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mountttmase · 1 year

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Lost And Found

Note - thank you so much for the love on my last fic 🩷 this one you’re about to read is one of the very first ideas I had for a fic so it’s a little bit like my baby but I’m giving her wings and letting her fly 😂 I really hope you enjoy it 💙

Pairing - Mason Mount x Reader

Word count - 6.8k

Warnings - angst and fluff

‘Oh come on please don’t do this’ you spoke into the air, rummaging around in your bag for your keys on your front door step. They had somehow grown legs and gone for a walk and the rain that was starting to pour from the night sky was not making the situation any easier.

You reached for you phone to turn the torch on so you could see in your bag better but the light only lasted a few seconds before disappearing. You turned your phone over to investigate and when nothing happed your realised the battery had finally died after a long days use. You let out a big sigh before sitting back on the step, your head falling into your hands.

‘Right come on, just take a second and think’ you told yourself out loud, hoping you could talk yourself into magically finding them and after a few deep breaths you stood back up, patting yourself down to make sure they weren’t in any of your pockets or attached to you in any way. Once you’d ruled that out you moved back to your bag, checking every pocket and practically emptying the whole contents out onto the floor but your keys were still nowhere to be seen.

As you packed everything back into your bag you tried to think back to this morning when you left for work in a rush if you’d picked your keys up but as this was something you did everyday, you couldn’t decipher whether it happened this morning or if it was a weird mix of every morning.

So you sat there in the dark, soggy from the rain with no phone and no clue as to what you would do next. Too late to try and what with your upstairs neighbour being away, no way of getting into your house.

A car came round the corner before you saw the lights wash over you, it’s noises engine startling you but they were gone as quickly as they came, carrying on down the street until it pulled in and parked up a few spaces up from your front door.

You contemplated asking for help but we’re unsure as what to say and felt a bit stupid so you didn’t move, keeping you head in your hands and thinking over how long it would take to walk to your parents house who lived two towns over.

You were so lost in your misery you didn’t hear the person get out of their car and walk towards you, or stop just a few feet from you.

‘Y/n?’

Your eyes snapped up to meet the face that the voice came from. Not that you need to look, you’d know that voice anywhere.

Mason Mount.

You’d met Mason four months ago when you first started working at Chelsea. Your main role was just to look after the boys and make sure they were where they needed to be so you’d become close with all of them pretty much straight away.

You’d clicked with Mason from the start, his cheeky sense of humour won you over instantly and you always felt good around him, seeking out his company whenever you could. You obviously found him attractive but tried not to make it too obvious as you knew it was inappropriate and thought he’d probably never feel the same way. It was hard not to fall for him though. In spite of this, you quickly became joined at the hip and when he invited you round to his for a movie night with some of the other boys and some other members of staff, you were quick to say yes.

You ended up sandwiched between Mason and the arm of the sofa and when his hand found yours in the dark your heart gave a squeeze, thanking your lucky starts he couldn’t see the blush covering your cheeks. You carefully rested your head against his shoulder, testing the waters even though he’d already made the first move, and when he placed his head on top of yours and leaned into you further you thought you might burst.

When Mason suggested the next movie night a week later, this time with the promise of dinner beforehand, you jumped at the chance. However when you arrived you appeared to be the first person there and when he led you to his dining table with only two places set, everything seemed to click into place.

‘No one else is coming are they?’ You asked him quietly as he took his seat opposite you.

‘Uh no’ he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck like he always did when he was nervous. ‘I kinda just wanted it to be the two of us tonight. Is that alright?’ He asked, finally looking you in the eyes.

All you could do was nod in response and he let out a breath that he looked like he’d been holding for a while at your gesture. Dinner went smoothly and after he’d chucked everything in the dishwasher, he followed you up to his cinema room, where he’d let you pick out a film of your choice. You were just getting yourself comfy for it to start when you felt his arm snake around your shoulders and you felt all the blood in your body rush to your face.

You looked up to find him already looking at you before his whispered ‘is this okay?’ To which you just nodded again cuddling yourself into him further. It was nuts how nervous he made you and also how nervous you seemed to make him, that was until Logan was telling Beth that she should be kissed every day, every hour and every minute that he turned your face towards his by your chin and gently kissed you.

It took a few seconds for you brain to connect with your mouth and start kissing him back, but once you had you wondered why you hadn’t kissed sooner. His lips felt like magic and a tingling feeling erupted all over your body making you press yourself into him more and deepen the kiss. You both pulled away breathless, holding onto each other as if the other might disappear, but as soon as you saw him smile you couldn’t help but smile back.

You both talked all night about how you felt towards each other, Mason confirming he’d had a crush on you from the second he saw you, but both agreeing to keep things under wraps for now. You both kept it professional at work, stealing a cheeky kiss here and there but no one else figured out what was going on between you.

Your feelings only grew for each other and it was hurting you both knowing you couldn’t be open with anyone. But the fear of anyone finding out was much stronger and was only confirmed when a member of your team and one of the physio boys were let go due to their secret relationship being exposed. It had been a month and a half since yours and masons first kiss and whilst you’d gone a lot further than just a kiss now, you were staring to wonder if you were willing to put both your jobs on the line for your feelings. In the end you took it upon yourself to nip the relationship in the bud before it went any further, in your mind saving you both from heartache down the line.

You knew you loved mason, even though you’d never uttered the words to him and it was one of the hardest conversations you’d ever had, but in your mind it seemed like the correct decision. Mason didn’t see it this way, being absolutely furious with you for even suggesting it but when he realised there was no changing your mind, all he could do was agree in hopes that one day you’d realise it was a mistake.

It was hard but you tried to only speak to him if it was necessary, never getting used to that sinking feeling you got when he looked at you with his big sad eyes. Anyone could tell he was heartbroken just by looking at him and soon enough he gave up trying to reason with you all together. You both didn’t speak from then on, keeping out of each others way only giving each other a small smile as you passed each other in the halls.

As much as you thought you were doing the right thing, it seemed as though a tiny bit of your defence was chipping away each time you saw him, so when he suggested to you that he’d like it if you could go back to being friends, you told him no, trying to be as cold as possible and push him away. You knew he would never stop trying with you and you knew it wouldn’t take much for you to break so you avoided him at all costs, meaning him being stood in front of you right now was a bad thing.

A very bad thing.

‘Mason? What are you doing here?’ You questioned, stumbling to your feet thinking it might make you look less pathetic, but the fact you were drenched and shivering did you no favours.

‘I’m just on my way home from Chilly’s house and I thought I saw you. Why are you out here?’

You gulped, hugging yourself as if to protect yourself from him before you spoke. ‘I uh, I can’t find my keys and my phones died so I’m locked out’ you admitted even though you knew it was a bad idea to let him know but you didn’t have enough time to think of a lie.

‘Oh’ he breathed, looking you up and down. You felt hot under his stare and you dropped your head to the floor. ‘Have you been out here long?’

‘No, I stayed late today so I only got back about 15 minutes ago’ you said picking up your bag, making it look like you were about to leave.

‘Where are you going?’

‘I’m gonna walk to my parents house’ you said quietly, walking towards him to step around him, but he blocked your path.

He looked at you with wide eyes before shaking his head. ‘No way, that’s like a two hour walk and it’s late enough already’ you looked up at him in shock that he’d remembered where your parents lived, having only mentioned it once or twice before. ‘Look, why don’t you come back to mine?’

‘No Mason, that’s not a good idea’

‘Why not?’ He questioned, having to block you in as you tried to get round him again. ‘I live way closer, you can at least charge your phone or stay in my guest room tonight and we can figure out what to do in the morning. Come on y/n you’re soaked, just let me take you home. Stop being so stubborn all the time’

‘I’m not being stubborn’ you argued back and he just gave you a look like he didn’t believe you. The thought of being at his was more appealing than traipsing all the way to your parents so with one final huff you looked at him. ‘Fine, I’ll come with you. But I’m not staying.’

He didn’t say anything else, just moved to the side slightly and waited for you to pass by him and walk towards the car so he could follow you. Once you were in and settled, you turned to look at him quickly, guilt already settling in your tummy about how you’d just spoken to him. He was only trying to help you and you’d been rude, but you still weren’t sure what to say to him so you sat in silence the whole way.

Once you pulled up to his house, he ushered you in to his kitchen and you began to peel off you damp hoody when he walked in.

‘I take it you haven’t eaten yet?’ He questioned and you shook your head. ‘Why don’t you go jump in the shower and I’ll make us something. Leave your phone here and I’ll charge it’

You were about to protest but the sound of your tummy grumbling spoke for you and you huffed in defeat.

‘Okay’

‘I’ll leave you some clean clothes outside the bathroom door, if you leave the stuff you’ve got on now outside I’ll get it dry for you’

You blamed the fact it had been a long and stressful day for the reason that you could feel your eyes beginning to water, how could be be so sweet to you after the way youve treated him for the past month? not wanting your voice to betray you, you swiftly left the room and ran up his stairs to shut yourself away in the bathroom.

You left your wet clothes outside the door and only once you were under the hot water did you allow yourself to cry. It was so hard being around him and trying to be strong after a day from hell. All you wanted to to wrap yourself up in him but you knew that could never happen.

You spent a little while longer than you should in there, making use of the fancy toiletries he had out for guests that hadn’t been touched and once you’d rinsed out your hair, you turned the water off and wrapped yourself up in a warm towel.

True to his word, he’d left you some clean clothes of his outside the door, his grey joggers and T-shirt were a bit big for you but you were just happy to be warm and dry, even if the smell of his clothes made the feeling in your tummy even worse. With your hair still wrapped up in a towel, you made your way back downstairs to the kitchen and you spotted the way his eyes lit up as he saw you before giving you a soft smile.

‘Food will be ready in a sec, why don’t you go find us something to watch’ he said softly, nodding his head over to the sofa. You sat yourself down and flicked through the channels before settling on watching re runs of how I met your mother and just as you put the remote down, Mason appeared and handed you a bowl with your favourite pasta dish inside. You sent him an appreciative smile and mumbled a quiet thank you to which he gave you a little nod before sitting down next to you with his own portion, leaving enough room between the two of you so you didn’t feel uncomfortable.

You ate in silence while watching the tv, both laughing at the same parts you found funny and you felt yourself relax around him as time went on. Once he was finished eating he set his bowl on the coffee table and you stacked yours on top before picking them up to take them to the kitchen.

‘Leave those y/n, come back here’ he said, patting the spot you were just in and it felt so much like old times it made your heart hurt. You returned back to the sofa after setting them on the side, back to your spot just next to him and carried on watching tv in silence for another hour or so. You felt him look at you every so often but you kept your eyes straight ahead until you heard him let out a yawn.

‘Listen, it’s late yeah? Just stay here tonight?’

You hadn’t realised how much time had passed since you felt so relaxed being around him, not even thinking about the fact you said you didn’t want to stay here tonight. Be he was right, and you didn’t want to put him out anymore by making him drive you to your parents house.

‘I need to go dry my hair and then i should probably get some sleep’ you told him. And he nodded, standing up and moving into the kitchen to clear the plates, looking away from you so he could hide his smile.

‘The hair dryer is in the usual place’ he said quietly and turned his back on you to put the dishes in the dishwasher.

‘Mason?’ You questioned and he looked back at you with a raised eyebrow, encouraging you to carry on. ‘Thank you’ you told him sincerely, his eyes now downcast as he hadn’t seen this side of you in a while. ‘I mean it, I really appreciate you letting me stay here’

‘You know I’d do anything for you, y/n’ he said quietly, and the intense eye contact he was now giving you made you look away. ‘Have a good sleep, yeah? You know where I am if you need anything’ he spoke again, trying to diffuse the tension now in the room, and you nodded whilst saying a quick goodnight before escaping upstairs.

You took the hair dryer from the bathroom into his guest room and finished off your hair in there, but you could hear the shower running when you were done so you left it on the side before stripping yourself of Masons joggers and getting into bed. You knew this room existed but you’d never slept in here, always staying in masons room and it felt weird knowing you were in his house whilst he was asleep across the hall.

You were so unbelievably tired but sleep just wasn’t coming to you tonight it seemed. All you could think about was Mason across the hall, wondering is he was awake too and overthinking everything just like you were or if he was sound asleep, those cute soft snores you used to love coming from him. Memories of all the nights you spent here with him tangled in bed and lazy mornings spent with each other before making breakfast together wouldn’t leave your brain no matter how hard you tried to think of something else.

You were tossing and turning for half an hour, getting more and more annoyed with yourself and when you felt the first few tears of frustration fall you sat up in a huff, rubbing at your eyes furiously.

You got out of bed and quietly tiptoed over to Masons door, pressing your ear up against it gently to see if you could hear anything, but it was silent. You stood back a step, feeling a bit stupid with yourself for even being out there. What were you expecting? To knock on his door and for him to welcome you in with open arms after the way you’d treated him? Why were you even seeking out his comfort in the first place? You were trying put as much space in between you as possible yet here you were, half dressed and vulnerable outside his bedroom door, the only thing on you mind being his arms around you.

You were just about to turn and head back to your room when his bedroom door opened making your heart thud heavily in your chest.

He clutched his chest and let out a breath, clearly shocked to see you there and his wide eyes held you in your spot. You felt absolutely ridiculous, both stood there half naked and frightened in the dark.

‘Y/n? Are you alright? How long have you been stood there for?’ He asked, taking a tentative step towards you. You tried not to let you eyes dance over all the skin he had on show, being stood in just his boxers, but it was difficult. ‘Y/n?’ He spoke gently again and your eyes snapped up to his.

‘Sorry, I just um…’ you tried to talk but you couldn’t think of anything that sounded good. You started to turn back to his guest room but his hand around your wrist stopped you, tears filling your eyes instantly as his skin touched yours.

‘Hey, come on, talk to me’ his voice was soothing and seemed to be pulling the words from your throat.

‘It’s nothing, I just can’t sleep. I don’t know what I was expecting you to do’ you said with a slight laugh but he could hear the sadness in your voice. Truth be told he couldn’t sleep that well either, the thought of you across the house in another room was playing on his mind so without a thought he pulled your arm and guided you into his room.

‘I was just running to get a drink. Go get comfy and I’ll be back in a sec yeah?’

‘No, Mason it’s fine-‘

‘Just get in’ he said a bit more sternly before letting go and slipping out of his room. You stood there for a few seconds, debating returning to his guest room but the need to be near him outweighed everything else and you found yourself padding over to the unused side of his bed and getting under the covers. You were unsure of what way to lay, settling on your back so you didn’t come across as rude facing away from him. He returned a few moments later, a glass of water for himself and also one for you. Sitting up as he passed it to you it, taking a few big gulps before setting it down on the bedside table before Mason had slotted himself in next to you and you laid back down.

‘Sorry about all this, I bet you’re regretting letting me stay’ you said with a laugh, hoping to make things a bit more normal but he just shook his head.

‘Don’t be silly, I couldn’t really sleep anyway so it’s fine. Just try and relax yeah? You’ll feel a lot better in the morning I promise.’

You nodded and stayed on your back, turning to glance at him quickly before you shut your eyes. You felt better than you had in the other room but twenty minutes later you were still awake with no signs of sleeping soon. You had so much you wanted to say to Mason, your mind reeling as you tried to relax focus on his breathing. You knew he wasn’t fully asleep yet too and you risked looking at him, opening one eye to see him in the same position, a peaceful look on his face.

‘Y/n, I can hear the cogs turning in your head’ you suddenly heard, opening your eyes to find him looking at you in the dark. ‘Talk to me, what’s wrong?’

‘It’s nothing’ you murmured, moving so you could turn to face away from him and he let you go but shuffled up a bit closer to you, smiling when you didn’t try and push him away.

‘It’s obviously something so just tell me, I don’t wanna hear you keep saying it’s nothing’ he breathed from behind you. You went back in forth in your head about telling him what was happening but you knew he wouldn’t drop it, plus the emotion and exhaustion took over you, making you spill your guts in hopes of getting some sleep afterwards.

‘I’m just really sorry’ you murmured, tears already forming in your eyes again. ‘You’ve been so nice to me and I’ve been awful to you’ you sobbed and you felt him come even closer, his chest now pressed against your back as his arm wrapped around you.

‘Hey, wheres all this coming from’ he said with a slight laugh, not that he found you crying amusing, you knew he was just trying to lighten the mood and a little shocked at your outburst. You couldn’t respond, only crying harder and he pulled away from you slightly, laying back and tugging on your waist, encouraging you to roll over. ‘Come here’ he whispered and you allowed yourself to be moved before he bought you into his chest, his arms circling you and your face burring itself in his neck. His lips were right by your ear, gently shushing you as he rubbed soothingly up and down your back ‘come on love, please don’t cry’ he murmured.

As much as he wanted you not to cry, you couldn’t seem to stop. It felt so good being back in his hold, fitting back together like you’d never been apart. And even though he hated seeing you sad, he let you get everything out, and once he could hear your sobs stop and your breathing calm he pulled his head back to look at you, wiping the tears from your cheeks with his thumb. You still couldn’t look at him, words still swirling around in you head and laying heavy on your chest. You looked up at him, your glazed eyes meeting his sad ones, ready to let him know how you were feeling.

‘I hate this. I hate pretending that I’m not completely in love with you when I know I am’ you spoke quietly. His eyes grew at your confession, suddenly reminding yourself that you had never said those words to each other and your face grew hot but you willed yourself to keep taking, your eyes now averted down to look at his chest. ‘I thought I was trying to protect myself, the both of us, ending things so that I wasn’t in too deep if we had to break things off. What happened at work really scared me and I didn’t want either of us getting in trouble but I’ve felt awful ever since. I’ve tried being distant so you’d hate me and it would make things easier but it’s been really hard’ you offered him a half smile and he gave you a little nod of agreement. ‘I’ve treated you so bad and I’m so so sorry, Mase. I miss you like crazy and you’re right I’ve been so stubborn but it hurt being around you when I couldn’t have you how I wanted. I thought I was doing what’s best for us but I’ve been so unhappy. I’ve put all these bloody walls up to try and keep you out cause I knew as soon as I got near you even for a minute you’d tear them all back down’ you whispered and you felt his hand on your face again, forcing you to look at him, a slight smile on his lips at the use of his nickname. ‘Now look what you’ve done, I’m all exposed again’ you chuckled.

‘You were trying to protect me, you don’t need to apologise for that’ he smiled, his eyes running over your face, now a bit more serious. ‘But im not gonna pretend like it didn’t hurt like hell, it’s not been easy for me seeing you every day and have you be so distant’ he admitted and you tried to look away from him now, finding it all a bit overwhelming, you knew you’d hurt him deep down but hearing him admit it was a whole different thing. His strong grip kept you in place, his face looking much softer now. ‘But I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat if it meant I got to have you again, even for a little while’ he reassured you, and you felt your eyes well up before he continued. ‘That’s what you do for the people you love’ he whispered and your eyes snapped up to meet his, a tiny smirk playing on his lips.

‘You mean…’

‘I love you, y/n y/l/n’ he whispered and you couldn’t help the chuckle that fell from you, a few tears escaping as your face scrunched up in joy.

‘Really?’ You laughed and he laughed with you, happy to now see you smiling.

‘I promise’

‘Even after everything?’

‘I never stopped’ he murmured, rolling you over slightly so you were now on your back and he could hover over you. You looked up at him, so thankful to be back in his arms and relieved to find he was so forgiving after everything that had happened

‘I love you, too. Mason Mount’

‘I know’ he winked before leaning down to give you a gentle kiss. ‘God, I’ve missed you’ he spoke against you lips and you smiled before giving him another quick peck.

‘I’ve missed you too’

‘Don’t take this the wrong way but I’m so glad you got locked out tonight’ he murmured against your jaw and you couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh. He bought his face back to yours, smiling so hard his eyes crinkled at the sides before kissing you again, this time a little heavier and you reached up to hold the back of his neck so he wouldn’t break apart from you. You could feel all the broken parts of you mending back together with every press of his lips, and when he dipped his tongue inside your mouth you could help but let out a faint moan.

Mason pulled back a tiny bit, looking down at you with happy eyes and a beaming smile which you couldn’t help but mirror. That was until you felt that familiar rush of worry that he noticed immediately.

‘If there’s anything else you know you can tell me’ he reassured you, his thumb gently gliding back and forth over you cheek.

‘I’m gonna have to get a new job arent I?’ You questioned, your eyes now no longer able to look at him. ‘It sucks cause I love it there and I love getting to see you everyday but if it means I can’t be with you like this then I’ll have to go.’

