#the fact that authors still dance around this wild | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dallaji · 6 months

Text

Save some room for us.

♡ bada lee x reader / NSFW❗

SUMMARY: This could’ve been a perfect night: it was your first time being invited to a sorority house party and you were promised alcohol, decent music and good company. So naturally, because nothing is ever truly perfect, your ex-situationship had to be a part of said sorority.

WORD COUNT: 7k

CW: ex-fwb, university setting, lengthy smut (like 50% ratio), both bada and reader are switches, relationship is the epitome of "its complicated", bada is a mess but please forgive her, author has never used a dating app before, kinda angsty?? hopeful ending though!!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: this was inspired by this post by @moonsvrse but it honestly spiralled so um, i'm so sorry if it's not what you hoped it'd be (╥﹏╥).

————— ୨୧ —————

It was almost comedic, honestly.

When Minah had invited you to her sorority’s house party with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes, you had said yes without a second thought. It wasn’t your scene at all, but you and Minah shared a Sociolinguistics class that became considerably less boring once you sat down next to each other.

Usually a Saturday night was spent with your two roommates, eating at the cheap fast food joint around the corner of your shared dorm: you were always back in the comfort of your own room before the clock struck 11pm. For the sake of experience you decided, why not. Maybe you’ll finally get a taste of that wild university life.

Now, at 11:05pm, you were crammed into a sorority house with at least 150 other people: the bottom of your sneakers sticky after stepping in an unidentified puddle on the floor, speakers blaring whatever Spotify selected for the RapCaviar playlist that week, and a bottle of lukewarm beer in your hand. It was fine, though. Minah had introduced you to some of her friends who you had hit it off with quite effortlessly. One girl called Lusher couldn’t stop gushing over your outfit, though by this point she had knocked back quite a few drinks.

You were having a good time.

But it became comedic once you headed to the kitchen with the group of girls to grab more drinks and were faced with a ghost from a not-so-distant past.

Bada Lee was leaning over the kitchen counter, smiling sweetly at a girl chattering animatedly in front of her. She looked just as attractive as you remembered her. Perhaps even more so.

Naturally, your first ever house party had to be hosted by a sorority she was seemingly a part of.

Really. It was straight out of a comedy skit.

Bada and you had met on a dating app about a year ago: you saw a picture of a girl standing tall in a dance studio while donned in a sweater, jogger and Jordans, and you had instinctively swiped right. You don’t know what Bada had thought of your low effort selfie - posing inside a coffee shop - but it must’ve impressed her somehow. You were matched by the end of the day.

“fuck marry kill: han so hee, bruce wayne, me” had been her introductory line. And despite your answer (you had, in fact, answered that you would kill Bada), you did end up fucking after spending your first date at a dim sum restaurant.

This was, coincidentally, right after she had confessed she wasn’t interested in anything serious right now. She had still wanted to meet you however. You were, in her words, “too pretty not to take out”.

You didn’t have a lot of time to mull over the initial disappointment, because she was fingers deep in you later that same day; lips attached to your neck and a rogue hand fondling your breast. Regrettably, the sex had been ridiculously good.

Chin up, though! It wouldn’t be the last time.

The second “date” was spent watching a schlocky horror flick in her small dorm, before you ate her out on the couch until she was shaking and panting underneath you; bad movie and takeout pizza long forgotten. What you had initially disregarded as an incredible one-night stand became a biweekly hookup for the 5 months that followed.

The both of you had set rules in place, though these were mostly driven by Bada: this was just sex. She didn’t have the time or the “emotional bandwidth” for anything serious.

The problem was that the lines got blurred pretty quickly. After a month you had begun meeting up without the pretense of sex hanging in the air. You would rent some more schlocky horror movies together and actually watch them, popcorn propped up in your laps. She would wait up for you after class to go grab some coffee, even if her own schedule was mismatched. You had cooked chicken noodle soup in a pinch at her dorm when she was down with the flu. She would slip her arms around your waist from behind and call you her “baby” in the softest voice.

And yet, the rules were simple. There were no strings attached to this arrangement, and you would be reminded in subtle ways. While you knew how she liked her eggs in the morning and that she’d much rather spend her time on watching terrible TLC reality shows than studying for her finals, you had no clue who her friends were or what hometown she grew up in. Sometimes your text messages would go unread for days at a time, but she would still post on Instagram. Bada’s Tinder profile picture would change every now and then, despite her continuously finding her way back into your bed.

But it had been fine. The rules were simple, and it never really drove you to heartbreak levels of sadness. At the very worst you had been annoyed by her flakiness, but you enjoyed her company too much to ever mention it.

