#it wasn’t even necessarily difficult to do just SO TIME CONSUMING

[crybaby-bkg]

tomorrow is my last day of having to do work for my classes and I’m just soooo ready for this upcoming break. I wanna write for an entire day at a time again and learn how to crotchet without putting so many expectations to be perfect the first time again!!!! I wanna paint and play my switch and just lay down without feeling guilty!!!!! I need it!!!!!!!

#I still have to respond back to discussion board posts after tomorrow 🙄 #but at least I wont have to do actual work after next week!!!!! #I wanna be free!!!!!! #also tips for learning crotchet would be greatly APPRECIATED #bc I don’t get how to do any of it 😔 #anyway lemme take my ass to bed #I have a quiz (or maybe two I’m still not sure) #and a paper and presentation and db to do tomorrow and I really don’t wanna #I know it’s gonna be light work but it’s gonna be time consuming which is what I loathe #like omg it took me FOUR FUCKIN HOURS to do ONE project today #I was mad as hell #it wasn’t even necessarily difficult to do just SO TIME CONSUMING #gimme my time back so I can nap on the couch in front of the fire place damnit #okay enough ranting gn!!!!! #—in store chit chat! 🍫

[couldawouldashoulda50]

The Distance and the Time Between Us

Part One - February, 2016

A/N - Part one starts at the beginning where Y/N and William first meet. You can read the Introduction here

Y/N is invited by the organization to do some light-hearted promotional video shorts to try and elevate the mood surrounding the Leafs (the team is having one of their worst seasons on record) and support the Marlies (their season is the polar opposite). I have never really written dialogue before and truthfully, I struggled with it so hopefully it's not too painful to read. Hopefully my French isn't too brutal either.

Warnings: mention of medical issues, swearing

Word Count: 4.8k

Early February, 2016

“Okay, so the idea is that we’re going to test her knowledge about Sweden, and then in order to get a point, she also needs to shoot the puck in the net.  Then we’ll flip it over to you and you will need to answer some questions about Canada and then do the same with the puck. Easy, right?” Amanda chuckles at William as he makes an indiscernible, possibly bordering on unimpressed, face. 

“Why can’t you ask ME the Swedish questions…I mean, how hard are these questions anyway?'' William says, trying to coax the Marketing Manager into switching things up.  

“Because we have to make it somewhat challenging - there’s no fun in making it too easy for you” Amanda laughs.  “Plus, she may not know anything about Sweden so you could totally run away with this.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so…I’d rather not get pummeled and have the whole thing recorded…I’ll never live it down”  William laughs.  He finishes tying up the laces on his skates, exits the dressing room and joins the camera crew on the ice.

Not long after, you emerge from another dressing room of the practice facility for the Leafs and Marlies, decked out in a zip-up team jacket, dark tights and your hockey skates.  You were provided with a customized Bauer stick to match the one the former first-round pick uses.  You take a quick glance at your reflection in the glass and chuckle to yourself thinking, rather modestly, “it’s as good as it’s going to get”.  You adjust the Leafs toque that was provided to you and open the latch to the gate.

You hop onto the ice, trying to contain the sheer excitement of even being at this rink.  As a local girl, you were brought up watching the Leafs.  At the age of 4, you found a souvenir from a Maple Leaf’s game that your Dad had attended.  It was a glossy paged yearbook of the 1993/1994 Leafs roster and when your eyes fell upon Felix Potvin, the Leafs starting net minder, you were done…your little 4 year old heart fell head over heels in love with him.  The adoration for Felix made you a fan, not just of the team, but of the game.  It wasn’t an aspiration of yours to necessarily play hockey; the dreams of being a musician had already consumed your mind, body and soul.  It was the skating; the power and speed behind every glide that held your focus as you watched each game.  As a child, you took figure skating lessons but after years of struggling with some of the fundamentals due to your stout body structure, especially in your legs (making it difficult to do the ‘cross’ part of the ‘cut’), you dropped the lessons, and stayed away from participating in any on-ice activities.  

Years later, your height nearly reaching 5’9” after some significant growth spurts, your body took a more shapely and athletic form, mainly as a result of swimming laps nightly at the community pool.  Much like skating, the power and strength behind every movement with swimming laps appealed to you.  It taught you focus while developing precise and efficient motion.  You were a natural born worrier; the rhythm and repetition of gliding through water helped free you from the relentless chatter that plagued your mind.  

With the changes to your frame allowing your legs to finally accomplish the menacing cross-cut, and you now making money from your band's pursuits, the power skating lessons began.  With you being based in Britain at the time, it was challenging to find the exact program that you wanted.  You resigned to being the only 5’8”, fully developed 18 year old female taking “ice-hockey lessons” as they called it, alongside 8 and 9 year old boys.  You learned another valuable lesson during this time, learning to drown out the comments and unwanted input from those around you, in order to do what you love.  It came in handy - at this point in time, being an up and coming band, you still found yourselves playing gigs in front of audiences where 20% wanted to hear you and 80% did not.

And here you are now, a superstar in your own right, invited by the Maple Leafs organization to make some promotional video shorts with members of the current Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies teams.  The Leafs were having a pretty tough season; the Marlies season was the polar opposite. The organization’s hope was that some light-hearted PR involving the once small-town Ontario girl, turned mega-celebrity, who happens to love both Toronto hockey teams, could help lighten the abysmal mood that infected the fan base.  

As he chatted with Amanda, William watched you with interest as you skated towards the production team.  He knows you - well, not exactly…he at least knows who you are.  William was familiar with a few of your hits and generally liked some of  your solo stuff but he was nowhere near the level of fandom of his three sisters.  Even William’s younger brother, Alex, was an avid follower of yours but he mused it might be more about your physical beauty than your music.

Alex nearly jumped through the phone last night when William explained that he was doing a video segment with you the following day.  

William hadn’t noticed his conversation with Amanda had completely trailed off; his eyes firmly set on you as you enthusiastically greeted each person on the set.   You were simply luminescent, and William was honestly taken aback with your natural ability to put everyone at ease.  Although you were the VIP of the day, you made everyone in the room feel like they were too.  

William’s sky-blue eyes traced the side-profile of your face; butterflies started to form in his stomach when you glanced towards him and smiled.  As he smiled back, the butterflies were replaced by an elephant stampede in his chest, and he began to feel an intense heat radiating from his cheeks.

You skated over to him and unbeknownst to you, he was actually nervous, despite his demeanor of appearing totally relaxed.  

“Hey William” you said, extending your hand.  “I’m Y/N - I’m so excited to meet you” you said, grinning your widest grin.

And as William grinned his widest grin back at you, there were two thoughts crashing in your mind at the same time - “Jesus - he’s fucking gorgeous” followed promptly by “he’s probably a prick so forget about it”.

“Nice to meet you too…. My sisters are huuuuuge fans of yours”, William said.

You smiled with appreciation “That’s awesome…please tell them thank you, from me, if you can.  It’s always so nice to hear that.” 

You paused - you didn’t want to pry, or sound intrusive but you saw the hit William took from the Swiss player at the World Juniors in December and had been on your mind since, given his connection with the Marlies.

Tentatively, you continued. “I saw some clips from the All-star Classic last week - it must have felt good to be back on the ice.   

“Oh - you mean after the concussion”.  You weren’t sure if William was embarrassed but he looked down towards the ice and ran his fingers through his luxurious blonde hair.

Your eyebrows furrowed as you winced “Yeah…I watched that game…” you trailed off, feeling really uncertain if you should say any more.  “I’m so sorry - that hit on you was brutal.” 

 “It didn’t feel good, that’s for sure; should’ve kept my head up” he quipped.  “But yeah, between that and my appendix almost bursting after that, I’m a lot better now”.  

You kicked yourself mentally, hoping you hadn’t created an awkward moment; you were never one to handle uncomfortable silences very well.   

In an attempt to recover, you look up at William with a smile.

 “Well, I’m so glad to hear you’ve recovered.  It looks like they’re almost ready…let’s get this rig rolling”, giving him a little wink and a slight nudge.

You turn to see that the crew has nearly finished setting up the lighting and Amanda is going through some details with the woman that will be hosting the segment.  You skate off to join Amanda and the host to see if you can get some intel of the questions being asked.

Amanda calls William over and she begins to direct you to where you’ll both need to stand so the lighting casts perfectly over your faces. 

A make-up artist appears, and begins to do some minor touch-ups to enhance your healthy glow, and applies a thin layer of gloss to your lips as an extra measure.

William watches as you raise your chin up and close your eyes, as brushes lightly graze over your features.  It’s unnerving for him to look at you; he’s convinced that you’re one of the most strikingly beautiful women that he's ever met. And he’d met plenty of women, or girls, depending. At the young age of 19, he’d already gotten a taste of the boy-band level of popularity with many females in Toronto, looking to catch the attention of an up and coming hockey star.  Add in all the girls he would meet during years of road trips, William never had to make an effort for girls to flock to him. Because of this, William found it difficult to establish a real connection beyond the overly available, yet casual, hook-ups which, most of the time, became complicated and messy. 

Filming quickly gets underway and the host introduces you both, giving a quick history about each of you.  

“OK Y/N - are you ready for the first question?” the host asks 

“Absolutely” you say, smiling.

“What are the two colours on the Swedish Flag?”

Relieved it’s an easy question, you quickly answer “Blue and Yellow”.  You position the puck just so and fire your shot, hitting the back of the net with ease.

William smiles and appears to be impressed as he raises an eyebrow and mouths the word “Wow”.

As the Swedish trivia challenge continued on, you managed to answer all of the remaining questions correctly, even blurting out the answer to the bonus question related to what type of government Sweden has (you’re not even sure how you knew the answer but nevertheless, you seemed to delight the onlookers).  Better yet, your shots on net were pretty solid and each puck hit the netting, coupled with an audible swoosh.

More and more, William was finding himself completely captivated by you.  Since he set his eyes on you, he sensed a massive contrast between you and the girls that he frequently came in contact with.  William’s mind began to race with questions about you; he needed to know more about you.  At the same time, and as self-assured as William normally was, the thought of asking a global celebrity for at least her number, had his stomach tied in knots.

William was up.  Everyone knew he was a sniper, so obviously scoring was not going to be an issue.  The questions related to Canada were generally the same as the Swedish ones, and William answered them with ease.

Each time you glanced at William, your heart started to race a little more.  You had made a snap judgement about his personality, based solely on his exterior, which completely backfired on you.    He proved to be warm and charming, with a smile that never seemed to leave his face.  You contemplated if you had ever met a man who smiled as much as William seemed to.  

The host’s voice brings you back down to earth.

“OK, William - in order to get to the bonus question, name three of your favourite Canadian music artists” the host asked, glancing over at you with a wink and a smile.

It seemed obvious enough that William would include you in the answer, since you were 8 feet away from him, but instead, he rhymed off Justin Bieber, Drake and The Weeknd.  He shot the puck and satisfied with his response, smiled at the host.

There was an odd silence as the onlookers seemed surprised that William appeared to snub you, on camera no less.  

William read the room and looked over at you with a confused look.  You smiled back at him and shrugged your shoulders.  

The host, trying to assess the situation, looking to find some humour in it, chuckles and says “Ok, I guess William’s not a fan of Y/N it seems” which was met with some low-key snickering from the crew.

“Wait - what?” William says, half laughing - his cheeks starting to burn.  His expression was mostly like a deer caught in the headlights.

You, sensing his embarrassment, said “It’s all good…” you giggled and looked at the host “Those would be my choices…I’m not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea” you say modestly.

William’s head swiftly turned in your direction.  His eyebrows lifted and his mouth dropped open as he realized his unintentional SNAFU.

The onlookers shook their heads and laughed; some came over and gave William some hearty pats on his shoulder, accompanied by some good natured ribbing.

You could see William trying to laugh it off but as he looked at you with a combined expression of awkwardness and unease, and your heart cracked a little for him.  

The host waves her hands and grabs everyone’s attention again.

“Alright, William, moving along - for the bonus question.  If you answer this correctly, then we’ll need a tie breaker between you and Y/N.  The question is a geography based one”.

William groaned and his face lowered into his gloved hands.  

The host continued, “How many territories are there in Canada?”

Someone in the group decided to quietly hum the Jeopardy theme song which was of no help to William.

William inhaled, squinted his face and apprehensively answered “2?”

“Ooooh - sorry William!  Soooo clooooose!” the host says in faux dismay.  “There’s actually 3”.

The host mercifully wraps up the segment declaring you the winner of the trivia challenge.  William taps his stick on the ice as recognition, and everyone begins to disperse.

William makes his way over to you; his dazzling eyes are fixed on your face, a wide, almost mischievous grin, spans his angelic visage.

“Are you sure you’re not Swedish?  I wasn’t sure I even knew all those answers” he joked.  

“So…who’s your next victim with these shoots?” William asks coyly.

“Whoa - really…victim?” you answer feigning shock with a side of a phoney ‘how dare you’.

“Aren’t you the one who slayed me during this little stint…snubbing me entirely” you laughed,  nudging William in the arm.  

William groans “You have no idea how badly I’m going to be chirped about this.  I really don't know what I was thinking.  Fuck it - I’ll blame on it on the concussion.” 

“Oh my gosh - honestly, it was really pretty funny. It wasn’t like you were saying I suck…unless that’s exactly what you were trying to say” you dead-panned, raising an eyebrow at him.  “We might have a problem then if that's the case,” you joked.

William laughs “Tell you what…I do really feel bad…do you maybe want to grab something to eat later on, if you’re not busy?”

Your heart leapt inside your chest into your throat. 

“I wish I could but I have plans with some old friends…I haven't seen them in ages so they’ll be pissed if I blow them off.  I’m here for another week or so - maybe we can swing another time?” you said, hopefully.

“For sure…here…” Williams grabs his phone from his pocket “Can you add your number?”

William hands you the phone and you start typing the digits of your number.  Under the contact name, you typed in "Can I be your #4?", saved it and handed the phone back to William.  Amanda calls out for you and William to get a picture together so William quickly jams his phone back into his pocket and drapes his arm around your shoulder.  You gently extended your arm around his waist thinking that seemed to be the only place on his body that made sense.  With that mere touch, externally you smiled for the camera, but internally, were acutely aware of the faint but noticeable throb between your legs that William’s mere touch seemed to incite.  "Keep it together Y/N, for fuck sakes" you joked to yourself.  

"It was so great to meet you William - it was a ton of fun" you laughed, taking your hand out of the hockey glove and extending it to William.

“Trivia isn’t really my thing but you definitely made it more interesting” William said as he extended his arms out for an embrace.  

You managed to pull the plug on the wild smut show that had already started in your brain, kept it light, and while hugging him, you patted his back gently and pulled away.

“See you, William,” you said grinning.

William wanted to come up with something clever, something extra but his brain just wasn’t engaging. Instead, he smiled bashfully and simply said “See you…I hope”.

Later on, in the parking lot, William sat in his car looking through his contacts, searching for your name.  His heart sank when he went to the first letter of your name and found nothing.  

He scrolled back to the top of his contacts, his thumb slowly grazing the glass to look at every single contact name he had.  “Shit - I need to get rid of some of these” he thought as he bypassed a myriad of girls' names from previous encounters.  

William laughs when he finally discovers the pseudonym you gave yourself and sits there for a moment, grinning like the Cheshire Cat; his chest fills up with a warm sensation unlike anything he’s ever experienced before.  

He arrived home to his downtown condo that he shared with his teammate, Kasperi.  

“Hey - how’d it go?  How was she?” Kappy asked, not looking up from the TV screen.

William grabbed water from the fridge and walked to the living room where Kasperi lounged on the couch, almost enveloped by the overstuffed cushions that were strewn about.  Immersed in Call of Duty, Kasperi only could mutter “Fuck” multiple times in a row.

“Good. She’s really nice actually” William said, not wanting to elaborate on his newly developed interest.  

“Is she as hot up close as she looks on screen?  That video she was in - you know….that song” Kasperi hums the tune of one of your more popular solo hits “she’s hardly wearing anything under a buttoned-down dress shirt and mmmm…she’s in stilettos” Kappy mused, eyes still fixed on the screen.

“Jesus, Kap - get a grip” William forced a chuckle, trying not to let his annoyance show.  

“You wanna play for a bit?” Kasperi asked, mumbling expletives as William declined.

“Gonna go for a nap - see you in a few”.  William disappears into his bedroom.  He flops onto the bed and rolls over, grabbing the pillow on the right side.  He lay there thinking of you; he can hardly believe it but he’s already dying to see you again.  He grabs his phone and Googles your name.  First, he pulls up images of you - everything from award ceremonies and galas to magazine covers.

William continues to scroll through the search results, pulling up a video that a fan made on YouTube.  It’s a video montage of you, at various events over the years.  The song “More than a Woman” by the BeeGees plays in the background; the music somehow further enhances every movement of your elegant figure and every detail of your radiant face. 

As you smile for the cameras.

As you laugh with your bandmates.

As you take the stage in front of thousands of fans.

Ugh.  As you looked at your (now ex-) boyfriend in the eyes while walking the red carpet, your arm looped through his.

That last one hurt.

William flipped his phone over and grabbed the pillow once again.  He closed his eyes, imagining the pillow was your body lying next to him, the first few moments of meeting you were on a continuous loop in his mind, until sleep finally found him.

****************************************************************

After the segment with William had wrapped, you headed to the dressing room to change out of your skates.

Evelyn breezes through the door after waving good-bye and saying thanks to the small entourage that escorted her to the dressing room.   

“That went well…” 

Evelyn’s British accent, and the way she enunciated her words, seemed to always sound sardonic, whether it was intentional or not.  You had learned that it was just best to stick with the facts throughout conversations with Evelyn; as your manager, you learned fast that she often wasn’t in the mood to hear about frilly musings other than in your songs.  

“Poor soul looked completely lost after he rhymed off every fucking Canadian singer, except you” she smirked.

“Jesus. he picked three of his favourite performers that he listens to, and they are all amazing,” you laughed.  “He’s not required to be a fan of mine,” you said as you nudged Evelyn’s arm. “He felt bad though - he asked me out to make up for it, so that was nice” you trailed off, your cheeks inadvertently blushing at the thought.

“So that’s why you gave him your number” Evelyn smiled.  “It’s nice to see you finally getting back on the horse”.  Evelyn reaches into her long Burberry coat, pulling out her phone to open a newly delivered text message.  “Play your cards right, you may get to ride him too.  You could use a good…” she said in a low tone, neither taking her eyes off the screen or bothering to finish her sentence.  

You scoffed, but it wasn’t like the thought hadn’t already entered your mind.

Amanda appeared at the door and invited you and Evelyn to head to the players lounge for a quick bite.   

On the way,  Amanda listed off which of the Maple Leafs would be taking part in the next segment.  All very familiar names to you and much to your delight, the players in question were waiting for you in the lounge.  

Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner stood gathered around the kitchen counter, deep in a spirited debate about popular wrestlers from the eighties.

Morgan appeared to be the bonafide WWE expert and was busy putting the rest to shame as he rhymed off some of the greats.

“Wasn’t there a female manager for….shit, who was it?” Kadri asked, snapping his fingers as he wracked his brain for the answer.  

“Fuck….what was her name….ah shit - I’m drawing a blank….” Morgan said, pressing the palm of his hand to his forehead.  “Fuck me, this is gonna drive me nuts now”.

The group snickered at him.

 “Some expert you are” Jake said, poking Morgan repeatedly in the ribs.

“Miss Elizabeth” you said with a smile as you approached the group.  “She was Macho Man Randy Savage’s manager”.

Morgan’s head swivelled around as he said “Awh - yeah!  Thank God….fuck - I just drew a total blank” Morgan said, apparent relief washing over him.  

