#the Chill that ran through me when I read 'dear forgiveness' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lady-ragnvindr · 3 years

Note

Lmao, here have this horny brainrot I did while waiting for the angst <3

Oh, by the way The Diluc x reader fic has like a small bit of Jean x reader.. Are you OK with that? 👀

Anyways back to the brainrot

-🍷 anon

Earn it

Cat! Sub! Diluc x Owner! Dom! Reader

⚠️: Pegging, Overstimulation, Degradation, Begging, Slapping, Pulling of Hair and Tail, nipple play, Mommy kink, Pet play, Reader being mean and rough etc. (???)

Reader is a female

Hue, hue enjoy a screaming diluc begging

Finally after God knows how long, (Y/N) finally had time to spend with her precious little kitty lulu (Diluc). The two of them decided to take a stroll around the city of freedom just to get some fresh air

The two of them didn't realize that they reached the marketplace of Mondstadt until something caught the redhead's eye causing him to stop in his tracks -his s/o doing the same thing aswell-

The object that Diluc was ogling at was a collar. A glittering crimson collar with a shiny golden bell attached to it. It also had a beautiful big black bow at the back side of it.

(Y/N) saw how Diluc was eyeing the said collar, a smirk forming across her face as an idea began to form inside the back of her head.

She turned to face Diluc -who is still staring at the collar- and began to speak

"So..you want that collar I assume?"

She asked "innocently" her smirk from before never leaving.

Diluc was hesitant on giving an answer at first. But he is a good kitten. He never lies to his owner and always as in ALWAYS tells the truth no matter what.

So... he simply nodded, a blush forming on the apples on his cheeks as (Y/N) began to chuckle at his cute action.

"How adorable 💗"

She complimented, patting Diluc's beautiful red locks as she began scruffing behind his cat ears, causing diluc to purr loudly. His knees suddenly growing weak from the sudden touch his lovely owner is giving him.

"Diluc."

She called, his cat ears perking up when she called his name.

"You know that I don't give anything for free right~?"

He nodded.

"You also know that good kitties only get a reward when they work hard on something right~?"

He nodded the second time.

"Well... "

She stopped for a moment, -Diluc still focusing on her intimidating gaze-

"If you want it so badly... "

She continued, pulling Diluc close to her as she whispered into his ear in a serious tone as chills ran down his spine.

"You gotta earn it dear 💗"

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

It was late at night and the bedroom was a huge mess. pillows everywhere, the now cumstained blankets is on the floor, all that's left in the bed were (Y/N) and Diluc, who was gripping the bedsheets naked, full of bite marks, and a moaning mess.

His cum from his previous orgasms were all over his marked body. On his stomach, his chest, his face, it was everywhere.

(Y/N) smirked at the person in front of her whom she had destroyed. The famous uncrowned king of Mondstadt, laying before her, hair a mess, eyes rolled back, tears of overstimulation streaming down his tear-stained cheeks.

The deal was that Diluc had to go through 10 orgasms in order to get the collar. Currently, he's doing a great job passing 9 orgasms flawlessly making his owner very impressed. Maybe all that brat-training, and orgasm denials (Y/N) did to him paid off after all

"Your doing an amazing job my little kitty 💗"

(Y/N) complimented, caressing the redhead's cock causing Diluc to whimper and squirm at her touch due to oversensitivity.

"You only need to do one more orgasm until the collar is yours my love~!"

She chirped

"But there is a catch 💗"

She picked Diluc up and made him sit on her lap, making him confused on what she's doing

Confusion turned to pain & pleasure, when (Y/N) slammed the strap-on back inside his hole making him scream loudly

"This time, you gotta ride me. Make yourself cum infront of me like the slutty cum dump you are~!"

She commanded, giggling at the end of her sentence

"Nnngh... I-I... Mommy I can't!!!"

Diluc confessed, grabbing (Y/N)'s hips to maintain his balance as tears started to fall down on his face again

*SMACK*

The sudden action and impact that occurred in his rear end made Diluc scream for the second time tonight, burying his face on (Y/N)'s breasts, the grip he had on her hips tightening at the process

"Oh, so your gonna be a whiny bitch and not follow mommy's orders huh~?"

(Y/N) then yanked the redhead's now ruined ponytail causing him to stood back up again to his original position

"Look at me when I'm talking to you Diluc."

She ordered

"Your beginning to disappoint me Diluc, maybe you don't deserve the collar after all with that bratty attitude of yours~"

Upon hearing those words, Diluc began to sob uncontrollably as he started to bounce on (Y/N)'s strap

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! M-mommy please! I want the collar! I want it so badly! P-please forgive me! I'll be a g-good kitty!

He begged, fastening his pace hoping to quickly build his 10th and final orgasm

(Y/N) on the other hand was snickering at the redhead, loving how she can easily break him to into a huge crying mess and his limit to beg for anything

The rest of the time were just Diluc continuing to ride (Y/N) while moaning and blabbing incoherent sentences with a couple of pleases, thank-yous and the word mommy

(Y/N) proceeded to pinch his nipples harshly in the middle of him riding her, earning a squeak from him

Soon the familiar knot in his stomach began to form, signalling that he's about to have another orgasm

"M-mommy I'm close! I'm close! I'm about to cum!"

He said out loud, his body beginning to shake from the upcoming orgasm he's about to have

(Y/N) wrapped her fingers around his cock and gave it a light squeeze

"Or... I could deny your orgasm and have do another one again since you still have some energy left in you dear~"

Diluc shook his head violently, throwing a small tantrum

"NO! NO! I DON'T WANT! MOMMY PLEASE! I WANT TO CUM! I WANT TO CUM! MOMMY I WANT THE COLLAR PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!"

He begged, crying hysterically making (Y/N) chuckle, pitying the poor kitty.

" I'm just kidding Diluc! Of course you can cum now, you earned it. Congratulations my love~"

She exclaimed, relieving diluc as he mumbled a "thank you" then continued to thrust deeper, completely destroying his prostate

Then out of nowhere, (Y/N) grabbed ahold of dilucs hips and fully smashed the strap-on in his hole, strong enough to trigger his orgasm as he screamed out loud, loud enough for the people in Mondstadt to hear him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEUUGHHHHHHHHHHHH~!"

Diluc then fell backwards, now lying down on the bed. legs still spreading, cum leaking out of his drained cock, body still violently shaking from the orgasm.

(Y/N) stood up and went to the drawer rummaging through things and brought out the same collar that diluc was eyeing on awhile ago.

"I bought it already while you weren't looking."

She hopped back to the bed and proceeded to place the collar around Dilucs neck. Once she was done placing the collar on him she kissed his forehead and cuddled closer to him

"You did good tonight my little kitty, once again congratulations~"

She cooed, stroking his back. Diluc purred and snuggled close.

"T-thank you mommy.. I love you~"

"I love you too my little kitty, now rest well~"

She replied, as the two of them drift off to sleep in each other's arms

SO YEAH ANYWAYS TO HORNY JAIL I GO

I HOPE I WASN'T TOO HARSH ON DILUC IF I WERE I'M SORRYBSODORKGKTKGKG

-🍷

Ma'am Imma need your ID and items. Bcz I did not just read such good sub diluc--oh its been a while since I thrist for him.

Anyways,

Welcome to horny jail my love 🤪💅

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin impact x reader #dom!reader #diluc #diluc x y/n #diluc x reader #diluc x you #🍷-anon

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imissjoongsmullet · 3 years

Text

My Prince (6 - final)

Pairing: Minghao x reader

Genre: fluff/(angst)

Summary: Life is not exactly easy being the royal gardeners’ daughter but at least it’s simple. When you’re suddenly called upon to serve as the prince’s personal servant, things get a little more than complicated, especially considering the secret history you and the prince share.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Warnings: general angstiness, a bit of a slow burn, very romantic, very soft, the fact that this will most likely become a long series cause I have no chill

Word Count: 6.5K

Author’s Note:

This final chapter finally fulfills the premise that this is in fact fluff. I promise I’m done breaking your hearts now, woohoo!

My Prince has grown so near and dear to my heart. I don’t usually write long fanfics so this was really quite special. I know I might sound overly dramatic or corny to some of you (and that’s okay). It’s just, I try to be intentional with everything I do. That’s why I wanted to do this right. That’s why I’ve gotten so attached. That’s why it’s taken me forever to finish as well probably haha!

This story is far from perfect. There are countless things that I would have liked to sculpt out more... but I think for that to have happened this would have to become a full on novel and that’s not what this was ever meant to be, so I’ve got to let go of those thoughts and just send it out into the world as it is.

In any case, I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed reading this story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. As always, please let me know what you think. As a writer, any type of feedback makes my heart flutter~

Thank you for all the love and support ♥

►

You fell to the floor, your shriek buried in the chaos that surrounded you. There was so much noise so suddenly and none of it sounded good. Panicked, you raised your head to see the entrance to the room had been broken wide open and soldiers in silver and black attire were pouring in, brandishing swords, fire and crossbows. Yientan. Another cry left your lips as you scrambled backwards until you hit the wall behind you. They were here. They must have found out about the wedding and wanted to stop it before a legend could take away their power.

Strong hands grabbed you by the collar and you screamed out for help. You struggled in your attempt to pry the stranger off of you until you noticed the face that belonged to it.

“Come on!” Minghao ordered, dragging you up. He took your hand and set off at a sprint, leaving behind the bulk of the commotion. You could hear banging and screaming from other directions as well though. They must have the whole castle surrounded. Luckily Minghao knew all the secret, little passages attackers tended to overlook. It didn’t take long for you to realize where he was taking you. Before you could come to your senses, you were dragged through the heavy doors to Minghao’s private chambers and sat onto his bed.

“Stay here,” he said, kneeling at your side, clasping your palms in your lap, “don’t leave until it’s all over.” He got up and turned to leave.

“Wait!” you called, stopping him midway, “you can’t go out there!”

“I have to,” he replied stone faced.

“No!” Now it was you holding onto him. “Please don’t—” Your fingers dug into his robes with desperation.

“I have a responsibility,” he said, “I have to go—”

“Then I’m coming too,” you cut in but he shook his head.

“You can’t help,” he explained, “I can so I’m going.” He eyed you sternly for a few more seconds before softening. He sighed, brushing his hand over your cheek lovingly and finally saying, “do not follow me.”

“Hao, please,” you called as he pulled away. You ran to him just in time to keep him from shutting the door behind him entirely. Only a sliver of his face was visible in the gap.

“Stay safe,” he said, before vanishing.

In stunned silence you let the doors fall shut. You walked over to the bed and sat down because your legs felt shaky and your head dizzyingly light. Outside, the uproar continued to grow but Minghao had told you to stay. Your heart ached. It pulled and tugged at you, trying to get you to move but you couldn’t. You didn’t want to disappoint him. Your fingers wrapped around one of the silk pillows on his bed. Closing your eyes, you hugged the thing close. It was all you could do not to cry. You just wanted everything to be okay— for everything to go back to normal. But you supposed none of Minghao’s life had ever really been normal.

A loud crashing sound made you jump. Some large piece of glass must have just shattered somewhere. You got up from the bed and began to pace the room. You clamped your hands over your ears in a miserable attempt to shut out the madness. Shutting your eyes didn’t help either. The itch to do something was growing unbearable. When a few minutes later a crack so deep it was like walls crumbling made the wooden floor tremble, you decided that enough was enough.

Head in overdrive, you went for the window. Its balcony was wide and looked out over the east side of the gardens. Tonight, there were only balls of fire within the dark. With a sickening lurch, you thought of your parents. Had they managed to hide or escape? Or had the attackers set flame to their house while they slept, trapping them in an excruciating death? Panicking, you went for the balcony ledge. Once your feet found balance, you grabbed onto the ornate pillars and started to climb. The plan seemed insane and yet, somehow you felt like the adventurous prince had definitely made this climb before. With that information fueling your confidence, you made it onto the roof above the prince’s chambers.

From here, you could see most of the castle and its grounds. A landscape of hills and valleys lay before you in the form of various curved rooftops. It would have been quite beautiful if it hadn’t been for the screams and the fire. You didn’t know what you were doing, really. You just wanted to know everything was going to be alright. Besides, you’d never forgive yourself if something happened to Minghao while you hid away like a coward.

How many people were fighting down there? How much of a chance did they stand against Yientan? And what could Minghao possibly do in all this? You didn’t even know if he knew how to fight.

Hunching down to a crouch, you made your way toward the center part of the castle. You looked down wherever you could, trying to get a feel of the situation. You saw two servant girls running on a deck as they cried. You saw men fighting in little courtyards, blood staining their clothes. You saw the wooden walkway towards the prince’s library collapse in flames. All of this roused an anger in you that surprised you. You’d never been the bravest of people— you still weren’t. But something was taking over you. It didn’t matter that this castle had been the bane of your existence for the past few months. The castle was under attack and you felt it as you’d feel an attack on your own family. You jumped from roof to roof, wracking your brain over a way to help.

Something sharp whooshed past you and you gasped. You were just in time to turn around and see the Yientan soldier standing on a nearby rooftop, reaching for another arrow. You ducked away towards a lower part of the roof, suddenly feeling the sharp sting on your cheek. There were hurried footsteps behind you and you were running out of options. Your rooftopped landscape came to an end as you happened upon the center courtyard of the castle, where more soldiers fought.

Hoping fiercely you weren’t making the wrong decision, you jumped.

The landing was harsh and you failed to stifle the noise that fought to come out your mouth. A man dressed in silver and black turned your way.

Wasting no time, hopped onto the deck and dashed into the nearest corridor, running as fast as you could in your clumsy servant’s robes. You were disoriented and scared but also determent to outrun the soldier. The long hallways of the castle once again felt like a devious maze, trying to suffocate you. You turned a corner and half-fell-half-jumped down a narrow flight of stairs. Ignoring the sting in your left leg, you rushed along a half open deck, ducked under a low archway that lead you down to the underbelly of the castle. Here, it was pitch black except for the spaced out torch light that hung from the walls. Luckily, you knew where you were going. This lowest level of the castle was used for storage and servant work deemed too dirty to be looked upon by the masters. You took a right through a small door, finding yourself in one of the washrooms the servants used. Just as the soldier’s feet hit the wood floor behind you, you opened one of the closets and grabbed as many fresh sheets as you possibly could, throwing them over him. You watched him struggle for only the fraction of a second before escaping through a side door. You knew exactly where to hide.

You reached your destination within a minute, lowering yourself into a little crawlspace underneath the floorboards of the broom closet servants used to hide from Tou Ma when she was angry. You’d only have to wait a few minutes for the soldier to give up and leave and then you’d be safe. You were about to close up the floorboards when you heard the most dreadful sound in the world.

It was Minghao. He was screaming.

Without a second thought, you burst back into the corridor. You followed the echo of the scream in your mind. It wasn’t far off. It was right here, under the castle. You tried every door, finding deserted room after deserted room, wondering why Minghao was even here, hidden away from all the commotion.

Aside from the soldier that had followed you down, you hadn’t seen a single person down this low. Perhaps you’d imagined it, you thought, just as you slid through another open door you knew lead to the pantry.

The most shocking thing was not that Minghao was there; it was that the emperor of Namin was there too.

Minghao was knelt over his father’s form, shuddering slightly.

“Hao,” you whispered as you approached, an awkward feeling settling in your stomach. Something was very wrong. Tentatively, you knelt down beside the prince, gasping when you saw the blood. Panicked, you looked down, now noticing the dark trail on the floorboards.

“What— what happened?” you stammered. Minghao hadn’t acknowledged you yet. He was doubled over, tears falling down onto his father’s chest.

“Don’t leave me.” His voice was so thick with emotion the words were barely audible.

You knew the emperor wouldn’t reply.

“Please, father,” Minghao whimpered.

You’d never seen him like this; torn apart like an old book. Afraid of making things worse, you sat by and waited. The war outside didn’t matter now. You allowed his sobs to turn to quiet slowly.

When they had, Minghao straightened his back and looked at you. His face was red and blotchy. The pain in his eyes made you want to wrap your heart around him.

“He got shot,” he said at last. His hand reached out for yours and you took it, surprised at the tightness of his fingers around you.

“I found him back in the celebration hall I— I didn’t know what to do. I just knew I couldn’t let Yientan have him so I tried to find a place to hide him but by the time I got here he was barely breathing and—” fresh tears burned in his eyes, “he just— I can’t do this without him I can’t—”

“Hao— ” you started just as a creak in the floorboards made you both jump.

Over a dozen people shuffled into the room, each person looking more perplexed than the next at the sight of Minghao and the emperor. You blinked in surprise at the appearances of the Zhong family, a bit battered and stunned-looking but otherwise fine. Last to enter the room was Tou Ma. Her face paint had smudged, there was blood at her temple and her robe was ripped at the sleeve.

“Stay back, girls,” she said with a voice just as stern as ever before coming over. Her face turned grim the moment she got on her knees and took in the sight. Her eyes widened, her nostrils flared and her thin lips parted. She took a few moments to regain her calm. Gently, she flattened out a crinkle in her robe as she cleared her voice at last.

“My prince,” she spoke solemnly, “from the heart of Namin, I offer my deepest condolences.”

Minghao continued to stare down at his father’s chest.

“Tomorrow we mourn the end of the era— tonight—” she paused, her wrinkles tugging into a frown, “tonight lies in your hands.”

The words hung in the dusty storage room air, settling over the people within it, slowly, like bits of falling snow.

“My prince?” Tou Ma said and her voice was softer than you’d ever heard it.

Minghao hadn’t moved an inch. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking either.

Strands of messed up hair hung in front of his face as he looked down at the emperor. You knew Minghao understood what Tou Ma had implied. Now that the emperor was dead, Minghao was automatically in charge. It was time for him to fulfill his prophecy and become the legend he was destined to be. Except that Tou Ma hadn’t said it like that exactly. She’d left the decision up to him. Tonight lies in your hands. Somehow, you felt like the head servant understood the pressure that weighed on the prince. She’d left the course of action open so that, should he choose to do so, Minghao could hide away with the rest of the castle’s residents. Should he choose to do so, he could surrender to Yientan. It was up to Minghao to decide his fate, not some legend assigned at birth.

Finally, Minghao looked up at Tou Ma.

“My mother,” he said, “is she safe?”

“Of course, my prince,” Tou Ma replied at once, “she was my first priority. I sent her through the royal passage behind the west room tapestry before bringing others to safety. She must have reached the safe house by now.”

Minghao nodded. “Thank you.” He sat there, thinking for a few more seconds before he stood up.

“I’m going out there. Everyone else stay here.” His voice was monotone, matter-of-fact. “I have to speak to the emperor of Yientan and put a stop to this.”

No one spoke as he turned to leave the room. Even you were too shocked to speak. It was only after he’d left the room that you found the strength to move.

“Silly girl,” Tou Ma said, her voice sharp once more as she grabbed hold of your wrist, “this is the last time I tell you to stay away from him.”

You looked the head servant dead in the eye.

“Then this will be the last time I defy you,” you answered, breaking free from her grasp and running out of the room.

You caught up with Minghao halfway up the stairs. You tugged at his sleeve and called his name, softly, inquiringly. He looked back at you, looking apologetic.

“I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you,” he said quietly, “you’re already hurt.” His eyes went to your cheek, where the sting of the arrow still lingered.

You sighed. “And I wouldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to you.” You took his hand. “Hao, please,” you went on, “whatever happens, let’s do it together.”

Slowly, a smile formed on the new emperor’s lips. It failed to erase the pain in his reddened eyes but rather coated them in a temporary haze. His fingers tightened around yours and he whispered, “okay.”

“Where are we going?” you asked as you tiptoed through the castle, slipping from shadow to shadow.

“I know where he is,” Minghao replied.

You knew he was talking about the emperor of Yientan. You had no idea what he looked like but you’d overheard plenty of conversations about him during your time in the castle. He was a fierce ruler and a strong man of combat.

“Wait, you’re not going to fight him, are you?”

“No,” he replied, “I’m going to talk to him.”

The throne room looked smaller than usual. A pillar had fallen, dust and debris littered the usually shiny hardwood and on the golden throne sat, not Xu Yilan, but a younger-looking man. He was broad-shouldered and his dark hair fell in a single braid down to his waist. His black and silver armor was still spotless aside from the couple droplets of red that had splashed onto his chest. You almost couldn’t believe he was an emperor and not a war general. Xu Yilan had surely never fought like this. Judging by the tenacity in his eyes, he was enjoying this. Upon noticing Minghao he raised himself from the throne, eyes narrowing.

“Emperor Wu,” Minghao spoke up as he walked to the center of the room.

You decided to stay in the shadows for now. It was better for the Yientan leader not to know a second person was in the room.

“My father, Xu Yilan, is dead by your men’s hands.”

You had no idea how Minghao was keeping his emotions at bay but it was clearly a good thing. The man on the platform drew back, his eyes going wide.

“You,” he said in a gravely voice, “you are Xu Minghao?” He spoke loud and clear but was unable to hide his uneasiness. It was in the way he stood, overly square, and in the stark way his eyes stared ahead.

“I am,” Minghao said, “and I want you to listen to me for a moment.”

Silence. This was good.

“I do not want to fight you,” he went on, “I just want to talk. I want to restore the balance between Namin and Yientan.” He took a deep breath. “I want Yientan to give us back the highlands.”

A low yet booming laughter filled the empty throne room.

“You expect us to just give you back the highlands?” the emperor scoffed, “and what will Yientan receive in return?”

You watched Minghao as a silence trickled into the air. He was completely still, his mind probably racing like a warhorse.

“In return,” he said at last, his voice deep yet clear, “Yientan will be spared the dragon’s wrath.”

You could see the fear spring into the emperor’s eyes.

“You lie, young man,” he said, though it was obvious Minghao’s words had derailed him a bit. Slowly, the man unsheathed a long sword and pointed it at Minghao.

“There is no dragon,” he spat, starting to walk down the platform, “where is your dragon now, huh? Did it come when our people charged your gates? No, it did not.”

Minghao’s chest heaved but he stood his ground. You couldn’t understand how he stayed so calm. He had nothing to defend himself with.

“Did it come when your father was struck down by one of my men?” emperor Wu continued as he approached, “it did not.”

This was all wrong, you thought, panic taking over you.

“Up on the roof of this broken palace, a golden dragon stands, yes,” the emperor said, a wicked smile spreading onto his lips. He was getting too close.

“It is nothing but a symbol of wealth, a meaningless decoration!”

Minghao stood as a statue, defiant.

“It could not save your father, nor your people,” he grinned, “and it surely won’t save you.”

“Stop!” you screamed, breaking away from your hiding spot. Both men turned their heads in surprise, a moment you took to jump in between them, arms out, shielding Minghao from his attacker.

“Don’t hurt him, please!” you cried. You knew you were making foolish decisions but there wasn’t a single cell in your body capable of doing anything else in that moment.

Pain shot through your arm as general Wu grabbed hold of you.

“No!” Minghao yelled, immediately jumping for the general’s second arm in an attempt to tear the sword from his grasp. Your head spun as you were tugged around, the three of you in an awkward tangle until you heard a gasp that could only be Minghao’s. You watched him fall to the floor, clutching his side, where the fabric of his shirt started to color red.

You wanted to scream but before any sound had the chance to leave your lips, the whole room began to shake.

Emperor Wu backed towards the wall, dragging you with him and that’s when you heard it. An ear-piercing cry coming from somewhere up above. The ceiling cracked and gave away right where Minghao crouched. You cried out his name in a desperate attempt to save him when you realized the falling debris wasn’t crushing him. Instead, it turned to dust mid-fall, scattering over the floor like sand on a windy day.

Emperor Wu gave a startled shriek behind you. A massive creature burst through the broken ceiling with another deafening cry. It looked like a giant, glimmering snake with horns. Its fanged mouth was the size of two grown men and its golden scales reflected the devastation in the room. It curled itself around Minhao, who was still on hands and knees on the floor, obscuring him from view. “It— it’s— it can’t be!” the man behind you stuttered, shivering all over. You took the opportunity to yank yourself from his grasp.

The dragon let out a large huff and steam released from its dinner-plate-sized nostrils. You couldn’t help but feel a trickle of fear pulse through you as you approached the beast. But you had to trust.

The dragon’s body uncurled once more, revealing Minghao. He was standing; even more, he looked revitalized. A determent look had taken over his face. He stepped in front of the dragon and addressed the cowering emperor.

“As I said before,” he said, his voice strong and demanding now, “I don’t want to fight. I don’t want this war. Yientan and Namin can live in peace. Even better, we can make each other stronger.” He glanced at you and his eyes filled with warmth. “I know we are different but Namin will no longer fear those differences. It is by cooperating that we will learn and grow—”

The emperor scoffed. “And to achieve this peace of yours,” he grumbled, “I assume you want the highlands back?”

“They belong to Namin,” Minhao replied calmly.

“And what’s next?” emperor Wu went on, his pitch rising, “you’ll invade us with your big dragon protector and we’ll have to give up everything?!”

“No.” Minghao shook his head. “Namin doesn’t need any more. Just the highlands and harmony with Yientan. If you promise me these things, emperor Wu, this dragon will never be used for violence. It too can be a symbol of peace.”

The emperor of Yientan stood there, fighting a fight within himself. All you could do was wait. Minghao didn’t look scared anymore though. The dragon had taken his fear. The cold mask had vanished as well, leaving his eyes exactly the way you remembered them from years ago; kind, curious, inviting. Years of pressure had fallen off of his shoulders, allowing him to stand up straight and confident.

His gaze went to you for a moment and he reached out his hand.

Heart swelling with joy, you took it, feeling more than ever before, like you belonged.

Emperor Wu observed all of this with pain in his eyes. You still had no idea what the man was thinking but you felt safer now, so close to Minghao.

“Alright,” he said finally, starting to walk towards you, “you win, little emperor.” He shook his head in defeat. “You’ve still got a lot to learn about ruling and, mark my words, you will regret the things you’ve said today— all this talk about peace and harmony—” he stopped just a couple feet away from Minghao, “but at least for now, Yientan will bow to Namin.” He bent over into a ninety degree bow and Minghao let show just the tiniest smile. He was proud— and he should have been. You squeezed into his hand and felt him squeeze back when, all of a sudden, a lot of things happened.

Emperor Wu raised himself, drawing from a loop in his belt a tiny dagger and driving it into Minghao’s chest. At the same time, the dragon behind you let out a magnificent roar as it charged at Yientan’s emperor, knocking the breath right out of his lungs. All this time, you stood, frozen to the spot in complete and utter shock.

When you felt Minhao’s hand slip from yours, you cried out his name. You caught him as he staggered and the two of you landed with a soft thud on the floor. Panicked, your hands dove to his chest, looking for the stab wound as tears began to stream down your cheeks.

“Hey,” you heard someone say softly, vaguely but you didn’t have time now. You had to stop the bleeding.

Something took hold of your chin, lifting it. It was Minghao. He was smiling the sweetest smile and you didn’t understand.

“I’m okay,” he said, pulling aside his robes, revealing nothing but a light cut along his ribcage.

“Hao,” you sniffled as his thumb came to wipe away some of your tears.

“I’m okay,” he said again, nodding softly.

And so all the adrenaline fled your body. Without a second thought, you flung your arms around his neck and hugged him close. It was a hug such as you’d shared when you were children; one made of pure happiness. His arms wrapped around you, holding you close. You were still crying, sort of, but you were sure it was the good kind of crying.

A gentle hand landed on top of your head, patting it in a soothing manner. You took it all in, the feel of him, his scent, the way his heart beat against yours.

“Everything is gonna be alright now, right?” you mumbled into his chest.