That was until you woke up one day to find yourself blocked on Instagram, her account set to private without a clarification or even a final goodbye. You had sent exactly one text asking if everything was alright, but it never went through. Her Tinder profile stopped updating. The message was more than clear, and you were not one to chase someone down. You were much too prideful for that.

A few days after being locked out of her life, your roommate (who had taken it upon herself to keep tabs on your past situationship) showed you a picture of Bada wrapped around a girl who was everything you were not: where she looked soft, you were sharp edges; where she was exuberant, you were placid. And then everything clicked. She had met someone who made her want to go steady, and that person was resoundingly not you.

You met your roommate’s eyes with such a forced indifference, it almost felt defiant: “Good for her.” You had mumbled, unpausing the TLC reality show Bada and you used to watch together.

Thus, exactly as she had bulldozed into your life, she had promptly disappeared. You, too, stopped using Tinder. When your friends asked about your dating life, you would shrug and say you didn’t have the time for it. But truthfully, the pit in your stomach became a permanent fixture whenever the topic arose.

You carried on with your life; there were no “stuffing yourself with chocolate” or “locking yourself in your bedroom sobbing”, but the hurt you felt was akin to pulling back when a candlelight grew bigger under the palm of your hand. You felt slighted and confused, frustrated that she never felt an explanation was warranted. But perhaps this was your problem: putting expectations on a woman like Bada, who had never done the same for you. The rules had been simple, after all.

It had been 7 months since then, and you had genuinely not thought of the girl in a long time. Yet there you stood, frozen in the doorframe as Minah and her friends rushed into the kitchen. The way Bada was looking at the girl in front of her almost reminded you of the way she looked at you on that faithful first date. The girl in question, however, looked nothing like the girlfriend she had introduced to the world months prior.

You were normal about it.

So normal that you had traced your steps back unnoticed and hid around the corner with your back pressed against the wall. A guy you didn’t know gawked at you like you were a safety risk, but you were too busy trying to think of an escape plan to really pay attention.

“Bada! We were looking for you earlier— Wait, Minah, where’d your friend go?” You heard Lusher’s voice question.

“Oh? I swear she was just behind me.”

“Friend?” The familiarity of Bada’s voice made your stomach churn. You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.

“Yeah! Don’t think you know her, she’s in my Sociolinguistics class— Seriously, where’d she run off to?”

“Sociolinguistics, you said?”

You couldn’t listen to it any more: you downed your beer with a grimace, left the bottle on a nearby table and then pushed through the partygoers. The living room was currently packed with people dancing, playing beer pong or lazing on and around the couch. It was busy enough to drown yourself in the crowd and thus slip away from Minah’s searching eyes.

You found a free spot on the carpet in front of the television and sat down unceremoniously, legs crossed as the partygoers around you did not spare you a single glance; way more focused on things you weren’t doing. Like having fun, for example.

You suddenly became much more conscious of how loud the music was. It was absolutely going to leave your ears ringing once you were back in the safety of your own bed.

Fishing your phone out of your pocket, you sent your roommate a tentative text asking if she was still awake and could come pick you up. You would give it half an hour, you told yourself. If she didn’t get back to you beforehand, you were honest to god willing enough to call an Uber.

You kept track of your surroundings, dropping your head whenever you noticed Minah or her friends move around the room. You could’ve sworn they were calling for your name. Luckily no one else in the sorority house knew you, so your cover wasn’t blown.

It took 20 minutes.

You had been scrolling through your Instagram feed when a beer bottle was shoved under your nose. Flinching, as if you were snapped out of a trance, you looked up only to meet the eyes of the one person you had been trying to avoid.

Bada had come to sit next to you on the floor while you weren’t paying attention, and held out the drink with a soft smile. There was a point in time where you were obsessed with that smile, but right now it was ticking you off.

“Hey there.” She sounded painfully nonchalant as if she were greeting an old friend, voice loud enough to be audible over the music. You suppose she was, if you were to have a habit of making out with people you considered old friends.

You felt like a cornered animal; your brain urging you to just get up, walk away and call an Uber, but your body remained frozen in place. You took the beer from her hand with little acknowledgment, breaking your shared eye contact, and took an immediate swig from the bottle.

“Hi.” You muttered bitterly, staring straight ahead.

“Never pegged you as a sorority girl,” She was still looking at you, smile unmoving as she brought her own drink to her lips, “Minah invited you?”

“Yup.” You popped the ‘P’, turning the bottle in your hand to keep your eyes occupied. “Could say the same for you.”