Introductions weren’t needed with the 4 players as you had briefly met each of the men at a charity function the year before.  Each gave you a friendly hug as you all continued on with the lively conversation.   

“We had about 5 TV channels growing up, there wasn’t cable out in the country - we just had a TV antenna and a router” you laughed.  “I think it was the Hamilton channel that showed WWE reruns Saturdays at noon.  Sort of became a fan of the 80’s wrestlers, whether I wanted to be or not '' you joked.  “I always thought Miss Elizabeth was so beautiful…” you mused.

The men all made their own noises, nodding and affirming that Miss Elizabeth was indeed, well…hot.

Not long after, Amanda summoned you all to a common area of the lounge, where the next video segment was to take place.  You glanced over and could see Evelyn and Amanda, deep in conversation.  You usually wouldn’t notice or care what Evelyn was doing; you and your Manager had an incredible working relationship and you trusted her implicitly.  That was, until you had a sneaking suspicion that she, the host and Amanda were hatching some plan involving you for the next video. 

Before you could worry about it for too long, you and the 4 players were instructed to sit in the director-style chairs that had been lined up for you.

The host gives the directives of a game that is something between Truth or Dare and Never Have I Ever.  The questions that were directed at the players weren’t anything risqué, but were enough to cause a rumpus between the men, resulting in some hearty banter.   

Once the verbal melee ceased and everyone starts to settle again, the host turns toward you with a knowing smile.  

“We’ve left Y/N to last.  You may not know this but Y/N’s Maple Leaf fandom spans back to when she was just a small girl.  We’ve designed a very special Who’d You Rather between the Leafs past…. and present….players” she says drawing out each of the last few words emphatically.  “With Y/N being unattached currently, we decided this might be fun…” the host says teasingly. 

You shot a look at Evelyn, vowing to murder her later for this.

Evelyn smiles back at you, gesturing for you to hurry up and get this thing going.

On the monitor in front of you, a picture of Dion Phaneuf, the current Captain of the Leafs, appears next to a picture of former Captain Wendel Clark.  The players whooped and hollered at your choices and you audibly groaned, not knowing exactly how to navigate the choices.

“Oh my God - how am I supposed to choose? So what, this is who I’d like to date?  I actually know Dion - I’m friends with his wife too….” you trail off.  “Oh - but I love Wendel too” you giggle.

“Just so you all know” you say to the crowd, motioning towards your surroundings, “this…this whole situation has to be among my worst nightmares…” 

As the host cycles through a few more pictures, each of the 4 players giving their (unsolicited) input, albeit mockingly, as though they themselves were on a dating show.  

Your adoration for Felix Potvin was known to the crew, thanks to Evelyn, so naturally, Felix’s picture appears next to Morgan’s.  “Ooof, sorry Morgan…I have to go with my man, my precious Felix” you said, reaching over to tap Morgan’s knee.  

“Fine then…” Morgan deadpanned, with the slightest smirk.

One after the other, you choose Felix over the image that appears on the opposite slide.  

The host smiles and says “Devoted Potvin admirer, you have to love that!  If you had the chance to meet him, what would you say?” 

You were suddenly worried Felix would pop out of the woodwork, the look of excited anticipation mixed with worry crosses your face.  You jokingly peer over both of your shoulders and respond “Je veux dire ‘C'est un plaisir de vous rencontre.  Je suis tellement un grand fan de toi.  I don’t think I would be able to get out much more than that”, you laugh.

“Ok, this is the last image.  You just met this player this morning and managed to squeak past him to win in the trivia challenge” the host says, eyes fixed on your face.

William’s headshot from the Marlies appears on the screen, next to your first hockey love.  The 4 men sat next to you chime in playfully with a series of “ooooh….Willy Nylander…”

You stay composed looking at the picture, trying not to appear as flustered as you felt.  In one short meeting, William had actually made an impact on you.  Yes, you found him breathtakingly gorgeous, but it was far more than that.  There was a kindness about him; something about him seemed so refreshing and you found yourself really wanting a chance to talk with him more.

You try to suppress a smile but you end up with a wide grin and cheeks flushed.  This shouldn’t be a big deal - but admitting that you might like a boy sent your mind hurtling back to 9th grade, when you were meek and awkward and would sooner die than allow a boy to see that you might think he’s cute.

But, you decide to play it safe and bypass William’s picture, just willing for this segment to be over.  “I’m sticking with Felix,” you laugh.

“Felix it is!” the host says as she gives the appearance of cheering your choice.  

Once the production crew deems they can wrap the segment, you slide off your chair and mingle with the 4 players and others that had gathered around for a quick snack before packing up.

Evelyn saunters up to you and whispers “You beautiful, chinless wonder* - you should have picked the boy…”

You rolled your eyes and shook your head.  Secretly, you had chosen him in your mind; you couldn’t stop thinking about him.  ‘Fuck Y/N…you’re sunk’ is the only thought you had toying in your head.

“You can just keep your opinions to yourself,” you laughed toward Evelyn.  “Let’s just go, I gotta get ready for dinner soon”.

(*chinless wonder is apparently British slang for a coward)

#william nylander #toronto maple leafs #hockey fic #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #hockey romance

[stainedglasstruth]

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @closingwaters & @stainedglasstruth SUMMARY: Teagan and Arden go on a coffee date. There are more emotions than expected. CONTENT WARNINGS: Mentions of parental and sibling death

A coffee date. It was as simple as that, for the time being. Having to be so new to town, there was a certain type of anxiety that crawled its way up the fae’s spine. Teagan was used to starting over, used to being alone and navigating through a town, but this was different. She had planted roots that time around. Did the work to find the proper soil and toss the seeds to pave way to a new life. Her new life. What did that entail anyway? She wasn’t sure. 

The last time Teagan had stayed anywhere for more than a few months was back at the Aos Sí in Michigan, and that was long behind her. A lost, teenage version of herself that was desperate to make things right. In a place like Wicked’s Rest, she felt she could finally do that. Even the playing field and ensure the town’s supernaturals could have a chance with the use of her claws and blade.

For now though, she had a date. Arden was cute, seemed much too sweet for a hookup, but Teagan knew better than to judge a book by its cover. She’d been surprised many a time. She hoped she would be that time around too. “How’s your cup treatin’ ya, lass?” While Teagan hadn’t been in Wales in quite some time, there was still a subtle lilt to her voice, and she never could let go of the Welsh speak. “My latte is simply bangin’.”

If she were being totally honest, Arden had been on edge leading up to the coffee date. If you asked her, when a person very stupidly said the words ‘thank you’ and got a bit of a strange response in return in a town with a secret population of supernatural beings, it was rational to feel a bit panicked. There wasn’t much that could be done after the fact, though, and her dive into the Scribes archives had reminded her that promises, while difficult to break, could potentially be broken, which was a nice reassurance.

She had told herself it was fine, she was fine, everything was fine, and she was not a dog sitting at a table in a burning building. If Teagan was a fae, which she didn’t know for certain, that didn’t necessarily mean she had any malicious intent. From what she’d seen, the woman had been nothing but nice– if a bit flirty– not just to her, but to others online. So, there she was, at her favorite café, sitting across from this gorgeous woman who had, so far, continued to be lovely. She had her guard up, but she was giving Teagan the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t her fault that Arden was an idiot.

At her question, she gave the woman a smile. “It’s great, as always.” She was almost positive the lavender in the macchiato was doing nothing for her nerves, but the drink was good, and it reminded her of Wynne. “And, I’m glad to hear it,” she grinned. Simply bangin’, that was cute. 

…she was gay, sue her.

“I’m curious to learn more about you. What do you do? What drew you to Wicked’s Rest in particular?”

Arden was adorable. For someone who took flirting well online, she had a nervous energy to her. Or maybe it was the caffeine? Plenty of people consumed coffee despite the effect it had on them, and Teagan wondered if Arden was one of them. She shook her head mentally, sipping her latte as if it could wash away her curiosity. It couldn’t be helped, not really. 

The nix had been alone for so long, depriving herself of connection in hopes of protecting others from her. Old habits died hard, and despite telling herself she’d have a change in pace with her move, her pain was one box she couldn’t lift or unpack. Maybe it was better to leave her old ways on their course. They hadn’t steered Teagan wrong. That’s was she tried to tell her self. 

“Currently unemployed. Got one of them…erm…what are they called…?” She muttered to herself, tapping her index finger to her chin as she pursed her lips in thought. “Sugar father!” Teagan snapped her fingers once she retrieved the answer, happy to remember and not seeing any issue with her income. “As for the town, it looked lush and like I could have a ling di long everyday. The weather is just so refreshing and the land is so green.” She continued with a click of her tongue. “Not to mention the crazy rumors on the creepy crawlies. It just sounded like home. Haven’t had one of those in a while.”

Arden let out a surprised bark of laughter, glad she hadn’t been drinking anything at that moment. “You have a sugar daddy?” She certainly hadn’t been expecting that response, and the very genuine and delighted way Teagan had said sugar father had been perfect. 

“Sorry, you just caught me off guard there,” she explained, not wanting to offend the other. While she loved her job, she would enjoy it even more if she didn’t need to worry about earning enough money to live. If Teagan had someone who was willing and able to support her, she certainly wasn’t judging. “It’s a nice arrangement if you can find one.”

“A ling di long?” Arden raised a brow. “Can’t say I’m familiar with that particular turn of phrase.” Taking a sip of her coffee, she watched as the other continued to speak. She let out a hum at Teagan’s words. Haven’t had one of those in a while. 

It filled her with a sense of sadness, hearing those words. Boston, as much as she enjoyed it, had not felt like home, neither had Biddeford. The truth was, as mixed as her emotions were on the town, Wicked’s Rest had been her home, and, despite everything going on, these past few months at the paper, the past several weeks with the Wormmates, this was as close to a home as she’d had in years. And, wasn’t that a little pathetic?

“I can understand the feeling,” she said simply. “By creepy crawlies, I assume you mean cryptids and the like? Where are you from?”

Teagan scrunched her nose playfully, laughing along. “He promised to give me whatever I wanted. I just made sure he kept to his word.” She continued to smile, letting her gaze wander. Arden had a cute laugh, drawing the nix’s eyes to her mouth. Beautiful smile, too. A catch, if she could ever believe a person could be. Love, Teagan had learned, came at too large a cost. 

She wasn’t willing to let her heart extend from her, able to walk around the earth as it pleased. It was why it was so easy to leave the Aos Sí. Teagan had already lost most of her heart, and that was more pain than she ever wanted to experience. Besides, who would want a worn and battered heart anyway?

“A ling di long is a welsh phrase…erm, a walk. A stroll. Is why you never heard it. And well…” Teagan took another sip of her latte, her head dancing side to side just before she completed her thought. “Is also why I’ve got a bit of an accent. Subtle and quiet, but still there.” Absentmindedly, she fiddled with her mother’s old ring on her finger, something she always did when she could feel her chest tense with sorrow. Teagan missed Wales, missed everything that was there, but that wasn’t her home anymore. It died along with most of her family. 

“But yes,” The fae nodded, “The cryptids, and, um, the like.” Her thoughts were getting the better of her, brows furrowing with the effort she exerted to push them away. A few blinks and a deep breath, and Teagan was fine. A smile painted back onto her face. Though, her stomach twisted with nausea anyway. “And you, lass? Where are ya from?”

Okay, so Arden was currently on a date? with a fae. That was more than a bit nerve racking, even if the fae in question did seem nice. Should she mention it? Probably not, right? It was fine. Everything was fine. She was friends with a balam, she could go on a date? with a fae. Nevermind the fact that she was also friends? maybe? with a hunter. Man, her life was way less fucking insane in Boston.

Teagan was quite an animated individual. It was charming, as was the slight accent that was apparently Welsh. “Oh, I did notice, but I wouldn’t have guessed Welsh.” As a stupid American, she couldn’t claim to know much about Wales, but now she was curious to learn more about Welsh cryptids. The topic of Wales did seem to bring the other down a bit, though, so she could drop it. For now. 

Arden offered her what she hoped was a comforting smile. “I’m from here, actually. Born and raised in Wicked’s Rest.” Not nearly as exciting as Wales, though she supposed this town was a lot more exciting than some others. “I left for a few years after college, but I moved back a couple of months ago.”

The conversation was quickly picking up in pace, both parties leaned in to listen. It was a good sign. People tended to lean toward what intrigued them, and though Teagan was the sort to avoid anything that went past the first date or the bedroom, she had to admit, Arden drew her attention. For a human, she was charming and had a certain air about her. As if she knew more than she led on. 

“Oh, most people don’t. Guess Scottish or worse, English!” She playfully gagged, “The worst.” A part of Teagan hoped it was all a ruse, that Arden was hiding a more supernatural nature, but the nix knew better than to risk revealing anything herself. If the woman in front of her was anything but human, she would take the same caution. Mask herself behind the idea that cryptids were nothing but rumors and that Wicked’s Rest was filled with unwarranted conspiracies. 

“Uni? Oh, so I’ve got myself a lady of education?” A chuckle escaped Teagan, her hand nonchalantly reaching to lay above Arden’s. It was a way to hit two birds all at once. A little flirting with a side of confirmation. One that didn’t narrow the list down by much, but she at least got one answer. Arden was warm. So, that took undead off the list.

“What did you study? Why come back now?”

Arden was having fun, despite the thrum of anxious energy in her stomach that wouldn’t quite dissipate. She chuckled at the dig at the English. While she probably wouldn’t have guessed her accent was English, she really couldn’t say much, the clueless American she was. 

At the age of twenty-eight– nearly twenty-nine–  it wasn’t often she felt young per se, but she did feel somewhat inexperienced at that moment. She had barely travelled outside of the northeastern United States, much less other countries, and for whatever fucking reason she couldn’t stay away from Wicked’s Rest. She could’ve gone anywhere after Boston, but no.

It also didn’t help, knowing that Teagan wasn’t human, was potentially much older than her despite her looks. Arden certainly didn’t feel like much of a lady of education, just small and ignorant and human. She grinned at the phrase, though, “I guess you could say that.” 

Surprise ran through her when Teagan casually placed a hand over her own, making the anxious mess in her stomach even worse, though she tried not to show it. “I got my bachelor’s degree in journalism, I actually work at the paper in town.” …that was probably not something the fae would love to hear, come to think of it. The image of her old apartment flashed through her mind and she longed for it, even if it hadn’t been much of a home for her. It was quiet, simple, hers. And Hobbes’ too, of course. She longed to collapse onto the bed. 

Arden shrugged. “I suppose I just got a bit homesick.”

A tinge of sorrow furrowed Teagan’s brows, the knowing making her stomach ache like she was experiencing heartache all over again. She knew what homesick was. The place that molded your heart and defined who you would eventually become. Teagan knew this in a number of ways. Ironically, she had to lose her home so that it could pave the way to who she was then. Someone who she could hardly stand to look at in the mirror, and had an even worse time being alone with. 

It was why Teagan enjoyed company, as temporary as they were. It was a small getaway, a little reprieve. “Sorry.” With a sigh, she picked off invisible lint from her sweater and shook her leg anxiously as Arden finished speaking. 

“I…I get it. Erm—being homesick.” She nodded quietly, finishing off her latte. It took all she could not to grumble at the loss of her mediating task. 

Then she looked at her other hand, which was still laying atop Arden’s. Her thumb brushed over the back of it absentmindedly. Teagan winced and slowly pulled away, doing her best to refocus and go back in the conversation. Journalism. Right. That could change the subject. Had to. It was Arden’s career. “Do you like what you do? Journalism?” A tear dropped before she knew it, and she wiped it away as fast as she could. “Any good stories?”

Shit. 

As soon as she saw Teagan’s face drop, Arden knew it was the wrong thing to say. Wales appeared to be a downer of a subject because of homesickness, then. 

Watching the way the woman began to fidget, it made her sad. It felt familiar, the way Teagan was reacting to what was obviously a difficult topic. Her own anxiety was even worse now, though it reached an apex, panic racing through her, as she noticed the tear. Oh, fuck, I made her cry.

Arden tentatively reached for her hand, wanting to comfort her, but allowing her the opportunity to pull away again if she wanted. “Oh, no, hey, I’m sorry,” she murmured, heart hurting for the other. “I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject. Do you– Do you want to talk about it? Or–” Fuck, she didn’t know what to do. “Can I do anything?”

No, she did not want to talk about it. The awful tragedy that made her…she didn’t want to say it, let alone think it. Of any of the pain. So…why in Fate’s name did Teagan say it so plainly? As if she’d known Arden long enough to allow for such intimacy? “Family was slaughtered in Wales. Home is gone. That’s all I will say.” 

She left no room for questions, for any lingering thoughts to find their way to Arden’s tongue. That was the last thing Teagan wanted. She knew her date meant well, though. “But hey,” She patted Arden’s hand, rejecting the offer kindly. Pity and comfort led to too much, but she didn’t want the woman to feel bad for doing what her heart told her to. It was an endearing trait to be able to listen to it. “It’s sweet of you to offer to listen. Just not something I talk about.”

Teagan shifted in her seat and adjusted her sweater, returning to a happier expression. It felt like a lie again, her stomach rolling uncomfortably. “Care to move to a happier subject?” She smiled wanly, if not a little hopeful. “Or we can move this fun somewhere else?” Her eyebrow bounce and smile were meant to say a little more, but Teagan knew it might get lost in translation. 

Oh.

She didn’t know how to react to that one. She was, of course, horrified, but just… “Fuck. Teagan, I am so sorry.” 

Arden wasn’t close with her family, it was just her and her parents. Her father had been the one she had gotten along with, and she had entirely fallen apart after his death. While she had many issues with her mother, she had still been there to raise her, to support her. Maybe not emotionally, but still. She’d had Jo, too, until they disappeared, and that had fucking broken her. 

Just losing two people had affected her so much; her whole family slaughtered, she couldn’t even imagine. “Yeah, no, I- I understand.” And she did. Arden was quite familiar with avoiding talking about personal and traumatic events in her life. If she could just stop saying the exact wrong things, that would be fucking great.

“Yeah, sorry.” She scrambled to think of a different line of conversation that wasn’t dead family or hometowns or supernatural secrets, though her brain entirely halted when Teagan spoke again. Was she… Did she just jump from dead family to hook up? 

Arden could understand where the other was coming from, but she was having a bit of whiplash. She wasn’t necessarily opposed, but she was just… Her brain and body were struggling to keep up. “I’m definitely not saying no, but maybe we can keep chatting for a bit? I could give you a little tour if you’d like?”

“No, lass. You don’t gotta apologize. Not like you’re the enemy. Not a fan of pity either.” The nix tried to shrug it all off, it looking more like she had weights pinned to her. At least Arden was accepting what she knew would make everything else go away. If only for a night. But of course, as with most things, there was a stipulation.

It was fair, if Teagan were being honest with herself. And at that rate, she really needed to be. Her stomach ached too much as is and she needed some kind of relief. Maybe a buffer between then and getting to a bed was necessary. Getting to know the town could be in her favor anyway. Arden wasn’t so bad either. Charming in a way that was all her own, with a beaming smile that Teagan found hard to turn away from. Maybe it was the wonder behind what a kiss would be like, but despite how much she ran away, even she knew she was slowing her pace. 

“Aye. Chat and a ling di long. I’d like that.” 

She should just drop it, but… “It’s not pity,” well maybe a little, but- “I just- I can empathize, I guess. Not to compare situations at all, I just… I know what it’s like to lose people that you love, is all.” Arden hated feeling pitied; she didn’t want Teagan to think that was where she was coming from. 

“But, yeah, sorry. Don’t mean to prolong an unpleasant topic.” She drained the last of her coffee before standing and offering Teagan a hand. “A chat and a ling di long it is, then. Have you seen the art walk yet? There might be some crabs around, but it’s always a crowd pleaser.”

