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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 3 years

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fuck I still haven't done the rewrite of the Mutant Town AU that I specifically came off hiatus to write, like the Plant Witch Sam and Pharaoh Tucker posts were written to prep this au and I just got wildly distracted so uhhhh

yeah the concept is in the link but the gist is that the people and town becoming mutated by constant ectoplasmic contamination, we all know and love this concept right but I'm gonna expand on it

this is a direct result of the portal being opened, but they aren't getting infected from the portal, the issue is that creating a permanent opening into the ghost zone has weakened the veil between their worlds and Amity Park and the Ghost Zone sort of slip in and out of each other constantly

and because ectoplasm responds strongly to emotions (poltergeists being made from atmospheric emotions for example) it all tends to converge very heavily at the school full of hormonal teenagers

so Casper High becomes its own god damn cryptid, the teachers get so jaded about opening the door to a classroom and finding just a whole ass ghost zone on the other side that they just put a sign on the door telling kids to go to a different room, lockers swap contents with other lockers so kids have started putting their names on the inside so they know who's stuff they've just found

this also means the kids get super affected, like super affected, literally, they all get ghost powers, some are just physical mutations, some are just super abilities, or a general increase in natural ability, like a member of the track team getting super speed

it takes a while for Danny and co. to figure this out, Sam and Tucker should have been warning signs as they've spent the most time around ghosts and the ghost zone, but that's why the Witch Sam and Pharaoh Tucker posts are important

they have powers, but they thought they came exclusively from outside sources, they had no idea that their abilities were also strengthened and influenced by being highly contaminated by ectoplasm, which is why when one day Mikey sneezes and green acid shoots out of his nose and melts his desk, everyone is a little bit startled

the teachers have long since started using ghost detectors after the time Paulina spent a whole week overshadowed by Kitty, so Mikey gets a check over and other than the usual atmospheric reading Lancer gets nothing especially strong from him

there have been concerns about the gradually increasing ectoplasmic content in the air messing with ghost detector results, the devices have to be recalibrated constantly, so Lancer asks the one and only son of the local ghost hunters in the room if he has some other way to check

Danny's parents make him keep a few protective items in his schoolbag, so he tries some gear on him to see if anything comes flying out, but nothing does, Danny isn't too surprised seeing as he couldn't sense a ghost in the room anyway, but it definitely makes things a little concerning

even if it were a repeat of the Spectra incident and he wasn't being overshadowed, the Fenton's tech would have still gotten rid of whatever was causing this if it were an external influence

Mikey is sent home for the day and his parents are told to keep an eye on him

and then the next week, Star drops a pen off her desk and a strand of her hair whips out to grab it, she's also checked for ghost influence and sent home

a few weeks after that it happens again, a kid on the basketball team makes a leap to the net and stays in the air, they have to call in the cheerleaders to climb on top of each other to reach him and pull him down

Danny has been trying to figure out what's happening from the first moment with Mikey, and his parents have also been getting calls from worried parents who want to know if they can fix whatever's happening to their kids

over the next couple of months, every kid in the school has some kind of ability or mutation, Dash heals whoever he touches, which he discovers after punching Nathan in the face and curing his acne, Paulina turns invisible, which freaks her out at first until she realises it's great for eavesdropping, Wes can conjure fire (because I desperately needed him to have a polarising ability to Danny), Kwan becomes empathic and can feel and influence people's emotions

Valerie also had an early mutation that she didn't know about, when Technus gave her a new suit, her body pretty much just absorbed it as a part of her, Technus had not intended this to happen, and was pretty peeved about it, Valerie found out that she had stolen control over the suit when Technus had a big rant about it during a fight, and she put the pieces together once other kids started developing abilities

this whole thing causes a ton of chaos as kids are struggling to control what they can do, so Danny has to step in and help them out, he often has to run off to change into Phantom in order to protect everyone from an ability that's gone haywire, he ends up pretty much running ghost power training courses after school to help them control themselves

he's also gotten stuck in situations where he's had to step in and help someone without having the time to change forms, meaning he has to make up a cover story about having developed his own powers way before everyone else since he's been living on top of a portal for years, he only tells people about his ice powers

Jazz has always had a tendency to be able to reign in her emotions and keep a cool head, (the only ones who can really push her buttons are Danny and sometimes her parents, at school around other kids who look up to her she's often very in control) meaning she doesn't draw ectoplasm to herself all that much, and though Danny uses the excuse of having lived on top of a ghost portal to explain why he's already so familiar with using his power, it's actually not even remotely true, because the Fentons use specialised air purifiers to keep the atmospheric ectoplasm at a manageable level, the Fenton house ironically has the least atmospheric contamination compared to the rest of the town, that's how Maddie and Jack have had limited mutation to themselves (though they aren't wholly free, they've mostly just gotten physically stronger and tougher)

so even though Jazz develops her power a little earlier than everyone else's, it's not that far ahead, and she actually doesn't even realise she already has one until half the school has developed theirs

Jazz has the power to slow time in a little bubble around herself, she'd been using it without realising while studying, having gotten through hours of work in half that time, she always thought it was just her losing track of time or she was just getting faster at reading, she also spends a lot of time counselling other students and trying to help them sort out their problems, and they'd often comment that they felt like they'd been talking for so much longer than they had, again she just chalked it up to losing track of time

a lot of students had wondered why Danny developed a power early and Jazz hadn't, until someone walked in on Jazz helping a girl through a panic attack in the bathroom, and found them both talking extremely fast, a lot of her friends realised in hindsight that she'd been doing that unwittingly for quite a while, nobody had noticed because she always talked to people privately, so nobody outside her little time bubble had seen it happen

Sam and Tucker come clean about their abilities too, but they also don't give the full rundown, still keeping some things close to the chest to avoid standing out from everyone else

then there's the teachers

adults typically have a better time regulating emotions than teenagers, meaning much like Jazz they aren't drawing as much ectoplasm toward themselves, but this doesn't exempt them from developing something after a while, especially with the heightened stress of managing a school full of volatile super kids

Mr Lancer discovers that he can create shields, after an incident where he jumps in front of some students to protect them from another power gone awry

Tetslaff ends up with a sonic ability, able to project her voice like a megaphone (yes this is a Coach Boomer from Sky High reference don't @ me), Principal Ishiyama develops a physical mutation, growing to twice her size, she likes that she can tower over the students while delivering speeches, but she doesn't like having to stoop through doors all the time, she has the one to her office resized, along with her chair and desk

so as you can imagine, the town ends up erupting into chaos, a lot of kids very much misuse their abilities, Danny does his best as Phantom to teach people to be responsible, but sometimes he has to resort to literally kicking their asses to get them to straighten up

but for the most part, a ton of kids were already looking up to him, and are generally pretty happy to follow his example, especially the more popular kids, it's generally considered not very cool to get your ass kicked by Phantom, so weirdly enough a lot of kids get peer pressured into not causing any real damage or injury with their powers

this doesn't mean they don't absolutely misuse them, they're just more subtle about it

until a ghost shows up, a lot of the kids are more than happy to let loose to protect themselves and their friends, and Phantom for the most part is happy to let them, with some supervision of course, he still has to make sure nobody gets too hurt (including the ghosts)

the entire debacle makes Danny's life simultaneously a whole lot easier AND so much more fucking stressful

#lula's aus #mutant town au #danny phantom #you have no idea how hard it was to find the links to the other posts #tumblr's search system was fucking me around so much

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attack-on-kiwi · 3 years

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Jean alphabet ?🥲😌

The crush I have on this man is embarrassing-

Jean Kiirstein:

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Jean is a simple guy. Any time he’s around his s/o, he’s content. Usually, he will let them pick what they want to do. He’s not averse to just spending a day tending to the horses and riding around valleys on them. He finds it freeing. It’s especially enjoyable if they two are sharing the ride and his s/o is hugging him just tight enough from behind and laughing into his back. He doesn’t think that will ever stop bringing butterflies into his stomach.

He looks forward to any sort of domestic activity. Sleeping in and holding his s/o from leaving bed, helping them cut up vegetables for breakfast, surprising them with flowers or sweets when he has the opportunity to- anything classic, sweet, and intimate.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

They bring him back to reality. He’s not idealistic in any sense- instead he tends to get lost in his thoughts and can spiral into negative outbursts. He can also become closed off, so having his s/o, who can snap him back to his sense and remind him that not everything has gone to hell (even though, it’s pretty damn close to being so), means the world to him.

Jean is smitten. Another guy who thinks his s/o is the most gorgeous being to ever grace the earth. He thinks they’re the most beautiful when. they’re concentrating on a task. The way they refuse to let anyone or anything get in the way of their objective, no matter how menial or grand, bubbles pride in him.

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Jean would drop everything that can be put off to help his s/o. He absolutely hates when they feel upset, and he’s not that good at comforting people. He’ll just crouch down (or bring them down if they’re taller) to eye level and ask them what they need him to do. His voice is soft, laced with concern.

Jean damn near might tear up himself if his s/o is upset enough. He’ll stay with them for as long as they need to, and then some more. He’s likely going to hover or keep an eye on them for the next few days to make sure they’re truly all right.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Jean wants to get married and have a family. He doesn’t care if the kids are biological or adopted, but he wants kids. He could settle for a son and daughter, but it doesn’t really matter. He’d like at least two kids to keep him on his toes. He aspires to give them the most peaceful life and wants to be present in their lives for anything and everything.

He’s terrified of the idea of becoming a husband and father, but it’s one of the thoughts that keeps him going. He knows he wants his s/o by his side for the rest of their lives. Considering everything they’ve been through, he’s already planning on how to propose.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Jean doesn’t think of being dominant or passive in a relationship. He can take initiative in most cases, but he’s not going to impose on his s/o. He’s present in the relationship, and will often check in with his s/o. to make sure that they’re okay. It’s important to him that they be transparent and aware of how the other is feeling, though he might bury his own feelings quite often.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Being as confrontational as he is, it’s not uncommon to get into fights. He never gets physical with his s/o. The two are rather prone to heated arguments that can escalate to screaming at each other if the conflict is serious enough.

Jean absolutely hates that he can’t hold himself back. He’s too forthright with his thoughts.. He does try his best not to hit low blows. No matter what, his arguments are based on fact and he won’t rely on jabbing at his s/o’s insecurities to gain an edge during a fight.

He needs his space. Usually, this just means the two separate and cool down a few hours. The longest he will go without speaking to them is a night. First thing in the morning, he’ll try to calmly confront them and apologize for his behavior, asking if they can try to talk the issue out now that they’ve had some rest.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Jean’s a grateful man, even if his slight pessimistic attitude can point you otherwise. He doesn’t verbally say that he’s grateful, but his actions truly speak louder than his words. He’s always got an eye on his s/o, he stops them when they’re overexerting themselves, he can sense when all they need is to be held for a few moments, and he’s always seeking out ways to make their day brighter.

One way he might allow himself to be vulnerable is sitting behind them in bed and clasping their hands together, kissing each of their knuckles lightly. Jean likes to speak just above a whisper, listing why he loves them.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

No huge secrets. He does hide how he’s feeling at times, especially if he is stressed and doesn’t want them to feel pressured. Jean does press his s/o to tell him whatever is on their mind, though. The two have an honest relationship. You have to be blunt if you want to work with Jean, after all. He doesn’t mind if his s/o needs to keep secrets, as long as it’s nothing serious, like their loyalty to him shifting.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Jean allows himself to be more sensitive around his s/o. Normally, he would never entertain being overtly emotional or softer yet around his s/o, he’s quite different. There’s a gentleness about him which no one gets to see any other time. Truly, he will keep this persona for behind closed doors, but it does seep into his day to day. He’s kinder to people after he’s spent time with his partner.

He is fighting for the people he loves-- to guarantee they can live fulfilling lives, grow old, then finally die peacefully. It’s all he wants, and having people to fight for is his heaviest inspiration.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

He’s secure with himself in most senses, but there are times when Jean feels like he could be giving his s/o more attention or time. He may feel a twinge of guilt if his s/o starts to deflate at the idea of asking him if he has free time because it hurts that they worry about getting in the way of his work. During these episodes, it’s easy for Jean to become suspicious of other people, specifically other men, that are hovering around his s/o more than before. If it bothers him enough, he will call it out.

Usually, Jean is to ashamed of feeling insecure to outright explain why he’s jealous. His s/o can gauge if he’s uneasy by how clingy he is afterwards.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Jean’s kisses are either shy or extremely passionate. Depending on how much adrenaline is rushing through his body, he can encapsulate his partner in a fiery lip lock that will leave them short of an accidental asphyxiation (sorry I need to shut up). When he’s sleepy or has been missing his s/o, he’s prone to soft, short pecks. He likes to whisper into their lips, most of the time, he will be saying, “Just one more” as he dozes off.

His s/o is his first kiss, so it’s about as awkward as first kisses can get. His mouth and throat were dry. He wasn’t sure if he should tilt his face. They would get close then Jean would fumble, trying to adjust for better access. Finally, he got frustrated and just crashed their lips together for not even a second before pulling away, face glowing pink. Don’t worry, he’s gotten slightly better.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

Jean discovers early on. Within months, he’s positive he’s in love with his s/o. He is terrified of telling his partner due to fear of abandonment and humiliation that stems from a childhood of being bullied. (pry this from my cold dead hands). Regardless of how strong he feels, he won’t outright confess his love until the two have been together for a good amount of time. That can amount to months or even a year or so, depending on just how serious he’s feeling about the relationship.

He’s the type of person that is practicing in the mirror how to confess, and unknowingly, his s/o will hear him. If he’s lucky, they feel the same way and just walk in to tell him they love him too and watch his brain short circuit as it processes what just happened.

On a serious note, though, Jean would be nervous to confess. He’d make a date out of the entire ordeal-- choosing to take his s/o out for a nice dinner and at night, as they’re stargazing in a remote field, he’d hold their hand and say he needs to tell them something. Even in the evening, it’s easy to see him heat up. He’d whisper it at first. His s/o needs to let him collect his thoughts, and as soon as he’s gathered them, he’d confess full throttle. His voice shakes slightly, but his conviction is apparent.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Jean fantasizes of getting married quite often, and this only increases as he gets closer to his s/o.

He’s honest with his s/o and the topic of marriage comes up in late night conversations quite often. He’s confessed that once the fighting is over, they’ll get married the next day. There’s no proposal, just a promise that keeps the two fighting to live another day. His mother actually gives him her own wedding ring, telling him to get it resized if need be, but she hopes it can become a family heirloom. Jean’s a romantic, and this gets him flustered yet excited.

Peaceful. Marriage with Jean is as mundane as can be. Sure, there’s going to be times when old friends come wreck havoc, but it’s all taken in stride. He likes waking his s/o up with a kiss to the cheek. If they want to pat his hair dry or brush it after his shower, he’ll try distracting them with sly neck kisses. He wants his kids to see how much he loves his spouse and groan in disgust as they try to get their parents to hurry up so they can all eat. Jean’s content/

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

He calls them by their name mostly. Sometimes he’ll shorten it or give them an alternative where it’s the first syllable of their name with -y at the end if possible.

Jean calls them beautiful and gorgeous when he’s trying to make them laugh.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

The beginning is akin to puppy love. He’s so flustered but curious about everything they do and say. He’s kind to them and chokes up around them when he hasn’t had time to formulate a response. Definitely the type of guy who stares at his s/o wistfully with a dazed grin on his face. He’s been caught doing this to them across the room on multiple occasions. Needless to say-- everyone and their mother knows Jean’s smitten.

He tries to express his feelings by complimenting them. If he can help them out with errands or studying (if they met during the cadet training) he’s more than happy to shave off time to do so. He likes being able to take a load off their shoulders, so he won’t mind doing a little extra work.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Jean acts big, but he gets shy. The only time he’ll ever really kiss his s/o in front of others Is if he’s being teased or egged on and he wants to show he’s not ashamed of his partner. He loves them dearly, but showing affection in public isn’t the biggest priority for him.

If they’re out in the market, he loves having them hold onto his arm as they lead him wherever the like. If there’s less people around, he won’t argue with locking fingers. His s/o might catch him off guard with some sneaky kisses that are sure to provoke him.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Everything about his hands. They’re not as rough as some other people, though they aren’t insanely soft. He can give amateur massages and knows how to exert just the right amount of pressure to make the experience enjoyable, even for the most fidgety/ticklish s/o. It’s his secret to helping them relax and release pent up tension.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Jean loves romance. He loves being in love and having an excuse to try his hand at sappy love letters and poetry. He’s not the best, but what he writes down makes his s/o’s heart flutter. He just wants them to know how much he cares about them, even if he has a hard time expressing himself accurately.

He’s the type of guy who picks up pastries because he remembered his s/o liked them a few weeks ago and the bakery finally made them again. He’ll polish their shoes if they haven’t had the energy to do it themselves. He’ll remind them to eat. His idea of making them happy is making sure that they are well taken care of.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

He’s their biggest fan and simultaneously their biggest critic. Jean supports their endeavors, but he will not mask his opinions just to make them feel better. He’s tough on them because he wants to see them succeed. He’ll help them if he can, but he won’t hold them back from their potential by lying to them.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Jean loves trying out new things with his s/o, especially once the world opens up to them. He wants to explore everything, while still having some sense of routine in their lives. No dates that could potentially harm him or his s/o. He’s spending time with them, not trying to fight for survival, after all. Dates can be adventures-- he won’t mind going on hikes or exploring nearby terrain, however, he’d much rather try new foods and experience new technology instead.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Jean likes to think he knows his partner inside and out, but he’s conflicted about the duality of everyone in his life when push comes to shove, so he finds himself wondering if he truly knows them. This is just his insecurity and hurt surfacing, but he can spiral into pondering whether his s/o care about him as much as he cares for them. He knows he gives them opportunities to tell them about themselves, and he’s picked up on their quirks over the time they’ve been together. In reality, Jean genuinely does know more about them than he thinks he does. It’s hard not to feel comfortable around him, after all.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

His relationship is extremely important to him as he’s always had issues with letting people in on his vulnerable side. He has insecurity issues stemming from a variety of sources and knowing how people could use him puts him off from working on most relationships. Finding his s/o and being slapped in the face by the reality that someone genuinely loves him and wants to learn with him is eye opening. Due to this, Jean tries extremely hard to work on himself and the relationship as best he can. There’s no way he’d half ass something so good.

Though Jean’s relationship is on the. top of his priorities, his mission is still going to overshadow his desire to be with his s/o. It’s not that the mission is more important-- it’s that he needs to complete the mission so that his beloved can finally rest. He wants to protect them, and protecting them means he has to put his life on the line, unfortunate as it is.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Jean’s a mother hen to his s/o. He’s always nagging them to eat, sleep, shower and make sure they’re taking care of themselves. He’s always been in tune with the health of other people, and he just naturally wants to make sure that his s/o is in optimal condition. He will literally snap and physically force them to sleep if he needs to. He gets irritated if they’re neglecting themselves due to the fear of them getting hurt or sick.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Yes!! All he wants to do is cuddle. He loves holding his s/o, but he loves being held more. When they run their fingers through his hair and mention a silly hairstyle he could try, he almost considers it. He falls asleep on their chest almost every night.

If he’s upset, a simple kiss to the cheek or head is enough to bring a small smile back on his face.

His favorite place to be kissed would be his temples. There’s something soothing and homely about soft lips brushing past his hair to linger right above his brow. It’s also a surefire way of inducing drowsiness in him.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Jean just bites the feeling back and swears that he will see his s/o as soon as he can. The idea that they will be waiting for him is enough for him to power on. Occasionally, Jean may doodle them in the margin of a report or in his personal journal. He thinks about what their next date could be and wonders if they ever found that stray cat they mentioned a few conversations ago. He thinks about them and all the things they can do once they’re together, and it’s enough to motivate him.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