‘You don’t have to do that y/n’

‘I do Mason, you saw what happened before. And from now on I’ll always put you first, just like you always do for me and if that means leaving Chelsea then so be it’

‘You do know they only reason they were fired was because they got caught in one of the store cupboards?’ He told you, the tiniest smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

‘What?’ You breathed, completely confused by his words.

‘Yeah I found out a few weeks ago, apparently one of the owners caught them with their pants down, quite literally’ he chuckled and you just shook your head whilst trying not to smile. ‘That doesn’t matter though. If we’re just honest about what’s going on and promise to keep thing’s professional then I know they won’t have an issue with it’

‘How can you be so sure?’

His face turned red at this, now looking down away from you as if he was embarrassed.

‘I kind of already spoke to some people about us?’ He said quietly and you covered your face with your hands before letting out a little laugh. ‘Look I’m sorry I know I shouldn’t have but when I found out what happened with them I had to know if there was a chance for us. So I spoke to a few higher ups and explained the situation and they were absolutely fine with it. Said as long as we didn’t let it effect work or do anything inappropriate then it’s allowed’

‘Mason’ you chucked, removing you hands from your face to look at him. ‘Only you would ask permission for us to be together whilst I’m ignoring you’

‘I think you’re missing the point here, we’re free to do what we want. We don’t have to hide anymore and there’s no consequences.’ He told you with a smile and you smiled back, lost for words that you could now be with the man you loved.

‘Why didn’t you say anything before?’

‘I wanted to give you a bit of time I guess and think of some way of winning you back? Thankfully your forgetfulness did all of the hard work for me’ he winked and you playfully slapped his chest. ‘And I know we never put labels or anything on it last time, but I’d really like it if I could call you my girlfriend’

It was your turn to blush now, words failing you so you just nodded before connecting your lips again, hoping that would say everything you couldn’t. You were both looking at each other like youd hung up the moon when you pulled away. He was looking at you so intently, like he was trying to memorise your face and keep it in his brain forever. That was until you let out a yawn and he couldn’t help but laugh, thinking you were the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

‘Come on sleepy chops, it’s nearly midnight and if I don’t sleep soon then I won’t be able move tomorrow’ he laughed, laying down and pulling you you against him, your back to his chest and his lips pressing on your shoulder.

‘Sorry Mase, I’ve been such a pain in the arse tonight’

‘’Just tonight?’ He teased, tickling your waist so you knew he was joking. It didn’t stop you letting out a little whimper of annoyance, but the kiss he left on the back of your neck made you smile. ‘you know I’m only kidding pretty girl’

‘You better be’ you sighed, although you could feel your face getting warm from his compliment. ‘Night Mase’

‘Night gorgeous’ he mumbled and with one final kiss to you shoulder you let yourself relax, all the weight of the last few months leaving your body you finally drifted off in the arms of the man you loved.

You awoke the next morning to an empty bed, feeling around to find Masons warmth but you only felt the cold. You slowly sat up, rubbing your eyes to wake yourself up a bit before getting out of bed, padding out of his room into the hallway. You glanced at the clock was sat on Masons dresser to see it read 09:15 and you cursed under your breath before running down the stairs to try and find the brown eyed boy.

‘Mason! Mason, where the hell are you?!’

‘Hey hey hey’ he shouted as he came around the corner from the kitchen, stopping you in your tracks by placing his hands in your shoulders. ‘What’s going on? Where the fire?’ He joked but you just huffed at him.

‘I was supposed to start work 15 minutes ago Mase, why didn’t you wake me? I’ve still got to sort my flat out and-‘

He cut you off with a kiss and once he pulled away he pressed a finger to you lips so you couldn’t speak and you furrowed your brows at him in response.

‘I’m way ahead of you, I’ve already left a message at reception for your boss to explain what’s happened and that you won’t be coming in so don’t stress’

You were about to reply when someone knocked on Masons front door. He nodded his head into the kitchen tapping your bum lightly to try and get you to move. ‘Go wait in the kitchen, I’ve left you some breakfast and a coffee on the island’ he winked and your heart warmed at his smile so you gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before scurrying out of sight.

You sat at the island, the fresh cup of coffee made just how you liked it and next to that, two slices of Nutella on toast. You knew Mason used to keep a jar in for you as he wasn’t really allowed it with his diet, and you could see a fresh jar he’d left open on the side, not having time to put it away as you’d come shouting down the stairs.

You could hear Mason talking to whoever was at the door, but they were both too far away for you to make out any actual words. You managed to finish your toast by the time he was done and when he came back into the room, a cheeky smile was dressed on his face with his hands behind his back. You raised an eyebrow at him over you coffee cup but that only made him smile even more.

‘What are you up to, Mount?’ You asked him as he approached the other side of the island and instead of answering he removed a hand from behind him and placed your key lost keys in front of you. Your eyes snapped up to look at him and he let out a faint chuckle at your expression. ‘What the hell? Where did you get those?’

‘I called in a favour, managed to get a locksmith over to your house early. These were sat in the bowl you keep by the door, you must of forgotten to pick them up yesterday’ he explained, nodding down to them. You let a big sigh, you head falling into your hands as you shook your head with a laugh.

‘I was in such a rush yesterday it must of slipped my mind’ you groaned, looking back up to see the smile on his face, obviously finding the whole thing hilarious. ‘Don’t laugh at me Mase, I feel like such an idiot’ you told him, but you couldn’t help but laugh a little yourself.

‘Oh you poor baby’ he pouted, moving around to your side of the island. You turned on your stool to face him and he slotted between your legs. His free hand coming to your face to tilt it up so he could look at you. He suddenly ran his finger just under your lip and pulled it back to show you the Nutella he’d wiped from you face before he popped his finger in his mouth.

‘Mason’ you scolded, blushing as you wiped your face but he just chucked as he lent down to reach your lips, kissing you gently.

‘Now let’s hope you keep these ones safe’ he murmured pulling the other hand from around his back to show you a new set of keys. ‘There’s a couple of spares on there so maybe hide one or keep them somewhere safe so you’ve always got a backup’

‘Can I keep one here?’ You asked softly and his whole face lit up at your suggestion before he kissed you again.

‘Of course you can’ he whispered against you lips. ‘In fact…’ he started, moving over to a drawer on the other side of the kitchen, rummaging through it until he found what he needed before making his way back over towards you. ‘Summer made me this at nursery’ he blushed, holding up a keychain in the shape of a little house made with plastic beads you iron to make them stick together. You watched as he slipped one of the keys into the loop before walking just behind you and popping it onto the spare hook on his rack that kept all his other keys. He turned back to you and smiled proudly before grabbing your face and kissing you again.

‘Thank you, Mase’ you told him sincerely as you pulled away. Your hands moved from his chest you hold his face as he tried to look away from you but you wanted him to know how grateful you were for all he’d done for you. ‘I mean it, I really don’t know what I would have done without you last night. I don’t know how I’ve kept away from you for so long but I promise I’ll never hurt you like that again’

‘I told you yesterday, I’d do anything for you. That includes saving you from your doorstep when you’re all soggy’ he murmured with a smile, his nose bumping yours making you chuckle. ‘But it also includes giving you space when you need it and waiting until you’re ready to come back to me’

You took in a deep breath, eyes filling at his words. You moved your hands from around his face to around his shoulders, your thumbs gently stroking up and down his neck as he looked at you like you were the most important thing in the world. You hoped your face mirrored his expression.

‘You knew I would come back?’ You whispered and he shrugged his shoulders.

‘I didn’t know 100% but I always hoped you would. And I would have waited a whole lot longer for you if that’s what it took.’

‘I would never expect you to do that for me Mase, not after how I treated you’

‘I wanted to’ he smiled ‘I love you’

‘I love you, too’ you whispered, still getting used to hearing those words come out of his mouth, and by the look on his face, he was too.

‘Now, I don’t have training until three, so how about we make up for some lost time before I take you home?’ He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at you as he lowered his hands to your waist, dipping them under his shirt you were wearing. ‘I’ve had to watch you walk around in my stuff for far too long without doing something about it’

‘Sounds like a good idea to me’ you told him your hands now around his shoulders so he could lift you up by your thighs and carry you up the stairs.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed :) I’d love to know what you thought so please feel free to comment or drop me an ask, I’d really appreciate it 🩷

#mason mount #mason mount blurb #mason mount imagine #mason mount fluff #mason mount fanfic #mason mount fan fiction #mason mount concept #mason mount story #mason mount angst #mason mount smut #mason mount x reader #mason mount x y/n #footballer x reader #footballer x y/n #footballer imagine #footballer imagines #footballer fan fiction

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tip-top-cloud-surfer · 1 year

Text

Left at the Altar - Hangman (Part 3)

Pairing: Hangman / Fem!Reader (Ex-Girlfriend!Reader)

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: Some Light Angst; References to Sex; Second Person POV ("You"), No Y/N, No Physical Descriptions of Reader

This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.

Summary: You struggle with your life back in Texas. Is California calling your name?

A.N. I double-checked and I'm pretty sure that I added everyone to the tag list who requested it and has their age on their blog, so hopefully this works.

Part 1 Part 2 Epilogue

Master List

Sitting on the couch of your childhood home, you held your wine glass close to your chest.

It was officially two days after you were left at the altar and the last forty-eight hours of your life were practically a blur.

After your night with Jake, you were forced to deal with reality. You moved out of the apartment that you shared with your ex and went through the process of literally cutting him out of your life one photo at a time. Literally. Your name wasn’t on the lease since you moved into your ex’s bigger apartment a few months ago, which worked to your advantage.

You dropped off anything to do with your wedding at your ex’s family’s home, including your wedding dress, since they paid for it and told them to do whatever the hell that they wanted with it. Or they could bring it back to you and you’d burn it.

And your last spiteful move against your ex was cancelling your honeymoon reservations and the extra ticket that he bought his mistress the night before they were supposed to fly out. And the best part was that they had already checked in. Your ex tried to angrily text and call you after he got to the airport, but you just blocked him and moved on.

And now here you were: moved into your childhood bedroom, with your life in a suitcase and a bunch of taped up cardboard boxes. Truly living life to the fullest. Well, at least you had some wine that your mom may or may not have stolen from the reception venue.

The night chill seeped through the screens on the windows and the back door and forced you to pull on a sweatshirt. It was one of Jake’s old faded UT ones that he got when you were both sixteen. He quickly grew out of it and you were happy to take it off of his hands. You kept it in the deepest corner of your closet when you were living with your ex-fiancé, but now, you wore it openly.

You thought that it would have been inappropriate to wear an ex-boyfriend’s sweatshirt in the apartment that you shared with your fiancé. Of course, you thought that fucking someone else would have qualified as inappropriate, but perhaps you didn’t have your priorities straight. You should have started wearing it months ago.

Taking a sip of your wine, you sighed and leaned back against the couch.

Even in the darkest days of your relationship with Jake, he never once degraded you like your ex-fiancé did. Sure, Jake could be an asshole and you were the first person to tell him that he was being an asshole, but he wasn’t irredeemable. He had his faults but his heart was always in the right place.

Your ex on the other hand; there was absolutely no way to justify his decision to break up with you over text on the morning of your wedding day. You were done with him and with the whole picture. Luckily, you already deleted and cut up all the remaining photos of the two of you together.

The sound of footsteps caused you to open your eyes and turn towards the stairs. Your mom slowly walked downstairs and smiled softly when she saw that you were still awake. Making her way over to you, she sat down beside you on the couch and squeezed your shoulder.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked softly.

“Something like that,” you replied, just as quietly.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better,” you answered honestly, trying to force a small smile.

“Did you hear from Jake?”

“Yeah, we’ve been texting a lot. He apologized for fact that he had to run out.” You nodded slowly, pursing your lips together as you let a breath out of your nose. “But it’s not his fault. That’s just how it always goes with the two of us.”

“Why does it have to work out like that?” your mom asked softly.

“That’s just how it’s always been, Mom. You know that,” you replied, turning to stare down at your wine glass. “When we’re together and alone, everything is perfect. Everything feels right and I never ever felt like that with someone else. But then reality hits and we have to go back to the paths that we picked and . . . we’re separated in the end again.”

Your mom nodded solemnly, though her expression gave away her opinion on the subject. Straightening up, she glanced out the window at the rose bushes that sat right below your childhood bedroom window. The ones that were planted there for a very specific reason.

“I remember when your father bought those bushes,” your mom stated wistfully, causing you to pick your head up and turn around.

“You mean when he tried and break me and Jake up?” you mused, shaking your head.

“He was trying to prevent you from sneaking out and Jake from sneaking in,” your mom corrected you with a small smile. “And how well did that work?”

“Not even in the slightest,” you replied without skipping a beat. You smiled softly as you glanced out at the familiar bushes, working through some of the associated memories. “I remember when he fell into them one night. He showed up the next day to school looking like he lost a fight with a cactus. Told his parents and everyone that he fell off a skateboard and they somehow bought it.”

“And did he come back after that?”

“He might have,” you stated with a shrug, earning a look from your mom. “A few times.”

“Exactly,” your mom responded, folding her hands in her lap. “He kept coming back. He keeps coming back to you no matter what life throws in front of the two of you.”

“He does,” you agreed quietly.

“I mean, how many times have the two of you been in a relationship?”

“A few,” you replied, earning another look from your mom. “Seven or eight, depending on factors that I need to be a bit little drunker to discuss with you, Mom.”

“My point is,” your mom continued, resting a hand on your arm, “you two keep finding your way back to each other. Over and over again. And honey, I have to tell you this honestly. I’ve never seen you happier than you are when you’re with Jake. You could combine your love for all of your other exes and it still wouldn’t compare to the affection that you have for Jake. And we can all see that.”

“I know, Mom,” you replied softly, trying to not choke on your emotions. Letting out a breath, you sunk further into the couch. “I was so stupid for thinking that marrying anyone else was going to solve any of my problems. Or make me happy.”

“Well, the good news is that your ex looks like a complete ass and now you get to go on and live your fairytale without that burden on your shoulders,” your mom stated, squeezing your hand. “And, honey, I want you to have your fairytale. I want it for you so badly.”

“I know, Mom.”

“And I think that Jake is that person for you,” your mom reiterated, rubbing your arm soothingly. “You let him go and he let you go because you two loved each other and you wanted what was best for each other. But despite that, you two still found your way back together so many times that you can’t even keep track. And that sounds a lot like love to me.”

“I love him, Mom,” you confirmed for her. “I do. I love him so much.”

“Then why are you staying here?” your mom asked you, causing you to sit up more. “Honey, I know that you love living here, but I don’t want you to hold yourself back from your happiness because you’re scared of taking that first step out.”

You nodded slowly, not really sure what else to say. Your mom pulled you in for a hug. Pressing a kiss to the top of your head, like she did when you were a kid, she squeezed you tightly to her chest.

“I just want you to be happy, sweetheart,” your mom whispered to you. “And I know that I taught you to not rely on other people for your own happiness—and you still shouldn’t—but you always just seem happier when you’re with him.”

“I am happier when I’m with him, Mom,” you agreed, burying your face into her shoulder.