“I moved out of my dorm at the start of the semester. This place is much bigger, so the sorority formalities are only a small sacrifice.” Bada laughed good-naturedly, as her head tilted to the side to get a better look at you, wordlessly encouraging you to meet her halfway.

You kept your eyes on your drink, fighting the urge to ask her what the hell she could even want from you. “Cool.”

“How have you been?”

Was she really going through all the steps of small talk 101?

“Fine, what about you?” You took another swig from the bottle.

“Okay,” Bada replied vaguely, but the amiable smile did not leave her face, “What is it you did again- Political science?”

You tightened the grip on your bottle and scoffed, tongue digging in the hollow of your cheek. She knew damn well that you had a major in Anthropology. The smart thing to do would be to get up and leave, but you liked having a retort ready: something Bada had said she loved about you in the past.

“What is it that you did? Computer science?” You looked up at Bada, who was very much a Dance major.

For the first time Bada’s smile faltered. Perhaps it was something about the look in your eyes or the combativeness in your body language, but it was enough to downturn the corners of her mouth. She put down her drink. “Sorry, I thought—” She began, suddenly unsure of what to say, “I was joking.”

“I don’t know what you think.” You retorted plainly. The words, which were clearly not only meant for the current conversation you were having, hung in the air like a dark cloud. “Look, I didn’t know you were going to be here. So before you get the wrong idea—”

“I’m sorry.” Bada blurted, but her eyes were no longer scanning your face and rather seemed much more preoccupied with the sleeves of her hoodie, slender fingers picking at the fabric.

“You already said that.” You sighed, not letting up. You didn’t like the sudden rigidity in her posture, but it was hard not to feel like your anger was well founded.

“I know you wouldn’t know I would be here. It’s not like I…” She glanced up at the ceiling and gestured vaguely with her hands. “It’s not like you would’ve had a way of finding out.”

You arched an eyebrow, quietly waiting for her to continue.

Bada pressed her lips together in a fine line, worrying the skin between her teeth as she pondered her next words carefully. “I’m sorry for the way I left things.” Finally, she turned to look at you, her eyes intense and pleading. For a second your mouth went dry, vaguely registering how close she was. You wanted to scoot away, but her stare was begging you to hear her out. “A lot was happening— A lot has happened. I was a complete coward, and so immature, I- I’ve regretted it since.”

“You could’ve unblocked me any time.” You spoke slowly.

“I could’ve.” Bada agreed, scanning your face. “Maybe I’m still a coward. But then I saw you just now and…” Her lips parted as she mulled over her next words: “I don’t know. I just needed to talk to you.”

The bottle of beer was becoming lukewarm in your hold. You didn’t like seeing this Bada: guilt and shame written all over her face and shrunken into herself. It seemed completely unnatural to the girl you had come to know for those 5 months, who did everything but make herself smaller. You desperately wanted to tell her everything was okay, but you knew you would regret leaving things unsaid. Even now, when you think back to the moment where you found yourself locked out of all her accounts, you could feel your heart plummeting down your chest so vividly; as if you were experiencing it all over again.

“You didn’t owe me a lot,” You admitted, attempting to hide the quiver in your voice, feeling silly as soon as the words had left you, “but you could’ve said something. Anything.”

“Yes.” Her voice was almost a whisper, eyes downcast. “I want to tell you everything that was going through my mind at the time but, maybe not now.”

“Maybe not now.” You concurred. Not because you weren’t near desperate to know, but rather the timing didn’t feel right. You almost felt like she had to fight for the right to tell you what had happened. She should have to fight for your listening ear.

“You have actually been doing good?” Your eyes met again, and something about the way she spoke sounded hopeful; prodding.

“I’ve been good.” You replied, unsure of how to navigate the conversation any further.

You had half expected her to get up and leave with that, perhaps deem this closure enough to go on with her night, but she stayed put. Bada took another sip of her beer, the way her shoulders sagged an indication of how uneasy she felt. Yet she stayed put. You took this moment to take her in with a more discerning eye: her hair loose and dyed in streaks as opposed to the blonde head of hair you had met her with. She was in an oversized t-shirt and baggy pants, bright tech sneakers carrying over the colors of her outfit. Just as she had been in the past, she was your polar opposite. You were all sleek lines, minimalism and soft colors, your belted loose-fitting dress pants not fitting the energy of the party whatsoever.

Then, you noticed something colorful on her forearm.

“Is that a breakup tattoo?” You blurted dryly, eyes glued to the intricate wave drawn on her skin.

