in her lap.

“Still nothing?” Raymond asked from where he was sitting on the bed. There was a file open in front of him, that he was marking up with a black pen. He had shed his coat, leaving him in just his vest and undershirt. It was odd to see him like that; almost how she could imagine him looking when he came home from a long day at work and was just beginning to unwind.

“Yeah,” she leaned her head back against the window frame with a thump. Tiredness pulled at her eyes, muscles cramping from spending hours curled up in her position at the window. She raised a hand to cover a yawn.

“If you want to get some sleep, I can take watch for a while,” Raymond offered.

“Are you sure?” she asked, even as she was gripped with another yawn. He just shrugged, standing and approaching the window, taking the binoculars from her.

“Okay,” jumping up, she stretched lazily like a cat, closing her eyes and rolling her neck from side to side. Rummaging through the tiny suitcase she’d brought with her, she pulled out her toiletries bag and her pajamas, going into the bathroom to brush her teeth and change.

Her reflection in the mirror was still a bit of a surprise. Gone was the gaunt, miserable girl with the dead eyes. There was a warmth to her face, the hard bitterness in her amber eyes somewhat softened. She looked almost content.

Running her fingers through her curls and tugging at the hem of her pajama top, she forced herself not to think about Raymond on the other side of the door. He was an asshole anyway. Fuck him.

She bit her lip when her mind promptly took that idea and flipped it over onto itself. It was a constant war within her own mind; that despite how much he annoyed and infuriated her, she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him.

Shoving open the door to the bathroom, she did her best to ignore him as she climbed into the bed. Curling up with her back to him, she tugged the blankets over her. Even with her eyes closed and Raymond sitting near the window, she could feel his gaze burning into her back.

“Aren’t you supposed to be watching the safehouse?”

He coughed, and shifted. But even as she started to doze off, she could have sworn that she still felt his eyes, every once in a while, darting back to her.

∗ ∗ ∗

“Rose, wake up.”

Raising her head from where it was half buried in her pillow, she squinted at Raymond in minor annoyance. “Did something happen?”

“No,” his hand retracted from where it had been shaking lightly at her shoulder. “I was going to order some room service. Do you want anything?”

“Oh,” she pushed herself into what could technically be classified as a sitting position. “Actually, yeah.”

He tossed the menu to her, waiting until she’d made her selections before placing the order on the hotel phone. Rubbing at her eyes and combing her fingers through her hair, Rose swung her legs from the bed, grabbing the binoculars where they were sitting on the table by the window and peeking out at the safehouse across the street.

“Did anything happen while I was asleep?”

“Not really,” Raymond stretched his arms, rolling his neck from side to side. She looked away before he could notice her staring at the way the muscles in his arms flexed, even under the layers of his shirts. “You snore, by the way.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Mhm,” he grunted in disagreement, stalking off to the bathroom while she kept watch. Folding herself back into her position seated on the windowsill, she looped the band for the binoculars around her neck. Outside it was beginning to lightly drizzle, the rain dusting the sidewalks in moisture. A fog had set in, and the sun was beginning to lower, leaving the world to slowly darken as it sank below the horizon.

The bathroom door squealed as Raymond opened it again, moving to sit on one of the chairs at the table.

“I don’t think he’s coming,” she huffed defeatedly.

“Probably not,” he admitted.

“So what are we still doing here?”

He shrugged. “Taking advantage of free vacation?”

“Never would have thought of you as a rule breaker.”

“I have my moments.”

“Hm,” hugging her knees to her chest, she let her chin rest on them. Raymond looked down. If she didn’t know him better she would have thought him to be blushing.

“Did you ever talk to him?”

“Who, Cyrus? Only once or twice. I was small fry; Luke was the bigshot,” outside, the rain started to pick up, pattering harshly against the walls and roof of the hotel. “You know, one time, I asked him what his plan was once the system was dismantled. What his ideas were for replacing it. And he couldn’t answer me,” shaking her head, she looked away. “All of that effort…and he didn’t even have an actual alternative solution in mind.”

“The system’s unfixable,” her eyes snapped up to Raymond’s. “It was designed that way. Think about it,” he said at her questioning look. “You abolish the time system. Give everyone enough time to live forever, or get rid of the countdowns completely. We’re genetically engineered to live forever. But our world can’t sustain an infinite amount of people. Even if we had enough resources, we’d run out of space for everyone. People have to die. That’s the way that it has to be.”