“Then I think that you have your answer, sweetheart.”

~~~~~

After another long day at work, the Dagger Squad decided to go out for a cold beer together before taking some time for themselves. Except for Coyote, that is, who made some excuse about having to run a random errand.

It was a warm spring afternoon, so the Dagger Squad gathered out on the back deck to get away from the afternoon rush. Hangman glanced down at his phone frequently, waiting for your text. After your shared night in the honeymoon suite, the two of you had been texting frequently. Obviously, you were both busy, but you tried to text a few times a day.

But today, you weren’t answering. Jake didn’t want to jump to conclusions on anything, but it still struck him as odd. Especially because he knew that you had the next few days off because you were supposed to be on your now cancelled honeymoon.

“If you don’t put your phone down, you’re paying for the next round, Hangman,” Phoenix warned him, taking a long sip of her drink. “Remember Maverick’s rule?”

“He’s not here,” Hangman replied back, though he still stowed his phone away. “No need to try and win the teacher’s pet award.”

“Says the man who always sits in the front row of every briefing,” Bob spoke to his pilot’s defense.

“He’s got you there,” Phoenix stated with a proud smirk.

“You know, I think that I speak for everyone when I say how happy I am that the two of you chose to keep flying together,” Hangman replied sarcastically, reaching for his beer.

“You get crabby when Coyote’s not here to back you up,” Rooster quipped as Hangman took a swig of his beer. “Actually, you’ve been crabby for a while now.”

“Been hanging around you guys for too long,” Hangman replied without missing a beat, setting his beer down on the table.

“You just had a break from us,” Rooster pointed out, shifting in his seat.

“Wasn’t long enough,” Hangman stated, reaching for his phone again.

“Well, Coyote’s here to cheer you up,” Fanboy announced, staring down the boardwalk. Fanboy frowned slightly and straightened up a bit. “But he’s got a woman with him.”

That announcement got everyone else at the table to whip around to stare down the boardwalk. Coyote was, in fact, walking over with a woman. And who was that mysterious woman who may or may not have spent half an hour in an airport bathroom making sure that she didn’t look like she woke up at three that morning to get to the airport to get to San Diego?

You smiled softly and waved to Jake, who was completely shocked to see you in California. And, of course, you wore a sundress that he bought you. He felt obligated to get it for you after the two of you got a little handsy in a dressing room while you were trying it on.

“Who the hell is—” Rooster’s question was cut off by Hangman practically knocking over the entire table with how fast he got up from the table. “Jesus Christ,” Rooster complained as some beer spilled on his jeans. “Really, Hangman?”

But Jake was already bounding down the boardwalk, slipping around the tourists, civilians, and other naval personnel. The Daggers stared after Hangman with mildly confused expressions and curious stares. Except for Coyote, who grinned when he spotted Hangman hurrying over.

“You know,” Coyote told you with an amused smile, “I think that Javier is a very strong name for a baby boy. It rolls right off the tongue.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you promised Coyote with a small chuckle.

Coyote shot you a wink before walking towards the Hard Deck. Coyote sent Jake a mock salute that Jake returned before continuing on his way. You stopped in your approach since Jake was moving fast enough for the both of you and simply held out your arms.

The rest of the Daggers watched as Jake scooped you up into his arms and spun you around. You laughed and hugged him back, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and your legs around his waist to avoid any risk of falling onto the weathered wood below.

“What are you doing here?” Jake breathed out, slowly placing you back on your feet.

“Well, I had a few days off,” you replied softly, smoothing down the creases on his shirt. “And so, I hopped on the first flight that I could get to San Diego. I thought that I would surprise you.”

“I’m certainly surprised,” Jake mused, resting his forehead against your own.

Gently guiding your chin towards his own, your lips met in a soft embrace. Jake wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer to him. You cupped his cheeks with your hands and deepened the kiss perhaps beyond what was respectable in public.

But hell, Miramar was a Navy town. This was far from the most indecent reunion kiss that this town had ever seen before.

Coyote walked over to where the other Daggers were gathered and took Hangman’s spot. If Coyote knew how Jake operated when you came to visit, he wasn’t going to need his seat back.

“Hangman has a girlfriend?” Bob asked Coyote curiously, assuming that he knew all.

“I think ‘girlfriend’ doesn’t really cover it anymore, honestly,” Coyote replied honestly.

Back on the boardwalk, you reluctantly pulled away from Hangman’s lips for a little air. Smiling goofily, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and just simply took in the fact that he was right here in front of you once again.

“How long are you in town for?” he asked you, slowly opening his eyes.

“Until Sunday,” you replied, meeting his gaze again. “So, we’ve got about five days together.”

“No time to waste then,” Hangman reasoned, picking up your bag from where you placed it on the ground. “This is it?”

“Yeah, I packed light because I needed to fly standby.”

“That’s fine. You won’t need to wear anything once we get back to my apartment,” Jake stated with a wink, earning a light smack to his arm.

Jake led you over to where his truck was parked. He put your bag in the backseat and handed you the keys. Jake sprinted back to the Hard Deck to pay his tab and gift Javy some beer for the surprise. Dancing around the invasive and curious questions from the rest of the Dagger Squad, Jake returned to your side as fast as he could.

“Ready?” he asked, shutting his door.

“Ready,” you agreed, leaning over to press a kiss to his lips.

Jake backed up out of the spot and started driving to his apartment. Once he put his truck back into drive, he reached over and grabbed your hand, threading your fingers together. You returned the gesture and squeezed his hand, trying to not melt into the seat when Jake pressed a kiss to the back of your hand.

“I missed you,” you told him softly, smiling over at him.

“I love you,” he returned confidently.

“You always have to one-up me,” you sighed, shaking your head playfully. “But I love you too.”

“What’s not the love?” Jake replied with a playful wink.

“Did you want me to get out the list?”

“Harsh,” Jake stated, smirking a bit. “Don’t worry, I can think of a way that you can make it up to me.”

“I intend to . . . Lieutenant.”

Part 1 Part 2 Epilogue

A.N. I'm thinking that I might do an epilogue that's set a few months or years into the future. So, if you're not already on the tag list and want to be tagged in an epilogue, then reply or reblog with that request (though you must show that you're an adult with your age in your blog to get tagged). Thanks!

Tag List (First 50 since there's a limit):

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 2 months

Note

AITA for forcing my bf to check the toilet for spiders?

I 20nb have been living with my 25M boyfriend for 1.5 years.

I have arachniphobia (idk spelling but phobia of spiders) and schizoaffective disorder.

I've had both since I was a child. I used to have full on melt downs, panic attacks, tactile hallucinations and just generally inconsolable whenever I saw a spider.

My parents did send me to therapy for a few months when I was younger however most of the work in lessening my phobia has been done by me.

Before my partner and I moved in together, I would have two different reactions to seeing a spider depending on the situation. If it was a spider I saw out of the corner of my eye and thought "is that a spider?" Before actually seeing it, I would be be fine and get my parents to get rid of it. If I didn't have that time to register that a spider may be in the room with me and just saw it, aka a surprise spider, I would cry a bit.

After moving in together, I managed to be able to use fly spray to kill spiders and vacuum them up with the tiny hand vacuum. Most of the spiders I've encountered have been small like daddy long legs.

We recently moved into a new place and as the weather changes, massive spiders have been coming into the house. I've managed to not freak out at surprise spiders which is a huge step. I even managed to kill one with fly spray which again is huge as I'm not used to big spiders.

Last night I was in the toilet pissing before bed as one does and a surprise big spider appears. I managed to calmly finish up, leave and go to the bathroom to wash my hands. I close the toilet door as well to stop the spider from escaping. Whilst I very much wanted to get my bf to get rid of it, I was aware that he was trying to sleep so I let it be.

I also managed to fall asleep as well which would be literally unheard of if you asked me like a month ago if I would be able to do that after a surprise big spider.

In the morning I made my boyfriend check the toilet and I told him that I didn't wake him up and he said he was proud of me. I was proud of myself too since the last time there was a big spider at night, I killed it with fly spray and didn't wake him up, but bothered him as he was trying to go to sleep so he could vacuum it up for me.

He couldn't find the spider so I ended up peeing in the shower and going to work like 10m early to poop before work as I was still wary of using the bathroom since the spider was still on the loose.

I came home and needed to use the bathroom after being home for 2 hours. I asked him to check again for me and he said no and that if he did he would be enabling me.

I told him that me not waking him up last night was a huge step and that I feel like he expects me to be cured of my phobia which isn't realistic. He finally went to check but was very reluctant and said again that it was just him enabling me.

I understand that getting rid of spiders is something he doesn't want to do as i always ask when he doing something as well, that's when I find spiders, however it's only like two or three spiders a month I encounter so it's not a lot. It takes him literally two minutes to deal with and not every spider I come across, I need his help with.

So AITA for asking him to check the bathroom for a spider on the loose?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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henwilsonmd · 1 year

Text

post 6x18: some out-of-order vignettes | ao3

4251 words

“Buck,” said Eddie, trying to school his face into something less fond and amused. “That’s my couch.”

Buck turned from where he’d been happily showing off the new piece of furniture he’d gotten with Natalia the day prior. “What?”

“The couch,” Eddie repeated, with a quirk of his eyebrow. “You bought my exact couch.”

“No,” Buck replied with a shake of his head. “No, it’s definitely different.”

read on ao3

Eddie looked at it—a three-seater in dark blue, velvet-y fabric with square corners and deep seats to accommodate his long legs. They’d picked out some nice white decorative pillows for it, and it’s certainly brand-new looking, but—

“It’s totally the same.” Eddie gave up on hiding his smile.

Buck looked back to the couch, tilting his head to scrutinize it. After a moment, he sighed, planting his hands on his hips. “Ah, fuck. It’s totally the same.”

Eddie groaned, letting his head thump back onto the edge of the cot behind him. “The pain meds are definitely kicking in.”

“Well, good,” snarked Buck from a chair next to him, attention half-focused on his phone in his hands. “That’s what they’re supposed to do.”

Eddie sighed, long-suffering. “You too?”

“Yes, Eddie, me too.” Buck replied, thumbs flying as he tapped out something on the screen in his hands. Probably to Maddie. Probably about Chim. Who was probably okay. “Your ribs are fucking broken.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, staring at the ceiling. “And I know what they feel like. I’m fine, there was—other stuff going on.” He thought about that paramedic from the 133 shining a penlight into Hen’s eyes, frowning like he didn’t like the results and going back in to do it again. He thought about the constant jitter of Buck’s leg next to him, the constant worry for Bobby and Chimney who’d taken the other two ambulances before the three of them had managed to squeeze into another cab. “Besides,” Eddie pulled himself back on track. “Did you even get checked out?” He leveled Buck with a look that he hoped had more energy behind it than he had left.

Buck shrugged, powering off his phone with a click. “I’m fine.”

“There’s blood all over your face,” Eddie pointed out.

“Hen cleaned most of it up already.”

“There was more?”

“That’s—Eddie, I’m fine,” Buck said, turning towards him. “I scraped up my cheek and bit my tongue when I fell, and, sure, I’ll be a little bruised, but I’m fine.”

“You lost consciousness,” Eddie pointed out, and he swallowed around a dry throat.

“How… how did you know that?” Buck stuttered in reply.

Eddie gave his own shrug, picking at the edge of the right kneepad on his turnout pants. “I didn’t pass out. I radioed right after I’d gotten my bearings, but no one answered. Then, like, thirty seconds later you must have woken up.”

Buck, for a moment, held Eddie’s gaze with something so unbelievably devastated, and guilty—like the thought of not being able to answer Eddie’s call was the worst possible thing that had happened that day. Then he flicked his eyes down to the floor. “Okay, s-so, like, thirty seconds. I’m fine, Eddie. Really.”

Eddie frowned, thinking about those thirty seconds—an unbearable weight on his back, a growing pain in his chest, and the clawing panic as he listened to the silence stretching out on the other side of the radio and fought the mounting urge to plead, I’m still alive, please, I’m still alive down here.

And then how he’d breathed a hugely painful sigh of relief when Buck finally asked for a headcount, how he’d fumbled into his pocket for his St. Christopher medal and prayed—something he hadn’t done since that awful week of the coma. Prayed that he’d come home safe to his son, but also that Buck would be careful—that he wouldn’t do something stupid and destructive and reckless to save any of them.

That heady rush of gratitude when Buck had sawed the doors open, taking off his safety goggles and assessing Eddie’s situation with a calculating, heavy gaze.

Next to him, Buck cleared his throat, shifting in the chair. “Anyway, you broke three ribs, man. Let the meds do their job.”

Eddie huffed a laugh, leaning back into the pillows behind him. “Trust me, they are.”

Eddie sipped his Diet Coke, beer off-limits because he was still taking the Tylenol threes. “So, you finally got a new couch.”

“I had a couch before,” Buck pointed out, a matching soda in his hand for solidarity. “Kameron just—y’know, gave birth all over it.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, snorting a soft laugh. “That must have been wild.”

Buck chuckled. “The baby didn’t want to wait, I guess.”

“Impatient little guy,” Eddie said. “Must be those Buckley genes.”

“Hey,” Buck protested, pointing a finger. “I can be plenty patient.”

“Sure,” Eddie agreed placatingly, but be noticed how there seemed to be something more behind the mirth in Buck’s eyes—the plastic pieces at the edges of his smile. He fought the urge to say I told you so—mostly because it would have been childish, but also because Buck hadn’t asked for his opinion at any step of the way, and Eddie hadn’t offered.

Eddie decided to wait him out—usually the best course of action when it came to Buck. Eddie understood intimately how much time it could take to parse through a mess of feelings in your brain and formulate them into words that would make sense to another person. Usually, Eddie would sit quietly and sip his beer while watching Buck’s feelings play out on his unguarded face, and after a minute or two Buck would haltingly begin to explain what had been going on with him.

Eddie had tried to explain that to Maddie when they’d both been nearly sick with worry over Buck’s post-coma mental state. “He’ll come to you when he’s ready,” Eddie had said over the phone. “You can’t force him to talk about it.”

“Eddie, you don’t know him like I do,” Maddie had protested. “He shouldn’t be alone right now.”

And Eddie had opened his mouth to say no, actually, I know him better than you, I know him better than anyone, but—that’s not true, is it? Why would Eddie know Buck better than his own sister, who’s spent the entire thirty years of his life caring for him, when Eddie’s only had him for—what, five years? Then subtract all the things they didn’t talk to each other about and all the issues they’ve had, and—yeah, who is Eddie to say what’s best for Buck?

And then Buck had knocked on his door and passed out on his couch and Eddie had felt righteously vindicated in a way that he almost wanted to rub in Maddie’s face, which was kind of bitchy of him to think.

So, Buck sipped his soda next to Eddie on his new couch, a storm of emotions clear on his face, and Eddie waited him out because that’s what he does.

Buck let out a sigh, and Eddie thought, here it is, he’ll let me in, and then— “Want to watch the Dodgers game?”

Eddie blinked. “Um, sure.”

And Buck turned on the TV.

Doubt roiled in Eddie’s gut.

“What about Hen?” Eddie asked, Buck’s hand tight on his arm as he helped him into the passenger seat of the Jeep.

“Karen already took her home, she’s fine,” Buck replied easily, before he shut the door and rounded the front of the car.

He’d left when Eddie had been taken back for x-rays, taking an Uber back to the station to pick up his car so he could come back to get Eddie and drive them both home. Eddie absently wondered when he would get a chance to get his truck from the station parking lot.

Buck hopped into the driver’s seat, fitting his keys in the ignition but pausing before turning the engine. He fixed Eddie with a gentle, reassuring look. “Seriously, man, everyone’s fine. Athena’s with Bobby, Maddie’s with Chim, let’s go home.”

Eddie swallowed, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought about just how close literally every single one of them except Ravi had come to something far more serious than some hospital bills and time off work.

His gaze slid to Buck, who flashed him that small, soft, close-mouthed smile that Eddie rarely saw—the one that made his chest feel warm and gooey.

“Okay. Let’s go home.”

The Dodgers were losing, and Buck wasn’t talking about it. Eddie tried not to either of those things get to him.

During a commercial break, Buck got up to throw their empty pizza boxes away, waving Eddie off as he moved to help.

When he came back into the living room, he paused under the overhang of the loft, just staring at Eddie.

“What?” he asked, a bit self-conscious.

Buck huffed a laugh, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I bought your couch.”

Eddie snorted. “Don’t worry about it, man. It’s flattering. You think I have good taste.”

Buck raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if that’s it. Half the furniture in your house is from Target.”

Eddie sputtered. “I—what’s wrong with Target furniture?”

Buck, lowering himself back onto the cushions next to Eddie, raised his hands in a show of innocence. “Nothing, man. I just—I don’t know if I would call it good taste.”

Having no comeback, Eddie just whacked him in the shoulder.

Buck laughed, playfully pushing his hand away. “Hey, c’mon, don’t start shit when I can’t retaliate.”

Eddie smirked. “Why? ‘Cause you know you can’t take me?”

“No,” Buck denied. “’Cause your ribs are still fucking broken.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I’m fine, Buck.”

“Well.” Buck crossed his arms, turning back to the TV as the next inning started. “Forgive me for wanting to be careful.”

For a moment, Eddie considered saying hey, maybe we should talk about how I could’ve almost died again? But Buck clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk about the big things, and Eddie didn’t really want to think about that yet either, so he settled for bumping their shoulders together.

Buck leaned right back into him, and neither of them moved apart—the comforting warmth of the contact buzzing in Eddie’s brain like the alcohol he wasn’t drinking.

Eddie smiled down at his hands. “You like my couch,” he teased.

“Yeah, yeah,” Buck groused, slouching into the cushions as they watched a batter swing and miss yet again. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Are you sure you’re both alright?” Carla asked, a worried hand hovering over his elbow. “I caught some of the collapse on the news.”

Eddie flashed her a smile before turning to pour two glasses of water—one for him and one for Buck, who was off in Christopher’s room. “We’re okay,” he said. “A little banged up, but the doctors said I should be back to work in six weeks or less.”

Carla narrowed her eyes. “You better take that full six weeks.”

Eddie set the Brita down and met her gaze. “I’m fine, Carla. Really.”

She sighed, crossing her arms. “I just—I worry about you, Eddie. Okay? I know you’d rather I didn’t, but I can’t help it.”

Eddie ducked his head and smiled, a bit, filled with that familiar half-disbelief that people really do care about him. “I know it doesn’t look like it, but—I was lucky today. That nothing worse happened, that—that Buck was there to pull me out.”

Carla scoffed. “Of course he was. I don’t think luck had anything to do with that one.”

Eddie tried to fight the blush off his cheeks—he didn’t know what to do with that. Carla’s surety that Buck would save him come hell or high water. His own surety that Buck would be ripping open the doors of that camper van any second now.

When she realized he wasn’t going to say anything, Carla cleared her throat. “I should go. You up for a hug?”

“From you?” Eddie responded easily. “Always.”

Carla pulled him into a gentle-but-still-desperate embrace. “Okay, I’ll get out of your hair.” With a frown, she brought a hand up to ruffle the wilting mess on Eddie’s head. “Your dusty-ass hair. Take a shower, alright?”

Eddie laughed. “Alright, alright.”

“It’s a little early for a welcome back party, don’t you think?” Eddie said as Athena hugged him in greeting, Christopher heading off in search of the other kids.

“You and Bobby are headed back tomorrow,” Athena pointed out.

“Yeah, and Chimney’s not back for another two weeks.”

“And you best believe I’ll throw another party for him.”

Eddie laughed, before venturing further into the house to greet everyone else. His ribs had healed perfectly, barely a twinge when he’d thrown himself onto the couch in triumph yesterday. Which—speaking of, Eddie’s phone was burning a hole in his pocket and he was doing a very good job of ignoring that.

Or, he was, until a lull in conversation found him standing alone in the kitchen and pulling it out of his jeans. No texts. Which—of course, they’d agreed to go for coffee after his shift on Friday, why would she text him before that—but, still. Eddie was nervous. Sue him.

His thumbs hover over the keyboard for a moment while he debates if it’s too much of a desperate move to text Marisol before they even go on a date. Christopher would know.

“Who are you texting?” asked a voice, and Eddie fumbled to turn off his phone and shove it in his pocket before someone could see… what?

He looked up to see Buck smiling at his antics, a beer in hand.

“Oh, it’s you,” Eddie sighed, leaning against the counter.

Buck sidled over to join him, staring out the windows at the backyard where the party was in full swing. “Just me. Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine,” Eddie replied, for some reason hoping desperately that Buck wouldn’t ask him about—

“So,” Buck nudged an elbow into his arm. “Who were you texting?”

—fuck. Eddie wasn’t sure why this felt like something he didn’t want to tell Buck, to whom he tells everything, but… they don’t really talk about their girlfriends? It was always, always awkward, and it always left him with a sour taste in his mouth.

But, Eddie’s excited about this. Marisol probably won’t be the one, or whatever, but—still. Eddie was excited that his brain was finally in a place where he could think about opening up his life to someone and it wouldn’t send him into a panic attack that landed him in the ER.

And Buck asked.

And Eddie’s not in the habit of saying no to him.

“Um,” he started. “Do you remember Marisol? From the—”

“—yeah, yeah!” Buck cut him off. “So, you were texting her?” He raised his eyebrows, a knowing glint in his gaze.

Eddie blushed. “Yeah, uh… we’re going on a date?” he said quietly, a pit of dread or something similar opening in his gut.

Buck was quiet for a moment, and Eddie risked a glance at his face. He just caught the edge of something shocked and maybe fearful in his expression before it cleared and was replaced by one of those huge, sunny smiles.

