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#i think the reasoning was he took no bullshit from anyone or because he had a good sense of style
teecupangel · 2 days
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Hi teecup, I hope ur having a great day/noon/night!
Forgive me if the things i'm about to say don't make much sense. It's been a vey, very, very, difficult time for me and my countrymen here, and my ability to make coherent sentences have declined drastically. So, yeah... BUT! That doesn't matter haha.
Anyways, I had a thought. And i'm not even sure how or why i got it but.... hear me out now...
Our boy, Desmond, gets thrown back in time as usual, same old same old, right? Exept, this time he doesn't end up in the Big Three™'s time-line. He ends up in Al-Mualim's time. *insert mind-blown emoji here cuz i can't find it rn*
And ik that i'm not a certified AC Expert like u and many others, and i haven't really finished any of the AC games yet (i've only seen bits of AC III and have only started AC 2, I also haven't finished AC 1)
But I do know that he wasn't really that creepy and evil in his youth/ b4 he became The Old Man of the Moutain, so i was thinking maybe Desmond ends up in that era of Al Mualim or is it Rashid al-Din Sinan? I know that he's based on a real historical figure but i'm not so sure if he's called that in-game?
And knowing Desmond, he'd probably get the urge to kill Rashid (i hope i'm using the name correctly) the time he figures shit out and connect that dots. But he would end up not doing that, cuz u know, it might fuck up the time-line and Altaïr might end up not being born, creating a domino-effect.
I want Desmond to meet Rashid before he starts to becom the Al Mualim we know today, so that Desmond can see how he was b4 the evants of AC 1.
Maybe Rashid's an arrogant ass, or a nerdy loser, or a popular assassin- who knows! The possibilites are endless!! (or maybe he's an obsessive bastard who gets obsessed with Desmond cuz he's just full of mysteries and wonders :Dc )
And blah blah blah, plot here, plot there, Isu-bullshit this, time shenanigans that, and BOOM they meet.
And romance ensues? :3 (romace wil absolutely ensue :}}} )
NOW, BEFORE- BEFORE YOU TIE ME TO A STAKE AND BURN ME ALIVE FOR THIS- i think it'd be a cute idea, and who knows? maybe Rashid was hot in his prime *insert lenny face cuz even after all these years i still don't know how to type it and is too lazy to cop paste it* and maybe he liked to solve mysteries and had a thing for the unexplainable. And Desmond is the most unexplainable, most bizarre thing to have graced the earth :33333.
Now that i've got this idea out of my system i'm gonna go pray for the down fall of my coutry's shit for brain, good for nothing military government/hj.
bye! *evaporates*
I hope you’re doing alright and I’m sorry that it took two months before I could answer your ask TTATT
As far as I know, he was only called Al Mualim because of legal reasons but Rashid ad-Din Sinan was the leader of the Assassins in Masyaf during 1191 so it’s safe to assume Al Mualim is AC’s version of Rashid (historically he died in 1193, not 1191.
.
Okay. We can make this work.
We put Desmond at around the same time he’s the recruit and we make it hard for him to realize he’s Al Mualim until it’s too late by doing one simple thing:
Desmond doesn’t know Al Mualim’s real name.
He always knew it as Al Mualim. As far as he knew, Al Mualim was his actual name.
Then he remembered that Al Mualim can mean mentor and bangs his head on the nearest flat surface.
His mission has been clear from the start.
Become an Assassin, take out Al Mualim before he does shit, find Umar and adopt him then play matchmaker so Altaïr would be born.
And no.
Desmond wasn’t going to think about the whole “can you truly be sure that the person who will be born will be Altaïr if you change the circumstances of his conception?”
Yeah.
His head hurts just thinking about it so he won’t.
For now, he’ll focus on his training while keeping a look out for anyone who gives of Al Mualim vibes.
What’s the Al Mualim vibes?
Manipulative old man vibes.
The problem is…
Rashid is one of the recruits in the same batch as Desmond and he becomes Desmond’s closest friend.
And there was no way Desmond would ever be friends with a future power hungry asshole like Al Mualim.
No way.
.
The way their relationship becomes romantic really depends on the kind of personality young Rashid would have.
A nerdy loser who starts making a name for himself because of his intelligence and tactical mind would start off as the kid Desmond sorta looks after. When he starts to show that his strength lies in making plans and quick judgments, he becomes the man whispering on Desmond’s ear. Providing plans and suggestions while giving Desmond a heads up on the less savory words people say about him. Desmond would never think this Rashid is Al Mualim because he’s nice and truly do want to help Desmond. This is also how Rashid would show his love for Desmond and, really, Desmond would think they’re bros and when he realizes that Rashid actually loves him, he’d think “oh, I am Ezio’s descendant”
An arrogant ass Rashid would butt heads with Desmond but Desmond would find himself fond of the man because he reminds him of AC1 Altaïr. This is the Rashid who would definitely be counted as a tsundere and their relationship would start when Rashid just flatout tells Desmond that he wants to do unspeakable things to him while they’re arguing. Desmond is offended because “tugging on my pigtails doesn’t work in real life, dumbass!” and Rashid is just “???” because what the fuck are pigtails??? Lots of awkwardness until Desmond realize that butting heads with Rashid is really how they flirt.
Now. Popular Assassin Rashid is more on the side of polite but is absolutely Desmond’s rival. Whatever it is, the two of them are always competing. Unlike the arrogant ass version, this Rashid is always nice to Desmond. The whole “no hard feelings” and pure competitiveness are what drives their relationship. This is the one where the two of them spar privately one time and things happen. They would try to distant themselves from one another for a bit until they finally talk it out. Rashid honestly didn’t think he loved Desmond until the whole ‘after-sparring’ thing.
Whichever you pick as Rashid’s background, he will become obsessed with Desmond but it’s more on the side of “I will do everything to make Desmond happy” which is good for Desmond but not really good for anyone against him.
.
Desmond is the one who adopts Umar in this one and Umar imprints on him like a baby duckling to a mama duckling. Everyone actually assumed Umar is his bastard son. Desmond ignores it even though he’s only like… a decade and a half older than Umar.
Rashid definitely treats him like Desmond’s son. He’s Umar’s favorite of all of Desmond’s friends.
And really, Desmond should have seen that as a hint of Rashid’s ‘future’.
Speaking of the future.
He’s been looking for Al Mualim this entire time and he has his suspects (Rashid, however, is not on the list) but honestly?
He’s just waiting for the person who would be picked as the one to lead the expansion to Masyaf since that would be Al Mualim.
Desmond has, unfortunately, fucked up the timeline so badly that the person chosen to lead the expansion?
It was Desmond.
.
Sidebar: Faheem would be that cute younger brother who turns grumpy when he grows up. Desmond will forever grieve the lost of little cute Faheem. Faheem is always embarrassed when Desmond talked about his ‘past’.
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jokest3r · 11 months
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My friend's reaction to when we first met Atlus while I was streaming the original bioshock because she immediately was done with him after the second "would you kindly" that she asked "Atlus, would you kindly shut the fuck up?" It was honestly so fucking funny cause she had nearly no context to what was happening in the game before this @hewwopumpkin
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taurussbabe · 9 months
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In a heartbeat
note: something short but sweet, hope you like it. 💌 word count: 1,1 k
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“I love you” you heard charles say softly, almost inaudible. He was laying on top of you, head on your chest, his thumb gently caressing your waist. There was barely any sound in the room, only the soft sound of the pages of your book turning and both yours and charles breathing.
One of your hands was placed on his hair, removing it every time you had to turn a page, and the other was holding you book. “I love you, too” you replied in the same tone as his.
“no” he said, turning his head so that his chin was now resting on your chest, his cheek slightly red for being pressed against your skin “I love you like I’ve never loved anyone”
He pulls you down by your waist before you can even respond, pressing a kiss to your lips “I love you like I’ve never loved anyone too” you say, breaking off the kiss, pressing your naked bodies against each other even more.
“I don’t think I could live without you, you’re everything to me. I wake up, you’re the first thing in my mind, I go to bed, you’re the last person I think of, hell, I even dream about you. You’re the one, you’re the one I want to spend every day with” you look in his eyes for a second, because what do you respond to that.
“you’re the one for me too, and don’t worry, you don’t have to think about living without me, because you’re stuck with me, forever” you chuckle, pecking his lips, but you notice how he doesn’t chuckle back, leaving you worried for a split second. “Are you ok?”
“Marry me” he says suddenly
“What?”
“Marry me, I don’t want to think about spending another day without you, I want to be yours forever, to wake up next to you every day. You’re the reason I keep going when I feel like I can’t. I used to think needing to have a lucky charm was for people who didn’t have the right mentality, then I met you and I knew that it was bullshit, because you are my lucky charm, so, marry me, I’ll propose to you in a romantic way, how many times you want, but say yes, please, say you’ll marry me”
You felt all sort of emotions at the same time, you didn’t know what to say, what to do, so you kiss him fiercely, pouring all the love you have for him in that kiss, because you’d say yes, of course you would, you would say yes in a heartbeat the amount of times he wanted to.
You noticed he took a second to kiss you back, but when he did, it was just as passionate as yours. Your hands flew to his hair and his to your waist, pulling you impossibly closer to him. Eventually, you broke off the kiss to be able to breath “Yes”
“Yes?” he looked at you, a sparkle of hope ever so evident in his eyes
“Yes” you placed both hands in his face, pulling him towards you. You were about to kiss him once again when he reached for the drawer on his bedside table, shoveling through some things before pulling out a black box. He sat up, pulling the covers up to his waist and you copied his movements, pulling the blanket to cover your naked chest.
“Ma chéri, will you, officially, marry me?” tears filled your eyes as he opened the tiny little box that revealed a beautiful ring that he carefully took out and placed on your finger as soon as you nodded. He laid his hand on your cheek and kissed your lips in the softest way he has ever, resting your foreheads together. “Je t’aime” he kissed your cheek and all the way down to your neck, to that soft spot that made you moan and bring both his hands to his hair, letting the blanket fall. he kissed you and bit your lip slightly You laughed at him and he sucked on your lip to clean out the blood he had made.
Safe to say that no one heard from the two of you for hours.
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kumezyzo · 5 months
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pt.2 to this angsty bullshit
gojo satoru becomes pathetic when he finds out someone is not in love with him. you saw it when he broke up with his first fling after Suguru died. he was sobbing, his blue eyes now red. his nose was running and completely stuffed with snot.
it had broken your heart to see him so distraught. it was almost as worse as the night he and Suguru fought. almost. but it wasn't nearly as bad as when he realized he loved Suguru. now that... that was pathetic. no, pathetic wasn't the word for it. it was tragic.
that night he clung to you. he wailed, and his body shook with grief and regret. god, he had loved suguru. and he had no idea. he couldn't even tell him now. but as much as he hurt, you hurt more.
"i-i lo-oved h-h-him," he cried into your neck, his arms squeezing around your waist. your heart panged as tears came to your eyes. "g-god how did i n-not see it!"
"maybe you subconsciously thought he... didn't love you back," you reasoned, trying to hold back the wobble in your voice.
"i... i jus-st want him b-back," he let out another sob as you pursed your lips and shut your eyes tight. you rubbed his back soothingly as tears fell from your own eyes. "do you think h-he would have l-loved me ba-ack?"
you nodded, "yeah... i think he did."
"w-what if i... what if i-i pushed h-him away cause i di-didn't tell him! " he said, the idea making him cry harder.
"satoru," you started, opening your eyes. more eyes fell from your eyes. "it's hard not to love you."
he's not sure why it took him so long to realize what you meant by that. but it hit him like a truck. he felt like a fucking idiot. especially now that you were starting to see someone.
the worst part was that he set you up with them. but not just anyone. nanami kento.
you had been hesitant at first. one reason was because he was always the reserved, snarky but polite underclassman. there was no way the date would end with you two wanting another date. the second reason was that you wanted to hold out for satoru. maybe he'd change his mind and realize he loved you, like he had with suguru. but you came to your senses and caved.
and to your (and nanami's) suprise, the date went incredibly well. it started off with either of you shitting on satoru's persistence. then you actually started hitting it off. and one date turned into two, two turned into three, three turned into your relationship.
and now satoru was angry at himself. how did he just let you go? he had done it again. he had fallen in love with his best friend and realized far too late. and for the first time, he didn't have anyone to go running to.
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i think this is gonna be the last part. hope yall enjoyed the angst. inbox and requests are open aa always -nony
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hippielittlemetalhead · 6 months
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Part 3 (One of Us) of 'Never Took The Time (To Forget)' previously known as 'Hopper Adopts Steve But Make It Sad'
Part 1 (Hop fucks up), Part 2 (Pride and Prejudices: Joyce Edition)
Here's a bit more for you filthy animals 😘
Much like he's come to expect from the small soldiers these children have fashioned themselves into he's not surprised when they come pouring out of whichever of the twins' rooms they shoved themselves in like codependent sardines. He's not surprised by the looks of anger and disappointment and confusion. Claudia Henderson's kid -Dustin- looks on the edge of tears with a grim set to his mouth that reminds him of when the kid's mom is beyond words in her slow-burning fury. El and Will have matching looks of disappointed confusion.
What he's not expecting is the way Mike and the younger (usually more volatile) Sinclair are holding onto an incensed looking Lucas. Lucas who has always been the polite one when it came to addressing adults and the one to preach caution and thinking plans through. Lucas who has been quiet and withdrawn since Hop came back, spending his days at the edge of Party affairs when not helping in the rebuilding efforts around town or sitting at Max's bedside.
"What the fuck, Hopper?" The kid spits out and that seems to snap the rest of The Party into action. Will goes to join the two holding Sinclair back but Dustin starts near incoherently yelling in that screechy pitch only that kid seemed to be able to hit about bullshit cops and useless adults and to let Lucas go. "He idolized you, man! Would tell us all the time that you were 'one of the good ones' that if we ever needed anyone and he wasn't there, to find you. That you would take care of us because that's just what you did for people. Because you were good!"
"Lucas, chill out man." Mike pants though he's also glaring daggers at Hop.
This is where Joyce (god bless her) decides to step in. "Lucas, honey-" She says with her soft voice and big wet eyes and that warmth she seems to infuse into everything she touched. "It's complicated. There's some things you just don't understand and-"
"No! You two don't understand! Steve is GOOD. He's good and he cares and he takes care of everyone else and he always kept us safe." The kid seems to be losing some of his steam, pulling at his friends less and resigned to shaking in barely contained fury. "He gets hurt and he gets back up and he apologizes for taking a fall in the first place! He's just Good."
"I know he's been good to you kids and I appreciate that, I really do Lucas." Joyce says, her voice a little stronger, that steadiness returning. "Sometimes people in our lives can do bad things to others and we don't see it because we care about them and that's not always a bad thing. But we have to remember that the people who were wronged are allowed to be upset and that's normal to feel and-"
"You mean like Jonathan?" The room goes quiet. Will looks resigned but not surprised by Lucas' question but the rest of the kids look just as confused as him and Joyce. "Did you really think Steve broke his camera -in the school parking lot of all places- for the hell of it? Did you seriously never question it?"
Hop feels something twist in his gut. He had been so caught up in the search for Will and wrangling a frantic Joyce that he hadn't paid any attention to small-town squabbles like two teenagers having it out in the school parking lot, the destruction of personal property or what might have triggered it. He looks over the kids' heads to see Jonathan and his stoner buddy standing just outside his door. The friend looks confused but Jon is looking at his mom who hasn't noticed him yet like a man preparing himself for the gallows.
"Mom." Joyce's eyes snap from where they were locked on Lucas up to her oldest son. "Mom, I-"
"What are they talking about Jon?" It's quiet. Quiet and scared because everyone in the room knows that whatever secret reason Lucas (and maybe Will?) seems to be the only one to know Steve had for picking a fight isn't going to be good. Jonathan's mouth opens like he's going to say something but no words come out. "Honey, what did you do?"
"He took pictures of Steve and his friends the night Barbara Holland disappeared."
"Will?" all eyes except Lucas' (who is still glaring daggers at Hop) are on the two brothers. One scared and almost pleading the other disappointed and resolved.
"He hid in the bushes and took pictures of Steve and his friends with Nancy and Barbara. There were pictures of Barbara at the Harrington place before she died and he never told anyone. But there were also-" He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes like he can't look at his older brother who has hung his shaggy head under everyone's heavy gaze. "There were pictures of just Steve and Nancy. Alone together. In Steve's room."
There's a sharp gasp that he thinks came from Joyce but he's too busy watching the young man he's come to consider a son. His head is still lowered and his shoulders are curving in on themselves as he shakes off the hand his long-haired friend tries to place on his shoulder.
"Oh baby," Joyce's voice is wet again. A tone of horrified disappointment to it that Hop has only heard her use when talking to or about one other person. "Tell me you didn't."
"Then he-" Will clears his throat like this one is what gives him pause. "He was caught developing the pictures in the school's darkroom. All of the pictures. And he had zoomed in on Steve's window. Nancy was the center of the shot." The kid's eyes flit over to Mike (who is now turning an interesting shade of red as he glares at Jonathan) before he blushes and looks at the ground, "She uh-"
Lucas does not seem to share Will's newfound hesitance in the face of an enraged Mike Wheeler. "Most of the upperclassmen argue if she had a bra or not but they all seem to agree she didn't have a top."