You felt him sigh.

“I think so.”

The following days were some of the strangest of your entire life.

The emperor of Yientan wasn’t dead. The dragon had hit him pretty bad but it had ultimately left the decision up to Minghao. Minghao, who of course decided to have the foreign emperor nursed back to health by Namin’s finest doctors. He still believed that peace between the two lands was possible.

You and Minghao, along with all remaining castle staff, had temporarily moved into the castle gardens. Most of the garden staff huts had apparently been spared from the fight. It wasn’t spacious by any means, but it was enough for the time being.

Not that you didn’t have any other options.

News of the attack and especially the return of the dragon had spread like wildfire through the cities and towns of Namin. Wealthy traders and investors offered their own residences in honor of the new legendary emperor but Minghao had turned them all down. He said he wanted to help rebuild the castle.

“Besides, I don’t know if I’m ready to face them yet.” Minghao’s face was contemplative as you two sat overlooking the rose garden from a hilltop.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

He leaned back onto his hands. “I don’t know,” he said, “I’m not ready to be their legend, truly this time. How am I supposed to— after my father.” He shook his head. “I’m no better than him. He was just a man and so am I.”

Up in the sky, the golden dragon trailed patterns in the afternoon clouds. It had fluttered around the gardens all day; a beacon of hope.

“I know I have a job to do but—” he said finally, “I still can’t help but feel like I’m losing something precious.”

You nodded, leaning your head onto his shoulder. “Things will be more complicated,” you admitted. It was true. You didn’t want to sugarcoat that for him. However, you weren’t worried.

“But you won’t be doing any of it alone.”

You could feel him start to smile as his arm slid around your shoulder.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Your majesty,” a tense voice said.

It was Tou Ma. You were surprised to find you were happy to see her.

“We have received word from your mother. She will be coming home in a few days. The Zhong family meanwhile have arrived home this morning. They are well.”

Minghao nodded, his face stony but a lot going on behind his eyes.

“Should I send word back?”

“No,” Minghao was quick to answer but then he caught himself, “I think I’ll write Zhong Mei and her parents a letter myself. They deserve that.” He was frowning to himself now. “And tell my mother I’m sorry— and can’t wait for her arrival.”

“I will,” Tou Ma said solemnly, her eyes trailing off. She was searching for words.

“What is it?” Minghao questioned.

Tou Ma pursed her lips.

“He is awake.”

You followed Minghao to one of the larger huts in the garden, where emperor Wu was being treated. The room was bare, save for a bed and a night stand upon which stood a bowl of water and a clean cloth. A middle-aged lady in simple blue robes stood by his bed. The moment she noticed Minghao, she fell into a deep bow.

“That’s alright,” Minghao said, taking her hands as she rose, “thank you for your amazing work.”

The woman went red in the face but smiled brightly back at him.

The emperor of Yientan still suffered a few bruises, one below his left eye. You couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy around him so you watched Minghao approach from a distance.

“How are you feeling?” he asked the man in the bed.

Emperor Wu let out a heavy sigh as his eyes landed on Minghao.

“I’ve been better,” he said.

There was a silence you weren’t sure of the meaning of. Minghao seemed to be waiting.

“I’ve sat here for a while now, you know,” he went on, “been awake since sometime last night— in and out of it most likely— but I’ve been thinking.”

The man in the bed looked nothing like he had during the battle. He’d been full of fire then. Now, he had a depleted look about him.

“Do you know what I was thinking?”

Minghao shook his head softly.

To your surprise, the emperor of Yientan let out a chuckle. Maybe he really had suffered brain damage after all.

“I was thinking, why am I in this comfortable bed?” he snickered lowly, “I thought I might have died. Thought it might be the afterlife. But then I was informed of your decision to let me live. To let me go.” His face went sad suddenly, brows furrowed. He looked almost silly.

“I realized I admire you, your majesty. You chose to spare the life of the man who invaded your land and took it for his own, the man responsible for your father’s death, the man that might have been responsible for your own death—” he let out another chuckle. “I thought you must be either mad or genius— I, um— I’m still not truly certain which one it is but I can say one thing for sure: you’ve got more bravery in that little body of yours than I’ve seen in any ruler of my lifetime. And I have no choice but to respect that.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Your hands were anxiously clutched in front of your chest.

“Thank you, your majesty,” Minghao said, his shoulders relaxing a bit.

Emperor Wu raised himself in the bed, took the cloth from the nightstand and wiped his face with it. When his face was revealed once more, he was smiling.

“Alright,” he said, looking up at Minghao, “let’s get this over with. Let’s talk.”

This is how Namin was restored. The highlands were returned and multiple treaties were formed between Namin and Yientan, promising peace and collaboration for all time to come.

Minghao hugged his mother close a few nights later, and a ceremony was held for the death of Xu Yilan. It was a sombre meeting in a nearby temple, the only other attendees aside from direct family the thousands of fireflies that lit up the air.

Then, finally, it was time to go public with everything that had happened. The coming of the legend emperor had to be celebrated and the people of Namin were not going to let that opportunity go to waste. Banners were raised, fireworks set off, as a magnificent parade made its way through the capital.

Throughout all this, you found yourself completely overwhelmed, not only because so much was happening at once, but also because Minghao wanted you to be a part of it all.

“Are you alright?” Minghao whispered into your ear.

You hardly knew how to respond to that. You were sitting in a luxurious golden carriage, wearing the most beautiful silk you’d ever laid eyes on. Layers of pale pinks and greens, adorned with gold thread fell from your shoulders. Your hair had been elegantly put together by Tou Ma herself that morning, with flowers and ribbons she’d handpicked for you. If all that wasn’t enough to make your heart do cartwheels, Minghao, the new emperor of Namin sat beside you, holding your hand while he waved at the people cheering. And there were a lot of people around you. It seemed as if all of Namin had come out to watch the procession. You weren’t as confident as Minghao, darting your hand up occasionally to wave at the public, only to change your mind the next second and put it back down.

“I’m terrified,” you replied, “ecstatic and overjoyed and terrified.”

“That sounds about right,” he said, grinning, “but don’t worry, we’ll be there soon.”

Surely enough, the procession halted in the main square of the capital. A tall platform had been put up in the center of it. As you’d expected, your carriage opened its doors right beside it. It was time for Minghao to give his speech. With one last smile in your direction he left for the platform. You watched him breath in and out, visibly shaking the nerves out of his body before he began.

“People of Namin,” he spoke loud and clear, “in the last week, a lot of things have happened and rumors have run rampant. I believe you all deserve to know exactly what has happened at the castle and what this means for the future of Namin.”

You looked in complete awe and adoration, as Minghao explained the events of the past weeks and even before that; the protests, the arrival of the Zhong family and their plans, the attack, death of Xu Yilan and finally, the legend of the dragon.

“It is true,” Minghao said, “the dragon lives once more.”

Just then, a bright glimmer fell all over the square and the people squinted upwards to see the golden dragon fly overhead.

“It will protect Namin for as long as I live and hopefully longer.”

The crowd erupted in jubilant cheers. Minghao took this opportunity to look back at you. You were suddenly highly aware of the ridiculously wide grin that had been plastered on your face ever since he’d begun his speech. He returned it gladly and, to your surprise, beckoned you to join him onto the platform.

Your eyes went the size of daisies as you vigorously shook your head at him. He only smiled kindly at you and turned back around as the commotion had died down mostly.

“My dear people, it has been a glorious day!” he yelled “but I have one more announcement to make.”

This turned the whole crowd silent.

“Throughout the challenges of the past week I have had to be strong. In order for the dragon to arise, I’ve had to be strong. I’m the true leader, I’m Namin’s hope, I am a legend come to life— I’ve been hearing these types of statements all around and I would like to say that, while your praise is appreciated, I fear I’m not entirely deserving—”

“There’s a reason I’ve been able to be strong. There’s a reason I’ve been able to keep my head on the right track, there’s a reason I feel like I can be a worthy leader to you all and it is a reason entirely outside of myself.”

He turned back around to face you. Your face went hot when you realized he was actually coming down to fetch you. He took your hand, gave you the most loving smile and pulled you up.

Everything looked simultaneously tiny and overwhelming from up on the platform. Luckily you had Minghao holding onto your hand or you for sure would’ve fainted.

“I can be the leader I am because of this woman,” he said, “she has been the one thing that’s grounded me in all of this and if it hadn’t been for her, I’m not sure I’d be standing here making this speech today.”

Your heart was pounding out of control and you felt lightheaded. You were grateful when Minghao’s arm slid around your waist and steadied you.

“On this special day, we celebrate the resilience and rebirth of Namin,” Minghao stated confidently, “but I would also like to use this day to profess my undying love for the girl standing beside me.”

A sea of murmurs welled up from the crowd. Minghao came to face you again and suddenly, he looked less like an emperor and more like the boy you’d always known.

“I’ve always loved you,” he said quietly, “it’s always been you.” His hand came to hold your face gently. “I know the life I lead from now on will be full of challenges and responsibilities, it will be a life in the spotlight, maybe—” he sighed, “maybe nothing like the life you’d imagined for yourself but—” he was really searching for words now, his eyes darting in all directions until they finally landed back on yours.

“If you’ll have me, I would love for you to share that life with me.”

It was as if a collection of fireworks set off inside of you, shooting from the top of your head all the way down to your toes, setting you aflame. It was an overload of feelings. You didn’t even notice the tear trickling down your cheek until Minghao wiped it away.

“So, will you?” he asked, looking like he might collapse from nerves as well now.

The smile burst free from its own accord as the reality of the situation finally sank in.

“Yes, of course!” you let out and your arms flung themselves around Minghao’s neck.

Now the people of Namin were really cheering, their noise like drums in your head as you embraced Minghao. Even when you broke apart the cheering didn’t stop; it only grew wilder as Minghao pressed his lips to yours.

In all your life you’d never thought this would be yours. Even as a child you’d known that Minghao, your playmate wasn’t to be wanted. He was different, above others, untouchable, and for years you’d struggled to come to terms with that grim fact. And yet here he was, in front of you and all of Namin, telling you he loved you. It was the beginning of a new era for Namin and it seemed that its residents were ready for change. And you were more than certain Minghao was the right person to lead the people with justice and, above all, love.

♥

#minghao #minghao fluff #the8 #the8 fluff #seventeen #seventeen scenarios #prince au #prince minghao #minghao imagines #minghao scenarios #xu minghao #royal au #minghao x reader #minghao x you #seventeen fluff #series #fluff #angst #thank you

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restlessfandoming · 3 years

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“ice fishing” (pt. 5) (chilumi fic)

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4]

“Childe invites Lumine to the annual Snezhnayan holiday dedicated to the Tsaritsa. There, she meets his entire family, and all the conflict that comes with them.”

notes: thanks for your patience as always ;__;

love you guys <3

[Fic Masterlist] // [AO3 Link]

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“ice fishing” (pt. 5)

“So Misha just asked you about besting me in combat?” Childe asked.

“She seemed to get a real kick out of it,” Lumine said.

He smiled through gritted teeth. “Of course she did.” He put down a chess piece. “Well apparently that was enough to convince her. She’s a completely changed person.”

“I like sister Misha like this!” Tonia chirped behind Lumine as she tried braiding the traveler’s blonde hair.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen her smile so much!” Teucer added from Lumine’s lap where he was reading a book.

“It’s a little weird,” Anthon commented. “But I guess I like it too.” He moved a chess piece opposite Childe's. “Aaaand checkmate!”

“You beat me again, Anthon,” Childe said, exasperated.

“You let an 11 year old beat you at chess?” Lumine asked.

While Anthon giggled, Childe turned his nose up. “It’s not as easy as you think.”

The five of them were sitting in one of the den rooms, gathered there after dinner. A large fireplace burned in front of them, as the cold Snezhnayan night frosted on the great windows. The rest of the family had already turned in for the night.

“If only Alexei wasn’t so weird,” Tonia mumbled.

“Why do you think he’s weird?” Lumine asked. She was curious as to the children’s opinions of their eldest brother.

“When Mommy got sick, he stopped playing with us! He wouldn’t talk to us either…,” she replied.

“He was always really mad when talking to Mommy or Daddy,” Teucer said sadly.

Anthon gripped a chess piece in his hand. “It’s like he has a dark cloud following him.”

Childe’s brows furrowed. “Don’t worry guys. He’ll be gone soon; the holiday is almost over.”

“Does that mean you and Lumine will be leaving too?!” Teucer cried, dropping his book, and turning to wrap his arms tightly around her waist. “I don’t want you to leave…”

“Can you stay forever?” Tonia begged.

“Ah...uhm...maybe one day?” Lumine hesitantly responded. She smiled sadly. “I have a...mission I have to finish first. Maybe after that?”

“Okay!” Tonia stepped around Lumine to face her. She held up her pinky finger. “Do you pinky promise?”

Lumine looked down at the little girl’s finger, her hopeful face. I...I…

Her heart broke. I can’t make that promise.

As much as she loved her time here, there was no telling where her journey would lead her. And what happened if—when—she found Aether?

And would Childe even still be at her side?

She glanced at him, surprised to find him already staring back at her, his own eyes wondering, waiting for her response.

She looked back at Tonia’s awaiting hand, biting the inside of her cheek.

Protect the children’s dreams, she thought. She raised her hand, ready to seal the promise. Ready to lie to this sweet little girl.

Childe’s gloved hand gently closed over Tonia’s. He knelt down, so he was face to face with his sister. “Let’s not make Lumine promise something like that, okay?” he said quietly. “It’s a big promise to ask of someone.”

Tonia blinked, her doe eyes glistening, and her little mouth turned into a frown. She put her hand down. “Okay…”

Childe smiled at her, then ruffled her hair. “Thank you, Tonia.” He stood, then turned and walked out of the room without another word.

There was something wrong, and Lumine knew it. She stood as quickly as she could, picking up Teucer out of her lap. “Keep playing, kids. I’ll be right back.” She ran into the hall, the children’s noises of protests fading behind her.

The hallway was dark, the only source of light was the pale moonlight streaming in through the large windows.

She caught up to Childe, grabbing his arm. “What’s wrong?”

He stopped in his tracks. She heard him take a small breath in. He turned, and there was a smile on his face. “Nothing’s wrong.” He continued walking.

Lumine frowned. A lie.

She stepped in front of him. “Tell me.”

He looked at her. The smile dropped, and he looked tired. “How much longer do we have, Lumine?”

Lumine blinked at him. “...What do you mean?”

“You have your mission; you have to find your brother,” he said. “Then what? You find him, then bring him back here?” His eyes were concerned. “Would he even want to come here? Would you even want to come back?”

He...He’s worried. Worried about their future together.

Sure there was a lot of uncertainty. And that was something she battled for a long time. But for the first time in a long, long time, she felt safe and warm. Comfortable. Loved.

Lumine stepped close, wrapping her arms around Childe. He hesitantly hugged her back. “You’re right. I don’t know. I don’t know about a lot of things in the future,” she told him. “But...I do know that...I love you. That I want to be with you. For as long as I can.”

A soft laugh. “You…” He put his index finger under her chin, tilting her head up, his thumb on her lips. “You always know what to say,” he leaned down, close, his breath on hers, his voice getting quieter, “to make me fall in love with you even more.”

They shared a kiss—a soft, sweet kiss. A soft promise of being together, for as long as they could.

Then there was a shuffling behind them, and they broke apart to see the three children scurrying back to the den.

“I told you, Tonia, they were just gonna be kissing out there!” they heard Anthon whisper aggressively down the hall.

Tonia giggled and Teucer let out an “ewwwww!”

“You sure you want to come back to that?” Childe asked, teasingly.

“Of course,” Lumine said. “It’s family.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lumine awoke in the middle of the night. Childe was sound asleep next to her. She curled up next to him, laying her head on his chest.

She tried falling back asleep to the rise and fall of his breathing, but to no avail. Something was keeping her up.

She sat up, yawning and stretching as quietly as she could, then slid out of bed. She left the room. Hopefully a stroll around the house will help.

She walked down the corridor, passing closed doors, making her way to the stairs. She heard footsteps coming from the adjacent hallway. Someone else is awake?

She turned the corner and saw Alexei walking down the hallway, to his mother’s room. Clutching something in his hand.

“Taking everything that’s rightfully mine.” His chilling words rang in her mind.

She stepped towards him. “Stop,” she said, her voice bouncing around the stone hallway.

He froze, then slowly turned towards her. His eye twitched. “Ah, Lumine,” he said with a strained smile. “Whatever are you doing up at this hour?”

She crossed her arms. “I couldn’t sleep. And you?” she asked, eyeing his clenched hand.

His gaze flickered to the hand as well. “Giving my mother her nightly medicine.” He opened his palm, revealing a small vial of liquid. It looked medicinal enough. But is it?

Lumine took a step towards him, and Alexei took a step back. Nervousness. Or defensiveness. “Why do I not believe you?”

“You’ve only just met me, dear,” he said. “Of course you don’t trust me.”

“You pulled a dagger on me.”

He laughed. “Apologies for that. I do get unreasonably angry when people compare me to Ajax.” He bowed slightly. “Other than that, I haven’t wronged you, have I?”

She scoffed. “You said you were going to take what’s ‘rightfully yours.’ And, you said you would only hurt me if I got in your way.” She glared at him. “So forgive me if I’m not exactly trusting of you.”

“How about this?” he said, pocketing the vial. “You let me go, and I’ll do the same for you.”

“Absolutely not.”

Alexei shrugged, a quick exhale escaping from his nose. “Your loss.”

He charged at her, taking out his dagger speedily.

Too easy. Lumine materialized her blade, catching his dagger. “Same old trick, Alexei?”

He smiled. “Hmm...not quite.” Suddenly, the dagger glowed purple, and sent out a sphere of Electro energy.

What?!

The wave shocked Lumine point blank, sending her flying backwards, landing on her side. The air was knocked from her lungs, and now her entire body was in pain.

Alexei didn’t have a Vision before—?!

She looked up to seeing him examining the weapon. “You know, it took me a while to find a black market Delusion,” he told her. “But with this, I’ll be able to easily take on anyone with a Vision.”

Of course...that power was stronger than a Vision. She had been unprepared for it. Now her body was suffering because of it.

“So...what now...Alexei?” Lumine said heavy breaths. “You...you going to murder...your family?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is it that obvious?” He laughed wickedly.

“And...and for what?”

“For everything, of course. The wealth, the power, blah blah blah.” He came and crouched in front of Lumine. She weakly held up her sword in defense. He continued, “There’s no place for weakness in this world. So my parents have to go. My siblings? They never saw me as superior.” He grimaced. “Always Ajax…” He glared at her. “So they all have to go.”

He stood, raising his dagger, charging it with massive amounts of Electro energy. “And now that you decided to get in my way, you’ll have to go too, dear Lumine.” He tilted his head. “A pity. I was just getting to know you.” A laugh. “Oh well!”

The dagger came rushing down.

Lumine took a deep breath, starting to muster her energy to conjure enough Anemo power to hopefully blast the attack away. But she didn’t have to.

A large wave of Hydro energy splashed in front of her—a shield—sending the Electro energy sparking back.

“Just like I said,” Childe said behind her as he helped lift her up, “Stirring up trouble as always, Lumine.”

“Seems like trouble just seems to find its way to us.”

“You let Alexei almost beat you?”

She glared at him. “Of course not. I was caught off guard.” She lifted her sword, turning to Alexei. “I won’t let it happen again.”

Alexei let out a haggard laugh. “What a lovely power couple.” He charged up a ball of electricity in his palm. “Will it be enough to stop me though?”

“Alexei, you always lost to me,” Childe said, Hydro energy swirling around him. “What makes you think this time is different?”

The eldest brother grinned. “You may be strong, Ajax. But you never were very good at chess.”

He shot the electricity at the door behind him. Into his mother’s room.

The entire wall crumbled, sending debris flying down the hall. Childe and Lumine dropped to the floor, dodging the pieces. When they looked up, Alexei had disappeared. They heard the sounds of people approaching.

Misha stood there, looking dazed and confused, along with Feliks. “What happened?!” she asked, eyes on the blown out wall.

“That’s—That’s Galina’s room!” Feliks yelled. He rushed forward, but Childe stepped in front of him.

“It’s too dangerous,” Childe said.

Lumine nodded. “You two take the kids and get away from here.”

“Where’s Alexei?” Misha asked.

Childe’s jaw clenched. “Who do you think started this?”

She frowned. “That crazy bastard.” She unsheathed her own sword. “Let me help.”

“No,” Childe said. “He has a Delusion now; you two don’t have Visions. You need to get Tonia, Anthon, and Teucer out of here.”

Misha paused, then sheathed her blade. “Okay...But give him a piece of my mind for me.”

“Alexei…,” Feliks murmured, incredible sadness crossing his face.

Lumine set a gentle hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll handle it,” she reassured. “Now, quickly, get out of here!” We’ve wasted enough time…

Feliks and Misha nodded, turning the corner to the hallway where the kid’s bedrooms were.

Lumine and Childe nodded at each other, then ventured through the rubble into Galina’s room.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Half of the wall had been destroyed in the blast, letting the cold night air rush in. Little snow flurries floated in, and the moonlight casted a blue hue throughout the room. Alexei knelt in the middle of the room, Galina in his arms. Her eyes were closed.

Lumine raised her sword while Childe raised his Hydro spear.

Alexei looked up at them. Then, “Too late,” he said, a sardonic grin splitting his face. He held up the empty vial.

He dropped her on the floor where she fell limply.

Lumine’s heart froze. No—!

Next to her, Childe was still, as if all time had stopped. His eyes were unblinking as he looked at his mother on the ground.

Alexei stood. “Look at what happens when you worry about family too much,” he said. “If only father and sister didn’t show up, maybe you would’ve stopped me in time.” He charged up his Electro energy in his hand again. It was growing more unstable, lightning strikes lashing out at random. “One down. Eight more to go.”

He shot the attack towards Lumine and Childe.

Childe caught it in his bare hand, holding the ball of energy as the electricity crackled around him, up his arm. He bared his teeth, biting down so hard Lumine saw a trail of blood leak from his lips. His face was twisted in pure anger.

…

“ALEXEI!” he screamed, his voice becoming heavily distorted.

He’s—! Lumine automatically knew what was happening. She dove to the side, getting as far away from him as she could.

Childe absorbed the Electro energy he held, his whole body becoming engulfed in the sparking electricity. Then, Lumine heard the familiar sound of metal crashing together as heavy armor clashed onto his body.

Alexei’s eyes widened.

The lightning cleared, and floating before them was Tartaglia: complete in his Foul Legacy Transformation.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[part 6]

#genshin impact #genshin childe #genshin lumine #genshin tartaglia #childe #lumine #tartaglia #childe x lumine #lumine x childe #chilumi #lumichilde #fanfic #me

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Too Loose And You’ll Lose It

Ch8: Same Old, Brand New You Co-Written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

Summary: Jake and Stella spend a bit of time together at home, rekindling their same old, brand new romance.

Pairing: Jake Jensen x OFC Stella Stevenson

Warnings: Bad language, Smut (NSFW, 18+) Word Count: 6.5k ish

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. We do not own any characters in this series bar Stella Stevenson and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

A/N: So enjoy this fluffy smutty chapter as from the next one, shit starts getting real...

TLAYLI Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 7 Part 3

Jake woke a few hours later, his face buried in Stella’s hair, one arm draped over her waist, the other was beneath her, laying just below the pillow. He shifted slightly, before he sighed a little at the pressure in his bladder telling him he needed to pee. As gently and as quietly as he could, he untangled himself from Stella, who was sleeping soundly and turned, swinging his legs off the side of her bed.

The clock on the dresser was telling him it was only five minutes to midnight, but all things considered they had gone to bed fairly early, both of them wiped out after an emotionally and physically charged few days, or weeks even, since Pooch’s wedding. He cracked his neck, rolling it across his shoulders as he padded into the bathroom, yawning. Once he’d sorted himself out, he washed his hands and ran them through his messed up hair, scratching at his bare chest, before he made his way to the stairs. He headed down, blinking himself awake as he went. He couldn’t see particularly well without his glasses which lay on the bedside table, but it wasn’t like it mattered all things considered. He knew his way around the Stevenson house with his eyes closed. However, as he reached the bottom he immediately noticed the sliver of light coming from the kitchen meaning that someone was in there, and given that Stella was in bed, it could only be her mom.

Unless they’d been broken into. But then, what kind of burglar turns on the lights?

Jake opened the door and peered in. Sure enough, Jules looked up at him from where she had just finished folding some ironing and she smiled.

“Hey, Jake. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just wanted to grab a drink.” He nodded. “That okay?”

“Course it is. In fact, I was just about to make myself a camomile tea before I headed up to bed. Do you want one?”

Jake could have quite happily grabbed a bottle of water, he wasn’t all that bothered about the tea, but something on Jules’ face as she waited for his answer told him to take her up on her offer. So he did with a thanks, and she then nodded to a smaller piles of clothes on the table. Jensen noticed that in true mom form, she had indeed washed and dried their soaking clothes from before.

“Put your T-shirt on.”

“Me being topless in your kitchen making you nervous, Jules?” He grinned as he reached for it and she scoffed, folding away the ironing board.

“The pair of you came back soaked before, I don’t want you catching a chill.”

With a smile Jake pulled it over his head, the familiar smell of Stella’s laundry detergent hitting his senses. It was one she used herself, she’d never changed it, not once, always saying it reminded her of home.

The kitchen fell silent as Jules boiled the kettle and made them the tea, before she returned to the table and placed one down in front of him.

“Thanks.” He smiled at her as she sat in the chair opposite him. He yawned a little before he took a sip of his drink.

“Am I keeping you up, sweetheart?” Jules asked and Jensen shook his head.

“No, it’s just been a long few weeks that’s all.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jules looked at him. “Stella’s been exhausted.” She took a sip of her drink, her eyes not leaving him. “And upset.”

Jake sighed, “I know.”

Jules studied him again for a moment before she leaned back in her chair. “Suppose it doesn’t matter, it’s done with for now but, are you sure the pair of you know what you’re doing?”

Jake frowned a little. “In what way?”

“Well, I mean she was with Evan for six months,” Jules held her hand up to stop Jensen as he was about to cut in, “she might not have loved him, yes, I heard all about that, but she was fond of him. To be honest we all were and I certainly don’t approve of her cheating on him with you in Mexico.” She looked at him, her eyebrows raised and Jake felt his cheeks flushing with heat. “You should know by now, Jacob, there are no secrets between me and my girls, well, not many that is.”

“I’m not sorry about that night.” Jensen shook his head. “I mean, I’m sorry it upset Stella as much as it did and I’m not particularly proud of my behaviour, any of it over the last few twelve months or so if I’m honest but…”

“What’s done is done. I guess I’m just a little worried that she’s finished it with him and barely a fortnight later the pair of you are back together.”

“I know how it looks, Jules. Honestly I do. And I’m not stupid enough to think that things can just go back to how they were. We got a lot to talk about, a lot to work through, but I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try again. And she’s given me a second…or third…whatever, she’s given me another chance here and I wanna give it the best shot I can.”

“Well, Jake, you never do anything half-cocked that’s for sure.” Jules gave him a soft smile as she sipped her drink. “And I don’t need to ask you if you love her, because I know you do, you always have. But please, show it to her. Don’t take her for granted. Ever again.”

Jensen sighed and looked at Jules. “I know, I fucked up and if I was in your shoes I wouldn’t be happy about her taking me back either…”

“I’m not unhappy about it.” Jules cut him off. “How can I be? She loves you, and you make her happy. But I just don’t want to see her hurt again. Because if you do, Jake, then we," she pointed between the two of them, "will fall out. Big time.”