“Eddie!” Buck exclaimed. “That’s great! Oh my god, man, this is awesome,” he enthused, slinging an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and squeezing him close.

“Yeah,” Eddie chuckled, still unsure why part of him felt sick with guilt.

“Hey, ever notice how we always start dating at the same time?”

“No, do we?” Eddie lied, thinking about how he’d agonized over making the call and kept telling himself Buck’s with Natalia now, you should do this.

Buck laughed again, before he jolted with surprise and turned to Eddie, excitedly slapping him on the arm. “Dude! We can go on double dates now!”

Eddie frowned. “We didn’t last time.”

Buck shrugged. “Well, you didn’t like Taylor, so I figured—”

“I liked Taylor,” Eddie protested.

Buck snorted. “Uh, no, you didn’t.”

Eddie tilted his head in a you-got-me face. “I kind of didn’t. I thought you didn’t notice.”

Buck dropped his arm around Eddie’s shoulders again, making Eddie huff out a breath. “Oh, Edmundo, I always notice.”

No you don’t, Eddie thought, and then he ignored that.

“But,” Buck continued, a hesitation in his voice. “You—you like Natalia, right?”

Eddie didn’t really know her at all, except for how excited she’d been about Buck’s death-that-didn’t-stick and how angry that had made him. “Yeah,” Eddie lied again. “She’s good for you. And she has good taste in couches.”

Buck laughed, relieved. “Good. So—we’ll do a double date, yeah? Me, you, Natalia, Marisol.”

Fuck, no. Eddie thought. That sounds awful.

“Yeah, sure,” Eddie said instead. “That sounds great.”

Eddie was in the kitchen, pre-heating the oven to heat up some frozen chicken tenders because he didn’t have the energy to cook anything else when he felt little arms wrap gently around his midsection. It hurt his ribs, but Eddie didn’t have the heart to dislodge his son—not when these hugs were becoming rarer and rarer each day.

“Hey, kid,” Eddie said, turning in the hold and dropping a hand onto Christopher’s head. “What’s up?”

Eddie had already seen him, when he popped his head into Christopher’s room to find him sitting with Buck, a careful hand brushing the wounds on the man’s cheek. The sight had made something massive and unknowable bloom inside Eddie’s broken chest, threatening to choke him. He’d tamped it down and hugged Chris hello before heading off to shower, but apparently that hadn’t been enough.

Chris looked up, propping his chin on Eddie’s sternum. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, a tightness in his voice betraying him.

Eddie smiled. “Me too.” Even though it sparked the ache in his side into a bona-fide pain, Eddie leaned over to drop a kiss onto Christopher’s head—something he barely tolerates anymore. “Hey, the doctors said I’d be good as new in six weeks. Think you can deal with having me around all the time for that long?”

Chris laughed, bright and happy, and Eddie’s heart sang. “I’ll try,” he joked, and then something clouded passed over his face. “Buck’s okay, too, right? His face is bloody.”

“Oh, buddy,” Eddie sighed. Usually, he would kneel down to meet Christopher’s gaze, but he settled for easing himself into a chair and ignoring the concerned look Chris was giving him. “Buck’s totally fine, he just got scraped up a little bit. And today was pretty—pretty scary. For both of us.” He swallowed down the urge to berate himself for telling his kid he was scared, and it seemed to be the right move, because Chris nodded along with wide, careful eyes.

Eddie sighed again, settling his hands on his son’s shoulders. “But—tell you what. Buck’s gonna stay with us tonight, and he’s pretty bad at taking care of himself, right?” Chris giggled at that, and Eddie smiled in response. “So you and I are gonna have to be sneaky about taking care of him tonight, okay?”

Eddie expected Chris to give another sweet smile, and maybe to offer some comfort so earnest and childlike in its innocence that it made everything in the world feel right again, so he wasn’t quite sure to do when Chris burst out into loud, raucous laughter.

“Okay, what’s so funny?” he said, playing at being annoyed.

“It’s just,” Chris managed through his massive smile. “That’s exactly what Buck said. About you!”

Eddie just blinked in response, and Chris fell into peals of laughter again. “Okay,” Eddie said with mock-offense. “Okay, I see how it is. Gang up on the injured guy, why don’t you.”

“Da-ad,” Chris whined, fixing him with a very grown-up look. “We just care about you.”

Eddie pursed his lips, that unknown emotion threatening to drown him again. “Yeah,” he said, more choked-up than he would like. “I know.”

A small hand covered his, and Eddie flipped his own over to give it a squeeze. “Why don’t you go put on the next episode of María, okay? We’ll translate for Buck.”

Chris smirked. “You mean you’ll translate for Buck.”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short, kid,” Eddie offered as Chris disappeared into the living room.

And later, when they were all piled on the couch, Christopher giggling at Eddie’s half-assed translations and Buck protesting that he understands more Spanish than you think, guys, the newest dose of pain meds forced upon him by Buck making his head more than a bit fuzzy, Eddie thought to himself: I wish it could be like this forever.

Buck shouted in exaggerated outrage to make Chris laugh, gesturing at some ridiculous plot point playing out on the screen, and Eddie let that huge wave of feeling bowl him over—that world-ending, all-consuming love.

Just this. Forever.

“Hold on, let me get this straight,” Hen said, a hand raised to keep Eddie quiet. “He has this whole thing about his girlfriends being couches, and the couch he finally bought is your couch?”

Feeling somehow embarrassed, Eddie just nodded. Hen shared a smirk with Chimney, sitting on the lawn chair that Maddie hadn’t let him move from for the entire party.

“That’s like—almost romantic,” Chimney snorted.

“What?” Eddie said.

“He’s been looking for the perfect couch, but it was yours all along!” Chim crowed, and Hen dissolved into giggles. She was definitely more than a little drunk.

“It’s so sweet, Eddie, come on,” she needled.

“Well, sure, but—” Eddie sputtered. “—romantic? Come on, guys.”

“No, you—you come on.” Hen said around a hiccup. “You guys are—Buck and Eddie! Eddie and Buck!”

“Yeah,” Eddie replied with a frown. “And you guys are Hen and Chim.”

“Nah, no, no, no,” Chim said with a wagging finger. “It’s not the same.”

“How is it not the same?” Eddie threw his hands in the air, one hampered by the half-full bottle in his hand. “You guys are partners, just like us.”

“Yeah, but,” Hen said. “You guys are partners,” she explained, trying for some hand gesture that must have gotten lost in the all the alcohol and rush of the party because she just ended up clasping her hands together awkwardly.

“You guys are crazy,” Eddie said with a long-suffering shake of his head.

“And you’re crazy about Buck,” Hen said in an it’s-so-obvious whisper.

Eddie drew back. “What?”

“Hen—” Chimney started, a hand on her arm.

She shook him off. “No, I gotta—Eddie, you and Buck are like, perfect for each other. You love him, right?” Her eyes were wide and earnest behind her glasses.

“Of course I do,” Eddie said automatically.

Hen gestured emphatically, whacking Chim on the shoulder like this proved her point.

“Hen,” Eddie said gently. “Did you forget that I’m straight?”

Hen scowled, like she did not want to be reminded of this fact. “Okay, but like—if Buck was a girl, you would have asked him out by now. You’d be like—fucking married by now.”

Eddie opened his mouth to respond, but found his mind stuck on Hen’s words. If Buck was a girl. Him and Buck, married. Eddie felt far drunker than he should be off just one and a half beers.

“Eddie, ignore her,” Chim cut in.

Hen frowned. “I’m going to find Karen,” she declared.

Eddie watched her retreating form, unsticking his tongue from the roof of his mouth. “He’s my best friend,” he said belatedly.

“Eddie.” Chimney kicked his leg. “Ignore her, okay? She’s drunk.”

“Yeah, but—” Eddie started.

“Look,” Chim sighed. “We joke about you and Buck sometimes, okay?”

“You do?” Eddie asked.

“Little stuff,” Chimney assured. “Just, like, you’re each other’s favorite person and you’re missing what’s right in front of you, or whatever.”

Eddie opened his mouth to respond, to refute—what?—but Chim continued.

“But they’re just jokes, okay? We know you’re both straight. I mean, it’d be great if you weren’t, or whatever, but that’s not the world we live in.”

Eddie’s jaw closed with a click. He sipped his beer.

“He’s your best friend.” Eddie looked back to Chimney. “And that’s—” He seemed to search Eddie’s face for a moment. “That’s enough, right?”

Eddie swallows. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Exactly,” Chim agreed with an easy smile. “So, don’t worry about it, okay? She’s just drunk and forgot that we don’t make those jokes in front of you guys.”

Eddie nodded. “Right. Besides, Buck has a girlfriend, and—I have a date on Friday, so…”

“You have a date on Friday?” Chimney exclaimed. “That’s great!”

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed, voice flat.

Chimney clapped him on the forearm, unable to reach his shoulder from his sitting position. “Look, man, you’ll find that perfect girl-version of Buck out there, okay? I believe.”

Eddie chuckled. “Sure.”

He looked out to the party—his eyes immediately found Buck, head thrown back in laughter at something Athena had said. The string lights of the backyard made his styled curls shine with a honey-colored fire, his fingers curled carelessly around the neck of a beer bottle made Eddie’s mouth feel suddenly dry.

Just this. Just you, Eddie thought.

“You’re right,” he said to Chimney with a hollow smile. “I’ll find someone.”

#I'M BACK BABY #ofc i HAD to write a coda for this one come on #if this gets interaction i'll probably post on ao3 bc it's pretty long so i'll come back and edit this post if that's the case #anyway i have a LOT of wips that i'm planning on finishing and i want to be more active on here/make some friends #so drop a follow if you want to see any of that lol #anyway this was just a fun little thing that i hope y'all enjoy!#911 #911 fic #911 fanfic #911 6x18 #911 6x18 coda #writing #drabbles #even though it's not really a drabble i want it with the rest of my codas #evan buck buckley #eddie diaz #buddie

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redflagshipwriter · 19 days

Text

Halfa Cass Chapter 5

“Well, she has survived,” DamiBat said blandly. He had clearly already showered and changed into casual clothes. His robin colors were neatly laid on the usual table. He had been waiting for her. Cass shut the plane door and swooped down to give him a hug.

“You worried,” Cass cooed. She ignored his struggling to get out of her arms. “Very sweet.”

Damian hissed and tried a nerve strike. She kissed the top of his head and let him escape.

“Black Bat, report,” demanded the Batdad. His hair was plastered to his head with sweat in the silly way it got inside the cowl. Worried. Fear. Nothing can happen to my baby, not my baby.

She pranced over to give him a hug as well. He needed to touch her and know that she was real.

Only when she detached did she consider answering him. “No,” Cass said thoughtfully. “Shower.”

Batdad unhappily let her go. Cass took the time to get her thoughts into order.

She did have to say something.

She changed into comfy clothes and made her way to her computer. Damian had gone upstairs in the interim, and there was no sign of RedJason or Dickiebird. She sat and turned on the screen. Then she turned a stern glare on her family.

Batdad and Timmybird looked away sheepishly, as if they hadn't meant to stare.

Cass wrote up a factual report. Arrival time, important parts of conversation with Marvel, the area they had explored and his magical commentary. Then she got to the creepy laboratory. In the corner of her eye, she saw Timmybird tense.

Cass sighed and spun her chair to face him.

His shoulders went up guiltily. He meekly reached out and tapped a key. The secret spying of her computer screen ended. “Bad,” she said, because someone had to teach him manners. “Don't look at my screen.”

Tim hunched over a little more. Sorry. Sorry. (Will do it again.)

Cass let out a heavy sigh and finished her report. She paused over her word choice a few times.

“You entered an unknown machine, it powered on, and you received an electric shock?” Bruceman Batdad summarized before she had sent him the report.

Cass threw her hands up in disgust. “Stop spying!” She told him. “Stop it!”

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry honey.” He was sorry. He'd do it again, too.

Ugh.

UGH.

“Yes,” black bat confirmed tersely.

“No lingering symptoms from the shock?” Bruceman Batdad came closer. Hovered. Flap flap, worried bat. “We should do a full check.”

Cass hissed at him, fed up.

“Master Bruce is correct,” said Alfie. He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at her. Little Miss, listen now. Caution is the virtue.

She waited until he wasn't looking to roll her eyes.

There was no sensible reason to escape. She sulked through the examination.

“Heart rate is normal,” Alfie narrated for their audience. Cass narrowed her eyes. See? See what you've done? Wasted her time, is what you've done.

“No pain?” Alfie poked and confirmed. Again and again. No, pain, no pain? Always no pain. “Well then,” he sounded very pleased. She blinked to full attention. “You must have done a very good job taking care of that rib, Miss Cassandra. I must admit I anticipated that there would still be soreness.”

Cass was very still. Then she nodded.

Uh.

Um.

She thought about cartwheels. She thought about vaulting down a flight of stairs.

Hm.

…Probably her rib should not be totally healed.

She weighed internally whether this was troubling to her. On the one hand, it seemed very odd. There was pain a few hours ago. Why no pain now? Pain usually left while she slept, not after flying a plane. Could healing be a side effect of magic girl transformation? Big, if true. Should probably tell her adults.

On the other hand, no pain was objectively an improvement.

Cass decided to say nothing. Maybe Captain Marvel would have a theory.

Speaking of. When she got back to her room, she sent him a text message.

🪄 🧙🏻📞?

The answer came near instantly.

Not yet! 😭 💔 She isn't answering me. Should I contact Constantine, you think?

Huh. Fast response, very good. Cass sent

😬

But

🕵🏽‍♂️ 🤙🏽 🟰 👌🏽

Lol, wrote Captain Marvel. I know what u mean.

Cass smacked her lips in the quiet of her room. He probably did. But he oughtn't. Old people had a hard time with her communication style.

Idly, she lined up a theory.

Captain Marvel had a magical girl transformation. Captain Marvel seemed too young for his body to her.

Ergo:

He was baby.

Cass, all of 17, wasn't that pressed about it. Bats and birds usually started flying and fighting as babies. Damian was still extremely baby. But. Hmm.

Birds weren't in the Justice League. That was the difference: he had to hide it from Batdad, Superguy, and Wonder.

Oh. Cass put a hand on her heart and frowned. In her dark room there was no one to see it aching in sympathy.

Baby Captain was… was a little too baby, emotionally, for the Justice League.

Well. It was decided, then. The next day at breakfast she announced, “Bruce. New rule.”

Heads swiveled to look at her.

“We are entitled to make rules for Father?” Damian asked Alfred, sotto voice. He looked intrigued. Alfie made a face that indicated his answer would depend on what rule Cass made.

Bruce lifted an eyebrow at her in prompt.

“Stop bullying my Marvel,” she commanded. “He’s-”

She hesitated and edited out the word “baby”.

“sensitive to hostility,” she settled on.

Bruce got a consternated look. “Sweetheart,” he began.

“Yes,” Alfred said to Damian, voice extremely soft. “Upon occasion.”

“Play nice,” Cass said firmly. No arguments. She took a pointed bite out of her toast. No more need for words. Eat now.

Tim giggled. When Bruce looked at him he lifted his fork in front of his face, as if the slice of pancake was enough to hide that he was laughing at the pater familias.

“If he said that I'm bullying him,” Batdad started, sounding harassed, “then there must have been some misunderstanding. I've never intended-”

“No misunderstanding,” Cass denied. She narrowed her eyes at him. “I see. I see his body get small when you use the stern Batdad bigman voice.”

Bruce grumbled into his hand and turned his face away, defeated. Resentment. Insecurity. Do I really do that?

“Yes, Father,” chimed Damian, who loved to kick the defeated. “Surely this fool quakes at the barest hint of your displeasure. But should he not?”

Alfred huffed a subtle little laugh at the manipulation. He squeezed Damian's shoulder.

Bruce, thinking that Damian approved of his coworkers fearing the Bat, looked even more constipated. Resignation. “I will be careful with my tone around him,” BatDad settled. Sullen. Embarrassed. Resigned.

“Thank you, Daddy,” Cass said cheerfully. She squeezed her eyes when she smiled at him, because she was also baby. He melted, vanilla ice cream in July.

Damian made a solemn nod of respect out of Bruce's line of sight. She winked back her thanks for the assistance.

Marvel got back to her not long after. Cass took the call outside, so that Bats could not flap nearby without her noticing.

“Black Bat!’ he said, excited. “I got Constantine!”

She blinked at her phone. “...In a trap?”

“What? No,” he dismissed. “I know where he's going to be this afternoon. Can you come meet me?”

Cass looked back at the house. “...Yes,” she decided. She was off the patrol roster tonight anyway. “Where are we going?”

“Uhh….” Marvel's voice trailed off for a bit as he clearly consulted his note or phone or something. “I'll send you the address.”

#dp x dc #dc x dp #red halfa cass #billy batson #cassandra cain

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chartreuxhue · 4 months

Text

"I don't like you"

I wrote this a long time ago like back in 2022, sooooo if it's bad don't blame me. Blame past me. ANYWAYS enjoy :) Rule and stuff should be coming out soon...

Pairings: Yoru x Fem!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, uhhh i cant think of anything else

There were three mirror agents left, the only two people on your team left being you and Yoru. Spike had already been planted. Your back was against the wall as you held the vandell in your hands towards the entryway of the hall. “She walks through here. I’ll have to hold my own until Yoru can show and help” or in this case finally help you. There had been no noise on comms for a long time. You were starting to think the lone wolf male was just waiting for you to get hurt so he could save you like some knight in shining armor.

Right as you were starting to get into deep thought the mirror Skye walks into view. Three shots are fired, and the body of Skye is on the floor. You breathe. That's when you hear the two other pairs of footsteps. You took your moment and started to run, bullets were flying past.

“Can I get a little help here!” you shouted into you comms

You quickly turned into another hallway a good distance from where you had killed Skye. You took the time to reload your gun and check for injuries, only one that you could find, a bullet graze from a phantom. “Shit! At least it wasn't as bad as last time.”

You thought about how you were going to get out of this situation you were in. you had no more tricks up your sleeve, you were solely relying on Yoru to do something. You were starting to get worried, what the hell was he doing. Exploring the city? You watch says he was still alive and good. So what truly was taking forever. Well if he wont do anything with you alive you’ll do it yourself. You get ready to round the corner and start firing. Your foot shifted and you went to lean.

“I’ll handle this!”

You shifted back into the position you were before, back against the wall. You sigh, “Took you long enough!” you thought. The sound of gunfire was heard, along with Yoru calling out that one was down. You took this as your time to make your way back to spike to defuse.

You peek around a corner, the cost looks clear so you make your way to spike. You set your gun down next to it and pull out the diffuser and start defusing. You're halfway to defusing the spike, when you hear a pistol being cocked and the end of the barrel being placed on the back of your head. “Shit! Not now of all times.”

“How about you place that on the ground and I'll think about letting you keep your head.” The mirror Killjoy says. You place the diffuser on the ground next to you.

“Let's not get too hasty.” you say with your hands up. You started down at the spike, its beeping was getting faster and it was making a lot more noise. You saw something blue out of the corner of your eye. You have to buy a little more time.

“Hey , I know you have a whole reason for doing this but, I really don’t want to die directly in front of the bomb.” you say

“Oh really, well mirror you don't have a problem with it.” she says, you hear a light sarcasm in her voice.

“Oh really, well if you can’t tell we’re actually quite different.” you say pushing your head back farther back onto the barrel of the pistol. You hear her hum as a response. You heard the little swirl noises from Yoru when he's in the dimensional drift. You slowly start reaching for the pistol strapped to your thigh. You grab towards it as if you were going to pull it out.

“Surprise” Yoru says as he exits the dimensional drift. You swiftly turn around and grab the pistol out of Killjoys hands before her body falls to the ground.

The spikes beeping was getting alarmingly faster and the noises coming from it were loud too. You picked up the diffuser and went back to defusing the bomb.

“Shit!” you said. The spikes beeping was getting faster and faster.

“Hurry up, all this will be for nothing if you get us killed.” Yoru stays behind you.

“Shut the fuck up.” you say. You could feel Yoru getting antsy behind you while you were defusing.

“I swear, if I die-” he was cut off by the successful defusal noise. You sighed.

You pressed a few buttons on your watch before you heard the Brimstones voice on the other end of your comms.

“You two all set?” Brimstone asked. You looked over at Yoru.

“Yeah we're all set. We’ll be at the rendezvous point.” you said, you picked up the bag with the spike in it and handed it to Yoru. “Carry this for me, will you?” You say putting the bag in his hands and walking away.

“Do it yourself, I’ve done everything else here.” he says before placing it on the ground and looking up at you, he scans your body for any extreme injuries, before his eyes land on the one on your dominant arm.

“Men should always do the heavy lifting, what else are men for?” you said with a sly ass smirk on your face.

He scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“Fine, I'll continue to do everything by myself.” he says while picking up the bag and catching up with you.

……

You sit in the infirmary as Sage wrapped the injury on your arm.

“So, I heard Yoru waited until last second to do anything.” she asked.

“Yeah, but if he waited any longer I would be dead.”

“Well, thank god he saved you. He hasn't shut up about how well you did on the mission before with him.”

“What!” you were stumped. Yoru was speaking highly of you. Your relationship has always been one of how better than the other. That and he very clearly annoyed the absolute shit out of you, with his whole “I’ll save the situation like always.” thinking.

Sage finished wrapping your arm and smiled.

“Don’t say anything to him. It might actually hurt his ego.” she says.

She turned to continue doing more things in the infirmary leaving you to do whatever you want. So you leave the infirmary, off to find the man at question Yoru himself.

You search the hallways for a good 30 minutes before you hear a loud banter between Yoru and Jett, coming from the shooting range

“You already know I’m a better shot than you.” Jett claims.

“Just because you're fast doesn’t mean you're a good shot.”

The banter goes on between the two for a while before Jett notices your presence and goes to quietly make her leave, with a playful smile on her face.

“So you think you're a better shot than Jett.” you say. He turns his head to look at you before he scoffs. “And what's it to you?”

“I don’t know, maybe because we all know who's actually better.” you say.

“Can I help you with something?” You’re annoying him.

“Yes, actually. I wanted to know why it took you so fucking long to do anything during the mission.” you asked, taking a seat on one of the boxes in the shooting range.

“(y/n), are you serious right now? If you're still alive. I still did my job. Plus if you die it's not like the mission objective was to project little miss' ‘I can’t kill anything without help’” he mocked as he used a high pitched fake female voice.

“Yoru, It took you practically 30 minutes to even do anything. The other team members, which let me remind you, are here to help you, were gone. God knows what would happen if you didn’t help me in time.” you say waving your hands around to help get your point across more.

“Yeah, well look, you're still alive and kicking. I can’t do everything for you.”