"Oh my god." Everyone was frozen as Joyce began to crumble. "Oh my god." He reached out to catch her, her nails digging into his arm through his shirt sleeve as she stared unseeing at her oldest son.
Jonathan started forward. "Mom, I-" a hand in the middle of his chest stopped him. "Will, please, I need to-"
"Just stop, man." Lucas sighs. "You started this shit, you gotta deal with it before you hurt someone else besides Steve."
"I didn't mean to hurt Steve."
Hops feels himself frozen to the spot in a way he's not used to anymore these days. His mind is working overtime picking out all of the charges that could have been pressed even against a boy of 15/16 if any of the kids in Harrington's inner circle had told an actual adult about the situation. The veritable legal hell that would have been brought down on Joyce while searching for a son legally assumed dead.
"Is that what you told yourself when you helped Nancy cheat?" And it just kept getting worse.
Joyce gives off a whimper and the kids gathered make varied sounds of shock and disgust.
"They were broken up."
"Were they? Cause everybody at school and half the town seems to all know about you and Nancy disappearing together when Steve was still calling her his girlfriend and then you all showed back up to school, Steve beat to hell again and Nancy hanging all over you. The basketball team STILL talk about it."
He's heard enough. "Alright, that's it!" He yells out over the children yelling and Joyce demanding answers and Jonathan's friend trying to say something about there being some sort of explanation. "This doesn't help us help Steve."
Lucas shakes off the loose hold Erica and Mike still had on him and crosses his arms as he rolls back his shoulders and tilts his jaw up to fix him with a glare. The kid's stance is almost arrogant but Hop can't help but notice the way he rests his weight on his off side, his shoulders back and his posture straight without his chest puffing out ridiculously like Hop is used to from teenage boys gearing for a fight.
"I think you've helped enough, Hopper." It's quiet and biting and he lets himself have a moment of grief for the childhood these kids lost, and the fact that he's almost positive Lucas didn't pick up this easy confidence from anyone else in their monster fighting club but Steve. "You and Mrs. Byers want to play nice now cause you feel guilty and that's all well and good but what happens when Steve does something else you don't agree with without explanation? Or he and Jonathan or Nancy get in another fight? When we finally get rid of Vecna and the Upside Down for good? What happens when you don't feel guilty anymore?"
"I can't make any sort of promise you lot will believe. And lord knows I'm pretty shit at keeping them anyways. I just want to be able to try."
"He mourned you, you know. When we were told you didn't make it." That weight is back in his chest. "He held himself together around us but there were- there were moments we could tell. He and El really bonded over that. Over you. Over losing you."
"I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't. You didn't want to know."
"There's no way I can make you believe me. That I want to fix this."
"We want to, Hopper." Dustin butts in, placing a hand on Lucas' shoulder and limping up next to the other boy. "But from what you and Mrs. Byers were talking about... There's just a lot that makes a lot more sense and it doesn't inspire a lot of faith in either of you."
"We need to discuss this as a Party."
"Okay."
"That means letting us take care of it. Steve's one of us and you hurt him."
"I understand."
"So you and Mrs. Byers have got to wait till we say you can talk to Steve. That he's ready for it."
"Now, kids-"
"No they're right, Joyce. We fucked it up on our own and- and he trusts these little shits more than he trusts us right now. We've gotta do the same."
Joyce sighs, "Fine."
She's not happy about it and honestly neither is he. But if the last few years and his stint in a Russian gulag and the subsequent escape taught him anything it's maybe he needs to trust his people to do what they need to do.
The kids scurry back to whichever of the Twins' room they came from, led by a newly determined and involved Lucas and a furiously muttering Dustin. Jonathan and Joyce make their way to the kitchen and Hopper decides he's going to let them have that conversation in as much privacy as they can with a house as full as theirs.
Hopper sits in the living room, runs his hands through his hair that's finally growing out and pulls them down his face before resting his chin on steepled fingers. He hates sitting and waiting and relying on someone else for the next steps. But all he can think about is the sound Steve made. The look in his eyes. The pride in his voice the last time he heard him say, "My Hop."
That's it!
He stands up so fast his bad ankle protests and his knees pop. He limps to the front door, yelling out to the house that he has to go, has something to do. Calls out he has his walkie and that El needs to be ready on time. Then he's out the door.
Part 4.1
More coming soon! Hopefully! Work went from an active team of about 12 to 5, not including the managers we lost ssssooo... Yeah fun times. 🙃
So here's a tag-list, hope I didn't miss anyone. Feel free to yell at/with me in the comments or ask box. If you see your old tag in my list tell me your new one so I can fix it.
@thelittleclare @jackiemonroe5512 @0body0disphoria0 @strangersteddierthings @lingeringmirth @dead-cherry-bitch @irethsune @ink777 @the-daydreamer-in-the-corner @ledleaf @pansexuality-activated @paintsplatteredandimperfect @kinryuuki @katdeerly @yikes-a-bee @altocumulustranslucidus @ohimamarigold @child-of-cthulhu @samsoble @sensationalsunburst @xxbottlecapx @y4r3luv @rocochen20 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @flustratedcas @rootbeerandmusic @vinteraltus
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createdbytragedy · 1 month
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MY GIRLFRIEND (3),(2),(1)
Pairing: Choi Beomgyu x reader Genre: Fluff, crack, established relationship Warning: Mention of marking, Gyu loves being marked with lipstick, that's it, i think A/N: This was a bit rushed and not my best work. I might edit it but bear with me right now
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Beomgyu ironically considered himself an introvert.
That would be the biggest bullshit you and the members have ever heard. Him? An introvert? It was like his mouth was running from a battery that could never tire out! At least that was what Yeonjun said. You never mind the way Beomgyu blabbers. It was, in fact, the thing that made you fall in love with him. And right now it's also the reason you were in trouble.
It was common for Beomgyu to talk about you to his members and anyone within the radius of 10 feet and most of the time, it wasn't much of a problem. Not that anyone ever said it wasn't a problem at all. But it was getting hard trying to shut his mouth infront of the cameras. They needed to live a rather heedful life than the normal people but in the end, they were still humans. One among us. So, You can excuse Beomgyu for accidentally letting your name slip every once in a while, right?
In an interview
"Beomgyu - ssi, I personally love your necklace. Where did you get it?"
"Oh, I love it too!! it's so pretty, right?! my girlfriend--," a loud slap on his thighs made him hiss and stop mid sentence to glare at the boy beside him. "Me, me. I bought it for him! I'm the girlfriend!! Beomgyu and I have been dating since our trainee days, right Gyu?," Yeonjun asked, glaring at the male through a fake smile plastered across his face. "I wouldn't date you even if you were the last girl standing on earth......," Beomgyu muttered under his breath, rubbing at his thighs where there was a noticeable red handprint of Yeonjun. "You wanna say that louder, Jagi, it didn't quite reached the camera," Yeonjun said through gritted teeth, squeezing the boy's thighs and purposefully digging his fingernails into his skin. Beomgyu hisses, making eye contact with Yeonjun who innocently smiled at him ," I was saying, thank you," Beomgyu's hands rested on his knee, pinching the skin with his oh, so long nails ," very much for the necklace, Hyung," he smiled, seeing how Yeonjun's face scrunched up in pain, " but, I think you got it messed up because someone else got this for me." "We have no idea what they're doing." Taehyun commented, looking at the camera. With Beomgyu's carelessness, your relationship was at risk of publicity. But, can you really stay mad at him when he looks at you like that? With those big, brown, puppy like eyes, saying he's sorry and that he'll be careful next time. How can you not give into that? It should've been no surprise when you come across his new Instagram post. Beomgyu was not sorry about his actions at all. He have always wanted to reveal his relationship with you. Wanted to show the world that you're his and he's yours. He was intentionally dropping hints.' Accidentally' mentioning your name, showing off your matching necklace, wearing low necklines to make sure the red lipstick stain on his collarbone was vaguely shown. He wanted to tell the world he was taken and you were off limits. And maybe this time, he really let his heart win. The picture was taken by him. Both of you staring at each other instead of the camera, lost in each other's eyes. His face was covered with your lipstick stain because Beomgyu loves being marked. And the photo itself was enough the shake the world. And for once, you didn't care about the consequences of his action, instead smiling when his name popped in your notification. MY LOVE <3 "Oops, sorry, accidentally posted that. Didn't mean to :(" "But, don't we look cute?" "Kinda want you to come over and mark my face all over again." Well, you could read the comments and think about the aftermath later. Right now you had priorities. You thought as you took your lipstick out from the drawer and headed for the door.
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look-at-the-soul · 2 months
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Every little thing you do- Part 4
Series master list
Tommy Shelby x reader
Better late than never! I hope you like this! The drama continues for a while, no warning is needed just Lizzie being a (b)witch.
Word count: 2,923
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Lizzie rolled her eyes subtly as Y/N walked past her with a blinder following her steps with a box full of papers. Surprisingly Tommy hired his best friend as his assistant and now everywhere Lizzie looked, she found Y/N.
“Thank you James!” She heard Y/N.
“Any time, just let me know if you need anything.” The blinder tipped his peaky cap towards her and walked away.
Lizzie found Y/N the most irritating person, always smiling, always charming everyone, always so fucking close to Tommy. And now she had to work at the company too?!
“Now that Scott is missing, are you going to start flirting with James too?” Lizzie asked with sarcasm.
Nobody knew where Scott was, he simply faded away one day and Y/N didn’t seem to care.
Y/N wasn’t in the mood to deal with Lizzie’s bullshit that day, she had been giving herself away to work, eager to payoff Tommy’s kindness. But no matter what, Lizzie had been showing a bitchy attitude towards her without a valid reason since the beginning.
“Why? Are you jealous?” Y/N retorted immediately and pretended to focus on the folders with the licenses information, she needed to organize those.
“You think you’re so smart and with that innocent look you can blind men.”
“That’s what you think hmm? Well, even if that was the case… it’s none of your business.”
“And whose next? Tommy?” Lizzie placed her hand on her hip, twisting her lower lip down.
Y/N felt like actually having a little fun. Polly told her Tommy had sex with Lizzie occasionally, not like an official thing, but apparently Lizzie’s feelings got in the way at some point.
“Oh… wait you don’t know the latest gossip darling?” Y/N fixed her eyes on Lizzie’s paled expression. “I’m living in his house… Arrow House, it’s a fucking palace if you ask me.”
Y/N’s statement was a direct punch into Lizzie’s gut, anger and discomfort was so evident in her expression.
“Are you Tommy’s new whore?” Lizzie asked loudly not realizing that Tommy was behind her.
“Elizabeth Stark!” His voice resonated around, making Lizzie jump.
His jaw clenched and he threw his secretary a death stare that could turn her into stone. Y/N knew of his bad temper and his violent reactions -never towards her of course-, but deep down she felt bad for Lizzie.
Pacing between them, Tommy took a few more steps until he stood next to Y/N.
“I want everyone around.” He rubbed the cigarette over his lips, but refrained from lightning it because he remembered it made Y/N sick. “RIGHT NOW!”
As he saw other secretaries and blinders gathered around, as well as his family, he took a deep breath.
“I haven’t got the chance to properly introduce Y/N… she’s my assistant now.” He explained with a serious tone. “But if anyone…” Tommy then fixed his eyes on Lizzie, “dares to say anything bad to her, point a fucking finger, question her integrity or whatever the fuck you do. In that very moment, you’re fired. And I’m no joking.”
The people gave him a few nods and nervous stares.
“Are we clear?” He shouted then, to make his point valid.
A chorus of yes was heard around as people started to move.
“This is a warning.” He explained to Lizzie directly. “Next time you cross the line, and you’re out.”
Lizzie stood there petrified, not knowing what to say or do.
Then, when he turned around to face Y/N, his expression went completely soft again. The difference was evident.
“Y/N your grandma is waiting in my car, I’m taking you two somewhere.” He explained holding out her coat.
“Oh!” She rushed excited, leaving Lizzie fuming.
“Jealousy will take you nowhere.” Polly pointed at Lizzie, lighting a cigarette.
“I’m just so done with her, I can’t stand her!” She exploded clenching her jaw.
Polly studied her, then leaning against the desk, she finally asked; “what’s your problem? Y/N hasn’t done anything to you.”
Lizzie rolled her eyes and scoffed in discomfort. Y/N was always in the middle, always got Tommy’s attention, she made him smile, he looked after her all the fucking time!
Shaking the ash from her cigarette, Lizzie picked some folders from her desk.
“I don’t like her, alright?”
“You’re jealous.” It wasn’t a question.
Lizzie took a few seconds to answer the Shelby matriarch.
“I keep him satisfied… isn’t that enough?”
For an instant, Polly felt pity for Lizzie. “Believe it or not… that’s not all that Thomas is looking for.”
The green-eyed woman stared at her confused. So Polly continued.
“He had always dreamed big, he always wanted what he didn’t have growing up… he wants his own family, wants to make things right.” She explained.
“So there’s something going on between them?” Lizzie asked, the air escaping her body.
Polly stopped walking and slowly turned around to look at the secretary. “What? Of course not, they’re like brother and sister.”
Lizzie blinked a few times, confused. “I don’t understand.”
With a sigh, Polly told her it wasn’t her place to say anything and left. Y/N would decide if she wanted to share the news of her pregnancy and with whom she chose to do it.
“What did you tell Mum?” Y/N asked in the vehicle after greeting her grandmother with a tight and comforting hug.
She winked at her granddaughter from the front seat. “That I was going to the market.”
Tommy grinned listening to their talk, a moment later they arrived to the Garrison and he guided them to the private booth, so they would be able to talk freely.
“Harry would you prepare the kettle? Y/N and her grandma will need some tea.”
“Right away Mr. Shelby.”
Y/N’s grandma looked around, she had never been in a place like this, where men went to have a drink.
“You look pale my darling,” she stated giving her granddaughter’s hand a squeeze. “Is she eating well Mr. Shelby?”
“Oh, yes… you know, she’s a bit stubborn at times.” He chuckled. “You’re more than welcome in my house you know that, right?”
Y/N’s grandma touched his arm in gratitude. “God will pay you back in blessings.”
“Yes, Tommy won’t let me lift a finger, he got maids, someone that cooks and a driver. Can you believe that grandma?”
Her grandma looked at him in shock. It sounded like Tommy belonged to an upper status now.
“If you want to see Y/N, just ask any of my men to take you.”
Y/N looked at him with her eyes full of gratitude.
“Grandma…” Y/N stared at the cup of tea Harry brought, then she gave Tommy a quick glance.
“I’ll be checking the numbers of the pub. Alright?” Tommy offered to give them space.
“Thank you.” She saw him disappear, the noise from the pub filled momentarily the room.
“How are you feeling my dear?” Y/N’s grandma asked, worry installed in her eyes.
“As good as I can be,” she looked down, “the Shelby family had been looking after me and the doctor says everything is fine with the baby.”
“Oh that’s wonderful news.” The elderly woman celebrated. “But the sadness is still there, in your eyes.”
“I’m trying to be strong, but I can’t help but think I shouldn’t have been so naive, I thought Scott loved me.”
“I’m not going to lie to you dear, I always thought you’d end up falling in love with someone else.” The hint of a smile decorated her lips.
Y/N frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Her grandma shuddered. “Someone better, with a bright future.” She explained but kept the rest of her thoughts to herself. When she turned around, Y/N saw Tommy pouring some beer through the small window.
“But now it’s too late to think of that, I’ve to focus on this baby first.” Y/N murmured absently.
Y/N could feel the weight of the world on her shoulders. Part of her wanted to be optimistic and the other part needed to be realistic. Things would be different now.
“Can you ask Tommy if he knows a good lawyer?” Her grandma’s words caught her attention, but before she could ask if everything was alright, she spoke again. “I’m going to change my house under your name, but I don’t want anyone to learn this.”
The gesture touched every fiber of Y/N’s body and her eyes watered immediately.
“Oh grandma…”
“No, don’t thank me.” She warned. “When the time is right, you’ll need something to be yours.”
Dabbing the corner of her eyes with a napkin, Y/N stood up to give her grandmother a hug. “I don’t want you to worry anymore.” She added.
Y/N allowed her grandma to comfort her, feeling her heart full at the moment. And then she started sharing how good she felt now working at the Shelby business. Before they realized, time had passed and they thought it’d be better to take her grandma back home before it got dark.
“I’ll get Tommy.” Y/N informed standing up.
“Wait… I got something else for you.” Y/N’s grandma stated solemnly, producing a cloth from her handbag.
When Y/N opened it, she shook her head. “I can’t take it, it’s your money.”
“My darling… you will need it for the baby.”
“Don’t worry about it, thankfully I’ve the salary the Shelby family is paying me.”
Her grandmother shook her head profusely. “Either way, keep it in case you need it.”
“Thank you gran… it means the world to me.” Y/N stood to round the table and give her grandmother a tight hug. “You’re not mad?”