The threat might have appeared to anyone else as innocuous, but Jake knew the undercurrent it held. He’d never fallen out with Jules before, even when he and Stella had split up, and for her to threaten that made him uncomfortable. Momma bear was in full on protective mode over her cub, and he couldn’t blame her one single bit.

“I promise you, I don’t ever want to lose her again.” Jake shook his head, giving a little shrug. “She’s my Stel.”

“Good because you’re my little boy, you know this.” Jules smiled. “I watched you grow up as much as I did her, and I didn’t like seeing you both fall apart.”

“I know. And that’s on me.” Jensen hung his head a little, his hands wrapping around the now almost empty mug in front of him on the table as he swallowed and raised his head to look Julie in the eyes. “But if I have to spend the rest of my life making it up to her, I will.”

At that Julie smiled, and nodded before she cleared her throat and made a point of looking at the clock on the wall. “It’s late.”

It was her way of telling him the conversation was over, Jake knew Julie well enough to understand that, so he nodded and stood up as she did the same, collecting his mug. He watched her deposit them in the sink and as she turned back to him he cocked his head slightly to one side.

“Jules?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I hug you?” He grinned, holding his arms out.

The woman chuckled, “there’s always a Julie hug waiting for you, Jacob.”

With a grin Jake stepped towards her and wrapped his arms tight around her as she did the same, her hands softly rubbing at his back in the maternal manner she had off to a tee.

“Now, go on.” She stepped back as he released her. “And take those dry clothes up with you.”

With a smile, Jake collected the items in his arms and looked at Julie. “You know, it’s only since leaving home I actually appreciate how great moms are.”

“Huh,” Julie gave a low huff of a laugh, “you’re growing up my dear Jacob.”

“Had to happen eventually I suppose.” Jensen wrinkled his nose.

“Well, better late than never.” Julie arched her eyebrow, the resemblance between her and Stella in that moment was striking, even though from photos Jake had seen, he’d always thought Stella took after her dad mostly. Same colour eyes, nose shape, hair colour, but now…well, there was no doubting Julie was her mom.

With a smile he patted the jeans on the top of the pile in his arms. “Night Jules.”

“Night Jake, oh, usual for breakfast?” She asked and Jake paused in the doorway, turning to face her.

“You know, I was actually thinking I’d make Stel toast in bed, it’s been a while since I have.”

Julie smiled “Well you know where it all is.”

“I do. Hey, might even make you some, you know I’ve always wanted to get into your bedroom.” He quipped and at that she laughed.

”Get lost before I slap you.”

Chuckling to himself, Jensen headed back upstairs and into Stella’s room, placing the clothing down on the dresser. Stella had turned over whilst he’d been gone, facing the side of the bed he’d occupied half an hour or so previously and with a smile he pulled off his tee-shirt and slid back into the covers, as Stella gave a little murmur and reached out for him. He slid his arms around her, pulling her close, her head tucked under his chin as one of her legs slipped in between his, wrapping herself round him with the manner of a koala bear.

“Where did you go?” She asked, her voice rough with sleep, her eyes not opening.

“I was reconnecting with my future mother in law.” He replied, dropping a kiss to her head.

“What?” she asked, giving a little yawn and Jake chuckled.

“Nothing, go back to sleep.”

Jensen closed his eyes, his hands softly rubbing at Stella’s back over the top of the thin camisole top she had on, and eventually he felt her completely relax in his hold and it wasn’t long before he too drifted back off into a peaceful sleep.

****

When Stella woke up the next morning, the sun had barely started to peek over the horizon. Her face was pressed into Jake’s back, her arms wrapped around him from behind as she curled around him, her leg tangled between his. She pressed a soft kiss on his back before she stirred, stretching a little.

Jake gave a soft sigh as she moved a little behind him, his arm reaching up to hers which was slung over his hips, hand resting on his abs. “Morning, Stelly.” His voice was raspy, thick with sleep as he raised her hand to his mouth, pressing a gentle kiss to the inside of her wrist.

“Morning Jakey. Did I wake you?”

“Not really.” He yawned. With a stretch of his limbs he moved and Stella shuffled back a little to allow him the room to roll onto his side, facing her, that adorable goofy grin spreading across his face.

Stella gave him a shy smile, her cheeks tinged ever so slightly with pink. “Hi.”

“Hi, baby.” He chuckled, instantly understanding why she was feeling that way. Whilst this sure as hell wasn’t the first time they’d woken up together, it felt different, like this was something new that was just starting. And in a way it was, their second shot at something serious. And just the mere thought of that filled his chest with warmth.

“You sleep well?” She continued and Jake smiled softly, reaching up to tuck her sleep mussed hair behind her ears.

“I always do when you’re with me.” He whispered and her eyes sparkled in the early morning light as she looked at him, a soft expression on her face as he felt her react to the intimate touch, her body shivering ever so slightly, her chest hitching. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Sorta, I erm, I was dreaming all this wasn’t real, that you and I had fought really hard and had gone our separate ways and... I was so relieved when I woke up next to you.” Her words were hurried and Jake shook his head, his eyes locked into hers.

“Not a chance, Stel. I told you, I’m not gonna let you go again, I love you.”

At that he leaned in, his lips pressing to hers in a slow, gentle kiss as his strong arms wrapped around her, one sliding under her neck, the other over her waist.

She grinned against his mouth. “Say it again, I like to hear you say it.”

“I-“ kiss, “love-“ another kiss, “you.”

Her body melted into his as his tongue dipped into her mouth. With a soft, yet strong movement he rolled them gently so Stella was on her back, hovering over her, caging her with his legs as his arms continued to hold her close.

“I love you too, Jake.” She whispered as she broke the kiss, her nose bumping his gently and he smiled, his lips gently pecking hers again before he moved down, nipping at her jawline softly.

His lips softly moved down her neck, gentle kisses, like the flutter of a butterfly's wing. Jake wanted to enjoy each and every place on her body, from her cheeks to her sweetest parts, he wanted nothing more than to feel the way her body would cling to him. To feel something more than what he'd been feeling for so long. And he was going to take his sweet time in showing Stella just how much he truly loved her.

His gentle kisses moved back up to that spot where her jaw met her ear and he softly nudged it with his nose in between kisses. "Let me love on you, Stelly."

Stella gave out a squeak at the deep baritone of his words, the hot breath in her ear and she tilted her hips into his as he led over her. Jake pulled away, a slow and soft smile spreading over his lips.

His arms moved from where they had been holding her and his hands gripped at the hem of the oversized tee she was wearing and he tugged it upwards, Stella arching her back, just enough so he could pull it over her head. Caging her in with his arms, he bent his neck down and captured her lips again in a kiss, long and languid, slowly rolling his tongue around with hers. Breaking free, and using his strength to stay over her, Jake continued to kiss down her neck, reaching her collarbone and giving the protrusion a nip, before kissing the sting away.

One hand covered a breast, kneading the flesh with his palm while his mouth took in the opposite nipple. His warm tongue lolled over her hardened peak and he gave a little tug between his teeth, drawing a quiet groan from her mouth. He kissed between the valley of her breasts and up her sternum before his mouth replaced his hand and paid the same attention to her other nipple and breast, his opposite hand now kneading the other.

Stella's breathy, soft moans were music to Jake’s ears. Her noises were soft, delicate because they both knew where they were and how quiet they had to be. As Jake took his time with her, Stella relished on this soft moment. Her skin felt like she was in a bath of fizzy bubbles, tingling and popping with each touch or stroke.

Her hands gently gripped at his spiky, sleep messed hair as she sighed with pleasure, her head tipped back against the pillow as she arched off the mattress into his touch.

Jake continued to make moves downward along Stella's body, her tummy his blank canvas to work her over with. Sporadic kisses over her taught middle, a dip of a tongue in her belly button had her whispering for release but Jake wasn't through with her, no, this was all about Stella and giving her all he could and more.

He was rock hard, his dick visibly straining his sweats and he was grateful he hadn't worn his boxers to bed thanks to them being in the laundry due to them being soaked to the skin the previous night. His body moved along the mattress, as he moved downward over Stella's body, his broad chest now hovering over her hot and wet centre as his lips kissed in a horizontal pattern along the waistband of her panties.

Thick fingers curled around the hips of Stella's underwear and pulled the material away, Stella tilting her hips upward to assist. Jake sat back on his knees as he finished the task, tossing the panties to the floor of her room. It was now, when all he could do was fight back the knot in his belly, the swell of his chest, that his deep blue eyes looked at all of her. And suddenly, he was a little nervous, but desperately needed to feel her.

He toyed with taking his time with her or just going for it, and when Stella spoke to him at just above a whisper he knew his answer.

"Jakey, please."

His sweats were down to his thighs in a snap and he palmed his cock in hand, stroking himself just a little as he lined himself up with her. The feel of her wet outer folds against the velvety head of his cock felt so good and with a brush of pressure to her throbbing clit, Stella gasped and bit her lip.

Jake slipped right inside of her, his arms coming to rest on each side of her head as he pushed deeper in. Both emitting a moan louder than they should have.

"Shhhh," Jake whispered, hovering above her lips. "We gotta be quite, Stelly."

She nodded underneath him, and his hips pulled back and thrust forward, a slow and lazy roll to them. His movements were deep and strong, her body moving with his as his chest slid along her skin with each powerful drive into her he made.

Stella tilted her hips upward along with her head, capturing Jake's lips so they could swallow each other's calls of desire. With her hip tilt, Jake was able to rub the head of his thick cock against that soft spot inside that made her melt.

There was no hurry but there was a deep intensity to the way they continued to connect. Thrusts and breathy pants, moans swallowed by deep kisses. Stella's walls began to flutter around Jake's shaft as he began to pulse against her insides.

"Oh fuck, Stella," he croaked at her ear. He was close and so was she.

"So close," she whimpered, as if to affirm what he was already feeling as her hands ran over his spine and back up his neck, her fingers scratching at the base.

They came together with a white hot flash, stars flooding their vision, their cries of love crashing over that cliff swallowed up by a beautiful kiss.

As Jake emptied inside her, he buried his face into the crook of her neck, thankful for the ability to mask the pooled eyes he squinted shut. When he felt he could, he leaned back and saw the two tears that leaked from her own eyes and with the cradle of his palms against her face, his thumbs wiped them away.

Stella saw nothing but tenderness and true love reflected in Jake's eyes. This moment would forever be in her memory bank. Sleeping and being together had been a common occurrence for the two of them, even when they weren’t a couple, but this had felt as intense as it ever had. The way she felt, the way he made her feel, it was her Jakey. The goofy, weird, sarcastic beautiful Jake Jensen she had always loved. The man who made her feel things she could never with anyone else, no matter how hard she'd tried. He was home, he was safety, and his promises for forever had re-stolen her heart.

"I love you." Stella whispered to him.

"I love you, too." he replied softly.

With himself still inside her, he managed to roll the two of them so he was on his back and she led over his body, her knees in either side of his hips. Stella laid her head against his sweat sticky chest, her cheek pressed right against his heart. His fingers ran through her hair as they both fell back asleep for just a little while longer.

****

Later that day, just after lunchtime, Jake walked the short distance back to his parents. He hopped up the steps to the front door and removed his keys from his pocket and let himself in. His timing perfect, as ever, saw him step into the hallway at the exact moment his dad walked down the stairs.

“Oh, you decided to show up then?” John scoffed as he stood looking at his son.

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, you little shit, your sister told me everything.” John replied, his voice carrying a hint of amusement as he folded his arms.

“Define everything.” Jake grimaced a little and his dad snorted.

“I know exactly what happened in Mexico and why you came home.” John shook his head as he walked past Jensen into the lounge. “Don’t worry, we’re not offended in the slightest you didn’t come here first.”

Jake rolled his eyes as his dad sank into the arm chair, reaching for the TV remote. “It wasn’t on purpose Dad. In my defence, I didn’t really have a grand plan. I had like an hour to make the flight, I didn’t even bring a bag.”

“Yeah, well, by the expression on your face I assume it went well.” John looked at him, a smirk flickering across his face and Jensen grinned.

“Yeah, yeah it did.”

“So, when are you heading back?”

Jensen shrugged. “Not sure, probably in a few days or so.”

“Great.” John pressed a button on the remote, waving his hand towards the door of the room. “Now go tell your mother, she’s gonna be over the moon when she finds out.”

“You didn’t tell her why I was here?” Jake frowned, removing his jacket and tossing it over the arm of the sofa.

“Nope.” John shook his head, his eyes fixed on the Sunday Lunchtime show on the TV. “I didn’t want her to be disappointed if you fucked up. Again. I told her you were doing exercises nearby.”

“Nice to see you had so little faith in me, Pops.”

“Yeah, well, you have a history of colossal fuckups.” John mumbled.

“I know.” Jensen scratched at his chest over his T-shirt. “Hey, Is this the part where you give me the big father-son talk. Again?”

At that John laughed. “I will give you the talk as many times as needed, which in your case is a lot.” His eyes flicked up to Jensen’s and Jake sighed a little.

“I know I was a dick, I still am but I don’t wanna fuck this up again, Dad. She means the world to me and she’s given me a second chance. There won’t be a third, not least because she wouldn’t give me one but she’s not gonna need to.

John turned his eyes to Jake and levelled him with a stern look. “I hope so, son. Your mother and I love that girl as if she was our own kid.

“I love her too.” Jake shrugged. “And that’s all I can say.”

“That’s everything, Son. I’m happy for you.” John smiled, before he nodded towards the door. “Now go tell your mother.”

“She’s totally gonna slap me for not coming here first and going straight to the fake exercise, isn’t she?”

“Straight up murder you.” John nodded. “You know,” he rolled his eyes, “mothers.”

Jake grimaced. “Say nice things at my funeral.”

With his dad’s chuckles ringing in his ears, Jake headed into the kitchen and through to the small laundry room where his mom was busy shoving clothes in the dryer.

“Hey Ma.” He said and she gave a little start of surprise before she spun round, pointing at him.

“Jacob Calvin Jensen!” She blazed and Jake recoiled a little, wincing at her tone. “Why on earth you didn’t come see your mother before going to Exercise? And why aren’t you wearing your uniform?”

“What, why would I be wearing my uniform?” He frowned. ”That’s…whatever, that’s not important. Look, Mom, I didn’t come for an exercise.”

“You didn’t?” His mom frowned as she folded her arms. “Then where the hell have you been?”

“With Stel.” He replied simply.

“Stella?” His mom’s frown deepened. “So is all the team in the area?”

“No, just us.”

“Jake, what’s going on?” His mother demanded, her tone laced with frustration and he sighed.

“I err, well something happened when we were in Mexico and I had to make it right so, I did.”

“In Mexico? What did you do this time, Jake? And what is that you had to make it right? Oh my GOD!” She stuttered as she pressed her hand to her mouth. “Tell me you didn’t get a random Mexican girl pregnant, Jake!

“What? No!” Jake exclaimed, shaking his head. “Besides I was there like two weeks ago, how would I even know if I had?”

His mom immediately started rambling on about him being a dirty little shit and Jake let her continue for a while as she railed at him for whatever imaginary sins he had committed, but when she started on some long winded accusation about him sleeping his way around Cancun he groaned.

“Mom, you’re…you know what, the only person I slept with out there was Stella!”

At that his mom stopped dead, her eyebrows shooting up into her hairline. “What? I thought she was dating that guy she brought for New Years?”

“Look, it’s complicated but I made it right.” He shook his head, wanting to avoid that particular line of questioning. “I told you I came to fix something and I did. Stelly and I are back together.”

Instead of the smile he’d been expecting to spread on his mom’s face at that revelation, instead her brow furrowed once more into a frown and she shook her head, holding up her hand.

“Wait, wait. Back up!” She shook her head. “So you went to Mexico. Had sex. And now you’re back together?”

Jake groaned, “Mom!”

“Don’t ‘mom’ me!” She hissed. “You slept with her whilst she was with that other guy?”

“Yes, but they were breaking up, they have broken up!” He implored, dropping his head a little. “I thought you’d be pleased about it.”

“Of course I am, the pair of you belong together but that doesn’t mean I approve of what you did! You broke them up, on purpose?”

“Oh my God, are you even listening to me?” Jake looked at his mom, shaking his head and at that her face softened a little and she laid a hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry, yes, I am listening to you sweetheart, I’m just a little confused.”

Jake wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, it is…it’s complicated but, well, it doesn’t matter how and why, Mom, it just happened and, well, I love her. I love her so damn much and she took me back.” His voice dropped a little as he gave his mom a smile, popping one of his shoulders and to his relief he saw her finally smile back at him.

“You’re a lucky little shit you know that?”

Jake grinned. “Yeah, I do. Jules pretty much told me the same thing.”

“And did Jules tell you that if you fuck this up again she’ll kill you with her own bare hands?” His mom looked at him and he nodded.

“Yup. Dad also made his feelings perfectly clear a moment ago and I suspect you’re gonna join the club too.”

“You guessed right.” Janet raised her eyebrows. “And it won’t be a quick death either. It will be slow, and painful.”

“Gee, thanks.” Jake looked up at the ceiling before his mom scoffed a little.

“Well then for your sake you better heed said warnings then, hadn’t you?” She demanded and Jake dropped his eyes to hers before she smiled, and held her arms open. “Come here.”

******

The next day, Monday, was Jules’ birthday. Both families celebrated together as they always did, this time with a meal at an Italian joint and a chocolate cake Stella had made with Janet’s help. They had all chatted and laughed cheerfully over dinner, everyone trying to convince Jules she wasn’t hard to look at for her age and Gracie giggling every time Jake stole a kiss from Stella. Aubrey, however, spent most of the night shooting daggers at Jake before she collared him again when he emerged from the bathroom to issue one final threat. When he assured her said threat was received and understood she’d merely eyed him for a second before she shrugged and wrapped him up into a hug.

Tuesday was a bright sunny day and Jake suggested to Stella that they head out with Sirius for the afternoon and then caught a movie, just the two of them, later that evening before getting an early night ready for their morning flight back to Virginia. As such, the pair of them made their way to the park not far from Jake’s mom and dad’s, Sirius happily trotting besides them until they reached a less busy area and Jake let him off his leash for a run.

“You finished packing, baby?” Jensen asked, before throwing a stick for the large, black dog to fetch. He watched the dog sprint over the lawn of that side of the park before he turned to look at Stella who had remained silent.

“Yes, I guess I am.” She replied softly once she realized he was waiting for her answer.

“You guess?” Jensen wrapped his arm over Stella’s shoulder, pulling her to him before leaving a gentle kiss on her head. “What’s bothering you? You seem concerned about something.”

When she hesitated, Jake suddenly found himself worrying a little as he saw she was clearly unsure of what to say.

“Are you not ready to go back to base again?” He asked, trying to coax the answer out of her, trying to keep his face passive as he asked her out-loud what he was thinking. “Are you worried about Agent Shit-Name?”

“No, not really.” She answered, not a flinch at the mention of her former boyfriend, nor did she bother to pull Jake up on the use of his shitty nickname for the man. Instead, she took a deep breath. “Does this feel different to you? Like us?”

“Different?” Jensen frowned as he looked down to her. “In what way?”

“I really can’t explain it.” She shrugged, her eyes still fixed on a spot beyond the path ahead of them. “Like… there’s more riding on it maybe. If it doesn’t work out this time, then where do we go from there?”

“Is that what is worrying you?” Jake looked at her and she shrugged again and he sighed. “Hey, look, don’t think it won’t work babe, please. I promise you if it comes to me, it will.”

And it was then that Stella looked at him finally, his arm still curled over her shoulder as they walked round the lake with Sirius prancing and sniffing every tree, rock and creature a few meters ahead.

“I mean it, Stelly.” Jake pressed, desperate to get his point across that he wasn’t going to let her down again, to reassure her. “I love you baby and I wouldn’t do anything that risked what we’ve got.”

“I just don’t want this to go the way it did last time, and I believe you, I really do and I love you too.” Stella paused and swallowed before continuing, her eyes studying Jensen’s features. “It’s just, well the reason me and Evan didn’t work was because of you.”

Jensen then opened his mouth to protest but Stella cut him off with a movement of her hand. “I had no chance of being happy with anyone else not whilst you were there and this, well, if we end up that way again then…”

Jake needed no more words, he understood instantly what she was saying. That that was it. If they ever fell apart again, mind you, if he ever fucked up again, there would be nothing left for them. No friendship, no working partners, nothing. And, if he was being honest, that scared the shit out of him.

“This really is our last chance Jake. And that kinda freaks me out.” Stella continued, her voice bringing Jake back from his own thoughts. “But, we gotta try right?” She shrugged, making it look like a casual comment and trying to appear as collected as possible, but her eyes filled as she spoke that last sentence, telling Jake she was anything but.

Jake then stopped them both, and shook his head as he turned to face her. “Then don’t think about that happening.” At that he took a deep breath and cupped her face in his hands. “Look Stel, if anyone’s gotta be scared that would be me.” He felt his voice beginning to crack so he paused for couple of seconds as he softly rubbed Stella’s cheekbones with the pads of his thumbs. “I fucked up so many times before. I know that much and I also know I am a lucky bastard because you took me back.”

Stella shook her head, making him drop his arms to his sides. “We both did stuff that, well, with hindsight was dumb. But, it’s not even like we can take this slow, is it? Not with everything that’s happened, all the history we’ve got.”

“Why not?” Jake shrugged. “Let’s do exactly that. Let’s go right back to the beginning. We’ll date, do fun stuff, build it back from scratch.”

She chuckled, her features finally softening and her eyes sparkling at Jake’s so familiar giddiness. “Back to when?” She grinned. “To you helping me with my books the day we met?”

“Well... maybe not that far.” He grinned back at her as the memories of that day so many years ago warmed his chest. “But, let’s look at this as new. I kinda feel like it is anyway, I mean the other morning…” he trailed off and Stella watch him swallow hard, his throat bobbing slightly. “Fuck Stel, I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing that was. It just felt so special and that spark was there and…” he then paused to take her hands in his. “I don’t know, let’s work with that.”

“It was special, Jake.” Stella nodded, her eyes boring into his. “It was just us loving on each other, knowing that was where we belonged.”

“Exactly.” Jake breathed in as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and made them start moving again. “So let’s just run with it. We can’t keep dragging over all the shit that’s been before if we wanna make it work.”

“I do, I do wanna make it work.” Stella assured him, looking up at him. Her face split into a smile and she beamed at him, all traces of her trepidation seeping away. “Me and you, Jake. No matter what.”

He nodded as he grinned before leaning down to gently capture her lips on his, thanking his lucky stars that conversation had gone the way it had. “Now, I don’t know about you but I’m starving. Wanna head to the bakery and grab some food? I’d kill for a slice of red velvet cake.”

“You’re obsessed with that stuff.” She chuckled as she rolled her eyes.

Jensen shrugged and gave her his signature cheeky grin. “My two weaknesses in one place babe, you and cake.”

He watch her smirk from the corner of his eye as he called Sirius back and clipped on his leash. They headed out of the park and walked a few blocks down to one of their favourite bakeries in their town. The main lunchtime rush was over so thankfully it wasn’t busy and Stella didn’t have wait long outside with Sirius whilst Jensen headed in and grabbed them a sandwich each and then a large piece of his favourite cake and an eclair for her.

Once they’d got their food, they headed back to the park and found a little spot on one of the lawns and settled down to eat. They made small conversation as they ate their sandwiches, which they split as was usual when they were together the first time, Jensen commenting on how he had called Clay that same morning to tell him they were heading back the following morning and to fill him in with the latest update on the so-called “Operation Petunia”.

Despite their earlier decision to start new, they spent most of the meal reminiscing about the highlights of their relationship beginning with the day they met and ending with one of the most infamous moments they had lived together.

And no, contrary to what anyone who knew them might pinpoint, it wasn’t their first break up or any of the last month’s events.

“You have no idea how embarrassing it was to see photos of my boyfriend all over the fucking Army College campus wearing a whipped cream bikini with a banana up his ass.” Stella groaned at the memory, as she unwrapped their sweet treats.

“Oh, for fucks sake, Stel! How many times do I have to tell you it was a bet?” Jensen protested as he lay back on the grass as he thrust his arms dramatically in the air, making Stella roll her eyes.

“How would you feel about seeing photos of me like that?” She smirked as she leaned to poke her index finger on his chest as he cringed at the thought.

“Stel, just don’t, baby.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Stella grinned.

“You would have looked better than I did though.” Jensen quipped as he raised his head and chest, using his elbows now to rest the weight of his body upon, propping himself up.

“Well that goes without saying.”

“Okay, let’s not talk about my most embarrassing moments anymore.” He sat up, reaching for his cake. He took a large bite and groaned, swallowing, before he shoved more in his mouth. “By the way, this red velvet cake is delicious.”

“Is it?” Stella swallowed her own mouthful of éclair and nodded to the cake in Jake’s hand. “Let me try.”

Jensen broke a piece off for her and held it up as if to put it in her mouth but then before thinking twice he shoved it straight at her, mushing it round her nose.

There was a moment where Stella blinked, before she gave a shriek and grabbed a napking. “I fucking hate you.” She spluttered, wiping at her nose.

Jensen was cackling, but he soon stopped when she rammed what was left of her chocolate éclair into his face.

“You know, Estella,” he began to say as he wiped his face and licked the cream off his finger, smirking a little, “you really shouldn’t play with your food.”

“Oh, fuck off Jacob!” She snorted, using his full name as well.

“Oooh so angry, baby.” He mocked her as he dodged the napkin she threw at him.

“Shut up!”

“All right, all right.” He laughed and then looped his arm round her neck pulling her down with him as he leaned back on the grass again, his lips catching hers in a searing kiss.

“God, I love kissing you Stelly.” Jake sighed once they broke the kiss.

“Yeah?” She smiled. “Kinda like kissing you too.”

**** Chapter 9

#too loose and you'll lose it #jake jensen #jake jensen x ofc #jake jensen x original female character #the losers #the losers fan fiction #chris evans #chris evans characters

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concernedbrownbread · 3 years

Text

Come Home With Me

For @adrienaugust Day 3: Umbrella

Summary:

“Adrien,” Plagg said softly, “It’ll rain soon.”

“Let it.”

His voice was vicious. Desperate.

He wanted to go home. But he really, really didn’t want to go back.

The rain started hitting his face harshly, punishment for his indecision. Adrien wanted to curl up in his bed and cry, but he didn’t want to ever see his too-white, too-big room again.

“Adrien?”

His eyes snapped open, focusing past the blur of water to the person who had spoken.

“Marinette?”

Or, Adrien finds himself alone in the rain, trying to find home, and Marinette lends him her umbrella.

Word Count: 1397

Relationship: Adrien & Marinette (Platonic, but can be interpreted differently), Adrien & Plagg

Warnings: Implied/Refrenced Emotional Abuse

Read here or under the cut

---

“You’re gonna catch a cold out here, kit.”

Adrien’s lips pulled into a bittersweet smile, “I think that’s the least of our worries.”

Plagg sighed, hovering just above his shoulder, “At least transform into Chat Noir.”

Adrien shook his head, “You’re tired, and I’m running out of cheese.”

Plagg sighed, and didn’t say, then maybe we should go back.

Adrien’s never going back to that manor. Father could try dragging him kicking and screaming, but he was never going back.

(He had said that before. So many times.)

The wind picked up, the chill of late October stinging against Adrien’s exposed skin. He was underdressed and overwhelmed, with nothing but his school bag and his phone. His calls to Nino and Chloe had both fallen through, the reception bad because of course his luck ran that way. Adrien truly did feel alone.