He’s literally tryna save the world for them lol

~~~

Based off @snk-warriors fluff alphabet prompt

#jean kirschstein #jean kirschtein x reader #jean kirstein #jean kirstein x reader #attack on titan #attack on titan imagines #attack on titan headcanons #attack on titan x reader #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin imagines #shingeki no kyojin headcanons #shingeki no kyoujin x reader

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moonlit-imagines · 4 years

Text

Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s Daughter (The Intense Years)

Tony Stark x daughter!reader

warnings:

a/n: y/n is 16-17, also ive really never written anything about team iron man so this was weird, someone needs to tell me i dont need every single movie detail in here

prompt: takes place from cacw and smhc

The Early Years (1) The Teenage Years (2) The Aftermath (4) Continued (5)

after the events in sokovia, you set up the relief fund for displaced sokovians and dealt with physical clean up while the avengers...

well, they had to deal with the press—and the governments of the world

getting to know your new suit AI, JOSHUA

briefly looking for bruce; no luck there

you ended up doing the MIT september foundation presentation with tony

and ending the presentation after pepper’s name popped up on the screen

“it’s probably best we get out of here”

you were his entire support system while he was going through his break with pepper

meeting charles spencer’s mother, who really gave your dad a piece of her mind

“my son died, but your daughter gets to live on. if you lost her, maybe you’d show some sympathy for murdering my child”

*awkward silence from you*

*awkward silence from tony otw to the compound*

HATING the sound of the sokovia accords, yet understanding why they’re being ratified

being torn between signing them or not and having a huge argument with the other avengers

“y/n, why dont you listen to your dad for once and sign the damn thing”

“uncle rhodey, you know why i dont want to sign. if they have us, they have access to our suits. you really think the UN should be telling us how to use them?”

“your defense doesn’t even make sense. i had the war machine or iron patriot or whatever the hell you want to call it, but the military was calling the shots”

“and look where you are now”

“right, well i wouldn’t expect a kid to understand”

“are you kidding me, rhodes? you’re gonna play the ‘im older than you’ card?”

comforting wanda while she feared being taken

and as soon as you heard about what happened in lagos

“think about it, maximoff. if you didnt do what you did, do you know how many more casualties there may have been?”

“but i killed innocents”

“no, rumlow killed innocents. you contained that blast better than anyone else could have and you prevented a whole bunch of deaths, give yourself some credit”

okay, so you weren’t the best at talking someone down while they were upset

staying in berlin with your father while the whole bucky thing began to get sorted out

but he sent you out to stay with nat while he had some “private time” with steve

tony keeping you close to him during the power outage at the base

until it turned out you brought your suit and tony did not!

everyone was looking at you to take down bucky, but it just seemed like a bad idea, you didn’t want to hurt him because you didn’t want to hurt steve

stalling to try and buy steve time to subdue his friend

“y/n, come on, for christ sake!”

“got it, dad! i know what im doing!”

“i dont think you do!”

feeling your stomach drop when bucky shot into your dad’s hand, if it wasn’t for his latest invention, he may have gotten seriously hurt

you had a slight change of heart after that, you couldn’t bare to lose your dad. not after all those close calls...

getting yelled at by secretary ross and the wonderful 36 hour ultimatum you, nat, and tony received

“i have a plan”

“don’t say the spider boy”

“fine, i wont say it”

a nice trip to queens :)

when this parker kid finally got home, tony left you to socialize with his aunt

small talk is sometimes unbearable

“so, what’s it like being tony stark’s daughter?”

“honestly? im always tired”

peter becoming a tagalong on your mission, which you didn’t really think was appropriate

“dad, i dont really think we should’ve brought the kid...”

“why? you’re about the same age as him, its not much different”

“um...no, i meant this isnt his battle. i don’t care how old he is”

face off between tony and cap where you literally just swallowed all your pride and apologized because you couldn’t handle the fact that the team was being ripped apart like this

team ups with Spider-Man

“so, uh, do you hate me or something?”

“hey, kid? we’re kind of in the middle of something, i’ll get back to you on that”

“it’s a yes or no question, y/n”

“pass”

so, things didn’t exactly go as planned...

your (former) teammates were taken to the RAFT and you couldn’t pull it together in front of them

they were pretty pissed at you

“im sorry, im so sorry, i should’ve done better”

they ignored you (up until scott lang)

“all you stark’s are the same”

“stay out of this, bugboy”

taking to the remote hydra base in another famous father/daughter teamup

“just like the old days, right kiddo?”

“i guess so”

“hey, cheer up, it’s not all that bad”

waltzing right in there to meet your friend and foe

seeing the video of your grandparents dying

*being killed

absolutely stunned by seeing such a gruesome thing

even after all you’ve seen, this really got to you

you were robbed of ever meeting them, which made you angry, but you couldn’t stay angry because there were so many things out of everyones control

realizing that this was a good time to hold tony back

“JOSHUA, lock down y/n’s suit. protocol: baby gate”

apparently your dad still had some old protocols in your suit that you hadn’t found yet

“JOSHUA? reboot! override protocol: baby gate”

“i’m sorry, miss y/n, but i cannot do that”

watching your father attempt to get revenge

and get critically injured

simultaneously working on opening the suit back up for a bad plan

finally getting the emergency release and stumbling out of your suit, rushing towards the conflict and throwing yourself in the middle of it

“please, dad. enough damage has been done.”

“y/n, get out of the way”

he saw you shaking and crying and he realized what he was doing

attacking the only family you guys really had

getting shoved out of the way so that they could end this fight once and for all

JOSHUA finally rebooting and bringing the suit over to shield you while you helplessly watched the end of this fight

when bucky and steve left, your suit disarmed and you crouched down beside your father

“come on, let’s just go home”

“im sorry”

“i know, it’s okay”

trying to comfort your dad after his defeat

you picked up cap’s shield and returned to your suit, it was time to go home

after a brief time of recovery (while you helped work on uncle rhodey’s prototype prosthetics), there was a slight change of plans for you

“okay, so for your punishment after what you pulled during my...divorce with cap, you’re going to babysit the spiderling so you gain some perspective”

“hold on, what?! what do you mean ‘perspective?’”

“i mean you dont know what it’s like to be in charge of the life of a teenager, so now you get to find out! congratulations on your promotion!”

it was not fun at all because peter kept blowing up your phone and you kept having to tell him there was nothing for him to do

Y/N: I’ll let you know when there’s a spider-level threat, kapeesh?

P. Parker: Yes, ma’am, sorry.

peter going behind your back to do some “superhero work”

and you having to swoop in to fix everything last second

“come on, you stole my thunder, y/n!”

“no, peter, i saved your life. next time you have a lead, call me first”

and then he didn’t 😌✨💕

“Y/N, incoming call from ‘big fat meanie’”

“put him through, JOSHIE...hey dad, how’s dubai?”

“taking care of a kid is harder than it looks, isn’t it?”

“don’t start with me”

damage control ahahah 🤡

“peter, why cant you just call me in? you don’t stop texting me for months but for this you go radio silent? you almost died. and you put a bunch of lives in danger! do you want me to have to go to your aunt and tell her you died?”

“im sorry! i just...i dont want to be a sidekick”

“kid, you’re gonna have a long time to make a name for yourself...but not if you’re dead!”

he started crying and you were very uncomfortable so you tried to hug him? it helped.

letting him off easy (just like your dad did to you growing up)

but apparently tony came back and took the suit anyways and you were pretty pissed about it

avengers moving day :) yes, part of your punishment was helping happy with moving day and hearing him gush about how you were “growing into such a responsible adult”

“happy i dont know if you noticed but ive basically been an adult since i was 12”

“keep telling yourself that, kiddo”

seeing an explosion and immediately knowing it was peter

“i’ll see you later, happy, love you!”

investigating the crash site and whaddaya know, there’s peter and his first bad guy, you were kind of proud

“peter, you okay?”

“nope!”

“okay, cool”

more damage control lmao (a/n: yall sick of damage control yet?)

a congratulatory call from your dad

“hey! you did pretty good, all things considered. why don’t you take the kid to the avengers compound for his special surprise?”

“aye aye, see you soon.”

“love you, kiddo”

“you too, dad”

quick fast forward to peter rejecting the position as an avenger while the press was outside, yes, you were surprised

but then your dad finally proposed to pepper, it was a pretty cool engagement announcement

“y/n, will you be my maid of honor?”

“duh!”

happily ever after (a/n: until the next part is up)

573 notes · View notes

slapshot-to-the-heart · 4 years

Text

Death by a Thousand Cuts - j. debrusk

Trying to venture into some new territory, let me know what you think! Title’s from the Taylor Swift song. 4.8k of post-breakup Jake DeBrusk angst, as always, I love hearing feedback! I read all the tags, so feel free to reblog, pop into my inbox, anything!

Wine pairing from someone with zero authority on the subject: a full-bodied Syrah - smooth, fruity, the kind of wine I’d want to drink if I was sad.

My heart, my hips, my body, my love/Trying to find a part of me you didn’t touch

Shadi threw back another shot, wincing as the vodka burned down her throat. Clara rubbed her back sympathetically. “Better?” She shrugged. Alcohol was great for forgetting things, but there were some wounds too fresh and too deep for even a Sazerac to cure. And her wounds were named Jake DeBrusk.

Jake had been her everything, still was her everything, and the idea that she was somehow now in charge of forgetting everything they had shared was more than she could bear. Breakups weren’t something Shadi took lightly, and especially when she had spent the past year falling more in love with him with each breath she took. Forgetting more than a year’s worth of early-morning conversations in his bed, Jake’s hand gently brushing back her hair before kissing her temple and going out to the kitchen to start the coffee pot. Shadi couldn’t start her day without coffee. A year’s worth of games, up in the box with the other WAGs and down in the tunnel, their lips crashing together in the euphoria of a post-win high. A year’s worth of vacations, to Edmonton to visit his family and Dallas to see hers, laying on the white sand beaches of Tahiti in the summer. A year’s worth of falling asleep to him tracing lines between the freckles on her bare back in the glow of the post-sex fog. It wasn’t like she was going to forget any of it anytime soon. And if Shadi was being honest with herself, it wasn’t like she wanted to.

---

Shadi met Jake just after moving into her new apartment with Clara, her best friend from BC, when they decided to celebrate their newfound jobs and independence with a bar crawl. As luck would have it, they never actually made it past the first one. Clara had just finished up her first week as a tenth grade English teacher, and Shadi had the weekend to relax before her marketing analytics post started on Monday.

She wasn't going out to meet someone, not really, but if there was someone attractive enough and charming enough she wasn’t absolutely opposed to spending the night in a bed that wasn’t her own. Shadi sat at the bar, responding to a few texts and sipping her drink as she waited for Clara to return from the bathroom. She wasn’t paying enough attention to her surroundings to notice someone sidle up next to her, getting a little too close for comfort. “Hey,” he said loudly, startling her. Shadi looked up — way up, he was at least six or seven inches taller than her 5’5 — to the stranger’s face, flashing a tight smile. She didn’t know any women who particularly liked to be accosted in the middle of a drink.

“Hey,” she said.

He inched closer. “I’m Darren, nice to meet you.”

As much as she’d really just like to be able to tell the guy to fuck all the way off, Shadi hated that it was a far better decision for her safety and security to just try and tacitly go along with it. Let him down easy.

“Shadi,” she responded.

He whistled, and she internally cringed, trying as subtly as she could to look towards the bathrooms and trying to spot Clara. More than once, they had pretended to be a couple at bars to get each other out of situations exactly like this one. “Shadi,” he said, testing out the name. “What is that? Arabic? Indian?”

Now she visibly cringed, raising her eyebrows. Great, he’s racist as well as a creep. “Neither. I’m Persian.”

“Cool, super cool,” he said, nodding. “So, Shadi, what brings you here?”

“Starting a new job next week,” she said, looking back down at her phone, trying to give him just enough information to keep him from being pissed at her.

Darren finished his drink. “That’s cool, yeah. Good for you. I work in finance. High-level account managing and stuff. It’s a lot of responsibility, but I like the challenge.” Great, add finance bro to the list of reasons why I’ll never go home with this guy, Shadi thought.

“Nice,” Shadi said, looking away and taking a sip of her drink and trying her damndest to make it clear she wasn’t interested.

Darren moved even closer, his hand now resting on her waist as Shadi leaned as far away from him as she could while still staying on her seat, looking frantically around for Clara, or anyone, to bail her out. “You come here with anyone?”

“Uh, yeah,” Shadi said nervously, eyes still sweeping the room. “My boyfriend should be around here somewhere.” Darren didn’t need to know she didn’t have a boyfriend, and as much as she hated that men like him were more likely to leave her alone if they thought she was spoken for than if she told him herself she wasn’t interested, it was the best thing she could do in the moment.

Darren took a cursory glance around the room. “I don’t see anyone coming,” he noted. “You sure about that, Shadi?

“Yes,” she squeaked, as his hand tightened around her waist and she froze like a deer in headlights, too stiff to flag down the bartender.

“It’s polite to look at people when they’re talking to you, or did they not teach that where you’re from?”

Shaking, she turned back to look at him. “I’m from Texas,” she spat.

“I think we could really have some fun together, if you’d just stop being so uptight we could really—” Darren didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence, his arm being forcefully removed from her waist. She swung around, meeting the eyes of her unknown savior, who was too busy glaring at the man across from her to even meet her eyes.

“Seems like you’re having a hard time taking no for an answer,” he said.

Darren looked up, rubbing his wrist from where it had been in a vice grip only moments before. “You the boyfriend?”

The other man didn’t even flinch. “Yeah, I’m the boyfriend. Even if I wasn’t, she clearly doesn’t want anything to do with you, but she’s just too polite to tell you to fuck off. Luckily,” he smirked. “I’m not.”

Darren rolled his eyes, grabbing his half-empty glass and inching away from the bar. “Whatever. Wouldn’t have been worth it anyways.”

Shadi collapsed into her hands as soon as he was out of earshot, breathing shakily. The stranger reached out tentatively, rubbing her shoulder to comfort her. “You okay?”

She leaned back, taking another drink and nodding. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be okay, it’s not like it’s the first time this has happened. He just really didn’t want to leave me alone and I couldn’t find my friend and he didn’t seem to be getting the message that I wasn’t interested.”

He grimaced. “On behalf of my entire gender, I apologize for all the shitty men you have ever had to encounter.”

“Thank you,” she said, laughing slightly and setting her glass back down on the bar. “And thanks for stepping in, you really didn’t have to.”

He shook his head. “I just did what any decent guy would do. I’ve got a sister, girls deserve to feel safe in bars.”

“Regardless,” she added, “I appreciated it. And just so you know,” she said, pausing, “you don’t have to worry about an actual boyfriend coming around. I’ve just found it’s the easiest way for guys to leave me alone.” Shadi surprised herself; she wasn’t normally this bold.

He dipped his head. “Good to know. Probably should properly introduce myself, then. Jake DeBrusk,” he said, sticking his hand out.

“Shadi Azizi.” She shook it, smirking slightly as she took a sip of her drink. “I know.”

He smiled bashfully, scratching his head. “Hockey fan?”

She nodded. “I’ll go to Bruins games when I can make it, but I’m from Dallas, so…” she shrugged.

“You’ve already sold your soul to the Stars,” Jake finished.

Shadi laughed. “Yep. You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take the Texas out of the girl.”

Jake eyed her glass, seeing that she was nearly finished. “Can I get you another?” Shadi nodded after a moment. “Sure.” He caught the bartender’s eye. “What are you drinking?” “Whiskey on the rocks.” Jake leaned back on his stool, clutching his hands over his chest. “A woman after my own heart.”

---

Three months later, it was November, and Shadi was in Jake’s kitchen, doling out Chinese takeout onto two plates. “Beer?” she asked over the counter, to where Jake was flopped on the couch, flipping through channels in hopes of finding something mildly interesting to watch.

“Yes please,” he shot back. He had just gotten back from a road trip that afternoon, eleven days in the Midwest, and there were few things he wanted more than to be back in Shadi’s arms. They had started a sort of unspoken tradition; Shadi had taken to spending the night whenever Jake came back from a road trip, and he wasn’t about to start complaining. He loved his job and he loved his team, but after a week or two of being around them practically 24/7, he didn’t want to waste any time getting back to her.

Shadi padded back towards the living room, sliding a plate of lo mein and fried rice over to Jake, who leaned in and kissed her shoulder. “Thanks, babe,” he said, putting the remote down. “Parks and Rec good with you?”

She nodded, mouth full. “Doesn’t take much to convince me. I’d kill a man for Leslie Knope.”

Jake laughed. Shadi looked over at him, one eyebrow raised. “You think I’m joking?”

He held his free hand up in mock surrender, the other balancing his plate on the arm of the couch. “I should have known better. Will you ever forgive me?”

“Maybe,” Shadi said, scrunching up her nose. “I think I can find it somewhere deep in the recesses of my cold, dead heart.”

Things between Jake and Shadi had gotten pretty serious pretty quickly, certainly more quickly than Jake was expecting. But, as he was realizing, that wasn’t exactly a bad thing. The scene was definitely more domestic than he was used to; it wasn’t unusual for him and Shadi to join some of their friends or the team for a night out at the bars or clubs, but it was just as common to have an evening in. It was nice, being together like this. Domesticity was never something that was quite his style, but as he thought, looking over at Shadi, who was entirely engrossed in Leslie’s valiant attempts to control a town hall meeting, maybe it could become his style.

You said it was a great love, one for the ages/But if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?

It was the end of January, and Shadi was in Edmonton. Jake had told her about Boston’s bye week about two months earlier, the plan having originally been to drive up to New Hampshire for a week of camping in White Mountain. But then Jake had been selected for the All-Star Team, much to his surprise — not Shadi’s, who had been convinced he’d be picked practically since the season started — and their schedule had been turned on its head. He had decided that it would make more sense to visit his family. Shadi didn’t complain; she had just started to get used to Boston winters, and wasn’t confident in her ability to go a week in a tent in the middle of January.

What surprised her, though, was when he invited her to come with him. She had never met his parents in person before. Over FaceTime, sure, but it wasn’t the same. Jake was initially very shy about extending the invitation, almost as if he wasn’t sure if that was something she wanted or was ready for. His concern was sweet, but Shadi was more touched that he had asked her to come in the first place, and put in her request for vacation time that night.

The flight wasn’t much over six hours, a short layover in Montréal and one connection later and they landed in Edmonton. Shadi met up with Jake just outside of passport control, pulling her pea coat tightly around herself. “Ooh,” she said, breathing out shakily. “Bit chilly here, no?”

Jake laughed. Oh, if only she knew. “Wait till you get outside, babe. It’s January in the middle of Alberta.”

“How bad can it get?” Shadi asked naively. Pretty bad, as she found out the moment they stepped outside the terminal into the freezing air. She was suddenly very grateful her parka was in her bag, a Patagonia jacket that had been one of her first big purchases when she moved to Boston. Jake was having a very good fun time poking fun at her in the three minutes it took for his parents to pull up.

“Aww, is my Texas girl cold? Is she having trouble dealing with real weather?”

Shadi glared at him. “Shut up.”

His parents were incredible, kind and welcoming from the moment they picked them up at the airport. They drove them back to Jake’s childhood home, where his sister greeted her with a hug. She had visited Boston a few weeks prior, her and Shadi immediately getting along thanks to their shared taste in coffee orders and music. They had swapped Spotify playlists more than one time since her visit.

The week she spent in Edmonton was amazing. Even though she may have been a little bit apprehensive from the start, all of her worries were just distant memories by the time they had to get back on the plane. She had always been good with parents; whether it was her best friend or her boyfriend, they had always liked her. Making a good impression and being unfailingly respectful, especially to her elders, was a value that had been instilled in her from a young age. She had brought a tin of qurabiya on the plane as a gift for them, after a half-dozen Google searches to make sure she could bring them across the border and a twenty minute long phone call with her mom to make sure she was using the right type of almonds. They loved them, and seeing the tin already empty on the third day of her trip filled her heart.

“She’s really good for you, you know,” his mom said, as he was packing his suitcase for the flight back. “You’re still you, fun and spontaneous and caring. But you’re a more mature, thoughtful version of yourself. And I think that’s thanks to Shadi.”

Jake blushed, shoving his toothbrush in his toiletry bag. “She is. She’s great, Mom. We have so much fun together, and she really does bring out the best in me.” He paused for a moment. “I think I’m in love with her.”

His mom raised her eyebrows, not surprised and certainly not disappointed, but a little astonished that he had realized himself what she saw from the moment they had landed in Canada. She had just been waiting for him to admit it. “You do?” she asked, a hint of a smile on her face.

He nodded, more sure this time. “I’m in love with her, Mom.”

Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand/Paper cut stings from our paper-thin plans

“You doing okay, babe?” Clara asked gently, one hand on Shadi’s back as she nursed her third beer of the night. Shadi reached up to try and wipe away her tears. Thank God she hadn’t worn any mascara. She nodded, trying to flash her best friend a smile, but it didn’t meet her eyes.

Shadi hadn’t ever been the kind of person to put up walls. That was Jake’s thing. But she was a great actress, and if Clara hadn’t known her as well as she did, she wouldn’t have been able to call her on it.

“Bullshit, Shadi. You’re not fine and I know it. You know it.” God, Clara could read her like a book. It wasn’t okay, she wasn’t okay, and she sure as hell wasn’t over him. She didn’t know when she would be over him. If ever.

They said that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it burned in one. If Rome was a metaphor for their relationship, Shadi would say there’s never been a more accurate phrase. All it took was five minutes for Jake to break her heart, for the world they had built together to come crumbling apart around her. As much as she hated it, there was still a part of her that couldn’t help but try to look back on that night. Shadi almost called bullshit on him the moment he said he was breaking up with her, because he had never even brought it up before, and that’s not something you just drop on someone like he did, right? But she didn’t, she hadn’t gotten closure and hadn’t gotten a reason, an actual reason, and so any curly hair she saw out of the corner of her eye that night she kept hoping was Jake’s, and any cocky smile from some guy trying to buy her a drink — she’d let them, for the free alcohol, but they never got a conversation out of her — she kept wishing was his.

---

It was September, and Shadi felt like she was walking on air. She and Jake had celebrated their one year anniversary a month ago, and things couldn’t be going better. Training camp for the new season had started, which had begun to take up more of his time than she maybe would have liked, but she was dealing with it. They both were. It was like Shadi had told him two months into their relationship, and countless times since: she knew what she was signing up for, knew that sometimes she would have to take a backseat to hockey, and she was okay with that. Having Jake some of the time was better than not having him at all.

So when Jake had texted her that morning, asking if she was free to come over that night, she thought nothing of it. Well, scratch that, she thought a lot of it. It had been about two weeks since they had had a proper date night; while she loved him sneaking into her apartment to sleep for a few hours before he had to get up or meeting in the mornings for coffee and bagels, they were in desperate need of some alone time. Jake hadn’t exactly been distant since their anniversary, but it had definitely seemed like something was on his mind. And when she asked Clara, or her older sister Yasmin, or Hannah, her best friend in Houston, they all said the same thing. If nothing seemed like it was going wrong, but he was seeming distant, but they were still communicating, then there was really only one possibility, at least according to them. He was going to propose.

So Shadi took a little longer in front of the mirror, put on her good jeans instead of just a pair of sweats, ran a comb through her hair. She grabbed her car keys, locking the door to her apartment and nervously pressing on the elevator button. Why was she nervous? She was in love with Jake. She saw a future with him, a future together. If tonight was going to be the start of forever, there was nothing to be afraid of. I wonder what Jake’s doing now, Shadi thought. Was he waiting for her on the couch? Trying to cook pasta, the only dinner he could reliably make without burning? Pacing back and forth in his room, turning over the ring box in his hand? The ring. What did it look like? Did he buy it new, or was it a family heirloom? Did he ask any of the guys on the team for tips, or did — Stop it, Shadi reminded herself. He doesn’t have to be proposing. We do nights in almost every week. Maybe he just wants to watch a movie. But in the back of her mind, as she pulled out of the parking garage, was the possibility that she was about to walk into one of the most important nights of her life. And it was, but not in the way she thought. Not in the way she wanted.

Jake’s place was only ten minutes away from hers; before she even knew it, she was killing the engine and walking up the stairs to his door. She tapped her knuckles against the wood. It was barely ten seconds before Jake opened it up, smiling at her. “Hey, thanks for coming over,” he said, leading her into the living room and pressing a kiss against her cheek, lingering a little longer than usual

Shadi knew something was off even as they sat on the couch thirty minutes later, Star Wars playing on the screen in front of them. If she was being honest, she knew something was wrong from the moment she got there. Jake was acting stuff, not distant, but almost confused. LIke he had something on his mind that he couldn’t quite spit out. And it didn’t seem like a proposal. “Alright,” Shadi said, huffing and propping herself up on one arm to face Jake. “What’s up.”

To his credit, he didn’t mince words, didn’t play dumb. He knew better than to insult her intelligence like that, and she knew better than to believe him. “You noticed, huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “I love you for a lot of reasons, J, but you really do have a terrible poker face.”

Jake sighed, running a hand through his hair, leaving a piece hanging in front of his eye. “Alright,” he said, in that kind of I-know-what-I-need-to-say-but-I-don’t-want-to-say-it tone, the one that she wasn’t expecting. The one that never means good news. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on my life, our lives over the past thirteen months we’ve been together, and I’ve loved every minute of the time that we’ve spent together.” Okay, Shadi furrowed her brows, where’s he going with this? “I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about my priorities in life, where they are right now and where I think they should be. And I’ve realized that,” he swallowed, “I’m at a place in my life where I need to be focusing on hockey.” Oh no. “And I don’t think I’m in a position where I can have a relationship and be as invested in my career as I need to be.” Oh God.

Shadi sat up, stunned. “Are you...Are you breaking up with me?”

Jake nodded his head jerkily. “And I want you to know that I don’t regret anything about our relationship. I don’t have anything bad to say about you, or the time we’ve spent together, or anything. I just don’t think I’m able to give you, or our relationship, the attention it deserves. You deserve someone who’s going to be able to dedicate a hundred percent to you, and as much as I wish I could, I don’t think I’m that person.”

“So, you’re saying I’m a distraction?” Shadi asked slowly, her eyes shiny with unshed tears.

Jake ran a hand through his hair, tangling his fingers in his curls. “Fuck. No. That’s not it. I just don’t know if I’m in a place where I’m able to juggle two things that are so important, and that I want to dedicate this much time to.”

She scoffed. “Are you really trying to pull the whole ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ line with me, DeBrusk?” That stung. She never called him by his last name, not even when they started dating. It was J, or babe, or even Jake if she was particularly annoyed, but never just DeBrusk.

“Would it make you feel better if I was?”

Shadi shook her head. “It’s worse. Don’t you know that it’s worse? Because then there’s not anything I feel like I could have done differently. Nothing I could have done to change your mind.” Her eyes drifted down to her right hand, where the gorgeous pearl ring Jake had gotten her for their anniversary just a month prior sat on her ring finger. “You said you were going to marry me one day,” Shadi said, sliding her fingertips down to the band and gently twisting it off. Her hand felt bare, even though it had only been there for a month. Jake’s breath caught in his throat. Never make a promise you can’t keep.

Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts

God, sometimes Shadi just felt so fucking stupid. She almost felt naive, shortsighted from not listening to her friends in Boston, or people back home who warned her about Jake.“You know his reputation. You know how hockey players are” Shadi couldn’t count the number of times people had told her that, and the number of times she hadn’t listened. “He doesn’t stick with any one girl.” “I know you like him, but he’s only going to break your heart.” But the thing was, he hadn’t. Jake had made it clear, straight from the start of their relationship, that they were exclusive, and he backed it up. She wore his jersey to games, went as his date to all the Bruins fundraisers, and took the week off to come with him when he was selected for the All-Star Game. Jake knew his reputation better than anyone, and that’s why he was so committed to making sure she knew that he wasn’t the kind of guy everyone kept trying to peg him as. And Shadi had never felt so much pride then when she was able to turn around, prove them wrong, and say: “You see? He’s never done anything to hurt me, and he’s not about to start now.”

But she couldn’t, not anymore. She couldn’t, because they all had been right and he had broken his promises and her heart and now she was crying in a bar with her best friend on a Friday night and had no clue how to get a grip of her feelings. She pounded back another beer, barely even stopping to swallow before ordering a fourth round. Or was it a fifth? She didn’t know, and at that point, she really didn’t care.

I get drunk, but it's not enough/’Cause the morning comes and you're not my baby

Sometime past one but before her next door neighbor’s chihuahua always started barking at two, Shadi stumbled into her apartment. She unstrapped her heels and placed them haphazardly by the door as she walked down to the bathroom, reaching around the cupboard for her toothpaste. Teeth were brushed and flossed, and she had shed nearly all of her clothes by the time she reached her bed. She grabbed the nearest sweatshirt to pull over her body as makeshift pajamas, only half paying attention. Shadi was too tired to look too closely; if she had, she would have noticed that it was a Bruins hoodie, the very first one Jake had ever given to her, a month and a half into their relationship.

It seemed like Shadi had barely drifted off to sleep when she was woken up by the sound of frantic knocks on her door. Her first thought was something was wrong with Clara, who lived down the hall, that she wasn’t feeling well or needed to be talked out of texting her ex-girlfriend. It had happened before. But then she realized that Clara would have called first. Then her thought was a fire somewhere, but she didn’t smell smoke and her alarm hadn’t gone off. The knocking persisted. “Okay, okay, I’m coming. You’re going to wake up the whole building,” Shadi grumbled, throwing back the covers and padding out to the living room, pants be damned.