“I’m not saying, -” You cut yourself off out of frustration.

“You’re not listening.”

“I’m not listening! Do you not care for your own safety? The things that would have happened to you if I wasn't there.” He's actually serious. Is he actually upset?

“I can handle things myself. No need for me to rely on a man.”

“Prove it,” he says. There was a very serious look on his face, a lust in his eyes. He was staring at you like a predator.

“I have nothing to prove to you, Yoru.” you say standing up. He was now directly in front of you. Even if you had something to prove, it wouldn’t be to Yoru.

“Oh really. You seem to have something to prove by coming to find me.”

You take a step back, things seem to be getting heated extremely fast. With each step you take he takes, until your back hits the wall. His hands go to the wall behind you. Trapping you in front of him.

“You're so..” he trails, his eyes darting from your eyes to your lips. You were starting to get all hot and bothered now.

“You’re so annoying-” he cuts you off with a kiss, so instead of looking like a fish out of water you kiss back. He deepened the kiss. His hands move from the wall to the sides of head. A single kiss quickly turned into a make out session. Your hands went up to the back of his neck, pulling him further into you. One of his hands moved to the base of your neck, while the other went exploring further down. His hand stopped at your waist. He pulled you closer to him. Almost like you were going to disappear at any moment. He broke for air, a smirk played on his face.

“And I thought you hated me.”

“Pent up frustrations, from how reckless you are. And how long it takes for you to help during missions.” You say wrapping your arms around his neck. His hands now rest on your hips.

“Is that so?”

You humm in response. You're getting extremely impatient. Not only did he stop, now you’re all hot and bothered.

“Why do you look so bothered?” he asked.

“I don't know, maybe you started something and just chose not to finish it. You, of all people, are the last person I would have thought to not finish something.”

His grip on your hips got tighter.

“Don’t tempt me.”

You smiled, maybe being annoying to him isn't so bad.

“Or what.” you asked

He kissed you, a hard, messy, greedy kiss. Something to prove. But like most kisses it starts something different. He started to trail down from your lips. Leaving a sloppy wet trail down, a hand coming up to the other side of your neck. You moved your head back giving him more room to work with. He got to a certain spot causing you to gasp. Your hands move up into his hair. He puts his hands on your thighs and taps them.

“Up.” he commands.

You lifted your legs and he caught them, wrapping them around his waist. Putting a little more force between him and the wall. He sucks and nips at the spot that caused you to gasp, trying to get a noise or something out.

“Don’t hold back, I wanna hear you.”

A hand moving from your thigh to your stomach, and it gets lower and lower. You didn’t stop him, instead you watched his hand get closer and closer to pussy. His hand passed the button of your pants and you finally looked up, a low sigh leaving your lips in anticipation. His hand cups your clothed vagina, you can feel the tips of his middle and index fingers making slow circles. You roll your head back against the wall, holding back whatever was trying to come out.

“Let it out,” he says in a dangerously low tone, so you do. A high pitched moan leaves your mouth as his fingers pick up in pace and change to going the full length of your pussy. A few more moans come out and then you're suddenly very aware of how loud you are being.

“Yoru, what if someone hears?” you ask, quite afraid of being caught.

“Then we'll have to make this quick.” he says. He puts your legs down.

“Take them off, pretty girl.” He says, as he walks to the door of the shooting range and hits a button. You take your pants off. You turn towards him, being surprised by him kissing you.

“Now where were we?” He says, picking you and going over a table and placing you on the edge of it. He bent down in front of you. Placing both his hands on your thighs. He bites your thigh before he moves closer to your vagina, placing his tongue at the entrance and licking up to your clitt. He ended his first taste by sucking on the little bundle of nerves. Earning a moan out of you. He takes two fingers and inserts them into you and places his lips back onto your clit.

“Fuck. Me.”

You moaned out as your hand that isn’t propping you up goes to lace into his hair. His fingers were going in and out, curling when they went as far as they could in. You never thought you would hear such lewd things going for your mouth, it feels like you haven’t stopped making noise since he got down there. It just felt so fucking good.

He started to move but arms under your legs and wrapped around the top, a way to secure your legs open. He was only using his mouth now. He pulled back for a moment, taking a moment to catch his breath.

“Fuck, you sound so good.”

He practically buried his face in your pussy. Eating it like his last meal. More lewd noises and moans were flowing out of your mouth. You threw your head back, the knot in your stomach getting tighter and tighter.

“Cum, I’m gunna-” you cut yourself off, words started to get way to hard to speak. He let out a low hum, sending the vibrations right to your vagina. It just so happened to be enough for the knot within to snap. You let out a high pitched moan, holding it for longer than you expected as he continued to eat you out through your high. When you had come down from it you looked down to meet his eyes. He smirked up at you, before releasing your legs from his grasp. You lay down completely on the table, exhausted.

“I hate you so much.” you spoke. You hated that he could just completely make you come undone like that.

“I don’t know, your body says otherwise.” He says as he stands up and wipes his mouth with the back of his glove. He hands you back your pants. You grab them but just stare at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Where are my panties?” you asked. Looking around. You have taken them off with your pants.

“Oh I don’t know, they weren’t there when I picked your pants up,” he said.

You rolled your eyes. He most likely stole them as a trophy.

You slip your pants back on. You look around to make sure you got everything that was yours, leaving no trace of evidence of what happened. You sighed, after a good look around and walked to the door. Yoru stood waiting and watched you like a hawk.

“Do I look presentable?” you asked, fixing your hair like you alway do.

“Like always.” he said, he placed a kiss on your forehead.

“I’ll see you around, (y/n).” he said before opening the door and leaving with a prominent smirk on his face.

#valorant x you #valorant x reader #yoru valorant #valorant #valorant yoru #yoru x reader #valorant smut

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rindough · 14 days

Note

that first anon again: oh my god losing my religion by r.e.m. for boothill. this man is SO full of teenage angst, sitting in the corner of one of those old timey country bars all veiled in shadow looking at the person he has feelings for laughing and dancing in the crowd, completely mesmerised as he rests his chin on a hand with a focused expression, mouth slightly open, and absent-mindedly traces the rim of his glass with a finger from the other, almost without realising. You ain't slick, dude. Go talk to them.

God, I am so fucking normal about him.

OH YA i forgot to reply to a question from ur prev ask, sure! u can give me indie songs as well heheeee, and ngl i wasnt expecting this song but its one of my fav songs to vibe to!!!!

OKOK I GOT THE IDEA AND I FIND IT CUTE buttt i kinda put a twist to it if thats okay!

--;

so lets say you're a regular at this diner in town, you had your fair amount of visits here with your friends, your family, even alone. boothill has seen it all, but god at each time he tries to strike up a conversation with you, it either comes off awkward or him just flying off his seat from trying to 'smoothly' whoosh onto the stool.

he doesn't know what made him this... intrigued by your presence, why is it that everytime the door bell chimes, he glances by the door to see if it was you, the way your voice echo in the quiet diner, the way you spun around after you got your order and straight out the door you walked. he wants to know why and how has he suddenly had the balls to walk up to you, and just start some small talk.

unfortunately on his side, it got to the point where it only ends in 'hi's or 'i see's. he thought he could do it, he thought he could whoosh his way in n perhaps whoosh his way out out this diner with u tagging along. but look at where he is now, it's not that you don't get along, but with the way he looks into your eyes and stutter whatever he wants to say, fumbling over words and fall into silence while you wait, while you search his eyes, his body languages. Waiting for something more, as the man himself got you to become a nervous mess too.

but overtime, he gradually became standoffish, he no longer sits beside you at most of your visits, he doesn't look high up above the diner booth to check if its you (he observes from the window instead 🙄), he just waves, he just stands up to go at your presence, he just-

he no longer visits the diner.

in fear and perhaps shame, he and his cyborg body, you would prefer someone much more... human, right? what does it take for a cyborg like him to woo someone he fancies?

it's impossible, he thought. at this point, he'll just give up and not think about the thing people call, the thing he once dreamt of having, love. he'll just give up the act and focus on some... commission he has or whatever...

but does he really though?

"dude, since day 1, are you still gonna mess this right up?"

the voice behind him pulls him out of his trance, the spunk haired man stays put in his seat, the fold of his index rubbing his bottom lips while a thumb rests on his his sharp jawline. choosing to ignore the blond waiter by his side. the waiter throws his tablecloth aside.

"hello?" he snaps his fingers at him, earning a 'tsk' from the man.

"whaddaya want? can't ya see i'm busy?"

"busy doing what? staring at them from this corner of the bar? i know that look of yours, i saw what happened last time-"

"and what? what makes you think i stand a chance with them, best believe 'm gonna look after them from far away. they don't needa see me here, they don't gotta see me at all."

the waiter groans, as if the man in front of him is being blind or feigning ignorance to escape falling in love, to just... dwell in his insecurities. "bro, look at the way they look at you!"

boothill stays put, eyes blinking at your swaying form, your head shaking side to side at the music. the way you jump, throw your hands up, his mouth falls slightly ajar at the way you move. his throat runs a little dry at the way beauty could exist in many forms and at anytime, and this was one of the many times he had found beauty in you. he had found himself longing for you.

it's agonizing honestly.

both on your end and on his.

you're here swaying to the music from the speakers, mingling with other youngsters in your town, hoping that when you turn around to start talking, it'd be the one you've been looking for this whole time, the one whose clumsy way of flirting leaves you wanting more and more. the night was young and there's ample time for him to visit the diner, but... would he?

for him, he wishes he was the only one under your spotlight, the one making you laugh, oh how he loves the way your lips curl into a smile, the way your eyes twinkle.

if he was out there in the crowd with you, best believe he'll twirl and dip you down on the dancefloor and make you have the best night and dance of your whole life.

he turns his head sideways, looking at the blond. "what's with the way they look at me?"

then he turns back to observe you. maybe, just maybe, you would turn around at a certain degree and meet his yearning gaze. wondering if he can make you feel his presences by drilling holes into your skull.

"..." at this point he's defeated, he can't be bothered to explain all these lovey-dovey pre-dating crush nonsense to this sulking cowboy.

"y'kno mister, they've been looking for you every time when you're not around the diner. do i gotta explain more? do i gotta explain the 'where's boothill? have you seen him? has he visited today?'" he mocks, "ya wanna know what happened when i told them no every single time? they just left the diner- not ordering anything!"

the spunk haired man hums, now no longer focused on you, but instead, his back facing the crowd as he stares into the prepared drink before him, finger circling the rim of the glass as the complaints of the waiter goes unheard.

if what the man was saying is true, then... but... why? what made him special enough for you to promptly ask for him at every visit. and he bet it was every visit, since he's not even in the diner every day for months. so, why did he have to leave?

was it the fear of judgement?

was it fear of rejection?

or was it the fear of losing you?

so-

"so?" the waiter quirks an eyebrow, "what do you plan to do with that information-"

he can't back down now, the aftertaste of soulglad lingers the back of his mouth, he's walking, walking towards the crowd, thank god your back was facing him... otherwise he wouldn't be doing what he was doing now, otherwise he'd instantly run away again. and he does not plan to let you search for him again.

"hey." he whispers, smiling gently at the way you suck in your breath at the sight of him.

he never thought he'd feel his heart melt much more than before the moment your soft lips mellow into a smile, the twinkle of your eyes refreshing his past, yet brief memories with you.

"hi."

--;

#💫 anon!!#boothill x reader #boothill hsr #boothill #hsr x reader #honkai star rail x reader #boothill honkai star rail #I LOVE THIS SCENARIO #💌 — letters!!#hsr #honkai star rail #📝 — works!!

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mother-above · 3 months

Text

The Golden Warrior | Chapter 8

Azriel x Reader

Summary: To you, love was a poison that slowly killed. It was something that could make the strongest of warriors and leaders weak and vulnerable. You had successfully evaded romance and relationships for a century until the day you realized it had been plaguing you from within.

Chapters: 8/?

Word Count: 6.7k

Warnings: violence, death, swearing

*masterlist*

You kissed Azriel.

You kissed Azriel. Fucking. Shadowsinger.

And you have zero regrets.

The plan was to do anything to forget and prevent the bond from snapping with Tarquin. You hated making split decisions, but this worked perfectly in your favor. All thoughts of Tarquin and your nights together were smashed down into the depths of your memories. It’s been a day since the kiss, and you found yourself thinking about Azriel and how surprisingly soft his lips were for a hardened warrior.

You hadn’t seen him since that night, but you can imagine he was somewhere in the Night Court camps brooding in some dark tent. When you gave him the healer’s order not to fight in battle or fly until he was completely healed, he barely gave you resistance. Now that he’s had time to process the information, you were sure he was giving his High Lord a tough time about this. It must be torture knowing his friends and family were going into battle without him.

Thinking about Azriel’s well-being wholly consumed your mind because you ended up colliding with a tall figure. The apologetic smile slowly disappeared from your lips when you realized you had bumped into a grinning High Lord of Summer.

“What thoughts are occupying your brain, my lady,” said Tarquin teasingly. “It’s unlike you not to watch where you’re going.”

Even if he was poking fun at you, he still swept down to take your hand and kissed it in formal Dawn Court fashion. Your eyes almost popped out of your head as you watched his lips press against your skin.

“Tarquin! I- uh was just thinking about some preparations I must do for the battle,” you stammered. “What are you doing here?”

Tarquin gave you a lopsided grin. “I was on my way to speak to Thesan; would you like to accompany me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m afraid I was on my way to check on the distribution of the anti-faebane compound. I’ll catch up with you later!”

Without waiting for him to respond, you spun around and sped walked toward the other side of camp. You were actually on your way to speak to your cousin, the warriors Wyla and Bersk were tasked to oversee the distribution of the compound to the camps, but Tarquin didn’t need to know that. You looked down at the hand he kissed and squeezed your eyes shut in frustration. Tarquin was a good friend, why did the mate bond have to come and ruin everything?

***

The hot sun beat down as you took a sip of water, you were looking off onto the blue ocean while ignoring the humans' gazes boring holes into your wings. You and other fae who could winnow were winnowing humans from the villages beyond the Wall all day long. Some humans went willingly, and some were violent and had to be subdued with magic. You frowned as you watched a family in the corner looking a little green, their eldest son still throwing up. They threw an iron spear at you, and you flicked it off like it was nothing. It wasn’t long until they were feeling too sick to pathetically attempt to end your life.

Thankfully, Tarquin was too busy dealing with the refugees in his court so there was little chance of running into him. Looking around, you see the familiar form of Morrigan who was leaning against the stone ledge and admiring the view. The last time you saw her, she was a blubbering mess who kept thanking you for saving Cassian’s life. You stood next to her and Morrigan turned to smile, she reached over and gave you a quick hug.

“My favorite healer!” she said enthusiastically. “Isn’t it beautiful here? I wish the world was at peace so I could lounge on the beach.”

You laughed as you both wistfully looked at the picturesque scene before you. There were beaches all over Prythian, but nothing could beat Summer.

Morrigan examined the soft glow that emitted from you. She felt indebted to the Golden Warrior that stood next to her, without you, her family's world would have fallen apart. Mor also saw the work you’d done to Azriel’s wings, the thought of the Shadowsinger made her smile fade.

“You should know that Illyrian patient of yours is being incredibly stubborn,” said Mor. “He keeps bothering Rhysand and Madja to give him a pass to fight tomorrow.”

Shaking your head, you gave Mor a timid smile. “I was afraid that was going to happen. I had a feeling that even if I told Azriel he can’t fight, he’d try to negotiate.”

“We can all beg him not to fight but nothing is going to stop him from doing what he wants. It has come to the point where Rhysand started threatening Az that he would chain him onto a tree.”

Laughter bubbled from your lips at the image. “Do you think he’ll disobey Rhysand? Azriel doesn’t seem like the type to disobey his High Lord.”

“I don’t know,” shrugged Mor. “I tried talking to him… sometimes he listens to me so I’m hoping he will.”

“I didn’t think he’d be this stubborn!” you exclaimed. You knew how bad his wings were, if he tried to fly too early, one wrong move could permanently damage the nerves in his wings.

“You’d be surprised,” snorted Mor.

The sound of distinct whispers makes you straighten up and whip your head around. Your sudden movement caused Morrigan to finally notice the shadowsinger.

The spymaster approached with a smirk on his lips. “If you’re going to talk about me behind my back, at least try to do it discreetly.”

Azriel found it bizarre to see the two of you standing together and laughing. The female he had loved for five hundred years and the mate he knew would be easy to love. It was his two worlds colliding and his chest constricted with emotion. Two beautiful females who didn’t seem to want him. Azriel was sure the bond would snap the moment your lips touched but it didn’t, his little dove was still so scared and resistant.

“Hi Azriel,” you said softly. Feeling a little shy from the kiss, you turned around and kept your eyes on the crashing waves.

He stood next to you and leaned against the stone. “It’s frustrating that I can never spy on you again. My shadows gave me away, right?”

You nodded. “Yes, it was your shadows and good! I told you there would be repercussions if you tried to do it again. You can always come talk to me, I thought we established that already.”

“I didn’t forget, my lady, it’s just fun to tease you. Your forehead scrunches up and you start threatening people,” said Azriel as he peered at your furrowed brows.

“Then don’t say or do things to make me threaten you in the first place!” You scowled while you smoothed your skin upwards with your fingers.

Morrigan watched Azriel and you banter, and her eyes lit up as she studied the two of you. She felt like she was intruding so she excused herself to get back to winnowing the humans from the villages.

“How are you feeling?” asked Azriel. “You ready for tomorrow?”

For the first time since the kiss, you looked deeply into his hazel eyes. “I’m fucking terrified. I was told to stop winnowing the humans because the High Lords wanted me to be well-rested for the battle,” you paused and took a breath. “Thesan wants me to unleash every drop of magic I can to poison Hybern. I still don’t know if I can do it at that magnitude.

Azriel took in your words and leaned closer. “Do you want to know one of the first thoughts I had when I met you? I thought you were incredible and the more I learned about you, the more impressed I was. For 49 years, you held your entire court together without the support of a High Lord. That’s pretty fucking powerful.”

You sighed, “I don’t know, Azriel. I’m scared I won’t be strong enough. What I have to do tomorrow may decide which side the scale will tip.”

Azriel watched your furrowed brow slowly return. He wished you didn’t have to take on this much responsibility and wished he could be fighting by your side. His shadows must have been thinking the same thing because they drifted to you. The wisps danced around your wings or intertwined themselves in your hair.

“You are one of the best warriors I have ever seen. I have a feeling that you’re going to be amazing tomorrow, I know it.”

You smiled at his confidence in you. It was nice to hear it after days of self-deprecating thoughts about your power. “Speaking about warriors—are you going to be stubborn and fight tomorrow?”

Azriel’s jaw set as he shook his head. “I’m furious that I won’t be there to help my brothers, Feyre, Amren, Mor, and… you. Morrigan begged me not to fight and frankly, I’m scared how badly you’ll both kick my ass if I do.”

You laughed and Azriel smiled. He wanted to listen to your laughter forever.

Nudging his arm, you tell him not to worry even though you know tomorrow is going to be a bloodbath. Comfortable silence fell between you, the only thing you could hear was the rhythmic crashing of water. The salty air smelled heavenly against the scent of cedarwood, the scent reminding you of that night.

“Are we going to talk about the kiss?” you blurted.

He felt his heartbeat quicken. “You said it was to distract from your potential mate… did it work?”

Azriel refrained from asking more questions about who the male was. He was afraid that if he knew the answer, he might do something he would regret.

“I think so… but I kind of feel bad about it. I hope it wasn't confusing for you. I’ve been considering you a friend, and I don’t want the kiss to make it awkward for the both of us.”

Friend.

His heart sunk at the word. Azriel peered down at your hopeful gaze. You seemed genuine about wanting to keep the friendship and Azriel would never want to lose that. He would rather be your friend forever and keep you in his life than never having you at all. He still had hope that one day you’d grow to love him but for now, this was enough.

“Don’t feel bad. I’ll always be happy to help you out with whatever you need,” said Azriel.

You beamed up at him. “Likewise.”

The two of you had a rocky start but that’s how you knew this friendship was going to be a great one. He earned your trust, and you earned his.

***

The cold crisp air was welcoming as you glid through the sky. Today was the big day. Potentially your last day. Instead of getting that extra hour of sleep, you wanted to make sure you watched today’s sunrise. It was beautiful, it was like the Mother knew that for hundreds of thousands, it would be their last, so she blessed the dawn sky. Pastel pink, blue, and orange were all you could see. You closed your eyes and basked as you savored the soft warmth of the sun.

One last look at the sky and then you dove down to go meet Thesan and Callon for breakfast. Meals with your cousin and his lover were usually joyful and filled with laughter but today, everyone was trying not to cry. Thesan and Callon were the ones you trusted most in the world. They were your family and the thought of either of them dying today was unimaginable. If something were to happen, you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself. You lost your parents, and you couldn’t lose someone again, Thesan and Callon were all you had.