Bada chuckled, holding out her arm with a smile. “Something like that.”

“Never pegged you as the type.” You parroted the drawl of the same words she had used earlier, and Bada shook her head with a disbelieving grin. “When’d you get it?”

Her grin wavered, slowly morphing into something more calculating as she tilted her head to lock eyes with you once more: “About 7 months ago, give or take.”

————— ୨୧ —————

You barely noticed the doorknob pressing into your lower back as Bada held you down by your hips, your lips locked in a hungry kiss as the muffled sounds of the party downstairs thumped underneath you. Your fingers carded through her hair as she pushed her tongue past with a deep, shaky inhale through her nostrils. One of her hands came up to cradle the side of your face, deepening the kiss with the urgency of a starved person zeroing in on their last meal: if they wavered, it may be frisked away from under their nose.

The kiss was all spit and heavy breathing, mouths gliding together fluidly as if you had choreographed this in the past. Bada hummed approvingly into your mouth as your hands found the hem of her shirt and pulled upwards, eager to feel her bare skin again. She broke the kiss with a wet noise, albeit apprehensively, and let you tug the fabric off, leaving her in a mere sports bra. Your hands smoothed along her waist, reacquainting yourself as she licked into your mouth again without hesitation, now both hands cradling your face as if she was marveling at a treasure.

A particularly eager suck on your tongue made you moan against her lips, and Bada parted the kiss with a smug grin, half-lidded eyes scanning your features in amazement. “Your turn.” She whispered, gaze back on your saliva-slicked lips.

Before she could kiss you again, you crossed your arms over your stomach and pulled your sweater over your head, revealing a non-padded lace bra; the sheer fabric leaving little to the imagination. Something about the look in Bada’s eyes deepened as you both kicked your shoes off in a hurry, and she made immediate work of your belt: tugging at it roughly, your hips pulled forward by the force she exerted, before unhooking the clasp and throwing the garment on the pile of clothes left in your shared wake.

She planted one hand next to your head, against the wooden door, as the other one clutched onto your waist with a burning touch, effectively keeping you in place. Her parted lips attached themselves to the crook of your neck and she let her tongue swirl against the patch of skin, drawing a quivery exhale from you. Baring your neck further, you allowed her to mark you up without a second thought, and she seemed to take that job very seriously.

“You haven’t changed.” Bada noted against your skin, her breath skirting along your earlobe. Something about the tone of her voice sounded delighted at the fact, and you felt your lower stomach warm up impossibly more.

She kissed her way to your collarbones, your skin shivering at the sensation and letting your hands find purchase atop her shoulders. You let your head fall back against the door with a quiet ‘thud’, back arching when she sucked another hickey right above your cleavage. Then, her hands came up to your chest, squeezing your breasts together and watching the way your cleavage deepened. She bent over and licked up a stripe along the slit, tongue digging into the crease. You pushed your chest out instinctively, sucking in your lower lip.

Bada locked eyes with you as she brought her lips to one of your breasts, letting her tongue lap across the lace fabric covering your nipples. Your hand came up to tuck her hair behind her ear, your movements delicate as she licked at your other nipple, forcing them to stiffen under the heat of her tongue. Her soft hums reverberated against your skin, her thumbs digging right below the hem of your bra and skirting along your underbreasts.

Impatiently you brought your hand up to your back and unclasped your bra. Bada moved away, watching the fabric drop to the floor with a bemused expression, but her hands immediately pressed over your breasts in a possessive manner, kneading the flesh before locking your lips once again. Teeth clashed together, the desperation in both your ministrations making the kiss so uncoordinated you were both left panting. She nudged her hips against yours, writhing against you as your name left her lips.

Your fingers meaningfully hooked underneath the straps of her sports bra. “Your turn.” You mimicked her request from earlier, and she obeyed with a pompous grin.

But as usual, she had to one up you with a burning defiance in her eyes: she hooked her thumbs into her pants and tugged them off, underwear following suit. Eager hands grabbed onto your hips again as she rotated your positions; your back facing the bed.

“Try to keep up.” She whispered hotly against your mouth, the two of you immediately turning into a mess of limbs and unfocused kisses as she steadily walked you towards her bed.

The back of your knees hit the edge of her mattress, and you toppled backwards, barely able to register your new position before nimble fingers began unbuttoning your dress pants. Resting on your forearms, you raised your hips to give her easy access and soon enough she pulled off your final garments with haste; leaving the both of you completely bare.