The elderly woman frowned and asked what she meant.
“Well you know… that I didn’t save myself until marriage?” She asked ashamed of her actions.
“Sweetheart, I’ve seen worse. It’s not my place to judge you.” Her grandmother caressed the side of her face. “What is it darling?” Worry was evident in her gaze.
Y/N was t able to hold it together any longer, tears started rolling down her cheeks.
“I feel like I failed my parents, you… I-I’m sorry.”
Y/N’s grandma wiped the tears away.
“Stop thinking that. A baby is always a blessing.”
“But grandma what will I do?”
“Whatever you need to do for this baby, it’s something you’ll only discover once the baby is born, a strength unknown will keep you above the water.” She stated wisely.
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A few days later a sudden sound startled Y/N. When she looked up, she found Polly staring down at her.
“What are you bloody doing down there?”
“I’m organizing the races licenses.” She replied from the floor, papers scattered all around her.
“And the desk isn’t big enough?” Polly arched her eyebrows. “Don’t answer that.” She added after taking a look at the folders.
Lizzie took a turn but stopped abruptly when she found Polly talking with Y/N.
“Uhmm Tommy left these papers, said it was important for you to sign them.”
“Oh I forgot!” While she was signing the papers, she had some news to share. “Make sure to finish this, because you and I are going shopping this afternoon.”
“Polly you know I can’t, I’m trying to save money.” Y/N blushed in embarrassment.
“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m not saying you’ll be spending money.” When she saw the face Y/N made, she interrupted her raising a hand. “I don’t wanna hear it.”
And with that, she clicked her heels to go into her office in the opposite hall.
Y/N stared at her, Polly was glamorous, she oozed personality and had a charming character. A light blood as Esme called her.
Lizzie looked at Y/N up and down, there was no way she could afford the clothes she was wearing. Taking a sip of her tea, she thought of what to say. She needed to be careful because Tommy had already give her a warning, but she couldn’t miss an opportunity to annoy her, poor little helpless Y/N… but Lizzie also knew she wasn’t going to run to him and tell him every time they talked.
“So you’re living with Tommy huh? That’s new… do the maids have to call you Mrs. Shelby?” Dabbing the lipstick she just applied, she gave her another look. “He can be generous when he wants, but seriously I don’t understand what kind of relationship you have if you’re living together but you aren’t a couple?” She spat bitterly.
“No offense Lizzie, but honestly? You’re the last woman I’d go after for an advice.” Y/N felt a bit tired, some nights it was impossible to sleep, worry and uncertainty was keeping her up.
“Well, you’re missing out then… because between us? You’ll never guess who’s taking me for a date.”
Y/N wanted to laugh at her words. A man dating Lizzie Stark. But a voice deep inside her made her shut up, because well… she was pregnant without being married. So she decided to play her game.
“Really? Enlighten me.”
Lizzie raised an eyebrow and gave Y/N a wicked smile.
“You know what? I don’t want you to ruin this for me.” She shook her head.
Y/N frowned, why would she ruin her date? She didn’t even care. Lizzie playing the mysterious woman was the most boring thing in the world and if she thought that would make her ask anything else or beg her to say her new lover’s name, Lizzie didn’t knew her at all. Y/N had enough at the moment to stick her nose in someone else’s business.
Lizzie rolled her eyes when Y/N didn’t commented anything further and walked with the folders to the safe.
She wanted to rub in her face that she was dating Angel Changretta. Whatever dating means, they were having wild sex, and Angel had said a few times that he didn’t care about her past. He took her out in his car and drove her back home, not like Tommy he only took her against the desk and didn’t even dare to take her clothes off, he just used her and lately he didn’t even looked at her.
Angel was her ticket to a better life.
Y/N locked the safe and returning to her desk, she found Tommy leaning against the window.
“What are you doing here?”
Y/N gave him a confused look. “I work here?”
That earned a laugh from Tommy. “Thought you we’re heading out, shopping.”
“Yes but later, once I finish my shift.”
Pointing at the hall, he let her walk first. “I need to ask you for a favor.”
That caught her attention and she looked at him intensely. “Anything.”
“Do you remember all those times we talked back then about how we dreamed of doing something together to turn everything around?”
Y/N nodded. “Because life was never fair.”
“How we were always missing opportunities because everything was so damn hard?” Tommy continued, his mind going back in time to a day when they didn’t allowed them in school because his old uniform had a hole in one of the knees and Y/N’s mother couldn’t afford the new books, so they skipped classes and went to the river to swim.
“You always said if it was up to you, you’d do everything completely different.” Y/N remembered all too well.
“I’m planning to open an institution for the kids in need.”
Her eyes sparkled with admiration. Tommy’s generosity didn’t know limits and it spoke volumes about the real man he was.
“How can I help?” She jumped in right away.
“That attitude will make you conquer anything.” Tommy pointed at his friend with a smile. “Whenever it’s possible I need you to lead this project. It’s ambitious but I’ll give you all the people you will need to materialize it.”
“Yes! Of course!” She oozed the excitement. “Education it’s the key for a better future.”
Tommy pouted, letting her words sink in. “You’ll need to make that the slogan.” He chuckled.
“I can scout the children who lost their fathers by the war, they probably were forced to drop school to start working.”
Tommy relaxed his shoulders, pleased with the way Y/N understood what he wanted.
She then continued, now pacing around.
“And the boys and girls whose fathers work at the factories, long hours they’re probably left at home by themselves… what about a program after school? We could offer them tutoring or different courses like knitting for girls and carpentry for the boys.
“Free tuition and uniforms.” Tommy added.
“We could add a jar by the bets table so people can donate here too.”
“Lizzie had some properties already, I’ll tell her to give you everything, check them out and tell me which one you think would work better.”
“Tommy this will make a huge difference, you can’t even imagine the impact.”
“Excellent, now… leave that.” Tommy tipped his head towards the papers. “Find Polly and go already,” he instructed and then produced something from his pocket.
“Tommy I can’t accept this.” She was shocked by the amount of money he was handling her.
“You can, and you will because it’s a gift for the baby. Now go, because I need to smoke.”
One of the secretaries walked past them, it wasn’t her original plan, but she heard their conversation accidentally.
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Part 5
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nexusnyx · 1 year
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omg congrats on 10.5k, thats frickin amazing!! ♡ if you feel like writing it,
🖋 + joel miller
"you couldn't love me if you tried. You couldn't love anything"
"that's not true"
hi Rhi! first, thank you so much. i stared at your prompt 'till the scene came to me, and i hope you like it. — main masterlist | 🏷️: established 'situationship', post-outbreak, insecure!Reader, angst, hurt/comfort, insecure!Joel, mentions of smut, adult themes so minors DNI, feelings confession. [WC: 2.1k]
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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ˗ˏˋ꒰ you call it madness ꒱
Joel had the power to awaken the most potent, brand-new things to your surface. Since he had arrived in Jackson with the bright kid trailing after him and his mountains of pent-up trauma, Joel lived under your skin.
At first, it was because of his cold, indifferent distance.
Then, when the first couple of months passed by and working side by side forced proximity on you two leading you to the realization that a lot of the gruffness and silence was just a facade, the issue became his nonchalant air of detached.
Everything you wanted was to have in him the same effect he had on you.
That tingle. That burn on your nape when the person enters the room. The hype-awareness of their every move. You wanted Joel attached to you, glued to your skin, and when you got it, he made you swallow all your need and desire down with the bitter pill of what having you Joel meant.
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Having Joel came with the taste of cheap alcohol, the scent of burnt things, and that quivering darkness that seemed to follow him unless Ellie was around.
It came with his ghosts hanging off his back, and his mind stuck in a limbo that cemented in him the idea that his ghosts weighted more than they did.
It took him months to allow you into his life. Months of you trying to figure out why he pissed you off so much and why even though his monosyllabic bullshit made your skin itch, you still found a way to interact with him at every given opportunity.
When he started laughing at your jokes—no, when Joel started snickering under his breath whenever you made a sharp comment to a fellow worker, it became your addiction. The fact that you were not other people.
Not for him.
Wearing him down was supposed to be about getting him off of your mind, removing him from under your skin.
It ended up being your ticket into his home, his life, his bed.
Joel had this power of making you do things you had no clue you even knew how.
Things that the you from before — a someone who’d been deceased long ago — would gasp out loud at.
But fuck all of that. Fuck anything that strayed away from being the reason for Joel Miller laughing, or god forbid, making him and Ellie happy. 
You’d take it all to pay the price for that.
You’d accept his days of silence and his days of trying to make jokes, or teach you and Ellie how to play the guitar eve if you sucked at it and the girl had what seemed like a natural talent.
So what if Joel sometimes bled his darkness all over you?
You begged for it.
So what if he whispered the filthiest things in your ear as he took you wherever he wanted, however he wanted, claiming you over and over with fingerprints imprinted on your skin, beard burns leaving red trails from your face and neck all the way down to places other people would never get a chance to look at again, according to Joel himself?
Considering how welcoming you were to all of it, one would think you’d know your place. Or at least know better than to expect out of Joel Miller something he stopped believing he can give to anyone a long time ago.
Despite your best judgment, you did hope. You wished, and dreamt of it, and cried about it in silent tears on his damn pillow when he turned away from you to sleep sometimes.
It goes on until he catches up to all of it. 
Joel always catches up to things. Especially if that thing is related to you.
On a winter night, a whole year after he and Ellie have settled and officially made a home, you two are discussing things after dinner in his kitchen.
Ellie went to a friend’s house, leaving the both of you to your shitty pizzas and even shittier booze. Joel, propped against the sink with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hair a messy mop of curls, looks pissed off at your comment that, “she gotta at least put the Miller stare away. Time it properly, if she wants to make more friends.”
It was supposed to be a joke. Something only you two would understand. Instead, Joel turns around with that pinch between his eyes.
“What’s that’s supposed to mean?”
You put the mug down, thrown back by his tone, making a noncommittal sound. He repeats his question, confirming you did hear what you thought, and it makes you snicker. “Joel. Would you like a goddamn mirror right now, handsome?”
The nickname does nothing to phase his look. “You sayin’ I’m a bad influence on her? That I’m the reason she ain’t got no other friends?’
“Woah, woah—take it many, many steps back, cowboy—”
“I ain’t laughin’. I don’t know why you are.”
“Because it’s ridiculous!” All your ironic humor is gone. Evaporated like water under the scolding sun. “D’you hear yourself? I said time it properly, Joel. I know exactly just how useful the grouchy look is, trust me.”
“I don’t tell her to do that shit. She’s always been like that.” He turns back around with that stiffness in his shoulders.
“I know.” You try calming yourself, your voice, your tone. Joel can be prickly, as can you. “It’s… her little way. It makes Ellie Ellie, and honestly, it’s what makes her stand out. Her personality’s one of a kind, that’s for sure, and I wouldn’t trade an inch of it for anything else, but she’s—impulsive. And while I love, all I’m sayin is—”
“Other people don’t,” he completes.
“Exactly.”
There was the noise of the final dishes being placed to dry, and Joel cleaning up his work.
“You love how impulsive she is?” Although Joel’s finished, he keeps his back to you. His tone is back to an amused one, for some reason.
“Sure I do.” You loved her since you two were out of town and got stuck in a blizzard together, and Ellie told you about her friend Riley. Loved, with every fiber in you. “It’s not useful, but it just means her fire’s alive. I like that. It’s better than the alternative. You know what happens when people’s fires die.”
At that, Joel finally turns around, drying his hands in his own clothes, fixing his dark eyes on you. “Yeah. I’ve got a mirror.”
God, you think. There he goes again.
You sigh, annoyed and angry, just like that. In a split second. Because of four little words. “If you’re gonna start talking shit about yourself—”
Joel cuts you with his laugh. “Sorry. ‘m sorry.” He steps closer to you, pulling the chair he was using during dinner closer until it’s glued on yours, and he sits. “Dunno why you hate it so much, but I’ve leared better. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Better than the alternative, you guessed. You hummed, not that over your sudden wave of anger.
The way he saw himself contrasted who he was so much that it pissed you off more than any Clicker ever could.
“Hey.” Joel brings up one hand to cup your cheek, and it soothes his cold hand over your jaw, landing on your nape. “‘s fine. I won’t be talkin’ about broken old me, ‘kay?”
Fire raged in your veins and his hand on your neck was the only anchor keeping your from storming off his house.
“It’s like you wanna piss me off sometimes.”
Joel has the audacity to laugh at you. “I just said I ain’t gonna say anythin’, woman.”
“You’re not broken,” you argue, serious and angry enough to get that insanely stupidly gorgeous and self-depracating smile out of his face.
“We’ll just agree to disagree here—”
“No, we fucking won’t. You’re not a thing, you can’t broken if you’re not a thing.”
“That’s funny, ‘cause I feel a lot of fuckin’ pieces missing.” Joel rarely speaks with that roughness directed towards you, but that’s better. Realer than the sardonic smile. He sighs deeply, his face relaxing a second after. Tired, he squeezes your neck. “Look—I made a stupid joke. I know you don’t like me talkin’ shit about myself for lord knows what reason, so I won’t—”
“‘Cause they’re not true.”
It surprises you both, you think. The crack in your voice. The shimmery wetness in your vision blurring the sight of a stunned Joel certainly surprises you. 
You swallow the knot in your throat, but it’s stuck there. You speak around it anyway. “It’s the same way you feel when they talk about ‘er, ok?” You sniffle, looking away from him to blink down the tears. “I fucking hate it.”
It’s how you feel when they shittalk Ellie.
The words hang in the air for a heavy second until you realize what you’ve laid on the table.
Joel loves Ellie. That much is known.
You love Ellie. That much was known, too.
When he speaks again, Joel is the one who sounds choked. "You couldn't love me if you tried. You couldn't love anything." It pulls your gaze back to him. “Not about me. Ain’t nothing about me worth lovin’.” He shakes his head, and his hand is gone from your neck, leaving only the cold ghost of it in the process. 
You couldn’t love me. 
It’s your turn to laugh.
"That's not true." 
He paused, and you saw his Addam's apple bobbing before he shakes his head, still in disbelief.
“You know what I did. More than anyone I’ve met before. You know there’s nothing here to love.”
“That’s your excuse?”
“It’s the fuckin’ truth,” Joel’s starting to sound on the verge of tears, and your eyes glue to his face.
“Joel, I don’t know what was misunderstood in my little nod and silence when you shared all those things about your past that night, but let me make something clear to you—I know the difference.” Joel’s frown between hsi brown deepens, but his eyes remain on yours. “You think I don’t? Don’t you ever condescend me to the point of thinking I don’t know the different between what’s rotten and what’s not in this world.”
Not saying ‘between what’s good and bad’ is a deliberate choice, and it keeps Joel’s attention hooked.
Somehow, you know this is your only chance, so you forego all thinking and just allow all your feelings for him to pour out of your pores and slip through your lips. 
“I heard all you told me and I don’t give a fuck about what you did when dissassociating out of your mind. What you did to survive, or what you did ‘cause you saw all the real rotten all around. When you say shit like ‘ain’t nothin’ about me worth living’ you put yourself in the same sack as people like that fucker David or other people who really are rotten. Who did and are horrible outta pleasure. Outta desire for it. And that is not you.”
If you could reach to him, this was when.
You lean forward, making the distance between you both smaller. 
This time, you cup his neck.
“And let me make this crystal clear ‘cause apparently it wasn’t. That last thing you did? To save her?” You breathe deeply. “If it was me in your place, I would’ve done the exact fucking same. A room full of wannabe scientists and a bunch of equipment from god knows when, swearing that killing the only person who’s apparently immue is gonna solve something?” You scoff. “Joel, I would’ve burned that building to the ground with everyone in it.”
"You…"
The words never come to him.
Instead, what comes forward is Joel.
Something in your speech breaks the dem that you had no idea existed, and Joel floods towards you.
Crashing his lips against yours, he devours.
His kiss demands a surrender because it delivers things he never gave you before. Joel holds onto your face like a lifeline, groaning against your mouth and lifting both of your bodies to press you closer to him, suddenly desperate. Suddenly devout, and it spills from his eyes.
When Joel pulls back to look at you, there’s a fright and a hope in them that makes you realize why he turned around. Why he kept his distance.
Joel thought you could never get him. Not truly, and not personally.
“You…” he whispers, lips still touching yours. His eyes are saying so much that words evaded him. “I…” Joel swallows so thickly that you hear it this time, and it draws a whimper from you.
“I know, Joel,” you whine, pulling him in for another kiss.I know you could. That maybe now you’ll allow yourself to, all your kisses say. I already do. I already do.
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🏷 @sakuralikestars — @mostardentily — @thegreat-annamaria — @leiticia — @polyglot-noodle — @casssiopeiaaa — @levylovegood — @simply-sams-things — @lavenderhhze — @gracie7209 — @waywardwolfbonklight — @shadytalething — @yesimwriting — @celestialstar111 — @averysblog — @pedrostories — @fleursirvart — @sirtommyholland — @capbrie — @hawsx3 — @superflymaterial — @ashleyforeverareject — @girlofchaos — @queerponcho — @am-3-thyst — @nyotamalfoy — @my-tearsricochet — @ponyboys-sunsets — @peqchsoup
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ* . join my Fireplace celebration. *
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Text
How does it look? Ah, it’s an improvement
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Pairing: König x Reader
Summary: You’re determined to find out why everyone thinks König is so scary, afterall he’s just some guy that’s taller than most people right? He’s probably harmless! Well, he’s a little scary, but you still like him anyway.