#parental death tw #sibling death tw #closingwaters #wr teagan #wickedswriting #writing #collab

[bennettzone]

paint me in trust | bennett x reader

chapters ⇒ CH 1 | CH. 2 | CH. 3

word count: 2.9k

genre(s): fluff, friends to lovers

✎ synopsis:  it all started with an encounter between you and bennett in dragonspine, which lead to an adventure where you are faced with many different situations.

✎ a/n: first fic on here!! this is something I published on a03 a while back, I figured I’d put it here too to get back on my writing feet lol. This chapter uses details from the commission 'floral fresh.' (the follow-up commission 'fresh flora' will also be used in a later chapter.) the work title, as well as chapter titles, are taken from human by dodie. I hope that you enjoy!!

Chapter 1: lean for me, and i’ll fall back

Flowers don't stay fresh for long. Flora, the owner of the Floral Whisper, has been thinking of ways to preserve them better...

This all started a few hours ago. A trip to Dragonspine that you didn’t expect to take.

Had you known how difficult this would have ended up being, you would’ve done this much, much earlier.

Your commissions for the day seemed simple enough. Clearing out some hilichurl camps, running an easy errand for Sarah...And finally, a task from Flora. You usually saved the easier-sounding ones for last, that way you could make the most of the daylight.

Little did you know, you skimmed over the most important part of Flora’s commission...That it would be taking you to Dragonspine. Not like you hadn’t been there before, doing much more difficult things, but...This one involved a lot more running around.

Usually, these kinds of tasks would be impossible. They weren’t handed out to many people in the Adventurers’ Guild. It was those who proved to be very strong and experienced, even more common for those who had visions.

You just so happened to be very strong and experienced...And also had a vision of your own. It wasn’t very useful in Dragonspine though, as it was a hydro vision. Perhaps one of the worst-suited for Dragonspine, both assumed and proven. You had become very skilled at using your polearm though, so even if you were fighting in Dragonspine it was uncommon for you to have to rely completely on your vision for those commissions.

Even with that being said, you preferred to have someone tag along with you, just in case things went south. Not that you didn’t trust yourself, you were simply always advised to do so and trusted the word of those who were far more experienced than you.

This time, however, your lack of being able to carefully read the details of the commission led to a staggering realization: You wouldn’t have time to ask anybody to come with you, so you were on your own for this. It was either that, or you give up on the task. You weren’t one for backing down from a challenge, though.

The only good part was that you didn’t necessarily have to be in a situation that involved combat.

Flora’s task seemed simple enough. She was looking for easier ways to preserve her flowers, meaning that she wanted to test how they handled being in Dragonspine. She requested they be placed in three different areas: Near the Dragonspine Statue of The Seven, next to a body of water, and one near the cavern.

Simply put, this would be more time-consuming than challenging.

You had an idea of finding your way around Dragonspine, so finding places to warm up wouldn’t be an issue. The only challenges you’d be facing were potential threats, and you could fight if you needed to. Best to avoid it though, that’s what you thought. You didn’t have time to waste since you took a while before taking on the commission.

You still had a few hours of daylight...That’s what you were banking on. Getting there quickly, placing the flowers quickly, and getting the heck out of there.

At least...That’s what the plan was supposed to be.

That brings you here, sitting next to a lit fire observing the final area you needed to place flowers; near the cavern.

You just so happened to notice someone was already there, although...They weren’t exactly considered an enemy threat.

You recognized him, a fellow member of the Adventurers’ Guild; Bennett. You hadn’t spoken to him much before...Apart from a few passings, and the occasional small chat while running into each other before getting your daily commissions.

You had heard a lot about him though, he’d been raised by the older guild members since he was a baby and you’d known of him ever since you joined a couple of years back, he was actually one of the first few people to introduce themself to you. Not to mention, many of the guild members spoke of horrendous luck that followed him everywhere. This resulted in a lot of what they’d call failures of adventures.

Perhaps that bad luck they spoke of is what got him in the situation you saw him in.

A group of hilichurls was bombarding him, and it almost physically hurt to watch. He was getting knocked around so badly, nearly getting hit full force by an axe-wielding mitachurl and constantly dodging shots from the regular hilichurls...you felt as if you had to step in to help.

You really didn’t want to fight today, much less run into someone, but...He really looked like he needed some help, and who else if not you? People rarely come around this part of Dragonspine…

Your heart ended up deciding for you regardless, and you found yourself charging toward the situation.

Everything felt like it went in slow motion. Your heart always pounded whenever you fought. No matter the severity of the situation or strength of the enemy...It was always exciting. It was treated as a fight for your life, every single time. Even the weakest enemies can catch you off guard, you grew up with that knowledge and carried that thought through every single battle you got yourself into.

You saw three hilichurls lined up, and took an opportunity to strike. You stabbed at them, quickly maneuvering yourself around them and taking them all out in swift movements. It shouldn’t have seemed as easy as it did, yet your adrenaline was rushing so much that maybe you got some sort of superhuman strength that was carrying you through this dilemma.

You couldn’t yet feel the cold that was biting at your skin, hitting your face in icy breezes, or your frigid fingers that were numbing as you kept your grip firm on your polearm.

Bennett didn’t even have time to comprehend your entrance, as he was occupied with perhaps the most threatening enemy there: the mitachurl furiously swinging its axe at him.

Over time, mitachurls became a lot less threatening to you. You fought them so often, it’s hard to remember what it was like to feel scared approaching one. However, they could be very threatening if you were caught off guard or cornered.

While they were less of a threat in your eyes, even now you didn’t underestimate the strength they could possess. They were no pushovers, they had more experience than your average hilichurl and possessed greater strength as imagined.

However, it just so happened to be fully focused on Bennett. How it hadn’t noticed you yet was beyond you. That was to your advantage though, as it left you with the perfect opportunity.

You charged towards the mitachurl, promptly striking it in the back with a precise stab.

Bennett had seemed to weaken it a lot more than you originally thought, as it went down with no further issue.

This left you staring at Bennett, looking shocked to his very core.

“Woah...It’s you!” A smile beamed from Bennett’s face, as he seemed to relax a bit.

“Yeah...I’m glad I was here.” You said, and Bennett nodded.

“Me too, hehe...I was in a really sticky situation. I could’ve handled it, but...I’m freezing a bit. I got ambushed while looking for a heat source, just my luck…” The last part of his sentence was tainted and faded with disappointment, but overall it didn’t seem to bring him down that much.

“I know of one nearby, just over there. I have to leave something here right quick, but I can meet you there if you’d like? I have some hot soup in my bag to help.” You said, and a glimmer of excitement appeared in Bennett’s eyes.

“You’re serious? Like, you mean it?” You nodded to his question, and while he looked a bit hesitant, he eventually agreed.

“I’d offer to stick with you, but...Whatever you’re doing, I don’t wanna mess it up.” He laughed a bit uncomfortably, before walking in the direction you told him that the fire was in.

After Bennett walked off, you found a nice spot to put the flowers in. Hopefully, they’d be left undisturbed...Flora mentioned to you that she’d need them back after a couple of days.

Now that you had time to calm down, you felt the cold start to fully kick in. You were freezing…

It was definitely time for you to get to a heat source as well.

Walking back to the fire you were previously at before finding Bennett, you were greeted with a less-than-ideal sight.

The fire had been completely eradicated by a pile of snow, and Bennett looked hopelessly defeated next to it.

“That’s so weird...I walked over here and I must have disturbed the snow or somethin’, it fell directly on it.” You started to wonder if this really was the bad luck the adventurers were talking about.

Just two occurrences, although close together you refused to judge him harshly for it. He was struggling just as much as you were, no way you were abandoning him over some petty words you overheard from the guild.

“Hey, it’s alright. I know of a device near here that radiates heat. It’s close by and can’t be snuffed out so we should be fine there.” You said, and Bennett seemed relieved at your words.

It was only a minute or so of walking before you both approached the device, and you promptly activated it before it gave off a huge burst of heat, relieving you both immediately of the cold that felt as if it was seeping into your skin.

“Ahh...That feels so much better.” Bennett said, and you nodded in agreement, taking a seat on a nearby tree log and taking the soup out of the pack you brought with you.

“Have a seat, we can share.” You smiled, and so he did.

After about fifteen seconds of silence, Bennett broke it with a question.

“I hope this doesn’t come off as offensive or anything, you know, with you helping me and all, but…” Bennett paused for a moment, contemplating on how he should word it, “You’ve heard stuff about me, right? It shocks me that you’re not trying to get away from me cause’ I’m sure you’ve probably noticed...My luck is horrible.”

He laughed at himself, but you noticed it wasn’t a happy laugh at all. More so laced with subtle sadness.

“I have, actually. It doesn’t bother me though, if anything it was really lucky that I found you. For both of us, I mean.” Bennett seemed surprised at your answer, stunning himself silent for a moment.

“Is that so? Huh...I guess you’re right! Perhaps luck was more on my side today than I thought!” His smile returned to his face, a lot more genuine than how he appeared before.

It was almost funny. Another thing about Bennett that you knew was that he could find something good in any bad situation he was in. His presence made you feel a lot better about being out here.

“Actually, I’ve been curious...What are you doing out here, Bennett? You don’t look like you came prepared at all.” You said, and he chuckled, shaking his head.

“I did, actually! Or, I was, at least… Some weird boar-looking thing surprised me and managed to take all of the stuff I had with me. No idea how that happened though, I thought for sure that my stuff was really secure on me. Guess not, though. My mistake.” He laughed again, and then turned the question around on you, “What are you doing out here? If I’m being honest, I only managed to get out here through a series of distractions. I meant to stick around the entrance, but I guess you could say...I got a bit lost.”

“I’m out here for a commission. Flora asked me to put some of her flowers around the area. I would’ve done it earlier but I didn’t read it carefully enough, I had no idea it’d bring me out here.” You smiled warmly, realizing something, “If I had realized sooner though, I probably wouldn’t have run into you.”

Once again, Bennett’s face lit up.

“Wow, you’re right! Sorry you had to get involved, though. Oh, and thanks for the food! I was starving since my stuff got taken a while ago.”

“My pleasure. We should get going soon, though. I’m all finished up and there’s not a lot of daylight left. I know a path that has little to no enemies and a lot of heat sources. Wanna head back together?” You asked, and Bennett hesitated once again.

“Well, if you’re sure, then yeah! I’m not gonna lie, I’m beat.” He said this with a small chuckle at the end, and with that, you gathered your things and headed off.

You both managed to leave Dragonspine with almost no trouble, apart from Bennett having a few literal slip-ups along the way. Strangely enough...It was a dirt path that you never had trouble on. You didn’t mention it though, as every time you looked back to see if he was alright, he gave you a pleasant smile and a thumbs up.

It felt good finally having somebody with you. Dragonspine had such a lonely and bitter atmosphere to you. It felt grueling ever having to be here alone for just fifteen minutes. Bennett being by your side brought you warmth and comfort, unlike any you had experienced with any other adventurers that had ever accompanied you. The difference with him felt so clear, he was making the atmosphere feel alive rather than lonely. Every time you came here with someone, they were so focused on getting in and getting out that it always felt like a blur. This was different though, time passed much slower and it wasn’t upsetting.

The walk back to Mondstadt was peaceful. You ran into nothing on the way, and even the bad things that were happening to Bennett every so often slowly started to die down a little.

Then there you were, standing at the front gate to the city.

You were kind of surprised that Bennett came with you all the way here, it was rare to see him around at any other time rather than the mornings on some random days. You weren’t complaining though, it felt good to not be alone after that trip. Being in Dragonspine always left you feeling lonely and sad, but Bennett made it hard to feel that way.

“We can split here. After a few recent incidents, I don’t think people really want me around right now, hehe…” Bennett rubbed the back of his head, a bit of flashback pain appearing on his face in the form of a cringe.

“Alright then. Thanks for sticking with me, I really appreciate it.” You smiled, and he looked as if he wasn’t expecting your words at all.

“You mean it? That’s good to hear! Same to you.” He returned a smile, the memories of his recent misfortune fading away from his mind.

“I’ll have to go back in a couple of days, try not to get yourself into any trouble there again. I might not be there to help.” You said this in a teasing tone, and Bennett couldn’t help but laugh with an embarrassment-induced blush slightly appearing on his face.

“Sure thing, just be careful when you go back, hopefully, you’ll have better luck than I did.”

You nodded, and soon after you and Bennett parted ways. It wasn’t horrifically late yet, so you quickly reported back to Flora to tell her that you successfully put all of the flowers where she had asked.

“Thank you so much for your help! I’ll let you know when I need them back.” She gave you a gentle smile, and the satisfaction of successfully completing all of your commissions for the day accompanied you on your way home.

Where you lived was nice, in the way that the atmosphere always made you feel so much better after a tiring day. Especially after trips to Dragonspine, as the flames emitting from your fireplace helped you relax.

After getting ready to sleep, you sunk into your sheets much more easily than usual. You were exhausted and still felt slightly cold. It was easy to get comfortable, easy to lose your thoughts to that sleepiness…

You couldn’t help but think about Bennett, and if you’d see him again anytime soon.

Those in the guild always had so many rude things to say about him, and it made you very frustrated and confused at times.

Both of your parents were in the guild, so you grew up there, basically. This meant that you saw Bennett a lot. Even with all of the time you spent together as kids, nothing that bad ever seemed to happen when he was around you.

It got a lot lonelier after your parents decided to become the wandering-type of adventurers, leaving you here. It motivated you to seriously join the guild though, and become strong on your own. You had years of constant teaching from your parents to take with you on your own journeys.

Every time you just so happened to be around Bennett, though...Even if you weren’t really that close. It always managed to make that loneliness melt away, even if it was just for a second.

You really wanted to see him again, you knew that much.

#bennett x reader #genshin writing #✎bennettzone-writing

[blissedtm]

tiny patters thumped away, albeit unevenly.. consistently, beneath her chest. confirming the minor heart palpitations that had been consuming her for majority of that tuesday. bit strange, right? the blonde hadn’t necessarily done anything.. just the regular routine that she and her now boyfriend always done during the course of their monday’s to wednesday’s. flying from one town to another, completing their work schedules for the week, so they could then go home. whether that was at his place or hers, sometimes jumping between; settling down until they had to get up go and once again when the new week arrived. this particular weekend, however, was different. both companies hosting large pay-per-view events respectively.. one stateside, one in britain. bringing lexi no choice but to leave jon behind, allowing plenty of preparation time for his main event on the sunday while she would attempt her best to make it to chicago from cardiff in time to be there to support him in person.

don’t get it twisted, if she could’ve got away with the ‘pulling a sick’ card, merely so she didn’t need to leave him? she would of. an undeniable need to be with him having become quite overwhelming ever since they had properly made their relationship official. as a matter of fact.. ever since going steady, they haven’t spent one night apart. so, i guess you could understand the slight anxiety that dared to riddle her useless.

even as she rested upon the hotel bed in their chicago hotel, having not long arrived from their early morning flight, the blonde found herself lost in her own thoughts.. french manicured nails scraping against one another, oceanic hues locked down towards her lap. lost in her own little world as she contemplated silly things like.. what if she got hurt during her match and he wasn’t there.. what if her flight got cancelled and she didn’t make it to the show.. what if he then got hurt while she was stranded in an entirely different continent? every possible scenario? she was contemplating it.. magnifying it to dramatic heights, of which they really weren’t that deep, but she was like that. naturally quite high-strung.. which was no doubt one of the reasons she remained single for so long. caring, loving, thinking… too much. most dudes didn’t want to deal with that.

.. eyelashes fluttered upwards as she heard her romantic companion come through the door, getting caught in the hallway talking to some co-workers while she attempted to get their room as comfortable as she could for the pair, assuming it’s where they would be spending majority of their night. “hey..” words spoke up softly, shuffling herself upwards to rest her petite, lithe frame against the headboard. tiny digit tucking a stray blonde tress behind her ear. “you good?” her question was somewhat rhetorical, an attempt at a distraction as she forced the faintest of smiles on her face.. practically trying to force herself away from her totally unnecessary, negative thoughts. not that it was difficult to do.. he had an uncanny ability to bring her an insane amount of serenity, of which she had ever felt prior.

@moxlcy

#… ✍🏻 …

[humanitiesgonedigital]

#7: The Importance of Transcription

As a student taking on a project with a lot of transcribing involved (those Mayan glyphs weren’t deciphered by themselves!), it was extremely important to me that I tackled the mission of transcribing a few pages from the National Archives. Transcribing itself can be arduous and time-consuming, so I kind of just went for something random in order to get the brunt of how it would turn out for me in the longrun.

In order to understand how transcribing worked for Citizen Archivists on the website, I ended up scrolling through a few different projects and just looking at what others had transcribed. I ended up taking on a few pages from the unit file on the USS Jeannette which was largely transcribed, but not completely. I wasn’t necessarily interested in the content itself, but was more interested in how a transcription would look like when describing the columns and rows, and how long it would take for me to type it all out after finally understanding what the cursive was actually saying.

And, it should be said somewhere that transcribing anything in cursive will obviously be more difficult that transcribing something already in textual format or in non-cursive, especially since cursive has changed so much over time (and even been eliminated from being taught in gradeschool for the most part at present). Since this unit file had largely been transcribed by others though, and since most of the logbook reiterated much of the same or similar information, it was easy to go back and compare what I was seeing or not seeing to what others had transcribed. If the project were largely unfinished, however, I could definitely see a lot more struggle in deciphering what was being written on the page.

This made it all the more apparent to me how valuable transcribers are, especially ones that volunteer to do so in their own time. The thought that goes behind transcribing something, especially if it can be difficult for you to decipher or it doesn’t interest you, can seem like a chore. I found myself more and more curious as to the others who were transcribing the pages and what interest or commitment they had that made them want to transcribe government logbooks and other files in the first place, and I ended up feeling a larger sense of respect and gratefulness for the other people that put such time and effort into doing so.

It also opened my eyes up to how beneficial having transcriptions actually are. Not only are they more accessible, but not everyone is going to know what something is saying if it’s written in a different language or format. So as I go forward, I’ll definitely be adding a function on my website that offers anyone to transcribe from what I gather together, but I’ll try my best to transcribe what I can in my own time and really delve into different ways of making those transcriptions more easily accessible so that everyone can see what’s being archived and analyzed in my project. Maybe someone else will be able to create their own project after being able to see what a Maya stelae says!

← Previous |  Masterlist | Next →

#digital humanities #blogging #academia #transcription

[ecocuban]

Mylena Vázquez on her work as a researcher for Give Me Liberty

How did your heritage influence your work as a researcher for Give Me Liberty: The True Story of Oswaldo Payá and His Daring Quest for a Free Cuba?

This job was the opportunity of a lifetime. Not only because it was interesting work and all of that, but because it was a way for me to learn my own history. I think it’s very difficult for us… I came to the United States when I was three years old, so in terms of my understanding of Cuban history at the outset of this project, I would probably count myself in with people who have Cuban heritage but were born here.

As a researcher, how did you navigate through different media and articles that are biased for your project?

When you’re doing research of the kind that I was doing, you start to create a narrative based on the majority of sources you find. So when you see something in another source being portrayed in a very different light or with different details — omitting some things and harping on other things — then you start sort of piecing together the real story, and you learn to ignore those bits and pieces that just don’t seem to fit in.

What do you recommend for people who try to fight against misinformation regarding Cuba?

There are a lot of people who have very strong opinions about Cuba but not a lot of knowledge or nuance. There was one time when a prominent dissident, Jose Daniel Ferrer — he’s currently imprisoned, and has been arrested many times over the years — and there was a time, maybe two years ago, when he was in prison and on hunger strike. They weren’t even allowing his family to see him. And, like, nobody was covering it. Nobody, not even at the Herald. The only news outlet that was covering it, funnily enough, was Breitbart. And, as you know, that’s not necessarily a publication that most people will read and accept.