Alone, but away from that wretched house.

He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the park bench. At least he was free here.

(A terrible, nagging part of his mind that sounded so much like Father told him, you’ll go back eventually, he’s your dad, you’ll forgive him like you always do .

That part of his mind, cold and quiet, called this little stunt for what it was - a childish tantrum.)

Tears stung at his eyes.

“Adrien,” Plagg said softly, “It’ll rain soon.”

“Let it.”

His voice was vicious. Desperate.

He wanted to go home.

Plagg said nothing, finally realising that Adrien was serious about staying out. He settled onto Adrien’s shoulder, a comforting weight. He didn’t try to talk Adrien out of this stupid bit of rebellion, but he didn’t encourage him either.

Plagg always gave him space to figure things out for himself.

He appreciated that, but after a life of being told what to do, Adrien wasn’t sure how to figure things out.

The first droplets of rain are kind, a gentle warning. Adrien refused to budge. His heart hammered against his ribs, a steady rhythm that only picked up with the downpour.

Go back, Adrien tried to tell himself. Back to the manor, where it was cold but at least not drenched. Back to Father, who would hug him and say never leave me and it would be more suffocating than comforting. Back to his life, as Adrien Agreste, the perfect little model.

But he really, really didn’t want to go back.

The rain started hitting his face harshly, punishment for his indecision. Adrien wanted to curl up in his bed and cry, but he didn’t want to ever see his too-white, too-big room again.

“Adrien?”

His eyes snapped open, focusing past the blur of water to the person who had spoken.

“Marinette?”

She shifted her umbrella awkwardly, “Uh, hi. You’re wet - no, I mean, er - getting wet - “ she trailed off.

Adrien smiled fondly, “Yeah. What are you doing out here?”

“I was running an errand for my parents,” Marinette managed to say, with minimal stammering, “You?”

Her eyes were wide and concerned and warm against the autumn wind.

Though he counted Marinette as a friend, he couldn’t say they were close. He didn’t know how much to tell her, if anything at all. Had he been behind his mask, he wouldn’t have hesitated at all, but he never knew where Adrien stood with her.

Still, Marinette was dear to him, and always had a habit of showing up when he needed her most.

“I’m not sure what I’m doing here,” Adrien admitted quietly, “Or what I’m doing at all,” he scoffed, "Or where to go."

“Come home with me,” Marinette said boldly. Then, "Not - not home WITH me - I meant - come to my house - the bakery that is - at least, it’s out of the rain - and it’s close - "

She trailed off, smiling nervously, angling her umbrella so that it was covering him.

He couldn’t really say no. And the thought of macarons were always enticing.

“Thank you, Marinette,” Adrien said, “I promise to be out of your hair as soon as the rain clears.”

“Don’t be silly, you can stay forever - um, as long as you like, I mean.”

The bakery was much closer than Adrien had thought. Stepping into its warmth, Adrien was hit with the aroma of freshly baked pastries, which made him instantly hungry.

“My parents aren’t in,” Marinette said as she left the umbrella by the door, “Do you want something to eat?”

Everything, “Sure.”

“I’ll get you a towel too.”

Marinette got them so much tooth-rotting sugary goods that Father would flip if he saw them, which only made Adrien devour them with glee. Marinette giggled when Adrien got cream on his nose and tried to lick it off, completely forgetting he didn’t have Chat’s tongue right now.

They sat by the window, the steady pitter-patter soothing the last of Marinette’s nerves - enough for her to crack a pun about pastries, one that Adrien had to use next time around Ladybug. She laughed when he shared the story about the time he and Chloe had eaten enough sweets to make them sick, and he gasped at her story about how her dad invented a new kind of muffin recipe.

By the time they were finishing off the last macaron, Adrien had forgotten all his previous worries.

It all came crashing back however, when Marinette said, “I noticed your dad didn’t sign the form today. For the trip to Nice.”

Adrien flinched, “No, he didn’t.”

“How come?”

She was more curious than judgemental, which was why Adrien felt comfortable enough to confess, “I think he’s punishing me.”

Marinette drew back, “What? Why?”

“I messed up a photoshoot the other day. There was an akuma attack and I had to … go hide - I guess it’s not really an excuse - but - “

Marinette slammed down the glass she’d been drinking from, “That is SO unfair!”

Adrien shrugged, “It’s nothing new. He might just be being protective, I don’t know. Though … I sort of decided to not go back home today, because of it,” he laughed, “Overdramatic, I know.”

“He’s the one being overdramatic!” Marinette frowned, “Does Nino and Chloe know? I’m telling them, we’re kidnapping you. I’ll tell Alya too, she’ll tell the whole class,” she paused at her phone, “Should I tell Kagami and Luka? They’re not even on the trip …”

Adrien felt his insides warm. Hearing their names out loud … he sometimes forgot how many people he had, that cared for him.

Had he really been worrying over where home was, when he had already known?

“Marinette,” he said softly, “It’s okay. Thank you.”

“It’s not okay,” she pouted, but relented by putting her phone down.

“I know he loves me,” Adrien sighed, “I just wish he’d show it more.”

“Oh Adrien,” she reached over, covering his hand with hers, “I’m so sorry you have to go through that.”

“Yeah,” Adrien smiled, “Thank you.”

“You can stay here tonight if you like.”

Outside, the rain had slowed to a drizzle.

“It’s okay,” he said softly, “I think I’m okay now.”

Marinette didn’t seem to be pleased, but she didn’t push it, “At least take the umbrella with you.”

“I couldn’t - "

“It’s yours,” she blushed, “You - uh - gave it to me. First day of school.”

“Oh,” he grinned, “You kept it.”

“I forgot to give it back,” she softened, “Anyway, I think you need it more than me. For the next time it rains.”

Adrien gulped, blinking back the stinging in his eyes. He cleared his throat gently, “Um, before I go. This might sound weird, but do you have any cheese?”

Marinette laughed, “I do, actually! I keep it around for ... stray cats.”

It took Adrien a moment to realise she was talking about Chat Noir.

“You’re an amazing friend, you know that?” Adrien blurted out.

Marinette grinned, “I’ve been told. And you are too, don’t you forget it!”

Outside, holding plenty of cheese and pastries and one well-used umbrella, Plagg peeked out of Adrien’s jacket.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

Plagg snorted, “Then let’s go home. Your dad’s worried.”

“I doubt Father even noticed.”

“Other dad.”

Adrien had no idea what Plagg was talking about until he checked his phone, only to be bombarded with seventeen worried messages from the Gorilla.

“I’m in trouble, huh?”

Plagg only laughed.

Adrien grinned back, looking up at the sky. The rain had come to a stop now, leaving the skies grey, but the world clearer.

---

Author's Note: When I tell you this fic refused to cooperate with me, I mean that I had 5 stories in my head and came up with the 6th this morning. At least I had fun writing the rain as a metaphor!

Platonic Adrinette is an under-used gem, they are such a wholesome duo. The ship is fine, but nothing beats friendship <3

Also, on Gabriel - I don't doubt that he cares about Adrien, but sometimes caring isn't enough. In this case, it DEFINITELY isn't enough.

#adrienaugreste #adrienaugust #adrien #marinette #plagg #friendship #hurt/comfort #angst with a happy ending #miraculous ladybug #ml #mlb #mlb fanfic #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #platonic adrinette

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acahope311 · 3 years

Text

Alone Together

Sleepover request

burning-quesadilla said: Can you do Fluff #3 for Glorestor? Also the sleepover idea sounds really fun, I love it & can't wait♥️ ((She/he/they) don’t compare to you. No one does.)

A/N: SOOOOOOO... Hi haha! I am back! I now have more free time to just get back into writing-- I forgot how fun it was to do this. @burning-quesadilla I am sososo sorry it took so long to do this 😭 but I hope you can forgive me and I hope you like it as well. This is technically my first only canon characters fic so... I really do hope I do them justice. But thank you so much for sending this request in! I had such a blast writing it!

Warnings: Death (but as a flashback/dream); sparring; falling; big booboo bruise on the forehead; fluff.

The evening darkness seeped into the glowing halls of Imladris. Although the hour grew late and everyone had retired to their respected quarters, Erestor’s mind continued to storm in the clear summer night. Tossing and turning in his bed, the poor elf could not relax.

“How can I rest knowing that a dark evil has arrived at our door?” He asked already knowing the answer.

His restlessness traveled from his mind to his palms, he needed to busy his idle hands, hoping that in doing so, his mind would calm. Silently, he stood and headed towards the training grounds. Now, normally, Erestor was not one to blow off steam through physical exercise, being a strong advocate of "brain over brawn", but even he knew how therapeutic it was to hit something with a sword- be it wooden or real.

Arriving on the premises, his slender fingers gripped a training sword. It had been a while since he'd gripped anything bigger than a pen, but it was not a strange sensation-- although a scholar, he made sure his body and movements were as sharp as his mind. Facing the wooden post, Erestor practiced his movements, swift and precise.

Lunge. His foot extended forward, bringing him towards his target.

"What is the next move?"

Sidestep. Quickly turning on his heel, he spun and landed a side strike-- chipping the wood.

"How can we defeat this growing malice in the east?"

Deflect. Imagining an enemy, Erestor held his sword up in hopes of stopping an imaginary attack- strangely enough reeling in the process.

"The halflings cannot take this evil alone."

Advance. Focusing once again, the lithe elf ran towards the post, preparing to land the final blow.

"What help can I provide?"

As he was about to land the finishing blow, his ankle caught on a mound of dirt he did not realize he’d formed with his movements. Instead of finishing through, his body toppled over and his face ate dirt-- literally. After a few moments-- thanking Eru that no one was alive to see that--Erestor turned over and laid on his back, in pain and frustration… and maybe a twinge of embarrassment. His chest heaved with difficulty from his exercise, but also with exasperation.

“What help can I provide?”

Still deep in thought, he failed to register the sound of another person moving through the ground to lay next to him. When the other elf laid down next to him, staring at the sky, Erestor jumped.

“Glorfindel?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A horrendous screech echoed through the stone cliffs, wracking the very bones of the elf warrior as he stood, steadfast, against his foe. The balrog of Melkor was no small enemy-- literally. Standing heads above Glorfindel, the creature surged forward with heavy but strong steps, driven with the determination to obliterate him. Under normal circumstances, anyone- with a sound mind- would turn tail and run for their lives. Not Glorfindel, not the Lord of the House of the Golden Flower. The mighty elf swung his sword with precision, slicing the thick horn of the balrog. A pained roar blasted the elf back to the edge of the cliff. Looking back to his followers, Glorfindel could see his kin terrified of the events.

“GO! I WILL HOLD IT OFF! KEEP OUR KIN SAFE!” He yelled, his command piercing the howling of the beast and the wind. Turning back to his enemy, he saw the rabid look in its eyes, angered by its wounds. Invigorated by rage, the balrog lunged at him once again, hands outstretched, teeth in a snarl. It was as if evil embodied had come down to smite the golden elf. However, Glorfindel was not one to be tested so easily; quick as a flash, the ellon sheathed his sword deep in the chest of his enemy. It happened so fast that even the balrog itself had no idea what had occurred, rather its body reacted on its own. Black spots danced in its vision as it began to fall over the cliff, into the jagged peaks below. Glorfindel was the victor. A sigh of relief escapes his lips as he looks to the sky sending a silent prayer to his maker.

“Thank Eru.” He closes his eyes and revels in a moment of respite as he feels the wind whip around him and through his golden hair, making it dance wildly in the air.

“Finally, I need to help-” Suddenly the world goes black as a sharp and heavy tug pulls his head abruptly in an inhuman angle towards the abyss after his enemy.

SNAP

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glorfindel jolts awake in a pool of sweat. His chest is heaving as he gulps down air. His throat is stinging as he touches it, making him assume that he was screaming. Luckily, his rooms are in their own separate side of Rivendell away from the other citizens.

A dream… No. A memory. Trying his best to steady his breathing, Glorfindel runs through the events of the past few days to anchor him to his present, reminding him that he is not in the First Age, that Balrogs are no longer in this era.

Strange… I’ve not had that dream in such a long time. The air turns cold as he feels like he is being watched. Suddenly he remembers his escapade of saving Frodo from the Nazgul.

The Ring. A restlessness--no, an uneasiness-- falls on his entire being.

“I need to do something,” Glorfindel says out loud. Jumping up, he dresses in training clothes and heads to the training grounds.

A good spar will do me some good.

As he nears the grounds, he hears grunts, pants, and growls. Confused as to who would be here, his first assumption would be Legolas or Estel.

Good, I’d prefer a real sparring partner to a wooden doll.

As he rounds the corner, his eyes widen at the sight of Erestor, the librarian, destroying the wooden doll with such precision and speed that even he was almost impressed. Almost. He noted the fluid movement and purposeful strikes, but he pointed out the lack of determination-- he was distracted.

If he does not pay attention, he’ll- As though reading his thoughts, his dear companion decided that the ground would be his next victim as he fell, face first, into the dirt. The sight of the fallen elleth was enough to lift his spirits up, but he knew he needed to make sure that he was alright. However, Glorfindel is not a cruel man, so instead of letting loose a string of guffaws, he stealthily, walked to Erestor’s panting form on the dirt. As he laid down next to him, a sigh of relief escaped him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hello, Erestor. Fine night to lay under the stars.” The golden eldar said calmly. His very presence made his companion even more flustered from fear of having been seen in his tumble.

“What are you doing here?” Glorfindel chuckled as he folded his arms behind his head and sighed contentedly.

“I was taking a stroll, and heard a noise coming from the training grounds. At first I assumed it to be the prince of Mirkwood, but imagine my surprise when I see the counselor of Rivendell flailing a stick around like an elfling trying to wave off an imaginary orc in the night.” His baritone chuckle reverberated through the cool breeze, sending a shiver down the brunette elf’s spine-- not sure if it was because of the chill or his voice. Blushing furiously, he asked,

“Why are you lying on the ground?”

“You face planted. So I am lying next to you just in case someone were to pass by, they’d think we were just resting from a night of sparring.” His answer caused Erestor to choke on his breath.

He saw! An embarrassed moan is pulled from his mouth while Glorfindel smirks.

“Don’t worry, I understand. What weighs your heart that it distracted your training? He asked without looking at him. Erestor is silent for a bit

“I am weighed down by the worries that the halflings bring, Glorfindel. I need to propose a plan of attack and defense. I need-” Erestor’s rant is cut off with his companion’s hand on his mouth.

“You need to rest. Your mind has done more work than your body-- and it is showing with that huge bruise on your forehead.” Self consciously, Erestor covers his bruise.

Cute.

“And there is no use being worried and burdened at the same time, then your punishment is prolonged and double-- believe me. I know.” The tone in his voice held a twinge of sadness that Erestor did not miss.

“Why are you here Glorfindel?” He whispers. When did they move closer?

Silence again. Closing his eyes, the golden elf sighs and confesses his dream.

“Oh Glorfindel… We need to go to the healers, they can maybe give you something for sleep.”

“No, I just… just stay here with me. Your company is remedy enough.” Glorfindel says softly, almost vulnerably. His request pulls at Erestor’s heart and mind.

“I am no healer, Glorfindel. I cannot heal you.” Erestor says, turning to him and propping his head on his arm to better look at him.

“I don’t believe so, our healers are great- do not misunderstand. But to me, they don’t compare to you. No one does.”

Still not looking at him, Glorfindel closes his eyes and just basks in Erestor’s presence with a small smile. A comfortable silence passes, so long, in fact, that the morning birds are beginning to wake. Noting the peace that falls upon Glorfindel’s face, it dawns on him that he should have given him some time to spar.

“I should leave you alone.” Erestor says reluctantly, pulling away. Before he could get far enough, Glorfindel’s hand gently pulled him back.

“I think you could use some alone time as well. So why not let us be alone together, melethen.”

Erestor smiles and nods. Laying back down, the two elven lords lay on the ground, under the dawning sky as the city around them slumbers. Erestor’s mind calmed and his heart felt lighter. A chuckle escaped his lips.

“You know… We should be alone together more often.”

Taglist: @elvish-sky

#glorestor #glorfindel #erestor #tolkien #lotr elves #fluff #writing #fanfic #sleepover #burning quesadilla

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otonymous · 4 years

Text

A Bolt From The Blue (MLQC Shaw - NSFW) - Part IV (End): Courage, My Love

Description: The final chapter. The Big Bang 😉 Warnings: NSFW/18+: Explicit/graphic language & mature themes — reader discretion is advised. Potential trigger warnings: physically aggressive behaviour, ex-boyfriends, angst, size kink, profanity, vaginal fingering and intercourse Word Count: 4237 words (~21 mins of thrills, real talk, fluff and smut) Author’s Notes: To all the lovelies who have been patiently following this story: you’ve made it! 🥳 Welcome to the final chapter in this Shaw saga, where we aim to go out with a massive bang (pun intended 😆). Once again, thank you all for every like, reblog, and comment I’ve received on this story. You are all amazing, and I appreciate your support! 💕

As always, tagging the lovely @op-peccatori — I hope you enjoyed this story! I certainly had lots of fun writing this! Please note the potential trigger warnings listed above, dear readers, and happy reading!

Jump to Chapter(s): One | Two | Three

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

The quiet is back.

But there is no peace, no relief in the monotony that follows after the man known as Shaw burst into your life like a bolt from the blue, stirring up long forgotten feelings like dead leaves animated by a carefree wind — here one minute, gone the next.

And with each passing day, hope erodes.

Little by little, your heart learns not to race as the clock above the magazine rack approaches 1:30.

It becomes harder to remember the sound purple sneakers made walking through the store.

You stop hoping, wishing, to see a head of lavender hair; that the next person to approach the register would place a cup of Pepsi mixed with Coke on the counter, amber-eyed gaze speaking volumes without uttering a single word.

Days become weeks, and then eventually…

…you stop counting them altogether.

* * *

“You’re looking good. I see you’re doing well for yourself.”

He reaches for the jade pendant hanging around your neck, eyes flashing with amusement when you hit his hand away with an audible smack.

“What the hell do you want? Haven’t you already done enough?” You say through grit teeth, steps quickening as you head for the better lit part of the street, trying to outpace the man and silently cursing the fact that returning to the convenience store was no longer an option at this point.

“C’mon baby, don’t be like that. It took a lot of effort to track you down and I waited a very long time for you to get off work. It’s cold, dark and lonely out here. Is that any way to treat your boyfriend? Or friend, at least?”

“ ‘Ex-boyfriend,’ asshole, and you’re no friend of mine, especially not after the way you took my life’s savings and ran.”

“Baby, it wasn’t like that—”

“Oh yeah?! Did you try telling that to the loan sharks too before they came and trashed my place? I had to move, Leto, because it wasn’t safe for me anymore, not with the way they kept harassing me and the neighbours asking about your whereabouts. They even came to my office. I lost my fucking job. So don’t come around here and tell me that I’m doing well for myself.”

Breaking into a sprint, your mind races as you try to think of a way to lose your ex, anger and anxiety prickling every nerve in equal measure. He had ruined your life, singlehandedly taken away everything you had. And though you had known him once, desperation has a way of making monsters out of men.

And right now, for all you knew, he was desperate and dangerous.

“Please, I just want to talk. I don’t need much this time, just a little bit to get me through this rough patch. I’ll pay you back, I swear, just…just STOP FOR A MOMENT!—”

You shriek to feel Leto wrap his hand about your wrist, but before he could tighten his grip, another arm is thrown around your shoulder, pulling you back until you’re pressed up against a hard, muscular chest, staring at a close up of Snoopy riding a skateboard.

“You got business with my girl?”

That voice. Dangerous and cocksure, yet comforting like nothing else as the muffled words reverberate through the tiny bones of your ear, a prelude to the soothing ba-bump of his heart, rhythm steady and concrete as the ground upon which you stood.

Shaw.

He’s really here.

“Hehe. Your girl?” The derision in Leto’s voice makes you sick to your stomach; you can’t help but hold your breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop as he looks Shaw up and down, zeroing in on his old t-shirt. “Tsk, tsk. So, not only do you enjoy wearing second hand clothing, you also have the habit of picking up sloppy seconds?”

BOOM!

Deafening thunder rolls moments after a bolt of lightning rends the night sky in two, throwing a jagged spotlight on the fury written on Shaw’s face when he moves just as fast to grab a fistful of Leto’s collar. The muscles of his forearm bulge as he holds up the entirety of Leto’s bodyweight in one hand, the sky opening in a sudden downpour as your ex struggles in midair, rain dripping almost comically from dangling feet.

And when Shaw brings Leto’s terrified face up close, the ferocity in those amber eyes sends a chill up your spine.

“This is the last time you’ll ever talk to her, see her, even think about her. Or else I’ll find you and take my sweet time making you wish you were never born, do you understand me?”

Head bobbing in vigorous nods, drops of water fly off the tips of Leto’s rain-slicked hair. Seemingly satisfied, Shaw tosses him onto the ground at your feet, voice low yet audible as it cuts through the din of the storm when he says, “Beg for her forgiveness.”

The fear in his expression almost palpable, Leto looks between you and Shaw — cowardice etched onto features you had once found so pleasing a lifetime ago. He prostrates himself onto the wet pavement, voice cracking in between sobs as he yells over the sound of the rain:

“P-please…please forgive me! I’m a piece of shit! I’m nothing, I’m garbage! I…I deserve to go to Hell for what I did to you! I-I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!”

Leto reaches out a shaky hand towards your soaked shoes before he remembers Shaw’s warning, but it is too late. Black combat boots hit the concrete hard within an inch of Leto’s face as Shaw stoops, yanking back a fistful of hair and pulling until your ex is looking up at you like a pitiful supplicant begging for mercy.

“Satisfied?” Shaw looks to you as if he were asking about something as mundane as the weather. You nod, suddenly too tired to even speak. You wanted to wash your hands of Leto, wanted nothing to do with all that had happened since you finished your shift at the convenience store. All you could do was watch as Leto scrambled away on all fours the moment Shaw loosened his hold, running until he was nothing more than a speck of darkness merging with the night.

The rain is cold, wetness driving against your body to leech even the final bits of warmth from bone. Your clothes are drenched, heavy as they cling uncomfortably to skin. But you are too drained to care, lacking the energy to even notice when the dim light of the streetlamp above is blotted out — Shaw holding his leather jacket over your head in the place of an umbrella.

All you are aware of before your vision goes dark is the anxiety in his voice when he calls your name over and over again, how weightless it felt to be carried in the cradle of his arms.

How much you missed the scent you thought you had learned to forget.

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

“Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?”

You opened your eyes to gaze into irises of warm amber, the situation similar to one you experienced before except for the fact that this time, you were the one lying in bed, staring at a man who sat on its edge, brows knit with concern beneath soft lavender strands.

“If you slept for any longer, I would’ve had to knock on your neighbour’s door.” Shaw chuckles but the sound is hollow, mirthlessness obvious like the blanched knuckles of his tightly clenched fists.

“What…how did we…” You begin, voice raspy as it dies, a sudden sharp pain in your throat making you wince.

And immediately, Shaw is on his feet, rummaging through cupboards in your kitchen until he finds a glass. You watch him run the tap, fill it to the brim. Feel the strength of his arm around your back as he holds you up, touch lingering even as you down the water in gulps to chase the discomfort away.

“You passed out not long after your douchebag of an ex ran off with his tail between his legs. I found your keys in your purse, so I let myself into your apartment — hope you don’t mind. Although, to be fair, I was also carrying you at the time, so it’s not really breaking and entering.”

Head feeling like it would explode as the events of the evening come rushing back, you turn towards him…slowly…slowly, afraid Shaw might disappear before your eyes should any movement prove too sudden.

Thank him. Now. Before he goes away again.

He is close, so close that you can count those long, beautiful lashes; almost feel the minuscule shifts in the air between you every time he blinks — those pupils encroaching onto gold as they expand and pulling you into their depths as they do.

“Why are you doing this?”

He doesn’t flinch at your question, and you can’t bring yourself to be shocked by the discrepancy between what you meant to say and the words actually spilling from your lips. And as the grey memory of days spent counting the hours of his absence settles like lead in the pit of your stomach, the only thing you knew was that your heart couldn’t survive latching onto this sliver of hope only to have it ripped away again.

All you wanted…was the truth.

“Because I can’t stand to see you sad anymore.”

There is no smirk to stretch across that handsome face, only pain that hurts your heart to see it. Resignation heavy in his voice, Shaw takes a deep breath before he continues.

“Turns out I’m weak when it comes to you. Selfish. I know I’m no good for you; there’s no future with me. I can’t give you anything, can’t even promise you tomorrow, but…I just can’t stop thinking about you. Wondering how you are. Whether you’re eating well, sleeping well. If you’re safe…happy.

“Tonight wasn’t supposed to happen. I just wanted to make sure you got home okay, that some asshole wasn’t going to hassle you at work. But then your ex showed up and when he tried to get fresh with you, well…I couldn’t let that slide.

“Listen, I don’t know what’s wrong with me but…I’m sorry, if I ever made you sad, if I scared you. I’m sorry for everything.”

His gaze drops to the rip in his jeans, the drip, drip of the leaky faucet the only sound in the ensuing silence of his confession. That is, until you say,

“I’m sorry too…that you’re such an idiot.”

His head whips up, brows furrowed and mouth slack as if caught in a rare moment of speechlessness. The shock makes him seem years younger, lending him an air of innocence that you couldn’t help but smile at.

“In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m a grown woman, capable of making my own decisions. I’m not so naïve that I don’t know what I would be getting into by being with you. You say you can’t promise me tomorrow, but tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone. All we can ask for — hope for — is the here and now.

“Love takes courage, as does life. But a life without love…it’s not much of a life, is it? So I’m willing to be brave if that’s what it’ll take for us to be together.”

As quickly as they came, the words are gone, leaving you cotton-mouthed and faint as your heart pounds to send the blood rushing to your ears. That could’ve been the only explanation as to why Shaw’s “I knew there was a reason why I loved you” sounded so muffled you had to ask him to repeat himself.

“Too bad, I only say things once.”

And there it is again: the spark in his eyes, smirk on those lips — igniting the fire you only allowed yourself to feel in dreams of his body on yours, skin to skin like kindling to flame.

“Are you that single-minded about everything?” You ask, the smile on your face mirroring his as it approaches closer…

“Only when it comes to not letting go of the one I care about.”

…closer…

“Tell me one thing.” Your voice is barely above a whisper.

…and closer still.

Lips now a hair’s breadth apart, the gentle rhythm of his exhalation blows soft upon your cupid’s bow; a shy request. Your vision is filled with him, wonderfully awash with colour — lavender, amber, the soft pink of his mouth — and you wished you were the very clothes upon his body; saturated in his intensity, dyed in his hues.

His eyes fixate on your tongue when you wet your lips before asking, “That night, when you were hurt so badly you passed out in my store…why did you still insist on coming in?”

Shaw’s breath catches, hitching in his throat. You know because you can feel it, the way the warmth stops short on your skin. And when he speaks, the eyes that hold yours tell you this is no lie.

“Because if it was going to be the last night of my life, I didn’t want to go without seeing your face one more time.”

Love is a funny thing. Formless, senseless, yet the strongest thing that could bind two strangers. You hadn’t known Shaw for long, could count the days you spent together on one hand. And still, entirely without reason, he bled into each and every hour, crept into the darkest corners of your mind to fill your weary heart with a desperation that made it very clear that love was far from done with you.

That right or wrong, the only place you wanted to be was here — held in the arms that wrapped around your body: hot, tight, safe…

…Shaw.