You looked at Callon who held Thesan’s hand so tightly, his knuckles were white. Blinking back tears, you looked down and stirred your anti-faebane-laced coffee for the hundredth time. Callon would die to protect his High Lord, he would die to protect you. His loyalty to your family and the Court ran deep but even if he wasn’t, Callon loved you both so dearly. You were beginning to think all forms of love weren’t worth it. This hurt too much.

“My cousin, my second-in-command,” said Thesan gently. “If something happens to me in battle- “

You try to cut him off, but he gives you a look that silences you.

“You are the only living immediate relative of mine and the most powerful faerie in Dawn Court after me. Thanks to Rhysand and his knack for breaking the rules, if I die, you will be High Lady and I couldn’t be happier that the role will be passed to you.”

Feeling like a child again, your lips trembled. “That’s not going to happen because you’ll survive this. All of us will.”

Thesan glowed brighter, his familial love for you was overwhelming. He couldn’t stand the idea of leaving you alone again or the fact that you may leave him. “I don’t plan on dying today. I just want you to be prepared, that’s all.”

Tears finally escape and you don’t stop to wipe them. You nodded and looked at Thesan, “My power… I don’t know if I can do that much damage. I want to save as many Prythian lives as possible, but I don’t know if I can do this,” you said truthfully.

“When the shields are down and it’s time to unleash your poison, I want you to think about everything you care about. Think about me, Callon, and your friends. Think of all the humans and faeries you will protect. Think about the Dawn Court and all its beauty. That’s what you’re protecting and trust me, you’ll find that power.” His voice was deep and soothing, and every word hit you in your chest. Maybe you can do this. If High Lord Thesan believed in you, there should be no reason to doubt.

The battleground was a sight to see, the five courts and their legions were marching or winnowing in. Hybern was in the distance, their large numbers slowly gathering but you paid them no attention.

The golden armor felt cool against your skin, the helmet snug on your head, and the flat of your sheathed sword tapping your thigh as you walked amongst the Peregryn Battalion. Callon and Thesan had just finished their speeches to the soldiers, and they wanted to reserve the last one for the Golden Warrior. In the almost 50 years of Thesan’s absence from the throne, you were their leader, their Lady. They respected you and were honored to wear the same armor as you did.

They stood in attention as you made your way to the front, you gazed at the rows of soldiers with an aura of confidence and viciousness. The weeping lady from breakfast was long gone and was replaced with the fierce protector.

“May you all fly high and strike swiftly. May our blades and strength slay our enemies. May the Mother above protect us.” Your voice reverberated through the air. Everyone within a mile radius had their skin riddled with goosebumps as they felt your power radiate from you. “Hybern wants to take away the balance of our country and bring chaos. Let’s show them it’s not so easy to do so. Some of us may fall today, some of us may not. Fight hard and watch each other’s back, I will see you all on the other side.”

Last-minute preparations were being made while the rest of the court's armies were arriving. Callon handed you a scroll and told you to deliver it to the Illyrian General, your fae eyes tell you that winnowing would be faster. Honing on the image of Cassian, you winnowed next to him, but he didn’t immediately look at you, he was looking at the sight of Azriel handing the Truth Teller to Elain. You followed his eyes and realized that everyone was staring at Azriel and Elain.

Raising a brow, you tapped the scroll against Cassian’s chest to get his attention. “Callon wanted you to have this, I think it’s about flight formations.”

Shaking his head, he apologized and took the scroll from you.

“Why is everyone staring at them?” you asked peering at the Archeron sister you have yet to meet. She was looking at Azriel with big doe eyes and annoyance momentarily flared in your chest.

Cassian looked down at you and then back at Azriel. “Um—Azriel never lets anyone touch the Truth Teller. It’s just a strange sight, maybe he feels like his dagger would help her feel safer.”

You examined the doe-eyed fae, she looked like she had never held anything that sharp in her life.

It was then that Azriel’s shadows noticed your presence, they darted towards you, and you laughed when you heard their squeals of excitement. They floated around and whispered; they were admiring the golden armor that covered you. Azriel looked up and smiled when he saw you standing next to Cassian. He immediately limped his way to you, leaving the Archeron sister to curiously look at the newcomer with the white and gold wings.

You asked Cassian how his healing was, and Azriel rolled his eyes when Cassian pulled up his leathers showing you his toned abdomen with a giant scar running down the middle. You cast a hand over and smiled as you sensed that all his healing was done.

“You’re all good, but the scar might stay, it was too deep of a wound and--.”

“Don’t worry about it,” interrupted Cassian. “It’ll be a good reminder to follow orders. You know, I will never be able to thank you enough for saving my life. I wouldn’t be here without you, consider me indebted to you.”

You smiled at the General. “Make sure you survive; I’d like to take you up on that offer one day.”

Rhysand called Cassian over which left you and Azriel alone. You noticed he was still wearing Illyrian leathers and his siphons but no helmet in sight. He watched you notice the absence of his protective gear and he rolled his eyes at your approving nods.

“Have you come here to gloat and show off your armor?” joked Azriel.

“Ha. I’m not that cruel, Azriel. I can’t imagine how hard it is to stand back and do nothing,” you said sincerely. “I think it’ll make everyone feel better knowing you’re safe so in a way, you’re still helping.”

You looked at Elain who was holding Azriel’s dagger delicately, wary of the sharp parts.

“Cassian told me you have a name for that dagger, what was it again? Truth-something?”

“It’s Truth-Teller,” replied Azriel.

Blinking up at him, a small mischievous smile formed on your lips. “That’s dramatic. Do people get intimidated by that?” He looked so dumbfounded, and you couldn’t help but laugh at his expression.

“Actually,” he said with feigned defensiveness. “They do get intimidated by the dagger and my reputation. I guess you wouldn’t know about it because you’ve been living under a rock and can poison anyone and anything.”

Your head tipped back, and a hearty laugh comes out making Azriel grin. The entire morning had been filled with tears and stoicism, it felt good to laugh, it almost made you forget the battle was minutes away.

Azriel pointed to the ornate sword attached to your waist. “You can’t tell me something like that doesn’t have a name!”

You unsheathed the sword and brought it between you and Azriel. “You got me there,” you said as you tapped the three pearls near the hilt. “Her name is Deception, it used to be my father’s. He told me he called her Deception because she seems delicate and pretty but…when in the right hands, she’s also a killer and destroyer of armies.”

Azriel ran a scarred finger across the gold engravings on the blade. It was clean now but, in a few hours, it would be stained red.

“Just like her owner,” he said with a smirk.

A snort comes out and you quickly sheath the sword to distract from the reddening of your ears.

“I have to get back to the Peregryns, make sure we’re ready for the skies,” you said grimly.

Azriel swallowed a lump in his throat, his eyes scanning and committing every inch of your face to memory. He refused to believe this might be the last time he would see you. He wished you had more time, maybe...just maybe you might fall in love with him. Pushing away his useless dreams, Azriel looked at his beautiful mate.

“Please be careful,” said Azriel, his voice wavering slightly.

You were surprised by the emotion packed in his words; you swear his eyes were glistening. “I’ll be okay,” you reassured. “Just know that if I see you on the battlefield, I’ll fly down and kick your ass.”

Azriel’s lips twitched into a smile and then you winnowed, leaving a faint scent of lilacs.

Not too far away were the figures of Cassian, Rhysand, and Feyre huddled by a supply caravan pretending to be in a conversation. Feyre had learned you were Azriel’s mate a couple of days after the males found out. Cassian was giddy at all hours of the day, Rhysand kept pestering Azriel, and whenever Feyre saw the shadowsinger, he would be engulfed in shadows with his eyes staring off into the distance. It didn’t take long before Feyre could coax the answers out of her mate.

Because Azriel was Azriel, they had no solid idea how your relationship was progressing. So when they heard your banter, they all bit back smiles, they’ve never heard him talk this much. It gave them even more reasons to fight for their future, and their family's happiness.

***

The sheer size of Hybern’s army was staggering. There was no point trying to skew your perception to make you feel better. It was just a fact that Hybern had the larger army, but it didn’t mean Prythian didn’t have a few tricks up her sleeves.

The High Lords had ordered you to go to the front lines for the magic portion of the battle. Thesan didn’t like the idea of you standing too close to the Bone Carver, so he wanted you in the air. Your cousin was scared for you, but you were more concerned about how much power you could unleash.

You hovered close to the Bone Carver, curiosity making you look at the creature as he stared back at you with black eyes. Legends say he appeared differently to everyone and what you saw was a female. You weren’t sure if she was fae, she seemed otherworldly, beautiful, and ancient. She looked like death, not in the sense she looked ill and weak, she was death personified. You found that the longer you looked at her, the sense of dread rose like bile in your throat.

The Bone Carver could feel the sharp darkness from you and cocked its head. “Peculiar,” murmured the Bone Carver.

Before you could ask what he meant, something next to you materialized, with a hand on the hilt of your sword, you turned to see an even more terrifying creature.

Bryaxis.

You’ve heard scary stories about him in your youth, it was a creature that parents used to make their children behave. You remember only feeling safe from the creature once you learned it had been imprisoned in Night Court for centuries. Its dark shadowy figure loomed over you despite hovering a couple of feet from the ground. You heard shocked murmurs coming from both sides, no one was expecting this.

Steeling yourself, you looked at Bryaxis and dipped your head, even if you wanted to run for the hills. While glamoured, Bryaxis had the time to examine you, it felt that overwhelming power the Bone Carver talked about. There was something else, there was something familiar about you, but it couldn’t place it. You seemed too young to have met it before it was imprisoned.

You guess there was more excitement because next to the Bone Carver, appeared the Weaver. She was young and pretty unlike the stories you’ve heard of an old hag, meaning she must have feasted recently. She paid no attention to you; she was more occupied with the seemingly stunned Bone Carver.

“Golden warrior,” hissed Bryaxis.

The whisper of Bryaxis felt like insects crawling up your neck. You narrowed your eyes and looked at its terrifying face. You tried not to stare at its huge claws as it blinked and studied your figure.

“Yes?” You thanked the mother your voice didn’t tremble.

“If you are what I think you are, I have met you before,” hissed the creature. You weren’t even sure if its mouth was moving, you think it responded to you like a daemati.

“That’s impossible, I would have remembered.”

“No!” growled Bryaxis. “Not you, your predecessor.”

Your eyes widened at his admission. What did he mean? Has he met your parents? You asked but it ignored your questions. It started to whisper something nonsensical about war and killing as it looked toward the terrified Hybern soldiers.

Atop a grassy knoll, Azriel gawked as he watched you interact with the immortal creatures. Everyone around him sucked in a breath when he saw you speaking to Bryaxis. Rhysand could tell Azriel was itching to intervene, drag you away from danger so Rhys stood next to his brother.

What the hell is she doing? thought Azriel. Is she not scared?

He could tell both armies were watching you, some Prythians knew who you were but this set of Hybern soldiers were bewildered. Their soldiers probably couldn’t tell what was so special about this winged female, their shields preventing them from feeling your power. They wondered about your place amongst these dark immortal creatures. The soldiers in the front began to feel uneasy about the seemingly normal faerie.

The earth started to shake as the High Lords and Hybern started using their magic to take down the shields. Giving up on getting answers from Bryaxis, you took this as your cue to get ready. You flew high enough to the point where you could see most of Hybern’s army. Your wings flapped steadily as you looked forward and emptied your mind, ridding any feelings of uncertainty.

With your palms facing Hybern, you think of all the faeries you were protecting behind you. Gold and bronze light slowly leached from your skin and turned to wisps, each thought of your family, friends, and court made you glow brighter. The swirling wisps extended from your body and the enemy gulped at your display of power. Thesan, who was concentrating on using his magic to take down the shields grinned maniacally as he saw what his cousin was capable of.

Breathing deeply and slowly, you extended your arms out to the sides as more power gathered in your core. You think of the innocent children; faeries and humans who deserved a peaceful life ahead of them. The power that surged in and around you felt insane, you don’t think you’ve conjured this much energy in your entire life. You felt vicious and you were counting down the seconds you could get your hands on the Hybern bastards.

The moment you felt Hybern’s shield fall, you roared as power erupted from your body. The light you emitted was strong enough to blind a faerie if they didn’t close their eyes fast enough. Gold and bronze flung out as you slashed your arm in the air and then the screaming started. Your magic was faster than the dark creatures below you, so Hybern tasted your death first. Soldiers gurgled on their own blood as they bled from every orifice, some screamed in agony as their insides liquified, and others just dropped dead.

There was so much energy thrumming inside you and this time, something felt different, like you had unlocked a new ability. Out of instinct, you raised a hand, and a pulse of gold wisps hurtled towards the target. Moments before the blast hit Hybern, the wisps turned into a thick bronze mist that hung heavily in the air. You could barely see through the fog but when it cleared, a gasp escaped your lips. Piles of bodies lay unmoving on the ground; the mist had killed everything in its path forcing Hybern’s armies to split into two.

Hundreds of bodies turned into thousands, and the Court’s armies roared their war cries. Now that Bryaxis, Bone Carver and the Weaver had crossed enemy lines, the sounds of screams became louder. Prythian soldiers marched forward and began to fight. You stayed in the air sending blasts of your poison hoping it would reach and weaken those in the back. Once you felt your magic sputter, you fell back and flew to the Peregryn and Illyrian legions.

The Peregryn commander grasped your arm and brought you close. “Holy shit, y/n! I knew you could do it!” grinned Callon.

You panted and rested your head on Callon's shoulder for a moment. “I didn’t know I could do that!”

“I hope you have more fight in you, my lady. We start aerial attacks in 60 seconds.”

The wicked smile on your face was enough of an answer for Callon. You unsheathed Deception and poised your arm ready for anything.

The booming orders of Callon and Cassian first sent the archers and then the rest of the legions charging toward the Attors who were making their way toward you. Everything felt like a blur as the winged squadrons plummeted to the earth and took the fight to the ground. Magical shields were useless against ash arrows, forcing everyone to switch to physical shields. You were immediately splattered with blood, but you didn’t care as long as it wasn’t yours.

You moved in a deadly dance with anything that came close to you whether it was a soldier, Attor, or hound. It was rhythmic and sometimes you didn’t even have to think, it was all instinct. You spotted a squad of Peregryn warriors having trouble with Attors about a hundred feet into the air. With a twitch of your wings, you shot up to the sky and showed no mercy to the clawed creatures.

You were catching your breath and preparing to dive down into the fray when you swear you heard someone calling your name. Brows furrowed, you looked toward the Prythian side. You heard it again, it sounded desperate and guttural, and your wings and body felt compelled to follow the direction of the voice. A second later, you see Cassian with his flaring siphons shoot up near you and start flying as fast as he can toward Rhysand.

“What is he doing?” you murmured.

Then, something in the air shifted, something powerful and ominous from over the hill on the Hybern side. You looked back at Cassian’s frantic figure getting smaller in the distance.

Something was wrong and you didn’t like it.

“FALLBACK!” you roared. “FALLBACK!”

The Peregryns and Illyrians who heard immediately withdrew and followed you in the skies. You felt searing heat behind and just before a white light reached you, you thrusted your magic outwards creating a bubble of protection around the Peregryns and Illyrians closest to you. Those with siphons locked their magic into your shield at the same time. The siphon shields and your magic held on just long enough to hurtle you and those under your protection backward into the sky. Once your wings stabilized, you cried out in horror as you saw the ashes of thousands of Illyrians and Peregryns drift to the ground.

You wildly looked around for Callon, your eyes wide with fear as you scanned the disoriented Peregryns and Illyrians. It was Callon who found you, his hands reaching for your shoulders needing to see for himself you hadn’t been killed.

“Find Thesan,” ordered Callon, his voice desperate. “Dawn needs a future, and you are its future. Find Thesan and stick with him… I’ll feel better knowing you’re together.”

Your eyes widened in shock. Callon has never, ever spoken to you in that tone before. He respected your rank and title in the court and Dawn’s royal family. This was the voice of a commander who knew that whatever that blast was, was something you could not beat.

“But what about- “

“We’ll be okay, we’ll integrate with the Illyrians, and Wyla and Bersk can help me manage what's left of our legion,” said Callon. He paused; his eyes begging you to listen to him. “Please.”

With a nod goodbye, you turned around and sent out two sharp whistles. A second later, you heard Thesan’s response toward your left. You winnowed next to him, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. In a similar fashion to Callon, he cradled your face and looked you over for injuries.

“I thought you were gone. The blast-- I thought I lost you,” said Thesan. He was panting from magical exhaustion and his eyes were glistening at the thought of your death.

Your lip trembled before you forced a smile onto your face. “I would be if you didn’t call my name.”

Thesan shook his head. “That wasn’t me… I mean I heard someone scream your name, but I was too busy holding the shields over the foot soldiers.”

“Then who was it?”

Thesan’s eyes flickered toward the shadow that discreetly held onto the shoulder of your armor. It was expertly placed, somewhere you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for it.

“I don’t know,” replied Thesan. “It doesn’t matter now, what’s important is you’re here.”

Thesan filled you in on what was happening, he explained that Spring, Autumn, and human armies had joined in. Hybern was using the Cauldron to target the death gods which was one of the reasons why Thesan wanted you near him. It was strange to be on this side of the battle, the part where the High Lords and their second in command stayed back to delegate and fight only when needed.

Everywhere you looked was filled with chaos and death. Prythian armies were slowly getting overwhelmed and just when things couldn’t get worse, Rhysand sent out a magical warning that Hybern ships were approaching your side. Flying over to where Rhysand and his court were standing on the cliffside, you gathered your power and sent out bursts of poison toward their armada. You could hear the screams of agony and bodies dropping on the decks, but it wasn’t enough. Your power couldn’t reach that far out, and more ships were coming your way. Your magic reserves were always quick to restore but this was a battle, you were never going to have enough. Tapping into everything, you managed to conjure the bronze mist, but it was only enough to cover one ship.

You staggered forward, panting from exertion. Cassian placed a hand on your elbow and pulled you down to sit. “Rest,” he insisted. “You’re going to do more bad than good if you completely deplete yourself.”

You looked at him and saw the same guilt that you felt. You had both survived the blast and there was nothing you could do to change that.

Your gasps for breath were slowly turning into hyperventilating sobs. Until now, the shadow on your shoulder had stayed quiet to avoid detection. It chittered reassuring words but you were too occupied to notice.

“If I don’t do something we’re all going to die sooner or later,” you said bluntly.

Rhysand, Feyre, Cassian, and Nesta looked at each other solemnly, they knew you were right. Rhys almost called for Azriel to come back and be here with you, but he couldn’t, he needed Azriel to be within the northern flanks.

Concentrating on refilling your energy, you tried to block out the voices of Night Court and stared at the daunting sea. You had managed to take down fifteen ships, all of them crashing together now that there was no one to steer them. Your poison slowed Hybern but in thirty minutes, you were sure the rest would make their way to shore.

You were feeling completely hopeless until the sounds of horns announced the arrival of thousands of white-feathered Seraphim and countless warships from different nations. Their presence had tipped the scale, and it gave Prythian a fighting chance. With a renewed sense of energy and spirit, you and Thesan fought hard as the battle reached you.

It was interesting to fight amongst white-feathered fae, the Peregryns grinning whenever a Seraphim jumped in to help them. You fought wherever the battle would take you, sometimes next to Thesan or several feet above.

The smell of blood and screams of mercy overtook your senses and it began to get overwhelming again, the chaos never ending. You knew you were going to see Peregryns die, you thought you were prepared but you weren’t. Screaming in horror, you watched Wyla’s limp bloodied body dive toward the earth. She was one of the best warriors you had ever seen and now she was gone.

You don’t think you’ve stopped moving, one hand holding your sword and the other hand shooting magic. You would see a Prythian soldier faltering and either you or Thesan would send your magic to heal whatever it could.

Heal, stab, poison, slash, and heal again. It was a never-ending cycle, and you were beginning to think Hybern may be winning again. As long as Hybern had the Cauldron, you were afraid Prythian would fall. You overheard Feyre and Amren talking about going to the Caudron and you prayed to the Mother they had a plan.

You had just killed an Attor, its head was still in your hand as you watched its body plummet to the ground. A cry came out of your lips when you saw all High Lords had transformed into their monstrous beast forms. You saw an obsidian-winged beast, a golden-winged creature with razor-sharp talons but what made you stagger in the air was Thesan in his gold and white phoenix form. The beast form was the High Lords’ last case scenario, and this only meant one thing.

Prythian was losing.

Even if you were exhausted and bloody, you kept going. You refused to die today. You had dived into the Attor legion, killing swiftly and quickly. A glimmer of blue cobalt shined in the corner of your eye and when you turned to look, a gasp escaped your lips. Fighting alongside the obsidian beast and the white and gold phoenix was Azriel.

What the hel is he doing? Anger boiled within you at the sight of the blue-siphoned Illyrian. He’s not healed yet, he’s going to get hurt.