She tried to wipe the sleep out of her eyes, the harsh light of the hallway fluorescents the first thing she noticed as the door swung open. The second thing was the person standing in front of it. It was Jake. His hand was frozen in the air, like he was about to knock for a fourth time if she hadn’t answered. “What are you doing here?” she whispered, her voice small. She didn’t trust it to speak any louder.

Jake’s breath hitched as he noticed what she was wearing. His sweatshirt. He stuffed his hand into his jeans pocket, pulling out her pearl ring. The same one she had taken off the day he left, the same one he had given her when his thoughts of the future were filled with big houses and weddings and kids’ birthday parties. He held it out to her. “I had to see you.”

#hockey imagine #hockey smut #nhl imagine #nhl smut #jake debrusk #boston bruins #hockey #hockey imagines #hockey writing #nhl #nhl imagines #nhl writing

75 notes · View notes

atiny-ahgase · 4 years

Text

The Magic Of Love

Author’s note: Hey everyone it’s Gabby again. I’ve had this idea for a while now, but I just didn’t have time to write it, I hope that you all like it. I’m not really familiar with Witchcraft and honestly, I’m not familiar with anything even remotely mystical but I just got this idea and thought that it was cool. So, this is it, hope you like it.

Summary: Y/n is trying their best to balance being a witch and university student at the same time. While they were out shopping for materials they bump into a rather handsome stranger. Small talk revealed that they actually had some classes together like Medieval History and Literature. They soon became hyper-aware of his presence and began wishing for his company. Not trusting your own charms to impress him you decide to conjure up your charms ‘if you get my drift’. What happens when you turn to magic to solve your problems?

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Pairing: Hongjoong x Gender Neutral Reader

Word Count: 4.8k

Genre: Fluff, School au

Contains: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Magic but not really, Gender Neutral Reader,

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Releasing a loud sigh as you feel your perspiration dripping from your brow. “Why did I have to go shopping on literally the hottest day of the year?” you thought as you took a left down the alley slightly tripping over a piece of trash. “There is a trash can like 1 centimetre away, what the hell?” you state while looking at the trashcan in question. With your attention focused on the sheer laziness and disregard that individuals had for their surroundings and the environment as a whole you didn’t notice that you were walking while not exactly looking where you were going. The fact only becoming aware to you when you bumped into someone, causing you to drop along with all of your brown paper grocery bags onto the cold street floor.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry,” you begin while looking up at the stranger whom you collided with. Looking up at him the first thing you realized was his bright blue hair. The cold hue contrasting with the warmth of this eyes. His hair reminded you of the crystal clear skies, vast and beautiful, deep and mesmerizing. His eyes like the brown tree trunks that bordered your childhood home; a brilliant brown filled with life and warmth. “No it’s my fault,” you heard the stranger say, the cheerful tone in his voice catching you off-guard. “Are you okay?” he inquired while bending down to help you up from the spot where you had fallen.

“I’m fine, thanks,” you begin, “I’m a lot tougher than I look”, you beamed at him. You had never seen anyone as handsome as he was; surely you would have remembered. Looking up at him you smile brightly as you hear him release a soft chuckle at your comment, his dazzling smile shining like the midday sun, beautiful and blinding. You grasped his hand in yours, face heating up as you feel the warmth of his hand. Rising up from the floor you quickly dust off your jeans and palms before thanking the kind stranger.

“Thank you, and it really wasn’t your fault,” you confessed, “I just zoned out for a minute.” “Well as long as you’re okay then I guess it doesn’t really matter who’s at fault it is,” he replied before shrugging slightly. Stooping down you begin to retrieve all of your fallen items, placing them back into their bags. As you stayed on the floor you heard the steps of the blue-haired boy begin to fade, guess he’s leaving now.

After collecting all of your things you stand up, holding the paper bags in your hands once more. “I think you forget something,” you hear a voice just a few steps ahead of you. “This one must have gotten away from you,” he joked before handing you a silver can. The sun shone off of its ridges, reflecting the light onto the dark, dismal alleyway walls. “Thank you...again,” you say shyly before taking the can and placing it in your bag. “I’m Hongjoong by the way,” he says while extending his hand to you before pulling it back towards him, a look of embarrassment clearly on his face. “Sorry, your hands are full, you couldn’t shake my hand anyway-,” he began blabbering more to himself than to you. “I’m Y/n,” you interrupted.

He flashes you another smile as you begin to walk forward, you had finally finished shopping for all of the ingredients that you needed. Not wanting to endure the heat of the day anymore you were heading home to study your potion brewing. You had a big exam coming up and you need to pass if you wanted to be promoted to a higher rank, but at the rate, you were going that seemed almost impossible.

----

You had been practising witchcraft for about 5 years now; learning about it from your deceased grandmother. Things were incredibly difficult for you at the beginning as you tried to catch up with your peers. Everyone seemed to be better than you, granted you did start later than everyone else but the school board clearly didn’t care. Because of this, you struggled to make friends and eventually just gave up on the idea as a whole realizing that it wasn’t worth it.

Usual school wasn’t as difficult to make friends but the relationships never seemed to last long, every time you even tried to get close to someone the relationship acted like a castle of sand, crumbling the moment you try to grasp it. So you cut yourself off from that part of life completely, finding the work unnecessary and the pain too detrimental. Choosing to solely focus on your studies in both usual school and magic school, convincing yourself that relationships were unnecessary especially love. Falling in love was like basically signing your own death wish, like falling off a cliff to your rocky demise.

You were now entering university as well as still furthering your studies in the art of witchcraft. You knew that it was going to be difficult but you weren’t willing to part from either aspects of your life just yet. You had a huge exam coming up and needed to study your potions and spell casting, hence the reason for your unusual shopping trip. You were never really the best at potion making always seeming to choose the wrong ingredients or quantities almost always resulting in an explosion.

Hopefully, you’d have better luck in university; you were just starting a new year at a whole new school filled with a bunch of new people. You are really excited to start especially since all of your past peers opted for going to a school outside of your district. So you didn’t have to worry about your old bullies rearing their ugly heads at you.

-----

While walking you noticed that Hongjoong was going in the same direction as you, which wasn’t too odd considering that it was a pretty small town; there weren’t many places to really go. But that was one thing that you really loved about it, you found comfort in its familiarity. “So are you a local here?” you hear Hongjoong ask from beside you, probably tired of the deafening silence which had formed. “Well kinda”, you began “, I moved here when I was really young and I’ve been here ever since.”

You both seemed to click almost instantly and you welcomed his company, it had been such a long time since you’ve actually had a real conversation with someone. For being a complete stranger he knew more about you in the few minutes that you both walked together than anyone else in your life. It was amazing how he just broke down walls that you hadn’t even realized you had formed, turning them to rubble before your very eyes. You could honestly talk to him for hours and never get bored, he made every topic sound so riveting, you found yourself hanging off of every word that escaped his lips.

To your dismay, you spotted the bright red roses of your apartment garden much sooner than you had wanted. You couldn’t hide the small frown that had spread across your face once you were hit with the realization that you’d both me parting ways soon. “This is my stop,” you state while gesturing to your apartment building. “Well, I guess that I’ll see you around the Y/n,” he chimes in, sending you another one of his stunning smiles which you immediately return.

You both say your goodbyes before you walk up to your brick staircase and enter your apartment. Upon closing your front door you lent against the cold wood, back pressed up against it you released a soft sigh. He was nice, really nice, it had been so long since you had last enjoyed having a conversation with someone. Most of your conversations lately consisted of bickering with the other witches in your class or defending yourself against the bullies in your school. You had forgotten just how much you had missed pleasant conversations like that, the last time you had smiled so brightly was when you had told your grandmother that you had gotten into magic school. She was so happy, her face lit up like the brightest star on a Christmas tree. That was one of the best memories that you had shared with her; she was always a lively spirit, her young soul would often rub off on you, convincing you to look at the world in a more exciting light. You missed her, you truly did but you’d never forgotten everything that she had taught you, all of the time that you had spent together.

-------

The blaring sound of your morning alarm cut through the silence of the early morning like a knife through butter, shattering your pleasant dreams. Sighing loudly you rollover smashing your hand against the screen in a few futile attempts to turn off your alarm. You groan as you rise from your bed rubbing your eyes in an attempt to remove all remaining sleepiness. Today was the first day of school and even though you weren't really planning on trying to impress anyone you still wanted to look good for yourself. Rolling off of bed you readied yourself for the day deciding on is a simple button-up shirt with your favourite pair of blue jeans and converse sneakers. Your jeans were slightly rolled at the ankle allowing your mismatched socks to be seen, they were honestly your favourite parts of the outfit. Flinging your leather bag over your shoulder you grabbed your phone and keys before exiting the door. The journey to university wasn't that long since your house is fairly close to the campus.

Once you had arrived on compass you unzipped your bag in search of your schedule for the day. The edges of the paper blew violently due to the strong winds you were experiencing. Clutching the paper tightly in an attempt to keep it from flying away, you quickly skimmed through the page in search of your first classroom. Reading over your schedule you notice that your 1st class of the day was , Medieval History, the second floor of the history building room 208. Carefully placing the paper back into your bag you zipped it up before briskly walking to your class. Passing numerous students and faculty members you finally made your way to the large brown building. “How long was this building established?” you wondered before pushing open the doors to enter the Hall.

Walking to the elevator you pressed the button and waited for it to reach your floor. Standing there you rocked on the soles of your feet mind aimlessly wandering before you heard an all too familiar voice. Looking away from the closed elevator door you notice a fluffy head of bright blue hair. “Are you stalking me, mister Joong?” I enquire, a slight playfulness in my voice. He chuckles from beside you before replying “So you’re really walking around here thinking that my first name is Hong and my family name is Joong?” he queries while cocking his eyebrow at you.

Smiling brightly you turn to him, “I actually have no idea what your last name is but I had already committed to the sentence so there was no turning back”, you reply. “So you go to school here?” he continues while entering the elevator. “Nah, I just like to take pictures in front of the art wall,” you joke while standing beside him. You reach forward to press the elevator button but your hand stops midway when you realize that your floor has already been pressed. “You heading to room 208?” you question, noticing the textbook in his hand, it's the same textbook that you have in your bag. It was seated comfortably between your journal and binder. “Who is stalking who now?” he jokes, smiling brightly while leaning against the shimmering silver of the elevator walls.

Heading into class, you both sat next to each other at the front row closest to the door. Not long after your arrival, your lecturer began well...lecturing. Retrieving your book from your bag you began diligently taking notes, your attention hanging off of every word that he spoke. Glancing over at Hongjoong you see him slightly hunched over his deck, eyebrows slightly furrowed in concentration as he writes in his book. The class was fairly short as it was the first day and before you knew it you were packing up, getting ready to head to your other class. You and Hongjoong walked side by side discussing the lecture as well as all of your other classes. “I have History now what about you?” he inquired as you both reach the ground floor of the building. “I have a free period now but I have to go to the main admin building to sort out some stuff,” you responded. “Ugh I envy those guys at admin, they get to spend more time with you,” he spoke while nudging you gently. You couldn't help the blush that crept up on your face, heating up your body. “I’ll see you next class right,” you continued before exchanging numbers with each other.

----

“Okay, so I add this powder to the base and the liquid should turn from clear to purple right?” you ask yourself while standing over your pot. This was the 5th time you were trying this out with no success. This was not the time to be messing up, your potions exam is in 1 week. At this rate, you'll never be promoted to a higher rank. Looking down at the pot you sigh defeatedly “, Still clear.” You slumped down onto the pillowy cushions of your mint green couch allowing your body to be wrapped in its soft embrace. “This isn’t amateur hour Y/n, it wasn't supposed to happen like this,” you spoke softly and you were right. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, you weren't supposed to spend all your time with him, you needed to study and you knew that but then why? Why were you so drawn to him? This had never happened before so why now? Why him?

You've been in university for 2 months now and you'd hardly studied for anything whether it be magic-related or not. But do you know what you have done? Hang out with Hongjoong a lot, you both went to the movies, campus café and library under the pretense of studying but you both just ended up talking about your favourite authors and guess what? You both liked the same writer. You had never meshed with anyone that well before. You felt like you could talk to him for hours about everything and nothing at all. He made you feel, for lack of better words, like you were floating. You could talk with him for hours and it would only seem like a few minutes to you. If you should spend your entire university life next to him you would.

But you knew that you couldn’t because he's way too popular to want you by his side 24/7. This thought became clear to you when you had agreed to meet up with Hongjoong at your University Café. Walking into the quaint little shop you were greeted by the smell of freshly baked banana bread; your favourite. Scanning the shop you quickly spotted Hongjoong sitting in the corner with 7 other guys, seemingly causing chaos in the once quiet shop. You smiled brightly as you waved at him, gulping down that feeling of social awkwardness you always get around large groups you sat next to him. He had saved a seat for you.

After ordering your coffee the guys all started to have what appeared to be a very lively conversation but you couldn't focus on anything they were saying. It was something about a party that was happening later in the week that was surely gonna have a bunch of really attractive people attending. That was kinda when you zoned out, Hongjoong was out of your league and you knew it. He was smart, sweet, talented, handsome, caring and so much more. Meanwhile, you were struggling to keep up with your workload, your hair was a mess and you have to mentally prepare yourself before even raising your hand in class to ask a question. He seemed to be so put together while you were just falling apart more and more each day.

But still, you wanted to be beside him even if it was only for a little bit longer, you weren't ready to let go of him yet. Releasing a loud sigh over how absolutely stupid you were being you plopped yourself down; rather clumsily I might add, unto your couch causing the book which was hanging on for dear life to fall onto the cold wooden floor. Bending down you realize that it was one of the magic books that you had borrowed from the library. Picking it up you see a piece of paper slip out from between the pages. Grasping it in your hands you carefully unfold it and read the words. “Love Potion”, you read “, Upon consumption, the subject will confess to the first person they see.” You rub your eyes briskly to ensure that what you were seeing was right. A potion that makes you fall in love with the first person you saw? Surely that was too good to be true. If you were to use it on- no you can't even think about using it on Hongjoong. What were you even thinking? Practicing unsanctioned magic was against the rules. But...why was that the only thing stopping you from making this potion? You are pulled from your thoughts by the ringing sound of your cell phone.

“Hello?” you answer, too preoccupied to look at the caller ID. Listening through the phone all you hear is hushed mumbling. Looking at your screen you realized that it was Hongjoong, but why would he be calling at this hour? He was supposed to be at a party with the others. He must have called you by mistake, you deduce. Readying yourself to end the call you stopped when you heard an unfamiliar voice come through the phone. “I like you,” it said. In that instance, you felt as though your entire world was crashing down before you. He was being confessed to? Why did this even shock you? Someone like Hongjoong would surely find someone to date in a matter of time, he's just that wonderful. Of course, people would fall for him, you definitely did. “Sorry,” you hear him say in that oh so sweet voice that you loved so very much “, I have my plate full with school so I don't really think that I should be getting into a relationship”.

That was all that you needed to hear. Sure you felt sorry for the person that had confessed, at least they had the balls to do it, unlike a certain someone. That was when you had finally made your choice, you were making that potion. You didn't care if you got caught by your magic teachers, Hongjoong was worth the risk. Reading over the list of ingredients you ransacked your apartment in search of everything that you needed. Thankfully you had everything since you had gone shopping for more supplies only days before. Looking over your instructions again you noticed a small disclaimer at the bottom of the page. “Disclaimer: Potion will be ineffective if the subject is already in love; there is no force stronger than true love”. Were you really going to do this? Yeah, you were.

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Everything was finally in place. You had made the potion and mixed it in with cupcake batter in order to mask the taste. You had invited Hongjoong over for a study session which he immediately accepted because even he knew that you needed all the help you could get. Placing your hand over your heart you attempted to calm your breathing before he arrived. Too late. The ringing of your doorbell caused you to jump from your seat. Trying to keep your cool you opened the door and smiled at him. He wore his blue hair slightly wavy which gave it this adorable fluffy look, he looked so cute. He had a bright yellow barrett and matching yellow turtle neck which he wore under his opened coat. Upon seeing you he returned your smile before stepping into your apartment.

“Something smells good”, he states while resting his coat on your coach. “Yeah I baked cupcakes,” you chimed in while trying to sound excited. “Shouldn’t you be studying instead of baking,” he inquired while quirking a playful eyebrow at you. You chuckled at his playfulness before heading to the kitchen to grab 2 muffins. “I just wanted to thank you for coming over to help me. You didn’t have to so I really appreciate it,” you said before handing him the muffin. “What if I want that one?” he asked while pointing to the muffin in your other hand and pouting. “I picked this one out for you because it has the most blueberries and they remind me of your hair,” you whined at him. You could of sworn that you had seen him blush. “Thank you,” he mumbles before taking the muffin from your hand and taking a bite. In those moments you thought that your heart was going to explode. This was what you had been waiting for and it frightened you so much more than you had expected.

“Y/n I love”, he began while wiping the muffin crumbs off of his mouth “, these muffins”. You felt your heart sink and you knew that Hongjoong could tell. If the potion didn't work there was only one reason why; he had liked someone else. You tried your best to play it off but there was honestly no hiding your disappointment. You ate your muffin before you both sat on the couch to go over your notes and begin studying for your upcoming exam but Hongjoong knew that you weren't feeling it. “Let’s take a break okay Y/n,” he said before standing up to stretch his legs. You, however, stayed completely still on the couch, your mind somewhere else completely.

“When exams are over Mingi is gonna hold a party, well it's more like a little get together. Do you wanna come?” Hongjoong asked from beside your window sill. The silver moonlight illuminating his face so flawlessly. Your mind wandered back to the party that Hongjoong had gone to previously, the bad memories of his confession eating you up inside. “How was the last party?” you asked, catching Hongjoong off guard. “Same old same old I guess. Would have been more fun if you were there,” he smiled at you, an uncertain look in his bright brown eyes. “So nothing interesting happened?” you pushed, you had no idea why you were pestering him. You were just so mad and disappointed in yourself that you had to let it out. Granted absolutely nothing was Hongjoong’s fault you still needed to get out your frustrations and he was the only one here so...

He paused for a moment, attempting to recall the events from that night. “San and Wooyoung threw Sangie into the pool. It was pretty funny,” he smiled at you. That had always been your weakness. He had always been your weakness. Even in your shocked and disappointed state he still managed to make you smile. You were so jealous of the person who had his heart, you hoped that they would cherish it the same way that you did. The rest of the night carried on with no hiccups, Hongjoong thought you, you kinda listened and kinda stole glances at him every chance you could get. Just because he was in love with someone else didn’t mean that you weren’t still in love with him. After about 5 hours of you being almost completely lost, Hongjoong decided that it was time to call it quits for the night. Although you were happy that you could finally be alone with your thoughts you also dreaded this moment because you had to now be alone with your thoughts. There was no Hongjoong to distract you from well...Hongjoong. You both said you goodbyes before he pulled you into a hug, one hand resting on your back as the other one stayed on the back of your head, rubbing it gently. You rested your head on his shoulder and breathed in his scent. You hand never hugged him before, he smelt of cologne and vanilla. You were determined to engrave that scent into your memory because you probably weren’t going to be getting any more hugs from him after what you were about to do.

So what if the potion didn’t work? So what if he loved someone else? Honestly, who cares? The only thing you cared about was him and you needed him to know that. You couldn’t just sit around and mope about it, you needed to let it out, otherwise, how would you heal? You gripped the back of his shirt when you felt him begin to pull away. “Just a moment more,” you thought. You felt him stiffen in your arms but he simply wrapped his arms around you once more and pulled you even closer to him. That was all it took for your heart to burst. All of the emotions that you had harboured for those 2 months, 1 week and 2 days were finally breaking through to the surface and you could do little to stop it. You felt a single run down your face, its warmth paling in comparison to the warmth of Hongjoong’s embrace. You opened your mouth to speak, thinking that it would be easier for you to confess if you didn’t have to see the disappointment in his face. But he beat you to it.

“If you keep doing things like this I’m going to get the wrong idea,” he whispered, arms engulfing your body in his own. “If you keep breaking down my walls I’ll be left defenseless,” he continued as he nuzzled his face into your neck, his warm breath tickling you slightly. Were you hearing correctly? Was he actually saying this to you? You gripped his shirt even tighter, nails slightly grazing the skin on his back, but he didn’t seem to mind. “I-If you’re defenseless,” you began while swallowing the lump in your throat, your voice shivering in anxiety “, then I’ll protect you. That’s the deal; my heart for yours.” You thought that it was impossible for Hongjoong to hold you tighter than he already was but Hongjoong always seems to find a way. “No take-backs okay? Once I give you my heart it’s yours forever,” he spoke pulling away from you, his eyes searching yours for any ounce of uncertainty. Finding none he gently cupped your cheek, his thumb aimlessly drawing circles on your skin as he smiled at you, but the smile never reached to his eyes as his hand slowly shifted down your cheek to allow his thumb to caress your lips. They quivered at the contact as your body froze under his intense gaze. You had never seen him look that way before, and the fact that he was looking at you made this moment even more unbearable.

“Joong,” you squeaked out, eyes silently pleading for him to do something, anything. Once you had broken the silence that was the last straw, it was as though your voice was the last raindrop that broke through a dam of emotion. His hand stayed on your cheek as the other wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer. In direct contrast with the hasty movements of his hands his plush lips glided across yours with such gentleness, it felt as though you were kissing a feather, light and airy. You both eventually pulled away from the kiss, in desperate need of air but that didn’t stop Hongjoong from placing small, breathless kisses along your neck and literally, anywhere he could attach his lips to. You chuckled slightly as his hair tickled your sensitive skin. Placing your hand on the nape of his neck, you caressed his head, fingers tangling in the blue ocean of his head. “I love you so much Y/n,” you hear him mumble from against your neck. You couldn’t stop the blush that had crept up your face at his words. You had dreamt about him saying those words to you for so long and now that he had finally said it you feel as though your heart was going to explode. But you couldn’t let that happen, your heart was his now. “I love you to Joongie,” you softly whisper as you wrap your arms around him.

#Ateez #ateez fanfic #ateez fanfiction #Ateez au #au fanfiction #hongjoong x reader #Hongjoong x Gender neutral reader #ateez x gender neutral reader #School au #kim hongjoong #hongjoong #ateez fluff #Hongjoong fluff #kim hongjoong fluff #hongjoong x reader fluff #fluff

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perseusjackson-jasongrace · 4 years

Text

Empires on the Horizon VI

Jason is a CEO: Part VI

Here’s my masterlist for the next part and my other stuff

TW: not really overt but there is mention of NSFW activities.

every story has a

beginning

middle

and end

not necessarily in that order

-Tim Burton

“Annabeth Chase, my favourite impulse-controller,” Jason smirked, pulling his friend into his chest for a hug.

Her grey eyes sparked with mirth, “What do you want you troublemaker?”

“I find it offensive that you think I’m a troublemaker. We all know it’s your boyfriend that gets us into a mess.”

“Lies and propaganda,” She raised a brow, “You two are in a committed relationship with hullabaloo.”

He gave her a wide-eyed look, “Hullabaloo?”

“I’ve been spending way too much time with Percy,” She sighed.

He burst out laughing, “Who in this day and age says ‘hullabaloo?’”

“Percy discovered the word when we were in high school and thought it was the most hilarious thing he’s ever heard. He used to say it all the time.”

Jason shook his head amusement dancing on his lips, “So why did you want to meet me? I thought you’d be with Leo today since you’ve been out of state all week.”

They collapsed onto his couch. Annabeth tucked her feet underneath her and he propped his on the ottoman. When they settled down, she finally looked at him.

“Yea,” She pinched the bridge of her nose, “He had to go into work today because the part-time lecturer couldn’t make it for classes.”

“What’s going on? Why do you look so…” He had never been good at finding the words that matched the emotion, “So frustrated?”

“I’m not,” She gave him a weak smile, “I’m not. I just miss him.”

“You saw each other last night, didn’t you? He picked you up for the airport?”

“Yea but we haven’t gotten the chance to talk. I don’t know how to–, I just miss him.”

“Hey,” He grabbed her hands, “Take a deep breath. We have all the time in the world.”

Neither of them had quite figured out how to handle emotions, how to express them. It was an ongoing frustration when he and Luke were dating. Annabeth and Leo had learned how to read each other after all these years; four years of friendship and three years of dating had cemented that bond, had it running core deep. But him and her still couldn’t quite get the words out on their own.

“I miss his presence,” She breathed, “We saw each other last night but I was exhausted, and it was late. He practically had to carry me from the car to our bed and then he left early this morning. We just haven’t had the chance to catch up, to exist together yet.”

He held her close, let her head fall onto his shoulder.

“Being away from him is like losing a limb or being thrown into the deep end of the pool when you don’t know how to swim, like walking through darkness. You know what all of those have in common?” She looked up at him, grey eyes lined with tears.

“What?”

“Emptiness, the absence of something vital.”

“I think,” He tilted her chin up, caught the storm in her gaze, “I think you are lucky to have someone who makes saying goodbye so hard.”

“Did you just quote Winnie the Pooh at me?”

He winced, “Yes?”

She dissolved into laughter, “Really Jason? Winnie the Pooh?”

“What?” He gave her an indignant look, “It’s a good quote, and better than anything I could have come up with.”

“You are something else.” She managed to rein in her amusement, “What’s been up with you?”

“Nothing exciting,” He shrugged.

“Nah uh Mister,” His friend gave him a look, “Leo tells me you met a lady? What happened to my cousin? And how did you meet her? Do you have a picture?”

“Alright,” He chuckled, “Slow down. I don’t have a lady; we’ve been on one date. Next one is tomorrow. Your cousin and I didn’t get to exchange numbers at the dinner and I’m sure you know he’s now seeing Reyna. Thalia introduced Zoe and I, she’s a vet at the Conservatory and no I do not have a picture.”

“I hope you know all that information gave me a ton more questions.”

He rolled his eyes, shoving her shoulder lightly, “Let’s get some coffee going and maybe bring out the choc chips and then you can harass me with your endless curiosity.”

“Hey, this curiosity is what made us friends.” Her voice followed him as they walked to kitchen, where she promptly hoisted herself onto the countertop and plucked a cookie from the jar.

“As far as I understand it was Leo’s dumbassery that made us friends.”

“Yea, but without my curiosity I wouldn’t have bothered to check why a skinny, curly-haired, Latino was cursing a blue streak underneath the table.”

“I still think we should be crediting Leo because if he hadn’t gotten his foot stuck in my backpack and tripped thereby falling underneath our table it wouldn’t have been me and you who helped him.”

“Oh gods,” She giggled, “We really were a chaotic bunch weren’t we?”

“Nothing has changed Chase,” He handed her a steaming mug of coffee, “We just have less opportunities to be chaotic now.”

“I used to be so excited to grow up, but all my years have escaped me, have sped by me faster than bullets and I’m not yet grown.”

He leaned across the counter, bringing his cappuccino to his cheek, “I don’t think we ever really are. We’re just an accumulation of all our years before now. I am still one and two and ten and twenty.”

Annabeth looked at him then, caught his gaze in her grey eyes, “When did you get so wise?”

“Guess I’m spending too much time with you.” He winked, “Now please help me find something to wear for tomorrow. Zoe is taking me somewhere in nature and she says I should be prepared for a little exercise.”

“Are we talking a walk in the park or a hike up Blood Hill?”

“I don’t know she said it was a surprise and I don’t get any more information than wear clothes you can move in a little.”

His friend smirked at him, “Sounds steamy?”

“I’m pretty sure sex requires clothes off, not on, t least to some degree.” He rolled his eyes.

“Mhmm, okay. All i’m saying is make sure you pack a condom, or multiple.”

“We are not having- we will get arrested for public indecency.” He grumbled, pushing her shoulder, “So get your mind out of the gutter Chase.”

Her laugh was bells and beauty. “Come on then Mr Grace, let’s go raid your closet.” She held out her hand for him to help her off the counter, and the two blondes disappeared into his room.

***

Jason took a deep breath, letting his nerves find their space in his chest, stomach, lungs. He didn’t like walking into things when he didn’t have all the information; ergo surprises were avoided as much as possible.

A knock at his window pulled him from his mind.

“Are you going to come out? Or do you want to have a car date?” Sparkling dark eyes and a bright smile peered at him through the glass.

“I’m coming,” He laughed, grabbing his wallet and keys before opening the door.

“Hello Jason,” She stood on her toes and looped her arms around his neck. He folded his arms around her waist, catching the soft hints of juniper berry and clove that was purely her.

“How are you?” They pulled away.