You scooted backwards as Bada climbed on top of you, your arms instinctively wrapping around her waist as she leaned down to kiss your lips, her ass resting in your lap. You had no time to feel skittish about the state you were in, much too familiar with the scenario as Bada’s well acquainted touch found its way to your breasts again, rolling your nipples between her fingers. You missed this, but you would never admit that to her.

Suddenly, she parted the kiss to instead look down at you contemplatively. You tilted your head, a snarky response on the tip of your tongue before the palm of her hand pressed down right above your chest, halting your actions. Her eyes scanned along your figure ravenously, and you, too, took her in: she was somehow both lean and soft, her hair falling over her shoulders like a curtain, strong thighs keeping your hips in place. She was beautiful.

“Do you trust me?” She asked, forefinger tilting your chin upwards.

“No.” You replied honestly, not breaking eye contact.

She grinned wider, finding tremendous joy in your words before she climbed off of you. Leaning over her bed, she began rummaging through her bedside table drawer as you sat up, watching her curiously. You heard a clanging noise when she pulled something silvery out, hiding it behind her back before you could properly register what it was.

“Turn around for me.” She requested, and because you were all bark and no bite, you obeyed.

As soon as your back was facing her, you felt her gentle touch grab a hold of both your wrists, crossing them against your lower back. You felt the cold press of something sharp close around them and lock into place, and heat pooled in your lower stomach, immediately recognizing what she was doing.

You looked down at the handcuffs wrapped around your wrists over your shoulder before meeting Bada’s smug grin and blown pupils: as if her wildest dreams had just come true. She looked like she was ready to devour you.

“How many girls wore this before me?” You asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” She responded blithely, letting your fingers tangle together affectionately as she pressed a sweet kiss on your bare shoulder.

“Maybe I would.”

“Why does it matter if none of them look even half as good as you do?” She gave the cuffs a playful tug, nuzzling the back of your neck fondly before moving to lie down flat on her back; a hand pressed on your shoulder signaling you to stay put.

“And how many girls have you told the same thing?” You wondered loudly, unable to hide your own smile when Bada laughed at your words.

“Seems I have a lot to make up to you.” Her hands grabbed onto your hips and she began pulling you backwards. “Get on top of me, baby.”

Once again you obeyed because, well, she did have a lot to make up to you. And the way she called you 'baby' had you dripping.

Through her guiding motions, you scooted back on your knees until they were pressing down on either side of her head; Bada’s hands immediately came up to smooth along your curves until she cupped your ass, watching the jiggle as if she was hypnotized. Her eager touch almost made you purr, and you instinctively straightened your back to move all your weight to your legs, opening up for her as your arms were inebriated by the tight hold of Bada’s handcuffs.

“Good girl.” She crooned. And then, her hand came down to slap your ass.

You let out a surprised gasp but didn’t move. Bada hummed from beneath you, appreciating your responsiveness and letting her nails scrape along the back of your thighs, feeling you shiver under her touch.

“Unfair that you’re still so pretty from this angle.” Bada mumbled, mostly to herself. She placed her palms on your asscheecks and parted them, and you bent forward ever-so-slightly out of instinct, sinking deeper into the mattress.

Bada cooed and before you realized it, her hand was on you. Her slender fingers dragged along your glossy folds and coated your heat with your own wetness. You sucked in your lower lip, effectively muffling a surprised moan, but leaned into her touch all the same. Then, she blew cold air against you, gloating over the shiver that ran down your spine.

“So pretty.” She reaffirmed, bringing her fingers to her lips and licking them clean, her other hand spreading your folds.

You almost expected her to ask you to start begging: she had always relished in breaking down your rebellious defenses until you would desperately beg her for more. This time, however, she seemed just as keen as you - if not more - to get her hands on you. Saliva-covered fingers pressed back against your folds and she began drawing circles across them with a maddeningly soft pressure. A shaky exhale left you, hands curling into fists at your lower back as you slowly began grinding your hips against her touch, hoping to find more friction.

“That’s it.” She muttered, adding more pressure to her ministrations and beckoning you closer and closer, her other hand squeezing your ass.

With a particularly deep rub, you moaned her name and sank lower, the strain of holding yourself up while she was driving you mad almost unbearable. Bada groaned underneath your weight, basking in the way your hips gyrated with your heat so close to her face and she rewarded you by caressing her thumb along your entrance; circling it with more force as soon as she heard you keen. You felt heat course up your spine, immediately chasing her thumb through the grinding motions of your hips.