His lips are softer than you ever imagined when he brings his face to yours, plush silk gliding corner to corner to cover your mouth in reverent kisses — one for each night he came into your store, watched over you from afar.

Your stalwart protector.

You tasted it now, the remnants of cinnamon on his tongue from the gum he was so fond of chewing, intensified by the memory of all the times you wondered about its flavour: pink bubbles popping in his mouth as he coolly dealt with the robber, the night you emptied his pockets as your neighbour stitched him up on your bed.

Shaw tasted sweet. Far sweeter than you ever imagined.

And when his tongue slides against yours — slow and sure as it explores your mouth with increasing fervour before drawing back just as you clenched around emptiness, yearning for more, the beast within you refuses to abide.

You like the shock that passes over his face when you move, sudden and forceful, to push him onto the mattress beneath you; the artless way Shaw sinks teeth into his bottom lip in response. You like how he watches as you straddle his hips — gaze earnest and body honest, hardening as you grind undulating circles upon his groin.

But, perhaps most of all, you liked the spark of something wild in those amber eyes, an unpredictability warning that if you weren’t careful, you’d be the one to find yourself pinned to the bed.

Because wasn’t that ultimately the push-and-pull that characterized so much between you and him? Maddening at times, but always, always binding you to Shaw like some red string of fate.

So you nod when he whispers “May I?”, unable to suppress a moan to finally feel his hands on you: tracing along your jaw, cradling your face…resting the pad of his finger on your lip before pushing past to stroke your tongue.

Every sound he makes pleases; the soft hiss preceding the bob of his Adam’s apple to feel your lips pucker around his finger to suck, pink tongue enticing as it swirls along the length of that digit, drawing it deeper into the hot wetness of your mouth.

You never saw yourself as seductive before, but Shaw made you feel sexy. Perhaps the impulse stemmed from some primitive desire, an instinctive call to please the man you felt so profoundly for that shame was the farthest thing from your mind when you pulled his hand from your lips to guide it to your breast, only partially aware of how wet you were becoming from his gaze alone — half-lidded and heavy with lust.

The heat of his touch permeates your blouse, white and transparent still in patches from the rain. You watch his hands as they play: cupping your breasts in a gentle squeeze, thumbs and forefingers catching your nipples to pinch and roll until they stood stiff against the drape of your clothing, the flush of your flesh bold through fabric.

“You’re so beautiful that there are times I think you can’t possibly be real.”

His voice is low, husky. You let it wash over you, almost frightened by how stupidly happy you become, willing the magic to linger even as his words dissipate amongst the sounds of the night: neon buzzing and the faraway screams of sirens in the distance.

A world apart.

Your hands find the broad expanse of his chest, tracing along muscle before circling the nipples that stood erect against his damp t-shirt. Each twitch is endearing, every erratic breath he draws to feel your touch making you fall harder. And when he tries to focus on unbuttoning your blouse while fighting the impulse to tear it clean off your body, the stirring between your legs grows in intensity until he finally pulls the silken panels aside, a quiet gasp escaping his lips to see his necklace nestled between your breasts.

“It really does belong on you.”

The admiration in his tone is laced with a hint of possessiveness that makes you throb. Shaw pushes himself to sitting, gathering you onto his lap in one smooth motion as he buries his face in your chest, inhaling deep. You gasp to feel gentle teeth sink into the flesh of your breasts, Shaw following the chain of precious metal with his lips until it leads to the pendant. And when his tongue slips out to draw the piece of jade into his mouth, he brings your nipple along with it.

“Oh!…”

The sensation is unlike any you’ve known before, the soft wetness of his pliant tongue a searing contrast with the cool, smooth stone rubbing against the sensitive tip of your breast in equal measure. You feel his smile on your skin when you fist your hands into lavender hair, spine curving as your legs begin to tremble.

And he had yet to touch you below the waist.

“Your body responds so well to me. I knew you were a good girl.” He looks up at you, teasing shamelessly even as he continues to lavish attention on your breasts.

“Just your girl, if you’ll have me,” you say without second thought, long past the point of caring to keep your cards close to your chest.

Something breaks in that expression, the final walls crumbling like dust when Shaw blinks once…twice, revealing eyes that shine with emotion when he replies, “For the rest of my life, if you’ll have me.”

* * *

“Hmm!—”

Your moan is muffled, swallowed by Shaw’s greedy lips like he does with every sound of ecstasy that leaks like you do around his cock, buried impossibly deep in your body as it rocks back and forth, back and forth on his muscular thighs…

…doing your best to adjust to his ample size.

He had barely suppressed a chuckle when you first slipped your hand into his jeans, a subtle mix of pride and amusement on his face to see your eyes widen when you couldn’t quite wrap palm and fingers around the entirety of his girth.

And foreplay had only just begun.

“Still doing okay?” Shaw asks, touch tender as he brushes loose strands of hair from your eyes, lips smoothing along the apple of your cheek to feel its pink heat. “We can go as slow as you want, there’s no rush. If it’s too much, we can stop—”

“No! No…I’m okay. More than okay, I’m great. Please…please don’t stop…don’t stop…”

Struggling to string words together, your breath comes in disjointed pants as Shaw begin to thrust up — the look on his face effortlessly sensual when he bites his lip to feel you spasm around him, tight wetness yielding in increments to accommodate his body as it broke new ground.

For you had never taken a man of that size, the litheness of Shaw’s muscular body belying the impressive package he’d been hiding in those jeans. Your jaw ached just to look upon the length of that thick cock, mouth watering as a fresh wave of arousal made you press your thighs tighter together. The movement didn’t go unnoticed. Shaw had drawn you to him then — deft fingers dipping low to trace the outline of your swollen folds through moist panties, lavender head bending to kiss its lacy trim.

He took his time preparing you, licking his fingers before he eased them into your pussy — first one, then two…curling deep until the slippery sounds of arousal told him the time was ripe to introduce the third, leaving you blooming for him even as he whispered, “Think you’re ready for me to make you my girl for real?”

It borders on overwhelming, this sensation of fullness — between your legs, within your heart. And as skin stretched to capacity to accommodate the sweet friction of his slide, you wished there was a way for the euphoria of this connection to last forever:

To the one you could never forget, no matter how hard you tried.

To this man you loved like no other.

“Shaw.”

His name is faint on your breath when he falls back onto the bed, taking you with him. And as you found yourself straddling his hips once more, the altered angles of your bodies gave him the leverage to make you gasp when he begins to thrust in earnest. The eroticism of his face, lost in lust, drives all thoughts from your mind as you drop a hand to your clit, fingers drawing tight circles before his hungry eyes.

The violence of your climax takes you by surprise, having no time to consider neighbours and thin walls as the lewdest sounds escape your lips at high volume. Intense convulsions wracking your body in waves, you clench in time around your lover. The sensation proves too much to bear, drawing out Shaw’s own release as he pulls out to spill onto the folds of your pussy — swollen and pink and trembling still beneath the coat of his pearlescent seed.

* * *

“I love you.”

Morning light trickles across your walls like the slow crawl of spidery legs. Shaw’s words hang in the air between you, a final, sacred moment shared between lovers before the rest of the world wakes.

You loved the hoarseness in his voice; a testament to the hours of noisy lovemaking you had shared in lieu of sleep.

You loved the weight of his hand, stroking softly at the crown of your head.

You loved the rhythm of his heart, echoing just below your ear to confirm his existence.

“I love you too.”

You look up into those amber eyes, trying to discern whether those four little words were sufficient in conveying that fact that you adored every fibre of the man before you.

The smile that graces his face in return is tender, honest…more brilliant than the day breaking in the East.

Your hands find his body, bare beneath the sheets. And as a curious finger traces along the ridge of the scar that runs in a broad stroke across his sculpted abdomen, your gaze falls on his t-shirt, draped over the back of a chair.

“You should probably throw that Snoopy shirt away, especially after what happened last night.”

Shaw follows your line of sight, chest rising and falling in a deep sigh. “Shitty as its previous owner was, I could never bring myself to hate something that reminds me of you. Aside from saving my ass, this was the first gift you ever gave me. And I never throw away gifts from my girl.”

His girl.

The mystery of life is that filled with unknowns though it is, we continue to live, brave in the face of the uncertainty that comes with every passing day. You had no idea what fate had in store for you or Shaw, had no way of knowing if your relationship existed on borrowed time.

The only thing you were certain of was that your feelings for each other were real, that try as you might, neither of you were very good at forgetting the other. That in this moment, here and now, the only thing that mattered was this love that hit you…

…like a bolt from the blue.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this Shaw saga! 💖

Check out more of my work here! 📚 (Please do not repost/copy/alter my work. Reblogs, on the other hand, are perfectly fine and much appreciated! 💖👍🏼)

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#mlqc #mr love queen's choice #love and producer #mr love dream date #evol x love #mlqc shaw #mlqc ling xiao #mlqc smut #mlqc shaw smut #mlqc fanfic #mlqc fic #fanfiction #my writing #elex

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wizardofrozz · 3 years

Text

All of Our Lives

Warnings: angst, light mention of smut, fluff

Pairing: Loki x reader

A/N: Taglist is open :)

@buckysmischief

Chapter 3: What is going on inside your head?

5 years later

A light breeze blew through my hair, tangling it while the sun warmed my face; leaning against the balcony, I listened to the soft chirping of birds nearby.

“Ah, there is my future sister,” Thor’s deep voice made me jump.

“Thor, stop it. Loki has not mentioned marriage. He still has yet to say he loves me, so I do not see marriage any time soon.” Thor’s head snapped towards me, but before he could say anything, I spoke up again. “Speaking of your brother, where is he? I have not seen him this morning,” my brows pulling together as I looked up at Thor. Loki’s behavior had been odd recently, but Thor didn’t seem to notice.

“I think he is in the library,” Thor sighed, turning to look out over Asgard, the breeze lifting a few stray golden locks.

“I am going to find him. I will be in the library if you need me,” I quickly kissed Thor’s cheek before wandering through the castle toward the family’s private library. As I rounded the corner, I stopped short; the door to the library was sitting open. An odd feeling washed over me; Loki never left the door open when he was in the library. I tentatively walked through the door, immediately hearing what sounded like soft, frantic whispers. When I walked around the bookcase near the door, I saw Loki pacing, frantically whispering to himself as he read from the book he held. “Loki?” I called softly, slowly stepping closer. He made no indication that he heard me call his name, continuing to pace. “Loki? Honey?” I called louder this time, but he continued his manic behavior. “Loki!” I finally yelled.

“WHAT!” he screamed, violently turning towards me. The odd color of his eyes caught me off guard more than his screaming; his normally emerald, green eyes were a bright sky blue, searing into me. Loki quickly realized I was standing in front of him, his demeanor shifting instantly; his tightly wound muscles relaxed, the tense wrinkles in his forehead smoothing out. “Oh darling, I apologize. Thor has repeatedly been bothering me this morning,” he whispered, closing his eyes tightly. A chill ran down my spine when he opened his eyes again; the unnerving blue color was gone, the familiar striking green was back. Loki’s eyebrows pulled together, an odd look passing over his face.

“Are you okay, dear?” I took a hesitant step towards him.

“I am not sure what came over me, little one. I am sorry for screaming at you like that,” Loki whispered, pain swirling in his eyes. “I never want to scare you,” he cringed when he noticed my hesitation.

“You look tense, come here,” I cooed, coaxing Loki towards the couch behind us. Loki sat with me, gently wrapping his arm around my waist to pull me into his chest, breathing in the sweet lavender smell of my hair.

“I am sorry,” he whispered into my hair again.

“I forgive you,” I leaned back to look at his face, smiling softly up at him. Loki’s gaze roamed over my face, sadness churning in his eyes.

“I love you,” Loki whispered. My eyes widened instantly, my heart swelling in my chest; butterflies erupting in my stomach.

“Oh Loki, I love you too,” I whispered, crashing my lips against his. Loki was surprised at first, but he quickly returned my kiss, pouring all his love into the kiss. I brought my hands to the back of his neck, gently tugging on his hair; Loki let out a surprised gasp. I took the opportunity to slide my tongue into his mouth, fighting with his tongue for dominance. Loki cupped my face gently as he sucked my tongue into his mouth; I moaned softly, testing Loki’s self-control. A deep groan rumbled in Loki’s throat as he gently pushed me back, hovering over me, the kiss becoming hungrier. We gasped for air as we finally pulled apart, our chest meeting with every inhale.

“I love you more than you will ever know, darling,” Loki whispered, gently running his thumb over my cheek.

“Good thing we have a lifetime for you to show me,” I whispered, laying my hand over his. Tears welled up in his eyes as he placed a tender kiss on my lips; I deepened the kiss again, running my tongue along Loki’s lower lip. Loki groaned again, his arm tightening around my waist, pulling me against his hard chest; my fingers still tangled in his messy curls.

“(Y/N)? Did you find my brother?” Thor’s rough voice broke through the lust-filled haze Loki, and I were swimming in. Loki pulled back quickly, looking over the back of the couch to see his brother wandering around the open area of the library.

“Every time, brother. I am starting to think you have a sixth sense for this,” Loki huffed, sitting up, letting me lean up. Thor jumped at the sound of his brother's voice, looking around for his brother; Thor’s gaze fell on us, noticing Loki’s messy hair as well as our flushed skin.

“Oh,” is all Thor said, embarrassment creeping up his cheeks. “I did not mean to interrupt,” Thor laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What did you need, Thor?” I giggled, standing up from the couch.

“Father is requesting us, brother,” Thor sighed, shifting his weight.

“Of course,” Loki huffed, glancing down at me. “Hopefully, this will not take long; we still have a magic lesson to get to today. Where will you be?” Loki sadly smiled down at me.

“Behave, trickster,” I chuckled, lightly poking him in the chest. “Find me in the gardens,” I said, caressing his face. Loki leaned into my touch, letting out a heavy sigh; he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips before following his brother out of the library.

The sun washed over the garden, warming my skin; some tension in my shoulders started to loosen as I sat among the flowers. I noticed Loki was acting odd; lately, he was always agitated. Today was the most he’d touched me in what felt like days, then he yelled, no, screamed at me. If he hadn’t confessed that he loved me, I might have started to worry he was regretting our relationship. Loki accidentally snuck up on me sometime later; I was so consumed in my concern for Loki I didn’t notice him walk into the garden.

“There you are,” Loki’s voice caught me off guard; I instinctively made a small dagger materialize. “Darling?” Loki stood still, his hands raised in surrender.

“Oh, you scared me, dear,” I sighed heavily, making the dagger disappear.

“I see that,” he chuckled, lowering himself next to me. “What have you been doing?” he asked, leaning back on his hands.

“Oh, uh, just sitting here enjoying the sun,” I mumbled, trying to compose myself.

“Is everything okay?” Loki turned his face to look at me now, concern apparent in his voice.

“No,” I hesitantly whispered. Loki moved to his knees swiftly, panic radiating off him; he gently caressed my face, forcing me to look at him.

“Is it what I said earlier?” he croaked; I met his blazing jade eyes.

“Oh honey, no! I meant it when I said I love you,” I smiled at him, laying my hand on top of his. Loki visibly relaxed some, a small smile pulling at his lips.

“I love you, little one. What is bothering you if not that?” Loki asked, his eyes searching my face.

“I am worried about you, Loki,” I whispered; Loki’s eyes widened.

“Why?” his head cocked to the side.

“You have been so tense recently; today is the most you’ve touched me in days. Loki, you screamed at me today. What is going on in your mind, my love?” I asked, running my fingers through his wild curls. Loki sat back on his heels, sighing heavily, pulling his hands away from me.

“Please do not worry,” he muttered, keeping his eye down as if the grass were the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. I could see the turmoil on his face as he drifted off, sucked into his head. Suddenly anger flashed over his face, his muscles tensing at the same time; his jaw clenched, his hand opening and closing at his side.

“Loki, how am I supposed to just let this go? You’re doing it right now!” I spat at him. “If you cannot talk to me, then I may as well leave,” I grunted; I stood, turning my back on him.

“It is not that easy,” he said softly; I vaguely heard him, stopping in my tracks.

“Try me,” I said over my shoulder, not daring to look at him.

“Please look at me,” Loki whispered.

“No, Loki, start talking, or I am going to keep walking,” I said confidently, standing my ground.

“Look at me!” Loki yelled. I jumped at his sudden rage, spinning instantly, ready to tear into him but stopped when I noticed the pain written all over his face. Loki stayed on his knees, glancing around the garden, making sure no one else was around. I watched his pale skin slowly disappear, replaced with a dusty blue color. Patterns were appearing, littering the visible skin of his hands; his head dropped, ashamed of himself. Loki eventually looks up, his scarlet eyes boring into me; pain, rage, and sorrow swirling like a storm in his eyes. His appearance should’ve scared me; I knew Frost Giants were something to fear, but something about Loki drew me in. I didn’t realize I had moved closer until I was on my knees in front of Loki. I gently reached out, lightly tracing the lines over his temple; Loki’s eye fluttered shut at my touch.

“When did you find out, dear?” I asked softly, my fingers now following the lines on his forehead.

“When I touched the Casket of Ancient Winters,” Loki whispered, his eyes opening slightly. “Are you going to run screaming now?” he croaked, keeping his eyes on the grass.

“I love you, Loki,” I breathed, caressing his face. Loki’s head shot up, his scarlet eyes meeting mine, searching for any hint of fear. Loki pushed his magic into my mind; all he found was admiration, love, and desire flowing through me.

“You are not scared of me? You do not find me repulsive?” Loki whispered even though he already found the answers after reading my mind.

“If you need to hear me say it, then I will. I am not scared of you,” I stated confidently. “I think you are quite beautiful, my love,” I whispered, keeping my eyes locked on his.

“I love you,” he managed to say. The blue hue of his skin started to fade into the familiar porcelain shade; Loki blinked, the scarlet color gone completely, his bright green eyes looking back at me.

“I love you too,” I reassured him. Suddenly Loki pulled me into a passionate kiss, his tongue coaxing my mouth open. I wrapped my arms around Loki’s neck, pulling him closer, our chests touching; Loki’s hands settled on my hips, his mouth moving with a purpose. Without breaking the kiss, I rolled off my knees, pulling Loki down on top of me, his hips settling between my legs, his growing bulged brushing against the inside of my leg. Loki gasped into my mouth, his grip on my hips tightening; I bucked towards him, my core rubbing against the tent in his pants.

“Oh,” I moaned, breaking the kiss. Loki leaned his forehead against mine, both of us panting.

“Not here, my love,” Loki chuckled, kissing me gently before sitting back on his heels again.

“Loki,” I groaned, sitting up, getting closer to him again.

“Oh, if you plead like that, I will take you right here,” Loki growled, chewing on his bottom lip. Loki’s words sent chills down my spine, shamelessly wishing he would; I almost jump on him again until I heard footsteps nearby.

“Someone is coming,” I whispered, scrambling to my feet, straightening my dress. Loki stood gracefully, brushing any dirt off his legs; I reached up, trying to tame his wild shoulder-length hair.

“My hair is a lost cause, my love,” Loki chuckled. “Yours, on the other hand,” he laughed harder when he pulled a leaf out of my hair.

“Check to make sure that is all of them!” I spun around, horrified. Loki laughed as he picked a few stray leaves out of my hair; his musical laughter warmed my heart.

“All clear, darling,” he giggled, pressing a kiss to my temple. Loki laced his fingers with mine, pulling me onto the path to head into the castle.

Series Masterlist | Chapter 4

Taglist:

@criminalyetminimal @kendallthesimp @marvelfansworld

series: @goddess-of-lies @musicconversedance @phoenixdoll @valsworldofcreativity

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unprofessional-bard · 4 years

Text

Chapter 2 - A New Jerusalem

Losing My Religion Series Masterlist

Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist

Previous Chapter • Next Chapter

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female!Reader/OC

Warnings: PTSD/panic attacks + some suicidal thoughts... angst basically.

Summary: The company finally reach Jackson. Greetings are exchanged between old and new friends, but the reader's hurt after an attack on the plant.

Word Count: 4.917

Author's Note: Now although I haven't been diagnosed either with PTSD or depression, I do have anxiety and had my fair share of panic/anxiety attacks. I can relate or empathise with the people who do have PTSD/depression to some level and I can assure you all I do tons of research about each mental illness I'll be mentioning in these series. I've put mighty effort in this chapter and the following to make it as accurate as possible. My last desire is to upset someone, please forgive me if I do for it isn't intentional... but thank you all so much for reading! 🥺

Enjoy!

Over a month on the road with a smuggler, who's supposedly your, a FEDRA major general's, enemy and a little girl who turned out to be your second chance at life; you really couldn't help but grow fond of them. Them who offered you protection and their own water. How can you not be grateful for them? Even though a second chance at life wasn't exactly your preferred way out of this apocalypse... But everything happens for a reason, you supposed and sighed in relief once you saw a sign written Jackson County on it. It was when Ellie had asked about what happened between Joel and Tommy that Joel revealed the story, but you were too busy stressing out to listen as you all approached a stream. Your heart started beating faster the closer you got to a hydroelectric power plant, which you had to cross, apparently.

"You okay? You've been awfully quiet," Joel asked, suddenly stopping in front of you.

"Yeah," you gulped, palms clammy. Were you sweating? "I'm- it's okay. I'm fine."

Joel gave you a suspicious look, but didn't say anything and moved to try and turn the wheel to make up a bridge from the metal pieces attached to the power plant.

"Well, that gets us halfway." Ellie observed. "If we get the other one up, we'll make it across."

"Isn't there another way?" You sighed, face pale, fidgeting. "There's got to be another way."

The pair gave you an odd look and Joel spoke: "Well, there seems to be no other way but to cross the river."

"Maybe- maybe there's something that will stop the water from flowing? I'll- check over there." You pointed at a control room behind you and walked over there. When the door didn't open, you kicked it open with such force, Ellie and Joel were left more confused than ever. The place had no lights, which meant there was no power surging through the devices in there, but you began pushing every button in there nevertheless.

"Fuck!" You growled and hit the button table with trembling hands in frustration. You felt hot in your jacket all of a sudden, then noticed Joel getting into the water. You froze then and there, realizing you really didn't have another option but to cross the bridge. Your eyes watered at the realization, but you forced yourself to keep calm like you did countless other times. You were the legendary Alpha One leader, after all. A devoted, disciplined, brave leader. Being afraid or weak was something you could've never been able to afford.

You nodded to yourself, ran your fingers through your hair and walked out, only to find Joel carrying Ellie to the other side on a pallet.

"Go on, give it a spin," Joel said once she jumped off the pallet and reached the other wheel. "So good of you to join us."

You remained quiet at his remark as he got out of the water and watched Ellie complete the bridge. He jumped over to your side and began walking to the other side.

"Hey, be careful crossing that thing!" Ellie called out as you both crossed the makeshift bridge.

"We will," Joel replied as he effortlessly walked halfway through, while your legs began shaking. You tried to keep your composure and walk across as normally as he did, but your legs felt like they were about to give in any moment. Keep it together, you thought to yourself, but it was no use.

"Joel," your hands instinctively reached out to him when you stepped on a particularly wet spot, but he was already across, high-fiving Ellie. Maybe it would've been better if you had told them what happened to Felicity and the results of it on you.

"What?" Joel turned around just before stepping off the piece of metal.

"I- I can't cross this-" you spoke while lowering yourself down to grab the edges, running out of breath.

"What do you mean you can't cross it?" Joel spoke, irritated but confused. "C'mon, you're hafway though already."

"No, no I can't," your voice cracked as the sound of the current started getting louder, your heart beating faster. The images of Felicity's body being thrown into water started to appear on your mind.

"Joel, I think she's scared," Ellie said, worried.

"Alright, I'm gonna come grab you," Joel called for you, his irritation slowly turning into anxiety.

"Okay, okay," you spoke between deep breaths, tears filling your eyes and hanging on for dear life. You shut your eyes tightly as you waited for him. It didn't even take 5 seconds for Joel to walk over to you and hold your shoulder: "I'm here, I got you, let's go."

"Uhh," you forcefully moved your feet toward his direction. "Oh god..."

"C'mon, I'm right here, you can get up." Joel encouraged you while holding your hand and it actually encouraged you for a solid second, so you complied, but you got up too fast and it immediately got you feeling dizzy.

"Oh no, oh- woah!" You shouted when you lost your footing and slipped.

"(Y/N)!" Ellie shrieked the same time Joel yelled, but before your upper body could completely sink into the water, Joel caught you by the arm, his chest hitting the metal with a hard thud.

"Fuck! Joel- get me out!" You cried and clawed at the poor man's arm, feeling the water splash around your neck and soak your hair.

"Calm down! I got you, give me your other hand!" Joel yelled as he tried to get a hold of you. It was the first time he was seeing pure terror in your eyes, the first time he saw you being afraid of something so badly.

You sobbed as he grabbed your other hand and pulled you up, Ellie running to help you out. The both of them pulled you out and Joel quickly dragged you across and kneeled beside you, laying you on the ground.

"(Y/N), it's okay, you're safe- (Y/N)-" Joel held your face in his hands as you continued sobbing, reminding him of Sa-

"(Y/N)!"

You covered your mouth with the back of your hand, then bit the side of it, forcing yourself to calm down as you choked back your sobs. Joel and Ellie could do nothing but stare as your body slowly stopped shaking.

You pushed yourself off the ground, trembling lightly and sniffing quietly. Your embarrassment was keeping you from turning around to face them, but Joel's soft voice reached your ears from behind you: "You okay?"

"Yeah," you sniffed. "Yeah, I'm- uh, sorry about that... Let's keep moving."

"You sure? You should rest awhile," Joel reached out to grab your shoulder once more, but you turned around before he could.

"I'll rest when we get there," you said, eyes red, voice cracking a bit and throat hurting. "There's only a few miles left, you said? I'll be fine, let's go."

Joel nodded and told Ellie to move, while he stayed back with you. You stared at the side of your hand which now had deep, purple teeth marks on it, too afraid to look at Joel while he spoke quietly: "Why didn't you tell me you were afraid of the water?"

"I'm not afraid of the water, I..." you groaned, tears still rolling down your face. "It's about... Felicity."

Joel stared for a moment, then nodded with a soft expression on his face. He could tell this was no phobia the moment you mentioned her name.

You all walked, climbed some rocks and went under a tree for a while more as Ellie dreamt about coming across a squirrel and eating it. Poor girl was so hungry, and so were you and Joel but she was just a child.

Your blood ran cold when you came across an old FEDRA territory: "Ain't no way around, we're gonna have to cut through the plant," Joel said and gave you a look. "You think it's empty?"

"I've never heard of this base in the past four years or so- It's gotta be, but we have to be careful." You shook your head.

You and Joel tried to open the doors, but they were... locked. Just as you were about to turn around, a woman appeared to your right on the patrol walls. A chill went up your spine.

"Don't even think about reaching for your weapons-" She spoke, but you grabbed your rifle and Ellie had her little pistol already pointing at the woman. "Tell her to drop her gun, now."

"Ellie, do as the lady says," Joel backed away from the door, all of you raising your hands up reluctantly.

"Please tell me you're lost," the blonde woman sighed.

"We didn't know this place was occupied, we're just trying to make our way through." Joel.

"Through to where?"

Your heart began racing again, at the thought of someone recognizing you. You were 98% sure this place was deserted a few years ago, how-

"They're alright." A familiar voice reached your ears from the left, interrupting your thoughts.

"What, you know these people?" The woman asked in confusion.

"I know him," he spoke and the door opened, to reveal Tommy with a rifle in hand. "He's my goddamn brother."