(No use of y/n or mention of gender/race)
AN: Ok, so another gap between updates, but for everyone that's still here, I hope you guys enjoy it, your comments and asks give me life 💕
Part 6 of A Rocky Start - Full Masterlist Here
-☠️-
In the days after your little run in with König at the gym, things had been tense with the guys. So much so that until you could find time for a ‘covert’ date, you’d tried to avoid him like the plague. Of course that meant that he was open to attack from the rest of your team, but you figured, what harm could they really do? Well as it turned out, after finally lifting your self imposed ban, he’d said they’d been on him like bloodhounds.
Apparently there was no limit they would reach to defend your honour, not that it needed defending in the first place (but you couldn’t tell them that). After a mixture of the guys trying to warn him, threaten him, jump out at him, knock his tea off of the counter and throw his food in the bin, they’d made it difficult for König to do much of anything around base. Your mind had buzzed in a near constant state of anxiety, waiting to see what they’d do next.
Luckily for your frayed nerves and König’s safety however, they stopped being as harsh to him as time went on. In only a couple weeks in fact, they’d stopped attempting to jump him and threaten him away from you, and instead took to glaring at him and giving him what you called the ‘school girl treatment’. Sure, bitching about him and saying they couldn’t wait to put Ex Nihilo in the ground once and for all so they could flush out KorTac wasn’t particularly helpful for team morale, but it meant that you didn’t need to worry about your lover getting shanked anymore. 
If you were being honest, you couldn’t help but feel he deserved it a little given it had been his bright idea to rile you up in the first place. That’s what you get for trying to show off in front of Ghost. However that didn’t mean you didn’t still worry for him, far from it. You were practically biting your tongue off whenever König would happen across your path. 
“Didn’t anyone tell you the love of your life aint in your chain of command Soap?”
“Oh shut the fuck up!”
You snorted as Soap shot you a glare. He’d momentarily distracted himself from pinning Ghost only to end up rolled over and under the heavy frame of the Lieutenant - who he’d only just managed to hold down himself. His body landed on the ground with a thundering crash, and at the very same time he let out a small ‘oof’ you held your hands at your mouth and tried to hold back on the stream of laughter threatening to burst out. Not that that was any use, you were breaking in no time, squealing like a kid. Served him right for getting cocky. He’d been leaning hard into Ghost, his eyes level and lips caught in a ridiculous smirk. 
“Looks like the next rounds on you again, Johnny boy!” Ghost chuckled, releasing Soap before he snapped something.
“No! No, no, no, I call bullshit on that,” Soap huffed, jumping to his feet like a jack in the box. “The only reason you won was because that little dick couldn’t keep their mouth shut.”
Your fellow sergeant held an accusing finger up at you, his face going pink in anger. Sore loser. You gasped in mock offence then proceeded to shoot him your best puppy eyes and shrugged, perfecting a show of innocence that would make an angel weep. 
“Me?”
“Yes you! Love of your life’s not in your chain of command’,” he echoed, pitching your words up like a little girl. “Fuck off!”
“I don’t sound like that,” you sniggered, watching as his face got redder. “Don’t be a sore loser Soap.”
Soap hit the mat just shy of his thigh, pounding it as if it were a way to wage revenge, working himself up as you and Ghost continued to laugh like hyenas. 
Ghost eventually joined your side, he picked up the water bottle he’d abandoned by his workout gear and took a long gulp, huffing as he lowered the bottle back down. Ghost’s breathing was laboured and you could smell the sharp stench of sweat coming off of him in waves, apparently even with your intervention, that hadn’t been an easy victory. You knew that well enough yourself, you were only barely able to beat him sometimes, he’d earned his nickname just as much as you’d merited yours. 
“I almost had the bastard this time!” Soap huffed, slumping. “If it hadn’t a’ been for you.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better I’ll pay for it,” you offered, rising to your feet. “Given you both go get a shower, you guys fuckin’ stink.”
Soap smirked at that, his eyes regaining their lost spark as if he’d been given a jumpstart. You didn’t care for it. 
“Really? I don’t think I smell too bad,” Soap said, his voice taking on an edge again. “C’mere, let me make you really pay for it!”
“Wait, what are you- ew! No! Get away from me!” 
You squealed as Soap made a dash for you and hopped out the way from his grabbing arms, jumping away like a scared cricket. Unfortunately he was blocking the exit, forcing you into the corner of the room, keeping you on the edge of your toes while he held his arms up, torturing you with the threat of a hug. It took everything in you to keep track of where the mats were and not to slip on the shiny wooden floors, squeaking with every step you took as you frantically traversed the hall. 
“It’s just like you said Sneaky, can’t fraternise outside my rank. Guess that just leaves you!” He laughed, making another unsuccessful lunge at you. 
“I’m sure Gaz…is around here somewhere,” you said, breathing hard as you continued to duck and dive from him.
Despite Mactavish’s best efforts, you still managed to elude him. When he leapt for you, you strafed away and even when he’d successfully grab your arm, you’d break his hold before he could wrap you in his stinking death grip. 
You were so close to the exit now. You’d danced your way there, too busy walking backwards and throwing Soap off of your intentions that you were taken unawares when you backed into something solid where an empty doorway should’ve been. It was only when two familiar big hands drew round your frame to steady you, that you realised exactly who you’d bumped into. 
“Careful Sergeant,” König said, his voice surely thick with a grin. “I see training in the 141 is as rigorous as ever.”
You sigh, taking a cautious look over at Ghost who has his eyes locked on the offensive figure behind you. Even as Ghost stood there smelling like week old laundry he’d acted as if König had dragged putrid roadkill into the room and asked him to take a bite. 
“You wanna test how good our training is, König?” Soap barked, puffing his chest out like a cartoon gorilla.
You rolled your eyes.
“No thank you, I’m afraid I’d get terribly bored.”
“Funny,” Ghost said plainly, tilting his head. “Maybe we could find out how interesting you find us once you let go of Sneak. Could make sure those dirty mitts don’t linger too long again.”
You could feel his fingers dig into your skin, and with just a cursory glance up to the slits in König’s mask, you knew he hadn’t been meaning to clutch onto you for so long. Though, even in your haste to be subtle you didn’t miss the wink he gave you when he let you go, or the way his fingers brushed against you like falling silk. Clearly someone had been missing you. Probably as much as you’d missed him. 
“Apologies,” he’d said, not able to resist whispering after, “lucky for him he doesn’t know where these ‘mitts’ were last weekend.”
You choked on your next breath and turned so that your back was to the others before they could see your haunted expression. König was becoming a master of landing you in the shit. Even as you tried to glare at him, your paranoid mind wondered if they could see your body buzzing with worry. 
“Why are you here, König?” you asked, voice shaking with a hundred different emotions.
Even under the darkness of his full hood, König’s eyes sparkled with mischief and you didn’t miss the playful raise of his brows. He was continuing to wage war on you, even when you giving him the ‘stop fucking with me’ look. He was going to hear about that later. 
“Curiously enough, Price sent me. He wanted me to tell you to come to his office.”
Everyone’s breaths were collectively stolen from the room. 
“Price? Price asked you to talk to Sneak for him?” Soap said dubiously, first to ask before anyone else could.
You were too busy wondering if he’d figured something out. 
“Funny isn’t it?” König said, his gaze squarely fixed on you. “He was in a rush to sort something and unfortunately for him, I was the only one around. I think you’re being sent off on a mission.”
You didn’t miss the way his voice dropped in disappointment. If you were going away with Price then it was anyone’s guess how long you’d be away for. Last time he’d spirited away with Gaz he’d disappeared for days, and come back afterwards sagging like a melted ice cream. Whatever you’d be doing, it’d likely tire you out just as much and even if you were to come back through the weekend you’d likely be beat just the same. With that in mind, you knew it was unlikely you’d get to carry out your fun weekend plans with König. That meant it’d be a whole week’s wait until you got to meet with him again. 
Fuck.
“Oh…thanks for letting me know.”
“Of course. Can’t ignore an order from the Captain.”
The ‘unfortunately’ didn’t have to be said, it hung in the air between you two like black clouds of smoke. It took everything in you to ignore him from then on, turning instead to your things and stuffing them into your pockets. Your ears burned as they traced his footsteps fading from the doorway, and your chest grew heavy knowing you’d be missing him like hell until you could see him again. 
“Fancy that, Price going against his own orders,” Ghost said, folding his bulging arms over his chest. 
Always looking for a fight. 
“Fuck, probably didn’t even ask that cunt. The thing probably ate the guy that was actually supposed to come get Sneak,” Soap sniggered, finally emerging from his huff.
Oh yeah, they’d taken to calling König names now as well. They particularly enjoyed comparing him to a horrific bug monster which, even as childish as that was, was a little entertaining to you given you knew how much he hated that particular film when you’d tried to show it to him. He didn’t care for monster flicks. 
“I don’t think he’d lie,” you shrugged, trying to diffuse the situation.
“Really? I think he’d stab his own mother just to get a giggle,” Ghost snorted.
Clearly you don't know him very well. You laughed even in spite of knowing that what your Lieutenant said wasn’t remotely true, maybe even because you knew how ridiculous it was. They had a lot of fun making him out to be a raging sadist when as far as they were aware he’d done no worse than them on the field. König would stab himself before a hair on his mothers head came to harm, he practically gave half his wage just to make sure she ate well every month. 
“Maybe. Even so, I better go see what Price wants. Must be deadly urgent if he was desperate enough to send König,” you said, heading back toward the exit. 
“True. Sure you don’t want a reassuring hug before you go?” Soap asked, making a move like he’d come bounding up to you.
“Nope! Not even if this is the job I die on,” you called, speed walking down the corridor before he got any bright ideas. 
-☠️-
Just as König had said, you ended up pulled away with Price on reconnaissance. Now, while you’d much rather have been curled up in a hotel room with König and living out your lazy weekend plans, it turned out being away wasn’t all that bad. For one thing, Price was practically his old self with you again and for another it was good to get away from the rest of the 141. 
Constantly having to listen to them verbally disassemble the man that you were secretly in love with was a lot and it took everything not to sit there and defend him sometimes. Even then that would just result in an uproar about how you let people treat you. At that point you’d take Price’s steady quiet presence and occasional rumbles about coffee and football anyday. 
“You seeing anything Sneaky?”
Price’s hushed voice crackled over your comms, the tiny earpiece was flooding with interference from the busy market. Crowds of people swarmed and overflowing stalls that were bursting with goods, with salesmen boasting about their produce and wares like it was the last day on earth to buy anything. The heat beat down on your back and your outfit did little to help with the glaring sun, one of the pitfalls of wearing baggy clothing to conceal weapons. Your scent mingled with the rest of the sweltering bodies that bumped your sides and moved around you, but most of all you scented the rich foods and the old antiques that filled the stalls. Your senses were going wild, overstimulated to the max. 
“Not a fuckin’ thing,” you finally muttered.
You’d been sent out to intercept a meeting between two Ex Nihlio members, according to intel gathered from KorTac earlier in the week they were supposed to meet by one of the spice stalls. It was your job to route them out and figure out if they knew anything about Rousseau’s whereabouts. Only issue was that you were drowning in spice stalls. Both you and Price had taken turns dressing up like tourists with your big nikon cameras and neon bags and were playing a game of spot the terrorist cell with only a prayer that you hadn’t already missed them. 
Price was taking his turn up on the roof, nestled conveniently in a skillion like a bird of prey about to strike, watching and waiting with his binoculars up and gun at the ready. You felt safe knowing he was with you, his mumbled words of reassurance kept you sane as you traversed the labyrinthian pathways over and over and had to pretend to take an interest in various trinkets. 
However, you’d been on the streets for a couple hours now, you knew that soon enough you’d have to swap again and it’d be your turn to play sniper on the roof. That was - If your aching feet were anything to go by. You sighed and took a look around, deciding to do one last sweep around the stalls before you joined Price and relieved him of his position. 
“Hold on Sneak, turn around - don’t be obvious,” Price said, voice coming in low and grizzled from disuse. 
You froze in your spot and swallowed, committing yourself to your new task, taking a moment to look through your pockets before palming a warm penny. With a fake gasp, you sent it rolling behind you and leaned down, walking a few paces so that you could retrieve the penny off the ground while looking around for the source of Price’s interruption. When you looked up to the row of stalls across from you, you saw what he’d tipped you off on.
“Try to get in close.”
Situated next to an array of autumn coloured spice piles, were two men wearing dark shirts and trousers, talking hushedly to one another. While you couldn’t be absolutely sure that they were Ex Nihlio, you knew that it didn’t look like they were there to shop. You glanced away from them for a moment and set your sights on a curio stall next to them, stepping almost silently over the gritty path until you reached your target.
Their voices were low, coming in softer than a light breeze, but still you managed to catch a little of what they were saying and you knew the receiver would too. You tilted your head toward them, trying to give Price the best chance of hearing them too; all while you picked up a tiny bird figure barely bigger than one of your digits and held it to your eyes. You softly ran your fingers over the wood like you might bring it to life somehow and turned it this way and that, inspecting it carefully - it was important to make your fascination with the object look convincing. 
“Your orders are clear, you are not allowed to move forward.”
“But we have everything in place, we’re ready! I don’t understand.”
The men were tense, their voices strained as they endeavoured to stay quiet. 
“We have to be more reserved now. Ever since…he was taken and the tourists were found, things have been different. Plan’s changed.”
“What! because his-”
“Quiet! Not another word. This visit in itself was a courtesy only extended to you, we’ve had to stop everything we had planned, things have changed.”
“I don’t accept that. We have to keep the momentum going or we won’t be taken seriously.” 
You breathed out quietly, watching as the stall owner started approaching you and you let a smile melt onto your face, trying to keep up the dumb tourist charade. The woman looked keen as she approached, face reminiscent of a fox’s with her eager golden eyes and high cheekbones. Her lips were curved into a grin and she hunched over the counter tactically surveying her eyes over your form. She was probably anticipating someone stupid, someone that could be easily fleeced. 
“It’s a nice statue isn’t it? Are you interested in buying?”
“Uh, yeah I think so, it’s really cute,” you said with a short unsure laugh, trying to keep your voice low enough for Price to hear over. “How much is it though?”
Regrettably for her you weren’t going to be the easy mark that she’d assessed you as. Nevertheless, you still hoped to god she wasn’t going to ask for too much. You’d figured before setting out that you needed to buy some stuff so that you could blend in, but you hadn’t brought an awful lot and you’d already gotten some pastries and drink with the paltry change. Plus the little swallow, for all its tiny size, was very detailed, it’s little carved tail and wing feathers and dark wood would surely drive the cost up. Then there was also the fact that there was no way you’d be able to just accept the given price, you’d have to negotiate so that you had a reason for sticking around. 
While you desperately strained to try and hear the argument ensuing between the two men next to you, you weakly haggled with the woman giving her numbers that her lips upturned like a direly unamused theatre mask. Eventually though you both reached an agreement and the little figure was yours, but now you had to work out your next move. 
“‘We are from nothing, and we will fight each day until they can never reduce our names to the dirt again’- remember when that was our calling? Remember when we committed to a cause that day, does that mean nothing to you? We must act now!”
“It must mean nothing to you, if you are willing to risk everything just for a moment of glory.”
You didn’t have to struggle to blend in much longer. 
A loud shot rang out above the swathes of people around you and suddenly the entire market descended into chaos and terror, people ran and screamed and hid; fleeing like pigeons. You looked over to where the two men had been and saw only one now as he rushed away into the crowd while the other lay dead and bloody on the ground. The man’s pupils were tiny pin pricks staring emptily into the glaring sun, all life torn from the deserted vessel of his body. He’d gone back to nothing after all. 
“Price, I'm going after him.”
You tore your eyes from the dead man and chased after his killer, trying desperately to catch up as he faded into the crowds. You weaved and ducked, trying to remain discreet even still as you traced his path and took advantage of the wake he left in the crowd. He was like a speedboat tearing through choppy seas, disgruntled people were pushed to the side and made to move as he bulldozed through and gave you plenty of opportunity to follow. 
“You need to stop, Sneak. We don’t know if he has friends hiding around the area! Do you hear me? Stop! Sneak, how copy?”
Price was too late. You’d collided with the man already, strategically shoving him into an alleyway and underneath your body. You both breathed hard, groaning as your knees and his back made contact with the hard ground, but neither of you could afford to feel it for long. He fought his way up, reaching for a knife he’d stowed in a thigh pocket and attempted to plunge it into you before you disarmed him, smashing his wrist against the wall and pounding it with your other. 
“I got him pinned down, we’re in the alley a few streets up, he’s fighting back pretty hard,” you growled, thoroughly out of breath from trying to subdue the squirming screaming man. 