Bada, who had already found your most sensitive spot, giggled; prodding at your entrance with a forced carefulness she damn well knew you didn’t need. With a high-pitched whine, as the circling of her fingers against your clit sped up, you arched your back, wrists tugging at your handcuffs in frustration as she continued teasing you.

Finally, her thumb pressed into you, the circling of her wrist against you not pausing and you moaned, pushing your hips out impossibly further until Bada had to give your ass another forceful squeeze, urging you to stay put. She fingered you with delight and you felt yourself drip under her care, but what really made you twitch dangerously was the feel of her parted lips moving along your hip. She dug her teeth into your skin and slapped your ass once more, your body flinching inadvertently causing you to sink down on her finger with more force.

You knew you looked like a desperate mess, mindlessly chasing down whatever she was willing to give to you, but it didn’t stop you from whining out her name, your lower stomach clenching.

“You better not be close already, baby.” You were surprised by how out of breath and wrecked she sounded while you hadn’t even gotten to properly touch her yet. You once again tugged at the handcuffs and you heard her tut. “So impatient.”

She removed her thumb and you almost cussed at her, but were quickly shut up when both hands moved to your hips in a vice grip, pulling you directly onto her open mouth. A moan got stuck in your throat and you almost faltered, nearly falling forward but forcing your legs to keep you upright.

Bada began swirling her tongue along your folds as if she was parched, hands keeping your cheeks spread as she groaned hungrily against you. Bobbing her head up and down, she lapped at you, tongue digging into your folds before giving your clit a sharp suck; over and over again.

“Bada…” You moaned, head dropping and only having half a mind to wonder if anyone downstairs could hear you. You realized you kind of didn’t care when Bada was making the kind of noises underneath as if you were doing her a favor.

You had stopped moving your hips, too stunned from pleasure to even consider it, until Bada began forcing you to do so; tight grip on your hips as she lightly bounced you up and down against her mouth. You began rocking back, cursing softly when Bada slurped under you, drinking at the wetness she continuously drew out of you.

You then noticed Bada had spread her legs with a hum, her own hips gyrating against nothing as she ate you out. She was getting off to this, and you felt yourself go all the more insane with want. She was so wet and you wanted to touch her so badly, but your shoulders started to strain through the position you were locked into.

“Bada,” You started, but another eager suck made you cut yourself off with a moan. “Let me—”

She caught her breath against you, chest heaving, still insufferable enough to find the energy to say: “Be my guest.”

She dug right back in, this time her tongue prodding against your entrance, purposefully leaving you a despairing mess in your handcuffs.

You didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of begging for a release from your confines so you dropped forward, face down and ass up, forcing Bada to sit up a little higher to keep her lips pressed against you. You heard her curse.

You didn’t waste any time teasing her, instead immediately closing your lips around her glistening folds. There was no need to toy with her, because her thighs twitched as soon as your lips met her heat, and you felt her moans vibrate against you. You sucked harshly on a bundle of nerves before collecting spit in your mouth and coating her with it, slurping around her breathlessly. Her thighs spread apart even further and you felt her lips falter against you, overcome with pleasure as she began grinding her hips up into your mouth.

Soon you realized she was much closer than you had anticipated because she began sucking on your clit even harder, in complete and utter desperation, before digging her tongue into your entrance, nails pressing crescent marks into your asscheeks. You ground back against her mouth as you tried to keep a steady pressure on her, licking her with fast but deep strokes. You felt a familiar pressure tighten in your stomach and became involuntarily more erratic, muttering soft ‘uh-huh’’s to encourage her to keep going at the exact pace she was using on you.

Bada whined against you, the muscles in her upper thighs tightening next to your head. “So close—” She gasped, and you closed your lips around her clit and began sucking. Simultaneously, she dug her tongue impossibly deeper into your entrance.

That’s what did you in: a moan got stuck in your throat as you felt your full body quiver at the orgasm that rippled through you. Bada let out a guttural moan underneath you, her thighs clenching around your head and toes curling as she shook incessantly. Rocking your hips back against her in a daze, she continued to suck on you through your orgasm as you lapped at her clit, soon enough the both of you shivering against each other from oversensitivity.

Panting, you dropped yourself next to her, your legs and shoulders straining from exertion. You were about to ask her to get the handcuffs off of you, until she crawled on top of you.

She was completely flushed, bangs sticking to her forehead, nipples perked and chest heaving as she pinned you down against her pillows, your wrists still pressed into your lower back.

“Not done.” Bada managed to gasp out as she swept down for a needy kiss, your tongues meeting messily through parted lips. You did not know where she was gathering the energy from, but her hands were back on your hips to slide you further down the bed.