“I am nervous,” He admitted, “I don’t like surprises.”

“Yes I did imagine so, I am not fond of them either, but this one was a necessity as it needs an explanation.”

“Well I hope I dressed okay?” He gestured towards his jeans and loose white tee.

“It’s perfect.” She looked him up and down, her eyes flashing, “Now come on, we only have the place for a couple hours.”

“Hold on,” He moved to his trunk, “These are for you,”

“Oh Jason,” She gasped softly, taking the flowers from him, “These are– Who is your florist because these bouquets are unbelievable?”

He ducked his head, attempting to hide his reddening cheeks, “I choose them myself.”

“Well, your taste is exquisite,” She smiled up at him and he knew he had picked perfectly. Sunflowers because the dress she wore on their first date was liquid sunlight. And red roses because she was beautiful, poised, regal, just as they were.

While she admired the bouquet, he took the time to note their surroundings. They seemed to be on some sort of field, school or farm he didn’t know. A small wooden marquee sat a few meters away, but it was unoccupied which meant they were alone out here.

“Okay,” Zoe started, “So I don’t know how weird this is going to be to you, but I figured I’d get all my secrets out before you’re in too deep.”

“I’m starting to get mildly suspicious,” He raised a brow quizzically.

“Don’t worry I don’t plan on murdering you. I could probably take you in hand to hand combat but for someone of your size, drugs or poison would be the better method.”

He blinked at her, “You spend a lot of your time wondering what the best method for murder is?”

“This is not going well,” She giggled, “I don’t plan on killing you. I brought you here so we could practice some archery.”

“That does not make me feel even remotely better.”

She slugged his shoulder, mirth bouncing in her eyes, “I’ve been doing archery since my first year at varsity and I thought it’d be cool to share it with you.”

“Oh,” Was his eloquent reply, and then, “Well I’m honoured, thank you.”

“Don’t get too sappy on me, I’m only willing to go easy on you in the practice trials.”

“This implies a competition of some sort?”

“Of course. One question answered to whoever gets bullseye or as close to it.”

“I feel like I’m at a serious disadvantage here,” He pouted at her.

“I wouldn’t say that. I’ve only been doing it for nine years,” She smirked.

He groaned, waving his hands, “Oh gods, I see I’m going to be bared to the bone after this.”

“Don’t worry Grace you get to torture me on our next date.”

“Be prepared Nightshade because after this set-up I am not going easy on you.”

“I certainly hope not,” Fire danced in her eyes.

He narrowed his gaze, taking a single step towards her, “Is that a challenge Miss Nightshade?”

“Aren’t scared of a little heat, are you?” She mirrored him, closing the distance.

“Bring it on,” His words were nothing but exhales and anticipation.

Their noses brushed, eyes of midnight and electric storms pinning each other to the world.

“Ready to learn?” She breathed.

“Ready to be taught.”

“Okay,” She stepped away, taking a deep breath before moving to the table that he now noticed had two metal bows and various arrows.

“You’ll get the thirty-pound bow and large arrows to start. Hopefully you don’t need anything heavier because I did not ask for the thirty-four.” She frowned, “Okay some rules. Never have your arrow nocked until you’re on the firing line. Don’t collect arrows until everyone is done shooting. Don’t hold your bow sideways, you will hit someone. Do not under any circumstances pull the string back while there’s no arrow.”

“Got it.” He nodded.

“Cool, you’re gonna do great!” She clapped her hands, excitement radiating from her every movement. “Let’s get you equipped so you don’t end up with string-snapped wrists or a raw thumb.”

And then she was handing him all sorts of equipment, guiding him so everything fit where it was supposed to. Her hands, calloused and small, brushed over his as she adjusted the arm guard and made sure the thumb flap was correct. She explained how to stand, moving his feet and angling his shoulders until she deemed it good enough.

“Okay, let’s do some shooting.”

“I’m ready!” He smiled at her, hoping his own excitement was evident.

“Don’t worry about hitting bullseye, just choose a spot on the target and try to get all your arrows to land in the same place.”

He nodded, rolling his shoulders and moving to stand in position.

“Since it’s just us I’m going to forego formalities, so began shooting Grace.”

He had a clumsy start, arrows falling short of the target, or flying far over it, but Zoe was patient, adjusting and helping him each time.

“This is…” He stared in wonder at the arrow he had managed to bed inches away from the center. ‘I can understand why you enjoy it.”

“Great because now it’s time for Question and Arrow.”

“Fun,” He chortled, “You come up with that?”

“Yes, I thought it was rather clever.”

“Oh it is, I never expected anything less doctor.”

She snorted at him, “Ready to see the queen take her throne?”

“Please Your Majesty,” He bowed low, gesturing to the field.

She laughed and took her stand at the line, adjusting herself and making sure the sight on her bow was at the right level. She took an arrow from the stand in front of her feet, placed it on the string with trained casualness and looked over her shoulder at him. Her smiled was wicked.

She lifted the bow, pulled the string taut and fired the arrow. Before he had time to see where it had landed, she was already nocking her second one, and moments later her third.

He blinked, stared between her bright eyes and the three silver arrows now embedded in the small red circle fifteen meters away, and adjusted his pants.

She smirked, “How was that?”

“Possibly the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” He breathed.

“Ready to answer some burning questions?”

“If I say no will you keep shooting?”

She raised a brow, “Hot and bothered, are you?”

“No thanks to you,” He growled.

She pulled him to the line, “I’m glad you’re taking to it so nicely.”

“I think I’m taking to you,” He grabbed her wrist, pulling her flush to him.

“You don’t even know me?”

“After that little display I’m half willing to marry you on the spot.”

She laughed and shoved away from him, “You’re a special breed Mr Grace. Men do not usually fall into marriage ideas after seeing a woman shoot arrows.”

“Then they are not men.” He frowned, “And besides, anyone with aim as accurate as yours has many, many advantages.”

“Questions Grace,” She took a step back, amusement and… something else passing over her face.

“Right okay,”

So they stood to the line and fired. Her a question him an answer. Then an arrow. A curse as she hit the center and he missed the target completely. Another question, answer, arrow. Question, answer, arrow.

Until two hours had blurred by and Jason had confessed to three college pranks, horrible braces in high school, and the weirdest fear of bricks. She had taken pity on him and answered her own questions after he kept losing their little battle. He knew she regretted her college days because she had wasted them studying, knew she was as gorgeous in high school as she is now, and her weird fear was thunder.

“This was great Zoe, thank you.”

“Thank you,” She beamed at him, “For not thinking I’m weird, or for dismissing this.”

He wrapped his arms around her, speaking into her neck, “I think this may be the coolest second date I’ve ever been on.”

“Really?” She lifted his head, tugging at his hair until they were staring at each other.

“Really.” He smiled softly, “I did not know archery could be so…”

“Grounding?” She offered.

“Yes, and exhilarating.”

“I don’t know if I can put into words how much it means to me to hear you say that.”

“I was thinking,” He stroked his fingers down her side gently, “Since you didn’t get to do the typical college things maybe I can plan the next date?”

“Sounds like a dream, what are you thinking?”

“Drive-in theatre? I’m fairly sure ‘When the Stars Burn Out’ is playing.”

She nodded, eyes wide with excitement, “I’ve always wanted to go to a drive in! When?”

“Give me a couple days to plan but how does Wednesday sound?”

“Perfect.”

He cupped her cheek, memorising the constellations in her eyes, the soft lines around her mouth that told you she smiled often, and the lines between her forehead that told you she frowned often too.

“You are divine.” He exhaled.

“Are you going to kiss me?” Was her reply.

He grinned, wild and undaunted, “Happy to.”

And then their lips were meeting, soft and steady. The world fell away, became swirls of colour and sound, became the background of a Monet, became life. And oh gods, Zoe’s hands may be rough with the proof of living, but her lips were softer than petals, than clouds. He held back a groan at her nails scraping his neck gently.

Reluctantly they pulled apart, resting their foreheads against each other.

“Wow,” She whispered.

“Indeed,” He chuckled.

It was that kiss, lingering spice and the smell of beginnings that followed him into his apartment later. Rolled down his skin as he took a shower. Fluttered behind his eyelids as he finally collapsed into bed. That kiss that marked the beginning.

--------------------------------------------------------------

HOW MUCH DO WE LOVE ZOE? Very much because Ciara just projects onto her??!?!????!!??!! oops.

Tags (if you want to be added to/ taken off the tag list just let me know, all my channels of communication are open):

@lesbian-peanuts

@queen-of-demons-and-hell

@msdrpreist

@sparkythunderstorm

@nishlicious-01

@lucyisblue

@leydiangelo

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ladyexploso · 4 years

Text

Tokoyami x Bird Mutation Quirk!Pregnant!Reader: Pretty Things

[P1]

Note that this is slightly reflected on a OC of mine but it is a reader insert.

The house of the Tokoyami Family was dead quiet in the middle of the day for ones. Most days the house would be filled with the sounds of daily cleaning, the washer going or the dryer, the sound of dishes being put away, even the sound of the radio would be moving though the air of the house. But today it was quite. The only sounds that filled the house was in the main bedroom, deep in the depth of the large plush nest that was built in front of the queen size bed. The sound of steady breathing and soft coos and chirps filled the nest

Tokoyami Y/N, currently 6 months pregnant laid in the large nest, half awake and have asleep from her midday nap. She felt,wrong in small words. It was nothing big, she wasn’t hurt or in pain, well aside from her actual pregnancy pains she was fine. It was just a feeling that bagged at the back of her mind. The feeling was just strange to her at least. She couldn’t tell if it was do to her own quirk or her husband’s, the both of them having bird related quirks, so most likely the child she would be giving birth to in the next few months would probably have some kind of bird quirk or mutation. Her mind nagged with the most odd “craving” she seemed to have by far though the pregnancy....

She wanted shine things, all over her nest, now.

The odd phenomenon had started about a month ago, when the baby had started letting it be known that they where fully active, they didn’t move much but Y/N had started feeling flutters of what could be called movement. Even though no one else could feel them yet, she could. That’s when the pulling feeling started.

Before her and Tokoyami had known she was pregnant, she had started building a nest in the closet, it was small and cramped and Tokoyami was happy that you wanted to build a nest in the room, but it was so small it barely fit you let alone him. After a week of her feeling sick and just sitting in the small nest he took you to go see the doctor. That’s when the two of you found out you where almost a full month pregnant.

After that the nest had been moved out of the closet and into the bedroom in front of the bed. He had tried to talk his wife into letting him have a team come in and remodel the closet into a full room closet so she could have her own nest room. She was very against the idea of having people in their home, Tokoyami suspected it was do to the news of the pregnancy and the protective motherly instinct that ran though her now. But after a talk with some of his hero friends, Momo and Mina, he had successfully gotten you out of the house early in the morning and back during the late night for a girls day out.

He payed top dollar to the fastest people he know who could get the job done, Power Loader, Hatsume and even Gun Head. The three where great with both construction and pure muscle power to do the job.

The job went pretty fast with the help of the hero’s and before no time a new closet/room was built and painted, along with decorated walls of dressers and mirrors with amazing lighting. He had even put in a dimmer that was remote controlled so if she wanted to dim the lights she could without moving.

When she had walked though the front door , he was expecting her to love it or at least find it nice. But the fact that she looked into the room for 5 seconds and then gave him the most uncomfortable “I hate this things” look before slamming the door to the room shut and falling asleep on the bedroom bed.

She hated it and she wanted it to be known.

Tokoyami never found it to be a waste of time or money, they stilled used it as a closet, she just didn’t want to build a nest in it.

Tossing and turning she couldn’t get comfortable in her nest and she couldn’t figure out why. She huffed as she sat up, her stomach hurt in a deep pit way. A sharp kick to her side made her wince as she got up from her nest, shuffling out and standing up to look over her nest. It just didn’t feel right any more. Her head feathers ruffled as she mulled over her nest. She looked over her nest before something caught her eye, that stupid closet. As of on cue a light kick made her look down, the baby wanted to move to the stupid closet.

She really didn’t want to move all her stuff but every minute she was out of her soft safe nest made her more and more uncomfortable. Grabbing a few of the light blankets that spilled around the nest freely she moved over to the closet door before opening it wide, flipping the switch on the wall to turn the lights on. The room was clean and neat. The room was a nice white with back accents to it and nice lighting over all. Her husband’s suits and extra at home hero suits hung. Draws filled with his at home and civilian clothes. His other draws by the mirror and desk area where filled nearly with his watches and different chokers.

Her side was filled with her dresses and normal clothes. A few drawers where now filled with her pregnancy clothes and baby clothes that she and her husband had picked out a while back. Her own mirror and table clad with her skin and makeup products. Her drawers where filled with jewelry, Tokoyami had bought all kinds of jewelry for her from day one. From bracelets, to earrings to necklaces with all kinds of jewels and metals. At first it was to much, she didn’t want to make him buy her so much, she could just not guess how much he had payed for just one of the gold incrusted bracelets he had gifted her on a whim. But after a while it was evident that he just liked buying you stuff and he wasn’t going to stop any time soon even if she said no to the gifts. He only ever really request that she wear them when the two of them went out to big hero events and dinner.

She smiled at the thought before turning back to the blankets that now sat in the closet carpet. She sighed, this was going to be a pain to move.

Within two hours everything that had been in the previous nest was now in the closet, reorganizing into a new nest, a few new shirts from her husband’s laundry bin where thrown into the mix.

Laying down ones again she felt better, the smell of the room had changed over the past few months from the gross smell of paint to the scent of her husband and even his cologne he would spray on in the mornings before heading to the office. It was nice. But it wasn’t enough.

Her eyes drifted back to her desk, eyeing one of the few draws. A quick gander at a few of things her husband had bothered wouldn’t hurt now would it?

Getting up she wondered over to the desk before sitting down in the plush chair in front of it, her hand drifting down to drum along her stomach, a few flutters being thrown her way from the little one. Pulling open one of the draws her eyes widened and glisten at all of the jewelry that was neatly put inside. Had she really not noticed how pretty these where until now? All the jewels thy glittered in the cases, the shine of the gold and silver bands.

Before she could even understand what she was doing she was taking the cases and throwing them into her new nest, the light clinks of the jewelry hitting the bottom of the nest along with hitting one another as they fell. Dropping the cases she went back over to her nest , making a clearing on the bottom of the nest so she could lay down fully.

She just laid down looking at the ceiling before feeling around for something to latch into and look at. Her hand fell onto some necklace, she quickly grabbed it and brought it to her face. It was a large gold necklace choker mix, a gold band alpines with small diamonds and rubys, gold chains as a necklace lined and fell around it, with one giant ruby having from the last chain. A sharp kick pulled her out of the trance of looking at the ruby jewel. She slowly put the ruby part onto her stomach, moving her shirt up so it was right on the skin of her stomach.

The cool ruby sat on her stomach before the baby stopped kicking, only small movements fell where the ruby sat.

The kid couldn’t even see it, but it wanted it.

Stupid bird instincts.

Before she could scold her baby anymore, she feel asleep to the small movement it gave off.

Tokoyami sighed as he entered his house after a long day patrol the city streets. He just wanted to get home to have some time with his pregnant wife. He had never thought he would get married let alone a child. That’s why he wanted to just spend time with his wife. He loved her so much that it could rot out his own teeth. He was amazed that she had wanted to marry him, after marriage he thought that was it, the two of them would just live out the rest of their lives happily married with one another. The moment that she had let it slip that she wanted a child at some point his heart nearly stopped.

He had held her hands telling her how he wasn’t out on having a child, but he didn’t want her hurt or better yet dead. When he was born, his mother had to have a c-section do you his quirk mutation, his parents didn’t even know about his mutation until the last few months before he was born, he had turned during a ultrasound and they had noticed his head just in time to see. He didn’t want you to die because of a child that he had put into her. And the fact she had a bird mutation as well just made him more nervous. But after she begged him, pleaded with him, he caved.

She was willing to take every risk, even her own life, to have a child with him. The day that they had found out she was pregnant she held his hands and looked him in the eyes saying “ What ever happens, know that I wanted this, that this baby is me and you put together. A mix of you and me and the love we have for one another.” Tears pouring from her eyes as she gave a wavered smiled “ Don’t say another just nod, Tokoyami, if I die or I’m about to, the baby is number one ok?! Don’t think about any else, just think about what I want, that I want this baby, and if I don’t make it, look at him or her and know that in there is me and you! Me! Ok!?” Her hands fell to hold his face, his own eyes pouring down tears onto her hands.

He could only nod as he held her to his chest as they both cried.

It was a day he would never forget.

His thoughts where set aside as the front door clicked closed and he walked in to the house, happy to find his wife wasn’t over doing it in the kitchen and from the sound of the washer and dryer not going,most likely she hadn’t gone over bored today with house work. Dark shadow came out for a moment to look around the kitchen while Tokoyami just headed down the hall way to the master bedroom. Most likely his wife was curled up in her nest taking a nap.

As he walked into the room he noticed that the stack of pillows and blankets where gone from the front of the bed where her nest had been for the past 5 months. A slight panic hit him as he thought about where she could of gone. His mind overworking thinking about where she could be. A loud snort made his head shoot up, looking to the closet he found the door open a bit, the lights inside turned down to a dim shutter. Dark shadow retreated back into the room, pushing the door open a bit more for the man to enter.

He smiled at the sight, she had moved her nest into the middle of the closet. From what he could tell she was full on sleeping in the middle of it. He cocked a brow as he got closer. The nest was almost glistening? As he got closer he noticed all of the jewelry scattered around inside of her nest. He didn’t really understand as he got closer, why would she put all her jewelry into the nest with her? As he kneeled down next to her he felt himself smile a bit more.

He watched as her chest rises and falls, her hand resting on her round stomach. If he could cock a eyebrow he would as he looked down at the ruby necklace that sat on her stomach. He gently slipped a hand over her own hand and moved the necklace a bit only to be met with a hard kick to his hand making him pull away. It was a hard enough kick to make his wife whimper in her sleep and move a bit. He placed the necklace back in her stomach, it seemed the kid was happy with this and instantly stopped it’s assault inside his wife’s belly. His wife’s eyes slowly blinked open as she let out a sigh.

“Hi” she smiled up at her amazing husband, happy to see him home on time for once.

He chuckled as she gave her a kiss to the cheek and saying “ Hi there, I see the little one has been giving you a bit of trouble in the past few hours my love.” She smiled up at him before moving up a bit to sit up. She blushed as she noticed the man looking around her nest, eyeing all of the jewelry scattered around it. She scratched her neck saying “ The little one may or may not have a thing for jewelry, they can’t even see the dang things but they sure as hell want it near them, won’t stop kicking until I put something near my stomach.” Her flushed as she realized her husband was now full on laughing at her. She stomped her foot at him, trying to kick him as he sat next to her nest. His deep chuckles filled the room as he looked down at his wife.

“Don’t do that love it’s ok. The little one has a thing for shiny things like their father, it’s ok I just didn’t know that they would be this interested in them from the start.” Y/N raised a brow at her husband’s statement.

Her face blushed as she realized something. She pointed at him saying “ Don’t tell me, is this why you buy me so much jewelry? Because you have a thing for shine things?!”

He gave a small smirk saying “ To be completely honest, I have a obsession with both shiny and pretty things, that’s why I married you.” She blushed even harder at his words. Before she could stop looking at him she noticed the way his dark pants seemed to be straining, his member standing full attention in his pants as he glanced over her body, her belly covered by the ruby and diamond necklace, a few covering her legs.

She didn’t say anything.

This was going to be fun later on to exploit later.

P2-

#bnha #mha #mha imagines #bnha imagines #bnha fanfic #bnha tokoyami #mha tokoyami #bnha tokoyami imagine #tokoyami fumigake #tokoyami x reader

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flightfoot · 3 years

Text

The Role of an Alpha

AO3 @adrichatnovember2020

Adrien hid in his room, breathing deeply.

Earlier that day he’d presented as an Alpha.

His father, of course, was thrilled.

“So you are an Alpha.”

That was the first thing he’d said to Adrien as he walked through the door, having been sent home early by the school nurse.

Adrien took in his father’s scent.

Strong.

Musky.

Very clearly Alpha.

Not that he needed to smell him to know that. Gabriel exuded Alphaness in everything he did, from the way he brushed over other’s concerns to the way he asserted his will, expected everyone to submit to his needs and wishes.

“Alphas are in charge, as nature intends,” he’d told Adrien before, tightly gripping his shoulder. “Omegas simply exist to follow orders, betas little better.”

Looking into Adrien’s eyes, he’d asked him softly, “You’re going to be an Alpha, aren’t you?”

Adrien had wanted to respond. To tell him that he had no idea, it wasn’t exactly something he was in control of. And deeper down, that if THIS was what it meant to be an Alpha - if being an Alpha just meant stepping over everyone else - then he’d rather be anything else.

Ultimately, he’d said nothing.

But now that he’d presented?

The part of him that’d balked then, that’d wanted to protest, to chew him out, was too strong to ignore.

“That’s all you care about, isn’t it?” Adrien snapped bitterly. “That I’m on top. That I’m above everyone else. That I don’t somehow reflect badly on you.”

His father’s eyes widened. “Mind your tongue!” he snarled, a small growl emerging. “I am still your father. You may be an Alpha, but you’re still just a pup. And I am YOUR Alpha.”

“Is that all being an Alpha means to you? Yelling at everyone else, punishing them if they step out of line - out of YOUR line?!”

Gabriel’s eyes hardened. He stepped down the stairs, each footfall a prognostication of doom.

He grabbed Adrien’s wrist. “I do not think you will need these anymore,” he’d told Adrien, throwing away the suppression pills the nurse had given him to help him ride through his first rut. “You will get through it like an Alpha should, not debasing yourself with suppressants,” he said in disgust.

And that was how Adrien had ended up here, desperately trying to ignore his body’s anguished cries.

He grit his teeth. Most of the Alphas in class had Omega friends to calm their hormones, to keep them comfortable, and vice versa. Chloe had Sabrina for instance, while Alya had Marinette.

He hadn’t been around for Alya’s presentation, sadly. But Marinette had recounted it with great gusto during one of the few opportunities they had to hang out.

Chloe’d been tearing into Marinette on the first day of the new school year, trying to get her to move seats. She’d just presented as an Alpha a couple months ago and had been thoroughly enjoying the added intimidation boost it provided her.

She hadn’t expected some random new girl to stand up to her.

Nor for that girl to suddenly start leaking a musky scent.

Since then Alya’d taken a lead in protecting the class - though protecting HERSELF? Not so much.

Not that she was the only one. Marinette had been inspired by Alya’s display, had gotten some confidence herself, to the point she ran for - and won! - the class rep position, with Alya as. her deputy.

Her subsequent reveal as an omega had come as a shock. Everyone had assumed she’d be an Alpha, or a Beta at least.

But Omega?

She’d seemed nervous, scared even, when she first presented.

Afraid that her friends would treat her differently.

But well… she was still Marinette. Her being an Omega didn’t change that.

She was still their friend, still their class rep.

Omegas had grown more common in leadership positions - something Paris became acutely aware of when Ladybug herself presented.

It had been assumed by most of Paris’s population that the suits masked the two heroes’ scent glands. That Ladybug was almost certainly an Alpha, POSSIBLY a Beta, and that Chat Noir was probably an Omega, possibly a Beta.

Until Ladybug had arrived at a fight, feverish and smelling sweet.

They’d still defeated the akuma, but Chat Noir had had to do more heavy lifting than normal - there was a reason Omegas were often given reduced workloads during their heats, especially anything requiring physical exertion.

Whispers emerged throughout Paris. ‘Can Ladybug really protect us if she’s vulnerable to an Omega’s heats?’ ‘An Omega, even one with superpowers, shouldn’t expect others to follow their orders. It isn’t the way of things.’ and worst of all ‘Ladybug should give her Miraculous to an Alpha. They’ll make better use of it than she ever has.’

People began looking to Chat Noir more, addressing him as the leader instead of Ladybug, who they’d deferred to before. Something that clearly made both Ladybug and Chat Noir uncomfortable, with Ladybug looking downcast and Chat Noir being more snappish with the press.

Until finally they’d given a news conference, Ladybug and Chat Noir taking the stage, addressing the preconceptions and discrimination Ladybug had been put through by the city because of her being an Omega.

Not that she was the only one.

Many other prominent Omegas emerged to tell their story. Even some less prominent, more ordinary citizens, pushing back against the idea that being an Omega made someone somehow less worthy of respect, less worth listening to.

The Ladyblog featured all of this in great detail of course, with follow-up interviews with everyone who’d spoken. As Alya and Marinette excitedly told the class afterwards, they’d helped arrange it, researching activists in their area as well as asking for people to message the Ladyblog with their thoughts and experiences being an Omega.

A lot of the grumbling had died down after that - at least where the rest of Paris could hear it.

Adrien grimaced. Unfortunately, Father had been one of the ones who HADN’T been cowed.

Not that he’d expected him to be, with his… traditional attitude towards Alpha’s, Beta’s, and Omega’s roles in society.

Fumbling around, Adrien reached out from underneath the covers, grabbing the remote that opened up his window. Much too high to climb out of unfortunately (he’d tried), but at least it let in the cool air from outside. Right now, that sounded good.

Ahhh.

He was right, this did feel good. And something about the air smelled exceptional today...

As if in a trance, he left his blanket fort, coming closer to the window.

Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath.

It smelled so NICE, so sweet, almost like-

His eyes blew open.

Just in time to get a face-full of superhero.

“OOPH!”

Adrien blinked.

Green, slitted cat eyes blinked back.

And drooped as Chat Noir turned into a pile of mush in his arms, purring up a storm as he cuddled close.

Careful not to disturb him, Adrien leaned in near his neck, getting a good whiff of his scent glands.

Omega.

Very, very clearly Omega.

He examined Chat Noir more closely; his flushed cheeks, his twitching tail, his glazed eyes.

“Chat Noir?” he asked carefully. “Are you alright?”

He kicked himself. Of COURSE he wasn’t alright, he was in the midst of his first heat - a pretty intense one too, from the looks of things.

“Mmmmphhhhhrrrrrrrr?” Chat Noir asked.

Well. ‘Asked’ may have been overselling it a bit. ‘Mewled with a questioning tone’ more like.

“Do you know where you are?” He clarified.

Chat Noir just purred and nuzzled his neck, getting a good whiff of his own scent glands.

WOW he was out of it.

“I’m gonna move you, alright?” he told Chat Noir softly, picking him up as gently as he could.

He’d seen how Alya’d helped Marinette through her own heats, though none of them had been as bad as this.

First, a nest.

At least that was easy - good thing, since he had zero notice to prepare one.

Lowering Chat Noir into the mess of blankets he’d just vacated (Chat giving a confused-sounding “mew?” as he did so), he got up to find what else he needed.

A couple minutes later he was back at Chat Noir’s side, coaxing him to drink sips of some nice, cold water, as well as bringing him the few stuffed animals he’d managed to save from his father’s purges.

As Chat Noir sipped the water (Adrien holding onto the cup; right now Chat didn’t seem confident in his ability to hold it steady), the red gradually started fading a little.

Adrien put his hand on Chat Noir’s forehead. He definitely felt cooler than he had when he first landed on him.

“Chat Noir?” he tried again, making sure to keep his voice low and soft. “Do you know where you are?”

Chat Noir blinked up at him, still looking a little hazy, but like he was at least attempting to focus. “You’re… that model boy… right?” he asked hesitantly. His voice sounded a little slurred, but at least he was speaking words.

Inwardly Adrien winced. Of course that’d be what he was known for; how ELSE would Chat Noir have heard of him? It’s not like he knew either of the Parisian heroes very well. They’d run across each other during akuma attacks of course, especially with how often their class ended up targeted in one way or another, but they didn’t exactly have time to chat.

Outwardly he made sure to not change his expression. “Yeah, that’s me. You crashed into my house a few minutes ago.”

Chat Noir vaguely looked around. Adrien suspected he’d just become aware of his surroundings.

A tinge of panic colored Chat’s expression. “I- I’m sorry,” he burst out, shrinking in on himself. “I- I didn’t mean to- if you want me to go, I’ll go.”

Adrien shook his head, kneeling down so his head was level with Chat’s. “If you want to leave, then you can. I don’t want you to stay any longer than you’re comfortable with.”

Chat’s eyes widened, then relaxed a bit, looking downcast. He began shuffling around with the blankets, attempting to stand.

Omega unhappy needs reassurance needs support

Adrien sucked in a breath. That surge of protectiveness, of the need to defend, to make sure Chat Noir was okay - he’d never felt anything quite like it before.

This… this was what being an Alpha meant to him. Not trampling over others, exerting will and dominance over them.

But being there for them if they needed it, helping to make sure every member of the pack knew how much they were wanted, needed, cared for. To lift them up, not tear them down.

Sometimes that might mean giving them space.

Sometimes that might mean staying put, letting them know you’ll be by their side.

“But just because I’m okay with you leaving, doesn’t mean I want you to,” he told Chat Noir, trying to possess every ounce of sincerity he could muster, to reach out and let him know on a fundamental level how much he cared for him. “I don’t want to keep you here or coerce you to stay. I don’t want to force you into anything, or feel like you need to do anything to please me or because you feel like you need to pay me back for something. I just want you to do what you feel most comfortable, what you feel safest doing.

Chat Noir, what do you want?”

Chat Noir looked momentarily stunned.

He swallowed thickly. “I- I want to stay here for a little bit. If that’s okay with you!” he added hastily. “I don’t think I can get back home right now and… and I don’t really want to.” His ears turned backwards, flattening against his head.

“Are you okay with me touching you?” Adrien asked.

Chat Noir nodded.

Adrien sat down on the bed. Chat Noir leaned into him, Adrien stroking his head, like his mom used to do with him when he was little.

His mom couldn’t scratch him behind his cat ears though, on account of not having them.

...most of the time.

(He’d always had a thing about cats.)

They stayed there for the next several hours, Adrien checking up on Chat Noir regularly, making sure he was okay with the close proximity, asking whether he’d like food or drink, just… taking care of him, while making it as clear as he possibly could that Chat could ask for things, that Adrien WANTED him to ask for things, and that he wouldn’t force his will on Chat Noir.