“That’s not what I ordered!”
“Well what are my orders now?” you asked, gritting your teeth as you punched the man, narrowly missing being hit first. 
Price didn’t speak for a beat, the silence was tense as you fought to subdue your target, filled with your gasping breaths and struggling bodies scraping against the grit like sandpaper. You could practically feel the steam that was pouring from Price’s ears coming in through the earpiece, sweat was pooling all over your body, exertion and heat were kicking in. After a moment, your captain finally responded through gritted teeth, his voice crackling all the more as you realised that he was on the move. 
“Coming to you now. Hold him there.”
Easier said than done. You felt like a bull rider as you bucked around on top of the stranger trying to subdue his movements with as little force as possible. While it was important to make sure he was kept down and kept quiet, you couldn’t do too much damage or it was worthless even stopping him in the first place. Clearly this man was in contact with Rousseau or at least someone very close to him, so it was of the utmost importance that you brought him in lucid and ready to spill. Or rather spill after some convincing, the look in his eye was that of a man that wouldn’t give you any satisfaction for nothing. 
His teeth were bared at you like an animal, one of them metallic and glinting in the sliver of light that emerged through the darkness. His eyes were wild like a feral lion. There was something about his face that terrified you in that moment, the sheer determination to kill you, the will of a man with conviction in his cause to tear you down. You had the upper hand though, finally you’d been able to reach the pistol you’d secreted away at your side and pulled it on him, holding it against him with a soundless ultimatum. 
“Get the fuck off me! I’ll have your eyes for this, fucking scum!”
The man ranted and screamed, but even still you weren’t deterred from your task. You kept him pinned down with the gun snug at his temple, praying that Price would be there soon. Luck wasn’t on your side that day though, rarely ever was, suddenly you were sailing onto your back. Stars filled your vision, light melting as the sky faded far away. It was somewhat reminiscent of what you’d seen happen days before, Ghost on top of Soap after his failed victory, Soap stuck to the ground like a monkey under a tigers paw. 
“Are you alright?” a voice asked.
Someone that you didn’t recognise, an accent you couldn’t place. 
“I’ll be fine! Finish them off and let’s go,” your target responded.
You winced, expecting that to be your final moment, the last thing you ever heard was a dismissal of your efforts. Through the murky darkness two eyes flashed through your head, two crystalline pools that opened like planets in the empty space of your mind. In your mind, König looked back on you smiling, his watchful gaze always reminding you of an angel while he loomed over you, bare chested and warm just like he’d been at the hotel.
Had that been your last though you would’ve died happy, you decided. 
Though you weren’t going to die that day, not yet. Another gunshot blasted through the atmosphere, ricocheting in your ears, but as you were still around to hear it and you weren't lying there in blinding pain - well not any more than you’d felt before the gun fired - you deduced the man had missed. Instead another man’s scream rang out and a flurry of footprints followed, scraping to get away. 
You opened your eyes, finally able to see again, but felt blinding pain replace your stolen vision. It coursed through your skull and rattled through your back, making you hiss as you sat up and stradied yourself on your scraped up hands. Colours and shapes swelled and swirled before your eyes before condensing and becoming clear. Price took form in front of you seconds later, his hands tight on your shoulders as he grabbed you and gave you a look over, running his hand gently over your head as if you were his child. 
“What the fuck did I tell you?” he muttered, eyes narrowing harshly as he realised you were ok. “You had no idea who else was there and wouldn’t you know it - who should show up, but one of his little friends”
“I…I already had him before you said to let him go,” you groaned, blinking furiously as you tried not to let the darkness at the edge of your vision take over.
“Is that right? Well, well done to you and your fucking initiative,” he groaned, “Look at you, you look like you’re going to fall apart. Are you ok, can you see?”
“Feels like it too,” you said, smiling weakly. “I can see, things just got hazy for a second there…Did you send the rest of the team after them?”
Price rolled his eyes, the bags under them looking pinched as he kept looking you over. Another group of soldiers had been kept on standby, ready to swoop in and drive you and whoever you might capture, but it didn’t look like Price was thinking of them then. He was focused on you, kneeling across from you and surveying for any changes. He let go of your shoulders, instead propping you up against an old crate that sat abandoned in the alley. 
“Course I sent them,” he said eventually. “Don’t think they’ll catch up though.”
“Fuck,” you hissed, feeling the full weight of the blow to your head.
“How bad’s the wound?” you asked, wincing as your fingers came away from it with blood. 
“Not bad. Not good either though,” Price deadpanned. “I’ll walk you out of here in a minute. I just want to make sure you’re going to stay awake.”
“Walk? You mean we can’t call an Uber?”
Price didn’t see the funny side of your joke, he shook his head and ran a hand through his beard, taking extra time to scratch as he reached the thicker sides. He was deep in thought, trying to process what had happened, and work out where to go from there. There was a look in his eyes he always got when he was catastrophizing, and you could tell he was in full crisis mode. His steady hands and stiff posture only served to throw off people that didn’t know him well enough. 
“What is it?”
“Two of em’ have seen your face now.”
You had already thought of that. 
“I know,” you said quietly, finally looking away from him. 
Neither of you said anything else for a second. You focused in on the crowd behind you instead, the people that still rushed through the streets trying to avoid a silent threat that had already run far from their paths. Their voices and scampering feet echoed and danced through the alleyway, distracting you from your pain for a moment. Thought still coursed through you in the background, remained swirling through your body like a snake constricting around your brain and back.
“We need to get you out of here and get you to a medic.”
You nodded, you wouldn’t fight him on that. A medic would have pain killers. You tried to rise on your own, gripping the rough wooden crate like a lifeline, but found yourself almost collapsing again until Price rushed to your side and held you up, grunting as he bore your weight. Through the vignette of your fading vision you could see the tight lipped grimace he was giving you and knew you were probably sporting a similar look of your own. 
“Don’t try to move on your own, let me help you,” Price growled.
“You gonna carry me all the way back to car?” you asked sceptically, remembering how far you had to go. 
“Can’t bloody well leave you. We don’t know if that bastard’s got more friends hanging around.”
“You could stick me in another alley and bring the car closer?” you asked, already knowing what his answer would be, 
“Not a chance. C’mon, get moving those feet. That’s an order!”
Stubborn. 
You grit your teeth and felt the pain shoot through your back and curl up in your stomach as you moved. You knew you hadn’t broken anything, but you were still feeling the effects of getting winded and the weeping head wound wasn’t helping matters either. Bile rose in your throat at the thought and even as Price kept his arm slung tightly round you, you felt your feet waver and drag across the ground, felt your mind struggling to keep going as your body began to give up. 
“Talk to me. Don’t give out on me now,” Price demanded, his breaths coming out punchy like wind hitting a sail. 
“Talk about what?” you laughed, wincing with the movement.
“Anything. Keep yourself focused, talk about anything.”
“Ok,” you conceded, thinking for a moment as you were dragged through an empty street. “Why’d you send König to come get me the other day?”
“Really? That’s all you could think of?” Price scoffed.
You were in too much pain to feel any shame or hesitation about pushing. In fact, it was the perfect time to bring up König because there weren’t going to be many other chances for you to leverage a head wound to discuss the subject. It was the perfect thing to direct your energy on and keep you upright. 
“You’re the one that told me I wasn’t to speak to him again,” you said measuredly. “It made me wonder why you’d send him to speak to me.”
“He was the only one around and the General wanted us gone ASAP.”
“You could’ve messaged.”
“I needed to make sure you knew to come right away.”
“Are you saying I’m not reliable?” you grinned, almost tripping on a fallen basket because you were so pleased with yourself.  
You and Price stopped just before your feet could stumble over the fallen produce and rerouted around it, huffing with exertion. Price’s back was sweating just as much as yours and once again you found yourself cursing at the sun, vowing that you would never spend another minute more in the heat if it meant you could be sent to a cold room with a full deck of meds ready at your disposal. 
“If you really want to know, I figured I could trust you now,” Price said, readjusting his grip on you. “After all that's happened.”
“Oh really?”
“Well you wouldn’t want to go near him now after what happened would you?” 
You had to hold back a bout of laughter, disguising it easily with a cough. If only he knew.
“Suppose not,” you answered.
“It’s better that way…associating with a man like that, you’d only end up at the top of someone’s shit list.”
“You think he’s got enemies?” 
“Why else do men like Ghost and König wear masks?” he huffed. “You’d be vulnerable with him, even if he is a one man army. He couldn't protect you if the people he’d pissed off came after you.” 
You pursed your lips and looked toward the end of the street, sighing as you remembered the car wasn’t that far away. The last thing you needed when you were trying not to go wobbly was Price making you doubt König. Instead you faced forward and kept on marching, narrowing your eyes as you fought off the darkness. 
-☠️- 
“Are you absolutely sure that you like wearing that shirt?”
You laughed as König hovered above you, pausing in his assault on your neck so that he could play with the hem at your neckline. His hemline rather. 
“You said you wanted to look after me this week, didn’t you?”
“Well yeah, but not at the expense of my only clothing,” he said, smiling at you with narrowed eyes.
You rolled your eyes at him and kissed him, planting your lips firmly on his so as to silence his protests. All was right in the world again. You’d been dismissed for a week because of your head wound, something about you having suffered from a concussion before so you were being forced to take leave and had decided to spend your time wisely. In other words, telling Price you were going to visit family, when in actuality you were shacked up in an airbnb close to the base so that König could come visit you and stay the night. 
Eventually he broke away from you and shook his head, rolling off the bed and causing an earthquake, causing the springs to groan and for the mattress to shake like jelly beneath you. You watched him as he stood and stretched. His body illuminated by the streetlamps outside the windows, the dull yellow contrasting harshly with the dark blue shadows that snaked over his taut muscles, meeting like intertwined fingers at his ribs.
“Is it because it's the Rammstein one?” you asked, sitting up to admire him easier. “Because I’m taking good care of it.”
He shook his head again and made his way to the door. 
“I know you’re taking good care of it. I just don’t have a lot of shirts to wear,” he explained, disappearing for a moment. 
You huffed and folded your arms, obscuring the blocky logo in the tangle of your intertwined limbs. The guilt trip wasn’t going to work, this was your shirt. You felt like you’d earned it after you’d forgotten home comforts and stayed in a stranger’s house all to be with him. Not that he wasn’t taking fantastic care of you. 
You watched as he came back in with a couple glasses of water and set them down on each of your respective bedside tables and disappeared again so he could grab two bowls, walking in with steam obscuring his face. You unfolded your arms, forgetting all about your upset and took in what he’d brought you. He’d heated some soup for you both and ensured that you were propped up nicely before placing yours in your lap, joining you at your side so that he could eat his. The smell of parmesan and vegetables drifted into the air, forcing your stomach to growl in anticipation. 
“Thank you, König,” you hummed.
The soup was delicious. It was unmistakably from the Italian deli that König knew you liked to frequent as a treat and you’d deduced he must’ve been earlier in the day to pick up a takeaway just for you. Even if he were being a stickler about his clothes, he still remained sweet and ensured you had every little comfort you could want for while you recovered.
Truth was, you hadn’t really felt that bad once you’d been patched up and given a few Codeine. The pain in your head had dulled to a low thud and more than anything it was background noise to the host of other complaints you could make about your battle torn body. Though König wouldn’t hear of it. He demanded that you stay in bed as he fussed around you and cuddled you like a sickly kitten. It was a wonder you were allowed to even roam the apartment by yourself with the way he coddled you, a miracle you weren’t wrapped in cotton wool and shrunk into his pocket for safe keeping. 
“Why is it that you’d want to wear one of my dirty shirts anyway?” König asked, breaking the silence.
You snorted, only just swallowing the spoonful of soup you’d taken and shrugged, a coy smile weaving its way onto your face. 
“It smells like you. Makes me feel safe,” you said finally, only a smidge embarrassed.
“And what do I smell like?”
“I dunno…just like you,” you shrugged. “Manly I guess, and I can smell that stupid cheap citrusy soap you use.”
“Don’t belittle my soap just because you like to buy the best,” he retorted. 
“That’s right, practicality over frivolity…How German,” you said with a sly smile. 
He froze mid spoonful, just about to eat another before he paused and shot you a withering side eye. You’d delighted in finding out another way to tease him, getting to play with him all you wanted while you recovered. 
“You call me German one more time, I’m taking the shirt off your back and leaving you naked to fend for yourself,” he said simply
“Oh c’mon, you’d never do that.”
“I just might,” he smiled, taking his last spoonful and letting the cutlery clatter to the empty bowl. “You know the difference.”
“In fairness you did live there for quite a while until you moved back again.”
“Yeah, and that's an even better reason for me to enjoy being Austrian.”
“Such a mean man, poor Germany!”
You playfully shoved at his thigh with your foot and giggled when he caught it in his hand and threw it back. It sent you both laughing and soon you abandoned your soup bowl onto the table and took your little game to the next level, diving onto him before you were promptly flipped onto your back and pinned under König, resuming your usual position.
“Poor Sneak,” he laughed ominously. “Still hellbent on defending the Germans?”
“If I say yes are you gonna do that thing I hate?”
“Only one way to know for sure.”
You huffed out a breath and weighed up your options, deciding if it was really worth being tickled just to keep teasing him. In the end, you didn’t get to decide, you winced as you felt a firework of pain burst through your head and closed your eyes for a second, bunching them shut like you could forget about it behind the darkness of your closed lids. Suddenly you were grateful you were lying down surrounded by the soft topaz sheets. 
“Are you ok? Did I hurt you?” König gasped, stroking his thumb over your cheek. 
“I’m alright, it wasn’t anything you did,” you assured after a second, taking in a deep breath. “I think it’s time for me to take my meds actually. Is it after eight thirty?”
König leaned up from you and rooted around for his phone. You prayed you were right. 
“Yeah, Eight forty. If you sit up, I’ll get them out for you.”
You followed through with his request, inching up the covers and seething with every little jarring shake the bed gave you. It felt like your head was going to burst into a confetti cloud with the amount of pressure that was building. You couldn’t wait till the headaches were done with. 
“Here, take these,” König murmured, handing you the pills and your forgotten glass of water.
You threw them back and drank down a big gulp of water, focusing on not choking as you swallowed them as fast as you could. This was one of the worst pains you’d had with it since it’d happened. Stars twinkled at the edge of your vision until slowly, after a little breathing and König stroking your back, you were able to open your eyes and stare back him as he watched you those big doleful eyes of his. 
“I’m alright now, it’s ok,” you smiled, trying to reassure him. 
“Mm, it’s far from ok,” König hissed, staring harshly to his side for a moment. “If I ever get my hands on those who did this to you, they’ll be sorry.”
You widened your eyes a moment as his fury sunk in and both of you stared at each other for a tense minute. You sat hoping your understanding of the situation might be infectious, wishing he’d accept that they’d just gotten the upper hand. What happened wasn’t personal. He shook his head and let the heat escape him, the fire left his eyes and deflated him, leaving him staring down at the bed a moment until you spoke again. 
“I know how I’d feel if it were the other way around,” you sighed, knowing he’d need a little reassurance you weren’t going to run terrified. “But you don’t need to be angry for me. I’m fine, this’ll all be better in a few days, ok?”
He didn’t speak for a second, not until he looked back up at you. 
“Ok.”
“Good. Now, c’mere and give me a hug so I feel better.”
His smile returned, curving back onto his lips like magic. You smiled in turn and watched as he put your meds back in the drawer by your bedside, but frowned when he paused and stared inside. He chucked the foil packet back in its place but reached in and retrieved whatever had caught his attention, bringing it front of you in the palm of his hand.
“What’s this?” he asked curiously. 
You tilted your head and smiled as you realised it was the wooden swallow you’d unpacked from your bag earlier and shrugged. 
“It was the bird I got from the market that day,” you explained. “I found it when I was going through my bag today and chucked it in the drawer.”
He raised his brows and brought the little figure closer to his face, admiring the fine details of it not dissimilarly to the way you’d stared at it in the market. You tilted your head as you watched him and bit your lip, watching the way his eyes took in the little bird with an intense fascination. 
“Why don’t you keep it?” you offered. “And then you let me wear this for the rest of the week.”
You rolled your shoulders, showing that you wanted to keep the shirt. König chuckled, but after pretending to be deep in thought about it, sporting a deep frown and a pursed lip, he eventually nodded. 
“I suppose I could allow that… we can have shared custody. I get the bird one week and then the shirt for the next,” he said, coming to rest by your side with his arm outstretched, making the bird fly in looping patterns in the air. “Deal?”
You laughed to yourself, but nodded, settling into his warm chest with a satisfied sigh. 
“Sounds like a good deal to me.”
Next Part Here
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tartarusknight · 1 year
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The Fallen King and the King of the Freaks | Part 1
Ao3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16
Steve didn't have the heart to tell the kids about how Billy didn't back off after Max's threat. Not when they seemed to look up to him for some reason. So, instead, he stayed out of Billy's way as much as he could. But it seemed like the man was hunting him down. It got to the point that Steve dropped basketball.