It’s difficult as a consumer. There have to be outlets out there willing to report on the real stories, you know? Otherwise, we’re relegated to trying to piece together the story through Twitter, through Instagram. Those are probably the sources that I use the most to get on-the-ground information. Rather than, say, traditional media sources, I follow accounts that post clips in real time of whatever’s happening on the island. But it can all become a bit disjointed.

What are some reasons you think it’s so difficult to get information from the island?

The Cuban Communist Party is one big propaganda machine. Think about Fidel Castro’s speeches. They went on for hours and hours and hours. All of the symbolism, all of the marches, all of the slogans — and it’s not contained to just Cuba. The government has been feeding this propaganda for decades to whoever is willing to listen and, in turn, these people and institutions spread it. So what we’re dealing with is one big machine. It’s hard for individuals in the diaspora to fight an entire government.

What’s a common misconception that you wish people knew about Cuba or about Cubans or Cuban Americans?

I feel like people think that Cuba was this savage place or that we had no self-determination. That we always had somebody kind of governing us or ruling over us or whatever, and that it wasn’t until Castro came in and took over that we were liberated from the Americans, the Spanish, whoever. That’s really not the case.

There was this whole period in Cuban history where Cubans were determining their own fate, how they were going to be governed, the issues that mattered to them, and what they were going to focus on. This was the era of the 1940 Cuban Constitution, which, at the time that it was created, was one of the most advanced, thorough, and comprehensive constitutions in the world. When Castro took power in ’59, he even vowed to reinstate the 1940 Constitution, a promise on which he soon reneged.

There were still problems, of course, like in any other country, but this was a defining moment in Cuban history. Cubans were determined to become the protagonists of their own history — the very same sentiment that Oswaldo Payá expressed decades later.

We’re not a bunch of country bumpkins who have no notion of democracy or what it means to lead a “civilized” life.

There’s this erroneous notion among non-Cubans that we just want Cuba to be another mini USA, replete with theme parks, McDonald’s, or whatever. Because that’s the only thing that Cubans could want, right?

Cubans want to be able to express themselves freely, to own a business, to undertake projects, to have access to information, to not have to look over their shoulders for simply creating a song.

What Cubans want is freedom.

You can find Mylena Vázquez on Instagram (@mylena_v), LinkedIn (Mylena Vazquez), or Twitter (@myvazq).

#cuba #cuban #cuban politics #oswaldo paya #cuban american #hispanic heritage month #hispanic #latino #latine #education #journalism #patria y vida #soscuba #patriayvida #san isidro #authoritarianism #censorship #book recommendations #research

[sokkastyles]

We all know that Zuko temporarily loses his firebending after joining the gaang because of losing the rage that had previously fueled him, but it’s interesting if you consider the question of what fueled Zuko’s bending before a time when he was consumed with rage. In the flashbacks we see of him as a younger child, we see a Zuko who is much more innocent and kind-hearted. We also see him struggle with bending. I don’t think this means that bending fueled by anger is necessarily stronger, but rather that Zuko’s rage-fueled bending was something he developed as a result of struggling to do it any other way, which is probably why it became a crutch. This is actually a really good analogy for how trauma can alter someone’s development to the point that it can be extremely difficult to live without the coping mechanisms formed by it, which is one reason why healing is so hard.

It means a lot that Zuko chooses to try and unlearn those toxic coping mechanisms where he could have fallen back into what he knows, could have decided that it was more important to be powerful than to be healthy, or that helping the Avatar just wasn’t worth it, especially when it seems like he’s useless to the Avatar the way he is. But instead he wants to try another way, even if it’s hard and subjects him to ridicule from the others. This is an important point since I think his anger developed as a defense mechanism against those feelings of worthlessness conditioned in him by Ozai. He doesn’t just have to learn to let go of anger but to let go of his fear of potential rejection, whether it be from Ozai or his new allies.

#zuko #ozai #zuko and the gaang

[recurring-polynya]

I remember you making a post about Momo's theoretical sickass lava bankai - what if she achieved it in the middle of the ryouka invasion clusterfuck?

Oh, the old Momo’s bankai post? The same post where I said that getting bankai was not necessarily a sign of being a good person or a moral person and it certainly wasn’t a sign of being a mentally healthy person? That it was really just a sign of being driven to single-minded extremes? That post?

I was outside gardening when I got the notification for this ask, and I failed my critical reading check on the second part of it, and somehow got “Fake Karakura Town clusterfuck” instead of “ryouka invastion clusterfuck” and by the time I read it more carefully, I was already too in love with the idea that I had come up with, but I know what you like and I think you will like this.

Did Polynya stay between 500 and 1000 words?: 1668 

| ao3 | ff.net |

🔥      🔥      🔥

“Captain Aizen?” asked Gin. “Is everything all right?”

Aizen narrowed his eyes. “Something is coming through.”

Like nearly all of Yamamoto’s techniques, Joukaku Enjou was a manifestation of elemental fire magic. Elemental magic was difficult to control for anyone who didn’t specialize in it; countering it relied on tapping into the underlying kidou that controlled the spell. Joukaku Enjou didn’t have any underlying magical control structures, though, it was simply a giant sphere of horrifically hot flames that burned until it got tired of burning. Yamamoto himself could even be killed and it would continue on.

So, when Aizen felt a strange presence making its way through the bulwark of flames, he assumed it was the doing of the Captain-Commander himself. Aizen knew an illusion when he saw one, and this was definitely something physical. It was a cold spot within the fire-- not actually cold, mind you, just less hot, and yet it seemed to be traversing the barrier with only minor difficulty, the way one might wade through thigh-deep water. It had its own reiatsu--heavily muffled by the smothering magical static of Ryuujin Jakka, but familiar enough.

Tousen’s hand drifted to his sword hilt, Gin rocked on his heels. Perhaps they were trying to signal their readiness, their allegiance to him, but it honestly just came off as cowardice. To be fair, sometimes cowardice was a good thing to see in a subordinate.

“Attempting some sort of high-concept appeal is new for Yamamoto,” Aizen sighed boredly. “Hopefully it will at least be amusing in its feebleness.”

But when the small figure, the crude form of a woman shaped from molten rock, emerged into the clearing, as the flames wreathing its form fizzled down to glowing coals, it became clear that this was not some sort of construct, not some sort of simulacrum designed to elicit sympathies for a woman Aizen had never seen as anything more than an amusing plaything.

“Kill her,” Aizen demanded.

Gin was faster, of course, but Tousen was hardly far behind.

“Oh,” said the lava thing in the voice of Hinamori Momo, as she looked down to see her midsection skewered from two directions. “Well, that’s convenient. I was wondering how I was going to get you to touch me with your sword, Captain Tousen.”

And then, faster than he would have expected, streams of magma erupted from her, engulfing both zanpakutou, curling in great waves around his subordinates and cooling nearly instantaneously into rock.

“You didn’t even go to shikai, though,” Momo sighed, because it was Momo, but a Momo extrapolated to some impossible endstate, a Momo who had somehow found her own power, despite the years Aizen had spent chipping away at the foundations of her psyche. “I had to go to all the trouble of talking to Captain Zaraki to find out how he beat you, and I didn’t even need to! I wasn’t expecting such close conditions, although I suppose I shouldn’t complain about something that went so heavily to my advantage.”

Aizen’s eyes darted from Tousen to Gin and back again, as the rock consumed their faces, leaving only their eyes and noses exposed.

“I should kill you both, for what you’ve done to Captain Aizen,” Hinamori tried to growl, sounding no more threatening than a nursery school teacher. “But I’m not like you. You’ll just have to face justice back in Soul Society.”

Aizen’s mind worked frantically. This was unexpected, but not insurmountable. Momo had…was this her bankai? It had to be, her reiatsu was far beyond what he ever dreamed she was capable of. Fortunately, her brain capacity seemed to be at its usual dismal levels.

“Lieutenant Hinamori!” he gasped. “Oh, you’ve come for me! I knew that no one would believe--”

“I’m sorry if you’re talking to me right now, Captain,” Hinamori interrupted. “Or if I’m talking too loud. I’ve sabotaged all my sensory organs, you see. I know you aren’t yourself right now, and I couldn’t run the risk of you using Kyouka Suigetsu on me. I don’t know if Total Hypnosis extends into the infrared, but I am betting that my perception in that realm exceeds your ability to convincingly manipulate it.”

Aizen grabbed for his sword, when scorching heat blossomed in his chest at the base of his sternum.

“Oh, wonderful, it did work!” Momo exclaimed.

“Bakudo 81! Dankuu!” Aizen wheezed out, the translucent ward snapping into place in front of him.

“Sorry, Captain! Dankuu works by creating a thin vacuum field which disrupts the casting line of most kidou spells. But you see, my power is radiative in nature, it works just fine through a vacuum.”

“Hrnnngh,” Aizen managed as he doubled over in pain, scrabbling at the skin of his mid-section. He was dimly aware of Momo moving toward him with the graceful and yet entirely unnatural locomotion of a bunraku puppet. “I can heat any sort of rock up to and over its melting point,” Momo explained, although Aizen was hardly in the mood to pay attention. “I knew the Hougyoku was crystalline in structure, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to affect it.”

“No…” Aizen grunted. “A simple being like you would never be able to destroy it.”

Momo laughed, a pretty, silvery sound. “Oh, Captain Aizen, even though I can’t hear you, I bet I can guess what you just said! ‘An ordinary person, even in bankai, couldn’t destroy the Hougyoku.’ I can see your surprise through your changes in body temperature, you know. I can see how impressed you are with me right now, but I can’t help it, I just have to ruin the magic and tell you my clever little trick! I’m not going to destroy the Hougyoku, I’m just trying to get it out of you so you can think clearly again. You’re right, of course, it wouldn’t let me do this if I intended to destroy it, but it doesn’t mind being burned out of a host. You had planned to burn it out Ms. Kuchiki with the Soukyoku. Renji told me so. It’s bad, Captain, can’t you see? It makes you do horrible things! I’m sure that killing the Central 46 was Captain Ichimaru’s doing, but you tried to kill Miss Kuchiki. You tried to kill Renji, too, and that poor ryouka boy. I forgive you for trying to kill me, because that’s how I knew you were being controlled. My captain would never hurt me. And that’s how I was able to dig down deep into myself and find my bankai. I mean…Renji got bankai. I can do anything Renji can do. At first they were watching me very closely, but you were the one who taught me to tell when I’m being observed, how to be so boring that your watchers lose interest in you. I’ll tell you all about it later, when this is all over.”

She crouched next to him, heat pouring off of her, the sharp smell of hot metal filling his nose.

“I’ve been trying to forgive you for pretending to be dead and scaring me, but that’s been a little harder. I’m sure I’ll be able to eventually, although…well an apology couldn’t hurt.”

The pain was blinding, overwhelming. His vision was beginning to blacken around the edges. Even if he could bring to mind any kidou that could defend against this, there was no way he could cast it in this state. Desperately, he reached out to the Hougyoku itself. I know you have begun to awake! he begged. I am the one who will bring you the greatest glory! You must come to my aid!

The Hougoku remained silent.

“Don’t worry, Captain! I’ve thought all of this out! By heating the Hougyoku directly it will burn away the minimum amount of your flesh necessary to loosen itself. I promise I will heal you up promptly as soon as it’s free!”

Things went a bit black after that, and when he came to again, there was something hard and heavy covering the lower part of his face, and he couldn’t move his hands or feet.

Momo was leaning over him. For the first time, he was able to get a good look at her. Her face was off-putting, too stiff, too constructed, like a Noh mask. Maybe he hadn’t noticed before, or maybe she had just grown them, but a trio of prongs protruded from her head, likes horns or, perhaps a crown. Two more sprouted from each shoulder. Seven, of course, a seven-branched sword. Her body was mostly black, with shifting veins of violet and ruby beneath her gently drifting tectonic plates. Maybe it had been reflections from Yamamoto’s flames earlier, but he had sworn that she had been more…reddish orange…before…

“Oh, good, you’re awake now!” She sighed. “I’m sorry Captain, but I wasn’t able to plan for everything. I thought that if I held myself to a high enough internal temperature, I could make an internal pocket of atomized air that could safely hold the Hougyoku. You know. Without it trying to merge with me.”

Aizen tried to grab at his chest, at the place where the Hougyoku had nestled inside him, a star, gently dreaming. But he couldn’t move his arms. A finger of rock held his tongue to the floor of his mouth, cuffs of it bound the kidou vents in his wrists, pins of it stabbed the pressure points in his back that paralyzed his soul chain.

“I think it will be okay, though,” Momo went on, whether to reassure him or herself was unclear. “The Hougyoku seems very happy. I don’t have a heart in this form, so it has nothing to compete with. It says it’s going to grant my greatest wish. But my greatest wish, Captain Aizen, is just for you to come home again, safe and sound and for everyone to understand that none of this was your fault! So don’t you worry about anything, Captain. I’ll take care of it all.”

#what if requests #my writing #momo hinamori #oh look another unsufferable man faces his comeuppance imagine that #i promise the next one will be Nice #shoutout to troius whose 'bankai is what you need it to be' theory now lives rent-free in my brain #which in this case mostly applies to the extreme heat #but being unstabbable is honestly a pretty nice bonus #just be clear bc momo gets a lot of hate: i love momo and wrote this with nothing but affection in my heart #do you think i would let a character monologue like this if they weren't one of my absolute faves? #let a girl be a little unhinged. you know. for a treat.

[emerald-chaos]

Touchdown

*gif not mine, credit goes to the owner*

I just want to take a moment to say thank you for the love on my last fic! It made my lil ole heart swell to see that peopled enjoyed it enough to leave a like or reblog.

This is just something special I had in my arsenal that I wrote for a friend a few months ago. I touched it up a bit and added a few things here and there. It all started when we were talking about how much we loved when Chris' accent got heavier after he'd been drinking, and well, I couldn't help myself lol. I hope you enjoy the fluff! xoxo

I apologize for any grammatical errors, I tried to proof-read but am also a little exhausted lol.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Word Count: 2844

Warnings: I don't think there's anyway? Mentions of being drunk/drinking alcohol, cursing, and illusions to sexy times, but that's about it.

You hadn’t noticed how furiously your knee was bouncing up and down until the person sitting next to you on the subway got up to move seats once the train squealed to a stop. You sighed and ran your hands down the front of your thighs. Normally being a little late didn’t bother you as much, but tonight you were meeting him.

You flipped your wrist over to check your watch. 8:30pm. In all honesty, it had probably been only thirty seconds later than when you checked it the last time. Another deep sigh escaped from your lips as you started to become hyper aware of the train remaining still at the current stop. What could possibly be taking so long? You knew he wouldn’t care if you were running late, but the time the two of you had together already felt so minuscule. You wanted to capitalize on every second you could.

The train began moving again and you slumped back into your seat, feeling only a small amount of relief. It was becoming painfully apparent that you needed to try and relax. You could feel the sweat building up on your body, the sting on your palms from where your fingernails were pressing in with a vengeance moments ago, and you could hear your heart thumping in your ears. Your hand dug around in your purse for a few moments before finding the small case you were looking for. Opening it, you slipped your headphones into your ears and let your head rest on the window behind you as music intertwined with your thoughts.

Once upon a time, you made fun of people who decided to go to grad school. What kind of a clown would spend thousands of MORE dollars and go BACK to school?? Not to mention the stress of the assignments, the due dates - it was not for you...or so you thought.

Now here you are, a regular booboo the fool.

NYU’s graduate program for design and merchandising wasn’t necessarily part of your 5-year plan, but when the opportunity landed in front of you it was difficult to pass up. NYU was a school you had only dreamt of attending back in high school. When you were a senior in high school you were able to tour the campus and fell in love immediately. Hours upon hours were spent researching grants, scholarships, and all sorts of ways to try to make it happen. However, the dream ended as most teenage dreams do - crushed. There was no way you or your parents could afford the loans that it would surely wrack up to attend the out of state university, and there was no way you could ask your parents take on that kind of debt just so you could go to college. UMass was the way to go - close to home and familiar. Not to mention you were able to obtain several scholarships and grants that helped bring down the cost tremendously. Little did you know, boring ole UMass would bring you one of the most important things in your life.

Applying for graduate school wasn’t an easy decision and one you couldn’t really take all the credit for. A smile crept across your face as you reminisced on the night you nervously brought up the idea to your long-term boyfriend.

“I think you should do it,”

“I know, right?” you scoffed, “it’s insane, why would I do something so stup...wait, what? You do?”

“Of course I do. This is something you love and that you’re passionate about. Do you know how many hours of my life were spent listening to you ramble about NYU?” he questioned with a grin.

“It will open up so many doors for you. We can make things work,” a chuckle escaped from those beautiful lips as he saw your dumbfounded expression. He wrapped his fingers around your waist and pulled you close, “What? Did you expect me to forbid it? Cmon, baby, what kind of guy do you take me for?”

You didn’t have a lot of wins in your life, but you did have Chris.

When you got accepted, he took off a week from work to drive you 3 and a half hours south to help get you settled and moved into your temporary new home. The two of you ate a disgusting amount of pizza, moved a ridiculous amount of heavy furniture in the middle of a summer heat wave, and enjoyed each other’s company before the long-distance thing would set in. Chris spent that week encouraging you every step of the way, talking you off the ledge when you were convinced you had made the wrong decision, and made sure to help you christen every possible surface of your new place in the most deliciously sinful way.

You bit your lip slightly at the thought and a warm feeling spread across your face. Chris was one of the most incredible people you had met in this world. Kind, caring, funny, intelligent, passionate, and god was he sexy. The connection the two of you had was scary at first, but now you just couldn’t imagine spending your life with anyone else.

The robotic voice came over the loud-speaker in the subway car and you were rudely ripped back to reality as it pulled into your stop. You hurriedly scooped up your bag and jogged off the train.

It had been a promise between the two of you when you moved that there would be equal effort when it came to visiting and keeping in contact while having good, open communication. Long distance was hard but the two of you were determined to make it work. FaceTime calls, hours upon hours of texting, and even as far as writing the occasional letter back and forth (because your boyfriend was a hopeless romantic and you loved it so much). This weekend was your turn to come home to visit, and of course your last class had to go longer than anticipated. Fuckin’ Tiffany and her stupid ass questions.

The muscles of your calves burned as you kept up your hurried pace, weaving through the crowds of people gathered on sidewalks outside of various clubs and restaurants. It was a weekend night and the Patriots were playing, which meant the city was more alive than usual. New York was it's own beast, but it was a different type of hustle and bustle. Nights like these made your heart ache for home - the thick Massachusetts accents, the rowdy voices of bar patrons arguing about the game, the hugs shared between family members as they parted after dinner, and the faint smell of nicotine and alcohol that hung in the air.

As the neon sign that hung in the pub window came in to view you felt your heart dip down into your stomach. Last weekend’s visit had to be cancelled due to some stuff coming up with Chris’ work and a surprise assignment for you, so you hadn’t seen your boyfriend in 2 weeks. With a deep breath you swung open the door and scanned the crowd for him. He told you that he would be there promptly at 7:15pm for pregame shenanigans with his friends - which actually translated to how many pitchers of beer could they suck down before kick off.

“Aw, come ON! That is such a bullshit call!”

You heard him before you saw him. Of course. A grin spread across your lips as you shook your head. The thought of leaving to avoid secondhand embarrassment crossed your mind briefly before you picked up your feet and made your way through the crowd toward the sound. A room full of people from New England and you would still recognize that voice anywhere.