"Tommy?" Joel was stunned at the sight of him and so were you.

"Holy shit," Tommy said before going in for a hug. It was the first time you'd seen Joel look relaxed and genuinely happy.

"How you doin' baby brother?"

"Goddamn... Let me look at you." Tommy gave his brother a once over, commenting on how fuckin' old he'd gotten, the blonde woman appearing from behind the door as well.

"Shit... (Y/N)? What the hell are you doin' with him?" Tommy's smile grew wide and you extended your hand over to him, which he used to grab and pull you into a brief hug with.

"Good to see you too, Tommy," you smiled. "You gotta take these FEDRA signs down man, gives the feller a heart attack."

"That's exactly the point," Tommy chuckled, then gave a look at the blonde lady. "This is Maria," he looked at you and Joel: "Be nice to her, she sorta runs things around here."

"Ma'am," Joel nodded. "Thanks for not blowing my head off."

"Would've been embarrassing," Maria said. "Considering you're my brother-in-law."

Joel looked at the couple, dumbfounded while you looked between the three of them. When the hell did he got married?!

"We all gotta get wrangled up at some point." Tommy smiled at the both of you like a fool in love. You chuckled and shook your head, remembering the times he used to be a Firefly. Maria and Ellie exchanged a quick conversation before Tommy finally made a move to bring you all inside.

There were literally no words whatsoever to describe how relieved you were. Finally, fucking finally, you had reached your safe haven. Ellie was right, although it needed some work this place was indeed like a small village protected by armed men and a huge FEDRA sign. The walls were long and they looked impenetrable. The moment you heard the door close from behind you, you almost collapsed onto the floor; legs turning into jello and relief washing over you, even though you heard Maria say something about bandits and raids.

At least they weren't Hunters.

You mostly stayed quiet as Joel and Tommy caught up, Ellie petted and admired some horses while a lady and Maria talked to Ellie about them. You just watched and tried to enjoy the moment of peace, locking eyes with Joel for a brief moment before Tommy motioned all of you to follow him for the rest of the tour.

"Really though, how did you end up with Joel, (Y/N)?" Tommy asked right before you walked through a door. You could tell he had a lot of questions, but they had to wait for awhile as you didn't really have the energy to answer them.

"It's uh- a long story." You pursed your lips and stared at him with a pitiful look on your face, only for Maria's walkie to interrupt your exchange. Tommy decided to take up her place when she said she'd rather eat with Ellie and you.

"I'll come with you," Joel said. "You two go with Maria and put some food in yourselves."

"Joel?" Ellie objected with a slightly uncomfortable look on her face.

"C'mon Ellie, let's give the boys some space." Maria smiled at her.

"It's alright Ellie, let's go eat." You rubbed her back and began tailing Maria.

"So," Maria sighed with some energy on her, you wish you had the same. "Before I make any assumptions, would you like to tell me where you're headed or why are you all travelling together?"

Ellie and you looked at each other for a short moment as Maria led you through some rooms: "Uh, actually we were travelling separately, they kinda stumbled across me as I was... dying."

Maria turned around to give you a surprised look, making you shrug and smile awkwardly: "I told you it was a long story."

You began telling her about where your roads crossed, without getting into details, as she got all of you... steaks?

Goddamn, you thought.

"We thought you'd be in the city just as we came across the doors," you spoke after finishing your tale. Maria ate normally, while you barely touched your food. Ellie, on the other hand, almost choked on hers because she was eating too fast.

"Slow down, Ells, the food ain't going anywhere," You handed a(n actual) napkin to her as she struggled to breathe.

"So Ellie isn't your and Joel's daughter," Maria smirked. "What a shame, we had just the perfect place for a family of three."

Your cheeks got dusted with pink as you stared at Maria, mouth slightly agape: "No- Although if you have another perfect place for an adult, that'd be great."

"How do you mean?"

"I escaped FEDRA," You spoke uncomfortably. "My team, they... they all died and, I don't wanna go back. I never wanted to be a part of it to begin with, that's why I was scared when you first showed up. I thought it was an ambush."

Maria nodded sympathetically as you continued: "When Ellie told me of this place, she told me I'd be safe here..."

"Oh," Maria sighed. "Of course, yeah... I see that you and Tommy know each other from way back and that he trusts you?"

"Yeah," you tensed. What if she was the jealous type and wasn't going to let you in because of your 'history' with Tommy? "I used to help him and a few other Fireflies out when they couldn't get around FEDRA. I thought they served a good cause but... It was just a few favours and exchanges here and there."

"I see. He never told me about you, I was surprised when he acted the way he did when he saw you." Oh shit.

"I'm not surprised he didn't mention me," you tensed, visibly, shifting uncomfortablly. "We were just good acquaintances but I guess he was too ecstatic to find out his brother and old acquaintance was alive?"

"Relax," Maria laughed. "I'm just messing with you. Of course he told me about you and the way you watched out for him back in the day."

You really wanted to jump off a window when she confessed and giggled. Give me a break...

"You're cruel," you forced a small smile. You and Tommy really were just good acquaintances, nothing more. You really weren't sure why he hugged you all of a sudden.

"She's really tired, go easy on her," Ellie spoke, mouth full.

"I can tell, you look drained." Maria commented on your appearance worriedly. "Come on now, eat up."

"I'm not hungry," you said. After what happened only some minutes ago, your stomach wasn't in the mood for any food; yes, even though it was a delicious looking steak.

"I'm sure you are," Maria smiled sincerely. "You eat this, then take a bath afterwards and rest as long as you need."

"A bath?" Your voice trembled. "If you tell me you have shampoo or something, I'll kiss you."

Maria giggled: "Unfortunately we don't have shampoos, but we do have hot water and some soaps."

Your eyes widened further more as a hand ran through your hair: "I'm not gonna kiss you, I think I'll just pass out instead. God bless."

You had both of them laughing at your comment, which also made you smile.

"Maria," a voice suddenly echoed through the walkie. "We got the electricity back on!"

"Oh that's great news," Maria sighed into the walkie, relieved.

This place didn't feel real. They had a whole village with protection, electricity, actual food and hot baths with soaps? You just might faint on the spot. Instead, you nibbled at your food. Although you still weren't too hungry, you forced down a few bites to keep yourself going.

Minutes passed as Maria and Ellie chatted this time, peaceful minutes they were, but of course it had to come to an end when alarms went off.

"What's going on?" Ellie panicked.

"Bandits," Maria dropped her smile and got off the table. You and Ellie quickly grabbed your guns and got up as well.

"Stay behind here, I'll cover the door," You said, battle instincts kicking in immediately. They did as you asked and watched as you made your way over to the door, hearing Tommy through the walkie for a brief moment before the door flew open. You immediately fired at the unfamiliar face and heard Maria tell Ellie to hide. You hid behind the door as another man came in, quickly putting a bullet through his head and waiting for a moment to see if more men would come.

"(Y/N)?" You heard Ellie whisper. You began sprinting over to them when another bandit came from behind you. He swung a machete at you with a roar, which you barely dodged as it sliced through your waist a little, making you cry out angrily. You immediately rolled away from the man and shot a straight line of bullets from his chest to his forehead before he could approach you, grabbing the machete from him as he fell.

"Are you alright?!" Maria cried, worried, as you examined your wound.

"Yeah, just stay down!" You replied and threw yourself on the ground when a bullet whizzed only inches away from your ear. You took cover behind a crate and listened to the movements of the men: There were three in the room currently, one near your location, one who just got in the room and one headed over to where Maria and Ellie were.

Alright, you took a deep breath, let's do this.

You jumped over the crate from the left side, opposite to where you got into cover from, having the upper hand with the element of surprise, slicing the bandit's throat with the machete. The guy at the entrance shot at you but the shots were poorly aimed, which gave you time to take down the man as he reloaded. Another gunshot rang through the air from behind you, making you run over to where Ellie and Maria where, only to find a dead bandit on the ground.

"We gotta run!" Maria grabbed Ellie's hand and got up, running for a door on the right side of the room. After making sure the other side was clear, you grabbed the machete before leading the girls through the door to a room which was already occupied by four bandits.

You managed to take two down before ducking and taking cover behind a desk which Maria kicked down in the meanwhile. You reflexively held your wounded side, looked at the blood, then huffed angrily. It got too quiet as you did, which made you look up, only to see another man running toward you with a baseball bat with spikes on it.

You quickly backed off as he swung it at you, which you avoided and immediately took advantage off; your own machete was embedded into his skull before he could raise his bat once more, blood splattering on your face.

While you were struggling to get your blade out of the bandit's head, the other man advanced at you with a cry. You grabbed your machete with both hands and pushed the body off with your foot, the corpse falling almost on top of the other bandit which gave you a moment to recollect yourself and attack. The guy dodged you and you dodged him, machetes clanging against each other.

"(Y/N), duck!" You heard Ellie yell and when you did, a shot rang out from Ellie's pistol and the man hit the floor with a painful yelp. Before you could get off the ground however, a much bigger man with a shotgun came through and fired at you.

"Agh, fuck!" You groaned when you rolled out of his view and onto your wounded side, accidentally dropping your rifle on the floor, out of breath.

"Watch out!" Ellie yelled when the man discovered you behind your cover. Just my luck, you smirked when the man realised he had no ammo left. You immediately jumped up and swung your machete at him, but to your surprise he blocked your attack and grabbed your wrist. He twisted your arm and made you cry out, so you kicked him which made him double over. You tried to kick him a second time, but he quickly regained his composure and went for your waist, hugging it and driving you straight into the wall behind you.

"Oof!" You yelped and coughed, striking him with your elbows. He didn't seem to be affected by your advances as he went to choke you. You couldn't block him in time, causing you to fall on the ground with a painful grunt. Your choking noises must've alerted Ellie, for she went out of cover to shoot at the guy, only to find her pistol to be empty. She began reloading but you were running out of time, so you reached out for the machete laying just across you, then stuck it into the side of his neck when you got a hold of it; blood decorating your face furthermore.

"Oh shit, (Y/N)!" Ellie ran over to you as you fought for air, coughing your lungs out. You pushed the man off you and let Ellie hold your hand as you tried to breathe. "You're okay- I think that was the last of them."

Maria came out of the cover after making sure it was safe, rushing to your side.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," you calmed down, blinking away your tears as you rubbed your neck. That was too close, you thought and got up with Maria and Ellie's help slowly.

"You okay?" Tommy and Joel entered the room all of a sudden, Maria rushing to her husband.

"Yeah- yeah I'm fine." She nodded as Tommy held her. Your breathing was still off track as Joel rushed to Ellie's side.

"Joel! Oh man," Ellie spoke. "They were coming in from every direction-"

"Okay," Joel tried to speak but there was no stopping Ellie: "And then Maria was like We gotta run! So (Y/N) led us here and-"

"Listen-"

"We dove over these tables while (Y/N) took out these guys and this huge guy blasts in with a shotgun!"

"Slow down, slow down-"

"And he attacks her but she swings a machete into his neck-"

"Hey- hey! Are you hurt?" Joel asked, finally getting a hold of Ellie.

"No," Ellie gulped as she gave herself a once over, while Tommy and Maria watched the exchange. "But (Y/N) is!"

Joel turned around to see you leaning onto a table, pressing on your wound with a red face and hand prints around your neck, then walked over to you.

"How bad are you hurt?" Joel removed your hand from your waist and gently held your shoulder.

"Not too bad," You said, breathing slowly getting back on track. "Just need to catch my breath."

Maria and the others brought you to a small nursery and they all waited outside except Ellie. She stayed with you as a lady named Katherine cleaned your wound and applied stitches and bandages on it. While you laid down, you heard Maria yell at Tommy, which made Ellie curious and leave your side. After she was done, you thanked Katherine and went outside only to see an upset Ellie going back in your direction.

"Hey, what's going on?" You stood across her.

"Don't get me wrong (Y/N), I wanna be alone right now."

"Okay, kiddo," You nodded, confused. "I'm here if you wanna talk."

"I know."

You walked over to where Joel was after Ellie went some other direction: "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine- what's going on?"

"You seen Ellie?"

"Yeah and, well, she's pissed," you sighed and watched Maria walk over to both of you.

"Here we go..." Joel muttered before getting up to confront Maria.

"You," She was breathing fire. "If anything- anything at all happens to him, it's on you."

You watched her leave, what the hell was going on? The brothers stood in silence for a moment before Tommy spoke: "She's thankful you know."

"Yeah, I know..." Joel sighed. Tommy gave you a look and you took it as your cue to leave, so you got up and started walking away while they chatted quietly. Just as you were out of hearing range, you heard Tommy call for Joel.

"What is it?" You heard Joel ask when you turned around.

"That girl of yours, she took one of our horses and ran off."

You felt as though boiling water was poured on you from head to toe. Shit.

"Damn it," you heard Joel say as he approached you. "Why the hell did you let her go?"

"I didn't do anything," You said. "She said she wanted to be alone, so I let her."

"You let her be alone outside in the woods?" He growled when he got face to face with you.

"I don't like your tone," you hissed at his false accusation, to which he looked at you as if he was saying the audacity. "I didn't let her do nothin', she said she wanted to be alone- how the hell was I supposed to know she was gonna run off?!"

"Can't keep an eye on a kid..." Joel muttered then walked away, you following him.

"She's neither my child nor my responsibility to take across country and you blame me because she ran off? Please."

"Then why are you acting like her mother all the time?"

"Joel, enough. Let's go." Tommy interrupted when they reached the stables. "Not you, (Y/N). Riding will ruin your stitches."

You opened your mouth to disagree but Tommy insisted: "Please just stay. We got this, it's okay."

"Okay... Be careful." You said with a worried look and Tommy nodded in return, Joel already on the move without sparing you another look.

They rode off - all you could do was watch as they disappeared into the woods.

"They'll be fine, ma'am." The guy at the stables smiled. "Tommy and your man can take real good care of themselves-"

"He's not my man." You growled.

"Oh, well, they'll bring your daughter back-"

"She's not my daughter!" You sighed, exasperated. "Just- tell me where Maria is, please?"

He took you to her and you two sat for a while, complaining about the brothers, eventually laughing about it and making Maria say:

"I just, I really love him... if anything happened to him-"

"I know," you smiled softly. "It's not really my lifestyle, but I know what you mean."

"What do you mean not your style?"

"Love never did it for me. I, well, you could say I forgot what it feels like. I never had the time..."

"Oh I see. Well, you're here now," Maria smiled back, then smirked: "Maybe you'll find someone here, if Joel is too much for you to handle."

Your smile dropped: "Maria, I told you, I'm not interested in that jerk and vice versa... Plus, I can handle him just fine!"

You both giggled again and then Maria led you to a spare chamber she offered you to rest in while she arranged a house for you. You laid down and sighed, sleep pushing your eyelids down as soon as your head hit the pillow.

You were exhausted because of everything you've been through and everything you've felt: You were angry at Joel, worried for Ellie, relieved that you made it to Jackson in one piece, also upset that you possibly won't be seeing Ellie after tomorrow; there was also the attraction you felt toward Joel that you furiously denied, the need to relieve yourself down there and whatnot; but you really didn't think it was appropriate with the grief you pushed down and away slowly resurfacing along your feelings. You were absolutely fatigued, you felt like if someone simply touched you by the shoulder, you'd break and turn into dust then and there. At least in a few hours, when you woke up, Ellie would be back and Joel would mutter an apology - two things would be off your mind before you focused on your heavier emotions.

#joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #joel x reader #tlou x reader #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us x reader #the last of us

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katherinewilliams221b · 3 years

Text

For A Greater Good 18/18

not my gif

He Who Must Not Be Named

Summary: Kate Williams, young healer and member of the Order, joins Durmstrang’s staff at Dumbledore’s request. Her mission? Find a Death Eater and survive long enough to tell the story. Set in 1996.

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x ofc/mc

Masterlist

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

[Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10]

[Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13] [Part 14]

[Part 15] [Part 16] [Part 17]

A/N: bold lines are from the book Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix

Severus Snape emerged from the shadows to stand in front of his ally.

“I was starting to think you wouldn’t come, Severus.” The voice of Albus Dumbledore was, as expected, steady and confident. “Do you have it?”

Snape approached him, eying the room with suspicion. It was the first time he had stepped inside Dumbledore’s hiding place, but despite he trusted the man, a chill ran down his spine. Keeping a stoic expression, he reached inside his robes and handed him a rolled piece of parchment.

“She had it with her. As you said.”

Dumbledore unrolled the document and nodded slowly. Another name wrote itself with the others.

“It is vital that Cornelius sees Voldemort first. After that, I will personally make sure that this information reaches the aurors.” The bearded man walked to the end of the room; the dim light of a candle outlined Fawkes’ silhouette.

“My name appears on that list.” Snape watched Dumbledore’s hand halt in the air. He turned around and with challenging eyes, he stared at him as he unrolled the parchment again. Turning his gaze back to the paper, Dumbledore pursed his lips together as if he was going to whistle and with a light blow, the name ‘Severus Snape’ left the paper in the form of black ashes.

He looked up at the potions teacher from up his glasses. Snape nodded.

“What happened to Yankelevich?”

“She will be brought to Nurmergard” The phoenix moved so his master could slide the parchment under him. “Attempted murder, at least.”

“I don’t understand why you sent Williams. Yankelevich wasn’t an immediate threat and Alastor could have done it faster and more efficiently.”

Dumbledore turned and put his hands behind his back. “You underestimate her. She’s learnt fast, and listened to your instructions, didn’t she? You were busy training Harry to notice, of course, but her occlumency skills have improved enormously, and she’s been practising how to communicate with Mr Weasley.”

“You said she would, yes…”

“Well, she refused using her patronus to communicate, and she needed to be away from him to practise.” He opened his mouth to say something else, but he reconsider it. At Snape’s piercing stare, he kept going, “Astrid knew someone was up to no good and needed a favour, however,” he pointed at Fawkes’ nest “that was my goal.”

He walked to the nearest chair and sat down, grabbing a goblet from the table. Before sipping, he caught how Snape’s jaw tensed. “Besides, Alastor’s never run freely around a castle, breaking rules and finding places he is not supposed to enter. She has.”

“How did she know how to find it?”

“I said her skills had improved, not that they were better than mine. I might have… given her a small guidance.” He raised his hand up to his temple’s level and brushed his index and thumb together. “ I was certain that Karkarov knew about the existence of the room. It was the most logical place to hide it.”

“Where is he now?” demanded Snape.

Dumbledore looked at his partner with amused eyes, but corrected his demeanour quickly. “I have no idea. I mistakenly believed he would be in the forest. I sent a letter to Katherine in hopes she would meet him there. Turns out, he is smarter than I thought.”

“It won’t be long until He finds out Karkarov’s writing that.” Snape pointed at Fawkes’s nest, and the bird chirped unhappily.

“I know.” He tsked and took a sip from his beverage, “But it was his choice.”

“What are you going to do until then?”

“We’ll wait. That spell is not easy to perform. We’ll let him write as much as he can.” They fell silent for a long while, lost in their thoughts, until Dumbledore spoke again.

“When?”

“Tomorrow. He wants the prophecy.”

“Of course. Of course…” he stood up and crossed his hands in front of him and searched in his companion’s black eyes. Snape reached inside his sleeve and took out a small vial with a silver liquid in it. He handed it to Dumbledore, who read the tag ‘K. Williams. Durmstrang’.

“She will not remember the names.”

With one last nod, Albus Dumbledore observed how his confidant dissolved in the air.

Katherine Williams awoke for the second time in the same Grimmauld Place’s cold room. She let the sun rays hit her eyelids and savoured the memory of Charlie’s firm body against her own.

When she reached behind her, only cold sheets wished her a good morning.

Promise me something. Promise me you’ll wake me up to say goodbye.

She stared at the pillow next to her and sighed. To be fair, he didn’t make such a promise. He didn’t say anything at all.

Putting her disappointment aside, she prepared herself for one of the most exhausting whirlwinds one could face: the loving care of Molly Weasley.

Sitting up with her back against the headboard, she stretched her neck to the side and had to do a double take at the nightstand.

A pink flower with orange undertones sat beside a piece of paper that was folded in half. Her stomach flipped, and she considered forgiving him for leaving.

A snapdragon for the strongest of flowers.

I hope this wasn’t a one-time thing. Owl me.

“Oh, shut up!” Kate whispered, but a chuckle escaped her mouth, anyway.

Movement on the other side of the door startled her, and she hid the note under the pillow before quickly hiding herself behind the covers.

The doorknob turned, and Mrs Weasley entered the room.

“Oh, thank Godric you are alright!” Molly was by her side in four long strides and cradled Kate’s head in her hands. “How are you feeling? Charles told me you woke up last night. You look pale. Did you rest?”

“Yes, Mrs Weasley, I’m fine. My head is spinning a little, though.”

“Of course, of course, let me see that arm.”

Internally complaining, Kate let her put the cream on her arm and tend the bruises of her neck. She didn’t have the courage to tell her that wouldn’t make the scar disappear. When she finished, Molly nodded with a satisfied smile and proceeded to pick up the clothes that were scattered on the floor. Kate held her breath during the entire the process.

“This boy... tsk... taught him better than this! At least he could have brought his clothes with him…” Kate wasn’t sure if she was oblivious or if she was giving them a green card because they weren’t at The Burrow. In any case, she felt the need to take Charlie off the hook.

“I’m sorry, that’s my fault, Charlie let me use his clothes after I showered and when I went to sleep... they were bothering me.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. She gestured her neck to point at her bruises and then remembered that maybe there were ones more recent, that she did not want to explain. Charlie had never left a mark on her, but that night he felt a tad possessive and she wasn’t sure he could be trusted.

Although Molly hadn’t commented on them while she was applying the cream, the younger witch rested her hand there, trying to appear casual. Just in case.

“Ah, don’t worry, dear.” Molly waved her free hand nonchalantly and went to pick her cloak from the floor. While putting on the robe that Charlie had left at the end of the bed, Kate remembered that she technically stole the uniform band.

“Oh, this is warm! What a nice coat!” She waved the magically warmed piece of clothing, admiring it, and something the size of a matchbox flew across the room in doing so. “Oh! I’m so sorry, I always check the pockets and now look at this!” She murmured something under her breath and went to pick up the mysterious object, but Kate interrupted her.

“I’ll get it, don’t worry.”

“Very well, then. I made you some breakfast, but it’s already cold, Charlie made me swear I would let you sleep in!” She laughed and when she was crossing the threshold, she added, “Arthur got your trunk, it’s downs… ah!”

Mr Weasley appeared from behind her with a smile on his face and his hands on her waist.

“Oh, not you too, Arthur, I have enough with your sons apparating everywhere…”

His husband ignored her with a laugh and entered the room, her trunk following him in the air.

“Special delivery!” He roared.

“Thank you so much, Mr Weasley.” He approached Kate, and after hugging her shoulders with an arm, he kissed the top of her head. “You scared us the other day, eh?” He squeezed her. “But, let’s thank Godric you are safe and sound! I must go to work now, if you’ll excuse me…”

“I’m fine, really. We healers recover quickly. Tonks filled me in, and I’m feeling alright.”

“Alright, then. I’ll let you change.” Molly placed a hand on her own cheek for a moment and left the room without another word.

The moment Mrs Weasley closed the door behind her, Kate spooned around and crawled down the wooden desk to retrieve the small object.

Placing it on her palm, she murmured ‘engorgio’, making the tiny leather journal grow to its original size.

Letters, maps, notes, names, drawings, and a full research on how to magically cross plant species were contained in that notebook. The past six months were portrayed in those pieces of paper, and their value was incalculable.

Looking up, she faced one of the obscure paintings that belonged to the Black family. Kate stared at a woman standing on a bridge in what appeared to be a forest, and a question formed in her mind. She needed to go to St. Mungo’s.

Convincing Molly that she could go alone to the hospital was harder than the mission she just came from. After a diluted Invigoration Draught and some help from Lupin, she managed to step out of Grimmauld Place.

She didn’t feel ready to apparate, and she doubted she would ever be, so she enjoyed her walk through the streets of the city. With the muggle money that Lupin gave her, she jumped on the first underground station she saw and followed his directions.

She got comfortable on an empty seat and observed the people on the train car. When she saw a couple getting handsy in a corner, a wave of sadness washed over her, and had to look away.

She missed Charlie terribly. The night before was too desperate and rushed, she didn’t have time to savour the moment. She didn’t even ask him about his mission with the giants, about his dragons, or about how he felt all that time alone at home. Being on a mission kept her head occupied for most of the time, but now, with nothing to do, she anticipated some time of loneliness.

She brought her hand to her chest, and her heart ached even more when she couldn’t find the necklace that Charlie had gifted her many years before. No. Stop it. You’ll get answers and study your notes and then... and then you will have to explain to Dumbledore you lost an important document that could have saved lives. Brilliant.

Soft clapping noises brought her back to reality. A woman in front of her was struggling to hold an excited baby on her lap. Kate observed the child and smiled when his little finger touched her mother’s nose. The baby turned his head and stared at Kate for a while before raising his arm to wave at her. She chuckled and returned the greeting, her trip improving slightly and temporarily.

Walking through St Mungo’s doors had a mixed effect of nostalgia and excitement. She had spent many hours in that hospital studying, training, and learning, and all of a sudden, she was fresh out of Hogwarts again, with all the emotions that implied. Taking a deep breath, she walked through the corridor and started searching for her first mentor and boss, Madame Louise.

She scanned the faces of the healers that were working, rapidly treating the patients like frantic ants recollecting their food.

“Williams?” Kate turned at the deep voice calling her and recognised the robust middle-aged woman in front of her. “What brings you here? I thought you were working in Romania?”

“Hello, Madame Louise, yes, well I was… working there. But I’m here as a patient today.”

Madame Louise frowned and looked at Kate up and down before giving a curt nod.

“Wait on that bed.” She said before turning and walking away.

Kate sat as directed and stared at the beautiful glass stained windows of the place.

“I request you let me go right now! This is nonsense.” She could recognise that firm voice anywhere. To her right Professor McGonagall was lying on one of the beds and arguing with a boy that Kate figured he was wishing he hadn’t been born.

She walked towards them and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’ll take it from here, thank you.”

“Who are you? You are not a healer; Madame Louise will hear about this.”

“Mister, this young woman knows more than you, do us all a favour and go with your mother.” Intervened McGonagall.

“I heard Jared O’Leary was looking for you.” The boy shifted in his place and nodded nervously before leaving them alone.

“Professor, what happened?” Kate’s healer mode activated and started scanning McGonagall for injuries and signals of distress.

“Oh, Williams, a lot is been happening this past year. I can imagine you’ve been informed?”

“Vaguely. I arrived two days ago from…”

“I know.”

Kate grabbed the file at the foot of the bed and read the report on McGonagall’s state.

“Four stunning spells to the chest?” She looked up and asked with her eyes, but her professor wasn’t in a mood for a talk.

“Williams, I must get out of here and go back to Hogwarts. I’m afraid it’s going to be too late by the time they let me go.”

“Professor, you could faint just by… too late for what?”

“Williams!” Madame Louise motioned her to come closer. Kate hesitated, but followed the mediwizard to a quieter space. “What happens to be the problem?”

“I’ve been poisoned two days ago.”

“In that case you should have come earlier, don’t you think?”

“There’s been… complications. I wanted to ask you if it’s possible to poison someone without using a vial or a potion or, I don’t know, food or drinks.”

The woman hummed and crossed her arms in front of her. “That’s rather strange.”

“Is this…” Kate moved the collar of the shirt to the side, revealing the red marks that hadn’t disappeared yet. “… a possible way?”