Steve got used to being slammed into lockers and taunts from the people he used to friends with. So what if he wasn't top dog anymore? So what if he didn't have any friends his own age? So what if Nancy dumped him (ripped his heart out and stomped on it with bullshit)? So what if Billy left bruises on his body with well time jabs and kicks? Steve was an adult he could handle this...
However, as he was shoved into the janitors closet and hearing the lock click behind him, he thought maybe it was getting worse. He slammed his shoulder to the door but it didn't budge and he heard Billy's stupid laughter outside. "Enjoy your alone time, princess," Billy taunted.
Steve slid to the ground and tried not to panic. He wasn't going to freak out just because it's dark and he doesn't have anything to protect himself. He really wasn't going to. He wasn't that much of a loser that he was scared of the dark.
Then he started to cry. He normally was a silent crier, but normally, he wasn't struggling to breathe. He curled around himself and tried not to think of creatures with mouths that took up their entire head and opened like flower petals. Really, he was trying. But Steve just couldn't focus.
There was a soft voice outside the door that shook him from his isolation. "Hey man, you alright?" A dude questioned, and Steve tried to focus so he could answer. "Imma pick the lock, just gimme a minute. I've got ya," the voice was smooth, and Steve squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't really want to be seen at the moment, but he wanted out more.
The door clicked, and Steve crawled back so it could open. Eddie Munson was crouched there, a few things in his hands that he probably used to pick the lock. The known drug dealer looked frozen in shock at the sight of Steve, and Steve basically plowed into him to get out of the room quickly.
His brain was fried, and he really wanted to cling to Munson and let the calm voice focus him. Instead, he backed off and pressed his back to the wall, hanging his head between his thighs. "Thanks," he mumbled and hid his tear stained face from the other.
"Uh, it's um, not a problem... Usually, I'm helping others after you pick on them, though," Eddie's voice wasn't as soft as it had been. It made Steve wince and curl up tighter on himself. Of course, Munson would hate him...
"Never shoved anyone in janitor closets before," he said instead.
"Ahh, lockers then."
Steve shook his head, "You could really hurt someone doing that. What if no one found them? Or if they passed out or something?" He pointed out and finally looked up at the other boy. Eddie was just staring at him like he's never seen Steve before. "I never wanted to hurt anyone," Steve breathed out, but it came out more snappish than he meant it to.
"Right... so how come King Steve was shoved into the closet?" Eddie questioned and Steve looked away from him. "Did you sleep with someone's girl-"
"Jesus man, I get it! You hate me but can you fucking stop? Not everything that happens to me is my fault, okay?" Steve snapped, and Eddie flinched back. "Fuck, stop acting like I'll hurt you, Jesus. Billy's just an asshole who needs a punching bag, okay? And he learned that he can take he down, okay?" He gestured to the slowly healing bruises on his face.
Eddie was staring at him, "why you?"
Steve scoffed, "cause he can't take it out on his sister anymore? Cause he's an asshole with mommy issues? Or maybe just because he knows I won't fight back! I don't know, I'm not in his brain! I don't know what he thinks when he trips me in the hallway or throws a ball at my head in the gym!"
Eddie blinks and gets up to his feet, but then he holds out his hand in offering. "Come on, man." Steve takes it and lets Eddie pull him to his feet. He's still a little shaky, but he manages to stay on his feet. "I've been known to adopt lost sheep," he's guided away towards the exit and he's so shocked he doesn't fight it.
"Thought you hated me," He points out.
Eddie laughs, "eh, you can just buy me dinner." Eddie pauses for a moment, but Steve is already nodding. It makes Eddie grin, and he throws an arm around his shoulder. "Welcome to the land of the outcasts. Here I'm the king." He gestures to the group of people smoking by one of the picnic benches outside.
"You'll lose a few cool-dude points if you're seen with us," Eddie smiles like it's funny but Steve just feels bad. These were the people he never stood up for. These were the people he never looked at, just ignored.
Steve smiles and looks at Eddie, "you inviting me into the Munson cult?"
Eddie's grin goes sharp, "You gotta earn that. I'm offering you a starting point."
Steve thinks about how lonely he's been and how kind Eddie's voice had been. "So, how do I climb up the ladder? My only skills are giving rides, basketball, and hair."
"Don't forget the Harrington charm," Eddie grins and it's kinder. "Show us yourself, and we'll see from there." He whispers before turning to the group of people.
"Gentlemen, we have a traveler from the halls of royalty! He's come to bless us with his presence!" Eddie's voice is filled with so much emotion. Steve almost misses the way the group tenses up.
Steve might have a while to go before they trust them. But he thinks maybe it could be worth it. Especially as Eddie looks back at him with a smile that makes Steve's stomach flip. "Uh, hey," he smiles awkwardly, wiggling his fingers in greeting.
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Text
Assorted Batkid Headcanons
During the middle days of Damian being Dick’s Robin, he was still figuring out how to show affection in a nonviolent way, so he just kept getting Dick fish. His logic was ‘Grayson has issues taking care of himself, so I will get him a pet that even he will find easy to care for’.
As a result Dick has an entire tank of various fish, all named Jim after Jim Gordon.
Dick finds this hilarious. Babs finds this hilarious. She’ll casually mention something ‘Jim’ did in conversation with her dad and watch as he bluescreens.
Tim has the pallet of a five year old. All he likes are exceedingly sugary sweet foods everyone else wants to puke while eating.
As a result, all he drinks are those stupidly sugary energy drinks that leave you seeing god after a few minutes. Is this unhealthy? No, it’s a liquid, therefor water, therefor good - Tim Drake.
Duke has purposefully broken his wrist to see if he would light up like a glowstick before. It didn’t work.
Cass shows her affection through objects, so a Batkid will often walk into their residence to find something like a metal bottle cap or a feather neatly placed on their table, without any security triggered or any other indication anyone was ever here. They all know to treasure these, no matter what they are.
Jason, given he’s built like a tank, will often hold things out of reach from people just to Be An Asshole. He loves it.
Damian used the same method of affection on Steph when she was his Batgirl, but had a bit more faith in her ability to not let something die, so he kept getting her small rodents, like hamsters and rats. She named them all after characters from Supernatural.
Stephanie had a huge Supernatural phase when she was 13 and never really grew out of it. She’s tried out summoning rituals from the show before.
Every single Batkid had a Warriors phase. Every. Single. One.
Dick was SO FUCKING HAPPY when Duke showed up because he finally had a brother who would happily give him a hug without having a panic attack due to TouchFuckery.
Steph has referred to the Batfam as “Furry Touchfucked McNuggets” before. No one questions it because she’s right.
Babs has designated snacks for every occasion. Program Taking Too Long To Load is Cheetos. Bruce Being a Bitchass On the Comms is popcorn. Done With This Bullshit For Good, I Swear is Twix.
Tim’s Notes app on this phone is entirely filled with sleep deprived 4am rants about why Star Trek is the superior franchise. He’s very passionate about it.
One time Bart was bored so decided to raid the pantry and he found Damian crouched on one of the top shelves, hissing like a cat and clutching a box of Weetabix. He took a picture and now it’s the YJ discord group icon.
Not exactly Batfam but the YJ Core Four + Cissie have a discord group chat and Tim’s the mod.
Damian loves Weetabix. Idk if anyone else knows what that is but that shit was my fucking childhood so he loves it.
Duke has tried and is currently trying to unionize all the kid sidekicks. They’re getting there.
Jason’s favorite authors are Mary Shelley and Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is his comfort book that he often reads after patrolling as way to wind down. He fucking hates Edgar Allan Poe with a passion for reasons he refuses to explain.
Cass will sometimes teach some dance moves to little kids while on patrol. Sure, she knows it’s not stopping violence, but when she sees another little girl with scars on her palms and wary eyes light up as she twirls in the air and laugh as she leaps, she thinks it’s worth it. More than worth it.
Jason’s found her doing this sometimes. Neither of them say anything.
The Batkids all love Jon. Yeah, move over Damian, don’t keep him all to yourself. They may have their own supers/alien besties, but Jon is just adorable, and they all want to smoosh the cheeks of a kid who won’t attempt to stab them for it. Look, he’s so cute. The day anyone bullies Jon beware, because the entirety of Gotham’s vigilante force will be there to wreak havoc upon you.
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tvhsleb3ww · 4 months
Text
LOVE IS NOT OVER! - OIKAWA TOORU
yeah i used a bts song as the title bc i ran out of ideas 🥴
summary, your blind date is your ex boyfriend from high school!?
minor swearing, praise (cute, hot, sexy), depression, heartbreak, tooru being dumb
read part 2 here!
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now, there were plenty of beautiful women in Tokyo. millions! but why oh why did the universe hate him so much to the point they sent you as his blind date.
that's right. you. his ex. his first love, his high school sweetheart, his best friend and the same girl who stole his heart and stomped on it until it broke into a million pieces. it was simply unbelievable.
you turned him into a depressed man after you broke up with him because you thought it was better to go seperate ways. okay, maybe it was for the better because now he's a superstar volleyball player and now you're doing whatever. and he's one hundred percent sure that you're succeeding in whatever the hell you're doing because holy fuck do you look like a goddess right now.
of course, dating his ex was not written on his workbook. he never would go back to his exes. that he can swear he'd never do but right now he's starting to contemplate whatever mindset he has going on. in full honesty, he's still bitter and upset at you for dumping him due to stupid reasons. it has been years since you last saw each other.
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Third Year of High School
" you're not even giving me a chance here! "
his voice broke as tears welled up in his eyes. his hands holding onto yours as he intertwined his fingers with yours. his lips remain a frown as he looked at you. you sighed and remain your gaze on him.
" tooru, it's not that like that "
he clicked his tongue at your words. bullshit. that's all he thinks right now. he lets go of his grip on your hands as he looked at you with glassy eyes. he bites down his bottom lip to control himself from actually breaking down in front of you.
" so, you're gonna give up on us? "
his question remains unanswered as you stayed quiet. he sighed, looks like he got his answer. you sighed and crossed your arms. you couldn't bare to look at him right now in his vulnerable state. you feel like you just got shot by a million arrows from how bad you're hurting him.
" i just think it's better if we go on our seperate ways"
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back to the present, he didn't expect you. first of all, he didn't even want to go on this stupid blind date in the first place but his awful yet amazing friends kept pestering him to do this. saying that "you're too obsessed with volleyball get a life", blah blah blah. he just rolled his eyes to their statement but he still went.
so, it wasn't his friends' fault for setting him up with his ex. or is it?
both of you sat in silence for a whole minute inside the busy yet quiet café. both of you had ordered your drinks and tooru swears that his matcha latte is almost finished from how often he kept sipping it.
he quickly clears his throat before finally saying something.
"long time no see"
okay that did not sound as badass as he thought it was gonna be. it kinda sounded corny. he took a second to cringe at himself before looking at you. god, he wanted to curse the heavens because how dare they make him hate this amazing woman!?
from head to toe you're perfect. tooru would fight anyone who says the opposite. you got so much prettier in the last couple of years too. your hair, your eyes, your lips, your face, your ass-
that was a little overboard, he thought. he's not supposed to be thinking this! you broke his heart and he hates you!
" yeah, you look great "
god, he wanted to melt on the spot. the same voice that haunted his dreams for years. still so sweet and so good to listen to. he looks great? woah! does that mean you're complimenting him? what is great? his physique? his personality? he had to bite his bottom lip to cover his smile and remain his scowl.
" pfft- i know "
you rolled your eyes at his words. ah, tooru always as smug as he can be. but he did in fact looked great, he looked healthy and more muscular. indeed, seperation was better for both of you. of course you knew about his growth in the volleyball world, he was the talk of the year. based on the scowl on his face, you're sure he's still being petty about what happened between the two of you.
" i see that your ego is still bigger than your ass "
he gasped at that statement. his eyes narrowed down at you as he crossed his toned arms. he's gotten tan too from the Argentina sun. it's a good look on him, not gonna lie.
" at least, i didn't leave people at their lowest points "
touché but it was a terrible comeback. tooru has always been horrible at comebacks. it did however managed to shaken things up a little bit. you clicked your tongue and rolled her eyes. same old petty tooru.
" i'm sorry, alright? that was a long time ago "
" you don't seem sorry "
" at least i'm apologizing "
" yeah but years after that- "
you groaned loudly making him snicker. he always enjoyed driving you crazy. to him, it was cute to see you all fired up and he just likes to piss people off in general. he leans back on his chair as his gaze remains on you.
" so quickly agitated, (y/n) "
he commented making you huff and roll your eyes.
" you're still as annoying as you'll ever be "
" annoyingly hot you mean "
" maybe because you came from hell "
his smug grin falters and drops at your comeback. he scowls and huffs at your now smug expression. this interaction was gonna be interesting. you just wiggled your eyebrows at him to piss him off even further.
ugh, he hates you. he hates how sassy and teasing you can get. he hates the fact that he finds it cute and sexy at the same time. why is it so sexy when you put him in his place!?
he clears his throat again after a minute of whole silence.
" you know, i hate you right "
you sighed softly and rolled your eyes for what seems about the nth time now.
" and it's completely my fault, i know "
he wanted to say yeah it is. you're to blame for the heartbreak pain he felt for years.
after he flew away to Argentina, he couldn't sleep at night wondering about you, he devoted himself fully to his career because he didn't want to think about you, he tried going out with other women but they all just weren't you.
but right now, it's as if he wanted to push that ego away and forget everything that has happened in the past couple years and just grab your face and kiss you with everything he's got.
and he's not leaving this date until he does exactly that.
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simphornies · 4 months
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A/N: A bit shorter but 👀 Let me know what you think! 🫶
Word count: 2.8k (2,844) Warnings: a little bit angsty
part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5, finale
Deal Breaker [ Vox x Angel!Reader ] part 4
You didn’t even bother putting your things away neatly as you usually do. You furiously walked out your room, slamming the door behind you. You looked down every hallway you passed as you headed to the lobby. You headed over to the bar to ask Husk if he’s seen Alastor but before you could say anything, Angel Dust stopped you in your tracks with a tight, four-armed hug.
“Y/N! Holy shit…” He looked at you with tears in his eyes. His black scleras were now gone and back to normal. For a moment your rage subsided. You smiled at him and held him close, rubbing his back. “Thank you, Y/N.”
Your heart melted, remembering what you were truly in Hell for. “Of course, Angel Dust. Anything for my friends.” You look over at Husk who gives you a heartfelt smile.
Angel Dust was crying tears of happiness as you comforted him. He calmed down soon enough, repeating his gratitude for your actions over and over. You sigh and look at Husk, “Has anyone seen Alastor?”
“He’s up in his radio tower, probably doing a broadcast. Why?” Husk asked you, his eyes filled with confusion. You shook your head, not wanting him to ask further and he just nodded.
You flew up to his tower, fuming. You burst into his tower and he just greets you with a smile.
“Y/N! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to my tower this fine morning?” He held his hands behind his back, unaware of your anger towards him.
“I told you to not fuck with Vox, Alastor.” You hissed at him.
He cocked his head to the side, eyes squinted, “Whatever do you mean, my dear?” He asks you.
“Don’t play dumb with me. I know you hurt Vox in that alleyway last night.” You screamed, “You could’ve killed him!”
He rolled his eyes, looking at his claws, disinterested in your accusations, “Oh trust me, if I wanted to kill him…I would have done so already.” His voice was laced with radio static. “But I haven’t laid a single finger on him, Y/N. He must be lying to you.”
You shook your head, “That’s bullshit! The marks on him matched your claws and I know how you attack other demons that interfere with your plans.” Your wings appeared behind you, eyes appearing on your hair and your wings as you took a step closer to the demon.
Alastor’s eyes turned black, his own demon form emerging slowly, “Y/N, I had no intention of harming anyone yesterday. Why I was just here at the hotel aiding Charlie!” He says, taking a step back for every step forward you took. You were seething in rage, refusing to believe that Vox lied to you. “I have better things to do over harming that noisy picture box. He’s too pathetic for me to entertai-”
SLAP.
Alastor fell to the floor, ears flat against his head. He looked up at you shocked as he held his cheek, “Y/N-”
“Save it, Alastor. You have a track record of being untrustworthy when it comes to your words.” You angrily say to him, “Vox has no motive to lie to me and he’s been nothing but kind to me and everyone in the hotel. But you,” You knelt down to his level, your finger at his chest, “You’ve been hostile and unforgiving. Untrusting of his attempts at collaboration with us because of what? Your pride?” You scoffed, “Makes sense why you’re in this ring instead of the others. Your pride stops you from seeing reason and giving second chances to anyone.”
You turned away from him, getting ready to leave his tower. “He’s proven his word to me. He’s broken Angel Dust’s contract with Valentino and you? You stand proud as if you’ve done so much more than assist every now and then with the hotel. You keep Husk on a leash and don’t think I don’t know that you keep a close eye on him ensuring he doesn’t speak about the deal. I know you’ve threatened him to keep his mouth shut. You really want me to help you break that deal that chains you down?” You look over your shoulder at him with rage-filled eyes, “Break that deal and prove your word. And don’t hurt Vox for trying to help the hotel.”