Everyone else seemed to fade away as you saw the outline of the tall, dark haired man standing at the bar. The slight freckles that spattered the back of his neck, the Brady jersey that he spent WAY too much money customizing, and the signature backward ball cap were ingrained in your subconscious memory. Not to mention if you didn’t recognize his outline or his voice, you would definitely recognize that ass anywhere.

You loved how passionate he got about sports and the way his Boston accent seemed to get thicker with each beer he consumed. Growing up in the area, you wouldn't think the accent would send a tingle down your spine the way it does, but it was different - it was Chris. Not to mention the sparkle in his eye when he would watch his favorite team or the way he would get in to arguments whenever someone tried to say something negative about them. You loved your big, handsome, over-sized toddler man so damn much.

A light tap on his shoulder made him whip around, his slightly opened mouth from his interrupted conversation curved upwards into a wicked grin as he made the connection of who was finally standing in front of him.

“Hey there, handsome. I don’t see a ring on your finger. You single?” You grinned, feeling your entire body fill with warmth as Chris leaned back and grabbed his chest as he erupted in laughter.

“Nah, nah, nah, unfortunately for you I am taken” he responded as he snaked his arms around your waist, sliding his hands into your back pockets as he pulled you into his figure.

“That is too bad,” you tsk'd, running a finger down his toned bicep, “she’s one lucky girl.”

“I think I’m the lucky one,” he grinned. He leaned down to meet your lips in a kiss. You sighed into it, allowing your body to mold itself so perfectly into his. The taste of beer on his lips and the smell of his cologne was intoxicating - it was home. You immediately allowed him entrance as you felt his tongue glide along your bottom lip. Your body felt small in his strong grip and you couldn’t help but laugh a bit as he gave your ass a firm squeeze. Normally, this type of bold, public display of affection would make you cringe away but at this point you were lost in Chris that you had absolutely no shame. Each time the two of you embraced had always felt like the first. Your heart still fluttered and your knees still got weak, like you were a 16 year old being kissed for the first time.

In the middle of your reunion moment, however, something happened in the game that made the entire bar erupt in boo’s and curses. Chris lifted his lips from yours to look over his shoulder and inspect what he had missed. You laughed and shook your head as you pushed him back towards his friends and took a seat in the bar stool he had been standing behind initially. His large hands found a natural place on your shoulders. While his eyes remained glued on the TV he began applying a moderate amount of pressure to your neck and shoulders. You didn’t realize how much your body craved that touch, his touch, until you immediately melted back into him.

The bartender slid a beer in front of you with a wink and you mouthed your thanks. You felt a twinge in your heart as you looked around, taking in the atmosphere of the bar. This was a typical weekend night for the two of you whenever you were living together. Football, drinks, pub food, and friends. If it wasn’t this pub it was your living room, just a couple blocks away. You didn’t even mind that it was your first night back and you weren’t alone, spending it immediately wrapped up in your satin sheets. The atmosphere, the people - it was so warm and familiar that you really wouldn’t rather be doing anything else. Plus, being wrapped up together in the sheets was sure to follow.

“I missed you,” hummed a pair of lips as they placed a kiss on the shell of your ear. A shiver shot down your spine at the sensation of his warm breath fanning over your neck. You reached up a hand and connected it to the nape of his neck.

“I missed you too,” you replied, turning your head to plant a kiss on his stubbled cheek.

His arms changed position as he wrapped them in front of your shoulders and crossed them, resting his chin on the top of your head. Your hand absentmindedly rubbed his forearms as you nursed your beer and placed your focus onto the game for the first time tonight.

The laughter seemed to escape from your chest naturally and effortlessly the entire night, as it always had a habit of doing when Chris was around. The camaraderie between him and his buddies during a game was something you’d grown to enjoy over the years. Chris’ competitive nature and the way his jaw clenched when something wasn’t going the way he wanted was always kinda...hot. All of his friends were huge assholes, but in the best way. It was always entertaining to hear them jab at each other and do what they could to rile someone up. They were the life of every party you had ever attended and they had a way of making a boring night a lot more interesting.

Thankfully (for the integrity of the bar) the Pats won the game with a surprise touchdown in the last 30 seconds of the game. Chris, being the guy he is, bought a final round for his friends and a nearby group they had been going back and forth with all night. You couldn’t help but laugh as he drunkenly leaned across the counter and slurred his order to the bartender.

“I need a round for m’friends and for these assholes over here who thought Tom Brady was anything but a winner!” the group started yelling in protest and he simply waved them off and started sliding beers down the bar.

The group eventually moved to a bigger round top so everyone could shoot the shit and banter about the outcome of the game. You were tucked into Chris’ side, hands intertwined as he was passionately discussing the importance of Brady’s legacy with a stranger who made the mistake of stopping to talk to him. Your eyes followed the motion of your thumb as it traced small circles onto the back of his. Your other hand under your chin, holding up the weight of your head as your exhaustion started to catch up with you. Chris, although slightly drunk, picked up on your body language and raised your hand to his lips for a kiss.

“Alright, fellas,” he said as he stood up from his seat, pulling you up with him, “the lady and I are gonna call it a night. See you boys next weekend”.

“Chris, we don’t have to go,” you began to protest as he tucked his jacket around your shoulders.

“Mm, ‘course we do,” he replied with a soft smile, “you’re so tired, baby. I can see it in those beautiful eyes”.

You could feel your cheeks turn a light shade of pink as you rolled your eyes at his attempt at laying it on thick. After what felt like a proper 10 minute goodbye session, the group said their final goodbyes, hugs included, and you walked out of the pub hand in hand.

The walk home was filled with the sounds of cars passing by and conversation of what each other had missed in the week prior. Small talk typically felt like such a chore, but with Chris every conversation came naturally. Even when he had absolutely no idea what you were talking about, he would listen intently and ask all the questions as if it was the most interesting conversation in the world.

The lock on the apartment door clicked as you pushed it open and entered. You smiled as you stopped into the middle of the living room, taking in the home you missed so dearly. A soft tapping of toenails against the hardwood made your heart soar as you met the eyes of your sweet pup, Dodger. A squeal left your lips as you squatted down to give love to the sweet boy. Chris always made fun of you when you came home, saying that you always seemed to miss Dodger more than you did him and I mean, he wasn’t entirely wrong about that statement.

Once again lost in your own world, you didn’t even notice Chris leaned up against the wall watching you with a smile.

“Oh my god,” you gushed, standing up, “do you like...like me or something?”

Chris grinned as he crossed the room and caught your belt loop with his finger, pulling you into him slowly.

“Yeah,” his voice had dropped down an octave, “you could say that”.

“Mm,” your tongue swiped across your lower lip and you wrapped your arms around his neck, “care to show me how much?”

The look in his eyes made your core burn. The tension building between you two became too much to handle as you crashed your lips into his. The kisses were messy and you could feel the sense of urgency between you two. His beard scratched against the column of your throat with a delicious burn as he left wet kisses across your jaw and down the side of your neck. Chris’ hands found their way back into the ass pockets of your jeans as he started walking you back towards the direction of the bedroom.

Soon, there was a trail of clothes leading to your bedroom and you felt very sorry for your neighbors. It had been a long time, but Chris always had a way of welcoming you home.

#eeeeeeee #i love soft drunk boston frat chris so much it pains me #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans #chris evans headcanons #chris evans imagines #chris evans fic #chris evans fluff #chris evans x you #chris evans x y/n #chris evans/reader #chris evans/you #fluff #imagines #headcanons

[lululawrence]

Can u please be nicer on ao3? Maybe you should try answering people's comments

when i read the first line i was honestly flabbergasted and wracking my brain trying to figure out when in the world i wasn't nice on ao3 ever. because i honestly truly try to be nice to everyone always, even when i'm angry or frustrated or people are going after those i love and want to protect. if there was a time i WASN'T nice on ao3, i wondered if it was maybe because my comment had been misunderstood or someone saw me razzing an author i'm good friends with and they didn't get that we are close and i said what i did with so much love and appreciation, you know? like what??? did i do???

but then i read your second line. and please forgive me if i come off as rude in my response to this, because honestly i'm in a pretty bad spot mentally and emotionally in general right now, but PARTICULARLY today, and this ask triggered an anxiety response in me. so. i'm trying really hard to word this in a way to educate without being condescending or mean, but i might not succeed.

firstly, thank you for your comments i'm assuming you've left. i'm also assuming they were nice comments, in which case extra thanks. i'm sure i'll send you effusive responses on ao3 when the time comes.

secondly, please understand that sending an ask like this, on anonymous no less, is incredibly entitled. writing is not my profession, i receive no compensation for my works that i post for free online, and as a part of that it is not required of me to respond. i do my very best to reply to every comment i receive, but it is not always in a timely manner, because i have other priorities in my life. all of which leads us to my third point, which is:

writers do not owe you a reply to your comments. end of. there are no other qualifications or quantifying modifiers to be added to the statement. is it nice to be acknowledged and know your comment was seen? sure. but do they OWE you one? hell no.

in fact, i'd like to offer you a suggestion. a way of tweaking your thinking about the comments you leave on fics. instead of looking at comments you leave as being something that deserves a reply from the author, think of your comments as your way of paying the author for the gift of their time and talents that they have shared with you by posting their fic. that's how i think of the comments i leave for authors. i'm giving them my thanks for the words they've shared! i want to help THEM feel as amazing as they have made ME feel when i read their fic. in fact, my hope isn't necessarily a response from them, but instead my hope is THE GIFT OF THEM SHARING MORE FIC WITH ME. i'm a selfish bitch in that way and i always want all the fic to read. i never want that well to go dry. one way i can ensure that doesn't happen is by supporting authors and being kind to them and spreading all the love and excitement i can about their writing in the hopes that my words will inspire them to share more.

because whether they reply or not, i GUARANTEE they are seeing your comments. i PROMISE they are. and for all you know, your comment might be the one that keeps them writing even when their words aren't coming easily or when they are tempted to give up.

but, again, please remember that no matter what, these authors (including me) don't actually owe you anything.

the rest of this is going under a cut, because honestly my reply is already far too long and i have a LOT more to say now that you've gotten me started.

now, all of this in mind, i'll explain to you why i'm not great with keeping up with comments made on my fics the last couple of years. i don't owe you this explanation any more than i owe you a response to your comments, and i'm honestly not sure you deserve this explanation either, but i'll still offer it anyway. it'll help me feel better knowing i at least put this out there, whether you care or not, mainly because if i don't do that it will cause me greater anxiety having you possibly think i am not responding to people because i feel all high and mighty or that i think i'm better than the comments or whatever the fuck kind of motivation you're attributing to me to see my lack of a response as something "not nice" towards the commenters.

i'm not sure if you've noticed, but i put out a lot of fic. like a lot. a lot of words and shit. i love writing, it's often my therapy and a way for me to help keep my anxiety and depression and ptsd at bay.

now, more personal shit for you, i've got three kids ages 9 and under. the oldest has adhd which we have yet to find a med for that helps to the extent she needs without side effects that aren't healthy for her to continue with, she also has anxiety, AND she's extremely gifted and starting a new program at a new school, all in the midst of a pandemic. and all of those situations exacerbate her anxiety! huzzah! she's also dealing with the beginning of her tween growing up shit, which is great fun because it means where she used to be pretty damn understanding of her younger brother, she is finding it much more difficult to. because the second oldest? he's autistic with some pretty significant gross motor, speech, and socialization delays that have only been exacerbated because of the previously mentioned pandemic. PLUS he transitioned from his special needs preschool to a fully integrated elementary school for kindergarten last year and then had to deal with all the ups and downs of the switch from e-learning to hybrid to all in schooling when everything in him screams for a normal schedule he can rely on to keep his own anxieties and fears and struggles at their minimum. and that youngest child? he was born in january of last year. he STILL barely leaves the house and has only met other children in close range a couple of times because, once again, pandemic!

add onto all of this my own mental health issues, the fact that my husband ALSO battles major clinical depression, adhd, and anxiety, AND we live with my parents who have their own health issues, both mental and physical. i run the home for our house of seven. i keep this place functioning, fed, clothed, clean, and everywhere we need to be for all of our five million appointments every. fucking. day. there is a REASON i've been borderline burnt out for the last fucking year and a half.

now, for fun, i have fandom shit. i love it here, even if it is a dumpster fire on the best of days, and getting to be a part of the writing community is so very lovely. i adore it. honestly, it's because of those friendships i've built with other writers that i have been able to keep writing and have found just how helpful it can be for my mental health. but i'm REALLY. INCREDIBLY. BUSY. i hardly have time to get on tumblr for just a quick swipe through my dash most days. i put off asks so long i forget i have them. i don't have the mental and emotional capacity to talk to people on here or interact fully a lot of the time. but i do my best to do so and be kind while i'm at it even when i don't want to be.

then, on top of that? i also run fic fests like @wordplayfics and help friends run their own. because not only am i a writer, i'm a reader. i LOVE fic. fic has saved me soooooo many times over the past seven years that i've been here. i want to do what i can to support other writers the best way i can, which is to provide a space for them to create their works that welcomes and helps promote them, but also by doing my monthly fic lists and pocast highlighting what i've been able to read, reblogging their fic posts, and then commenting and kudosing their fics too.

sometimes i get really fucking down on myself because i'm so behind on replying to comments, but my brain is very much a "if you start this, you have to finish it" kind of a brain, and i feel even WORSE sometimes if i reply to comments on some fics and not all of them. but i do my best and reply when i can. i was actually really fucking proud of myself because i had a couple days to myself in june, and i spent hours replying to comments on 20 of my fics. when you have almost 150 fics (i think? i don't even know how many fics i've posted by now), that is only scratching the surface. but i tried and i was so so happy i did that many fics at once. it's exhausting, though, and takes a lot of spoons for me to reply to them in mass like that plus time consuming. so i tried to be happy with those 20 fics and the comments i responded to there and told myself that when i ha a moment to breathe, i'd go and work on replying to some more.

but see, that again causes anxiety and guilt. because i haven't replied to all of them. and that anxiety and guilt can cause me to put it off further OR to put off important things like feeding my children or getting sleep in order to finish it, so i have to make myself put things into perspective and ensure i'm doing the important things, like taking care of myself and my family, first.

and then, i have a moment where i CAN go ahead and reply to comments... but i also have MANY fics that are on deadline and i actually have a schedule. a SCHEDULE. for when i'm going to focus on which fics. i can spell it out for you if you really want. i made it back in APRIL to make sure i didn't sign up for too many fic fests because there are so many going on right now that i want to participate in, but i know i can't do all of them so i had to pick and choose. and when you are SO overscheduled and busy that back in APRIL you had to figure out what fics you would focus on at what time to ensure you got everything written when you wanted to through THE END OF THE YEAR, more choices have to be made.

for example. my writing time and time for myself came down to only one evening a week for ALL fandom things i'm doing and a part of right now once the kids were out of school for the summer. it quickly became apparent that for my own self care i needed more time, so i worked with my husband to find two other days i could carve out at least 30-60 minutes to myself to write every week. and i did. but if i'm already only getting that much time and have committed to those fics and fests and things that you're running etc, you have to choose am i going to use this time to try to squeeze in some comment replies? or am i going to write? and i choose to write. simple as that.

so yeah. see it as selfish if you want. see it as mean. you can honestly see it as whatever the fuck you want, but for me? i know that as soon as i possibly can and i can breathe freely for once and not feel like i am constantly drowning in my day to day life and am doing pretty well when it comes to my fic deadlines and getting started on those christmas cards i'm once again going to be making by hand for everyone on tumblr who chooses to sign up for one this year out of the KINDNESS of my heart and the love i really do feel for so many of you, then i promise i'll be on ao3 catching up and commenting. my friends laugh and make fun of me for it sometimes, because they will sometimes get 10-12 replies to their comments in a single day. they know that's how i work. i WILL reply to every single comment i get, no matter how old it is. but for the love of all that is holy, do NOT add to the anxiety and guilt i already feel over it. the only place that will get you is the ask/comment getting deleted if it's a good day, a fucking long rant like this one if it's not, and a block if it's a REALLY bad day.

if you're asking me to be nice on ao3, then i ask in return that you also be nice by not demanding things of people that they are not in any way obligated to give.

#long post #rant #i almost deleted this #but you sent it on just the right day and instead i let loose #this is unedited and unbetaed lmao but ENJOY #or don't #whatever #writing stuff #i should tag it #writing SHIT #but that's not really a tag i keep cause who wants to keep track of the negatives #not me

[down-in-devildom]

Hi I saw you where looking for requests. What if one of the lower demons is a doubleganger or copy cat? That they change to look identical to mc.

How would the obey me characters (beside levi) react to seeing both mc and doubleganger at the same time?

Thank you

Thank you for the request! Let's get this bread, as they say.

Brothers react to MC and Doppelganger Demon in the same area

Cw: implied violence, implied cannibalism

Lucifer

When Lucifer saw MC's head peak in from the doorframe of his study with a tea platter, he is instantly on high alert but you can't really tell from just a glance at his face

He turns his head to the other MC that is currently going through his cursed vinyl collection and slowly stands up from his desk

He doesn't really bother with questions before instantly grabbing the MC that was too distracted looking through his stuff to sense the impending danger

Being one of the strongest demons in the Devildom, it is a bit difficult to trick him with simple glimmer spells and shape shifting

He was a bit ashamed to admit that he was too engrossed in his paperwork to pay attention the the aura that the MC lookalike was giving off

Lucifer has the imposter bound and gagged in the corner of the room in a flash before he is making his way to you to take a quick tea break

Do not mind the eerily identical person wiggling and crying against their bindings on the floor, MC, he would never do that to you....

Mammon

As a demon that is practically glued to MC's side, he is almost floored when he sees two MCs

"Now I gotta protect two of ya?"

He isn't really complaining about the idea of double of his favorite human

He also thought about showing off the two MCs in some kind of human showcase for a quick Grimm. Lesser Demons don't get to see humans often but how much would you bet that they would pay to see twin humans?!?

Things were going great until the doppelganger starts treating him like his brothers and every other demon

He can take the hurtful words most of the time but he can't really handle it when it is coming out of MC's mouth

He will most likely have to redeem a "favor" a witch owes him to help get rid of the imposter

He likes MC a bit too much to hurt them, even if they are a fake

Satan

When MC is out in the gardens crouched down playing with on of the stray cats in the area, he is on edge and it shows (kind of looks like a puffed up bird)

He literally just saw MC in the library and lent them some of his study material after they asked for it

Satan is a well educated demon and knows about the existence of doppelgangers but never witnessed it firsthand...that he knows of

He takes this opportunity to stalk observe the MC in the garden and compare their behavior with the experiences he remembers having with the MC in the past

He is pretty sure he knows which MC is the real one but his suspicions are confirmed when the two MCs bump into each other on the front entrance steps and the Garden MC looks shocked while the Library MC's reaction is a lot more subdued

Sooner, rather than later, there is only one MC left. What happened to the doppelganger? Hmmm, I'll leave that to your imagination

Asmodeus

"Yay! Now there are two MCs to pay attention to me~"

Asmo had just entered The Fall when he saw two MCs looking directly at each other in various stages of shock

To be honest, it would be really impractical to say Asmo hasn't had some experience with doppelgangers with how magnatising he is and his willingness to try new things

Asmo wouldn't be that suprised that some demon was trying to impersonate his cute human because just look at them!!

Because Asmo knows all the finer and slightly intimate details of MC, he would be able to tell the difference between the two with such a minutiae detail as a typically wayward strand of hair on MC's head twisted just the slightest too much

Asmo wouldn't necessarily do anything to the doppelganger himself but he would be quick to give all his attention to the real MC and ignore the fake if they were just trying to use their looks to get closer to him. Punishment served, right?