At last, the heat dissipated to the point that Chat Noir could get up. Could walk around.

Chat Noir looked out the window longingly, then back at Adrien.

Adrien smiled at him. “It’s time for you to go, I’m guessing?”

Chat Noir hesitated, then gave a short, sharp nod.

“Then go.”

Chat turned around to leave, but hesitated, looking back at him, an unspoken question in his eyes.

“If you ever need to come by again, for cuddles or support or just… just because you want to? Please, please come,” Adrien told Chat. “Just check to make sure my father isn’t around first, alright?”

Chat Noir laughed, pole-vaulting into the night.

#adrichat #ml fanfic #adrien agreste #omegaverse #alpha/beta/omega verse

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pyrewrites · 4 years

Text

Thirteen Days

Entry number 2 into the @bechloe-week Weekley Bechloe mini-challenge. This for the prompt ‘quarantine’.

Ao3

Thirteen Days

It was only day 6 of lockdown but LA already had a death toll. The rising count statewide was actually what finally got the state government to act. It was scary as hell but Chloe was in lockdown with her favorite person in the entire world. Her roommate, up and coming musician, and the girl she had been in love with for nearly a decade, Beca Mitchell.

Chloe suspected that she would have been in a much worse state of mind if not for Beca. Chloe was suffering from information overload on a near-daily basis before lunch. Beca had on more than one occasion hidden both of their phones and laptops behind the locked door to what had originally been designated as Chloe's bedroom but quickly became a guestroom/Beca's home studio space, and removed the batteries from all the remotes except for the blu-ray player that had Netflix to keep Chloe from looking up any more doom and gloom. And Chloe was grateful. Yesterday had been especially bad. Chloe had come across a pair of reports of deaths that blew a hole the size of the 405 in the claims that 'only the elderly and immunocompromised had to worry'. The first was a college athlete without a single health problem. He was the same age Chloe had been the day she met Beca. The second was a 13-year-old girl. She had spent hours curled up in Beca's arms alternating between crying and having panic attacks as the reality of the situation set in. Beca had run a marathon of Disney movies in their shared bedroom the whole rest of the day until Chloe had drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Chloe was making a sizable breakfast of all of Beca's favorites to bring her in bed to thank her for everything she did the day before. She glanced at the clock figuring she had enough time to finish before Beca woke up. She had just finished plating the food and was turning to the fridge to get the orange juice when her entire world stopped at the sound of a violent coughing fit coming from the bedroom. Her mind immediately flashed back to the last time they had gone to the store to stock up when the rumors of the lockdown started getting serious. The store had been packed. Despite all the talk of social distancing, Chloe would have been shocked if there was a total of six feet of open space in the entire store. That had been a week before the lockdown order had been given. Thirteen days ago.

Chloe sprinted to the bedroom. She slammed the door open to find Beca doubled over, still coughing. The covers on the bed had been kicked away from her body. Her face was flushed, which could have been attributed to the coughing fit. But the sheen of sweat over every inch of exposed skin Chloe could see was not the fault of coughing.

“Oh god no,” Chloe whispered. She rushed forward nearly jumping onto the bed. “Beca!”

Her coughing continued. She tried to speak only to cough again before she could form any coherent words. Chloe placed a hand on Beca's forehead only to yank it away from her burning skin. Chloe ran into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with cold water. After a few moments of searching, she found a bottle of cough syrup and a digital thermometer. She dashed back to the bed. She opened the bottle and handed it to Beca then started running the cold washcloth over the back of Beca's neck as she tilted her head back swallowing probably more than the recommended dosage.

“Thank you.” Beca croaked as Chloe wiped over her forehead and face, then down her chest and arms.

“I'm calling the doctor,” Chloe said. Not saying ' to find out where to get tested' out loud. But Beca saw the panic growing in her eyes. She turned on the thermometer and waited for it to chime ready. “Open.”

Beca dutifully opened her mouth and closed it again around the annoying plastic and metal probe. As soon as it was in place she watched as Chloe tried her best not to run from the room to get her phone. After several moments she could hear Chloe's voice but couldn't make out what she was saying until she shouted.

“I know the symptoms! They are all over the news and the internet! The last time we were out in public for any reason was thirteen days ago!”

Chloe's voice dropped again but it was obvious she was coming back to the bedroom just as the thermometer beeped.

“Yes, she is running a fever,” Chloe said as she walked up to the bed and plucked it from Beca's mouth. “Shit. It's 100.8, we need to come in today. As soon as possible.”

Beca watched as the tension in Chloe's face started to relax.

“Yes. Both of us. We went to the store to stock up two weeks ago and have been in close contact with each other in our apartment since.” Chloe paused. “Ok. Thank you very much.”

Chloe took the thermometer and the cough syrup back into the bathroom. She swung the door closed behind her so she could lean against the counter and try not to burst into tears. She only managed to stay quiet when she did start crying.

“Chlo?” Came Beca's scratchy voice from the bedroom after several minutes of Chloe not returning from the bathroom.

“Yeah. Just a second.” Chloe called trying to keep her voice even. She wiped at her face and almost considered doing her makeup, but decided that would make it even more obvious since they had both stopped bothering days ago. She slowly pulled open the door and started towards the hallway. “Just stay in bed. I'm going to bring you the breakfast I was fixing.”

Beca started to shuffle pillows around so she could sit up. She had gotten herself set up by the time Chloe returned with her food. She made another trip to get her own breakfast and climbed into bed with Beca.

“What was this for?” Beca rasped.

“I was thanking you for yesterday and all those Disney movies without complaining even once.” Chloe smiled.

“You didn't have too. But I'm glad you did.” Beca said before coughing a few times.

“Our appointment is at one. They have a mini drive-up testing center set up to keep from exposing other people that have other reasons to go to the doctor right now.”

Beca just nodded, not wanting to talk much more than she had to with her throat hurting.

Chloe turned on the tv and started searching Netflix. She turned on something light and kinda mindless to watch while they ate.

After they finished breakfast Chloe went digging in their closet. At the time the lockdown order had gone into effect they hadn't had any orders about wearing masks in public yet, so Chloe hadn't gone looking since they had stocked up enough food for at least another week and a half. She found what she was looking for tucked into a side pocket of her suitcase. She and Beca had joined the Beale family ski trip last year over Christmas. Chloe had gotten them a pair of 'neck warmer ski masks' that looked like a turtleneck that had been removed from its shirt. It could be pulled all the way up over your nose to keep your face warm and Chloe figured that much fabric would be much better than cutting up a t-shirt like the internet was suggesting. But given they weren't even going to have to get out of the car to get tested they might not even need them at all.

Chloe made them some sandwiches and packed them both a lunch because she had no idea how long they might be waiting despite having an appointment. She gathered a clean change of clothes for Beca, who hadn't gotten dressed yet since waking up. All of this in-between sessions of panicked pacing in the living room.

Once Beca was dressed Chloe changed into clothes that were more acceptable to wear in public before hustling Beca out to the car. She ran back inside to grab their packed lunch and took a long slow look around the home that they had built together, fighting back tears again.

Chloe barely heard the music playing in the car as she drove. The trip took less than a quarter as long as she was planning. There were virtually no cars on the road.

“Is it just me or does it feel like we are in the opening scenes of some post-apocalyptic movie and we are like the last people left on earth?” Beca was the one to say it, which itself said how deserted the roads were.

They pulled up outside the doctor's office at 12:15, a full half-hour earlier that Chloe had expected. She saw a small tent in one corner of the parking lot and every other parking spot around that corner blocked off. She drove over and was waved down by a person in essentially a hazmat suit holding a clipboard. Chloe opened the window less than an inch, just enough to communicate.

“Do you have an appointment?” The person said.

“Yes, we do. Mitchell and Beale for 1 o'clock. Sorry we are early, I honestly didn't give any thought to how little traffic there would be.” Chloe said.

“Don't worry about. Everybody has done the same thing. We will get you taken care of as quickly as possible. Just wait in the car and we will hold up a sign with your name when it's your turn. Go ahead and park over there.” The person pointed to the end of the row in front of them. “Should be about 10-15 minutes.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said as she put the car back in gear. “How are you doing Becs?”

Beca shrugged and reclined her seat a bit before curling up.

Chloe watched as Beca nearly dozed off then turned her attention to the team working their way through the few cars waiting. They moved with a practiced efficiency that both impressed and frightened Chloe. She zoned out watching their movements until the person with the clipboard waved to get her attention. They held up a small whiteboard with Mitchell-Beale written on it. Chloe's heart skipped a beat.

Chloe pulled up to the spot she was directed to and rolled down both windows. The workers checked their temperatures with laser thermometers, that Chloe thought were pretty cool. They had both of them stick out their tongues so they could check their throats. Then they performed the test, which was very unpleasant. Before they let them leave they did a second swabbing of their throats.

“We will call you when the results come in. Good luck.” One of the workers said as they stepped back from the car to let them leave.

Chloe could barely bring herself to smile at them as she rolled up their windows. She didn't say a word the entire drive home.

When they got home they both changed back into more comfortable clothes and Beca crawled back into bed and took a nap. Chloe wanted to climb into bed and just hold Beca, but instead, she quietly closed the door before retreating to the living room, turning on the tv for some sound, and began crying again.

Chloe jerked awake at the sound of metal clanging in the kitchen. She looked around in confusion. The sun was setting outside. A blanket slipped off of her as she sat up awkwardly trying to move with a sore back.

She shuffled out to the kitchen to find Beca setting a pot of water on a burner.

“What are you doing?” Chloe said, her voice still thick with sleep.

“I woke up from my nap and you weren't there. I found you asleep on the couch so I covered you with a blanket and watched some tv for a while. Then I was in the mood for ramen. So here we are.” Beca said. Her voice still rough but it was better than it had been that morning.

“Go sit down,” Chloe ordered. “You are sick. I'll fix your food.”

Beca looked like she was going to object right up until Chloe shot her a look that said Beca wasn't going to win this argument. She stepped away from the stove and headed for the living room.

“And thank you for the blanket,” Chloe whispered as she placed a light kiss on Beca's cheek.

The next two days went much the same. Beca slept a lot. Chloe cried a lot and tried not to think about the sore throat she was starting to develop. Beca continued to be stubborn and tried to take care of herself as often as possible. And Chloe almost as often either ordered or, on three different occasions, physically carried Beca to the couch or bed to get her to stop.

The afternoon of the third day, after an especially bad coughing fit, Chloe broke. She started crying in front of Beca for the first time since she woke up sick days ago.

“Hey hey hey. It's ok Chlo.” Beca said as she gathered Chloe into her arms and started stroking her hair.

“No. It's not ok Beca.” Chloe's voice cracked. “I can't do this without you.”

“Can't do what?”

“This! Everything. My whole life. I can't lose you.” Chloe said between sobs.

“You aren't going to lose me Chlo.”

“You don't know that! And I don't want to live the rest of my life without you.”

“What the hell Chloe?”

“Beca I am trying to tell you that I'm in love with you and I don't want you to die!”

Beca stared opening and closing her mouth for what seemed like an hour.

A phone ringing startled both of them. Beca reached over and picked up her phone from her nightstand.

“Hello? … Speaking. … I see. … Both of us? … Ok. … Yes, the one on file. … Yes. Thank you.” Beca hung up. After she set down her phone she took a slow deep breath. “Chloe. I love you too. I'm in love with you too.”

“On no. Nononononono.” Chloe started crying again. She grabbed her own phone and started furiously started typing. “Fuck!”

“What?” Beca asked as Chloe started typing again.

“Apparently the courts aren't considered 'essential services' right now. Maybe they haven't locked down Vegas yet.” Chloe said distractedly.

“What are you talking about Chlo?”

“If one or both of us is going to die in the next few weeks I want to die knowing I got to be married to the love of my life.” Chloe looked up at the sound of Beca gasping. And found tears running down her smiling face.

Beca slowly reached out and took Chloe's phone from her.

“How 'bout you take me on at least a few dates first? But first, you need to make a run to the pharmacy at the Ralph's down the street.”

“Wha...but the internet says there's no treatment yet.”

“They ran a preliminary test here, but they have to send it to the CDC to make sure.”

“And...?”

“They came back negative for both of us. The test that came back positive was for strep throat.”

“So you're going to be ok?” A smile started spreading across Chloe's lips.

“Yeah. After a few more days of this fucking sore throat. And you're probably gonna get it too so they sent prescriptions for both of us to the pharmacy.” Beca grinned. “Maybe you can pick up some pizza while you are out and we can have that first date. Unless you still want to jump right to getting married.”

“After all this time it still surprises me that I am in love with such a pain in my ass.” Chloe laughed.

“'All this time'? Just how long have you been in love with me?”

“Think I'm going to let you wonder about that for awhile. I have to make a trip to the store.” Chloe said as she hopped off the bed giggling.

“Now who's the pain in the ass?” Beca called after her as she skipped down the hall. The sound of Chloe's laughter echoed back into the bedroom and it was the most beautiful thing Beca had ever heard...so far.

#bechloe #WeeklyBechloe #Beca Mitchell #Chloe Beale #Pitch Perfect #writing #Pyre Writes #Pyre writes fics #kinda shocked chloe hasn't murdered me in my sleep for this

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britesparc · 3 years

Text

Weekend Top Ten #470

Top Ten Films to Watch on Star on Disney+

We’ve been watching a lot of Disney+ lately. This is partly due to the fact that our family movie nights have become, almost accidentally, a quest to watch every bit of Star Wars content on the service; so far, we’ve watched the entire Skywalker Saga and are now moving onto the spin-off movies. The younglings have become addicted: Daughter #1 is getting stuck into The Clone Wars, whilst Daughter #2 is demanding we jump straight into The Mandalorian. As for the Princess to my Scoundrel, well, she and I have been thoroughly enjoying WandaVision, which by the time you read this, will have finished. Sob! Nothing to do but gird our loins until the arrival of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in a couple of weeks! At least this excellent TV programme appears to have whetted my wife’s appetite for watching more of the MCU movies. Maybe soon I can make oblique references to Mary Poppins, y’all, and someone else in the house will actually know what the hell I’m on about.

Well it looks as if there’s going to be even more use out of our Disney+ sub as the months roll inexorably on, what with their new Star channel. This is where they’ve shoehorned all the mucky films they bought from the naughty boys and girls at Fox; sweary adult dramas, sexy bits, and scenes of explicit wrist-slapping abound. So now we have this toybox of grown-up content to savour! What to watch? What not to watch? I’ve already started at the most obvious place by diving into some vintage Arnie with Commando, one of the funniest action movies ever made. It did not disappoint.

So where to next? Re-watching semi-forgotten classics, films I’ve not seen in literally decades? Or checking out things that slipped me by (there’s an entire list to be made of “films I read about in Empire in the ‘90s, got really excited about, but never saw”). Do I watch the crappier Die Hard films, or cheesy action movies (er, like Commando, I guess)? Or dive deep into prestige fair? Or just watch Spy Hard for the Weird Al theme tune, practically the only bit of the film I remember? The options are virtually endless.

So that’s what this week’s list is: ten films I intend to watch on Disney+ very flipping soon. Or, y’know, just play Zelda until Falcon starts.

9 to 5 (1980): there was a lot of talk of Dolly around the New Year, and my wife and I even watched a documentary about her. As a result, I had a scoot around to see if it was possible to buy 9 to 5 as a birthday or Valentine’s gift for my better half; it’s a film neither of us have seen in years if not decades, and we’re both big Grace and Frankie fans too. Alas, it’s a difficult film to get a hold of; there doesn’t appear to be a Blu-ray readily available. Praise be, then, that it’s now on Disney+; a terrific comedy film, with a nice bit of feminist bite. I’m not sure if it’ll feel dated or – post-#MeToo – oddly prescient. But I’m really, really looking forward to watching it again.

Crimson Tide (1995): I do love a good tense thriller, and I seem to remember this as being a particularly great tense thriller. This feels like one of those “they don’t make ‘em like this anymore” candidates; a claustrophobic two-hander with no real action, almost a theatrical chamber piece, but made with huge stars and a big-time director (the late, great Tony Scott). I saw it once, on video, when it came out, so it’ll be great to revisit.

The Color of Money (1986): another minor classic that I’ve not seen for decades, and a film I remember even less well than Crimson Tide. It’s cool to revisit (or discover for the first time!) films by great directors, and this is Scorsese we’re talking about. Cruise as a freshly-minted movie star, still taking risks; Newman as a great elder statesman. I’ve genuinely no idea what it’s like, it’s been so long, but I’d love to see it again. Just wish The Hustler was on D+ too!

Quiz Show (1994): I’d mentioned before that there are loads of films from the ‘90s that I read about as an eager young film fan but never saw; this is one of them. An apparently-great drama about corruption at a hugely popular TV show in ‘50s America, with Ralph Fiennes in a very early Hollywood role. I think I’d enjoy it.

Looking for Richard (1996): another of those ‘90s films…! This fascinated me as a teen, and I’d love to see it: a documentary about Richard III, made by Al Pacino, featuring people talking about Shakespeare (got a lot of time for that) and also scenes of the play performed and filmed. It’s a real curio; also weirdly came out around the same time as McKellen’s Richard III. Maybe something was in the water? We’re due another big Rich in my opinion.

Jennifer’s Body (2009): a follow-up from Juno writer Diablo Cody, a horror centred around high school and female sexuality, this has always seemed like it might be a dark, delicious delight; it wasn’t very well received at the time, but has grown in cult status; as has its star, Megan Fox, who I’d argue has not had the easiest time within Hollywood. Anyway, I really like the look of it, and it’ll be cool to check it out.

Tombstone (1993): I love a good Western, and I seem to remember that this is a very good Western. A story of Wyatt Earp that goes beyond the famous gunfight, my memories of this are very vague; I know that there’s a very good Val Kilmer performance as Doc Holliday, and of course Kurt Russell as Earp himself. I might try out that “watch along” feature and watch this, remotely, with my dad.

Romancing the Stone (1984): I probably haven’t seen this since the eighties so I’ve got no idea if it’s really any good, but I do remember enjoying its Indy-inspired adventurism and – in particular – Danny DeVito’s bad guy. Douglas is always great value as a leading man, although from what I’ve since read this is really Kathleen Turner’s show. It’ll be interesting to see if it holds up, but hopefully it’ll be a good stop-gap until they finally get the Indy films up on the service.

Good Morning, Vietnam (1988): another film that I want to revisit, even if I remember it a little better than others on this list. My memory is that it’s utterly fantastic, a really stark look at the realities of Vietnam during the time of the war, and also a phenomenal, very human performance from Williams. Also I remember it being very funny when he does let off some steam (sorry, bit of Commando creeping in there). And really, it’s Williams I want to see again; that earnest, real, pained but beautiful Williams we get in his very best performances. It’s very likely I’ll cry just watching him on screen. God, I miss him.

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016): I needed some crappy sequel to talk about, and here it is. I can’t overstate how much I loved the first Independence Day in ’96, so the (apparent; I’ve not seen it) terribleness of this sequel hit me like a sledgehammer. It can’t be that bad, can it? Is it not at least so-bad-it’s-good? I mean, the trailer made it look atrocious, and it’s killed off Will Smith – the best character! – off-screen, so odds are not good that it’s a hidden gem. But I’ve got to know.

This was actually a pretty tough list, and I had to knock off some films that I’d love to rewatch (Conan the Barbarian, The War of the Roses), as well as stuff like Idiocracy and Office Space that I’ve never seen. Also Kingsman: The Secret Service, which is a fairly recent release that slipped me by, and I’m not sure why I’ve never gotten round to seeing; I blame the kids! Also, there was going to be some xenomorph or xeno-monkey action on here, but frustratingly all the Alien (and Predator!) movies are missing, and the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy – which I’ve also never seen! – is only served by its middle instalment. Yeah, I can watch the seminal ‘60s original again (and I may!) or the indecipherable and strange Tim Burton version, but what about, y’know, the trilogy that everyone raves about? I assume this is due to pre-existing deals keeping the films elsewhere (elusive…), but the sagas of Alien, Predator, and the complete Die Hard package are – I believe – being kept until most profitable (mark my works: Die Hard at Christmas). Anyway, it’s a bit frustrating, that, as I’ve never seen Covenant or The Predator, and I’d love to watch the whole lot from the start anyway.

I guess I can console myself by also watching the one Die Hard film I’ve never seen, namely the critically-acclaimed A Good Day to Die Hard. I mean, I’m assuming it’s critically acclaimed. I guess I’ll find out.

#top ten #movies #disney+#star #films #fox #dolly

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silverselfshippingchaos · 3 years

Text

Yaag woke up early that day.

Well, he was always up early, but that was besides the point. Yaag was a creature of habit. He would wake up, work out, shower, get himself ready for the day. Rinse and repeat. It was a quiet process and he rather appreciated it. He could gather his thoughts that way.

This morning, however, was different. He still followed his routine, still followed the same workout, still did his hair the same way, still wore the same ribbon in his hair. But he realized that as he was in the process of tying soft, silver hair behind him with his go-to black ribbon (a gift from his mother) that Ash seemed to consume all his thoughts. This is pathetic...

Ash had begun working with PSICOM not too long ago, perhaps only a few months. She didn’t have the military experience that he did, and nor did she, as she so kindly put it, gave “a fucking shit” about it. She was, as she also put it, “good with people and at going beep boop on computers.”

Normally he would never even consider working with someone with such little experience, but she proved to be rather good at what she did, and always had the latest intel. She meant to only stay for a mission but... clearly it had been longer. She was quick to bond with everybody who worked under him, kind and approachable to all. She teased him, saying that they balanced each other out. He was as cold as ice, and she was... well, her.

Working together so closely, they were quick to bond. Yaag tried to keep things strictly professional, but he was no idiot. He knew what he was feeling when he felt his heart flutter as she smiled. He just tried to shove them aside. He didn’t have the time for such things. He was Director Yaag Rosch of PSICOM division, and he had things to do. He had to be stone cold, as unfazed as a brick because of just how many people relied on him.

But he needed someone to rely on too.

Yeah, to cut down all the fluff, Yaag crumbled. Fast forward a bit later, and they kissed.

You know how it goes from there.

He leaned slightly forward into the mirror, adjusting his bangs ever so slightly. He gave himself a curt nod. He reached for his coat, fastening all the buttons.

Today was a very special one. Outside of Ash and the fact that he had just been ordered by the fal’Cie to orchestrate mass fucking murder, he had many things on his mind. This is... what is best. For Cocoon's present and future prosperity. He told himself.

He had received the reports the day prior. The progress on the Proudclad, what was supposed to be his personal airship. It was complete. He wasn’t a very emotional man in the slightest, and even when he wasn’t being PSICOM Director Rosch, he was still rather serious, and composed. But he felt excited! It was complete. Finally! Fastening his saber to his side, he exits his room, metal door swooshing closed behind him.

Ash was already up and seemed to be having a conversation with one of the pilots of the Palamecia, swiping through some documents on her tablet. She looks up at the sound of footsteps. She grins,

"Goooooood morning, Director!"

"Good morning, Ash." He gives him and the pilot a small nod, and the pilot leaves.

"I sorted through some of the reports on the Pulse l'Cie for you, you know. We've got some pretty cool stuff." She says.

"Fantastic work. Have them sent my way."

"Consider it done, babe." She steps a bit closer to him as she taps away on her tablet.

He smiles.

"You're smiling." Ash says, glancing up at him through her thick, red glasses. Yaag didn't smile too often, but it had begun to become an increasingly more common sight when they were alone.

Perhaps if Ash had never gotten closer to him and fell in love with the caring man under the tough surface, she would've assumed that he was some sort of machine. She wouldn't put it behind the Sanctum, and it would definitely explain his demeaner.

"Am I? My apologies."

She snorts, "Hey! Don't apologize for smiling! I think that your smile is pretty cute. Is there something in particular that has you in such high spirits?"

"Well..." Starts Yaag, "Yes, actually."

Not even a beat of silence. "Spill."

“Perhaps I should just show you.” She nods, and Yaag turns around and begins walking deeper into the airship.

Once they were out of sight from the others, Ash takes a gentle hold of one of his hands. He squeezes hers in response, thumb gently rubbing over the back of her hand.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about plans for the Proudclad, correct?”

She nods, “Yeah, the spider-looking airship thing? With all the really complex guns? I saw some of the plans for it.”

“Yes, and it’s... It’s finally complete.” He whispers.

She jumps up a little bit, smiling. Yaag could stare at that smile of hers all day and never get sick of it. “Oh, that’s amazing!”

Yaag steps in front of a door and it opens automatically. Ash wasn’t quite sure where in the ship they were, considering the sheer size of it. Despite having worked there for quite a while, she had no idea what some of the doors lead to. Not her fault they all looked the damn same. Luckily, she had Yaag with her, who seemed to know the whole ship (and the whole army, at that) like the back of his hand.

He steps inside and she follows. He stops in his tracks, completely starstruck at the sight before him. Silver eyes seemed to glimmer in awe as he raises a hand to stroke the cool, metal surface of the mech before him.

“Gorgeous.” He says under his breath, and Ash smiles at the sight. Yaag was a difficult man to read - well, she supposed that he had to be, considering what he did for a living - but she loved seeing him like this nonetheless.

The ship before them was large, nearing the ceiling of the large room. The metal was dark, seeming to match perfectly with the black tones of Yaag’s PSICOM uniform. It was planted on its legs in a rest position, the lights on the sides turned off.

A man who Ash recognized to be a mechanic approached Yaag and handed him a thin remote after a small chat and a flawless salute. Ash didn’t hear the most of it, but she briefly heard something about new AMP technology being infused into some of the arms of the Proudclad.

She had briefly studied AMP and was quite fond of it. She often wasn’t directly on the battlefield, though, so she never exactly had a chance to put much of it to use.

Yaag looked down at his hand and pressed the largest button the remote. Within seconds, he was... fading away?

“What?” Ash questioned, but was quick to remember how teleportation tests were currently being run. Not only could it benefit PSICOM, but perhaps even all of Cocoon. They were constantly striving to make the already-peaceful life on Cocoon even better.

Well, not really. But that’s what they told themselves anyway. The fal’Cie made the decisions around here. Humanity was useless and pathetic on its own.

Not like there was anything they could do about it.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the engines of the Proudclad whirring to life. It sits there for a few seconds, the arms moving around experimentally.

Wow.

After maybe a few minutes, Yaag comes out from the side of the machine. Ash runs closer to him.

“That was... Woah.” Is all she manages to stutter out.

“Very ‘woah’ indeed.” Yaag remarked, “I’m rather proud of what the team has put together.”

Ash chuckles. That was a first. Praise from Yaag was rare. Really rare.

“So!” She claps her hands together excitedly, “This thing got Bluetooth?”

Yaag freezes in place, silvery eyes narrowing in something that could only be described as pure bafflement. He blinks wordlessly at her, and his mouth opens and closes a few times, as if trying to find the right words. But what were the right words?

“Ash.... Ash...” He shook his head, pinching his nose between his fingers, “Ash, this is a weapon...”

“You’re not answering my question here.”

“Oh my.” Yaag sighed at his girlfriend’s antics, but couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. She laughs, and Yaag can feel himself practically melting at the sight. Since when did he allow himself to get so soft?

Ash smiles, and for just a moment, Yaag feels like nothing else matters in the world. All his problems and responsibilities gone. He felt happy.

She takes a look at the display of her tablet and sighs, “I'm sorry, but I should really get back to work, Yaag.”

He nods, “Yes, of course. I’ll be taking the new one out for a test flight as well.”

“Ooh, have fun! I’m just going to be wrapping up some reports. The Pulse threat is pretty good at running away.” She places a hand on his shoulder, “But hey, that’s alright. It shouldn’t take too long, so I can make you dinner tonight!”

Yaag shakes his head no, “Perhaps I can try my hand at cooking tonight? You’ve been working very hard, tracking down the l’Cie and all. And then again, you always cook. I rather enjoy your food, but I wouldn’t want to place anything else onto you. You deserve rest.”

Ash shrugs as she walks away, but she’s grinning widely. “Thank you so much. Just don’t burn the house down, okay?”

Yaag chuckles, “I don’t know if I want to hear that from you. You have... Well, a reputation of being clumsy, to put it kindly.”

“Not true!”

On her way out, however, Yaag didn’t miss her tripping. All he heard was a sigh and,

“You piece of shit! You jinxed me!”

He covers his hand with his mouth, trying to hold back laughter, “Such unprofessional language from this one...”

“I swear to god, Yaag, I am this close to-“

“What happened to working?”

“... Shut up.”

He smiles.

“Have fun.” He says, giving her a small wave as she (without tripping this time) leaves the room and heads back to her office. As for him, he simply stood there for a moment. His cheeks felt warm as his heart raced.

What a fool... I love her.

#just some cute little fluff! this is the first thing i've written for these day so im trying to get a hang of them ajfwenaljn #yaag is lowkey so tough to write #anyways! i love him very much he's very cute #thank you for reading :D #ahh i love him so much! he's the cutest

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writethehousedown · 4 years

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New sensations, sweet temptations: chapter 7 (crygi, jan/rock) - Winter

a/n: so this has been a journey and i’m kinda sad to post the last chapter but i’m proud to have finished a multi chaptered fic and the challenge was a lot of fun. i feel like this ties it up decently but i probably will come back to this fic with oneshots or something so if you wanna see that go follow me @soulfulwinter, thanks to anyone who’s been supporting me throughout this whole fic (especially mina and emerald who have been super enthusastic about all of this) i leave you with and jan and rock finally knowing how to deal with their emotions, enjoy!

Jan felt freer than ever after what had happened with Rock. She felt comfortable in herself and her identity. There was one minor problem, figuring out where she and Rock were at. They currently existed in this weird void of knowledge about the other’s feelings but both being too nervous to make a move just yet. She wasn’t out of all the confusion just yet.