Alastor’s smile remained on his face but you saw his shadow frown. The infamous and feared radio demon cowered in fear knowing that if you really wanted to, you could take his life with ease just as Adam did. Maybe worse. Before you could leave the tower he speaks up, “I’ll break the deal Husk has with me.” You paused in your tracks, refusing to look at him. “Y/N you are a friend of mine and I promise you. I did not harm Vox last night. I swear to you I’ve been at the hotel. Ask everyone! I’ve been here this whole time. Trust me, Y/N. I would never show anyone weakness. You are correct, it is my pride that sets me back but I have proven to you that I am able to put that aside when it’s just us, have I not?”
He was right. He never showed himself to be anything but strong but he’s confided in you. He was one of the first friends you’ve made at the hotel. You turn to look at him on the floor and…was that fear in his eyes? Your eyes began to fill with tears, “Alastor…”
“I will prove to you, as my friend, that I am to be trustworthy. If there is anybody I am willing to prove my undying loyalty to, it is you. You are the one who saved me after all.”
You knelt at his side, placing your glowing hand on the cheek that you had slapped. “I’m sorry, I…I was filled with rage. That was unbecoming of me, I am sorry.” You apologized, “I…But why would he lie to me? What purpose…”
“To gain your trust, my dear.” He hissed, “I can undoubtedly assure you he wants you for himself. I know him, Y/N. He craves power as much as I do and he wants to keep you by his side and take you away from us.” A part of you truly wanted to believe in him, but the love that you suddenly had for Vox was overpowering your senses. He had become your weakness.
Back at Vox’s building, he sat in his security room laughing menacingly. He had seen you leave in a fit of rage through his cameras and found enjoyment in his plan. He rewinded the footage to rewatch you angrily go up Alastor’s radio tower. If Alastor’s presence didn’t interfere with cameras, he would have one in there to watch what you were going to do to Alastor. His face dropped when he saw you enraged. He didn’t understand why but he felt absolute guilt for lying to you. He had Valentino hire some random demon to attack him in that alleyway, making sure they had claws like Alastor to make it more believable.
The more he looked at your face on the screen, he noticed the tears in your eyes and he couldn’t take it anymore. He felt horrible. He’s never felt such emotion so strongly before. He started to think that maybe he should tell you the truth and drop the act but he was in too deep to turn back.
He left the security room and walked into his meeting room, stressed out of his mind. Valentino and Velvette were there waiting for him.
“Fucking finally!” Valentino groaned, “You took forever stalking your little angel bitch.” Valentino calling you a bitch made Vox’s eye twitch. He remained quiet.
“So how’d the plan go? Is it working?” Velvette looked at Vox excitedly, “Is she wrapped around your little finger?”
He quietly took a deep breath and put on a fake smile for his colleagues, “Of course it’s worked. Soon Y/N will be fighting for us.” He grinned but the smile faded from his face quickly.
“The fuck is wrong with you?” Velvette watched him closely, noting his odd behavior. Usually he’d be ecstatic but he stood like he regretted his decisions. And he did. The time you two have spent together made him fall for you but his pride stopped him from turning back on his original plan.
“I don’t know. I…” He sighed and sat down, “I can’t fucking understand this feeling.”
“Ecstaticity?” Velvette suggested.
“Or maybe you’re horny from the power we’re about to get?” Valentino laughed, blowing out a thick cloud of smoke that faded into hearts.
“No it’s like. It’s like everytime I see Y/N’s face my heart stops beating.” He ranted. Velvette’s eyes widened and stared at Vox. “Everytime I hear her laugh, I want to hear it more.” Valentino’s smile faded and he stared at him alongside Velvette. “I want to keep that smile she always has on her face. I…”
Velvette and Valentino slammed their fists on the table. “Are you fucking kidding me right now Vox?” Velvette snapped at him, “Are you really telling me you’re falling in love with the fucking angel?” She scoffed and got up in her face, “You’re fucking kidding right?”
“Falling in love?” He questioned. Suddenly the dots connected in his head. He realized that he truly was falling for you. He fell for your kindness, your strength and your pride in your power.
“That’s fucking pathetic Vox. You can’t fall in love.” Velvette grabbed him by the collar, “You’re supposed to use her. She’s a fucking tool.”
“You’re seriously falling for the princesa’s second angel?” Valentino sassed, “You have me, Vox~” His hand caressed Vox’s shoulder seductively.
Vox pushed them both off of him, his left eye spiraling in anger. “I can feel and do whatever the fuck I want. Maybe I am falling for Y/N. So fucking what?” He spat back.
“You’re getting weak, Vox.” Valentino shook his head in disappointment.
“Get the fuck out! Both of you!” He screamed, seething in anger at the insults they’d thrown at you more than the ones they’d thrown at him.
“I wonder what the little angel would think if she found out about your little plan~” Velvette grinned at him, a threatening look in her eyes. “I think I should remind you that you’re supposed to be an overlord, Vox.”
He zapped in front of Velvette, grabbing her by the collar and lifting her up to his brightly glowing face. “Velvette.” He screamed, “Stand the fuck down. You’re not doing shit.” He growled.
She laughed in response, putting her hand on his, “And what are you going to do about it, Vox?” She teased.
He sent electric shocks throughout her body, making her scream at the sudden pain, before throwing her on the ground. Valentino rushed behind Vox, quickly turning him around. He landed a punch on his face, cracking his screen. Vox screamed as sparks flew from the cracks. He growled and grabbed his hand, flashing his screen brightly to stun the moth demon. He zapped him the same way he did to Velvette, throwing him on the floor next to her.
“Don’t fuck with me. I do what the fuck I want.” He spat at them.
Velvette managed a weak laugh, “Who knows? Maybe Alastor’s already told her that he was never here to begin with. It’s only a matter of time before your little bitch finds out you were lying.”
“And what do you think she’s going to say then, hm?” Valentino chuckled, recovering from the zap. “How’s your little ‘relationship’ going to work out?”
Vox gritted his teeth and zapped out of the office into his security room. He sat down in his chair, leg shaking with anxiety. “Fuck fuck fuck…” He muttered.
.
You sulked in your room, not knowing what to feel about the whole situation. Alastor was your friend, his vulnerability made you want to believe him but he also knew that vulnerability was your weakness. You’d fallen for Vox and you didn’t want to believe that he’d do something like that. You didn’t want to call and ask him either. You sighed and buried yourself under the blankets, your wings wrapping around you for comfort.
You heard the door open. “Go away.” You groaned. You felt someone sit next to you, it was Vaggie.
“I heard what happened.” She rubs your shoulder, “Vox is saying that Alastor hurt him and Alastor’s saying he’s lying.” You stayed quiet. “Hey. I know how it is.” You glanced at her and she gave you a warm smile, “Everyone’s flawed down here. Do you wanna talk about it?”
You were quiet for a moment, not wanting to talk but decided to get it off your chest anyways. “I just…I trust Alastor. I know you don’t trust him as much as I do but I was filled with so much rage that I…I hit him. I didn’t even bother asking, I just slapped him.” You swear you just saw Vaggie grin excitedly at the thought of Alastor getting hit but she dropped her grin the moment you looked at her. “And…Vox. I don’t know who to trust.”
“Well, have you talked to him?” She asks. You shake your head. “How about you start there?” “What if Alastor did hurt him? What if he lied? And what if I ask Vox and he says he lied? What if Alastor was right and he was just manipulating me?” You tear up, “I really did fall in love with him. He broke Angel Dust’s contract and kept his word so far. I just-” You broke down into tears.
“Hey. We’re in the Hazbin Hotel. This place is all about second chances. We forgave Sir Pentious despite his initial bad intentions. Charlie forgave me for not telling her about me being an exorcist.” She sighed, “She forgave me for not telling her I’m stuck down here because of the extermination! You know, maybe he has bad intentions, maybe he doesn’t. But at the end of day, everyone in Hell is flawed. It’s the actions that matter.” You wiped your tears away and nodded, understanding her points. “Think about it, okay? Maybe call him. Talk to him.” She gave you a hug before leaving your room.
You pulled out the phone Vox gave you and stared at his contact. Your finger hovered over the call button but you couldn’t get yourself to press it. You were heartbroken at the thought that either Alastor or Vox were lying. Your heart felt heavy. You hadn’t felt this emotion in so long.
While your finger hovered over Vox’s call button, your phone suddenly started to get a slew of texts that went too fast for you to read in the notifications. As you try to click on one of the many messages, Valentino calls you. You reluctantly answered. “Hello?” You weakly spoke out, your shaky voice evident.
“Hello angel~” He purred. You hated that nickname if it didn't come from Vox or any of your closest friends.
“What do you want, Val?”
“I just want you to know that you’re lucky Vox broke that contract off with Angel Dust.” He hissed into the phone, “Because if he was still mine he would be in my studio right now getting absolutely fucked to death. And I mean it. To. Death.” He laughed.
His laughter faded into the background as he passed it to somebody else. It was Velvette.
“And I want you to know that we are coming for you stupid little hotel. We stocked up on Carmilla’s weapons and we’re coming straight for you, holy bitch.” She cackled, “And just so you know. Your little lovebug Vox has been lying to you. He doesn’t want you. He wants your power! Hah! I can’t believe you really fell for it.”
“...What..?” You were in shock, almost dropping your phone.
“Little Voxy here decided to fuck with us and I’m going to safely assume it’s because of you.”
“Watch out, Y/N~ We’ll be there when you least expect it.” Valentino says in the background. The two let out a sinister laugh as the call ends abruptly.
You were speechless. You didn’t know what else to do except run out of your room to warn the staff of the attack.
“Guys!” You yell out from the stairs, “Get ready! Arm yourselves!”
“What?! What’s going on?” Charlie says, panicked at your frantic state.
“The Vees are coming. And they have angelic weapons. They…Something happened to Vox and now Valentino and Velvette are coming!”
“Shit-When? How do you know?”
“They just got off the phone and-”
BOOM.
A loud explosion comes from outside of the hotel. The building began to shake and before you could say anything else everyone’s expressions went from anger to worry as they ran towards you. You looked up and saw debris falling down right where you stood.
Tag list: @dawko-fanpage @chewbrry @ghostdoodlen @emekeneme
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blushweddinggowns · 2 years
Text
Part 2 to this!
Now that Max and Dustin were vaguely aware of what was going on, they weren’t going to stop until they knew everything. It took about ten seconds from leaving Steve’s driveway for them to start asking questions. 
“Robin…” Max started, “What is he not telling us?”
“That Eddie’s a dick,” she grumbled, “But we’re not allowed to talk about it.”
Dustin crossed his arms against his chest, huffing, “No he’s not! Steve’s right, it’s not his fault he isn’t interested.” 
“If that was the case than ya, sure Steve would be right but it’s not. He’s totally leading him on."
Dustin frowned. That didn’t sound like the Eddie he knew, “How so?”
“Well let’s see,” she lifted a hand, counting it out on her fingers, “There’s the fact he calls Steve shit like ‘pretty’ and ‘sweetheart’ when he thinks no one can hear him. He actively stops Steve from dating anyone else and has scared like five girls away from the store entirely. Not to mention they sleep together almost every night. He just loves torturing him in general! He gets off on the power he has over him, I swear.”
That…did not sound good.
“Well…maybe he likes him back?” Dustin said weakly, praying that there was some kind of misunderstanding and that one of his best friends wasn't being a massive asshole to his surrogate dad.
She shook her head, “I used to think that too until like a week ago. Do you wanna know what he told Nancy when she asked about it? I quote, ‘ Me and Steve? Seriously Nance? I’d rather die. ’” Robin said flatly, resentment heavy in her voice, “And Steve fucking heard him say that and hasn’t done shit about it!”
Max had been staring out the window, trying to rationalize why anyone would do things like that if they weren’t interested, when she froze, “He said that? About Steve? Our Steve?”
“He sure did. And that's why I'm saying it all needs to stop. He needs to fuck off now."
Dustin opened his mouth, so used to jumping to Eddie’s defense before snapping it back shut. He didn’t know what to say. If it was all true then he was going to kill Eddie for fucking with Steve’s feelings, for no good reason. But on the other hand, this was Robin they were dealing with, and her threshold for Steve-related violence was a lot lower than a normal person’s would be. 
She pulled into the trailer park with a sigh, “I’m sorry I put all that out there, it’s just…I needed to get that out. And you guys have almost gotten me killed on more than one occasion so…now we’re even I guess. But don’t tell him I told you! Eddie can do no wrong in his eyes, for some reason.”
They both nodded, Dustin hopping out with Max. He’d bike home later because they needed to talk about this, without Robin there. They thanked her for the ride, standing there in awkward silence as they watched her go. 
“Do you think he’d really do something like that?” Dustin asked as she led him inside, “It’s not that I don’t trust her, but she’s definitely biased.”
Max shrugged, looking just as conflicted as Dustin felt, “I don’t think so? But we should still be on the lookout. If it is true, we’re gonna have to do something.”
Dustin nodded, automatically on board for any hypothetical helping of Steve. They talked for a while longer, another hair-brained scheme forming. They would watch, see if Eddie really was leading Steve on, and if it was true, they’d intervene. The how was yet to be determined, but they would. 
No one was going to hurt their babysitter and get away with it. Not on their watch. 
They spent the next week spying on the two of them, which was kinda easy considering how often they were always together. And things were not looking good.
Now that they knew how Steve felt, they couldn’t help but be mad. Ya, ya, Steve said not to be, but it was bullshit! Because now that Max was paying attention, there was no way Eddie didn’t know how he felt about him. Not with how much time they spent together. And poor Steve was so obvious. 
Robin had been right, he did things just to get a rise out of Steve, like whispering in his ear to see him blush, or calling him one of those dumb pet names, his voice all low and unsubtle. He would even hold his freaking hand! And he always looked so smug about it. Eddie would do one of his stupid antics and leave a stumbling, blushing Steve in his wake, a self-satisfied smirk on his dumb face, like getting Steve all excited and dopey was just so entertaining. 
They were so annoyed that they bonded over it, sharing twin looks of aggravation every time they saw Eddie hang all over him, which was always, with Steve blushing and giggling all the while. 
And they didn’t know what to do about it. Steve had made it very clear that he didn’t want anyone being mean to Eddie over something “stupid”, and he would actually get mad at them if he noticed them acting out against the bullshit. They would have just avoided him entirely if they could, but avoiding Eddie meant avoiding Steve, and that was something neither was willing to compromise on.
So they settled for being cordial whenever Steve was around, and then passive-aggressive when he wasn’t, if just for their own sanity, as they debated what to do about it. 
And Eddie was not a fan of the new behavior. He didn’t know what the issue was with his two favorite little twerps, but they were pissed, and solely at him for the past week. Which, he did not need right now. He was still trying to figure out why Robin suddenly hated him, let alone Steve’s adopted children. 
He racked his brain for anything he could have done, but he always came up empty. If it had been Mike, then sure, he’d have something to go on, making obvious moves to steal his sister’s maybe-boyfriend were fair grounds to be mad about, but he was totally fine. Mike, Lucas, and Will weren’t in on whatever the other two were up to, thank god. He was barely handling dealing with two angry teenagers, let alone five.
Luckily for him, they at least tried to pretend like nothing was wrong when Steve was around. Eddie may not be a genius, but he was pretty sure that having the three closest people to his potential boyfriend hate him, was not a good look. 
Steve was the only one acting the same, thank god. If the three stooges had an issue with him, then that was fine, as long as it didn’t interrupt the long and arduous courting process he had started and planned on finishing. Sooner rather than later. 
He sighed, lazily watching Steve get ready for work from his bed. Though it really was on the edge of just becoming their bed from how often Eddie stayed over. He was already in a hurry, mumbling about how he promised to pick up the two twerps from school today, almost guaranteeing his own lateness.
“You don’t have to always pick them up, you know,” Eddie whined, more than a little annoyed that his afternoon cuddle time was being interrupted.
“But I promised. And you know how they are with that kind of thing.”
Eddie rolled his eyes, Steve was too nice for his own good. He stood up, wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist from behind, still pouting, “But wouldn’t you rather spend those last twenty minutes in bed?”
“ Obviously. But Keith’s going to kill me if I’m late again.”
Eddie rested his chin on Steve’s shoulder, completely in love with the way the small touch made him blush. How he’d managed not to kiss him yet was a masterclass in self-restraint, “Baby, you’re going to be late anyway if you go. How about I get them?”
“Really?”
“Sure. Then you’ll only have to worry your pretty little head over getting to work.” 
Steve smiled as he thanked him, in that soft way that felt like it was just for Eddie, and it never failed to make his heart do a flip in his chest. 
Plus, Eddie could use the time to interrogate the two little shits and figure out what the hell the problem was. He pulled into the school parking lot, honking at the duo as they waited near the front steps. He rolled his eyes when they tried to ignore him, pretending like they were in some kind of deep conversation.
He leaned out the window, yelling over, “Get in, I’m taking you two home today. Steve called in a favor.” 
They looked at each other, all conspiratorial before they made their way to the van, both sitting down with a huff, avoiding the passenger side. He didn’t know when the two of them got so close, but he wasn’t a fan if this was the result of it. 