Beelzebub

Beelzebub was going to the kitchen at night for his routine fridge clean out when he notices MC had already beaten him there

He wasn't really against sharing his snacks but he kind of grows concerned when he watches MC consume a LOT more food than usual. They are eating almost as much as a demon which is kind of unheard of

Beel was just about to approach the fridge to grab something for himself when he sees MC reach for his precious pudding

Beel was going to do the unspeakable and let them have it when he sees another MC enter the kitchen while rubbing the sleep from their eyes

Beel is immediately in his demon form and takes a good sniff of the pudding stealer and can tell that this was NOT his human

The doppelganger was gone before the real MC's eyes were focused enough to even register there was a problem. Beel seems to be picking some bones out of his teeth though so they guess he already got to the leftover shadow hog, huh

Belphegor

When two MCs showed up at his favorite napping spot under at tree in RAD's courtyard, Belphie was too tired to bother with asking questions and just wanted his lap pillow to join him already

When he demanded that they both stop wasting time and sit down, the MCs look at each other with some suspicion and sit on either side of him

Belphie picks a lap at random and plops his head down, burying his head into their stomach

When MC was uncharacteristically stiff, Belphie huffed and got up to change laps. When this MC started to play with his hair gently as they usually did, Belphie shots the imposter a look from his barely cracked eyes

The doppelganger is quick to pardon themselves with some lame fairwell and excuses about one of the other brothers calling them or whatever and run off

Belphie doesn't have the energy to looking the situation right then when his favorite pillow was primed and ready for him, but he does reach out into his dream realm that night and torments the poor imitator with vivid nightmares for months to come

---------

I hope you enjoyed and thank you again for the request! Still open to accepting more prompts so feel free to reach out!

-Leo

#obey me headcanons #obey me requests #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me belphegor #obey me satan #obey me beelzebub #obey me asmodeus #shall we date mammon #shall we date belphegor #shall we date lucifer #shall we date satan #shall we date asmodeus #shall we date beelzebub #cw cannibalism #cw violence

[euphxricedits]

Take Me Far Away (AlcinaXReader)

4.5k words

(Warning: Mentions of death)

Chapter 1; Newcomer

Cool air brushed along your smooth skin, your heart beating gently within your chest. You slowly begin to waken due to the light from the sun shining through the small crack of your heavy and mostly closed eyelids. You gently grasp the wool blanket you had placed over your lower half the night before to keep yourself from getting too chilly as you sat there on a creaky, old wooden chair, a cushion being the only thing giving you any amount of comfort, your feet propped up onto a stool. You often allowed yourself to sit outside and watch the stars as you drift off into unconsciousness. It was the only amount of relaxation you were gifted with.

You place your hands gently against both arm rests, giving yourself some assistance sitting up. You reach behind your neck, gently rubbing out the knot that had formed from you sleeping with your neck crooked for the most of the night. Your skin was cold to the touch. Your mouth waters, your eyes widening a bit as your senses were completely consumed with a delicious aroma, breakfast.

Gently moving your feet from the stool, you removed the blanket that covered you. Your feet touch the cold stone, sending shivers throughout your body - a small gasp escaping your rosy lips, probably should have worn some slippers to cover your feet. Your body tenses as you hurriedly walk towards the door to your room, wanting to escape the cold feeling beneath your feet.

As you enter your room, with your peripheral vision you see a figure standing by the foot of your bed. It was Andreea, your personal maid. Your feet stop in their tracks as this woman seemed to be looking you up and down, was she ashamed? Definitely so. You were sick and were yet still allowing yourself to do everything that Doctor Fischer forbid you to do. You walk towards your bed after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"My Lady, You know Lord Varon would not approve of you being out all night, exposed to the piercing cold. It is not good for your health." Andreea informed you, rather stern in fact. Andreea is an older woman, in her 60's. She was one of the only people you could tolerate to be around. She followed your movements as you made your way towards the black clothes that she had displayed for you on your bed.

You couldn't help but let out a dejected sigh - looking over the fabric, gently using only your fingertips, you lazily caress the smooth surface of the gown. Of course you knew the cold was poor for your health, most days you complied with your doctor's requests, but other times, you just felt the need to inhale the fresh, cool air. Your eyes glossed over as you knew the event that was awaiting you, your father's funeral. Your father's death was sudden and the cause of death was ruled an accident. Your father, Petru Floarescu, was a prideful man. He wasn't necessarily kind but he got matters and issues resolved at any extent. On the evening of his death, he had gone gambling with a few other Lords. The night turned sour and - according to the man in charge of the autopsy - your father 'accidentally' toppled over the railing while on the second floor balcony, harming himself in such a way that caused him to die instantly. Of course you were never convinced it was an accident. Your father was one of the richest and most powerful men in this part of the country. You knew how vindictive and greedy the fellow Lords were around these parts. If given the right opportunity, you knew that any man would have had your father heaved and pushed off that balcony. The actions of these greedy men resulted in you becoming an orphan.

Your mother, Marilena Floarescu, had passed away during childbirth - your birth. It was a difficult matter but you grew up well with the help of Andreea. She had practically raised you ever since you were but an infant. Now you were married and she moved with you into this old, lifeless castle nearly six dreadful years ago, living with your husband was definitely not easy. You never liked the man - you never really approved being in the presence of any man besides your father. They were all filthy and perverse, in your opinion.

Nicolae, your husband, was not a kind or gentle man. He didn't seem to care about anything that was not his friends or his money. You were arranged to marry him - without an option, as most women were with your status. Your father was a Lord who married you off to the son of another rich :ord. You resented Nicolae but there was nothing you could do about such a thing, so you focused on other matters such as your painting and music. You loved music, you adored music.

Your attention was taken from your dress as the woman beside you cleared her throat. You quickly glanced over towards her. She could tell by your facial expressions that your mind was running wild with intrusive thoughts.

"Lord Varon wants you to get dressed and meet him for breakfast before you make way to your father's funeral, my Lady." She calmly told you.

You rolled your eyes, looking away at the thought. What could he possibly want to speak to you about? He never even cared for you or your father. He only ever spoke of how foolish your father was. Little did Nicolae know, but he was the foolish of them all - but you weren't about to tell that to him, or maybe you should. "He probably only wishes to see me so he can talk to me more about my father's money that he is to inherit." You snapped a bit, not at the other woman as she had done nothing wrong. You were just frustrated over the entire situation, as you were a woman in this world, you were never to receive these lands unless you were married, therefore making those lands your husbands, not actually yours. Thankfully Andreea knew all too well of the circumstances and completely understood, remaining silent.

You slipped off your robe before Andreea helped you remove your night gown. As you put on this black dress, your mind kept sinking to the horrid thoughts of your father's death, you were going to get answers as to the true events that occurred.

Once you were dressed and your long brown hair was put into an elegant up-do, you made your way towards the dining hall where you were to meet with him. Your heart dreaded seeing him as all he ever did was point out your flaws and practically mock your existence. That or he would simply go on about his friends, whom you had gathered enough knowledge about to know they were not the best influences.

You gently placed your hand against the wooden railing as you descended from the stairs, your lungs felt as though you were about to fall into a coughing fit. The red carpet covering your stairs, preventing your shoes from making too much noise, Andreea following close behind. She was told to stay with you everywhere until you were of good health as Nicolae didn't want the responsibility, which you preferred for you despised being in each other's presence.

As you approached the door to the dining hall. You watched him as he downs a glass of alcohol - typical. He didn't seem to notice your entrance for he was startled when your seat was pulled out for you by, Marius, the family butler. You nodded your head towards the man as if saying 'thank you'. Marius reciprocated the smile before helping you take your seat, pushing in your chair.

Nicolae stood there, watching you with greedy eyes as he placed his now empty glass onto the dark wooden table, creating a loud clank. He apparently seemed to be in a foul mood, shocking to you as he was getting everything he wanted, was he not?

Your food was placed before you, along with your medicine to help you with your illness, paired with a glass of water which you were especially thankful as you really needed something to drink. He spoke, finally, causing you to groan internally. Couldn't he just allow you to eat your breakfast in peace? Apparently not.

"I don't wish to be at the funeral very long. I have other matters that I must attend to." He spoke to you as if this day was an inconvenience to him - you averted eye contact as he spoke, just his voice alone made your skin crawl. You hated him. Everything in the life was about him and what he wanted. He never cared about your father and that much was evident, even more so now.

You gently picked up the fork placed beside your glass plate, and began to poke your cooked eggs with disinterest. "If you're so bent on avoiding my fathers funeral, then simply don't attend, you surely won't be missed." You told him in a slightly harsh tone, glancing up at him with your eyes.

He didn't seem to appreciate your tone very much as he glared at you, his eyebrows scrunched together. He takes a few steps around the table, slowly making his way towards you, his left hand balled into a fist as his other caressed the table, inching towards you menacingly.

You slowly stiffened your posture and raised your chin a bit, looking at him through narrowed eyes. He wouldn't dare touch you - not today.

As his presence grew nearer, there was a voice that came from behind you, stopping Nicolae's movements almost instantly, it was Marius. He held a letter in his hand, his index finger gently drumming on the paper as he had a sense of what he just interrupted and prevented. "Forgive me, my Lord." He takes a glance at you before walking towards your husband. Nicolae was standing there with an annoyed expression plastered on his face, his hand held out before him so he could receive the letter. Once the letter was placed into his hand, he slowly turned away so he could read it in - peace? Apparently so, he wouldn't let you or Marius see the contents of that letter.

You would usually care less about his business but seeing as today was certainly important, the curiosity tugged at you. You watched him carefully, looking up at him through your eyelashes as you picked your food up with your fork. You wanted to see if his movements could give off any sign of anxiety or excitement.

After waiting a few agonizing minutes, he turned and gave you his full attention. He closed and folded the letter in his palm, his knuckles turning white from how hard his grasp was. You were slightly amused at how frustrated he seemed to be. He opened his mouth as if he was about to express his discontentment. Yet again, you averted your gaze and the corners of your lips twitched downward.

He let out an exaggerated sigh however, not saying a single word, which irked you a bit as you were sure that letter had something to do with your father.

You didn't press however and finished your food without speaking a single word before Marius spoke up, breaking the deafening silence, his hands formally placed behind his back. "Your carriage has arrived, the driver is waiting just outside." He announced to the both of you.

You placed down your eating utensils hurriedly before wiping your mouth clean with the napkin provided, scooting your chair out and walking towards the main entrance. You didn't care if Nicolae was accompanying you or not - you had a place to be. Your father may not have been the best man but you still felt that he didn't deserve for this day to become anymore tainted than Nicolae was making it.

As you approached the door, Andreea walked up behind you with your coat, gloves and black hat with thin lace material draping down the front, down to your chin to show you were in mourning. You complied as Andreea assisted with your coat before you slipped your fingers into your gloves. It was quite bleak outdoors as there were clouds slowly starting the hide the sun behind their dark grey silhouette. Marius had the hook of the umbrella's handle safely placed onto his forearm, in case it rained, as he opened the doors. Andreea gently takes your hand as you make your way to the carriage.

You glanced towards your husband as he too seemed to be making his way as well, he was probably only going as it would make him look bad to not attend. This man really cared more about his image than the feelings of his own wife. Pathetic - how much of a pity it would be if they all saw who he really was. The driver opened the carriage door for you, allowing you to enter first. As Nicolae took his seat beside you, you happened to look over and notice as he stuffed the letter that he had received into his coat pocket. You narrowed your eyes at the man before turning your attention towards the window at your left. What could have been in that letter? You chewed nervously onto your inner cheek. You needed to find out what that telegram contained and you would.

❀❀❀

The fire crackled as a well dressed Lady Alcina Dimitrescu walked through her chambers, the heat from the fire place making the room rather toasty as she gathered her gloves. The Countess and her husband, Lord Stefan Dimitrescu, were to attend the funeral of a family friend this day. Of course the Countess had no feelings towards the man who had died as she has never personally come in acquaintance with the man but she was obligated to attend either way as her father requested. This man appeared to have been close friends with her father, apparently business partners as well.

Stefan walked into her chambers, which were separate from his, clearing his throat and standing by the door, watching her grab her gloves. Lady Dimitrescu preferred to keep separate chambers as she couldn't tolerate being around her husband, let alone sleep in the same room. "The last of our bags have been brought in from the carriage." He simply informed her, keeping his sentence short as he knew she was tired from travelling to this new town and she already had more obligations, due to her father ordering her to. Of course her father lived back in a small village making and transporting the family wine, the last few months the Countess and her husband had travelled to supply many people with their best wine and make them even wealthier than they were, which was completely unnecessary considering how they were by definition, extremely rich and wealthy.

As the Countess heard her husbands voice, she stood up straight, stiffening her jaw in frustration.

"I do not understand how attending the funeral of a man whom I have no knowledge of is going to do the family business any good." She snapped before turning to look at the Count who had his arms crossed, his eyebrow raised.

"You know very well we are going to meet people, make new customers. Not everything has to be complicated." He leaned against the door way, raising an eyebrow at her, thinking she was simply just being ridiculous.

"I just don't see the point. I am sure there are rich families around here who hold extravagant parties. A funeral is dull." She stated as a matter of fact before pulling her gloves over her slender fingers, pinching at the fabric until the gloves fit perfectly. She then reached down onto the lounge chair and grabbed, no, snatched her black sunhat. "and do not speak to me as if I am simply being ridiculous, I am not. I see no true value to this town." She snapped a bit.

"You are my wife, or have you forgotten, I shall speak to you in anyway I see fit." He told her, uncrossing his arms, straightening his posture now.

The Countess couldn't help the laugh that forced itself through her crimson lips, her pearly white teeth shown as she exaggeratively mocked her husband. Her demeaner changed instantly into a straight and cold expression. "You humor me, you are no husband." She quirked up an eyebrow as she placed the hat onto her head with disinterest before moving past Stefan, bumping into his shoulder as she forced herself past. She didn't get far however as he reached out, grabbing her forearm and pulled her towards him forcefully, almost knocking off her hat, earning a sudden gasp and glare from the other woman, the maids at the end of the hall were startled as the newly weds seemed to be going through yet another quarrel. They definitely didn't get along. Everyone knew that The Countess had a temper but so did The Count. This was going to result in a very loathsome marriage.

"You will respect me, Alcina." He told her sternly, his voice full of animosity.

Her stomach turned as she heard her name coming from his ungrateful mouth. "You will do your best to keep my name off your tongue. You will call me Madame when addressing me or nothing else." She then glanced down at her arm in which he still had in his grasp. She pulled her arm away and she stepped closer to him, a mere few inches from his face. "If you ever again touch me without my consent I will make sure that is the last time you touch anything." She threatened him in a low and raspy tone. He would not lay his hands on her, she would not permit it. She was of noble blood and she would be treated as such - with respect. She turned away from him before she fixed her composure, running her hands down the front of her dress to smoothen out the fabric, finally allowing herself to move down the hall, the maids followed her down the stairs towards the main hall. She grabbed her large coat that reached the floor, placed it gently and loosely over her shoulders before being escorted out to their carriage. Their bags from travelling were placed on the floor, set to the side so they were not in the way.

As she approached the carriage, Lady Dimitrescu turned to one of the butlers. "Have the rest of my bags brought to my chambers." She ordered to the man, who nodded and began to do just as he was asked.

Stefan followed after a few moments of composing himself. The last thing either of them needed was to attend with funeral, meeting new people, while in an foul mood. That would certainly make for a stressful situation. Once he got into the carriage after her, he noticed how the Countess scooted away from him. She crossed her legs, refusing to make any amount of conversation as they rode off towards their destination.

❀❀❀

You placed your hand gently in the driver's gloved-hand as he helped you out of the carriage, you had just arrived at the grave yard where the ceremony was to take place. You looked around as you stepped out, the water starting to puddle on the ground, thankfully, the driver had the umbrella opened and ready for you. You glanced around, seeing as there were quite a bit of people arriving - not surprising. Petru had many 'friends' and business partners. The driver follows in suit, keeping you dry, small rumbles of thunder echoing through the sky. You followed Nicolae, making your way towards the plot where your father was to be buried. You could see in the distance how his black coffin was already in the hole but had yet to be covered in the dirt. Many people approached you and offered you their condolences. You gave them all a false smile, just wanting to get this ceremony over with. You knew the majority of the people who arrived were all corrupt and you were sure they never cared for your father in the first place, just his status and money.

As you were shaking hands with an older gentleman, you noticed another carriage arriving. The carriage had come to a halt, gaining your full attention as you watched a man, dressed in black, a black coat and top hat climbing out of the carriage, soon followed by a woman also dressed in black, clearly a couple who had come to attend. The woman's face hidden by the shade, casted by her large black sunhat. She stood beneath an umbrella which was held by a second man, most likely her driver. The woman seemed tall, nearly the same height as the well-dressed man, she would certainly be taller than you. You observed the woman carefully. You noticed how she walked with such poise. You had never seen the man in your life, most likely never before have seen the woman either, but for all you knew, your father could have done business with these people in past.

The woman's hidden features drew your interest. You were so preoccupied staring at the woman, you didn't notice as Nicolae slowly approached you from behind, seeing as you stared at what he assumed was the other man. He cleared his throat which immediately caught your attention, you turned to look at him from over your shoulder. "Is there something I can help you with?" You asked him with a hint of distain in your voice.

He looked down at you, glaring as he was clearly jealous. "We are here to mourn your father. Not stare at other clearly married men." He said sternly. Little did he know that it was that man's wife who you were so focused on. what would he care anyways? He didn't care about you. You looked away from him immediately with an apparent frown on your lips, watching as this unfamiliar couple approached you. You couldn't help but be humored as he just assumed it was the man who you were so interested in. As the couple grew closer, Nicolae positioned himself ahead of you so he could introduce himself first.

The man approaching looked at Nicolae and he gave a polite smile "Good morning, I am Lord Stefan Dimitrescu, but please, call me Stefan." The man spoke to your husband, shaking his hand firmly. He then looked over towards the woman beside him who gently held out her hand for Nicolae to greet her. You couldn't see her face as she was facing the men, the angle of her hat blocking the view. Your eyes glanced down at the woman's glove-covered hand as your husband grabbed hers, bringing it to his lips, placing a kiss upon her glove. You happened to notice as the woman held the collar of her coat shut with her other hand. She seemed to have such a delicate touch, and had excellent style, you could not deny. You saw in your husband's eyes as she seemed to be quite breathtaking, only making you want to see her for yourself even more. "This is my wife, Lady Alcina Dimitrescu." Right after this woman's husband spoke, she seemed disinterested as she nonchalantly recoiled her hand. Why did she appear to be so bothered by her husband?

Nicolae gestured to himself first, introducing himself before turning to you. "I am Lord Nicolae Varon and this is my wife, Lady Y/N Varon." He replied. You watched as the other woman turned to finally place her eyes upon you. Her hat moving in a way that allowed her face to graze your sight, the little sun that shines, giving her a sort of glow. You were not at all disappointed in what you saw. This woman made you breathless. Your lips parted slightly in awe, your eyes quickly scanned over the woman's features, your eyes landing on the woman's lips, which apparently didn't go unnoticed as you watched her strict and firm demeanor change slightly, her lips twitching into a nonchalant smirk, the woman's eyes however still narrowed. Her stare pierced your soul, before also looking over your features - you felt a sudden panic. You both looked away towards the woman's husband as he held out his hand to introduce himself to you.

"Lovely to meet you" Stefan told you with a smile. You gave him a gentle nod, placing your hand in his, you tried to be polite and keep your eyes on him as you spoke but you couldn't help but glance at Lady Dimitrescu, seeing as she didn't take her eyes off you once.

"I apologize that we could not have met in better circumstances." You spoke softly.

Stefan looked at his Lady Dimitrescu, who broke attention towards you to returned his. "Yes, It is quite the unusual way to meet someone, we just arrived in town other wise I'm sure we would have met before. How do you know Petru Floarescu?"