Broaching the topic was difficult, but Jan felt any anxiety leave her body when she glanced over to Rock. She knew what Jan was planning to do and had expressed so much support in the past two days that Jan’s confidence was stronger than ever and she truly felt ready to tell her friends what had been going on.

“Hey guys, can I tell you something.” The question sounded innocent enough, 6 pairs of curious eyes staring at Jan, Rock was the only one with a different expression, a supportive smile and caring eyes that made Jan feel confident enough to say it.

“I’m a lesbian.” She couldn’t watch the reactions, immediately turning to a proud looking Rock when the anxiety peaked.

The first one to speak up was Nicky, tapping her fellow blonde on the shoulder and pulling her into a tight hug. It seemed that everyone followed suit, with Crystal, Gigi, and Heidi joining immediately after. Jackie and Jaida joined the growing group hug, leaving Rock to grab Jan’s hand through the mess of the supportive hug. She joined on the outskirts before Jan tugged her closer. The group broke apart shortly after, but Rock stayed next to Jan, whispering that she was proud when the others weren’t paying attention and giving her hand a supportive squeeze that made Jan’s heart flutter and a familiar warmth spread through her body.

The girls all expressed their support and love for Jan, it made the smile on her face grow bigger, it went better than she could ever have thought.

—

“Hey Rock, can I ask you something?” Jan ran up behind the pink-haired girl, causing her to jolt in a panic. Upon realising it was Jan, she settled and couldn’t hide the smile that came to her face at just seeing the girl.

“Yeah sure, what’s up Jannifer?”

Jan cracked up at the nickname, a giggle that sent shivers down Rock’s spine and made her want to melt at that exact moment.

“I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me, this weekend maybe? Just the two of us. Like a date.” Jan felt herself begin to ramble, but powered through, hoping she managed to get her point across. Seeing the stunned look on Rock’s face she assumed she had some success.

“Yeah, I’d like that” Trying to outwardly keep her cool was a struggle, Rock was losing it on the inside, a mess of emotions, excitement, nerves and strong romantic feelings for a certain bubbly blonde girl.

Jan left the conversation unable to keep herself from smiling giddily, later on, her cheeks would ache from how much she had been smiling but how could she not? She was going on a date with the girl she’d loved for longer than she knew.

—

Planning the date had been difficult, her plan had been something cute and artsy, something that screamed Rock. Begrudgingly, she’d asked for some advice, with Crystal seeming the best option due to her closeness to the girl Jan was going on a date with. She’d been eager to help, suggesting a list of things that all sounded great. They’d narrowed it down after a long discussion. Rock had expressed interest in a local pottery place that allowed people to buy premade pots and paint them. They planned on doing it as some sort of arty activity with some of their friends but Jan knew it was the perfect thing to do with Rock.

They planned to meet at a local park, with Jan walking with Rock to an undisclosed arty place. When Jan walked up, seeing Rock waiting on a nearby bench sent her heart racing faster than she knew possible. Rock looked adorable in a baby pink shirt and a darker pink overalls that cut off just above her knee. The muscles in her arms and legs reminded Jan of the summers they spent in the past, Rock had always been a keen swimmer, leading her to get muscular and tan whenever the summer rolled around. It was something Jan had learned to enjoy after enough times of Rock pushing her to do some swimming with her, now having a whole other reason to enjoy it.

Having caught the blonde staring at her, Rock shot her an amused look, leaving Jan mortified at having been caught. She awkwardly approached the bench, nearly jumping out of her skin when Rock jumped up, her hand quickly finding its way to Jan’s.

“Never thought the day would come when you were early for something.” Rock laughed, making her date feel her nerves calm down ever so slightly.

“Oh, you say that like you aren’t always late too. How many alarms did you have to set?”

Rock went silent and Jan’s question mumbling something under her breath that Jan didn’t quite catch. When she asked Rock to speak up, the embarrassment became more obvious.

“Five. What are you looking at me like that for? I like to sleep.” Rock felt her face heat up and Jan’s amused expression, she glanced away, hopelessly trying to hide her embarrassment.

“I know. You always were a pain to get up when we had sleepovers. It’s kinda cute though when you’re half-asleep and grumbling about wanting more sleep.”

Seeing Rock become flustered at the compliment made Jan want to squeal. She couldn’t deal with how cute the girl was, this date was going to be a real test of self-control for her.

The conversation flowed as easily as it always did after that, both girl’s nerves melting away with the warmth of being on a date with their best friend. Jan led Rock, never quite mentioning where they were going. They arrived after a short walking, leaving Rock bubbling with excitement at the realisation of what they were doing.

—

Seeing Rock so focused on the pot she was painting was something Jan wanted to remember for a long time. The absolute concentration was adorable to watch, Jan would’ve sneakily watched for longer but she didn’t want to get caught staring again.

Her attention turned to the half purple pot in front of her, she had gotten the paint splattered on her hands within the first few minutes. The mess didn’t bother her, although Rock had found it amusing and did poke fun at the blonde for being incapable of being tidy. Not that she had much of a leg to stand on being equally as messy in any other scenario, being uncharacteristically organised when it came to art.

A comfortable silence was held between them, both focused on decorating the pottery in front of them. Rock spoke up first, curious as to what Jan was doing.

“Hey Jan, what are you going for with your pot?”

“Uh, purple! What about you?”

The pure excitement in Jan’s tone made Rock smile, there was something about the almost child-like enthusiasm she had for everything, that was adorable and infectious.

“Oh? It’s kind of childish but it’s pink and it’s got a little rainbow on it.”

“It’s so cute! The rainbow is kinda gay though, it’s like you! Pink and gay!” Jan giggled at her joke, making Rock’s heart surge in her chest. Everything Jan did got a reaction, that was just the power of her cuteness though, Rock would argue that with anybody.

“Hmm, on a date with a girl painting pottery? That’s a pretty gay way to spend a Saturday.”

Jan started laughing harder at Rock’s comment, earning the pair a few strange looks from people on surrounding tables. Rock couldn’t help but laugh, Jan’s enthusiasm and laughter were contagious. They continued, finishing up the pots and waiting for the rest of the paint to dry. Soon enough it was time to go home, with Rock offering to walk Jan home. It was a shock knowing how shy she was when it came to anything remotely romantic but Jan was quick to agree to it. They held hands for the walk back to Jan’s house, keeping a random conversation flowing about anything and everything, Jan felt an unfamiliar sadness and longing when they got to her house. She only wanted to spend more time with Rock but knew she had to go before Rock’s parents got on her about going out so much and not focusing on school work.

“Hey, Rock. Thanks for coming out with me today. It was really fun, we should go on more dates.”

Rock didn’t know how to respond. She’d had a great time with Jan but was sent reeling at the idea of going on more dates. It didn’t feel real for Jan to be asking her on more dates.

“Yeah, I had a really fun time too. I’m always up to go on another date with you, Jan.”

Seeing the nerves in Rock’s eyes made Jan soften, even more, she couldn’t hold herself back this time, leaning up and pressing their lips together softly. It was only quick but Rock swore she saw her life flash before her eyes.

Jan had kissed her. Jan. The girl she was convinced was straight and had crushed on for years had kissed her. This was real and happening. In her inner turmoil, Rock could only utter out one thing before thinking.

“Jantastic.”

Realising what she had said, and how Jan was trying and failing to hold back laughter. Rock felt mortified, wanting the earth to swallow her up then and there. Jan didn’t leave much time for that though, cupping her face and pulling it back towards her so they could be eye to eye.

“Rock, you’re jantastic!”

It was a stupid pun but the anxiety soon left Rock, leaving her with a giddy feeling that didn’t fade for a long while after. Jan bid her goodbye but not before pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

This was actually happening.

—

“Chile, how did almost everyone end up dating. Is there something in the air making everyone suddenly stop pining?”

“Speak for yourself. I do remember you saying you spent months staring at me not knowing how to talk to me properly. You’re as hopeless as the rest of them.”

Jaida stopped, glaring at Nicky although the french girl didn’t miss the blush on her cheeks. They had many conversations about feelings, with Jaida admitting her pining and Nicky being blunt about all the flirting.

The french girl smiled smugly, knowing she won before Jaida pressed a quick kiss to her lips, catching her off guard and leaving a stunned expression in its wake. A lot of things had changed, as made obvious by Crystal and Gigi sitting next to each other, attached at the hip and giving the other loving a loving stare that made the girls around them laugh. Neither would live it down for a long time but they let them have their moment, only intervening when a kiss lasted a little while. Heidi laughed at them before commenting on something about her innocent eyes.

They weren’t the only ones though Jan and Rock were in a somewhat strange place. The dates had happened and gone extremely well. Rock had even initiated a kiss that left Jan speechless. But a desire to make it official was eating away at Jan. She would love nothing more than to call Rock her girlfriend but knew that the pink-haired girl took some time to adapt to their current situation. Rushing it wasn’t the best idea.

She felt conflicted though. Rock was always very receptive to any moves Jan made but rarely made any herself. It was a tricky situation but Rock continues to surprise her.

“Hey, Jan? Everyone’s getting together now and I was thinking. Would you maybe mind if I called you my girlfriend? It doesn’t matter if it’s too fast or something but I’d love to be able to say my girlfriend is the perfect, adorable girl also known as Jan.”

Although she sounded nervous, Jan was astonished by the level of confidence it must have taken Rock to ask. She felt proud of how the girl was getting better at asking people things and talking about her feelings.

“Of course, I’d love to be your girlfriend, Rock. I was scared to ask in case it was too fast for you but. I guess I’ve got the best girlfriend now.” Jan’s smile made Rock feel like she was floating. It still didn’t quite feel real, her and Jan being like this. But the euphoria that came from her saying yes was something she wanted to bottle up and keep forever.

Rock had stopped being so nervous with Jan, finally feeling enough confidence to lean in and kiss the blonde. It was soft, a lot less awkward than after their first date and it left Jan speechless. They still had some things to conquer, including Jan coming out to her mother and people knowing about their relationship. But after everything that had happened, she was very happy with how it ended up and wouldn’t change it for the world, no matter what.

#rpdr fanfiction #jan sport/rock m sakura #crygi #jaida essence hall/nicky doll #jan sport #rock m sakura #nicky doll #jaida essence hall #crystal methyd #gigi goode #new sensations sweet temptations #winter #fluff #lesbian au #high school au #concrit welcome #summer lovin' 2020 #day 7: swim #submission

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chickensarentcheap · 4 years

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Best Part of Me -Chapter 51

WARNINGS: SMUT. NSFW

TAGGING: @c-a-v-a-l-r-y, @innerpaperexpertcloud, @alievans007, @ocfairygodmother

He’s stirred awake by the brilliant sunshine that streams through the living room window; groaning loudly when the sudden flash of light is too harsh on his weary eyes. After Yaz had left, they’d retreated inside and had sat on the couch talking; a surprisingly calm and rational conversation considering the tension and stresses that Yaz had left in his wake. It had been a rough end to a great day; all the lighthearted, playful, and loving moments quickly overshadowed by talk of Mahajan. Dhaka. All the things he’d hope to avoid over the course of four days. It wasn’t what he wanted; dwelling on his upcoming departure and the seriousness of the task that lay ahead of him. The verbal acknowledgment of the target on his back and the enormous bounty that has placed on his head; quite the incentive for any street thug or even merc with a score to settle.

When Yaz had shown up, he’d brought months of hostility with him. It hadn’t been handled well; his departure from New Zealand. Once he’d made up his mind...once his sanity hinged on whether he managed to get the hell out...he’d caught the first flight home and never once looked back. He should have dealt with it better; given the rest of the team -especially Yaz and Nik- a decent heads up so they would have a chance to prepare themselves and draw up a new game place. But he’d been desperate; on the verge of mental collapse and worried about the state of his marriage. He’d done what he’d was best not only for himself, but for his wife and children. He would have been of no use to the McMann kids; his brain fractured and fragile and incapable of handling the situation.

There’s no doubt in his mind that he would have died there; unable to do the job properly, putting himself and those kids at risk. It was the smartest thing he could have done. Quit. Regardless of what anyone else says or thinks.

Eight days. With the rising of the sun, the days settle at eight. Just over a week until he’s leaving for Mumbai and embarking on quite possibly the riskiest job he’s ever taken on. The stakes have never been higher; a price on his head, the lives of his family being threatened. He needs to keep his cool; not let his emotions get the better of him. The second guys like Mahajan and his people get into his brain, his need to destroy them will become an obsession. All consuming, unrelenting. And while it’s hard to NOT let his emotions be in control it’s an absolutely necessity to rein them in. His emotions make him weak. Vulnerable. And guys like Mahajan can sense it; they can stop the chinks in the armour from a mile away and they’ll use it to their full advantage. He needs to stay focused; stay on his game. He can’t let them take up space in his brain; once they’re in there, they’ll burrow their way into the deepest and darkest of recesses and it will be impossible to evict them. He’ll be useless then. Unable to protect his own family in the same way he’d been unable to protect the McMann kids. And he’d never forgive himself if his own weakness were his family’s demise.

Sometime during their conversation, they’d both fallen asleep. The last thing he remembers is her climbing off the couch long enough to grab the heaviest blanket off the bed; returning with it wrapped tightly around her body and then laying down with her head in his lap. His hand had been in her hair; fingers combing through those soft, dark tresses and then letting them fall between. And he’s pretty sure he’d fallen asleep to the thought of much he’s been enjoying the time alone with her. How much he’d miss it...her...not only while he was in Mumbai, but if something prevented him from ever getting the chance to be with her again.

He reaches for his phone as it sits on the arm of the couch, quickly checking the time before tossing it onto the cluttered coffee table. Quarter to seven in the morning and not one single reasonable explanation for being up this damn early. No hungry baby to feed, no breakfasts to make, no kids to get ready for school. The silence in the shake is unfamiliar. Eerie. Almost unbearable. He’s spent the last six years (nearly) being surrounded by noise and activity, and it’s become the norm. He doesn’t even think about it anymore; so used to the chaos that anything else feels strange. And he actually finds himself missing it. The middle of the night feedings when the house is still and silent and it’s just him and Addie; those dark eyes staring up at him while he feeds her, all of her fingers wrapped tightly around one of his. Finding himself fascinated by how tiny she is; marvelling at how perfect and beautiful and wondering how a guy like him could ever help make something that incredible. Always falling asleep stretched out on the couch; the impossibly small being resting on his chest, a protective hand never leaving her back.

Or the mornings when he’s still asleep and he can hear the two oldest stirring in their bedrooms; lying in bed listening as the bickering begins and little footsteps can be heard in the hall just before they burst into the master; jumping onto the bed and shrieking and giggling as they attempt to ‘wake him up’. Those tiny yet surprisingly strong and nimble fingers that try and pry his eyes open. The way Declan will climb on top of him and cuddle in close; playing with his ears and stroking his beard as the toddler attempts to lull himself to sleep. It becomes such a huge part of your life, being a parent. Your entire world revolving around those innocent, totally dependent beings. To the point you often forget who you were BEFORE they came along. In his case, that’s a good thing. He doesn’t want to remember what he was like before; his life a disaster before he’d met their mother. She’d been the one who began the job of dismantling the walls he’d built around himself; his kids the ones completing it. Being a dad again has turned him into a different person. A different man. One that isn’t afraid to show emotion or give and receive affection. One that’s finally done things he can be proud of, instead of hating himself for.

Esme remains asleep with her head in his lap; on her back with her face turned towards him, nose pressed into his stomach. Looking so much younger than she is actually is; that smooth, soft skin devoid of any makeup, a touch of pink from the sun gracing her cheeks, the spattering of freckles -that she always complains about- across the bridge of her nose. She’s everything he could have wanted or asked for. Not just as a spouse and the mother of his children, but as a lover, confidant, and best friends. And it’s all those things together that make it even remotely possible to get through all the hard times and his battle with alcohol and pain med dependency and the issues brought about courtesy of his PTSD.

There’s a slight frown playing on his lips when he trails a fingertip over the thin, pale scar that mars her forehead; touching the top of her right eyebrow and travelling upwards into her hairline. There’s others; a couple from when things haven’t gotten out of hand on the job, but most from Mark not being able to keep his fists to himself. The first couple of years had been touch; she’d flinch or jump away if he’d move too quickly while standing near her. Genuine fear on her face if he even did something as simple as raising his hand to push his own hair out of his eyes. If the movement was fast, it would startle her; taking her back to all those times someone had raised their hand to her with the sole intent to harm. It had been hard to break her of that; to get her to completely trust him despite his own issues and his volatile temper and knowing the damage he was capable of causing in his line of work. Always assuring that he’d never...ever...hurt her. How do you hurt someone you love THAT much?

He rests his palm on the side of her face, thumb repeatedly brushing against her cheek; his eyes closing and his head falling back onto the couch. They have a few hours before their planned departure. Driving to Mitchell River National Park, followed by a hike to where they’d camp for two days. Taking her to the last place he’d ever visited; the day drinking trip with Koen and Rata, when he’d jumped off the cliff and scared the shit out of the latter. Things had been different then. HE’D been different. Two after making that jump, Nik would be on his doorstep offering the Dhaka job and he’d be standing in his kitchen, watching that tiny, cute brunette on his front porch. It’s weird how one moment...one decision..,can change the entire direction and outcome of your life. And how everything can go so wrong but turn out so amazing in the end.

She moves against him, rubbing her face against his stomach and then turning her face into his hand. Lips finding the rough skin of his palm before she gives a long, content sigh and then turns her face towards the ceiling and opens her eyes.

“Hi,” she greets, eyes still heavy from sleep, voice small and groggy.

He runs the pad of his thumb along her bottom lip, then smiles. “Hi.”

“What time is it?”

“Early.”

“How early is early?”

“Very early.”

“Can you be a little more specific or…?”

“Just before seven.”

She groans. “You have this uncanny ability of always waking up way earlier than you need to.”

“Old habits die hard, I guess.”

“I guess.” She briefly squeezes her eyes shut, sighing as she stretches languorously; bare feet poking out from the bottom of the blanket. “When do we leave?”

“Not for a while.”

She stares up at him, eyes slightly narrowed.

“A few hours. I forget how you always need things to be accurate. You’re a pain in my ass.”

“It’s a nice ass though,” she says with a grin, and his hand slides down to her throat; chin resting in the curve between his thumb and forefinger as he leans down to kiss her. And she gives a soft smile and a happy sigh as he trails his knuckles along her jaw. “I’ll be back.” she says, as she tosses off the blanket, gathering it up as she slides off the couch. “Oh God…” she grimaces, placing a hand on the small of her back. “...way too many epidurals have fucked me right up.”

“Sixth one should be all natural. A water birth. You can do it. I have faith in you.”

“I haven’t made up my mind about that yet. Don’t get your hopes up. My body is screwed up enough. Why do you want to screw it up even more?”

“It’s a fucking amazing body.” Tyler declares, admiring that familiar yet always alluring and attractive form; clad in just one of his t-shirts, leggings long disposed off.

Her body has changed over the course of seven years, but there’s still no one...no other body...he wants in his bed. His hands and his mouth know every inch of her; every curve and dip and every one of those little places that -when touched or teased- drive her insane. He doesn’t understand the boredom that some men feel being with the same woman for years on end. How can there be anything dull or mundane about someone you love? About knowing someone’s body THAT well? Being in the one that knows that body in a way no one else will ever get the chance to? It’s an ego thing; knowing you’re the only one that gets to experience it, that you’re the one capable of manipulating it and bringing someone that kind of pleasure. It’s a confidence boost AND a turn on. And he feels it now; that stirring of lust and need and want. It’s carnal. Animalistic. Difficult to control even after almost seven years. Both a blessing and a curse in so many ways.

His eyes are closed when she returns, and he groans deep in his throat when she climbs into his lap; arms circling his neck, bare crotch coming in direct contact with the beginning of his sweats covered erection. She knows what she’s doing; how much she drives him crazy. And she’d never hesitates on taking advantage of it.

“What are you doing?” he asks, when he feels the first touch of her lips against her neck; warm and soft as her mouth leaves no inch of the tattoo or the scars untouched.

“You’re so warm,” she replies, and nestles his face into his trap muscle.

“Something tells me you’re not going this to keep warm.”

She grins against the side of his neck. “You’re very perceptive, Tyler Rake.”

“You’re not exactly the most subtle woman on the planet.”

“I’m a woman who knows what she wants. And I want you. Like, right. This second.”

“And you have the nerve to call me ‘extra’?”

“Look, I’m married to the sexiest in the world. I’m alone with him. One hundred percent alone. With no one around to interrupt us. Considering all the time in the past six years we’ve been cock blocked by one or more kids, I deserve this. And it’s to you...husband...to fulfill my needs.”

He grins, hands settling on his hips; unable to hold back the groan as the tip of her tongue both the inner and outer edges of his ear. “It is, is it?”

“Mmm...hmmm. You’re the only one who is allowed to do these things. So it’s ALL up to you. And I know you’re more than capable of giving me what I want.”

“What if I’m not in the mood?”

“Please…” her lips move along his jaw, and she presses her crotch against the bulge in his sweats. “...I know you. You’re always in the mood.”

“You do know me,” Tyler agrees, his hand sliding up the side of her t-shirt. Callused fingertips sliding over and along her ribs as she licks, sucks, and nibbles every inch of the left side of his neck; following the patterns of the tattoo and moving over the scar. Unable to control upwards movement of his hips, pressing his erection against her; feeling the vibration against his throat when she groans.

“I know you very well,” she says, as she begins to grind against him; actions slow and deliberate, giving a small wince when his short nails rake down her sides. “I know you so well, that I know right now you want to go down on me. It’s your favourite thing to do. And you know I’ll never turn it down.”

“And you call me perceptive.” His fingers dig into her hips as he moves her from his lap, dropping her on her back.

She’s grinning mischievously at him as she slides backwards on the couch in order to give his longer, bulkier frame more room. Watching as large hands push her legs apart; beard scratching her skin as his mouth moves along the inside of one thigh, then the other. Her teeth dragging over her bottom lip and her hips rising in anticipation.

“Asshole,” she grumbles, when he lays a heavy forearm across her lower stomach to keep her still. His lips and tongue and teeth bypassing the ultimate goal in favor of teasing the junctures of where hips and thigh meet. Followed by a series of wet kisses and gentle sucks along her pubic bone.

“I’m in charge here,” Tyler informs her, as his fingertips and tongue trace over every one of those faint, slightly raised stretch marks she hates so much.

“Only time you actually are,” she counters.

He raises his head long enough to smirk at her before returning to the task at hand. Mouth now moving lower; hands sliding between her and the couch and settling on her ass. A cheek in each palms; those calluses rubbing against the skin and long, strong fingers kneading, pinching, and biting into the flesh. Mouth hot and moist against one hip, then the other. Taking his time despite the near painful hard on that strains against the fabric of his pants; fighting the urge to take one of his hands off her ass in order to jerk himself off. And he feels her foot sliding up his calf and over his thigh, growling his approval when she pressed it against his cock.

“Stop,” he snarls, and presses his hips into the couch, trapping her foot. “You’ll make me cum if you keep doing that.”

“Doesn’t take much does it,” she teases, then gives a small help when he bite down on her upper right thigh. “What the fuck, Tyler? Are you going with matching marks now? Don’t be a dick. Stop wasting time.”

“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want,” he retorts, a palm moving across her ass; two fingers pushing their way between the cheeks, the tip of one brushing against the tight, puckered hole.

“Holy fuck…” she groans, heaving a heavy sigh as he eyes close, body trembling as a fingertip continues to stroke and gently -and shallowly- prod. “...you need to stop that...you need to...shit...fuck…” she whimpers the last two words as his mouth finally moves to where she wants it. Tongue licking a wide strip from one home opening to the other, then back again, tip pressing against her clit.

It doesn’t take much this morning. A few long, lazy laps and less than thirty seconds of fucking on that rigid, sensitive bud and that relentless teasing of that one finger in and around her ass and her orgasm hits. Both hands tightly gripping his hair; holding his head tightly to her as she cries out. A mix of his name and profanities and incoherent babbling. Her eyes still closed and her body still shaking as he moves his way upwards. Pulling up the bottom of the t-shirt as he goes; leaving it bunched under her chin as he suckles at one breast, then the other. Her juices lingering on his lips and in his beard when he finally kisses her; tongue pushing into her mouth, allowing her to taste herself. Those normally brilliant blue eyes dark and filled with want and need when he pulls back to look down at her.

“You good?” Tyler asks.

She nods, and when he shifts his position and his hips, her foot finds his cock once again.

He smirks. “You’re bad.”

“You like it.”

“I’m not going to like coming like that.”

“How do you want to do it then?”

“You might regret asking that,” he chides, and she shrieks and then giggles when he roughly flips her onto her stomach.

“On your knees,” he orders, and aggressively yanks the shirt over her, tossing it aside.

Hands smooth over her hips and her ass as she does what she’s told. And he leans over to lick a path along her spine, from her tailbone to the back of her neck. Palming his erection as he presses a series of kisses across both of her shoulders, the fingers of his free hand digging into her hip when his teeth make contact with the nape of her neck.

“You are so beautiful,” he praises, roughly squeezing her ass with one hand as the other continues to jerk himself off. His rough palm skimming over soft, supple skin as he reaches around her; two fingers rubbing briefly at her clit before pushing their way inside. “...so beautiful…”

A whimper escapes her lips and her head falls forward when a third finger pushes its way inside; the stretching uncomfortable but not painful. Her breath quickening and her hips moving on their own accord, fucking those long, thick digits.

“Fuck…” he groans, his hand tightening around his cock, teeth grazing against her shoulder.

It’s almost enough; her fucking his fingers and the smell of her and the noises she’s making and his own hand working himself. A long time ago, it WOULD have been. He would have been satisfied enough to finish himself off and not even about whether she got off as well. But it’s different now. HE’S different. And he removes his fingers and pushes her legs further apart, a foot on the floor and a knee on the couch as he brushes the tip of his cock against that warm, slick opening before pushing inside. Slowly and methodically; letting her feel every inch, every second of penetration.

It’s a beautiful sight. The sweat that glistens on her skin and dampens her hair line. Those huge, dark eyes that look over her shoulder at him. The flushed cheeks. And when he pulls out only to push back in with one solid thrust, she cries out and drops her forehead onto the couch. He stays where he is; enjoying the feeling of being buried inside of her. It’s familiar yet still incredible; each and every time. The way she takes him so well, as if her body was made to fit with his in a way no one else’s ever has.

“Tyler…” she groans into the cushion. “...please...fuck me...I need you to fuck me...please…”

“In a second.”

“Not in a second! Now. Fuck me now!”

He smirks. “You ARE demanding,” he declares, then pulls out once more, only to slam back into her. A hand tightly clasping her shoulder, the other gripping her hip. And he repeats the action several times; each thrust a little harder than the last; encouraged by her cries and her whimpers and how tightly every muscle in her body is drawn. “I don’t think so…” he growls when she reaches between her lips, wrapping his fingers around her wrist and pulling her hand away. “...only I get to do that.”

“Don’t do this,” she pleads. “...don’t tease me like this. Just...shit…” she bites down on her bottom lip when the grip on her hip tightens and yanks her back against him; forcing him even deeper. “...oh god...stop...stop teasing me…”

“Tell me what you want.”

“You. I want you.”

He presses her palm against her pussy. “Who does this belong to? Tell me? Who does it belong to?”

“You. It belongs to you, Tyler. Only you.”

“Fucking right it does,” he snarls.

Normally he hates this part of the game. He doesn’t mind being aggressive; he knows how far he can take things, how much that little body can take. But talking like that to her...the love of his life, the mother of his children...always so wrong and he always regrets it afterwards. Always worries he crossed certain boundaries and she’d never tell him if he did. But he can’t control himself; the words that come out of his mouth, his actions. All the frustration and worry and stress and rage pouring out of him. Manifesting itself in sex. And he lets go of her hand in favour of grabbing her hair; wrapping it tightly around his fist as the fingers of his other hand bite into her hip as he gives her what she wants. And what HE needs. A hard, no holds barred fuck; pounding into her at a brutal and unrelenting pace. No longer protesting when she reaches between her legs to play with her clit. Continuing to fuck her and chase after his release; his release ONLY. Until he feels her entire body shuddering and those inner muscles clenching around his cock and he hears the screams that erupt from her.

“I wanna come in your mouth.” Tyler says, only pulling out of her when she gives a nod of consent; his fingers releasing her hair as she turns around.

All the edge and the darkness is gone from his face and eyes as he regards her; his hand now gentle as it pushes through her hair and then cradles her cheek. His own eyes closing and his chest dropping towards his chest when those soft, supple lips close around the head of his cock; her hand resting on top of his as he continues to jerk himself off. Only needing several firm tugs before his hand moves from her cheek to the back of her head, holding her firmly in place as he comes; sending spurts of hot, thick semen down the back of her throat.

A mix of profanities and her name rumbling from deep within his chest; entire body rigid as the combination of her mouth and their hands drain him dry. And his eyes are still closed when his legs threaten to give way. Dropping down onto the couch with low growl; chest heaving, sweat trickling down his temples and the back of his neck. Both arms circling her waist when she once more settles herself in his lap and buries her face in his shoulder.

****

It’s a half an hour hike to the campsite; the exact spot where he’d last visited almost seven years ago. The moment of arrival is bittersweet. Even more so than his return to the shack. He can distinctly remember that time in the water. Sitting on the rocks, filled with the fading images of his dead son; wondering just how long it would take to die if he simply gave up right there. He hadn’t had anything to live for; nothing by a drinking problem and a drug habit and a dog and a chicken at home that could be cared for by anyone. For some reason he didn’t give into the wish for death. Despite the pain and the heartache; the immense guilt, regret, and grief that were devouring him from the inside out.