She threw her right leg over yours and you immediately realized what she was trying to do. “Can you still cum like this?” She wondered coyly, angling her hips against yours before pulling your own leg up, hooking your heel over her shoulder.

Her hold on you was burning, almost having the potential to leave bruises behind, and you didn’t even know how you felt yourself getting wet all over again. The handcuffs were digging painfully into your lower back but you didn’t care, your lips parted in anticipation as Bada stared you down with such a deep longing it made your stomach coil. She twisted her head and pressed a kiss to your ankle, never breaking eye contact with you, before grinding her hips against you in a tentative manner; her folds gliding flush against yours.

You bit down on your lower lip as you felt her wetness grind against you, a quiet whimper slipping past and the smile on Bada’s face widened, eyes turning into crescent moons despite her own excitement.

Yeah, you could still cum like this, and she knew it.

She began working up a pace against you, first slow and deep, and then letting it build up to something faster. The way your mounds met each other had your eyes rolling back, soft moans falling from your lips as your hips ground against each other. Never once did her eyes leave you and you almost felt drunk off her attention, eyes falling shut as she hummed in pleasure.

The bed shook, headrest slamming against the wall over and over again with the quickening of her pace. Bada brought a hand to your breast, kneading it into her palm as she spoke lowly, her own eyes half-lidded in exhilaration: “Can anyone else fuck you this good?”

Your lips parted in a gasp, your desire so intense you didn’t even know what you wanted to say. You wanted to say something snarky, but the urge to burst into tears and tell her ‘only you can’ closed around your throat like an invisible hand. Bada’s head fell back as both of your hips moved impossible faster; her tongue dragging messily along your ankle in a complete daze as you panted her name.

“Answer me.” She gasped, the hand that was previously preoccupied with your breast coming up to grab a tight hold of your chin. And as if to prove her point, she began fucking you. Hard and deep, your body shaking with every thrust.

Your brain was short-circuiting and you shook your head, eyes shut tight. “N- no…”

Then, her hand moved to your throat squeezing lightly, but possessively. “Say it.”

Feeling her hips falter, you panicked and cried underneath her: “No one can fuck me this good!”

Bada hummed approvingly, picking up the pace again and sliding her hand to the back of your neck. “That’s my baby.” She leaned down, your leg still hooked over her shoulder and stretching along with her movements, yet the pace at which she fucked into you never wavered. “Stick your tongue out.”.

Disoriented, you arched your neck and obeyed, her own tongue gliding against yours in such a filthy manner you became lightheaded. Then, she closed her lips around the wet muscle with a moan, before meeting your mouth in a full kiss that was more exchanging saliva than anything else.

She parted and moved back, her hips pausing momentarily as she looked to where your vaginas met. Before you could object at her lack of movement, she lowered her head and slowly let her spit dribble from her lips and fall onto your folds. Immediately, she picked up the pace again, watching the way the added lubrication made the two of you slide together even easier. You couldn’t keep your eyes off of her.

Bada met your gaze with a wolfish grin and immediately switched gears to an unforgiving pace, the sound of wetness and skin slapping together filling the room as you couldn’t even register the music that was still playing downstairs. You felt the pressure in your upper thighs build up again at a dizzyingly fast pace, and cursed under your breath.

“Please…” You gasped as you threw your head back, unsure what you were begging for but writhing your hips against hers so frantically the message should be anything but unclear.

“Am I gonna make you come again, baby?” Bada panted, slamming herself harder against you.

You nodded, feverishly: “I’m gonna- I need—” But the words died on your lips as your lower stomach folded dangerously. You needed to come. You needed Bada to make you come.

A palm flattened between your breasts as Bada leaned down on you impossibly harder, keeping you in place as her thrusts took your breath away. Without your body giving you another warning, you orgasmed a second time with Bada’s name in your mouth, legs spasming in her hold as she forcibly held you down; taking in every second of the ecstasy that overtook you with such a warmth in her gaze you almost felt yourself overcome with the urge to burst into tears again.

“So beautiful…” She whispered. “That’s it.” Her hands caressed up and down your thighs, whispering praises into the air to will the heaving of your chest away, feeling your heartbeat under the palm of her hand.

Finally, Bada dropped herself onto the bed next to you entirely out of breath with a self-satisfied grin, officially having spent the last bit of energy that was left in her. You watched her catch her breath with a fond gaze, wanting to reach out and hold her but being held back by the jingle of the handcuffs.