Louise grabbed the glasses that were hanging by a chain around her neck and placed them on the tip of her nose to inspect the injuries.

“The poison could have been injected with some kind of needle, but the shape of these marks means claws or… nails.”

She took her glasses off and waved them while talking. “I imagine it is possible, but you must have a very twisted mind to carry around poison in your nails. Also, you need to be very careful, a bad placement of the poison can cause yourself to get ill. In what kind of troubles are you getting into, Williams?”

“It’s a story for another day.”

“Madame Louise, I can’t find Jared O’Leary…” The boy that was treating McGonagall appeared from behind Kate.

“What are you talking about? Go back to work! Naturally, you can’t find him. He doesn’t work here anymore!”

“But she…”

“Is every patient cured, Mr Boyle?” Kate slid away from the conversation to where Professor McGonagall was resting.

“I suddenly feel tired…”

Kate nodded and checked that the potions on her nightstand were filled and in order. A hand grabbed her wrist, and she turned to look at McGonagall.

“Katherine. You must find Potter. Something terrible is about to happen.”

Kate frowned and got closer to her former professor’s face.

“The Ministry. Try the Ministry,” she whispered.

Kate didn’t think twice. She ran all she could to the underground station, receiving some odd glances from the surrounding people.

When she arrived at the Ministry stop, she could sense the commotion even from the muggles that were passing by.

“A gas leak.” She heard while climbing up the mechanic stairs. Some people complained at her rudeness, but she couldn’t stop and apologise at the moment.

“There’s the press. Those vultures. It was probably a problem with plumbing. Look! The water reached the first floor!” A man said.

Kate tried to walk among the curious souls that were conglomerated around the building and recognised the protection bubble that was forming around it. She slid under it with ease.

“But I heard an explosion! I’m telling you!” a woman said to a journalist.

She tried to enter the building, but what seemed to be an auror stopped her.

“Let me in! I’m a healer!”

The man remained stoic and grabbed her arm.

“Identification?”

“I… I don’t have it right now but…”

“You can’t go in, Miss” She tried to get rid of him and she almost succeeded, but when the doors to the Ministry opened, she stopped the struggle. Four aurors walked out the building protecting several figures that walked behind them. She tried to reach them, but the security guard grabbed her again.

“You are the cursed girl! Daily Prophet here! Are you involved in the accident? How do you think your father will react to this? How do you think this is connected to your brother?”

“I’m not…” dumbfounded by the flash of a camera, she tried to escape from the journalists.

“Miss Williams! Miss Williams! What can you tell us about the person who died?”

She couldn’t hear anything, see anything, someone pushed her, and she felt another flash of a camera. Her head was spinning.

Cornelius Fudge stepped out of the building and pointed his wand at his neck. He cleared his throat and all the attention was directed at him.

“It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord… well, you know who I mean… is alive and among us again.”

[Epilogue]

Tag List:

@eldritchscreech

@meteora-fc

@cazreadsstuff

@the-navistar-carol

@am-i-space

#charlie weasley #charlie weasley x mc #charlie weasley x ofc #charlie weasley fanfiction #charlie weasley/mc #charlie weasley/ofc #durmstrang #kate williams #hphm #hphm fanfiction

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thehoneycookiecrumbs · 4 years

Text

All Might X Reader

- You and All Might are a new couple and after a year of dating, you guys decided to move in together! All Might is worried because for some reason your not sleeping!

Pairing: All Might X Reader

Word Count: 3K

Genre: Fluff and comfort!

Warnings: Minor cussing

Author Note: This is part of bnha collab i’m doing from the server Bnha Sanctuary! that @myherowritings created! It was @therainroguefanfiction idea to do the collab! This is my first completed fic? (one-shot) i’ve ever done! so lmk what you guys think and thank you so much for letting me be a part of this collab!!!

The Collab!!

Also thanks for @ambershaydeoffical for helping me edit the first half!! ILYSM THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH ME <3 and grammarly too <3

Y/N and All Might were in their new house together, they had finally unfinished unloading all the boxes from the moving in truck. Y/N leaned on the counter of the living room, drinking a glass of water when suddenly All Might had received an urgent call from Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. All Might went through a spectrum of emotions, from anger to guilt to anxiousness. His face paled, and his body shook a bit; finally, he turned to look at Y/N. He spoke in an apologetic tone, "Do you think you can hold off the dinner plans for tonight? I need to head to the police station, one of my students is… in a sticky situation right now..." He flashed her one of his brilliant smiles, "No need to worry though, it's nothing that I can't handle!"

Y/N set her cup down, only for it to crack. She stared at it and had a bad feeling. She chose to ignore it and proceeded to walk towards her lover. She gracefully cupped his cheek in one hand and leaned to peck his lips. "All that matters to me is that you come home safe. I'll be here," she whispered.

All Might’s gaze never faltered, and leaned in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist “I’ll be back soon” and out he went to save the day.

Hours passed, and Y/N has not heard anything from Toshi. The homemade cooked dinner Y/N had left for her dear boyfriend was cold, sitting on the kitchen table untouched.

Y/N woke up in a cold sweat, her body shaking as she looked to her side and noticed that her man still was not back home. She looked at the time, and it was past midnight. She unlocked her phone with shaky hands, and the first thing she noticed was the news of All Might fighting All for One. Her breath hitched, and she started to watch the live news feed.

“DESTRUCTION! THEFT! EXPLOITATION! MANIPULATION! THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, JUST TRYING TO LIVE DAY TODAY! YOU LAUGH AT THEM, SCORN THEIR HARDSHIP, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT I CANNOT..." All Might move to punch All for one “FORGIVE!” he went and socked All for One while pinning down the villain with his left hand. Steam started to rise from his body 'my time limit…' All might thought.

Y/N gasped in horror as she saw the steam emitting from his body, knowing that he was severely injured, saw the blood, and sweat on her lover. She saw that he was half deflated. She recognized that pained look on his face. She did not know what they were saying but knowing her boyfriend and the situation wasn't anything pleasant.

All Might is pushed back, and he flies up in the air, heading towards the helicopters, but Grain Torino swoops in, grabbing All Might like he was a child, and placed him on the ground. A bit of shifting occurred, and the talking resumed. All for One went and punched All Might, and All Might was left in a weakened state. He was his usual scrawny self, but with many wounds, his arms battered, and his clothes barely holding themselves together. It seemed all the life of the symbol of peace was gone, it was a devasting sight for the world to see. All Might was no longer smiling.

Y/N was clutching at her phone tightly. Her heart was beating erratically, and she already knew how Toshinori looked at his standard form. After all, that's how she met him for the first time, not knowing it was All Might. Tears were streaming down her face.

"You promised me that you'll be back home soon," she choked out. No one was in the room with her as she continued to spoke "Our life is barely just starting…our life…our future…please honey…come back home alive” she was desperate.

She didn't know what else was going to happen, and here she was watching the love of her life be torn into pieces, on live television. She was at home, being utterly useless in a situation she cannot help. Y/n broke out into a cold sweat, her breathing became hysterical, as many intrusive thoughts swarm her brain, her vision blurred, and chills ran up her body. Her left hand clutched at her chest as she was in pain.

‘Toshi…Toshi…’ his name kept repeating in her head. ‘You need to calm down and breathe. Just breathe.’ She thought. She couldn’t speak as she tried to calm herself down, ‘have faith in him, he is the number 1 hero, and he can do it. He will survive,' she advises herself.

All Might bulk up his right arm and spoke to All for One “YOU’RE RIGHT, THERE’S SO MUCH WE HEROES HAVE TO PROTECT! AND THAT’S WHY WE DON’T LOSE!” all the surrounding heroes joined All Might, helping him in the background, giving him back up, and moving all the nearby civilians out of the way. There was an explosion and a cry “UNITED STATES… SMASH!” and another impact was heard. The land shook, and the smoke cleared out, revealing a broken bleeding All Might, with his right fist up in the air. He then faced the camera, pointing it and uttering out the words "You're Next."

Y/N immediately threw her phone onto the bed. She shoved the covers off her, ran into her closet, grabbed a random coat, and slipped onto her slippers. She grabbed her purse, phone, and keys, and rushed out the door. Dialing detective Naomasa, to find out which hospital her beloved would be staying in.

At the hospital, Y/N wasn’t allowed to see Toshinori immediately. She walked briskly in the waiting area, and a few of the nurses not believing that she was All Might’s girlfriend, thinking she was just another crazed fan. It wasn’t till detective Naomasa had told the nurses she was, indeed, the lover of All Might, and promptly led in. She burst into Toshi’s room and fell by his side.

There lay All Might, and he was bruised and scarred. He was bandaged from head to toe with a broken arm. He was shocked by the sudden loudness and appearance of Y/N. He immediately sat up "Y-Y/N!" his lover marched up to him and lightly threw her arms around him. She started sobbing onto the crook of his neck.

“Y-You idiot!” she bawled. All Might awkwardly held his girlfriend with his one arm, trying to calm her down frantically “H-Hey W-Why are you crying?! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!”

Y/N pulled away from All Might slightly but had still kept him at arm's length. "Why am I crying?! Am I okay?! Are you out of your damn mind?!" she spoke angrily, her jaw was clenched, and tears streamed down her face. "The question is, are You okay?! I just saw you get beaten up on television!” she exasperates. She was in disbelief that he was asking about her safety; she took a deep breath.

“Honey, I’m fine. But you worry me so much. I’m only glad that you are alive and okay” she kisses his cheek and takes a seat in front of his hospital bed.

She pulls out a protein bar from her purse and shakily hands it to him "Here, you haven't eaten anything. You should get something in your system…" All Might's cheeks flush a light pink, as he glances at Detective Naomasa and Gran Torino, who looked at him with knowing grins. His focus goes backs to Y/N and gently takes the protein bar from her, and he gives her an awkward chuckle.

"I'm the number 1 hero, dying is the last thing that will be on my list."

Once All Might was discharged from the hospital, he was surprised to see that all the boxes from the moving truck were unpacked and unloaded. All their stuff was already placed around the house! He came to a beautiful home, where it was clean and smelled a lot like Y/N. She really did put that girlish feel into the house which he loved.

He thought that Y/N was utterly fantastic, unloading everything, and still manage to bring warm cook meals to him at the hospital, along with maintaining her job. His arm was broken, so whenever he needed help, Y/N was there, and she did a great job where he never felt babied. He felt blessed and loved as he knows that Y/N is doing her best to support him whenever she can.

They had already gotten to the routine where in the morning, Y/N likes to cook breakfast for the two. They both get ready in the morning, and off to work they go, he felt like they were newlyweds. Still, he always blushed at the thought. It was too early in the relationship to think about marriage, even though that's where it seemed to be headed in the future.

After having dinner, you and Toshi decided it was time to head for bed, as he had a class to teach in the morning. He wanted to help develop his student's quirk abilities. You were changing into your PJs, and All Might had his back facing you, -he, himself, changing into his own proper sleepwear. Once you finished, you cough awkwardly to let him know you were done changing, and you both crawled into bed.

You were stiff and tense as you laid to the side, and shifted toward him, as he pulled out a book 'how to teach and motivate students for DUMMIES'; you snorted once you saw what he was reading. Toshi looked at you, embarrassed. "I need to help my kids develop a special move, but I don't know how too," he admitted shyly.

You flashed him a smile, “Honey, all you have to do is be yourself and provide them encouragement without giving them the answer. Don't stress too much; they are smart, creative kids, and they'll soon find the answer," you responded.

Toshi’s gaze shifted away and mumbled out an "It is not that easy as your making it sound…"

You pressed your lips to the side of his cheek, and pulled away, speaking in a soft loving tone “I’m going to go to bed, Goodnight and get some rest, don't be up too late."

You got comfortable on your side of the bed. Except, and sleep never came to you. You were awake when All Might had turned off his lamp, put his book away, gave you a peck on the top of your head, which you found endearing.

You laid there in the dark, with your eyes close, remembering that when your friend spoke to you, her boyfriend broke up with her because she kept kicking him in sleep. Or that she snored too loudly, and that she spoke in her sleep and tended to sleep-walk.

You thought he was an asshole, and that he did not deserve your friend! You had many sleepovers with her before! She honestly didn't move that much, and you felt that he was exaggerating.

Your thoughts had shifted in, and you began to wonder how you slept at night. You grew paranoid, ‘Do I move a lot in my sleep? Do I hog all the blankets? Do I snore loudly? Oh god, what if I hurt Toshi, especially since he's injured,' you thought.

You knew Toshi, he wasn’t the type to break up with someone because they

were snoring loudly, but you couldn’t help the paranoia feeling of accidentally hurting him in your sleep.

Beep

merp

Beep

Merp

Beep

Your alarm had pulled you from your thoughts, and you let out a deep sigh. You started getting ready for the day and headed into the kitchen to make breakfast for the day! You even decided to make Toshi a cute-looking bento. Luckily, you planned and had already prepped most of the ingredients at night, so it didn't take you long to prepare in the morning. You wrote a cute note, too, and placed it in the bento box with a cloth wrapping and set it to the side.

You were putting the pans in the dishwasher and cleaning the countertops when All Might showed up. He sniffed the air, "You didn't have to cook again," he spoke.

You can tell that he was grateful, as he was giving you a gaze with so much love that it made your heartthrob. "I didn't have too, but I wanted too," you replied back with a grin on your face.

“I also made you lunch for today! Who’s the best girlfriend~?” you sang.

All Might laughed “You, of course, and thank you for making lunch” he murmured as he wrapped his arm around you from behind, and kissed the top of your ears, to your head.

“Tonight, I'll help make dinner, and I'll help you set the table right now."

He pulled away from you and started putting out the plates and cups onto the table. He already knew how you liked your coffee (or tea) for the day. You walked towards the table, where you found Toshi, waiting for you. You both picked up your chopsticks "itadakimasu!” and started to dig in.

Toshinori sighed in content, exclaiming how delicious the food was.

All Might wasn't much of a cook, so he didn't eat homemade meals until you came along. When you found out that Toshi, mostly ate take out, you took it upon yourself to cook every day. Honestly, it was a hobby of yours, and you enjoyed cooking, it was something that you did with your mother when you were young. It was very satisfying when you had friends and love ones take a bite of your cooking, and they always exclaimed how they loved it.

You felt even more appreciated when Toshi started looking forward to your cooking. He also started asking to join you, trying to help you as much as he can. Trying out new recipes was always fun, and you loved teasing him! You never let him into the kitchen when cooking secret family recipes, as he’s not allowed to know your secrets!

A week has passed, and the same repetitive thoughts kept you up at night, worried that you might disturb Toshi’s sleep. You always felt tired and were sluggish in your movements, your eyes were puffy, and you had dark bags. You kept up with your extensive cooking every morning, lunch, and dinner. At work, you kept getting distracted and even doze off a few times in the job.

Your co-workers had begun to worry along with Toshi, as he kept trying to coax you to sleep. The other night he gave you a gentle back massage since his arm was now healed. No matter what kinds of methods you tried, you always woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep. It got to the point where you started cleaning random areas in the house, and when Toshi would wake up, he would try to bring you back to bed, only for you to snap angrily at him.

Today was another night, and Toshi had decided to buy you some lavender bath bombs for you to try before bed. While you were in the bath, All Might had set up a humidifier that spewed out a Lavender and Chamomile scent. (He read online about aromatherapy), he pulled out a shopping bag, and out came a cute expensive pillow, he put your favorite [color] pillow sheets and had settled it on your side of the bed.

He stood back, marveling out the room, and wondering what else he was missing, and he pondered why he couldn't sleep. He felt awful that he was getting a good rest, whereas you couldn't wake up for the day without feeling cranky.

A Light bulb went off in his head, he had also gotten you another gift! He goes and gets another shopping bag, and as he does, you walk into the bedroom, look at the sight, the aromatherapy, the pillow, the bath bombs, and tear up at sight.

You notice, Toshi, walking next to you and handing you some fuzzy socks, "I read online that socks can help you sleep..?"

You noticed that they were brand new and start to sniffle. All Might saw your teared-up face and started panicking, "Did you not like the color of the socks?!"

You start to laugh, which confused him even more. Were you laughing or crying?! Which is it?! Why are you distress?! Are you distress?! What is going on?!

"No, you dummy," you sniffled some more and threw your arms around him. "I'm just so grateful," you whisper.

Your voice starts to crack “You are doing so much for me, and trying all these kinds of things for me, so I can sleep, how did I get so lucky?” you ask.

All Might, pulls you close to your chest “I think the question is, how did I get so lucky?”

He kisses the top of your head. "I just want you to take care of yourself and get a good night sleep, you're always worrying about my health, but sometimes, you need to remember to take care of yourself too" He paused, "In fact, take care of yourself first, before worrying about me, okay?"

You visibly relaxed, as you leaned in his arms, "You know that I love you?"

You soon froze. YOU JUST BLURTED OUT THAT YOU LOVED HIM! You internally started panicking; it seemed natural to you that you didn't think about it.

All Might had tensed slightly when he heard your confession, but soon lifted you up in his arms as he briefly transformed into his buff form with a stupid grin on his face “No, I love-“

he had de-transformed and started coughing to the side, but still held on to you “I Love you too!” he blurted out with a heavy blush on his face.

You looked at him in bewilderment and started laughing, you were no longer unsure, and nervous. You truly felt loved, "shall we go to sleep, love~?" Toshinori continued to hold you in his arms, "We shall" and carried you to the bed.

You snuggled up to him in the bed and sighed happily, "Do you know what's stupid?"

All Might look down on you "What is?" he was massaging your scalp with his hand and was occasionally playing with your hair.

"I couldn't sleep because I thought I was going to hurt you in your sleep" you confessed, "and I thought I was a blanket stealer, or that I snored too loudly" you continued to ramble other thoughts that kept you up at night.

All Might had paused and tapped your cheek “I am the number one hero, you think you can hurt me?” he teased.

You huffed, "I did say it was stupid!" Toshi shook his head, "not stupid, my lover isn't stupid," he corrected you.

He chuckled a bit, "and Why do you need blankets to keep you warm when you have me?" he teased again.

You poked him in the face, "stop being cocky, Mr. Number One," you giggled.

Your confession was a weight lifted off your shoulders, and when Toshi had continued to massage your scalp, you soon drifted off to sleep, and not once did you wake up in the middle of the night.

Y/N and All Might laid in the extravagant bed together, all snuggled up with one another, the blankets wrapped around them. All Might’s arm was wrapped around Y/N waist, and his head laid on top of Y/N head, taking in her scent. The bright fuzzy socks were on the floor, forgotten.

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a-solitary-marshmallow · 4 years

Text

Salt Water in My Veins - Ford’s Perspective

Someone commented on my AO3 about how they’d like to read Ford’s perspective on my earlier story, Salt Water in My Veins, and I got inspired! Let me know what you think :D

_______________________________________________________________________

Ford didn’t care.

He didn’t care.

His br- the person who had been kicked out had ruined his entire future. Of course Ford wouldn’t care about his wellbeing. It simply wasn’t logical for Ford to worry that Stan was out on the streets alone at night, or that he didn’t even have a jacket… the desperation in his eyes when Ford pulled the curtains closed…

No. It was illogical. And Ford prided himself on being logical. If he wasn’t a creature of reason and intellect, what was he?

He tried to sleep, shoving his pillow over his face to block out the sounds of Ma and Pa yelling downstairs. But try as he might, unconsciousness would not come to him. Ford blamed it on being accustomed to having another person in the room, sleeping nearby. It certainly had nothing to do with guilt and worry.

…Stanley didn’t even have his jacket.

Ford rolled over to glance blearily at the clock on his bedroom wall. It was nearly midnight. Downstairs was silent, so Ma and Pa must have gotten tired of their shouting and retired to bed, leaving the house empty. The only noise was the quiet ticking of the clock counting down to midnight.

The house had never been this quiet before.

Ford swung his legs over the edge of his bed with a sigh. Where did Stanley keep his jacket? A few errant beams of moonlight pieced through the gap in the curtains and spilled across his bedroom floor, lighting up slivers of the room as he searched. There, hanging on a stack of comic books. The watery light made Stan’s red jacket look pale and washed-out.

Ford grabbed it, rifling through his drawers to find his own coat. Oh damn it, he’d spilled gravy on it a few nights ago and Ma had taken it to be washed. His sweater would have to do.

Ford groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He was not considering this. He was not sneaking out in the middle of the night when Stanley was who-knew-where doing who-knew-what. The knucklehead had a car, he could have left Glass Shard Beach already.

Ford glanced back at his bed. Despite the promise of a restless night’s sleep it was warm.

He sighed and headed for the door.

He had despaired over it earlier, but now Ford was moving he realized that there was really only one place Stanley would go. The place he felt safe; where they had whiled away hours and hours, hiding from bullies and their father’s bad moods and the ever-present expectations of school. So Ford pulled his sweater tighter around himself and hurried down to the beach.

It was a short walk. Ford could smell the salty breeze and hear the soft washing of waves before the shoreline came into view. He shivered at the icy breeze. Where was that idiot? Ford hugged Stan’s jacket to his chest as he scanned the beach, glasses fogging up from the heat of his skin. He cursed and took them off to wipe them on his sleeve.

Was that a red smudge? Ford fumbled to put his glasses on, a sigh of relief escaping him when he recognised Stan’s car parked by the sand. He headed towards it.

The lights were off. Stan was probably sleeping – in his car, on the freezing beach! He could get sick! And that wasn’t even considering the threat of thieves. Ugh, it was like he didn’t even care about his own safety!

Ford rapped on the passenger side window.

“Stan? Stan, you forgot your jacket.”

It was ominously quiet. Ford peered through the window, only to find the driver’s seat empty. And so was the back. The car was deserted, keys sitting on the dashboard.

The keys. Why on earth would Stanley leave the keys where anyone could take them? At night, all alone, next to the shoreline…

A chill prickled down Ford’s spine that had nothing to do with the cold. He whipped around to the ocean, heart in his throat. No, no, no, please no-

Yes, the universe whispered back, because there, up to his chest in the water and getting ever-deeper, was Stan.

The jacket slipped from Ford’s numb fingers. He was running before he could even think to, before he could feel the wind whipping his face and taste the salt on his lips. His foot caught in a shallow ditch and he stumbled, hands hitting the sand, scrambling back up in an instant.

“STANELY!” No no no this could not be happening, Ford was having a nightmare and any moment now he would wake up.

In the space between blinks Stanley had disappeared under the water. Where was he? Ford couldn’t see him, couldn’t distinguish his brother from the unyielding blackness of the ocean. He plunged into the shallows and the icy water sprayed against his skin.

“Stan! Where are you? Stan!”

There was no sign of him. He’d been there just a second ago, gone the next. Ford struck out frantically for where he’d last seen his brother. The cold burned. He hardly felt it.

Water up to his waist, his chest, sloshing around him. Ford sucked in a breath and dove down, squeezing his eyes shut against the salt. Icy water closed around his head, the world turning numb and muffled. He felt around desperately and found nothing. Nothing but water and sand and fragments of seaweed. His lungs were already burning.

No, no, no! Ford broke to the surface to grab a breath before diving down again. His clawing hands groped at water, seaweed – and then an arm.

He kicked for the surface but Stan was heavy, a dead weight. Ford barely managed to drag them both towards the shallows, until he could finally get his feet on solid ground and stand, head breaking the surface. Besides him Stan let out a hoarse gasp that turned into choking. Choking but alive. Stan would have sunk back under if Ford hadn’t grabbed him, clutching his brother close as he dragged him towards the shore. Water and fog clung to his glasses. His own ragged gasping filled his ears.

They staggered onto the sand and collapsed.

Stan hacked, wet coughs that sounded painful. Ford grabbed his brother’s shoulders as Stan hurled up seawater – god, how much did he swallow? He was choking like his lungs were drowning, like he would never breathe again. Ford rubbed his back desperately.

“Stan, it’s okay, you’re okay. Just breathe. Come on, you can do it.”

It seemed like an eternity before the fit passed – and then Stan slumped forward onto the sand. Ford’s ears roared.

“Stanley?”

Stan was terrifyingly still. Ford shook him frantically, voice shrill with panic.

“Stanley! Stanley! Don’t just lie there, say something goddammit!” There was no movement. His voice cracked because oh god, what if his brother was dying and – no, no, Ford wouldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t let that happen. “LEY!”

Stan groaned.

Ford collapsed inwards, choking on a sob of relief. “Thank god.”

Stan groaned again as Ford pulled him into his lap, cold and limp but with a pulse thudding under his skin. Alive. Ford ran his shaking hands through Stan’s wet hair to reassure himself that his brother was safe and alive and there in his arms.

“Don’t you ever do that to me ever again. Do you hear me? Never again.” His voice cracked again. “Oh my god. Oh my god Ley. I almost lost you.”

Almost lost his brother. Almost lost the boy with the wonky grin and the childish sense of humour and fierce protectiveness. The teen who doodled in both their textbooks and dreamed of sailing the world and liked to box and cook even though it wasn’t ‘manly’, who borrowed his girlfriend’s kitchen for a day to make Ford cupcakes when their father had deemed them too old for a birthday cake. And Ford had almost lost him.

He whimpered, rocking them back and forth in the sand. What was Stan thinking? He’d almost – he’d almost died because of a stupid mistake. They were both so stupid, they could talk, why hadn’t Ford been willing to talk? He’d been mad and he wasn’t thinking and now-

Stan clumsily reached up to pat Ford’s cheek, breaking him out of his thoughts. Ford shivered and hugged him tighter. Stan blinked, evidently trying to focus on his brother’s face.

“S’okay.” Stan slurred. Of course Stan would be trying to comfort him. Hysterical laughter bubbled out of Ford’s chest. “I’ll be outta yer hair, n’ pa w’ll be happy fer once. T’ll be like yer an only child-”

“I don’t want to be an only child! I need my brother!”

Ford hadn’t meant to shout, and he regretted it when Stan flinched with a whimper. He lowered his voice hurriedly, stroking Stan’s hair with frantic hands, touching his arms, his face, anything to prove that he was real and alive and safe. “No, shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.”

“M’sorry I broke your project.” Stan mumbled into Ford’s sweater. Ford bit down another hysterical laugh.

“I know. I’m sorry too. I know you didn’t mean to break it, of course you didn’t. I was stupid.” Because really, how could Ford have ever thought that Stan would sabotage him on purpose? He was big and hot-tempered and used his fists before he used his brain, but he was Stanley. Stanley who was only ever proud of Ford for his achievements. Of course it had been an accident.

“I’m sorry.” Stan whispered again. “I… I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, Ford.” Ford tried to shush him but Stan was picking up momentum, voice cracking and shaking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’msorryI’msorry-”

“Stan, Stan it’s okay-”

Stan grabbed the front of Ford’s sweater and clung on for dear life, shaking with sobs. Stanley was weeping in a way Ford had never seen before. “I’m so sorry-”

“Shh, it’s okay.” Ford cut him off, pressing a fierce kiss to his brother’s hair. Fuck their father, fuck the science fair, fuck that stupid college. His brother was hurting. Ford hated himself for not seeing it before. Well, he wouldn’t be making that mistake again. “I forgive you. We’re – we’re gonna be okay, Stanley. I promise.”

Stan’s sobs quieted into hiccupping, but he was still shaking. Ford rubbed his arm soothingly – it was icy cold.

Oh, he really was an idiot! Stan had been in the water for longer than him, and out in the open for who-knew how long. The shivers wracked his body.

“We gotta get you warm.” Ford gasped out. “We need to get inside. Do you think you can walk? Home is only a few minutes away and-”

“No!” Stan snapped up to grab Ford’s wrist, eyes huge and wild. “I can’t go back,” he rasped, “Pa’ll kill me.”