You noticed he was getting surrounded by Hybern creatures and before you could dive down, you felt claws grab onto your wings. Your eyes went wide as you tried to turn but it was too late, claws had dug into your back and left wing as if it were trying to rip your wing off. A blood-curdling scream erupted, and you flailed trying to get the creature with your sword. An Attor popped up in front of you and just as you tried to hit it with poison, something pierced into your stomach. Before it could fully drive in its dagger, something bright, scorching, and fiery flew close to you.

Then you were falling.

You couldn’t move, you had no control over the only thing that could stop you from falling to your death. Your hands reached out and clawed the air as if there was an invisible rope you could latch onto. Terrified panic was the only thing you felt, like many times before, you were alone and left to your own devices. No one was going to catch you.

All you could see was the blur of your arms and blood-stained wings as you hurtled to the ground.

It won’t be too long now, you thought. The impact will kill me.

There was nothing you could do so you closed your eyes.

a/n: Hello! Don't forget to comment and reblog, I love love love reading your thoughts and reactions! Thank you for reading :)

#azriel x reader #azriel fanfiction #azriel fanfic #azriel x y/n #azriel x you #azriel x female!reader #azriel acotar #acotar fanfiction #azriel angst #azriel shadowsinger #a court of wings and ruin #azriel #acomaf #azriel fan fic

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its-ares · 1 month

Text

— Echoes of Longing

Male Reader

Months have passed since Kai was imprisoned in the Prision World again. With a broken heart, you think back to the moment when Bonnie locked up your boyfriend - she snatched him from your arms. You can still remember Kai's last words, the last kiss, his smell and how his hands were on your cheek and tenderly wiped away your tears.

"I'll be back, pretty baby. And when we're together again, nothing can separate us. I love you," Kai whispered and kissed you one last time for a very long time.

Since Kai left, you have only been physically present. Your days are filled with crying and hoping. In your head, you know that you may never see Kai again. But your heart continues to hope.

Your friends, if you can still call them friends, check on you every day. Bonnie is the only one who doesn't visit you. Understandably, you wouldn't wish the pain she caused you on anyone. A big part of you doesn't want to see her at all, it's hard to imagine what you would do! But a very small part of you wants to talk to her, wants to understand exactly why she did it. You actually know why Bonnie did it, but you begged her not to do it and yet she sent Kai back to the Prison World.

It was a quiet Wednesday, 9 months had passed since Kai was imprisoned again. You couldn't leave your apartment for weeks, it became a place of refuge for you and Kai. You lived in your own bubble there, nobody could get to you. But you knew you couldn't stay at home forever, so you decided to go to the library. You spent months gathering information to bring Kai back, but no book or spell worked and at some point, after a breakdown, you threw everything away.

After you had gathered all the books together, you quickly went back to your apartment. In your living room, you had scattered all the books on the floor, and notes with your thoughts scribbled on them were flying around everywhere. You leaned against the couch and looked at all the information you had collected.

You notice a small black book that sticks out a little from your small coffee table. You carefully take it out of the stack and leaf through the pages. Almost at the very end of the book you notice a handwritten note. You recognize the handwriting straight away; Kai must have written something in it back then.

To escape the Prison World you need a Bennett, she will show you how to bring someone back. Just because it seems hopeless doesn't mean it won't work.

After reading the note, you know what you have to do. You get up and quickly collect everything important and pack it in your backpack. A hope grows within you that you haven't felt for a long time. When you step out of your apartment, you run to Bonnie. When you arrive at her house, you knock energetically on her door.

When the door opens, you squeeze through. "What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked, surprised. She's wanted to visit you so many times, she's sat in her car so often and has been able to force herself to get out. You look at her determinedly. "I want you to help me get Kai back."

"That's impossible and you know it. Please finally write Kai off," Bonnie said, looking sad. You laugh and show her the notebook.

"Don't tell me to forget my soulmate," you snap. "There's a note from Kai in here, he says I need a Bennett witch so I can get someone out of the Prison World." You show her the notebook and Bonnie looks surprised, she never thought Kai would give it another thought. She also never thought he would leave you a note.

"Bonnie please, I need Kai - I need him so much." Tears gather in your eyes. The others never understood why you fell in love with Kai. They thought he had manipulated you, but when they saw you break down, they knew that he really meant something to you.

"I don't know if it will work. I don't want you to get your hopes up too much," Bonnie said, taking your hands. “I have to try,” you say, looking at her determinedly.

You and Bobbie prepare everything you need. Out of the corner of your eye you notice how she keeps watching you. "If you want to say something, then just say it," you say and look at her demandingly.

"You're right, I want to say something. I'm sorry. After the incident, I wanted to visit you so often and I didn't dare. I hid behind the thought that you didn't want to see me anyway. It wasn't until Kai was gone that I realized how much he meant to you. And when I think of the moments when you looked at him, you looked at Kai the way I always looked at Enzo. That's when I realized that you love Kai." Bonnie cries, you never thought that she would apologize or that she would feel so bad.

Part of you still wants to hate Bonnie, but the other part just wants to forgive her and get your friendship back. You surprise Bonnie when you walk up to her and hug her. You just hug for a while, but when you pull away, Bonnie laughs and wipes away her tears.

"Okay, we have everything now. Let's try it," says Bonnie and you smile gratefully. You sit down and start with the spell. You feel a wind suddenly blowing around you and then the candles go out.

"Did it work?" you ask, looking around. Bonnie looked confused. She reached for the book and flipped through the pages frantically. "What's wrong?" you ask, moving closer to her.

"It should have worked, why didn't it work? We did everything it said, that‘s impossible," she murmured and turned the page. You and Bonnie tried again and again, but nothing worked. All the hope you still had disappeared.

Hours have passed, the moon was high in the sky and the stars were glittering. You and Bonnie were sitting on the couch, the TV was on in the background, neither of you could stand the silence. You looked out the window and watched the stars. Kai had to be out there somewhere, waiting for you. Is he also looking at the stars and thinking about you?

"What are you thinking about?" Bonnie asked and you smiled painfully. "I wonder if Kai is thinking about me too. I hope he knows that I'm doing everything I can to bring him home," you whispered and wiped away a tear. Bonnie moved closer to you and put her hand on yours. "I'm sure Kai is thinking about you and he knows that you're doing everything in your power to get him back."

At some point you fell asleep on the couch, you talked for a long time - Bonnie explained to you why she acted like that. Somehow that day brought you back together. You haven't completely forgiven her yet, but you're on the right track.

You and Bonnie spent the morning reading the books. You marked the important things and you both wanted to try the spell again this evening. Then at lunchtime you made your way home.

You arrive at your apartment and unlock the door. You put your backpack next to the door. You are just about to take off your jacket when you hear a noise from the living room. You pick up the baseball bat that is next to the door and slowly walk towards the living room.

As you walk through the doorway you can't believe your eyes. Kai is sitting on the couch, you drop the bat and shake your head. "No, you're not here, this must be a dream. You can't be here, it didn't work," you mumble to yourself and pull at your hair.

Kai jumped up and walked quickly towards you. "Baby stop, I'm here - I'm here." Your boyfriend took you in his arms and pressed you tightly against his body. You couldn't believe it. You had been wanting this exact moment for months and now it was here.

Tears dripped onto Kai's sweater, but he didn't care. Finally he could hold you in his arms again. "I'm here now and I'm never leaving you again, pretty baby."

It felt so good to be in Kai's arms again. You both missed it so much. He sealed his promise with a deep kiss. No one can ever separate you again.

#kai parker x male reader #malachai parker x male reader #malachai parker #the vampire diaries

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slasher-smasher · 2 months

Text

Tamp-On the Heroics (Homelander x gn!reader)

Two fics in one day?? Yeah, I am absolutely bored and highly caffeinated.

This is not meant to be taken seriously. I thought the idea would be silly and funny.

Words: 1,618

Masterlist: here

Warnings: None, unless you consider ridiculousness a warning.

Reader is written as GN but they do own a feminine product. I just used it as a plot device.

Not beta read.

Summary: Homelander finds himself in a sticky situation when his son, Ryan has an accident and he grapples with the challenges of parenthood and unexpected emergencies. Being bombarded with texts from a hysterical supe boyfriend was not something you were expecting when you went to work that morning.

Your phone goes off five times during your shift at your job. At first you didn’t think anything of it. Probably just a telemarketer or some scammer calling to let you know about your “cars extended warranty”. Jokes on them, you don’t own a car. Why ride when you can fly first class on Homelander airlines?

When your phone rang a third time, you got a little curious. Maybe it was someone trying to get a hold of you. But who? Your friends are here at work with you. Your boyfriend Homelander rarely uses his phone to get a hold of you, plus he would just fly over if he really needed something. You tried sneaking your phone out to check before you boss walked like a prison warden, hands laced behind their backs, eyes scanning for anything they can chew you out for that is preventing you from doing your work. You weren’t really the best at subtlety so when you attempted to pull your phone out from your desk drawer, you almost slammed the drawer on your fingers in your hurry to close it as your boss poked their head around the corner to call you for a quick meeting in the staff room.

Damn.

After the fifth time was when you got worried. You swiped your phone then rushed into the restroom locking the door behind you. Seeing eleven notifications of missed texts made you feel a surge of panic. Your fingers tremble slightly as you unlock your phone to scroll through the messages.

Heroic Hunk : Hey pumpkin, just checking in on you. I would fly over but Ryan is visiting. 😊

Heroic Hunk: Oh, I just remembered, did you put milk on the shopping list? We are going to need more. Ryan keeps guzzling down MY milk when he puts that fucking sugary strawberry powder shit in it. I swear he was dropped as a baby. Fucking gross.

Heroic Hunk: Precious, funny story… So I was helping Ryan practice his flying and we thought playing catch would have been a fun challenge. He got a bit too into it and there may have been an accident.

Heroic Hunk: Ryan flew face first into a tree…🤦🏼

Heroic Hunk: Okay, so Ryan just had a nosebleed, and you are not picking up. I'm freaking out a bit. What do I do???

Heroic Hunk: Seriously, what's the protocol here? Should I call a doctor? Should I fly him to a hospital? Why are you not picking up??

Heroic Hunk: I'm starting to panic a bit... his nosebleed won't stop! What if it's something serious? I NEVER HAD A FUCKING NOSEBLEED BEFORE!!

Heroic Hunk: I tried using a tissue, but it's not helping much. Should I try something else? How can my kid bleed so much? ANSWER THE GODDAMN PHONE!

Heroic Hunk: Okay, update: I found something in the bathroom. I saw this being used in a movie. Going to see if it works. I’ll call you after.

Heroic Hunk: It seemed to work, but now I'm worried I've done something wrong. 😬

Heroic Hunk: Update: The bleeding stopped, but Ryan's giving me weird looks. Was that a bad move? Please advise a.k.a call me back.

Heroic Hunk: Crisis averted! 💪 Love you! 😘

You were so confused and incredibly worried now. What the fuck has happened? Why did John think having a young child—who recently just learned how—fly through a forest AND play catch at the same time was a good idea? You can’t leave your boys alone for two seconds without something either burning down or someone ends up bleeding.

You looked at the time on your phone before you pressed the call button next to the name he put in for himself.

It rang twice before he picked up.

"Hey pumpkin. You ready for me to pick you up?” He answered jovially. Like he didn’t send a plethora of panicked texts your way just an hour ago.

“Hi sweetheart. I am really sorry I didn’t answer my phone earlier. I was in a meeting. Is everything ok?” You tried to keep your voice even and calm.

“Oh yeah. Everything is all hunky-dory. Just a little mishap. We are currently watching one of my movies. Kid is mesmerized.” Homelander replied with pride and a laugh, you could hear the tv in the background. Sounds of explosions and guns going off.

“Well ok. Yeah. I am ready. Need to file away some papers but I’ll be done by the time you get here.” You sighed, still a little unconvinced but you will find out everything yourself when you get home.

“Alrighty! I’ll be there in a sec. I’ll bring your jacket too since it’s starting to get chilly. Love you.” He made a kissing noise into the phone which you replied with your own I love you too and kiss.

He was right. It was getting chilly as you waited on the roof of your office building. You started using the roof for drop offs and pick ups when using the front entrance got too hectic. Having a celebrity boyfriend who was the most powerful supe came with the pains of having people fall over themselves just to get an autograph or photo with him. The swarms got so bad that you almost broke your arm being tripped as they rushed to meet their idol. That almost ended in a bloodbath which would not go over well with your boss when you had to explain that your short-tempered man-child of a partner lasered half of the employees over an accident.

“You look like you need a ride.” Homelanders' teasing voice snapped you of your thoughts making you look up as he slowly floated down to greet you. His signature cape swishing in the cool breeze. God he was beautiful. Blue pools that sparkled with mischief. His smug smile and corny jokes made your heart race and you couldn’t help but laugh.

You were so gone for this man.

“Hey there handsome.” You greeted as you settled yourself into his warm embrace.

“You ok? You look tired.” He asked, concern can be seen in his face handing you your jacket.

“Yeah, it was just a long day. Let's go home and get some dinner. Ryan is probably hungry.” You answered as you put it on and relaxed into his arms when he wrapped his arm under your knees and lifted you easily. Thank you super strength.

You could have fallen asleep with how gentle he was with you during the short flight back but you forced your eyes to stay open.

Landing softly in the front yard of the cabin you pulled him down to plant a kiss on his lips and thanked him for the lovely ride as always. Full stars on yelp. He let out a chuckle and took your hand into his as you walked into the house.

You let out a satisfied sigh as the heat from the fire in the fireplace greeted you. Looking around the living room you didn’t see Ryan which made you frown. He usually rushes to give you a big hug but he was nowhere to be found.

“Ry? I’m home.” You called out in a normal voice. Knowing he inherited his fathers sensitive hearing so there was no need to be loud.

“I’m in my room! I’ll be right out!” You heard him respond from deeper into the home. You looked back at Homelander who just shrugged.

“Probably playing with his little Legos. He said something about recreating a scene from the movie before I left to get you.” He supplied as he walked into the kitchen.

That boy and his Legos, you thought as you followed Homelander who poured two glasses of milk and handed you one.

“Did you get my text about the list? If not, then I can have someone drive out here and get everything delivered.” He asked before he took a sip of his favorite beverage. Holding your with both hands as you also took a drink. You were not as big of a fan as Homelander is but you do enjoy the cold taste of milk occasionally.

“I did but I wanted to ask Ryan if he wanted to go with me tomorrow. You know he likes looking at the Legos in the toy section,” You said as you took another sip then a thought popped into your head. ”Speaking of text, what did you end up using for Ryan’s nosebleed anyway?”

Homelander finished his glass with a large gulp licking his lips as he set the glass down on the counter. He looked at you with a proud grin which if you were honest, made you suspicious.

“I couldn’t believe it worked but it makes sense with what it is actually designed to do. Just a different hole.” Homelander lifted his hand, pointing at the ceiling and twirling it in a circle indicating to turn around.

Wait, what? Hole?

You gave him a confused look then turned around and spat out your mouthful of milk as you saw Ryan walk into the living room with a large grin that made him look even more like his father. What ruined the similarity was the dangling string that was attached to a piece of cotton shaped into a bullet that was shoved up his nostril.

“OH MY GOD. JOHN!” You couldn’t breathe due to the giggles shaking your body.

“What? It does the same thing!” He defended.

You completely forgot you had tampons in your bathroom.

“Well it did stop the bleeding,” you managed to breathe out as you walked over to give the boy a hug.

You love your boys so much.

#homelander #the boys amazon #homelander x reader #homelander x you #crack fic #my writing #Homelander is a milk drinker #ryan butcher #gn reader

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eshithepetty · 1 year

Text

EXCELLENT CHOICE to actually show ???%'s expressions a little instead of them just being a black void with white, blank eyes. Especially since we don't get their internal narration like we do in the manga. Gives a nod to the fact that this is a person, not just an unthinking entity,,, i love it

[ID: two screenshots of Unknown Percentage from season 3, episode 10 of Mob Psycho 100, where they're first shown to be glaring, teeth gritted, then raising their head, eyes widening in what looks like surprise. End ID.]

Also, anyone else get the sense that here, ???% was leaning in to Teru to check if..... well, maybe not if he's okay, but if he's alive at least? Whether or not that means they care for Teru's well being, I'm not sure, but I find it interesting. In the least, it does show that they are aware that they are hurting people, and not just doing it indiscriminately, so that's something.

[ID: a screenshot of Unknown Percentage eerily leaning over Teru, who is prone. End ID.]

In light of that, it's also interesting to consider exactly what ???% kept attacking Teru for then. This part is gonna get a bit long, though (as ???% is my childe and I have many a dozen thoughts about them), so I'm putting it under readmore.

(Also, there are gonna be manga spoilers on account of me getting way too deep into it, so beware !!)

[ID: a screenshot of Unknown Percentage, facing away from the viewer, looking up at the sky where Teru's bag is exploding where it floats. All the following images are screenshots as well. End ID.]

1 ) First thing first, ???% immediately destroys Teru's bag. I don't think there's much to this one, but you could consider this a sign of hypervigilance - they saw Teru drop something, and immediately went to destroy it, perhaps in fear that it was aimed for them. So it quickly becomes obvious, that ???% is quite distrustful.

[ID: In the first, Teru is in side profile, looking to an off screen Unknown Percent, saying, "I'm not sure what happened," and in the next image, he is facing front, his face still relaxed, but now illuminated by the white light of Unknown Percentage's powers, saying "but if I'd suffice, I'd be happy to lis-" then cutting off. End ID.]

2 ) Next, Teru says this, and ???% immediately gets angry... I think. The first part, the implication from Teru that 'something must have happened for you to act this way' is what annoys ???% more. Because to them, they're just finally acting as they've always wanted to.. This isn't a bad thing to them. And they're frustrated that Teru, this person that acted much like them not even that long ago, is looking to talk them out of it.

[ID: In the first, we see Mob's bouquet of flowers, Teru off screen saying "Oh, you bought flowers! That's great!". In the next, he's smiling as he says, "But it might be a little dangerous going as you are right now.". In the third, he is illuminated by that same light, only brighter, his hair sweeping back, his expression turning panicked. End ID.]

3 ) Now this one... manga readers will know, ???% wanted to see Tsubomi as much as Mob. And so Teru denying them that chance here... well, suffice it to say, they feel a bit rejected here. Reigen told Mob in the previous episode to show his 'true self'. And in ???%'s eyes, they are the true self. To let Mob simply continue on, lie to Tsubomi as they see it, and keep pretending ???% wasn't a part of him, as if they weren't the whole reason he was even still alive right now... ???% probably would find that unbearable.

[ID: In the first, Teru is frowning and sweating, saying, "You leave me no choice." In the next, the background behind him has turned an ominous purple, his expression intense, Unknown Percent's shoulder seen in the corner as Teru restrains them with his telekinetically powered scarf, and says "I'm gonna have to keep you restrained until your powers calm-". And in third, we see his vacant face, flying through the clouded sky, his noise slightly bleeding. End ID.]

4 ) Once again, Teru is denying ???% being a part of Mob, being Kageyama-kun, instead labeling them as just Mob's 'power'. Fitting for Teru, who just in this episode said, "[Kageyama-kun taught me], how important it is to accept yourself without any psychic powers." For Teru, accepting himself without his powers was essential, since he hinged his everything on them to an unhealthy degree. But to Shigeo, the opposite is true. And ???% has had enough of being restrained.

[ID: In the first, it's closed up on Teru's trembling hand, which he is clutching with the other, saying "Kageyama-kun...." The second image is a closeup of Teru's eye, slightly serious, as he says "Stop this. You should head home for the day." And third is a similarly composed closeup of Unknown Percent's eye, glowing a bright white against his shadowed skin, as Teru continues off screen, "It's for your own good." End ID.]

5 ) The same as in the third point, except this time, there's the added salt of Teru saying "It's for your own good", as if he even knows the slightest thing about ???%, and, by extension, about Shigeo (as ???% sees it). Logically, we know that it truly doesn't do Shigeo any good to let ???% just keep rampaging like this. But ???% doesn't. Feelings are often irrational. And in this case, ???% just feels scorned.

[ID: In first, it is closed up on Unknown Percent, them turning back to the flowers flying behind them, their mouth slightly open in alarm. Teru in the background is staring wide-eyed, aura glowing. In second, Teru is looking more serious, saying, "If I destroy those...". In third, it is focused on the flowers, Unknown Percent and Teru in the background, as the bouquet gets enveloped in Teru's powers, seemingly exploding. In fourth, it is closed up on Teru's gritted teeth, as Unknown Percent grips their hand around his throat, choking him. End ID.]

6 ) Once again, same as third point... ???% is very determined to do this one thing 'right'. The fact that Teru almost took that chance entirely away from them probably scares them. And, of course... there's the obvious parallels with the choking.... this follows Teru's little inner monologue about how Mob has changed him. So even though I am still undecided on whether this was an intentional act of revenge on ???%'s part or not, the narrative meaning of this is pretty clear... they are, as Mob said all that time ago, the same, in that Mob needs to deal with his feelings involving his powers just as Teru did.