"Indeed... Petru was my father." You said simply. You watched as the mans smile slowly faded and his posture straightened.

"Forgive me, I was unaware. I had only assumed his daughter kept his name" He said to her in a bit of a shocked tone.

You nodded your head gently. "I took my husband's last name after we were wed." You informed. You could see in the corner of your eyes as the smirk that was once on Lady Dimitrescu's face had left and her lips tugged downwards after you spoke. "No need to apologize." You simply spoke before you glanced back at the other woman, her demeanor appearing tense. You let out a soft sigh as you averted eye contact. "Excuse me." You spoke to the man and woman, letting them know that you were making an exit from the conversation, turning and walking away - a small frown growing on your face as you thought about your father. As much as you would love to have a conversation with the other woman, you had a funeral to attend. You carefully looked over all the people's faces who had come and taken their seats, seeing now as Lord and Lady Dimitrescu also took their seats. You took your seat at the front of the crowd, Nicolae taking a seat beside you as the ceremony went on. It may have been your father's funeral but for some reason, your mind was persistent on making you think about Lady Dimitrescu. Her beautiful blue eyes, the smoothness of her skin, her crimson - plump lips, This woman appeared to have no imperfections. Her beauty was something that proceeded to tug at your attention for the rest of the ceremony.

❀❀❀

#lady dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #alcina dimitriscu x reader #resident evil #resident evil village #resident evil 8 #fanfic #takemefaraway #ladyvaron

[azucanela]

FIRST DATE HEADCANNONS + SCENARIOS

[FT. BAKUGOU KATSUKI, TODOROKI SHOUTO SHINSOU HITOSHI]

SUMMARY: Your first date with a few some of the first year boys[Bakugo Katuski, Shinsou Hitoshi, Todoroki Shouto].

WORD COUNT: 2.9k

WARNINGS: kissing, pretty pg, wholesome, perhaps slightly ooc oops, bad writing, just a tad of spice

A/N: someone send tik tok related requests they make me laugh

BAKUGO KATSUKI

when he asks you out on a date for the first time hes not actually asking

comes up to you and tells you, “get dressed im taking you out.”

you are just there talking to mina and kirishima in your pjs like ???

“with your quirk?” like you dead thought he was telling you he intended to kill you 

“no idiot...” now he’s embarrassed oh no

mina and kirishima are like ���👀

“on a date?” they’re really trying to help him get his point across bc playing matchmaker is fun

“SHUT UP EXTRAS”

probably takes you to like some sort of outdoor thing on the first date

has to to involve movement

stroll through the park, or through like a mall if you don’t like more athletic experiences 

take him on a date to a trampoline park. do it. 

COOKS FOR YOU ON THE FIRST DATE!!!!!!!!

ITS AMAZING 

YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED

is quieter during a date rather than his normal explosive self, he wants to listen to you, get to know you better

won’t kiss on the first date unless there’s a pre established friendship

your next date happens the same way, just tells you that you guys are going out, but you get it this time

lets you choose where you guys go that time

wants equal contribution to dates 

katsuki in street clothes is just beautiful, just ART, a masterpiece, he looks like a grumpy piece of ART

Katuski had just asked Y/N on a date, completely out of nowhere. Katsuki had asked Y/N on a date. It was difficult to believe, and considering his loud tone, the rest of Class 1-A also found it shocking, the student who claimed to have all his focus on becoming the number one pro-hero was now seeking a relationship. Ironic.

Though Y/N herself initially didn’t understand what he had been trying to say, she quickly got the message, and off they went. She was necessarily shocked by his feelings for her, they had discussed it in the dead of night, when she couldn’t sleep so he decided to forgo his normal grandpa sleep schedule. He fell asleep shortly after that conversation though, in her arms, he’d likely deny it if she ever mentioned it though.

Now, she sat on the counter in his parent’s kitchen, though neither of them were home, and the kitchen looked mostly unused. Y/N had tried to assist him but he’d brushed her off, “I asked you out. And you’re a horrible cook.” 

Y/N hopped off the counter and came up behind him, “whatever.” She mumbled, half expecting Katsuki to shove her away as she wrapped her arms around his torso as he sliced vegetables. He didn’t, though he did freeze momentarily before grumbling something about how dumb she was, Y/N knew he didn’t mean it based off the blush on his cheeks. 

Katsuki placed the vegetables into a pot of boiling water, covering it with a lid before tapping Y/N’s hand, signaling for her to let go. When she did, he turned around, and Y/N’s brow was raised. “C’mere.” He pulled her closer with one hand, and placed another on the back of her necks, bringing their lips together. 

She hummed in response, hand tangling into his hair, this wasn’t the first time they’d kissed. But it was the first time they’d gone on a date, he’d been sure to hide the dining room from her on the way inside, and she couldn’t help the excitement that bubbled up inside her. 

Y/N’s free hand found it’s way to his bicep, nails digging into his soft skin, courtesy of his quirk. Meanwhile, Katsuki’s hand found its way to the curve of her back, pushing her body closer to his only for Y/N to pull away, “pay attention while you are cooking.”

Turning to look at the pot, he’d realized that it was boiling far too much for comfort and cursed, releasing Y/N to salvage his food, she began to laugh. Katuski glared at her as he turned off the stove and put the put the vegetables into a nearby plate. 

With a smile on her face, she pressed a kiss onto his cheek, only for him to roll his eyes as he picked up the plate and moved out of the kitchen, Y/N trailing close behind as he headed to the dining room. “Can I see now?” She asked.

After a moment of contemplation, he nodded, and together they entered the dining room. It was a basic set up for a date, but it certainly set an intimate atmosphere that was rare when you lived in a dorm with several other students, and Mineta. There were candles lighting the room, and a rose in the center of the table, along with more food that he had already placed on the table. 

Grinning at him, Y/N spoke, “god you are such a sap.”

His cheeks flushed as he responded, “shut up.” 

SHINSOU HITOSHI

lol cutie, he asks you out on a date, you two are probably close friends and he just really likes your personality and attitude and stuff

“you don’t have to- well you know that but-”

“no, i’ll go out with you.”

“it’s fine i understand- wait what?”

did not think he’d get this far so he had no plans, he was expecting to plan a funeral for your friendship

ends up being the basic movie and food date

he picks a horror movie because he wants to protect you!!!

it makes him feel useful and bb needs validation

hold his hand during the movie

give him AFFECTION

you guys end up skipping dinner because you filled up on popcorn and other snacks during the movie so y’all just walk around

gives you his j a c k e t if its cold

he’s classy like that

unlike other people, he would kiss you on the first date

it would be an AMAZING experience that probably occurs at your front door, super adorable, he asks if he can kiss you

“can i kiss you?” fully expects you to say no

“yeah you can.”

“its fine, thanks for going out with me- wait what?”

same vibes as asking you out, did NOT expect this

walks you home because he is a GENTLEMAN change my mind, Shinsou brought back chivalry 2020

treats you RIGHT!!! the entire date, opens doors for you, pulls out your chair if necessary, pays for you unless you try to split the check but he might propose if you do that and pay for you regardless

When Shinsou asked Y/N out, he genuinely expected her to say no. His plans for the date included a funeral for himself and the friendship between the two of them. But, Shinsou was an honest guy and wanted to confess his feelings to her, secrets were a rarity between them, and this was no exception. They’d known each other for a while and his feelings weren’t something he could make disappear, no matter how hard he tried.

The last thing he expected was for her to agree to go out with him. 

She was still clinging onto his arm rather harshly as they exited the movie theater, having seen a horror movie, she exclaims, “I am never letting you pick the movie again.” 

Shinsou can’t help it when his heart skips a beat at her comment, looking over to her as he smirks, “again? So there will be a next time?” He asked, hoping that he hadn’t misunderstood.

Her cheeks warm, even though he asked her out, and Y/N looks away, “yes, if you want.” She mumbled, loosening her grip on his arm as they stepped outside. Cool air hits her, and Y/N can’t help the shiver that goes down her spine at the sudden cold. 

“I asked you out, of course I want a second date.” He replied, taking his arm from her grasp to remove his jacket, which he puts around her shoulders. “You still want dinner?” 

Y/N hums, taking his hand in hers and grinning as his cheeks turn red, “I’m not really hungry after all the snacks we had.” She replied, leaning her head onto his shoulder. “Let’s just walk.” 

They walked throughout the small shopping center, speaking with each other in regards to a variety of topics before beginning the walk home, when it started to rain. Thankfully, they were nearby Y/N’s home, and the laughs that consumed them as they ran didn’t stop as they ran up under the roof of Y/N’s porch. Shinsou’s hair was now matted onto his head thanks to the rain, their clothes soaked. 

Looking up at him, Y/N let another laugh escape her, “I like your hair.” She teased, bringing a hand up to ruffle it, though it had little effect.

Shinsou playfully glared at her, “yeah, yeah.” A smile found its way onto his face as he looked at her, the rain still hammering down on the roof, he found himself not wanting to let go of her hand as he asked, “can I kiss you? You don’t need-” He began to ramble, and Y/N was reminded of when he first asked her out as she watched him. 

Y/N’s hand released his and she grabbed his face, bringing his lips to hers, effectively silencing him as his hands fell onto her hips. They broke apart momentarily, only for Y/N’s arms to circle around his neck and pull him closer for yet another kiss.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He mumbled as they pulled apart.

Tilting her head, Y/N smirked, “you’re cute.” Shinsou ducked his head to hide the pink in his cheeks at this comment. “Be here next Saturday around 2 in the afternoon. This time I pick the movie.”

Looking back up, he raised a brow. “I happened to enjoy the movie, particularly the parts when you-”

“I don’t have to agree to a second date.” Y/N threatened as she playfully slapped his shoulder before heading to her front door, looking back at him as she walked.

Shinsou hummed, eyes meeting hers as he grabbed her hand and yanked her back. “I think I liked the way you shut me up the first time around better.” He presses a gentle kiss to her lips before releasing her hand so that she can head inside. 

TODOROKI SHOUTO

THIS BOY

you probably don’t know its a date he’s like “so how was the date”

and you there like “im sorry how was the WHAT?”

asks his siblings for help because he’s clueless, also asks izuku and maybe even bakugo during their remedial course, though camie is 10x more helpful

this is because shoto always spends all of his father’s money on you

while you two are just best friends, he’ll see you look at something and then he’ll just buy it

you guys already act like a couple. like stfu we get it, you have Class 1-A’s resident pretty boy wrapped around your finger jeez no need to brag

it because he’s in love with you already but he doesn’t know that its not his fault he is oblivious to his own emotions

this just amplifies on a date

tries to take you to a ridiculously fancy restaurant and you’re like???

settles for a cafe

you get lost in the convo and forget to actually drink your drink so he just reheats it or makes it nice and cool again ya know

super useful bb

give him validation

listens to you super intently 

intellectual conversations EVERYWHERE he is literally so fun to talk to like discuss any and everything with him

First date at a cafe, he’s rich, he stole his dad’s credit card, and he happens to love trying new things since he was sheltered as a child so he will buy EVERY S I N G L E DRINK for you two to try them all together

50/50 chance he kisses you on the first date

100% chance a kiss happens if you initiate it

he walks you home, and depending on if you are feeling hot or cold, you’ll stand by his side, preferably away from the road because shoto is a gentleman who gets hit by cars for his partner 

When Izuku had suggested that Shoto take Y/N out on a date to help confess his feelings for her, he figured it would be a good idea. Except, he forgot the part where he asked her on the date.

Oops.

This didn’t really dawn on him as she led him away from the fancy restaurant he had tried to convince her to enter,  “we both know that neither of us would understand a thing on the menu because it’s probably all in french.” Though she had dressed for the occasion, and so had he. “Why do you even want to eat there?” Y/N asked, her hand still holding his as she dragged him along the side walk.

She knew very well how much he disliked such places. They reminded him of all the high end restaraunts he had been forced to go to as a child. And since his father was an infamous pro hero, and Shoto himself was one of the more popular Class 1-A students, it wasn’t uncommon for reporters to frequent areas he was seen in. Carrying their cameras as they tried to get a story about him or his father. He’d told Y/N numerous times how much he disliked the attention, which is why he avoided certain areas of the city. 

Shoto stared at their joined hands, that feeling of joy bubbling in his chest, “my understanding is that you take people to a nice restaurant for a date.” Came his response.

Y/N stopped walking, though Shoto didn’t, causing him to run into her and nearly trip her had he not grabbed waist to keep her from falling. “This is a date?” She asked, hands clinging to his arms as she tried to maintain balance. He’d been acting different, so Y/N felt as though she shouldn’t be shocked, but the fact that Shoto liked her?

He said nothing, releasing her from his arms before taking a step back, “I feel as though I should apologize-” Shoto began, realizing his mistake.

“I know a nice Café I’ve been meaning to visit that’s nearby, you want to continue this there?” She interrupted, extending her hand. Y/N wasn’t stupid, neither was Shoto, she knew he was inexperienced in the romance department and it was clear this was his attempt to woo her. 

It was cute. 

Looking up at her, he couldn’t help but give her a small smile, which she returned as he took her hand. Shoto was thankful that she hadn’t mentioned his poor preparation for the whole ‘date’ thing, since he failed to really ask her about it. Thankfully she was just going with it, “I really like you, Y/N.” It was blunt, but it was the truth, and it was Shoto, being himself. 

Y/N felt her cheeks warm as they approached the Café, “I really like you too, Shoto.” He moved in front of her to open the door, “and here we are.” She gestured to the small Café as they entered, it was a nice set up and she had been meaning to visit. The fact that it was Shoto that she was visiting with made it all the better.

“Why don’t you go find us somewhere to sit?” He suggested, small smile on his face. “I’ll save us a spot in line.” Y/N nodded, and it was clear that she had yet to notice that there was no line, and Shoto had Endeavor’s beautiful black mastercard in hand. 

Which is how they ended up with every possible drink on their table, some of which were going cold, and the cashier thanking Shoto for the $200 cash tip, laughing quietly side by side in their small corner within the Café. Y/N had chosen a more isolated part, though there were already very few people within the store. 

She looked up from her drink to find Shoto’s eyes on her, an unreadable look in his eyes, but she couldn’t help but smile at him, one that he returned. “I like this.” He said, his hand finding hers as he played with her fingers. 

“Me too.” Y/N replied, watching his movements. She found herself Y/N bringing her hand to Shoto’s cheek, and his eyes met hers momentarily, looking up at her in awe as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss against his lips.

Neither of them knew what they were doing, Shoto’s delayed reaction reminded them both of this fact as he finally kissed back after a few moments. The hand that had once been fidgeting with Y/N’s free hand, making its way to her bicep to rub circles in the spot. 

The moment didn’t last long, and when she pulled away, his lips were chasing hers, “we should do this more often.”

A small smile was on his face as he stared at her with what seemed like stars in his eyes, “yeah.” He pressed a kiss to her hand, “we should.”

A/N: when i tell you season 4 made me CRY

#todoroki shoto x reader #bakugo katsuki x reader #shinsou hitoshi x reader #shinsou x reader #todoroki x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugou x reader #katsuki x reader #shouto x reader #shoto x reader #hitoshi x reader #hitoshi shinsou x reader #hitoshi shinso x reader #shinso hitoshi x reader #shoto todoroki x reader #shouto todoroki x reader #katuski bakugo x reader #katsuki bakugou x reader #bnha x reader #bnha #bnha headcannons #bnha scenarios #headcannons

[radabadabing-bing]

Childe’s Search for Satisfaction

so like what if i made a genshin wg fanfic haha

like as a joke haha

a joke

like ‘haha funny joke!’

so here it is

Childe was frustrated. It wasn’t necessarily because he couldn’t find a fight- There were always plenty of monsters out on in the wilderness of Liyue -But not one of them was satisfying. The various hilichurls and slimes were jokes against his power. Every Ruin Guard he had run past, in anticipation that it would awaken and give him a chance to fight, had turned out to be broken and nonfunctioning. He had run across a single Lawachurl, the brutish beast proving somewhat difficult, but it still fell like all the rest.

And as he impaled his latest victim on his watery blades, he still felt immensely dissatisfied. The monster in particular was a Whopperflower, an oversized plant that happened to be immensely territorial. Unfortunately, it too was weak against Childe’s power.

And another unfortunate thing…Childe was tired. He had pushed himself too hard in every battle, excitement getting the better of him. The Harbinger grunted in frustration as his weapon dematerialized. “Damn. Absolutely nothing.” Wiping sweat from his brow, he did notice something curious leaking from one of the beastial plant’s stamens- A shimmering liquid, gold in sheen. He reached out to touch it, the substance sticky on his glove.

“Huh…Oh, right.” He had heard of this stuff. Childe had seen it before too. It was a thick nectar, rich with energy. The flower fed off of it, and it also served as a useful alchemical ingredient. Usually Childe wouldn’t concern himself with such a substance- He was no biologist or researcher, after all -But an idea wormed its way into his head.

He licked some of the nectar off his glove. Sweet in taste, maybe even too saccharine for him- But that wasn’t the important bit. What was important was that his sore muscles began to relax, feel reinvigorated. Not a whole lot, but it was noticeable. And if even that tiny amount felt so good to indulge in, well, Childe couldn’t resist. He grabbed a stamen, crushing it in his hand. More of the sticky honey bursting, coating his glove.

The Harbinger did realize this was a bit gross to do, but as he looked around…What no one knew wouldn’t hurt them. Without a hint of shame, he began thoroughly cleaning every last bit off the stamen and his hand. Before long, it was like the nectar had never been there. And Childe felt reinvigorated. “Heh, that’s better.” He said, stretching out, before immediately charging towards a small Hilichurl encampment in the distance.

However, as said, Childe was no biologist or alchemist. He was blissfully unaware of the fact that you were not supposed to consume the nectar in such a pure and undiluted form, nor in the amounts he had indulged in. It was safe at this point, sure, but the effects were already slightly showing on his waistline. A bit of pudge on his belly, his decently fitting pants tightening around his lower half. Not that he noticed, still riding the high of his apparent ingenious plan.

While the boost was able to push him onwards for a few more battles, blasting away the beasts he encountered with torrents of water, flurries of arrows. More and more fell to the strength of Childe, but it still was utterly unsatisfying. Worse yet, he was feeling tired once more- Though he didn’t need to wait long to spot another Whopperflower.

Sights set on the unwitting plant, it felt the Harbinger’s presence…a few moments before a volley of arrows pierced it, short work made of it. Childe quickly claimed his prize, plucking off a stamen from it’s desecrated corpse. Greedily eating out the nectar, feeling revitalized, oblivious to his wardrobe beginning to strain. 

This cycle would repeat- He’d exhaust himself on pointless encounters, desperately trying to sate his lust for combat. Thoroughly unamused, he’d seek out a Whopperflower, slay it for it’s nectar, and move on- Again and again.

Soon enough, it wasn’t exactly something unnoticeable. Childe was significantly plumper, his outfit clearly undersized at this point. His shirt had already been loose fitting, letting his belly spill over his belt unhampered. His legs looked like tubed sausage, stuffed into pants that could barely contain them. Unhelped by the belt he had tied around his left leg, which was about the only thing Childe immediately noticed wrong.

“When did this thing get so tight…” He complained, as he tried to adjust it. The belt promptly snapped off, the rest of his thigh jiggling as it was released. “Huh. Must’ve gotten worn out.” He was still rather oblivious to his gains, even as his love handles and ass spilled out the top of his pants.

He had noticed his travels had brought him to an especially arid place. The faint smell of smoke in the air, charred grass, scorched rock. That was when he recalled what lay deep within the cavern before him- What any Whopperflower would become over its lifespan, the overgrown Regisvine.