Oh, right. The whole ‘being kicked out’ thing. Ford bit down yet another hysterical laugh. Come on Stanford, keep it together!

“Right, right. At least let me take you to your car. And get you some dry clothes. God, Ley, you’re freezing.”

He ran a quick mental calculation. If hypothermia hadn’t set in yet it would soon, and a quick heating risked stopping Stan’s heart altogether, so getting his brother into a hot shower was out of the question. The Stanleymobile was insulated well enough – but they were still soaking. Ford had to sneak inside and get some dry clothes for the both of them, as well as any heat packs lying around. Ma would forgive him for borrowing them. And soup was supposedly good for people who were ill but Ford was hopeless in the kitchen – besides, he couldn’t run the risk of waking Pa up. Maybe the diner nearby would still be open? Should he get it and bring it back to the car, or bring Stanley inside? Either way that would have to wait until Stanley’s body temperature had risen enough to be stable…

Then Ford realized that he’d been saying all this out loud. He shook his head to clear it and tightened his grip on his brother, who was currently flopped against Ford’s wet sweater. Ford couldn’t help but ramble as he stirred Stan into action.

“Come on, get up. We have to move. I’m not gonna carry you, knucklehead, I’m not that strong and you’re not that light. Here, give me your arm – good. Let’s go. One step at a time. Yeah, you’ve got it. Not that much further. Oh, there’s your jacket. You forgot it at home, Lee.”

Stan mumbled something, stumbling even under half of his own weight.

“Of course I came to give it to you. Don’t you remember? Wherever we go, we go together.”

#gravity falls #fic #my fic #the stans #stangst

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thesassenachswiftie · 4 years

Text

Lover - Chapter 8: “Me!”

Read on AO3

Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4 // Chapter 5 // Chapter 6 // Chapter 7

Summary: Jamie and Claire are finally reunited!! We left our lovers under the bleachers, where Claire whispered "take me home." I'm sure you can imagine where this is going. 🔥

Notes:Thanks so much for reading and bearing with me through all the angst!! If you have issues with smut, maybe skip this chapter (the very beginning and very end are safe, but not much in between). 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Follow me on Twitter (sassenachswifty) because I need more friends on there.

Chapter 8: Me!

In spite of the chill in the air, Jamie felt warm for the first time in months. He had been living in winter and Claire was his summer--returned to him after their time apart. Somewhere in the distance, a teenager reluctantly shouted “strike the band up...1,2,3”; from the sound of it, the game had ended and the marching band was playing the crowd out. They had already made their way to the parking lot and arrived there before the throng, Jamie’s arm firmly planted around Claire the whole time. Jamie didn’t ever want to let her go again. He opened his car door for her in the parking lot and winced to let her go for the few moments it took to walk around the car to the driver’s seat. Once inside the car, he planted his right hand firmly on her left. He never let go for the entire ride back to his apartment, caressing her hand gently with his thumb and stealing glances at her at every stop light. He could still hardly believe she had come back to him. He never wanted to see her walk away again. The last time they had been in a car together she wouldn’t let him touch her--would they have even been apart if she had? Having that physical connection made open and honest conversation easier between them. “Claire, are you really here? Are you really mine?”

“Jamie, when you ran after me and called my name, that was it for me. I couldn’t run away again; I couldn’t leave well enough alone even if I wanted to. I don’t know what it is between us. It’s not usual. It’s different.”

“Aye, I ken what you mean, Sassenach.” he briefly pulled the hand he’d been holding to his lips, kissing just under the knuckles.

Claire laughed gently, “one of these things is not like the others” she chanted, smirking.

“Well, there’s a lot of lame guys out there” he chucked back to her. “Babydoll, when it comes to a lover I promise that you’ll never find another like me.” Jamie was beaming, his world felt like a rainbow with all of the colors now that his Claire, his sorcha, his light was back in his life.

“Mmm… I don’t doubt it.” She closed her eyes, picturing just the kind of lover he was, grinning and blushing as she imagined where they would end up this evening. “I don’t doubt it one bit.”

When they arrived in the driveway below his apartment Jamie was again remiss to let go of Claire’s hand to exit the car. Immediately, their arms were around each other again as they made their way up the narrow staircase to Jamie’s above-garage apartment. As soon as they closed the door behind them, Jamie grabbed Claire’s curly mane and brought her lips to his own, kicking off his shoes as he did so and guiding her into the studio apartment towards his bed. Their lips only separated to pull clothing over heads in a whirlwind of passion--a coat on the floor in the entryway, a shirt draped over the kitchen chair, a pair of jeans strewn across the coffee table, Claire’s bra discarded on an end table. Panting, they arrived at the bed where Claire sat and peeled off her skinny jeans and underwear before assisting Jamie in stripping off his boxer briefs. He stood before her beside the bed and she lay back. For a moment, they stared at each other, taking in the sight of each other's naked bodies, comparing them with their memories of a month ago. Jamie was the first to break the silence. “Sassenach, I’m bewitched by you--completely under your spell.”

Claire reached up for his forearm, pulling him down on top of her, “Mmm… Spelling is fun” she cooed, pulling him in for another impassioned kiss. She wrapped her legs around his waist and they began rubbing against each other’s most sensitive areas. Claire had been so deprived of pleasure in the past month, she felt that just this simple action could be enough to take her over the edge. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Jamie felt the same, feeling just how much he wanted her against her.

“Christ Sassenach”, he whispered in her ear, moving to kiss her earlobe, and down her neck. He adjusted his position to keep himself from finishing too soon, allowing her to rub on his strong thigh instead as his lips made their way to her breasts. He kissed and sucked each nipple generously, settling to work on the right one while his left hand caressed the other. He devoured her skin ravenously; this was a meal he hadn’t had in a month and it was more delectable than he remembered. After satisfying both her breasts, her nipples engorged and erect, he continued kissing down to her stomach, her hips, her thighs, her inner thighs. He knew he was teasing her, but every inch of her skin was missed and delicious to him, he wanted to savor every bit of her. Feeling Jamie explore these untouched places caused Claire to involuntarily giggle, the scruff of his chin and delicate caress of his tongue tickling those sensitive spots. “I will never tire of your wee noises, Sassenach”

“I do not make wee-e-e, oo- oo- oo--” Claire’s protestations were interrupted by Jamie’s mouth finally making its way to that bundle of nerves she had been anticipating for what simultaneously felt like moments and eons. Claire panted and hummed as he sucked and licked, knowing just when to change pressure to keep her pleasured yet wanting more. Finally, he brought her to that place where she saw stars behind her eyelids, and cried out his name in pure ecstasy.

“Ya do make wee noises, Sassenach, and baby, that’s the fun of you.” he stated smugly, clearly proud of himself for eliciting such a reaction from her.

“I know I tend to make it about me, but allow me to return the favor, my darling” she elicited, sitting up and moving to her knees on the floor, beside the bed.

“Who would I be to deny the lady’s request?” he mused, taking her position on the bed.

“God Jamie! It’s bigger than I remember!” she exclaimed, taking his cock in her and gently stroking it.

“I know, I’m a handful, baby uh--” he groaned as she took him between her lips, “and a mouthful, apparently.” He attempted to wink at her for the second time that evening, his owl-like expression and smug smile meeting her whiskey eyes staring up at him. Using her hand to grasp and stroke his base in time with her mouth on his shaft, she ran her tongue and lips along him until he was the one letting out unrecognizable noises and sharp inhalations. He tangled his fingers in her curls as if he were holding on for dear life. “Oh God Claire!” he cried out, spilling into her mouth. She swallowed, wiping her lips after releasing him. They were both breathless. He drew her up onto the bed with him and then down to collapse on the bed in his arms.

“Come here, mo nighean donn, let me keep you company.” He brought his lips to hers for the umpteenth time that evening, worming his tongue between her lips. They shared another passionate kiss, this time slow and lingering, savoring the taste of themselves on each other’s lips--something that was new for Claire.

“No one’s ever done that before,” she rasped when they released.

“Done what?” he questioned, his blue eyes peering deep into her whiskey-colored ones.

“Kissed me after… well, after what I just did to you.” Claire, blushed, averting her eyes to his piercing gaze.

“There’s a lot of lame guys out there, Sassenach. I’d kiss ya even if you just ate a tuna sandwich with onions dipped in garlic and topped with stinky cheese, this is nothing.”

Claire exploded with laughter at his comment. “Mmmm… how appetizing,” she sputtered sarcastically between her chuckles. She’d missed how fun he was to be around. He certainly would never bore her. She’d forgotten how wonderful it was to laugh in his arms, in his bed. When was the last time she laughed? Had it really been since that night in Montauk? The night she didn’t think before she jumped in and told him she loved him? The same night she also thought too much and decided to ruin everything? How had he allowed her back into his arms so easily after what she’d done to him. She was lying beside him now--her curls and one of her delicate hands spilling over his firm chest, and he was gently stroking her hair. “Why’d you let me come back to you Jamie? You could have anyone else, you’re the kind of guy the ladies want. Why me? After all I put you through.”

He pulled her chin up so their eyes could meet. “In truth, I don’t always ken myself. I’ll admit I was angry after I found out what ya did to me, but I meant what I said earlier. I forgive you. I can understand why you did it, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it too--even if the circumstances weren’t exactly my idea of honorable. I’m glad you told me though--I felt I hated you for it at first, but it’s better to be honest with each other.”

“I’m so sorry Jamie, I should have never toyed with your honor like that. All I could think of that first night was how much I wanted you, but it shouldn’t have been like that. I should have left Frank right then and there. I’m afraid I was a coward.” she admitted. “I’m afraid you never get just what you see with me, but I want to change that. I don’t want to lie to you anymore. I feel like my heart and my head have been battling since we met and I’ve only been able to show you one or the other. Like I’ve been two completely different people. I want to be able to show you all of me, the only one of me.”

“I’d like that very much, Sassenach” there was a truth in her eyes that he saw and understood. For the first time in their torrid relationship, she was completely vulnerable and exposed to him. Free from the weight of any hidden baggage, the air around them felt light, like they could float together, right off the bed and into the stratosphere. Everything was out in the open and they were free to just be. Claire felt it too, the weight that had been bearing down on her their whole relationship was gone from this meeting. She had aired her dark secrets and he still accepted her in spite of her shortcomings.

Jamie pulled her into a kiss--slow, lingering, passionate. Their tongues danced lazily, in no rush to do anything but enjoy each other’s company. Carefully, Jamie rolled Claire onto her back, positioning himself on top of her. He began to kiss, suckle and roll his tongue across her earlobe, causing her to moan and squeak with pleasure and anticipation. He brought his hand to the space in between her legs, gently stroking the place he knew she wanted him too, caressing the moist folds of her skin, teasing around her entrance with his fingertips. “Jamie” she whispered in his ear, “I want you inside me--please.”

He guided himself inside her in one smooth stroke. Their bodies quickly found a gentle rhythm, synchronizing completely as if they were created to fit together, two halves of the same whole joining. They had started their evening at homecoming, but now they were coming home. Their desire for each other swelled and grew together and the pace of their movements followed. “Don’t stop, Jamie!” Claire cried out, on the edge of her passion.

“I won’t stop, baby.” he panted back to her, nearing his own precipice. Moments later, Claire let out a piercing cry of his name, fingers clawing into his shoulders, her whole body squirming with pleasure. That was more than Jamie needed to bring him toppling over the edge with her, his own pleasure bursting behind his eyes.

He dismounted from her, handing her a box of tissues from the nightstand so they could clean themselves up, and laying on his side next to her, his curly red mop propped up on his large hand, taking in the naked beauty lying beside him. “I’m so glad you’ve come back to me, mo nighean donn.” He gently stroked the skin of her breast.

“I didn’t think you’d miss me after a time, you’re a very attractive man, and there’s a lot of cool chick’s out there. Surely, you could have found someone else.”

“There is only one of you, Sassenach.” he smirked, kissing her curly mane “no one else could compare.”

They continued to lie together in silence. Jamie continued softly caressing Claire’s milky skin, taking in everything inch of her, memorizing her every curve. Eventually Claire broke the silence.

“Jamie?” there was a hint of anxiety in her tone.

“What is it, mo chirde?”

“When are you leaving?” she whimpered.

“Not for another few weeks yet, I’ll help Jenny and Ian with the pumpkin harvest but I have to be back before the end of the month to get my wee tree farm up and running before my own busy season. It seems to be starting earlier each year.” he mused. Jamie ran a Christmas Tree farm on the outskirts of London, something Claire had learned the night they met.

“What happens then? With us?” There was a pleading in her golden eyes as she looked into his.

“Och! A wee ocean isn’t going to stop the way I feel about you.” he insisted, kissing her forehead. “It’ll be different, yes, but I’ll call you every night, and we can visit each other when you have breaks from school, right?”

“That sounds like it could work. I’ll miss this though.” She ran her hand up and down his body, making it clear exactly what she met.

“And I’ll miss this.” He reached around her body, taking a generous handful of her arse. “I swear we’ll make this work, Claire; I never want to be parted from you again.” In truth, he was imagining her joining him in England. Making space for her in his home. Perhaps she would grow a small herb garden behind the kitchen, and they’d laugh together as he washed dishes and she dried in the evenings. Eventually, they’d have a bairn or two running around the place, keeping them on their toes. It was all so beautiful and real in his head, but he knew it was too soon to ask. He knew it would be a huge decision for her and she’d been through so much in the past few months, he didn’t need to throw her a curveball like that. She had only just returned to him, only just been able to open up to him. For now, all he could do was silently vow that someday, he would make that fantasy a reality.

----------

Jamie and Claire continued kissing, caressing, and humming sweet words into each other’s ears well into the small hours of the night. They enjoyed each other’s company more than they ever had before now that the walls between them had crumbled. Eventually, the week caught up with Claire and she fell asleep before Jamie did, using his shoulder as a pillow. Jamie stayed awake, taking her in, stroking her soft curls, and imagining their future together. When he was sure she was asleep, he kissed her cheek softly and whispered in her ear, “I promise that nobody’s gonna love you like me.”

#lover #me!#outlander fanfic #outlander fic #outlander fanfiction #outlander #jamie x claire #jamie fraser #claire beauchamp #smut #so much smut #this is very smutty #inspired by taylor swift

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first-and-last-neocount · 3 years

Text

Whumptober Day 5

Aaaand here we are, second offering in the Escape!AU, though this is... third I think?... if we’re going by internal chronology of what I’ve got so far. I’m not even going to try to track that as we go, though, because of the whole still-adding-more-as-I-go-along thing. I’ll figure that shit out when the AO3 post gets made, lol.

Have some EVEN MORE FEELINGS realization, friends! And also some sad, because y’know, Whumptober.

With the rest of Damien’s family being pagan, I also had this headcanon that his relationship with them was pretty well trashed after he joined the Church, and that the Matriarch of Ganji had kind of... honorarily adopted him, and that they were still super close, and that’s why she backed him so firmly against the Patriarch’s bullshit. Having that headcanon, though, made me wonder - what must she have thought, when she heard about certain developmens?

Day 5 - Theme Chosen: Betrayal

Damien eyed the pile of letters with some trepidation. He had only meant to grab a few belongings from his rented room in Jaggonath before abandoning it permanently – the world needed to believe that he and Gerald had perished at Mount Shaitan, so he couldn't exactly tell the landlord that he wasn't coming back, but he'd wanted to pick up a few of the items he'd brought with him across the Dividers before he and Gerald left the city for good. He hadn't expected a pile of letters to be laying on the front hall rug, having clearly accumulated during the journey to Shaitan and back.

Gerald was currently at Alesha Huyding's house, convincing the woman to let them take the rest of Senzei's journals on the Iezu for their own project. They were supposed to meet at Karril's temple in less than an hour; Damien definitely didn't have time to read these all. He scooped the pile off the floor and started flipping through them quickly, discarding the majority of them at a glance. Most of them were notes from his fellow clergy members at the Jaggonath Cathedral, wondering where he'd disappeared to; there were a few unpaid bills from local merchants, and one heavy linen envelope with a golden seal that he knew must be his official notice of excommunication. The sight of it made his chest ache, but it was nothing compared to the shock that ran through him at the last letter.

The envelope from the very bottom of the stack was also fine quality, though it lacked the ostentatious gold seal, instead being tied shut with a red ribbon. Even at a glance, though, Damien recognized the delicate hand that had traced out the address of the Jaggonath Cathedral – it seemed the letter had gone there first, and been redirected to his temporary apartment when the messenger learned that Damien was no longer employed by the Church.

The letter was from the Matriarch of the Cathedral in Ganji-on-the-Cliffs.

Guilt pooled in his chest like icy water, and Damien cursed softly. Stuffing the two Church envelopes in his jacket pocket, he left the rest of the letters on the kitchen table and went to gather what he'd come for in the first place. There would be time enough later to deal with the two he'd kept; neither of them, he suspected, were going to be an easy read.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He ended up putting off looking at the letters for a few days. Between gathering everything they would need to get them to another city, and tying up any loose ends they'd left behind, he actually managed to more or less forget about the envelopes tucked away in his pocket. Gerald had decided that their best bet was to head back northeast, retracing their steps yet again to get some distance from Jaggonath now that they had what they needed from the city; Damien wasn't any more keen on running into any familiar faces than the adept was, and agreed that it was probably the safest plan. Ensuring that they remained anonymous was enough to keep his mind occupied on the road, and it wasn't until they stopped at a dae three nights later that he remembered.

They'd both had their fill of sleeping on the unforgiving ground as winter crept closer again, and when the dae had come into view, they had agreed with only a glance that they could afford the minor risk of dealing with the residents if it meant getting to sleep in proper beds for a night. Damien negotiated for their rooms while Gerald saw that the horses were stabled comfortably, and they met up in the common room of the dae, at a small table in the corner farthest from the light of the fire. As they sat down, though, Damien made to tuck the room key into his pocket – and his fingers brushed the envelopes still tucked into his jacket.

Either his face had shown his dismay or Gerald had felt it through their link, because the adept turned to look at him immediately, grey eyes narrowed in concern.

“What's wrong?”

“It's nothing urgent, just...” Damien pulled the letters out, feeling dread settle into his gut like a stone. “There were some letters that had been slipped under my apartment door, when I went back to get my things. Most of them weren't important, but I kept these two. I meant to look at them later that day, but – I forgot.”

Gerald's gaze fell on the golden seal of the Cathedral on the top one, and Damien heard his sudden, sharp breath. The former Knight's mouth twisted in a bitter half-smile.

“Yeah, I think we both know what that one is. This one, though...”

He pulled the other envelope out and set it on top, his heart in his throat. Gerald frowned at it, then glanced up at him.

“Who is this one from?”

“The Matriarch. In Ganji,” Damien whispered. “I wrote to her when we were sailing back from the Eastern Continent, telling her everything that had happened. The Master of Lema, what we'd discovered about the rakh, the Undying Prince... you.”

The adept went very still. He was rather like a hunting hawk in that way, a distant part of Damien's mind observed; when they laid eyes on their prey, such birds would freeze, in a manner that could look almost like a prey response itself unless one knew what to look for. In reality, the bird was preparing for the swift, sure, devastating movement of an attack – but the only warning you would get was that unnatural stillness.

��This is her response.” The soft words weren't a question. Damien sighed deeply, rolling his shoulders back in a fruitless attempt to shed some of the tension.

“Yes. And probably more, given that I'm fairly sure the Patriarch wrote to her as well – she likely knows by now that I've been thrown out of the Order, even if she hasn't yet heard about our... tragic demises.” He looked up and forced himself to meet Gerald's gaze steadily, feeling the prickling anticipation through the bond, the chill creeping over his skin. When he spoke, he kept his voice very low, not wanting to speak too loudly even though Gerald had put up a Warding when they sat down that would keep anyone from eavesdropping on them.

“I know you're hungry. Take what you need. This is going to be miserable for me either way.”

Gerald's eyes flashed, but the adept only inclined his head slightly, a silent gratitude. Damien swallowed against the lump that had formed in his throat, then reached with shaking hands to untie the ribbon and unfold the letter.

My dear son,

I hope you will forgive my informality. I know that, as the Holy Mother, I ought to have worded this more properly – but at the moment, I care nothing for propriety, so long as I can reach you.

Your letters have given me enough nightmares for a lifetime. This demon that conspires to corrupt our world, Calesta, is all that the Church most dreads; not a passive evil, but an all too active one, darkening the minds of men and swaying them to its nefarious cause. I was horror-struck to learn of the men and women that willingly served it, and what it plans for our world, but those concerns too have paled in comparison to the chill that fell over me when I read what you had written of our fallen Prophet.

Damien. If ever you felt, as I did, that our bond was that of true family – that you were my son in more than the titles that the Church proscribes, that I cared for you as I would have for a child of my flesh – then I beg of you, in the name of that bond... turn aside. I do not need it written out to know that you hope to save Gerald Tarrant, to redeem him from his dark deeds and guide him back into the light of God. I cannot stress enough how much I fear for you if you pursue such a path. There are some choices that a man cannot make without altering who he is forever, and some roads are too dark to retrace one's steps. You cannot save him. God's greatest gift is forgiveness, but a man such as that will not accept it, for to do so he would have to admit that his deeds require forgiveness – to admit that he has become a monster, and repent of what he has done. A man like Gerald Tarrant can never do that.

If you try to save him, I am certain that he will poison you. Slowly, no doubt, and subtly, for to have survived all that he has the Hunter must be a devious creature indeed – but inexorably, and perhaps, irrevocably. I know you, Damien, and your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness; your incredible determination. It has carried you through so much adversity, and it held you to our faith and cause when your family would have dragged you away... but I fear that it will also keep you from recognizing when you are outmatched, and hold you to your resolve to alter his nature, even as his corruption takes hold. If you are focused only on his redemption, you may not see what is happening until it is too late.

Please come home, Damien. I know it goes against everything we preach, but this once, I reach out to you and speak not as the Holy Mother, but simply as a mother. Come home. Let another fight this war; let the Hunter carry this burden alone, if you truly believe he wishes to make amends. We are all of us sworn to give our lives for the Church, but I beg of you, not like this.

Come home.

With all my love and prayers,

Carla

No title. No Holy Mother. Not her regnal name, Aelia II. Just her given name, as a mother might sign a desperate letter to her son.

Damien didn't know when he'd started to cry, but his eyes burned by the time he reached the end; his cheeks were wet, and his chest ached from staying quiet, even as his whole body shook with silent sobs. He dropped the letter on the table and pressed his hands over his face, past caring if his distress was obvious. No one else in the room was going to notice anything with the Obscuring still in place, and it wasn't as if Gerald needed the visual cues to know that he was upset – with the way he felt, in that moment, the grief and guilt had to be flooding out of him like blood from an arterial wound, staining the fae around him black and crimson.

He'd known, since the night he braved Hell itself to bring the Hunter back, that he was turning his back on everything he'd ever cared for. Not merely his faith, intangible as it was, but also his home, his friends, and his family.

Perhaps his parents and brother would not have disowned him for the choices he had made on this quest – but it was years too late for that to matter, after the way they had fallen out when Damien chose to join the Church. The faith of the One God had forced Damien to distance himself from their aggressively pagan lifestyle, and they had seen his choice as a betrayal, a self-righteous attack on their way of life instead of the deeply personal calling Damien had felt it to be. The only thing that had gotten him through that loss and upheaval had been the support of a woman who, at the time, was just another priestess at the Ganji Cathedral. Mother Carla had been his bedrock of support, his sponsor in the seminary and a gentle voice of reassurance whenever Damien felt himself faltering; by the time Damien was Knighted, she had ascended to the Holy Mother's seat as Matriarch Aelia II, and their bond had been unshakable. It had been Carla who recommended Damien for the experimental program teaching young Workers in Jaggonath, who had seen him off with a warm smile and the assertion that she knew he would do well, and that he would return to Ganji-on-the-Cliffs having shaped a whole generation of new minds.

And Damien had betrayed her.

It wasn't what he meant to do, but what did intent matter when measured against the cold facts of the outcome? He had betrayed the faith they held in common by choosing to forgive the Hunter's centuries of crimes; he had betrayed the Church they both served by thwarting Andrys's attempt at vengeance and helping Gerald elude the Crusade; he had betrayed the personal trust she had placed in him by deserting his duty and turning his back on the very principles that he himself had once preached to the Church's young followers. She had sent him east to further the vision of the Church, and instead he had struck it one of the most staggering blows it had suffered in centuries. She had reached out to him in compassion and love, ready to absolve him of every responsibility if he only turned back... but even if the letter had reached him in time, Damien knew in his heart that it still wouldn't have altered his course.

That, surely, was the bitterest betrayal of all – the knowledge that seared through him and left him shaking and cold and sick. That letter hadn't said anything that he hadn't already, on some level, known; he had held all those arguments with himself a thousand times, those long lonely nights on the road to Mount Shaitan. He had recognized the risk that his own stubbornness was blinding him, recognized that his judgement and morals were compromised, recognized that he was nearing the point of no return. Even with all of that, though, when the moment of choice had come – he hadn't even hesitated. He'd seen the murderous rage in Andrys Tarrant's eyes, known that it was the reckoning for all of Gerald's sins, and he'd still stepped in front of the bolt.

He might not have surfaced from that yawning abyss of despair for a long time, if not for the gentle sensation that ran along the link between himself and Gerald. Unlike the assertive, even imperious force that Damien was used to from the Hunter's power, this was softer, almost inquisitive; a coaxing tug, instead of a firm push. He was still too badly shaken to muster any kind of coherent response within his mind, and a moment later, he felt an equally gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Damien.”

With an effort, the former Knight swallowed back the sounds of pain he wouldn't allow himself to make and lifted his head, blinking through tears at his companion. Gerald had shifted his chair and was sitting close by his side now, one hand raised for that steadying grip on his shoulder, and the look on the adept's face took what little breath Damien had regained away; genuine concern, traces of sorrow and guilt – unmistakable compassion, raw and unpractised and honest. A more human expression than the Hunter's face had worn in centuries, one that no one else would even have believed him capable of.

Damien realized, quite suddenly, that his heart was beating so forcefully that it might have been trying to break free of his ribcage.

He heard himself speak, without consciously deciding to do so.

“I wouldn't change it. Even if I knew, if I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't choose any differently.”

Gerald's grip tightened on his shoulder, and for a moment he just held Damien's gaze, silent. Damien could see the thoughts racing behind his quicksilver eyes, and even with the link, he couldn't read them all – but suddenly he knew, with a certainty so firm that it had to be resonating through the link, that someday he would be able to. They'd been operating on the unspoken understanding that Damien would be helping Gerald fulfill his new goal of establishing proper communication with the Mother of the Iezu, and that their work would keep them together for some time yet, but in that moment Damien knew that it was more than that. He hadn't just chosen betrayal for its own sake, in that moment in the Hunter's Keep; he'd chosen Gerald, and that choice was always going to be there, just like the link that hummed between their souls. They were walking the same path now, and wherever it lead, they would be treading it side by side.

Finally, Gerald spoke, his voice soft but ever so steady; the unwavering voice of a man who had stared Death in the face, and made it bow to him.

“I don't know that I can ever find a way to repay you for that... but I swear, on my life, that I will never make you regret it.”

Damien reached up and took the hand that had gripped his shoulder in his own, lacing their fingers together, the Hunter's once-chill hand now almost warm against his own.

“That's good enough for me.”

#whumptober2021 #no.5 #Betrayal #coldfire trilogy #fic #evil is what you make of it #gerald tarrant #damien vryce #the neocount writes

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