[ID: In first, Teru is noticeably beat up, expression worn and concerned, as he asks, "Kageyama-kun, are you having some kind of episode?". In second and third, it pans the back of Teru's head across the screen to reveal more of Unknown Percentage, a he says "To think you, of all people, would go berserk and lose control of your powers...". In fourth, the background has turned to a splash of warm yellow, as Teru disjointedly smiles, points a finger at them and proclaims "I guess you're pretty average, too! I'm a bit relieved, honestly.". The fifth is a closeup of Unknown percent's eye, staring angrily. And the next, the lines shadowing them get more intense, and Teru in the background lets out a "No..." End ID.]

7 ) Whoooowgh,,, this part..... it's hard to hear, but ???% gasps a little after Teru calls them average. I think... this runs deeper than Shigeo's relationship to Teru and their collective view on a person's worth. I think, this traces way back to Reigen. When he told Mob, right after he hurt a loved one with strength beyond any 'normal' person all by accident, that he's 'just like everyone else'. That he's average. I think... this talk. Was instrumental to the born divide between Mob and ???%, just as the actual violent act was. Because how do you reconcile the fact that you're apparently just some normal, average, harmless little kid, with the fact that you can also kill people without even trying? While not even aware?

Reigen does say, after all, upon seeing this. Upon actually witnessing ???%, Mob's power in it's entirety, that he didn't know about this. He didn't know. He had no idea, and he was just speaking out of his ass about things he didn't understand... so while that advice did help Mob immensely in a lot of ways, people aren't wrong about that... I think. A lot of people are also missing that this advice Reigen gives isn't the full picture. That it is, just like everything about the conman, flawed. Just as Reigen influenced Mob positively, he was also one of the negative influences in his life, that led to this point. To Mob splitting himself in halves, and paying the price.

Everything and everyone, after all, has two sides to them.

[ID: First is a closeup of Teru's eyes, the background being a stark white, everything illuminated in a haunting red glow. His expression is horrified, he is bleeding from his nose, and someone in the background is yelling "Help!". In the second and third, Unknown Percentage turns to Teru wordlessly, as the people around them continue to shout "Look out!" and "Save me!". End ID.]

8 ) And you can see it here. The way ???% is staring at Teru, almost asking him, "Do you see it? What I am actually capable of? Is this really 'the average' you speak of?" because I have the feeling, Shigeo is tired of people brushing past his very real concerns of being more than capable of hurting people, to a disastrous extent. To deny he is different in any way, is to deny his capabilities are different, and that what he needs is different as well. He cannot go on living just as any other human without powers, or as any other esper even. Because although he is equal to everyone else on a human level, he is not the same as everyone. This desire to fit in, to not stand out, to not acknowledge his unique fears and desires and feelings, is the entire reason 'Mob' as a persona got constructed. And ???% is finally finding the chance to unravel all of it.

[ID: two shots framed from low perspective, the background being a cloudy, gray sky, as Unknown Percentage first looks down at an off screen unconscious Teru, then turns their back, beginning to walk away. End ID.]

It is meaningful, then, that after this, ???% just lets the people Teru saved float, and leaves the boy to lay on the ground, to continue on. It wasn't really their intention to hurt people just to hurt. They certainly don't care that much about their pain right now, either, but. It was for a point. It was all just to prove a point, to Teru, to the world. That they're not something to be stifled. That their desires deserve to be heard, too. And, more than anything... I think it was a way to get back at Mob, at this person that has shunned them all this time, and say - you think you're the only one who deserves to be happy? You think you can be happy, with me continuing to writhe underneath the surface, unacknowledged, like this? How long are you going to go on? How long, until I'm able to exist freely again? And how long, until you realize, that what happened 4 years ago, wasn't a fluke?

Because they're not the one who hurt Ritsu. It wasn't some otherworldy entity, this power that is inhuman and uncontrollable and unreachable. It was Shigeo. Shigeo, who is comprised of Mob, in all his desire for self control, and ???%, in all his desire for freedom. And only through them meeting together, can they fulfill both, and learn to not repeat those same mistakes.

Because Shigeo is human. And Shigeo is the protagonist of his own life. For better, for worse <3

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #kageyama shigeo #hanazawa teruki #meta #character analysis #unknown percentage #question mark percent #mp100 season 3 spoilers #mp100 manga spoilers #mp100 finale spoilers #described #my own post #god this took so long sjdfsjfs...#but fuck i needed to get this out there :')#man... the horrors were truly witnessed today;;;... cant wait for them to return in a week ahahahh....#anyways i.need to go to sleep now. buhyeee;; o(-(

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fieldofdaisiies · 2 months

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azriel x eris | 3,6k words | warnings: none | masterlist

The past few days have flown by faster than expected, leaving Azriel feeling on edge, as if he's sitting on needles – or more accurately , standing on them.

It's only been a week since he last saw Eris, and his family still has no idea about their clandestine meeting. And they will never find out about it. There's a lingering fear that Eris might say something to reveal their secret meeting in the Autumn Court, and everything will blow up and his family will find out.

Eris on the other hand can also never find out Azriel didn't go there under Rhysand's order but entirely of his own volition. What would it look like? And what explanation would Azriel have for it?

Now, he is standing in the throne room of the Hewn City alongside his brothers, anticipating Eris' arrival. Though he wished to remain in the Court of Dreams, he had to come here.

It almost felt like something was pulling him to come here. When he stood in front of the large mirror in the corner of his bedroom, checking his appearance once more before leaving, there was this tug on his ribcage, urging him to move, to come here. It had been a prickling sensation within him, almost like something tickled his soul.

However, the discussion with Rhys about whether Elain would accompany them or not dampened that sensation.

“Shouldn’t Elain stay with Nyx?”

Rhys turned to him, frowning. “Elain wants to join us, Madja stays with Nyx.” End of discussion. “I will fly with Elain, you will carry my mate.”

Was Rhys truly still worried he would make a move on Elain?

Bastard, Azriel thought.

Azriel’s stands tall, shoulders squared and suddenly the tug is back, akin to his heart that all of a sudden beats a little faster within his chest. He can’t make out the source of this reaction, but he guesses it might have to do with Eris' imminent arrival.

Nervousness is a feeling Azriel is not really used to, or at least hasn’t felt in the past years. Now he does feel it and it adds to his confusion about the whole situation with the prince of the Autumn Court.

Trying to calm his senses, Azriel looses a long breath. His eyes trail over the polished ebony walls. He is not paying attention to the conversation Keir and Rhysand are having, a haze forming in his mind which makes forming coherent thoughts kind of difficult.

Through his lashes he looks at the onyx ceiling, the beasts that are carved into it always somehow reminding him of the beast his father is. The beast his stepmother is. The beast that Beron is.

It’s similar to the beasts on thrones atop the dais are fashioned out of, the thrones that Rhys and Feyre occupy.

Azriel lowers his gaze and rolls back his shoulder, feeling a little ache in his neck from yet another sleepless night. When he looks to his side, hoping to ease some of the tension in his neck and shoulders, he realises that he is not the only person that feels nervous, or uncomfortable.

Elain’s discomfort is tangible even in the air, her brows are furrowed, her slim shoulders slightly slouched. He wonders if it has to do with being here and the eerie, gloomy atmosphere of the Hewn City that seems to dim her sunshine. Or has it to do with…Lucien being away?

The Vanserra male hasn’t been here for a while, Azriel thinks. Last time he saw them talking for probably the first time, but this was weeks ago. Since then…he hasn’t come back. Azriel has no idea if he will return. Maybe this year he won’t come here for Solstice.

Azriel lowers his chin, inhaling deeply, the same moment the large, black doors open, creaking as they slowly reveal the male behind them.

For Azriel it feels like time stands still. He can’t breath when his eyes land on Eris strolling in through the large ebony doors, his feet within his luxurious boots casually gliding over polished floor. The Autumn Court heir holds his chin high, everything in his demeanour arrogant, proud, cunning. The perfect portrayal of the Autumn Court prince.

Eris truly is a prince in his own right, he doesn’t need Beron for anything – not for power, not for strength, not for knowledge, not for glory. However, another thought sparks in Azriel’s mind; Eris is not only prince, he is the future High Lord of Autumn. There is nothing but power and strength within his stroll, within his appearance. He walks gracefully, elegantly, and Azriel can’t look away.

His Adam’s apple bobs when awareness dawns on him. Eris is wearing a cobalt jacket, not the same as last year, no, a different one. An embroidery of diamonds of the same colour now adorns either breast of the jacket.

But Azriel can only focus on one thing — Eris is truly wearing a cobalt jacket, one of the same colour as Azriel’s siphons.

The Autumn Court air is breathtaking. Azriel feels his chest warm, a little kernel of an indescribable emotion now exploding and letting heat seep into every cell of his body. Azriel doesn’t like the feeling but at the same time he does. But he can’t feel this way, not for Eris.

Not for a male who is his declared nemesis and he will soon wed a new Lady of the Autumn Court. There is no place for Azriel. He will never be the person on Eris‘ side. Can never be. He will never be the most important person in Eris’ life. And he will never be worthy of the title as consort of the High Lord of the Autumn Court.

So, Azriel can never allow these feelings to take root in his chest. He needs to get rid of them, free himself from his desire, from his covert desire, for the Autumn Court prince.

Eris is most definitely doing much better at ignoring whatever he feels for Azriel. It is as if the anger and pain from their meeting a week ago still sits deep because Eris doesn’t even deign Azriel a look. He formally greets Rhysand and Feyre, and then bows at Cass, Nesta and Elain, and of course Keir. They exchange a few words but none of necessity and Eris only seems half-focused.

“We shall discuss things at a later point,” Rhys says, only for Eris and his inner circle to hear, out of the earshot of Keir.

Eris tips his chin in silent agreement, hands casually folded behind his back as he stands strong and tall, a look of arrogance on his face.

However, his eyes betray him – they are swirling pits of worry, regret, or pain, endless but also empty. Yet, his gaze searches, moving through the crowds of people gathered in the throne room. He looks around, trying not to make it too obvious that he is looking for something. For someone.

And is Elain who can read him, can read his expression and can see the concern within it. She finally says, her voice steady, but a touch sad, “He isn’t here. Lu—your brother, he isn’t here.”

Eris blinks, once, twice and then he folds his arm in front of his body and bows. “Lady Elain, it is my pleasure to finally properly meet you. I should have introduced myself more properly before. Eris Vanserra, heir to the Autumn Court.”

Her body remains as stiff as a poker, gaze remained fixed on the Autumn Court heir. Her chest heaves visibly and then with a small smile on her lips, she bows her head. “It is my pleasure, Lord Eris.”

Their eyes meet and now also a soft, and kind smile blooms on Eris‘ face – something hardly anyone has ever seen on him. Slowly, he extends a hand, “Would you like to dance with me, my lady.”

Azriel is furious, nearly bursting out of his own skin; that is not how it was planned. Not at all. Eris was supposed to dance with Nesta and most definitely not Elain.

Azriel wants to step in, end this before it starts, but he remains where he is, shoulder leaning against a black marble pillar that grounds him. His eyes are trained on Eris and in the prince’s expression, he spots a kind of polite patience he has never seen there before. But there is also interest, and a hint of intrigue, etched upon his handsome face.

Eris wants to get to know his brother’s mate, Azriel gathers, that is the reason why he wants to dance with her. He doesn’t do it because of her beauty, nor because he is interested in her (at least no in the way Azriel thought at first). Eris is interested in her, but for a wholly different reason than Azriel thought.

And yet, he can’t shake the feeling of utter envy. But he isn’t jealous of Eris now about to dance with Elain, rather of Elain dancing—

That is bullshit. His fingers curl towards his palms, knuckles turning white, marred skin stretching until it hurts.

“I think…” Elain’s voice is hushed as she speaks and takes a delicate step forward. It feels like the whole throne room holds its breath – will she decline, like she has declined all of Lucien‘s advances, or will she do it for the sake of the alliance between Night and Day?

Or because she wants to meet her mate‘s family, despite not having accepted the bond with Lucien yet.

“I would like to dance with you, Lord Eris.” Her small hand easily slides into Eris‘ extended one and he curtsies, before guiding her onto the dance floor.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Carefully, the Autumn Court heir leads Elain into the middle of the dancefloor and it feels like the whole room holds its breath; Azriel definitely does.

“May I?” Eris asks in a polite voice, his hand hovering near Elain’s waist.

“You may.” She smiles up at him, tipping back her chin. Eris’ gaze meets hers and he has to admit that his brother’s mate is quite a delicate female, soft and lovely, her eyes pure and kind. She is what Lucien deserves, his little brother’s counterpart.

Eris gently rests his warm palm on her waist, his other hand taking hers into his. He always makes sure he treats her gently, not wanting to overstep a line. He can sense her nervousness, it has a very strong scent, and he doesn’t want to make her even more uncomfortable.

She has not fully adapted to the fae life and that is visible very easily, but she is on a good way, Eris thinks.

“Were you surprised when I asked you to dance?” Eris looks down at her, Elain is quite short in front of him. His body is towering over hers, but he can feel that he isn’t the reason for her nervousness, rather the situation of them dancing in front of so many people, of the attention being on them. On her.

“No.” Elain tilts her chin upward, her fawn eyes meeting his amber ones. “You probably have questions. Questions I don’t think I have an answer to.”

Eris seems surprised over this answer. Is he so easy to read or is she just…what is her hidden power?

“What makes you think I have questions?”

A smile graces her lips and she nearly steps onto Eris toes, but he guides her, leads her and avoids it. “You have a curious look on your face, and if you didn’t have questions you could have also asked my sisters to dance.”

“Your sister is mated now,” Eris answers, as they glide over the floor, music and chatter surrounding them. The music of the small orchestra pulses through the air, guiding their every step as they twirl and move over the polished ground.

“So am I.” Her voice betrays her, but Eris has already known anyway.

“You haven’t accepted the bond yet.” Not a question. And observation. Eris would be able to scent the bond, scent his brother. It is completely obvious they haven’t accepted the bond yet.

“No.” Elain averts her gaze as if she is no longer able to look him in the eyes.

“Lucien is a good male.”

“I know,” Elain breathes. “But he is fae and way too good for me. I will never be worthy of him.”

That answer doesn’t surprise Eris, it rather shocks him. How could she ever say something like that. “Lady El—”

“Can we please focus on dancing, Lord Eris.” Her fingertips dig into his shoulder, and there is enough pain in her voice that Eris decides to stay calm. He won’t push her. He has no right to do so. No one has.

And going into detail about it all would be too much for this dance that will end soon anyway – Lucien and Elain should do it at their pace, and Eris has no doubt that one day they will find their way to each other.

The dance continues in silence. Elain‘s feet move rather effortlessly across the floor, every step, turn, and twirl elegant, not as skilled as Nesta, but still graceful thanks to Eris leading them.

When Eris twirls her, her dress flares around her like a dark blue halo. She is a whirlwind of energy, her feet barely touching the floor, her body bending and moving with the music, hands tightly holding onto Eris, who spins her, lifts her and smiles when his eyes meet hers.

“I know we finished this conversation, but I need you to know something.” Eris spins her and then catches her in her arms again. “Don’t allow these thoughts to take root within your mind. You are worthy of my brother, and whoever makes you feel like you don’t, is wrong.”

His gaze lifts, and his eyes, like glowing embers, meet those of hazel, shining like moonlight falling upon a forest. Azriel is looking directly at him, has been watching them –him– the whole time and a smug look appears on the Autumn Court heir‘s face.

He twirls the Elain again, spinning her so often that her feet almost leave the ground, yet her small frame is always safe in his strong hold. She is Lucien’s mate and hence also his to protect, his to keep safe.

“One more thing.” The music is calming, the piece almost coming to an end. Elain gives him a curious look, waiting for him to continue.

“You are my brother‘s mate – no matter if you’ve accepted the bond or not. It makes you my family as well. That is why I wanted to dance with you. I wanted to get to know you, Elain.”

Eris dips his chin. “And no matter what will happen between you and Lucien, you will always have my protection.”

If he weren’t leading them, Elain would have probably stopped moving. Her lips part slightly and her eyes widen. “Thank you.”

The music ends, Eris wants to step back but Elain squeezes his hand, keeping him close. “If it makes me your family, you are also my family.” A long pause follows.

The words seem difficult to find, voicing them even harder, but Elain inhales deeply and finally continues. “Which means if you ever need a place to…stay, to escape to, you will find shelter with me.”

He hasn’t expected that. Out of everything she could have said, he has not expected that and it warms an odd part of his chest that he has thought to be long dead, rotten and wrenched. Tears burn behind his eyes and he starts to blink rapidly. Eris squeezes her hand in return, not able to answer, too baffled by her kind offering. And his throat is too dry.

Elain steps away from him. “It was my pleasure meeting you, Lord Eris.” A small smile is on her lips. Then she turns and walks back toward her sister.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Eris halts right next to Azriel. So close their shoulders brush, and slowly Eris‘ scent seeps into Azriel’s nostrils until it is the only thing the shadowsinger can focus on.

The Autumn Court prince smells like a whisper of smoke, accompanied by the scent of freshly cut wood with musky hues and a subtle hint of earth after rain.

Eris doesn’t quite know why he walked to Azriel, and not back to Keir or the High Lord and Lady of the Night Court. But it was almost like something pulled him into this direction, a little tug on his body and he followed, letting himself be guided by it.

Eris' eyes follow Elain as she weaves her way through the crowds of people to her sister and the Illyrian brute who have also just returned from their dance.

“She is beautiful," Eris says, voice nothing more than a whisper of admiration. “A ray of sunshine even within this place of utter darkness.”

He inhales deeply, Azriel’s scent now all he can smell.

"But blue isn’t her colour.”

Azriel has to admit that as well — neither blue nor black are her colours even though he had hoped so not more than a year ago.

"Green is,” Eris continues. “Just like it is Lucien‘s colour." A faint smile graces his handsome face.

Azriel swallows and clears his throat. He doesn’t want to talk about Lucien, nor Elain. “We are not here to talk about Lucien again.”

"No. No, we are not.” Eris rubs his hand over his jaw. “I’m here to apologise.” Eris keeps his voice low so only Azriel can hear him. “For what I said about your father. I had no intention to hurt you, nor to get involved in your personal affairs.”

Eris’s gaze stays trained on the bustling crowd of dancing people, his broad chest heaving with deep inhales while he drinks in Azriel’s scent.

Night-chilled mist and cedar – beguiling.

Yet, Eris doesn’t let it show what the shadowsinger’s scent does to him, how taut his skin grows solely from smelling Azriel.

“Your jaw?” Azriel gives Eris a sidelong look. There is still a faint hint of a bruise on the side of his face, but it has faded mostly. Thank the Cauldron.

“Almost healed.” Eris inhales deeply, closes his eyes and turns to Azriel who slowly parts his lips, his brows creased.

“I‘m still sorry for it.”

“I deserved it.” There is a cold in Eris’ voice, that makes Azriel shudder and his stomach coils. He knows that this is what Eris has probably always been telling himself when Beron punishes him. Tortures him.

It makes Azriel want to reach out, take his hand into his own and just hold him. But that wouldn’t work for several reasons – they are in public first and foremost all. And they are enemies, and lastly there is the issue of his hands. Wouldn’t the Autumn Court heir with his polished and immaculate appearance feel disgusted about him? Would he not be grossed out from Azriel touching him?

“No,” Azriel says, his heart heavy with emotion. “No you didn’t. You deserve a lot, but not that.”

A small smirk tugs on Eris’ mouth, but it fades as quickly as it appeared. “Rhysand offered me to stay for the night.”

A subtle gasp escapes Azriel’s lips, and a flicker of shock passes over his face.

Eris will stay here. In the Night Court. In the Moonstone Palace. Like back then. When they…kissed.

The shadowsinger feels how his hands turn clammy, cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck.

He has thought his unexplainable feelings and the confusion would vanish when he just stays away from the heir for long enough. And Eris staying here, being so close to him once again, will most definitely not help in fighting against the turmoil raging within him.

And it is almost like Rhys has read his mind (which is impossible, Azriel’s mental defences are always up) because his brother scraps a talon against the shield in his mind, asking for entrance.

Azriel lets him in.

“You will escort Eris to the Moonstone Palace. Keep an eye on him.”

Azriel whips his head into the direction of the High Lord, Rhys’ hand intertwined with Feyre’s while he’s sitting in a sprawl atop his throne. Before Azriel can protest, the High Lord starts talking again.

“Ally or not, I don’t feel good about letting him stay there all alone.” Rhysand looks directly into Azriel’s eyes, even across the distance. “I can trust you with fulfilling this job, Az, can’t I?”

“Pulling rank?” A snarl follows Azriel’s question.

A cold chuckle returns from Rhys, his expression smug, arrogant. “If needed, yes.”

Azriel turns away, glaring out at the dancing people. “I’m taking you there.”

Dumbfounded, Eris turns to the male next to him, his auburn brows curled. “You do what?”

“Rhysand offered you to stay here – I‘m taking you there. The Moonstone palace,” Azriel snaps, anger boiling inside of him, mingling with the overwhelming sensation of Eris being so close to him.

Eris only gives him a long look, not saying anything, but Azriel can tell exactly what he is thinking about. Because he is thinking about the same.

Will this evening end with another kiss? Or more?

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