Two hours later his life would begin to change. Nik would offer him the Dhaka job and Esme would be on his front porch. Those five days in that dirty hotel room would follow; allowing himself to surrender to all consuming want and need. He refuses to think of anything that came after that; how quickly things had gone so wrong. Dwelling on that...that brief moment when he thought she’d died along with the rest of the team, the attack by Farhad and the street thugs, the night at Gaspar’s...will cause even more mental anguish. It all leads up to the Sultana Kamal Bridge, and nothing good comes from thinking about that.

Camp is easy to set up; a small two person tent, a couple of folding chairs, coolers of food and drink, one bag containing changes of clothes they may need. Tyler watches her as she cautiously approaches the edge of the cliff; staying four feet back and standing on her tiptoe in an attempt to see over. Never jumping or flinching when he wraps his arms around her from behind; her faith and trust in him never faltering or wavering. It’s always there; never worrying that he’ll hurt her or lead her into some kind of danger or trouble.

She’s the only person who has trusted him THAT much.

“You can go closer.” he says, using his weight to push her forward. “You’re not going to fall. I won’t let you.”

“It’s pretty high up,” Esme frets.

“It’s only thirty meters.”

“ONLY he says,” she gives a nervous laugh. “You’re not going to throw me off, are you?”

He gives a chuckle. “You’d die.”

“Maybe that’s your plan,” she teases. “Get me here and do away with me. No one would ever know.”

“I kinda like having you around. Besides,” he presses a kiss to her cheek. “I haven’t updated your life insurance policy yet.”

She grins. “So I’m safe for another day.”

“Another few. Takes time to get hold of those people.”

She laughs at that, then gives a frightened squeal; her nails digging into his forearm when her feet come closer to the edge.

“Calm down,” he tightens his hold around her waist and pecks her temples. “I promise you won’t fall. I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She holds onto his forearms as she kicks loose stones over the edge, watching as the plummet. “You really jumped off this?”

Tyler nods.

“You’re crazier than I thought.”

“It’s not that high. I’ve jumped from higher.”

“Yeah, in the military, with all your gear on. This is different. You DID have a death wish. You’re not expecting me to jump, are you? Because I love you, but no way.”

“Like I said, the drop would kill you. And you’ve got about fifty years left with me, so…”

“You’re not going to jump, right?”

“I’m too old for that shit now.”

“Don’t ever bring the twins here. You KNOW TJ will try it. That kid is fearless. He is all you.”

“Maybe when he’s older,” Tyler reasons. “Ovi’s age. It’s a right of passage; jumping off here. Guy hits a certain age, this is where they come.”

“Are all Australians nuts or is it just you?”

“It’s just me. Do you wanna go down? Go for a swim? We’ll go see the waterfall.”

Her eyes widen. “We’re not jumping, are we?”

“No jumping. I promise. There’s a path that’ll get us down there. Just gotta watch out for snakes. And dingoes.”

“My favorite combination.

“It’s okay, baby. I won’t let a snake or a dingo get you. I can’t say the same if a chupacabra comes at us, though.”

Esme laughs at that. “The chupacabra isn’t even real.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No one has ever seen one. It’s an urban legend.”

“Or maybe whoever HAS seen it, didn’t live to tell about it.”

“What if Slenderman comes for me?”

“How could he? He’s not real.”

“You could take him, I think,” she says, as she turns around to face him. “You could take Slenderman. Just like you could take Jason Bourne. Or that guy Keanu Reeves.”

Tyler grins. “That might be pushing it.”

“I have faith,” she says, then stands on her tiptoes and presses a kiss to his chin. “You haven’t let me down yet.”

****

It takes twenty minutes to get down to the water, and she keeps a secure hold on the back of his shirt the entire time; somewhat comforted by the presence of the holster and gun on his right hip. It isn’t for any aggressive wildlife they may encounter, and she knows that. It’s a very real possibility that someone IS following them; most likely since they left home. Anyone could be watching them; whether it’s someone Anil has sent to keep an eye on things, or one of Mahajan’s people. She tries not to let it bother her; put at ease by not only her husband’s confidence when it comes to handling any situation thrown their way, but the knowledge that there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.

“This place is insane,” she breathes, as they find a small, grassy clearing near the water. A hand over her eyes shielding them from the sun as she takes in their surroundings; the looming limestone cliffs and the plummeting waterfall less than a hundred yards away. And she rummages through the backpack he’d brought along; going through the changes of clothes before locating her cellphone and taking a handful of pictures. “Is it safe down here?”

“As safe as it can be, I guess. All we’re going to see is wildlife, unless…”

Tyler doesn’t finish, words trailing off he does off his shoes and peels off his tank; tossing the latter onto a nearby rock, then placing the holster and gun underneath it. He hasn’t seen or heard anything that remotely suggests that someone is following them. At least not yet. And he doesn’t protest when she wants to take a selfie with the waterfall in the background to send to the kids; wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his lips to her cheek.

“How many girls have you actually brought down here?” Esme asks, eyes sparkling playfully. “Where am I on the list?”

“First and only,” he answers honestly, as he stands calf deep in the cold, refreshing water and watches as she slips out of her clothes. Eyes widening and a grin spreading across his face as he catches sight of the two piece bathing suit she wears; candy apple red and held in place with a bow at the back of her neck and on each hip.

“What?” she asks, and gives a nervous laugh. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m admiring.”

“Admiring what? All the fat and the stretch marks?”

“I don’t see what you see.”

“You need glasses then.”

“Is that what you bought?” he asks. “When we went into town that day?”

She nods, then drops her discarded clothes on top of his. “You don’t like it?”

“Oh I like it. I like it a lot, actually.”

“You always complain about all my other suits. That I need to cover that much.”

“You don’t. It’s all in your head; this bullshit about your body. You look amazing.”

“Even after five kids?”

“ESPECIALLY after five kids. You’re fucking sexy. Isn’t how horny I get around you...and how often I do...evidence of that?”

“I don’t know,” she gathers her hair into a ponytail, securing it with an elastic she sports around her waist. “You pitch a tent if there’s a stiff breeze in the room. Maybe you’re just easy to please.”

“Or maybe in my eyes, you’re the most beautiful, sexy woman on the planet.”

Esme grins, then gingerly makes her way along the rocks. “Not cute?”

“You’re that too,” Tyler assures her.

She cautiously dips her toes in the water, then curls her fingers around his when he offers a hand. “Wait…” she pauses. “...are there alligators in here?”

“No.”

“Okay…”

“Because we’re in Australia and we have crocodiles here, not alligators.”

She scowls and draws her hand back.

“I’m just saying. How many times have I been over this with you? Australia? Crocodiles. Where you’re from? Alligators.”

“There are no alligators in Colorado.”

“You know what I mean. And no. There are no crocodiles here.”

“If there is…” she once more takes his hand. “...I’m the faster swimmer and I’m letting them eat you. I love you, but someone has to be the sacrifice to the crocodile gods.”

“I promise you that there’s no crocodiles here. You think I’d bring you here...in the water...if there was?”

“I don’t know. You’re a crazy Aussie, after all,” she teases, as she wraps both arms around one of his as he leads the way further into the water.

“Technically, you’re an Aussie too,” Tyler informs her.

“By marriage only. You realize both girls were born here, right? None of the boys were. So only Millie and Addie are proper Aussies. The rest of us are pretend ones.”

“Wannabes,” he says. “You’re all wannabe Aussies.”

“I’m good with that. I married the best one.” She waits until the water is almost over her head before jumping onto his back; arms around his neck, legs around his torso. “Best decision ever! Marrying a ridiculously tall guy.”

“You’re like four feet,” he chides. “Everyone’s taller than you.”

“Excuse you, but I’m five four!”

“Bullshit. I have more than a foot on you.”

“Okay, so I’m more like five two and a bit. And you’re absurdly tall. Like a sasquatch. Only better looking. You’re all torso and limbs. So are Millie and TJ. I think Declan’s going to be tall too.”

“That kid’s fucking huge. He’s going to be like six six and built like a tank. Come to think of it, the cable guy did have a couple inches on me.”

“Dick wise?” she teases, and bites his earlobe.

“You know what?” He reaches back and grabs her by the upper arms, effortlessly throwing her over his head into the water. And she’s laughing when she resurfaces, tucking wayward strands of wet hair out of her eyes and behind her ears.

“I’m onto you, Tyler Rake,” she says, as she treads water. “You’re not going to throw me off the cliff. You’re going to drown me.”

“I SHOULD drown you for the dick comment.”

“I know you’re sensitive about it. About your dick. No!” she shoves him away when he reaches for her. “You’re going to drown me. I know you are.”

“Why would I drown you when people know we’re here together? If I don’t show up at home with you and your body washes up somewhere, it’s obvious who killed you.”

“Good point.”

“There’s other ways to do it. Ways I could make it look like an accident.”

“There’s no way you’re going to kill me,” she says, as she wraps her arms around his neck once more, this time from the front. “There’s no payout. That’s what you get for not being on top of things.”

“There’s something I’d like to be on top of right now.”

Esme smirks. “You’d think you never get any. That you’re sex starved or something. I don’t think all forty year old men are perpetually horny.”

“Guess you’re lucky you married the right one.”

“I already know THAT.” she says, as she pushes a hand through his wet hair and then holds his face in her hands as she kisses him. The tip of her tongue gliding over his top lip when she pulls away. “What if someone IS watching?”

“Let them. They might learn something.”

“You ARE a good teacher,” she reasons, and then sighs when his mouth finds the side of her neck. Eyes closing and her head falling forward onto his shoulder as he licks, nibbles, and sucks at the tender skin.

“What are these for?” Tyler asks, as his fingers tug on the bow on her left hip. “Easy access?”

“Why do you think I said it was for me AND you?”

He grins. “I like the way you think.”

“You like the way I do a lot of things,” she declares, then winces when the back of her head comes in contact with one of the towering, limestone walls of the gorge. “Are you serious right now?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“You don’t want to wait until we get back to camp?”

“Nope.” He yanks at the ties on the one side of her bathing suit, then pushes the fabric aside and lays his palm against her mound. Kissing her deeply as he pushes two fingers inside of her.

“I think there’s something wrong with us,” she says, as his free hand shoves his board shorts off his hips and over his ass. “This can’t be normal. WE can’t be normal. Wanting each other THIS much.”

“Babe, we are so far past normal we’re not even on the chart anymore.”

“Very true,’ she agrees, and then whimpers when he pushes into her; forehead meeting his shoulder and her nails scraping across his back and down his sides, hands settling on his hips. “You feel so good…” she whispers. “...you always feel so good.”

“I love you.” His movements still as he says it, lips pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “So much.”

“I love you, Tyler. More than you could ever know.”

He takes it slower this time; both arms wrapped tightly around her, careful to watch her back against the rocks. And when he comes...shortly after her...it’s with her name on his lips.

****

“I know you’re worried.”

Tyler’s eyes snap open from behind his sunglasses, and he turns his head towards her. They lay on a blanket near the water; spread across a small patch of grass. And while he’s stretched out flat on his back, she sits beside him with her legs folded; drinking a bottle of Gatorade and eating from a can of Pringles. He’s pretty sure he’d dozed off; the sun has shifted and the temperature feels a few degrees cooler.

Her hair is still damp and now hangs loose along the sides of her face and over her shoulders, and she wears one of his t-shirts that he’d brought along over her bathing suit. There’s chafing from his beard along the sides of her throat, and a faint bite mark on her right collarbone; the edge of it poking it from the neck of the shirt. He’d taken her twice in the water; second time from behind and much harder and aggressive. And even with her legs crossed he can the bruising on her inner thighs; proof of two days of often rough and intense sex.

He closes his eyes once more and reaches out to lay a hand on the small of her back as the other rests on his stomach. “What makes you think I’m worried?”

“Because I know you. And you can’t turn things off. Not when there’s a threat. Especially with something as serious as this. You are who you are, Tyler. You can’t change that. And I wouldn’t want you to.”

He sighs.

“And you’ve barely been sleeping,” Esme adds.

“I’ve always had issues sleeping. Ever since we met.”

“It’s different when you’re worried. I’ve been sharing a bed with you for how long now? I know you. I know your habits. You’re getting up several times a night and I know it’s not always because of pain. I know the difference; in things that bother you.”

“Am I really THAT predictable?”

“I’m sure there’s things you notice about me. Little things I do. Habits. You’ve probably never thought about them, but I’m sure you’d recognize when I change. When I change.”

Tyler nods in agreement.

“Are you scared?” She asks.

“Of what?”

“Mahajan.”

He groans as he sits up, left hand rubbing at his right shoulder. “Maybe a little.”

“What are you scared of?”

He helps himself to a swig of her Gatorade. “There’s a few things.”

“Like?”

“How about you stop worrying about what’s going on in my head,” he suggests.

“You know I’m always going about that. About you.”

“I’m telling you that you don’t need to. You let me worry about what’s going on in my own brain, yeah? You’ve got enough going on in your own head.”

“And I’m telling YOU...for the hundredth goddamn time...that YOU need to stop holding things back. I’m not a child, Tyler. You don’t need to coddle me. I’m a grown woman. And I’m your wife and the mother of your children. I’m the person you SHOULD be talking to.”

“I know…” He lays a hand on the side of her head and pulls her into him, pressing a kiss to her temple. “...I know you worry and I know you want me to tell you things. But have you ever thought that I don’t tell you because I want to protect you?”

“Protect me from what? You? Because I’ll tell you right now that that's a bunch of shit and you know it.”

He sighs and shakes his head. “I don’t want to fight.”

“I’m not fighting. I’m talking. WE’RE talking. Which is one the reason we did all of this in the first place. Going away together. So we COULD talk.”

“Not about this.”

“When else are we going to talk about it? We won’t be able to when we get home. Not with the kids there. And you leave in eight days. And those eight days are going to fly by and then you’ll be gone and I don’t know if I’m ready for that. I don’t know if I'm ready to say goodbye to you.”

“We don’t say THAT word,” he reminds her. “We NEVER say it. So don’t say it now. That word doesn’t exist when it comes to us. We agreed to never...ever...say it.”

“I’m scared,” she says, tears brimming her eyes. “I’m scared you’re going to walk out the door and I’m never going to see you again. At least not alive.”

“I’m scared of that too,” Tyler admits, and his hand falls to her shoulder, drawing her into his side.

“I know you have to do this. I understand it. This more than any other job you’ve ever done. But it doesn’t make it any easier; watching you walk out the door. And I know you can’t promise me that you’re coming back. But at least promise me that you’ll try. That you’ll do whatever you have to try and get home.”

“I will, baby. I’ll do what I have to. Whatever it takes.”

“Because this life would totally suck without you. I’d miss you too much. And there’s no way I can take care of five kids on my own.”

“You’d be fine,” he rubs her arm comfortingly. “You’re strong. The strongest person I know.”

“I don’t WANT to do it without you. This life. And I know I’m supposed to be some strong, independent woman that can handle everything on her own and that I probably sound really weak and whiny right about now.”

“You don’t. You don’t sound like that.”

“But I love you and I need you here. And our kids need you. Especially the boys. They need their dad. I don’t want them growing up without you. And I don’t want to grow old without you. No matter how much you drive me crazy.”

He gives a small laugh.

“Promise me, Tyler. Promise me you’ll do whatever you have to try and come home.”

“I promise,” he says, dropping a kiss on the top of her head before tightening his hold on her.

And they sit there, pressed together. Neither of them speaking...or moving...until the sun begins to set on the horizon.

#tyler rake #tyler rake fan fiction #tyler rake fan fic #extraction #best part of me #chris hemsworth character

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lightsupinthenorth · 4 years

Text

Read me like an open book part 2/2

Thanks a lot to the people who liked/reblogged the first part ;) I hope you’ll enjoy the second part as well :)

Part 1

Read on AO3

“Are you a drug dealer?” Steve asked him out of the blue, one day, as they were eating dinner.

Billy nearly choked on his lasagna and had to down half his glass of water to recover from it.

“Of course not! Where the fuck did that come from?” He asked, once he was done coughing.

Robin was laughing freely, either at Billy or at Steve (or at both).

“Well, I don’t know… The other day you told me you were working, and I went to the garage because I had some trouble with my car, but you weren’t there. And you keep going to Indianapolis, and you always come back with these big ass envelopes. And you keep buying us nice stuff… and okay, you always have an explanation for how you got the extra cash, but it’s… it’s weird, is all.” Steve summarized.

Okay, so Steve might have been more observant than most people gave him credit for. Thank God he hadn’t asked for him at the garage. Billy had asked Charlie, one of his old coworkers, to cover for him if Steve ever came by, but what if Charlie had not been there?

Robin was now staring at Billy, her eyes shining with mirth. It was so not funny! Billy was in deep shit.

“And the only explanation you can come up with is me being a drug dealer?” Billy asked to delay the answers he would have to give (and which he had yet to invent).

“Well… yes.” Steve admitted, with a frown.

Maybe Billy would have laughed too, if he hadn’t been in such a precarious position.

“Uh… I… Yeah, it’s just that the rich client from Indianapolis keeps asking me to come check his cars… that’s probably where I was when you went to the garage. And he always puts the money in envelopes. The guy’s weird, what can I say? He pays really well, hence the nice stuff I buy, so it’s not like I’m going to complain.” Billy explained, before stuffing his face with lasagna, just so the chewing would give him some time to think if Steve called him out on his bullshit.

Robin rolled her eyes but kept mercifully silent.

“Oh… alright. Sorry. That was dumb.” Steve said, pushing his food around his plate with his fork.

“That’s fine... I can see how I might have looked suspicious. I’m not a fucking drug dealer, though.” Billy grumbled once his mouth was empty.

“It did seem a bit far-fetched.”

If only Steve knew what Billy was really doing, the drug-dealing theory would probably not appear far-fetched anymore. Billy felt more and more guilty about lying to Steve, but he couldn’t tell him the truth. Steve would instantly know Billy was in love with him, if he did, and it would ruin everything. So, Billy kept ignoring the dilemma, hoping it would go away on its own. No such luck, so far.

A few days later, Billy came home with a book he thought Steve would like. He found him on the couch, drawing on a sketchpad Billy had never seen. Before he could catch a glimpse of the drawing Steve had been working on, Steve noticed him and snapped the sketchpad shut so hard that the noise echoed in the room.

“Hey, Billy, how are you doing?” Steve asked in a high-pitched voice.

Billy narrowed his eyes but chose not to question Steve on his suspicious behavior. He didn’t really have a right to, considering how he had been behaving himself.

“Good. I brought you a book, we can read a bit if you’re done with whatever you were doing.”

“Oh… yeah. That’d be cool. I… I am totally done with… with whatever I was doing.” Steve stammered.

“Cool.”

“Come here.” Steve said, patting his own lap.

Billy got the message and laid on the couch with his head on Steve’s lap. Steve started playing with his hair before he even started reading. His gentle touches made it hard for Billy to focus on the words, and he ended up tripping over them.

Steve didn’t stop touching him, nor did he react in any way to Billy’s stumbling. It made Billy suspicious, so he started saying something that had nothing to do with the book, using the same tone he’d use if he were still reading. Steve didn’t catch on.

“You’re not listening to a word I’m saying, are you?” Billy asked in a conversational tone, so Steve would actually register he was being addressed.

He gave Billy his famous ‘deer caught in the headlight’ look.

“I… uh… I… wasn’t. I’m sorry. I just can’t get my mind off Long live the King. I don’t think I can focus on another novel right now.”

Billy sighed. He didn’t understand why Steve had loved the book so much. “It’s fine. Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

Steve shrugged. “I probably won’t be able to focus much on that either but knock yourself out.”

Billy would have gladly stayed there in peaceful silence while Steve was caressing his hair, but it would probably look dubious, so he reached out for the tv remote and put something at random before going back to his initial position.

Billy felt so safe and relaxed that he started dozing off. He tried to resist, so he could enjoy Steve’s hands on him for as long as he could, but he ended up falling asleep anyway, betrayed by his own body.

That night, Billy woke up from a wet dream and found the star of the said wet dream in the living-room. What was Steve was doing there at this late (or early, depending on how you were looking at it) hour? It had yet to be determined. Billy approached slowly, his bare feet not making a sound on the carpeted floor.

When he was a few meters behind the couch Steve was sitting on, Billy saw that Steve was finishing up a drawing… of a woman… a woman who looked like Billy’s mother. He gasped, before he could even think about staying discreet.

Steve jumped and whipped his head in Billy’s direction.

Billy instantly felt bad. Steve was often jittery, especially if he hadn’t gotten a good night of sleep (which he obviously hadn’t), and Billy should have known better than to sneak up on him.

“I’m sorry for startling you, Pretty boy.”

“Uh… it’s fine… I guess it’s too late to hide this from you.” He said, gesturing to the drawing before he got up from the couch to face Billy.

“’m afraid so.” Billy replied. “Is that…?”

“Your mom? Yes…” Steve’s voice was slightly shaky.

“But how?” Billy had no picture of his mother, and Steve had obviously never met her.

“I… Please don’t be mad… You know how you told me about almost forgetting how your mother looked like before Eleven showed her to you when she got into your mind at Starcourt?”

Billy nodded. He wanted to tell Steve he could probably never be mad at him, but he didn’t want to interrupt him for fear Steve would let his nerves get the better of him if he did.

“Well… I asked Eleven to show her to me, too. I… I wanted to do something nice for you, because you keep doing nice things for me… and I thought it was a good idea… after you told me you had nothing to remember your mom by… But then I got nervous… I thought that maybe you’d find it creepy that I saw one of your memories… so I didn’t actually know how to go about telling you.” Steve was speaking faster and faster until he finally stopped, leaving Billy’s head spinning.

Steve had asked Eleven to go into his mind just so he could draw Billy’s mother…

“Please, Billy, say something.” Steve sounded properly panicked.

Billy wanted to reassure him, but he still couldn’t find his voice, so he lunged himself at Steve.

“Oh…” Steve’s air was punched out of him. “Hey there, big guy.” He hugged Billy back with one arm, still holding the drawing in his right hand.

“Thank you” Billy whispered, as a few tears made their way down his cheeks.

“It was my pleasure.” Steve replied.

Billy separated from Steve and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand before he reached for the drawing.

“So that’s what you hid from me when I caught you drawing earlier?” That was more of a rhetorical question, really.

“Oh… uh. Yeah. Yup. Totally.” Steve answered.

He was looking at everything in the room but Billy, who was too engrossed in the drawing to question Steve’s peculiar attitude.

The next morning, Billy bought a frame for the portrait and placed it on his nightstand.

When Billy went to Indianapolis a few days later, he tried very hard to avoid his agent. He knew he should have asked for his mail to be forwarded to him in Hawkins instead of leaving it at the agency, but he had wanted to avoid Steve stumbling upon anything that would clue him to what was going on. Now Billy was reduced to lurking down the corridors with his precious envelope in hand, like a thief. He was blessedly out the door without having crossed paths with anyone he knew when he bumped into his agent a few meters down the street. Fuck his life.

Billy’s agent had been pestering him about agreeing to a book signing for weeks now. Billy liked her well enough, but she could really be a pain in the ass when she tried hard enough. He had always denied her request, not wanting to show his face to his readers, since Robin was the only person from his life who knew he had published a book. Also, everyone thought he was a woman because of the penname he had chosen. He had an inkling that some people wouldn’t react well to knowing a book written in the first person, in which the narrator was in love with a man, had in fact been written by a male novelist. The narrator was not gendered, which Billy had done on purpose. He was almost certain most readers had imagined a girl, but if they discovered the author was a man, they might question it. Billy didn’t really care about that, or at least he didn’t care nearly as much as he did about Steve potentially finding out Billy had written Long live the King, but it was a reason he had used with his agent to justify his many rebuttals.

“Trying to run away from me, are you?”

“Absolutely not.” Billy replied, with more confidence than he truly had.

“Right. So, what about that book signing?” She asked for the umpteenth time.

She was like a broken record.

“Like the last ten times you asked: no.”

Billy’s tone was firm, but it didn’t deter her. Oh no.

“But come on, your readers would be so happy to meet you. Don’t you think it’d be nice?”

Billy had received and kept receiving heartfelt letters from some of his readers, which made him realize his book had touched a lot of people. Of course, meeting these people would be nice, but it did not change his stance on the signing. It could not.

“Plus, you don’t have to really show yourself. Wear a cap and sunglasses, a wig, come in full drag for all I care. It doesn’t matter as long as you talk to the readers.”

“Wouldn’t that be… you know… weird?”

Who came disguised to their own event?

“Sure, but you’re an author Billy, you’re entitled to being at least a bit weird.” She assured him.

Maybe she was right…

“Okay…” He finally agreed.

“Okay, you’ll do the signing?” She asked for confirmation.

“Yes, I’ll do it.”

Billy regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth, but there was nothing he could do about it now. They were out, and his agent would never let him take them back. At least she wouldn’t pester him about it anymore. He wouldn’t relax too much, though. He knew her, by now. She’d find something else to annoy him with sooner or later.

He waited until he was back home to open the envelope containing the letters from his readers. He was eager to read them, as he always was. And he could really use some cheering up these days, what with his longing for Steve and the fact he kept lying to him and could barely deal with the guilt. That was why Billy had gone to Indianapolis despite wanting to avoid his agent. He had really wanted, almost needed, the letters.

He read them sitting on his bed, and when he found a drawing of the King that looked exactly like himself, Billy cursed loudly, in shock.

A knock came on his bedroom door a few seconds later.

“Billy?”

“Uh… yeah?”

Panicking, he hid the pile of letters under his bed sheet and didn’t have time to find something inconspicuous to do before Steve opened his door.

“You sounded… bothered, just now. Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah. Never better.”

Never better? Why in the world had he said that? Had his brain gone to mush?

“Okay… that’s… good. What are you doing?”

“Uh… Nothing. Just chilling.”

This was a train wreck.

“Mmh… if you say so.” Steve narrowed his eyes. “See you later, then. When you’re done… chilling.”

“Right, see you, Pretty boy.” Billy forced a smile.

When Steve was gone, Billy unraveled the pile of letters again and took the drawing back in hand. He turned the sheet of paper and found a written paragraph on the back.

“I wanted to thank you for writing Long live the King. I loved it a lot, and I really related to your narrator. I have feelings for someone… someone quite like the King in your story. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll have a happy ending like your narrator did, but at least your novel showed me how it could feel if I did. I’m not very good with words (sorry about the handwriting too), so I made a drawing to better express how I feel about your amazing work.

Thank you again,

S. H.”

Steve had drawn Billy as the King, crown included, and had sent it to the author of Long live the King without knowing it was Billy. He felt delighted, freaked out and guilty all at once. He needed a minute, or an hour. Oh Lord, this was such a mess. He should have listened to Robin and told Steve the truth a long time ago.

And he couldn’t believe Steve was seeing him that way. He imagined Billy as the King! How was that possible? Steve was the King all along in Billy’s mind. Billy was nothing like that. He wasn’t brave and kind like Steve, and by extension the King in his novel, was.

Billy stared at the drawing, in a daze. He appeared so beautiful on the paper…

Steve had some better version of him that lived in his mind, and he thought this version was the real Billy. But Billy was a coward. He was lying to Steve because he was too weak to tell the truth, to face Steve, too afraid he would lose him.

Instead of putting the drawing back in the pile of letters he had received, Billy carefully folded it and put in the pocket of his hoodie to carry it around with him, in a streak of masochism or a bout of sentimentalism (or a mix of both).

That evening, when Steve had left the living-room for a bathroom break, Robin whispered:

“You went to Indianapolis today, right?”

“Yeah…”

“You got the drawing?”

“You knew?!” Billy whispered-yelled.

“Of course, I was the one to suggest he sent it when I saw it.”

“Right. I should have known.” Billy rolled his eyes.

“Sure, thank me later, whatever. My question is, why aren’t you two making out like crazy right now? You’re head over heels for Steve, and now you know that he’s head over heels for you too. So, why haven’t you done anything about it?” Robin asked with a frown.

“I just… you’ve seen the drawing, Robin. Steve sees me as far better than I actually am… and if I tell him I wrote Long live the King and lied to him all this time, he’ll realize his mistake, and I will lose him.”

“Oh, Billy.” Robin gave him a pitying look. “I don’t know how to make you see how wrong you are.”

Billy shushed her, as Steve came back into the room. Robin sighed but didn’t say anything else and Billy relaxed a little.

He would keep on ignoring the problem and lying to Steve despite the guilt crushing him. At least, Steve was still his friend. As long as he had him by his side, Billy could deal with the rest.

About a month later, on Friday night, Steve insisted that Robin and Billy go with him to a stupid party.

“Come on, I promised Dustin we’d go with him and the others!” Steve pleaded.

“But why in the world did you do that, Pretty boy?” Billy asked, not looking away from the tv screen, even though he wasn’t paying attention to what was happening on it.

He had a few ideas on how to spend his Friday night, and going to a high school party was not one of them. Plus, he had to go to his book signing tomorrow. He couldn’t use that as an excuse to decline, though, for obvious reasons.

“He wants to impress the new girl, the one hosting the party, so he said he’d bring his cool older friends. I couldn’t say no!” Steve explained.

“Pff, the kid is delusional.” Robin replied, “I’m obviously the only cool person out of the three of us.”

“You used to be a band geek.” Steve pointed out.

“Yet, I’m still cooler than you, dingus, I wonder what that says about you.”

Billy rolled his eyes. He wouldn’t even argue about that.

“Whatever you say. Does that mean you’ll come? Apparently, the girl has an older sister who’ll also be at the party with a bunch of her own friends, so it won’t even be that weird if we go. It might be fun.”

“Sure.” Robin shrugged, flipping the pages of a magazine.

“Billy?” Steve asked, turning to him with a hopeful smile. “If you come, you can keep an eye on Max.”

Steve had a point. But Billy would have agreed anyway, just because Steve had been the one asking.

“Okay, okay. But you’ll owe me.”

“Sure, whatever you want.” Steve beamed. And really, he shouldn’t go around saying things like that.

Billy had to close his eyes for a second.

At the party, Billy mostly kept to the couch, sipping on a cup of punch. He’d have made conversation with Robin, who was also on the couch, but she was having a conversation of her own with one of the older sisters’ cute friends. Billy didn’t want to cockblock her, or so to speak, so he stayed in his corner like a loser. Parties weren’t really his scene anymore. It wasn’t as fun now that he barely drank.