They were silent, they didn’t even talk to each other, just stared out the window with their arms crossed. 
“So…,” Eddie tried, “Excited for the campaign this weekend?”
Silence. Eddie glanced in his rearview, both of them still staring out the window, acting like he wasn’t even there. 
“Dustin?”
Silence.
“I know you can hear me man, come on!”
Dustin finally turned away from the window, shrugging, "I can’t make it. Have Erica fill in for me or something…" 
Eddie could feel his eye start twitching. 
Pretending that he didn’t exist? Whatever. 
Purposefully slamming the door for any room that they were in together? Okay sure. 
But missing DnD? Not uh, Eddie was going to get to the bottom of this now. He pulled off to the side of the road, turning to frown at them from the driver’s seat, “Okay, that’s enough! What the hell is wrong with you two?”
Max whipped her head around, glaring at him, and Jesus that kid had a hell of a glare, “What’s wrong with us? What’s wrong with you?”
Eddie raised a brow, drumming his fingers against his thigh as he stared at them, “What does that even mean?”
“We know okay?” Dustin hissed out, looking anywhere but Eddie’s face, “We know what you’re doing and we don’t like it.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Max scoffed, “We’re talking about how you’re a dick! And Steve deserves better than that!” 
Dustin nodded along, trying to glare at Eddie the way Max was, but he was starting to tear up instead. Like a complete overprotective loser. He wondered if this was how Steve felt when he worried about them. If it was, he was going to start complaining about his coddling a lot less. 
It just wasn’t fair. Nancy, Robin, and now Eddie? When will the torment of watching Steve Harrington's failed love life stop? Why did someone who was nothing but good have to keep dealing with this crap?
Dustin wiped at his face, angry tears still falling, “You know that he likes you and you just mess with him! I don’t know if this is revenge for what he was like in high school but it’s fucked up!” 
Eddie stared at them, slack-jawed as they both started to dress him down. 
Max was digging around her backpack, handing Dustin a pack of tissues while she was giving Eddie the evil eye, "You couldn't have had a bit more tack for the guy that saved your life? I don’t know, maybe ‘He’s not my type,’ instead of “I’d rather die?’ " 
She grabbed a few of them for herself, dangerously close to joining Dustin in the rage crying. She just…wanted Steve to be happy. Was that really so much to ask?
Eddie’s brain was still going a mile a minute, desperately trying to just catch up to what the hell they were talking about, but that brought everything to a halt. He remembered that, a throwaway comment to get Nancy off his back, considering he was in the middle of actively trying to date her ex (?) boyfriend. 
Eddie wasn’t stupid, he knew that Steve felt something for him, there was no other reason why he would let him do the things he did if he didn’t, but he never forgot just how infatuated he had been with Nancy. He remembered him trailing after her in the Upside Down, like some kind of love-sick puppy. Like recognizes like, Steve had looked at Nancy the way Eddie looked at Steve. He was going to let Steve go after that, acknowledge that it was just a simple crush that would never be reciprocated, and wait for the inevitable of them getting back together.
But then, he went and almost died, with Steve deciding to save his life. His little crush morphed into full-blown love, embarrassingly quickly during his recovery. Steve was just always there for him, and in a matter of days they became instant best friends, both obsessed with spending as much time as possible with each other. 
They talked about anything and everything under the sun, all but one thing. 
Nancy. 
He never asked Steve about her, because he honestly never wanted to know. He had been too chicken shit to just ask, terrified that Steve would start confessing his undying love for her the moment he opened the door. And technically if he didn't know for sure, he could feel a whole lot less like shit for being all over someone else's hypothetical boyfriend. 
He avoided her most of the time, out of pure jealousy for how she got along with Steve, and guilt from the fact he was knowingly trying to, maybe, steal him away from her. But once she moved to Boston, Eddie had been so sure it was his chance. The way Steve would look at him sometimes, the way he would touch him, Eddie knew he wasn’t alone in his feelings, even if Steve needed some extra time to get to where he was, he was more than willing to be patient. 
So when Nancy had cornered him during one of her visits, asking him way too specific questions about Steve, he strategically lied, thinking that it would stop any upcoming jealousy or suspicions on her end, and most importantly, stop her from impeding on his ever-increasing Steve Alone Time. 
But now, his genius plan of gently coaxing Steve into a bisexual awakening and subtly stealing him from his maybe girlfriend was the most moronic thing he'd ever thought of.
He finally found his voice, cutting right through the noise of two kids yelling at him, "Steve heard that?!"
“Yeah, he heard it!” Max hissed, “Playtime is over, you need to leave him alone.”
Oh no. Oh no, no no.
"I'm going to puke, I am actually going to puke,” Eddie turned in his seat, putting his head in his hands, suddenly feeling very, very, ill. The love of his goddamn life heard him say he would rather die than be with him? 
Max and Dustin glanced at each other, confused at his reaction. They weren’t sure what they were expecting him to say, maybe a denial, or a warning to stay out of his business, but not this. Max leaned forward in her seat, frowning as she watched Eddie rub at his temples, looking like he had just heard the worst news imaginable. 
“So now you suddenly care?” She asked, lips pursed as Eddie whipped around to stare at her.
“Of course I fucking care! I love Steve! I-he was never supposed to hear that!” Eddie was dangerously close to hyperventilating at the full realization that Steve was probably still under the impression that Eddie didn’t want him. 
Dustin latched on to that, already hopeful that he had been right after all, and one of his best friends wasn’t a complete ass, "Then why the hell would you say that?" 
He told them everything in a jumbled mess of word vomit, embarrassed and intensely mad at himself for being such an idiot. 
And Dustin and Max seemed to agree. 
Max still had her arms crossed, but she wasn’t giving him the death stare anymore. She glanced at Dustin,  “He’s either lying or he’s the dumbest man on the planet.”
Dustin shrugged, “Well he was a super, super senior, so…”
They stared at each other, having some kind of telepathic conversation before Max turned back to him, “If you are telling the truth then you have to tell Steve.”
“Like now, ” Dustin added.
Max nodded, “In front of us.”
“Or else we will never forgive you for making him cry.”
That was another punch to the gut for Eddie, “He cried ?”
They told him the whole, horrible story, and Eddie was struck with the sudden urge to punch himself in the face. He was already starting the van back up when Max insisted they go to him immediately, u-turning to go straight to the Family Video. He was desperate to fix this stupid shit, and fix it now.  
He parked haphazardly, speed-walking into the empty store with two growingly excited teenagers in tow. 
Robin was reading a magazine at the front counter, eyes narrowing at the sight of Eddie waltzing in, “What do you want?”
“I need to talk to Steve.”
Robin rolled her eyes, “Steve’s busy, you can be a dick to him on his off hours.” 
Eddie almost flinched at her tone, still not used to how cold the usually goofy Robin could be. Which, okay, fair, considering just how bad he looked in her eyes, but he was not leaving until he talked to Steve.
Robin raised a brow when she saw Dustin and Max come in behind him. Max was flipping the closed side over as they entered, ignoring Robin’s protests, and Dustin locked it behind him, just as Steve wandered onto the floor, a stack of tapes in hand. 
“What are you guys doing here?” he asked as he set the stack down on the counter, “And why did you lock the door?”
“Eddie needs to talk to you!” Dustin nearly shouted , hopping from foot to foot with obvious impatience. 
Now that Steve was in front of him, all of Eddie’s nervous energy was reaching a peak. He fiddled with his rings, heart pounding, “D-do you have a minute?”
Steve cocked his head, obviously confused, “I always have time for you,” Steve glanced around the room of wide-eyed spectators, “We can step outside if you want-”
“Nope,” Max shook her head, “In front of us.”
While Eddie was technically grateful the kids told him what was going on, he really wished he wasn’t about to risk getting rejected in front of spectators. He took a deep breath, deciding just to rip the band-aid off in one go, “I’m in love with you.”
Steve just stared at him, jaw slack as Eddie nervously prattled on, “I’m in love with you, and I’ve been in love with you for months. But I’m an idiot, an idiot who loves you, and would certainly not rather die than be with the man of my dreams.” 
Steve was still just staring at him, which, honestly, was probably the appropriate response for an impromptu love confession from his best friend. He didn’t know what to make of that face. He should have asked the kids if they were sure Steve felt the same way, how hard would it have been to ask if they were fucking sure?
At least Robin looked seemingly impressed.
The silence just made him keep going, even if his mind was desperately trying to tell him to shut the hell up, “A-and I thought you thought you were straight, or straightish, and I thought Nancy was after you, and -"
And then Steve was kissing him. He just…waltzed right up and grabbed Eddie’s shirt, pulling him down to crash their lips together. 
Eddie stalled for half a second, in complete disbelief that it was happening, Steve Harrington was kissing him. Eddie wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck, pulling him in closer to make the kiss deeper, already fully aware that this was a feeling he would be addicted to for the rest of his life. 
He could vaguely hear Robin squealing in the background, and Max and Dustin gagging, but he was too focused on the sweet taste of Steve’s lips to care. 
He tried to chase his mouth when Steve pulled away, giving him the pretty kind of laugh that made Eddie’s legs feel weak, “We’re both idiots,” Steve smiled, pressing chaste kisses to Eddie’s face between words, “Two idiots in love,”
Eddie blinked, heart still going a mile a minute, “You love me?”
Steve didn’t even tease him for it, kissing his nose like the adorable bastard he was, “Head over heels-”
Eddie was already kissing him again before he could finish, swallowing down his laughs with a happy sigh. 
Dustin and Max watched as their favorite adults made out in the middle of the video store, both kinda grossed out and insanely pleased that they were the reason it was happening in the first place. They looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear, both firmly deciding that meddling in Steve’s life had definitely been worth it. 
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realtalk127 · 7 months
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alright fuck it. i can't sleep and i need to talk about this scene from the last episode of critical role.
because holy shit if this ain't some of the best rp – nay, storytelling in general – that i've ever seen. (buckle up, it ain't gonna be short.)
laudna: i made you a doll. because dolls are for children. and you're a child.
the way she says this is not nice! it's biting, it's snarky. she definitely seems to mean it as an insult – and she probably does! – at first. but laudna's idea of a child is much more expansive than just a cheep insult, as she makes clear shortly.
then ashton's response: i've never had a doll before. this is the nicest thing anyone's ever given me.
i don't know if this reaction melts laudna a little (if it does, she doesn't show it visibly), or maybe she was already coming to the conversation with a more nuanced definition of 'child', but either way, the conversation shifts immediately – and the next two sentences clarify where they're both coming from here.
laudna: i like children. // ashton: i don't.
she likes children! and we knew this, of course. marisha, the god of intentional rp showed us this within the first few moments of laudna's screen-time way back in episode 1. but still! it's worth repeating. despite the bite of her initial comment to ashton, she doesn't necessarily mean it as an insult. i don't know that we could entirely call it a compliment, given the context, but at the very least, i think she intended it as a point of connection.
after all, our data re: Laudna And Kids is not limited to that one scene from episode 1. there's also the parallel scene that mirrors it (with a happier ending) back in episode 38, when laudna first visits the sun tree after her resurrection. we also know (via a 4sd episode that i don't care to dig up right now) that laudna had another friend before imogen, who was a little girl.
and i think it's that little girl that's the most important piece here. we don't know anything about that story except that she exists, but i'm willing to read between the lines and make an assumption that laudna – on average – has better luck getting children to be kind to her (when they've not yet been taught to be cruel) than with adults. there is an innocence there that laudna needs! she needs people who haven't been hardened by assumptions and pre-judgements and all that bullshit. for laudna there is safety – both emotional and literal physical safety – in a childlike perspective.
ALL THAT TO SAY: laudna's associations with childhood are, generally, positive. for a variety of reasons.
but!
ashton's are NOT.
ashton's childhood sucked. from the jump. he was a part of a shitty cult that he barely remembers, and after that they were in an ophanage. their associations with childhood are overwhelmingly negative, and likely associated with feelings of helplessness and loneliness.
whether or not laudna intended that original comment ('you're a child') as an insult, we can pretty safely assume ashton took it as one.
they continue:
ashton: they're awful. // laudna: they're not.
NOW, we're getting into the meat of it. where before they were dancing around a metaphor, it becomes immediately clear what's really being talked about here. ashton is saying 'i'm awful', and laudna is emphatically saying 'no you're not.'
which! first of all, is so insanely generous of her. after what ashton just put her through less than 24 hours ago, laudna has every reason to affirm ashton's assertion that they are, in fact, awful. but she doesn't. ashton knows this, which is why he amends his original statement:
ashton: they can be.
they're saying: perhaps i can concede that i am not always awful, but let's at least agree that sometimes (like specificaly, oh, i don't know, LAST NIGHT) i can be.
laudna: you should remember what it's like to be one.
ashton: i do. it wasn't great.
the LAYERS, y'all. the LAYERS. the important thing here is that it's all in the context of that first comment: you're a child. which is, critically, a statement made in the context of ashton's decisions the previous night. they're talking in generalities here, but they're mostly talking about last night.
so!
when laudna says they should remember what it's like to be one [a child], she also means: you were a child last night, but not in a cool, whimsical way, just in a shitty, immature way. AND! when ashton says they remember, and that it wasn't great, they're saying they know they fucked up last night, but all they know of childhood is an overwhelming helplessness, how can that possibly be spun to a positive?
and this, really, is the crux of their two differing worldviews. these two have a lot in common – much has been said about that in game and out – but this point is where they split. laudna has survived, by embracing her childlike nature (admittedly, to a fault, at times). how to keep from being hurt? just keep everything fun and whimsical! nothing to worry about here, it's all just a silly little game! and she has also needed people who share that perspective. people who are willing to take her at face value and without any of the negative assumptions and prejudices they may have picked up along the way.
ashton, on the other hand survived by growing up immediately. they got through their own shitty childhood by becoming an adult (or acting like one anyway) as quickly as possible and STAYING that way. ashton needs to have a tough exterior (there's the made-of-stone thing again) to feel safe. (admittedly, from an audience perspective, this veneer is basically see-through. but ashton doesn't necessarily know this. they're trying their best. so from their perspective, the tough guy thing is Working.)
laudna: you should find more joy in your inner child.
she's saying two things here:
(1) you can be soft and be safe. those can co-exist, aND!
(2) i need you to be soft for me to be safe. when you have this false tough exterior, it hurts people. it hurts (hurt) me.
which is certainly a resonant metaphor to play with for the literal ROCK GUY who just got literally MELTED into LAVA 12 hours prior.
ANYWAY- that's what i've got for now on this scene. i'll probably never stop thinking about it, and there's even more good shit from later on in the scene when they talk about the doll, but that's it for now.
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a-heart-of-kyber · 9 months
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Ok, never watched much of Angel outside of s5, but I understand that the sort of thesis statement of the show/character is "If nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do."
Explain to me why then, if this is the crux of Angel, everyone and their mother bitches about Spike getting his soul back? Implying that it's inherently selfish and because it was selfish, it means next to nothing?
This line presents the concept that action bears more weight than reason. It doesn't matter why you do good as long as you are doing it. Because to do good, regardless of why or what you may gain, is good.
You can never be perfect. You can never fix everything. But the things you do are your legacy. "If there's no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."
I personally believe that Spike got his soul for himself as much as he did it for Buffy because the concept of man vs. monster had been a Massive part of his character arc. Pre-soul he couldn't be either and therefore was nothing in his own eyes (not helped by being repeatedly dehumanized either.)
Spike made a choice that Angelus never would've. He chose the man over the monster.
Regardless, Love is apparently not a good enough reason to get his soul back, according to some. They argue that because he fought for it from a place of romantic Love that it doesn't matter. That the reason behind the action was selfish and therefore meaningless.
But the fucking point of Angel is that action is more important than reason. That the struggle, the fight is more important than the why of it. Essentially, whatever gets you through it is, and should be, enough.
Spike fought his nature because he had something to fight for. Love is not inherently selfless or selfish, it isn’t good or evil. It's a feeling that can be turned into a verb, to action. What you chose to do with Love is what codes its nature.
Spike in the past has done horrible things. Despite the constant "Spike fans kind of forgot about" bullshit, no one argues that he hasn't done terrible things. But this one action/choice was singular. No one had ever done it before. No one ever Wanted to do it before.
Whether you consider it selfish, the Love Spike felt drove him to be better. Because of that Love, he chose to be better. He took action and fought to be better.
If nothing you do matters, all that matters is what you do.
Spike made a choice to be a man and not a monster and fought for it. That Matters.
Regardless of the fact that anyone with a soul can do good or evil, we know Spike does good with one, which reflects back and makes the action of getting it good. It's cyclical goddamnit!
With a soul, he is selfless. He remains by Buffy's side, not out of an inability to let her go, but because she chooses it. He stands his ground and sacrifices himself to save the world despite Buffy telling him she loves him and to leave. He doesn't waver because it's the right, good thing to do.
Whether or not you think he was selfish in the lead up should not matter. He is the only vampire to ever make this choice. Spike got his soul back and did good with it, by the ethos of Angel, that's what matters.
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