“And the wealthy will never allow it to be them. And no one is going to actually support going back to the way things were. Where people actually aged and got sick.”

He shot her a sad look. “No. They won’t.”

“So what do you do then?”

“I think…” Raymond hesitated. “It’s a shitty system that we’re all stuck in and it isn’t changing anytime soon. So…you just try to have the best life that you can.”

“I thought for a while that being a part of the resistance would mean something. But in the end all that they ever did was hurt me and make me feel like garbage. Like it was wrong or selfish to want a life that had any sort of enjoyment in it.”

“All resistance factions get corrupted if they exist long enough.”

“You think that Cyrus was corrupted?” she asked, head lifting to stare at him.

“I think that he’s a far more selfish bastard than you are.”

Before she could answer there was a knock on the door, and Raymond got up to collect their food. Jumping down from the windowsill to sit in the chair at the table across from him, she sank her teeth into her burger, chewing.

“How is it?”

“Actually not that bad. Better than the burgers they used to serve at school.”

“Oh god, I’d almost forgotten how bad those were.”

Smiling around her next bite, she set the burger down to snag a few fries. “Luke always tried to insist that they were good. Just more evidence that he was a dumbass, I suppose.”

“I almost never saw you in the cafeteria.”

“Usually I spent lunch in the studio.”

“I think that I would be worried about accidentally ingesting some paint if I was trying to eat at the same time,” Raymond stabbed a fork into his salad.

“That…may have happened once or twice,” she ducked her head down to hide her blush. “Paint does not taste very good.”

When she looked up, Raymond was just staring at her, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. He was wearing an expression that she couldn’t quite place, and she found herself wiping at her mouth with her napkin subconsciously, unsure if maybe there was something on her face.

“Do you think that’s what you would have done, had everything not happened with Luke?”

“What, painting? Maybe,” she twisted a fry between her fingers. “I suppose it all would have depended on how successful I would have been. Gotta be able to make enough time to afford to eat, after all.”

“You would have been successful,” Raymond said. “Your art was good,” he glanced down, picking at his salad.

“Thanks,” her cheeks were definitely visibly burning. “Bartending wasn’t so bad though. Not really.”

“Hm,” he took a bite of his salad, eyes still not quite meeting hers.

“So what did you end up doing after high school? Did you go straight into working with the Timekeepers, or…” her voice trailed off in response to the sudden dark look that passed over Raymond’s features.

“Are you always so goddamn nosy?” he stabbed at the lettuce in his salad irritably. Rose gaped.

“I-I-” her stuttering only made the sudden embarrassment worse, and with it, came a wave of sudden anger. “I was only…”

“Only what?” his eyes narrowed. “We aren’t friends, Rose.”

As you’ve made abundantly clear. Over and over again. “Why are you always such a fucking asshole?” it exploded from her mouth before she had time to bite it back. His eyebrow raised. “I mean, Jesus, I was just trying to have a nice fucking conversation.”

“Excuse me for wanting to maintain professional boundaries,” he still looked relatively unbothered by her sudden outburst.

“Oh, so it’s okay when you ask me personal shit but the second I ask the tiniest probing question it’s inappropriate!?”

“That’s not being fair,” there was the beginning of defensiveness building in his voice.

“No, you know what isn’t fair, Raymond? You know next to everything there is to know about me, and I don’t know shit about you! How are we supposed to work together like this, huh? How am I supposed to trust you when I don’t even know anything about you?”

His jaw clenched, but he said nothing.

“You’ve treated me like shit since before we even started working together.”

“That isn’t true,” Raymond said, something twitching in his face that she couldn’t place. Not that she cared enough to try anymore.

“Oh, really? Because that’s sure how it’s fucking felt!” she realized with sudden horror that she was teetering very dangerously close to crying. Standing on shaky legs, she pushed away from the table. She would not allow him the satisfaction, or herself the embarrassment, of letting him see her cry. “God, I can’t believe that I ever–” she clenched her jaw hard before she said anymore. No way in hell was she letting him in on her secret crush for him. Absolutely not.

“Ever what?” Raymond asked, half rising from his seat. But she was already halfway across the hotel room. “Rose, wait!”

She ignored him, opening the hotel door and stepping out into the hallway, slamming it shut behind her.