Steve had been dragged God knew where by Dustin, and Billy felt lonely. He regretted whishing Steve would be back when he did actually come back, though. Indeed, Steve only came to Billy to ask him to play truth or dare so he wouldn’t have to do it alone.

“Absolutely not, Steve. What are we? Children?”

“Come on, please… I’ll owe you a second favor. Pretty please.” Steve joined his hands together and gave Billy his infamous puppy dog eyes. This was so not fair.

“Ugh, I hate you.” Billy lied.

“Thank you!!”

Billy wished he could be impervious to Steve’s pleading, as Robin was. Steve hadn’t even tried to drag her into the dumb game, already knowing that was a lost battle. She was so lucky.

Billy followed Steve but didn’t pretend he was happy about it.

“Wow, Billy, nice of you to grace us with your sunny disposition.” Max said as Billy sat down next to Steve with a scowl on his face.

“Shut up, shitbird. And no funny business.” He warned.

“What are you insinuating?” Max gasped, faking offense like the drama-queen she was. “I would never!”

“Shut up you guys, let’s start the game.” Henderson said. And okay, rude much? He would have never disrespected Billy that way when he was still afraid of him. At least not to his face. Good old times.

There had already been about ten teenagers sitting in the circle before Billy and Steve had joined. The nerd squad minus Will and Mike was here, as well as the hostess of the party and a few other people Billy didn’t recognize and didn’t care to. He wanted to ask Steve why they were the only grown-ups (or well, semi grown-ups at least) in the circle, but he was pretty sure he knew the reason already. Henderson had most certainly roped Steve into playing as some kind of wingman duty or some shit (Billy would have bet his life on it). So, Steve was here because he couldn’t say no to the nerds (especially Henderson), and Billy was here because he couldn’t say no to Steve, which was rather unfortunate in situations like this one.

The bottle mercifully didn’t fall on Billy for the first six spins. When it did, he picked dare and was asked to do a handstand by El, bless her pure soul. The others grumbled slightly, finding the dare boring, but no one protested too hard. She was very cute but could also be quite scary, and most people knew not to cross her. Thankfully, Billy’s shirt was tucked in so it didn’t slide down and reveal his scars. He was comfortable enough to display them around Steve and Robin, but it stopped there.

Billy thought he would be safe for a while after that. However, his evil sister wouldn’t have it that way. As Sinclair spun and the bottle fell on Steve, who picked dare, Max whispered something in her boyfriend’s ear. Sinclair tried to protest, but Max glared at him and his protests instantly died. He then sheepishly dared Steve to kiss Billy. He had said “no funny business”. What was wrong with Max?

Steve, blushing beet red, turned to Billy.

“Is it… is this okay?”

Billy should say no, because kissing Steve would just make everything messier, which was saying something, and also because he didn’t imagine his first kiss with Steve happening in front of a group of teenagers, among which was his very own sister. Then again, he had thought his first kiss with Steve would stay in his imagination, so maybe it wasn’t so bad.

Who was he kidding? There was no way he was saying no, despite his better judgement. He wanted Steve too much for that.

“Sure.” He therefore said, with a nonchalance he didn’t possess.

Steve put both his hands in Billy’s hair and gently slotted their lips. He could have just pecked Billy’s lips awkwardly and called it a day, but no. Steve had to try to kill him with softness. Billy had to use all his restraint and then some so he wouldn’t deepen the kiss and ravish Steve’s mouth, lest he scar their audience for life. When Steve broke the kiss and let go of Billy’s head, they were both breathing a tad raggedly. They stared at each other, and Billy nearly lost himself in Steve’s big dark eyes, but he was brought back to earth by Henderson clearing his throat.

Billy really wanted to shoot him a threatening look, but Max did it for him. It made Billy a little bit less mad at her.

The game ended soon after that. Thank God. And Billy and Steve decided to go home. They looked for Robin. When they found her, she didn’t seem too keen on leaving.

“You can stay the night. I’m staying too. There’s plenty of room.” The girl she’d been talking with for hours said.

“That sounds great! You’ll be fine to go home on your own, boys?”

Robin was only teasing, but Billy considered answering no for a second. Being alone with Steve right now would be pure torture. Billy would combust with longing.

“Of course, see you tomorrow. Have fun.” Steve said.

“Thanks.”

Steve was their designated driver for the night, which was stupid because Billy had barely drunk anything, and now he didn’t have anything to do with his hands and the awkwardness was killing him. They hadn’t even argued over what station to put on the radio. The radio was turned off, for God’s sake. They were not in their right mind.

Billy ended up turning the radio on about halfway through the drive, just to have something to do. Abba was on, and Billy didn’t even switch stations. What was happening to him?

They stayed silent until they reached the flat, where they bid each other good night before retreating to their respective rooms.

Billy sighed with relief (and maybe with disappointment, too, if he was entirely honest). However, he shouldn’t have believed he was already out of the woods: the door of his room flew open a few seconds later, revealing Steve (of course, who else could it have been?).

Billy opened his mouth to ask him what was wrong, but he couldn’t get a word out before Steve’s lips were on his once again.

This time, Billy didn’t even think about resisting. He didn’t think, period. His brain was broken. Steve had broken it. His mouth still worked fine, though, and Billy kissed back eagerly.

They didn’t even take the time to get undressed before they tumbled onto Billy’s bed, momentarily breaking the kiss. Billy grinded his hips against Steve’s, making him moan and arch his back. Steve’s hands were back in his hair, lightly tugging on it. Steve reversed their position so he was on top and joined their lips again. He pulled harder on Billy’s hair, pulling a whine out of him in the process, and proceeded to devour his mouth.

Fuck, he really could kiss.

Billy didn’t last long the first time around (not that he had hoped he would). In fact, he came in his pants from the friction on his clothed hard-on, as if he were still a teenager. The thing was, Billy didn’t have much experience when it came to sex, contrary to what most people thought. He had given and received the odd hand job or blow job, but between Neil walking in on Billy and his first (and only) boyfriend, the move to Hawkins, the whole possession thing, the long recovery and falling in love with Steve, he hadn’t had many occasions to have sex. And he had wanted Steve for so long that something like this was bound to happen. It wasn’t Billy’s proudest moment, nonetheless, but he powered through the embarrassment and was quick to bring Steve to orgasm too, which reassured him a little.

Once the rush of desperation had passed, they slowed down considerably. Then, they were all soft touches, gentle hands and deep kisses. They fell asleep hours later, before dawn, sweaty and sated.

Billy had never felt so right. However, such blissful peace could not last.

When he woke up the following morning, Billy went through an emotional rollercoaster. First, he noticed that Steve wasn’t in bed with him anymore. Then, he found a post-it not on which Steve informed him he had left to get them breakfast. Billy smiled and instantly relaxed. It was only the first loop of the rollercoaster, though.

Indeed, when Billy looked for his clothes to get dressed, he couldn’t find his favorite hoodie. Steve must have borrowed it. After all, he loved nicking clothes from Billy.

Billy really didn’t mind. Seeing Steve in his clothes always warmed his heart.

But then, Billy remembered he had been wearing the said hoodie when he had received Steve’s drawing, and he also remembered putting the folded drawing in the front pocket. Oh Lord, no. He frantically searched for the pile of letters from the other day in his nightstand drawer, and Steve’s drawing was indeed not in the pile.

Billy all but ran out of his room. Maybe, if he found Steve quickly enough, he could prevent him from noticing the piece of paper.

He immediately knew it was too late when he stumbled in the living room. Steve was in one of the chairs, sitting ramrod straight with his arms crossed over his chest. On the coffee table in front of him, there were two paper cups, a bag of pastries from their favorite bakery, and, more importantly, the drawing.

Billy’s heartbeat went haywire. How was he going to make things right, now? He had been too much of a coward to talk to Steve, and now Steve had found out without him. It was a catastrophe.

Steve’s face showed no emotion, but his eyes were full of hurt.

“Steve…” Billy started before being immediately interrupted.

“How could you Billy? You knew how I felt all this time and you didn’t say anything. Don’t you care about me at all? Was last night just bullshit to you? And why the fuck did you sleep with me? Was it a pity fuck? Or did you think that I’d be an easy lay because I’m in love with you? What the fuck? I can’t believe you’d do something like that.”

Steve was asking him question after question but didn’t leave him an occasion to answer any of them. His voice was getting louder and louder, making Billy flinch. He wanted to cut in and explain himself, but his own voice failed him.

At the world bullshit, Billy winced, but still kept silent. When Steve said he was in love with him, Billy’s heart shattered. He had yearned to hear those words for years, but not like that. Never like that. He felt like crying, but for once the tears would not come.

Steve had gone from thinking too much of Billy to thinking too little. Billy had been hiding the truth from Steve, yes, but he would have never slept with him knowing how he felt if he didn’t love him too. Steve should know that. Billy would never be that cruel, and even less to him. How could Steve think even for a second that last night had only been about sex to Billy? Billy knew he lacked confidence ever since Nancy had broken his heart in high school, but surely he had to have felt the love their night had been filled with.

Steve, faced with Billy’s silence, got up to leave. Billy held him by the wrist and finally found his voice.

“Please, Steve, let me explain… I…”

“Save it.” Steve snapped, shaking Billy off before walking out the door and slamming it shut.

Billy had to sit on the floor, as his legs were on the verge of giving out. He had ruined everything.

He stared into nothing, his head filled with regrets and fears concerning what was to come. Had he lost Steve forever. Oh God. He had, hadn’t he?

The tears he needed to shed didn’t start flowing until Robin came home. She found him on the floor, sitting with his knees to his chest. As soon as she asked him if he was okay with concern etched upon her face, Billy started crying hard.

“Oh Billy, what is it? Where’s Steve?”

Billy tried to reply but he couldn’t speak through his sobs.

“Nothing happened to him, has it?” Robin asked.

“He… he… he hates me.” Billy managed to say in between heaving breaths.

“Billy, come on, he could never hate you.”

“He… he knows… I had the drawing...”

“So, he’s mad… but he doesn’t hate you. He’ll come around.”

Billy drowned in another wave of tears. Robin wouldn’t think that if she knew Steve and he had made love last night. Steve would never forgive him.

“I… I can go talk to him, if you want. Would that help?”

Billy nodded hesitantly. Maybe it would just make Robin hate him too, but she was probably his last chance to get Steve to hear him out, so he should give it a try.

“Are you going to be okay to go to Indianapolis on your own?”

Billy nodded again, rubbing his eyes with his fists. He wasn’t in a fit state to go to a book signing (in fact, he wasn’t in a fit state to do anything), but at least having something to do might take his mind off of his monumental fuck-up. He didn’t have much of a choice, anyway.

The book signing went as well as could be expected. Some people looked surprised to see a man, and some looked quite uncomfortable, but no one said anything outwardly rude to him, probably because Billy was a scary motherfucker without even having to try. He was intense, what could he do?

He tried to focus on the people he got to meet, and on what they were saying, but his mind couldn’t help but drift to Steve every couple of minutes. It was exhausting.

The event ended hours after it had been supposed to, which wasn’t surprising. It was always hard to estimate how long this kind of things lasted, considering the number of people participating could not be known beforehand. And Billy couldn’t possibly quit before everyone in the line had seen him. Some people had been waiting for several hours. He was not that much of a bastard.

As Billy was finally getting ready to leave, someone barged into the bookstore. When he heard the bell above the door jingle, Billy looked up and froze. It was Steve.

Had he come all this way to tell Billy he never wanted to see him again and that he should find another place to live? Wouldn’t he have waited for Billy to get back to the flat to let him know?

As Steve got closer, Billy noticed he was carrying a book. Was it… his book?

He stopped right in front of the table Billy was sitting at and placed the book on it.

“Hey”

“Hey…” Billy greeted him back tentatively.

Steve looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I… Could you sign it for me, please?”

“Really?” Billy asked.

He tried not to let his heart fill with hope, in case it was some kind of sick prank, but there was nothing to be done. The hope latched on too quickly to be stopped.

Steve nodded.

“I… I’m sorry for getting so mad this morning… Robin knocked some sense into me, and I realize I shouldn’t have yelled at you. And I should have listened to you… No matter how hurt I felt.”

Steve was apologizing? To Billy? That didn’t sound right.

“I… I should be the one apologizing, Steve. I should have told you the truth as soon as I got the drawing… I should have told you before that even… I just…”

“It’s okay… you don’t have to explain now. We can talk things through once we’re back home… we have time… Just, just tell me one thing.”

“Anything you want, Steve.” Billy assured him.

“Well… at first, I didn’t even think about what you having my drawing meant… beside the fact that you know how I feel now… Then it finally registered that it meant you were the author of Long live the King… and Robin suggested that the book made it clear that you… that you had romantic feelings, for me. Was she… maybe… possibly… right? Is it true?” Steve asked, his voice so low that Billy had to strain to hear him.

Billy signed the book and handed it back to Steve before saying anything.

Steve opened the book to read what Billy had just written: “For my king, my light, my love, my everything”.

“Yes, it is. It is true. I love you, Steve.” Billy finally replied.

Steve beamed, making Billy’s heart flip.

“I love you too.”

Billy could fully rejoice in hearing these words, this time around.

He still had some explaining to do. But he hadn’t lost Steve. Steve still loved him. And he now knew Billy loved him too. The rest could wait.

“Let’s go home, Pretty boy.”

Thanks for reading :)

#Harringrove #Billy Hargrove #Steve Harrington #fanfiction #fluff #a bit of angst #first kiss #first time (non explicit)#Read me like an open book part 2

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heythrrdelilah · 4 years

Text

In the Dark (Sam Winchester x Reader) Chapter 4

Warnings: Violence, fluff, food, mention of sex, tension

Word Count: 3,647

A/N: I’m sorry this took so long, I’ve been extremely busy and let this fic slip past me. I hope this chapter makes up for it. I am always open to suggestions on how to improve or ideas for the future, just send them in the ask and for which fic! I do throw in some stuff for Dean lovers here and there too.

Chapter 3 can be found here

Chapter 4

“Wow,” You gloomily replied, “I’m sorry to hear about your parents. I could never imagine watching your brother go through all of that or even what you have been through, all these years.” He half smiled in response, “It’s not so bad. You learn to appreciate the things going right for you.” His words were wise. You often lived by that statement, coming from a bad background yourself. You nod and move to look out to the balcony. The view from your room wasn’t great but it was still breathtaking. You opened the glass sliding door and peered out at the mountains. The night sky met the snowy peaks, along with lights from the skii lodge. It looked like a scene from a movie.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” You finally speak with a sigh. You felt a fabric being placed gently over your shoulders. You looked down to see Sam had placed your jacket around you. He seemed too sweet for this line of work. Hunters normally have a cold breeze in their gaze, a glimmer of loss. Sams stare felt warm. So warm, in fact, that you weren’t able to feel the brisk winter night outside just by looking at him. Your statement seemed to take him by surprise in the silence, "uh-oh… the view. Yeah.“ He looked out to the mountains, then back at you. "I’m really sorry about Dean,” He spoke placing an arm against the opening of the door. You shook your head, “Sam, you’re not responsible for his behavior. He’s actually acting pretty normal for a hunter. I mean, come on, I’m solo. Even if he weren’t acting like every other big headed hunter who thinks he’s responsible to be the world’s savior, I presume, it’s not on you. Shake the weight off.” You nudge his side, laughing and shaking your arms. He looked down at you and chuckled. “You’re cute, ” He spat out without hesitation. Your eyes widened for a moment before you looked back to the mountains, “Not so bad yourself Winchester."

The next moment happened so quickly, that you weren’t even fully conscious of the situation as it was happening. Sam’s lips were soft to pair with the lingering flavor of a vanilla latte. It felt as if the pair of lips against yours, fit like a puzzle piece. However, after a few short, too short, seconds, Sam’s lips were pulled away, but the ghost touch had lasted a few seconds more. The look in his eyes were apologetic. "I’m sorry. You seem like a careful person and I didn’t mean to break a boundary. I usually don’t do… that. We just met. I’m-” You cut off his rambling with a tug on his shirt. Him being taller than you, you had to have him lean down and what better way than to pull his shirt? You placed a gentle peck on his cheek, closed the sliding glass door, and turned the TV on in the room.

“No worries. I don’t normally kiss back. Guess you have an effect on me, ” Did you admit that out loud? What had gotten into you? Too late now, you thought to yourself, might as well embrace it. He chuckled, sitting on your bed, "yeah… I would have to say the same.“ You flipped through the TV, trying to ignore any awkward silence. Nothing was on. Hunters come and go. Always on the move. Even if you did act on your sudden liking to Sam, he would be gone after this job. You have heard of the infamous Winchester brothers before, any hunter who hadn’t would be lying. They have saved the world several times and are humble about doing so. For you to be on a case with the Winchesters was intimidating, but it was only for a short time. You had to remember that before allowing this crush to form into something deeper. “Y/N, I think I’m going to go back to my room. Meet downstairs for some coffee in the morning?” Sam asked, pushing himself off of your bed and making his way to the door. You nod once, then return back to flipping through channels. It must have been late, because of the fact that only one channel was not running infomercials, but it was Gilmore Girl Reruns.

Just as the episode was halfway through, a knock came on your hotel door. You walked over and opened to a nervous Sam. "So, Dean found company and locked me out of our room,” He was scratching his neck, chuckling nervously. You stepped to the side, allowing him an entry and closed the door behind the both of you. "You can have the bed, just give me a pillow and the comforter, “ You reached for the pillow and placed it on the floor. He shook his head, "no. That’s not very gentlemanly of me. I’ll take the floor.” You flicked your brow at him, "I offered. So take the bed,“ You demanded. He raised his hands up in defeat. "Can we change the show though? I don’t really care for the Gilmore clan,” He reached for the remote but you snatched it off of the bed first.

You looked between the tv and him. This is the episode Dean and Rory are fighting over the fact Dean likes the idea of a house wife. You saw a shocking resemblance between Sam and this Dean character. You paused the cable TV. “Sam, is it because you kind of look like the Dean character?” You teased making a fake pout. He shook his head, rolling his eyes, "no I don’t now give me that.“ He reached for the remote but you pulled it away quickly, pointing at the screen. "Yeah I think you’re right, Dean character is cuter, ” You teased, smiling with raised eyebrows. He reached for the remote and you turned to have your back facing him. He reached around you, his muscular arms almost wrapped completely around your torso, which meant he was leaning over. He grabbed the remote from your grip but wrapped his arms around you anyways.

As quickly as they were placed there, they were removed, though you wish they weren’t. “Uh, I’m going to shower. Change the channel. I’ll even pay for something On Demand,” You quickly moved to your bags and pulled out your makeup baf that held your face wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, and makeup. Then you pulled out your fuzzy pajama pants and oversized T-shirt. You rushed to the bathroom and locked the door. You leaned your back against the door and starred up to the ceiling, remembering the warm embrace that was just upon you.

Your stomach fluttered and you attempted to physically shake that feeling off. Sam made you nervous, which meant you were vulnerable. To a complete stranger. He was nice, intelligent so far, and extremely attractive. However, yes, he was a stranger. A stranger who you let sleep in your room. You weren’t sure if it was from the anger at yourself or intrusively inappropriate thoughts that came along with Sam, but you were heating up and needed to jump in the shower to cool off.

Unlike most women, you showered rather quickly. The washing your face time part took the longest, as you had a 7 step skincare routine. You cleaned up after yourself, but left your skin care and make up bag in the bathroom, before exiting. Sam was lounged on the bed watching Gilmore Girls, smart phone in hand. You gave him permission to shower and lay down on the floor, snuggled into the blankets. After the long drive today, you fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, you woke up on the bed, the sun shining bright in the room around you. You leaned across the bed and looked to the floor. Sam was passed out with only a pillow and his jacket as a blanket. You hopped out of bed and began your morning routine, quickly getting ready and changing into your pencil skirt and blazer. When you walked out of the bathroom, Sam had been standing by the balcony, stretching his long limbs. “Good morning. Why did you move me? Touching people in their sleep is kind of creepy, you know that right?” You walked over to your suitcase. He furrowed his brows, tilted his head like a puppy before understanding what you had meant. “I picked you up. You looked uncomfortable. Coffee?” He asked, placing his phone in his pocket. You nod, grabbing your phone, fake badge, and notepad placing them into your purse.

When the two of you reached the lobby cafe, you were engrossed in conversation about a previous demon hunt you experienced and hadn’t even noticed you were next in line. Talking to Sam was simply, that easy.

You ordered your black coffee and found a table in the corner of the room, Sam close behind you with a box of pastries. You pulled your phone out and scrolled, finding the names of the potential pack members. “Sammy, where did you crash last night? Impala?” Dean pats Sam’s back and sits in the chair next to Sam. He had a coffee in his hand. “Good morning, no. (Y/N) let me take the floor, ” Sam explained, opening the pastry box. “I didn’t know what you like so I got one of everything. Muffins, don-” His display was cut off by Dean snatching a donut out of the box, chuckling loudly. He took a violent bite out of the lemon blazed donut and looked between the both of you, laughing now. “What?” Sam asked, picking up a banana nut muffin. Dean laughed the entire donut away, grabbed a chocolate cake donut, and finally explained, "I didn’t know Kim Possible here was the type. Atta boy Sam.“ Your brows raised in an instant. You most definitely were not the type he was referring to. "Not like that. She wanted the floor,” Sam interjected, pushing the pastry box towards you. You shook your head at the both of them, "I’m going to interview the staff. Before I do so, any insight from night crew, Dean? Other than your ..er..babysitter?“ He smirked for a moment and retorted, "she say alright. Just not on a baby.” You stood up from the table as Sam let out a “gross,” Between muffin bites.

“No. The chef at the rooftop resturaunt was mysteriously off of work a little early the night of the attack, though. Bet you didnt see that on the schedule? Someone punched out for him. Think you’re miss all that, still?” He smirked, seemingly proud of himself. You rolled your eyes, placed the glass mug on the return to kitchen rack, and made your way to the rooftop resturaunt.

The dining room was elegantly designed, their awards tucked nearly in glass cases all around the round tables. A chandelier hanging from the middle of the room, dim lighting even at this early time. You flashed your badge at the hostess and demanded to see the chef. You must have spoken a bit too loud however, because you heard a scream come from the kitchen. You ran back, grabbing a silver knife from a table along the way. The hostess stumbled behind you. You turned to the scared brunette and told her that the only way she could help is to get your partners from the cafe downstairs.

There was no time to wait for the Winchesters, you burst into the kitchen and saw the chef leaning over a bloody body. The sous chef. The man was large, muscular, and wearing a white chef coat. When he spotted you, the anger in his eyes penetrated your soul. It was game on. He lunged toward you, pressing you against the wall. The force knocked the wind out of you, but you held tight to the knife, ready to swing, but the wolf man behind him had other plans. You noticed it was the man you told Sam about last night. He was coming after you, you were cornered. The door burst open once more and the two men that now appeared, was a blessing. How they had gone to their car, gotten their weapons, and made there way up here this quick was shocking.

With a loud bang, the employee was down. You used your free leg, grunting and using all your strength, to kick the chef in the groin. When he bent down you jammed the silver knife into his temporalis muscle, right through the skull. He landed with q loud crash. The Winchester brothers stood back impressed with how quickly you managed to kill this beast. You shrugged, wiping yourself off of dust and straightened your skirt. “Thanks for the help boys, ” You began grabbing the body by the wrists. The worst part about this job was the clean up, well other than the telling families and seeing death parts.

After the clean up, you and the Winchesters were in the back alley of the resort, leaned up against their Impala. “So, you men off to save the world again or do you have time for another coffee? I owe you one for saving me and I booked two nights because I didnt know how long it would take us,” You asked, pushing yourself off of the car. The guys nodded and followed you back into the cafe, where you ordered a coffee once more.

"You should eat something,“ Sam motioned towards the box of pastries he bought again. You shook your head and sipped your coffee, ” Thanks but I’m good.“ Dean grunted, rolling his eyes and grabbed the pumpkin spice donut from the box. "So where are you off too? Im sure you Winchester guys have bigger fish to fry,” You sipped your coffee and watched as Sam placed a Nutella croissant on a napkin and place it in front of you. You left it in its place. “Well, we do normally. But we kind of saved the world for good now. So we are back to tiny hunter to keep us sane,” Dean explained, grabbing a canole from the box. Dean seemed to finally be warming up to you.

“So maybe we will catch you again on another hunt, ” Sam smiled warmly at the idea before biting into a blueberry lemon ginger muffin. Dean rolled his eyes, “bro if you like her, I’m okay with, ” He was attempting to keep his voice low about it and failing. Sam began fidgeting with the muffin, blushing nervously, hoping you couldn’t hear his brother. Dean began, "we can ask her if she wants to… Join the team for a bit.“ You couldn’t pretend you didn’t hear this any longer. Letting out a giggle and feeling your face burn red, you responded, "I wouldn’t want to intrude. I’m also, a loner kind of girl.” Sam quickly interjected, "no. I mean you wouldn’t be intruding. Do you have a permanent home? Where do you go if you can’t find cases? Blow your money on motels?“

He created a good argument, "not exactly… my money. No, I don’t have a permanent home and if there are no cases, motel vacancies, or money, I sleep in my car. Old yeller and I ride well.” Sam shook his head in response, he was chuckling so it definitely was not judgement.

“We have a bunker. A home. We have plenty of rooms and it’s hidden,” Dean grunted showing that he was annoyed by the idea. You felt pretty overwhelmed and you had just met these guys. However, they did save your life and if they were going to harm you they would have done it already.

After a long moment of silence, you agreed to join them only after you got your money’s worth of the room tonight. “When’s the last time you boys had some innocent fun? Not bars or women?” The two men looked at each other dumbfounded and shrugged at you. You motioned for them to follow you as you stood up from the table. Sam gripped your wrist and pointed at the croissant, “eat this and we have a deal.” You began to argue but he furrowed a brow to show how serious he was.

You sat down at the table with a slight hint of attitude. You picked up the croissant and let the flavors of hazelnut and chocolate explode in your mouth. The buttery flakes of the croissant were the perfect mixture of flaky and doughy along with the chocolate-hazelnut ratio, this was a perfect croissant. After you finished, you felt extremely full, but finished your coffee before standing up and ordering a to-go cup of coffee.

“You are going to have a stomach issue if you don’t eat and only drink coffee. Take care of yourself so you don’t get medical bills in the future, ” Sam spoke concerned as you made your way to the front desk of the hotel. You flashed your badge to the clerk and leaned onto the counter, acting exhausted, "my partners and I have caught the perp, we were thinking about taking a break, but saw the skiing guests and thought… “ You left a pause for the dark haired scrawny male behind the counter. Falling right into your trap, "let me see if we have three spots for full equipment rentals.” You turned to the shocked Winchesters and flicked a brow with a smirk as if bragging. the clerk frowned, “I see that we don’t have any slope spots open today, but we do have three full access spa spots, let me see your badge or IDs and I’ll have them set up, free of charge.” You smirked to the men as you all three placed your IDs on the counter.

“Maybe I can get used to a chick riding along with us,” Dean laughed, biting into a bagel from the box he was carrying around. “What? You’re excited about the spa? Isn’t it too… girly for a man of your taste?” You flicked a brow and walked over to the stairs. "Well, as long as you stick with us, you’ll know Dean likes to take care of himself,“ Sam laughed, pulling you to the elevator.

The three of you separated into the two rooms and you changed into jeans, a pink hoodie, and sneakers. You then met the guys at the spa in time for your appointment. Sam and Dean were already in robes and slippers, being entered into the hot tub room. After you checked in they entered you into a changing room with a private locker. You stripped into a robe and slippers then moved into the private hot tub waiting room.

You dipped your feet into the not-too-hot tub and thought about today’s events. You had just agreed to join two male hunters in their private bunker. In any other context, it would sound like your life was a true crime podcast. The fact you had a crush on Sam, only made it worse. The night before, you had counted on never seeing the Winchesters again to solve your feelings issue. That had no longer been the case since you agreed to stay with them. You either had to lose feelings or act on them. Despite what Dean had said, the kiss last night, you didn’t know for sure if Sam liked you. It was implied, but uncertain. Your last relationship was your only one and you had only dated him because you didn’t want to reject him in front of his frat buddies. Curse your kind soul.

Now that you actually had feelings for Sam, you didn’t know how to act. You looked to the roof and begged for a sign on what you do so that you could get this uncomfortable feeling out of the way.

Just then a knock came on the door before a female spa assistant came in to assist you. "Your boyfriend requested for you to join him and his brother for the massage and facial, is that okay?” You nearly chocked on your own spit at the use of the word “boyfriend” When referring to one of the Winchesters. Was that your sign? Whatever, you thought to yourself, you’ll take it as one. You began to get out of the hot tub and follow the assistant into the dim lit room where Sam and Dean were face down already receiving their massage. You lay down, place the towel over your bottom half, and had the assistant help remove the robe. You turned your face to Sam, "tell me why she called me your girlfriend?“ You laughed, attempting to make a joke out of it.

Sure, you could have gone the rest of your life without mentioning it, but with the sign, you wanted to see his reaction. To confirm how he felt. He turned his face to you and half smiled. He looked deep into your eyes, his beautiful eyes were deeply searching your expression. He didn’t say anything at first, which made you anxious at first. Did he think it was awkward? Dean had headphones in that you could hear Metallica playing from across the room. It was an interesting choice of music for a relaxing massage. The point was, he wouldn’t be able to hear a response and make fun of Sam, so he had no excuse to worry about him. Other than Dean’s headphones and awkward sex-like grunts when the masseuse worked on him, the room was pretty silent.

You felt nervous and could hear your own heart racing as Sam stared into your eyes for what felt like an eternity. This kind of stuff only happens in the movies as far as you were aware. However, as if his stares weren’t enough, he answered your question with a soft but charming smile, "is that so bad?”

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