And if the Whopperflower already had a lot of nectar, how much would it’s larger variant have? Childe was already chomping at the bit to find out. Speeding off from his last victim, he could hardly notice how his new bulk slowed him. Or rather, he was keeping the same speed as he had before, just tiring himself out faster. It made a rather vicious cycle, draining his own energy faster, needing more nectar to keep him going…

The universe perhaps wanted to give Childe another sign after he had missed what the smaller belt popping off meant. It did so with a loud rip as he rushed down the corridor. The seat of his pants had split open. “Damn, did I snag it on something?” That was the amount of observation Childe could give. He thought it was embarrassing, sure, but he also didn’t think that it was size causing it. “Guess I’ll just say it happened in battle…”

With the signs and warnings falling on the battle hungry Harbinger’s deaf ears, he still confidently approached the Regisvine, dormant in it’s lair. Though it unfurled as it detected the portly warrior, ready to defend it’s territory. Flames flickered about it’s form as the Regisvine towered over Childe, a red hot core lighting at it’s base…

Though even the mighty Regisvine was conquered under Childe’s power. Chubby or not, he was still an absolute force to be reckoned with. Volley after volley of arrows struck at the monstrous plant, as it too returned with it’s own attacks of fierce fire. Though it met the same fate as every other foe of Childe on that day- Utter defeat.

As he stabbed a blade of water through it’s corolla of a head, it slumped down, it’s flames flickering away, smoldering as it’s sentience faded. “Heh. Better luck next time.” He told the fading flower, rather satisfied with the fight it gave him. “Phew. Some people would quit while they’re ahead…” Childe could quit right now. He did get his fight. But Childe was Childe. “…But maybe I could run all the way to Mondstadt and fight that icy one too!”

He pulled the blade from the corolla, and proceeded to slice open the dead Regisvine’s bud- A sigh of warm air wafting out with it, carrying the scent of the delectable and energizing nectar. A sly grin spread out on the Harbinger’s slightly pudgy face, as the rich golden honey oozed from the now wide open plant.

His smug smile only got wider as he realized that this plant had far more nectar than the others he had slain. Practically pumping out the nectar, perhaps as a last attempt to get the vine to live once more. Though this was pointless, as Childe had already begun his feast.

There was some civility to it at first- Some, as he was still scooping it up and eating it with his hands, but that was better than him just nixing the scooping and eating it out of the stem.

His pants were already put to their limits- Unsurprisingly, they were first to go. Tearing down the sides with a resonant ripping sound. In another unsurprisingly turn of events, Childe was completely and utterly unaware as he grew at a much faster pace than before. His gut fell over the edge of his belt, straining to an incredible degree, until pop! Off went the belt, off went the rest of his pants. Giving way to blubbery thighs and bountiful buttocks, indented by his boxers. Boxers that were already too small, trace elasticity keeping them together.

Childe’s ignorance was honestly impressive at this point. He was lost in the idea of battles to be, already plotting out a course for his inevitable warpath. A warpath that he wouldn’t be able to pursue at his current size, much less the size he’d ultimately reach.

His coat and undershirt were kept loose already, but even loose articles of clothing would eventually give way. Buckles breaking, straps snapping. Once refined pecs were losing definition as they became flabby and heavy, sitting upon a significant midsection. His boots pulled apart as his weight continued to mount. And mount it did, as he swelled fatter, and fatter…

Soon enough, the once arena was now a graveyard for the warrior’s outfit. And said warrior was just finishing up. “Phew!” Wiping his mouth, licking up a few last dribbles of nectar. “With that, I should be able to-” Childe didn’t get to finish his sentence. He slightly leaned back as he was speaking, enough to immediately throw off his balance. With a thud, he landed on his oversized rump.

He was genuinely surprised by this development. “Huh?! Where did all this…” He grabbed at himself, almost entirely naked. His scarf loosely wrapped around his neck, said neck sporting a trio of chins now. He also felt his boxers on, though he could not see them in any capacity. Just able to feel how tight they were. And the still growing holes in them. “When did this happen?!”

The hefty Harbinger tried moving, though achieved little. His feet weren’t even on the ground now. And his attempts to move did actually tire him out, as he took in beleaguered breaths. For all the energy the nectar held, there came a point where it was beyond helping him. “…It was pretty fun up until now, at least…” He lamented. Becoming a blob of fat obviously wasn’t on the itinerary, but he did find a decent opponent or two. So the day wasn’t a total wash. 

He just had to hope someone was planning on hunting a Regisvine soon, or that his fellow Fatui went out looking for him- Because he was definitely immobile, and wasn’t gonna be mobile without some serious help.

#genshin fatpact #idk what else to put it under lol #male weight gain #male expansion #we'll return to your regularly scheduled FE fats right after this #but i had the idea and was just like #now i HAVE to do it #feel mega iffy about it but eh

[buckyownsmylife]

‘till I get where you are - Bucky Barnes smut

The one where Bucky tries to convince you to run away with him.

Warnings: infidelity, reader is the cheater, Steve is the one being betrayed, smut

A/N: So this is the long awaited final part to graveyard. Per @navegandoaciegas​ suggestion, I just had to make our boy steal her away from Steve, even if it did hurt my heart a little bit. I considered writing an alternative version where she stays with Steve, but my muse wasn’t really feeling it - maybe some other time. Hope you guys like this one!

Y/N’s P.O.V.

It had been a weird couple of days ever since Steve caught Bucky and I in the kitchen. No matter how many times I prepared myself for this situation, I did not know what to do or say. But to my surprise, it seemed like the boys had it figured out perfectly.

And that resulted in Bucky immediately leaving me to deal with Steve and Steve pretending nothing had happened as he hoisted me up and took me to the bedroom, where he fucked me just like he did every time we had one of those sinful little sessions that initially began as his idea. 

I felt guilty, just like I had felt right when we first started this. Only back then I knew everything was happening under Steve’s gaze and Bucky only wanted me for my body - actually, I wasn’t even certain of that. I thought Bucky was doing this as a favor to his old pal, because there was no way in hell Bucky Barnes was attracted to me. I could barely believe one super soldier wanted me in his bed, now the other wanted it too?

But as time went on, it became obvious that was very much the case, until it wasn’t necessarily only that anymore. What started as a sexual connection slowly built up into much more, and I was conflicted, because of course I was.

I thought I loved Steve, but could I love him and betray his trust like that?

I managed to fall asleep every night by his side on a technicality. This was what he had asked me for, after all. If he wanted Bucky to fuck me whenever he wanted to, so he could be caught by surprise when he found us, he should have known there would be times when he wouldn’t find us.

The fact that Bucky looked for the times where Steve wasn’t around could not be attributed to my own doing, now could it? 

But I knew it was wrong. I just knew it. That burning acidic feeling of shame and regret bubbled inside my belly every time I had to look Steve in the eyes while his best friend’s cum still dripped from me. 

But he never asked me about it, now did he? He never told me that I should warn him about what Bucky and I did when he wasn’t around, when he didn’t manage to catch us. I could very well push through this, ignore my barrier of morality and pretend everything was fine, if it wasn’t for the fact that I knew my boyfriend like the palm of my hand. And I knew this was affecting him more than I ever feared it would.

For starters, he hadn’t asked Bucky to come over once since his last mission. Ever since we started this little arrangement, three days wouldn’t go by without his best friend being invited at least once into our shared bed.

He was insecure, I could see that. And I think Bucky saw it too. I recognized the guilty look in his eyes whenever we met in the common room for breakfast, because it wasn’t too different from the one I sported on myself.

But still, he restrained himself, abstaining from raising any issues or questioning what should very well be on the table. I knew why he didn’t, though. It was because he already knew the answer, just like I already knew what was going to happen, even if I wasn’t prepared to admit it to myself yet.

I’d warned him about this. When he first approached me with the idea, I wanted to be as open-minded as possible, especially since I cared a great deal for Steve and wanted him to be as sexually fulfilled in our relationship as I could make him. But I needed to let him know how my body and mind worked, and even back then I was well aware - and made sure that he was too - that I wasn’t able to simply sleep with someone without catching feelings for them.

It was only a matter of time, but both Steve and I tried to ignore the ticking clock, pushing through like I was able to only think about Bucky’s weight on top of me when Steve was looking us over, like I didn’t know what his cum tasted like and how heavy his cock felt in my mouth, making my mouth water every time my eyes met his in the gym, like I hadn’t begun to fall in love with him between the silly little compliments he’d whisper against my skin.

And now it was too late to ignore all of that, but still, here we were. All three, pretending nothing was different in our dynamic, like a relationship and a friendship hadn’t deteriorated in all of our joined hands.

I began distancing myself from the both of them, and as much as I could see the hurt in their eyes as they realized what was going on, Steve’s gaze held a little bit of relief in it. Like he was hopeful that the growing space between our hearts would end up tearing that last thread of sentiment that still held the two of us together, without either of us having to pick up a scissor to do it ourselves.

But that still didn’t solve the problem of my relationship with Bucky, and how it would affect Steve even if we did end up falling apart.

Those were the thoughts consuming my mind all day, every day, until I managed to get some sleep next to Steve in bed. But most nights, until I was able to do so, I’d roam the deserted hallways of the tower in search of answers I’d never find outside of myself, until I decided to take a warm shower in the hopes that relaxation would find me.

I was taking off my clothes to get under the water when Bucky joined me in Steve’s walk-in bathroom.

Bucky’s P.O.V.

“Hi,” she murmured, eyes meeting mine on the reflex of the mirror in front of the both of us. “I was just about to wash up.” I gave a small smile, eyes running across her form, drinking in her figure and the warmth she brought me after so long without being alone with her. I was going crazy without it, the feeling of peace and belonging she brought me. So I didn’t even think before hugging her to my body, hiding my head in the crook of her neck from behind.

“Can I join?” When she didn’t immediately answer me, I knew it was time. We’d danced around the inevitable for too long. We needed to talk about the reality of our feelings, the reality where we had found ourselves in.

“I don’t think that would be best…” I sighed deeply, memorizing the intoxicating perfume of her own skin before finally raising my head to meet her eyes in the mirror again. I knew what I needed - what I wanted to say.

“Let’s run away. Just you and me. I’ll find a cabin in the woods. We can live a quiet life, just like we’ve always wanted.” She doesn’t ask me how I know it. I knew she remembers those midnight conversations as well as I did, long before we even started sharing a bed together. We’d grown close over cups of tea and whispered secrets, it shouldn’t have been any surprise I’d give her my heart without blinking twice.

When she didn’t answer, I turned her around to look directly at me, cradling her face between my hands, both flesh and metal. I was always careful not to hurt her, terrified of seeing any ounce of pain or fear in her eyes, but she never showed me anything other than love and care.

“C’mon, I know you want this,” I urged her, thumbs softly brushing her cheekbones, feeling my chest heavy with each breath by the intensity of the emotions in her eyes. “Don’t you want me? Don’t you want us?”

I waited with my heart on my sleeve for her to finally exhale a breathy little “yes” that was immediately swallowed by my lips descending on hers again. I was desperate to have her sweetness on my tongue, to reassure myself that this was real, and not a sickly realistic figment of my deteriorating imagination.

“Bucky, we can’t do this right now,” she whispered against my lips as I hoisted her up on the counter behind her, but I could only keep on pressing kisses against her skin, relishing in the new feeling of possessiveness that took over me as I tasted each inch of her.

“You sure? ‘Cause I can smell you dripping for me, and only me right now.” It was true, I could always smell when she was wet and it was more intoxicating than any alcohol could ever aspire to be. It made my head swirl and my entire body feel more alive than ever before. Ever since the first time I was allowed to touch her, it became increasingly more difficult to control my desires. Now, when I needed her, I needed her. And I needed her now.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

I wanted to succumb to him, I wanted it so badly - and I knew my self-control was wearing thin because I wouldn’t usually admit it to myself just how much I craved the feeling of his body on mine. But there was a more important issue here, something we had to discuss, and I knew we should have this conversation now rather than later.

“I feel like I should put on my clothes. We really need to talk about this. You can’t just drop this idea of running away and then fuck me silly so I’ll agree.” That made him smirk against my collarbones, hands slipping under my robe to slowly pry it off my shoulders.

“You know me so well,” he purred, tongue slowly licking from my collarbones up my throat until he was right by my lips again, kissing the breath away from my lungs. I couldn’t deny it any longer. He had awakened the fires of desire inside of me, and I was beyond desperate for him now.

“Is there really anything to talk about, doll? I know you can’t even sleep next to him anymore. And I can’t sleep without you.” His fingers had found my pussy, and without any sort of preamble, two slipped right in, his thumb easily locating my clit and rubbing it. “All of my nightmares are about living without you now. Please don’t make me live in them.”

I melted at the same time that he found my sweet spot, a strangled gasp somehow escaping me, despite how hard I was trying to keep quiet. And that’s when his metal hand came into play.

He covered my mouth and leaned over me, body caging me on the counter as he whispered in my ear. “I love hearing your little sounds, sweetheart, but be a bit quieter, okay? We can’t have Steve interrupting us now, especially since we’re in the middle of such an important conversation.”

I wanted to laugh, but all that got out was a mumbled version of his name, thankfully barely understandable thanks to the hand still silencing me. “Where were we? Ah, yes. You running away with me. Say that you will, baby. I’ll take good care of you. Haven’t I always? Say yes, doll. Please.”

I don’t know how the hell he expected me to be able to form any sort of answer - hell, I had no idea how he was able to speak that convincingly while fingerfucking me to a blinding orgasm, but I guess he knew my body and its limits better than I did, because before I could consciously realize, I was screaming yes over and over again against the cold palm of his hand, body writhing desperately over the counter.

“We’re gonna be so happy, doll. I promise you,” he whispered against my temple before depositing a kiss there, while I dramatically tried to catch my breath. “But right now, I really want to taste this glistening little pussy.”

As his hand left my face, I had to bite down on my own fist to stop the loud moan that threatened to escape me at the mere sight of James Buchanan Barnes falling on his knees in front of me, animalistically licking his lips at what awaited between my spread open legs.

Bucky’s P.O.V.

She looked like a fucking meal, all ready and wet for me to taste. And now she was mine and only mine, forever and ever. “You know…” I started, tracing her outer lips with one of my metal fingers as I watched her juices continuously drip from inside of her, making my mouth water.

“Every time I see you - it doesn’t matter who’s around - I just keep thinking about how I want to have my head between your legs.” My voice was thick with desire as I let her ponder over my confession, tongue slipping past my lips to finally taste her once I felt her muscles relaxing when the anticipation had started to decrease.

“F-Fu-uu-uck, BUCKY!” And now they were tense again. I could feel the solid muscles of her thighs under the palms of my hands as they roamed across her spread legs, forcing her to stay that way for me.

“God, I love your taste, sweetheart. No one - nothing can ever compare.” It was the truth. I loved her juices. Ever since the first time I got to eat her sweet pussy, I craved to be sweeping my tongue over her lips, collecting her wetness all the damn time. It was easily my favorite meal and hobby, and I had no idea how Steve could spend a second of his day without getting on his knees for her.

“It’s just like candy. And you’re so fucking wet, always so fucking wet.” I chuckled against her cunt at the gasps and moans that she tried to contain but failed miserably, relishing every bite of pain that I felt when her fingers pulled on my locks a bit more forcefully. She thrashed and twisted on the marble counter while I managed to hold her open without any difficulty, smiling at each lick I got to give across her pussy.

“Fuck, you look so good like this.” Stopping only to thrust two of my fingers in her, I admired the way her pussy so easily swallowed them up before going back to suck on her clit just the way I knew would make her tighten around me. “Don’t close your eyes,” I ordered when she tried to do just so, recognizing all of the tell-tale signs I’d long memorized that warned me of how truly close she was to creaming around my face. “I want to see you cum for me. Cum for me, baby.”

This time, I didn’t stay to drag out her orgasm this time. I needed her, needed to be inside of her, so the second that I felt her orgasm, I dragged out my fingers and rose to my full height, hands immediately making quick work of my jeans.

“Don’t you ever wear underwear?” She questioned in a lazy voice that made it abundantly clear just how fucked out she already was, and I had to laugh as I made sure to adjust her body just how I needed it to have her.

“Not ever since we started fucking.” It was the truth. Specifically, ever since Steve commented on wanting to step it up a notch, I decided to skip wearing boxers altogether, if only for the time that it saved me where I could be enjoying her before he appeared. This time though, I was particularly grateful for it, since my cock ached in my fist, terribly stimulated without any actual sort of stimulation whatsoever.

“Fuck, you’re so hard,” she sighed, right as I rubbed the head of my member between her pussy lips and started to press in. As always, it felt amazing. It felt like being connected to her, and that was all I’ve ever wanted, ever since Steve introduced me to her.

“For you, doll. Only for you.” She gasped so prettily at my words, and a silly smile took over my face as I started thrusting inside of her, but when she did it again, hands holding onto the back of my shoulders to keep herself up, I got worried.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

“What’s wrong? Am I hurting you?” The worry in his tone had me smiling against the skin of his shoulder, where I had hugged myself to, before quickly shaking my head to calm his anxious mind.

“No! No, Bucky… You’ve done nothing… wrong, ah!” The second he learned I wasn’t in pain, his thrusts resumed, and each time he bottomed out, he managed to hit that sweet spot that had me struggling to keep myself sane while holding tightly to the man that was driving me crazy. It didn’t take long for him to figure it out. 

“Oh, you like this, huh?” I nodded eagerly, still holding on to him like he was my lifeboat. “Awn, you love how I fuck you, huh, sweetheart? You love that it’s me who’s pounding you inside your ex-boyfriend’s bathroom.”

The addition wasn’t missed. But in the throes of passion, as I felt my toes curl and tried to keep my moans in by biting on Bucky’s skin while he eased my orgasm with his gentle, soft coos, I couldn’t find it in myself to care.

Later, when the post-orgasm clarity cleared my mind, I still couldn’t. 

“Look at me, baby,” Bucky begged, out-of-breath and almost whiny and it was enough to have me needy again. So I pushed myself away from his muscular chest, wanting to see his beautiful face when he found his bliss just as much as he seemed to need to watch mine, and the second our eyes met, his pace quickened, the bottles and knick-knacks around us on the counter threatening to fall over and wake Steve up. It was clear that he was reaching the point of no-return, desperation dripping from each and every one of his movements.

“You’re mine, doll. You’re already mine, you’ve been mine for a long time, it just took you awhile to realize it.” The truth behind his words shocked me, revealing parts of myself that I had tried to ignore up until then. But he was right. I was Bucky’s, mind, body and soul. And it was time he came to collect what was rightfully his.

Another orgasm rose up so quickly, it took me by surprise, but Bucky knew me so well by now that he covered my lips just before I screamed my release, alerting Steve of our actions. “Shhh… Keep it in… Good girl.”

My pussy milking him, it was impossible for him to resist much longer. I knew he was about to cum when he looked at me with hazy eyes, mouth slightly open before begging, “Kiss me, kiss me.”

Of course, I did. I don’t think I’d ever be able to refuse him a kiss again, not ever since the first time his lips touched mine.

For a few seconds, it was only the sounds of our thumping hearts and breathless pants, my cunt still throbbing around his release as he cradled my face in his hands. Looking up at him to see the love in his eyes, all I could see, all I could feel was warmth. Like this was right. Like I was right where I needed to be. And it was time for me to admit it, both to Bucky and me.

“Let’s do it,” I broke the silence in the bathroom. “Let’s run away together. I love you. I’m scared, but I love you.” And as hard as it was to admit, the love I felt for the man in front of me left no space in my heart to regret the man I was about to leave behind.

#my fics #bucky barnes smut #smut #bucky barnes #bucky barnes reader smut #bucky barnes reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes reader insert #bucky barnes reader inserts #bucky barnes fics #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fanfiction