Bada snapped out of her stupor, almost appearing flustered for leaving you in such a state, and helped you sit up with a soft encouragement, promptly freeing you from your handcuffs. You felt a sharp strain in your shoulders as you shook them loose, a little dumbfounded when you noticed the red marks around your wrists.

Bada had noticed it as well and gently grabbed a hold of your hands, thumbs caressing along the bruises with a touch so careful it seemed she thought you would shatter. Slowly, she brought your wrists higher and began pressing delicate kisses against them.

“Sorry…” She said, sheepishly, but you couldn’t find it within yourself to scold her. Instead, you looked back at her with a dazed expression, heart constricting in your chest. You hadn’t seen this level of gentleness from her before.

Leaning over her bed, Bada grabbed an unopened bottle of water and uncapped it before handing it to you. You accepted it wordlessly, her actions making you aware of how parched your mouth felt.

Taking big gulps, you hoped to ease away the tension building up in your chest. Perhaps it was due to your post-orgasm state, but you felt anxiety spike up your heart rate as your head flooded with all kinds of thoughts. Was this a one-off? Was she going to ghost you again? Momentarily you felt like an idiot for even landing yourself in such a position, but before you could climb out of bed Bada flipped her blanket open.

“Tired?” She asked, picking up on how quiet you had become but assuming it was due to exhaustion.

You nodded timidly and crawled under the blanket with her, Bada slotting herself against you like a missing puzzle piece. Her fingers found the bruise at your lower back, where the handcuffs had been scraping against, and drew soothing circles against the skin. She mumbled something about having ointment for bruises, but the both of you were too slumped to get out of bed.

You nestled back against her despite the way your head yelled at you to take your leave, much too enthralled with the way her arm curled around your waist protectively. Bada giggled when she felt you snuggle closer and pressed a soft kiss to your neck, inhaling your scent with a hum.

The music downstairs had stopped and the house seemed quiet, the last guests likely having left ages ago, so all you could focus on was Bada’s soft breathing which slowed down by the minute. Your own eyelids began to feel droopy, too, and right before the both of you fell asleep, you felt her hold on you tighten.

————— ୨୧ —————

Your eyes snapped open, heart hammering in your chest as you became aware of your surroundings. Bada’s arms were still around you, loosely, as she slept soundly next to you. It was still dark outside but you saw the early beginnings of sunrise setting in the distant sky, signaling it was the very early morning. As your hands came up to rub your eyes, you became aware of the ache in your wrists and mentally cursed yourself.

This was easily the most irresponsible thing you’ve ever done: letting yourself be lured right back into Bada’s bed after she had passed you off like you meant nothing. You couldn’t believe how naive you had been; how enchanted you were by her every time. Staying here was setting yourself up for heartbreak, when she would inevitably ask you why you were still at the sorority.

You needed to leave.

Images of the night you had spent together flashed in front of your eyes, and you felt your lower stomach heat up.

You needed a lobotomy.

Slowly you grabbed a hold of Bada’s arm curled around your waist, the girl still sleeping serenely and entirely unaware of your panicked state, and moved it off of you. You paid close attention to her breathing, which remained even, and then deemed it safe enough to crawl out of bed. Your legs were wobbly once you stood, the strain caused by the position you had underneath her from the night before hitting you like a truck. You winced, groggily looking around as your eyes got used to the darkness and trying to navigate where your clothes had gone.

Before you could move to the other corner of the room, you felt a hand curl around your forearm. You gasped in surprise, whipping your head around to find Bada peering up at you through sleepy eyes. Your chest constricted painfully.

“Where ‘r you going?” She slurred, waking up slowly as the grip on your arm tightened.

“I…” You began, but the words got stuck in your throat once you saw the realization fall over her face. She frowned.

“Please don’t go,” Bada pleaded, voice much clearer this time though still hoarse with sleep, “Stay the night.”

“Bada, I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”

“Please,” She repeated, and she sounded so heartbroken you could die. “Let’s start over.”

You gazed back at her in wonder, trying to search her face for more clarity but all you found was too much. The look in her eyes was so vulnerable, so desperate.

She gave your arm a tug and whispered: “We can start over. Please get back in bed.”

You carefully moved your arm out of her grip, but she let go easily: not because she wanted to, but because she understood it wasn’t fair to hold you hostage. She wasn’t crying, but the way she looked up at you made you wish she was.

“I just- I’m going to use the bathroom.” You mumbled and immediately willed yourself to look away. You couldn’t take it anymore.

Your throat closed up painfully as you walked to the other side of the room and bent over to pick up your clothes. As you pulled your underwear on, you felt Bada’s prodding eyes in your back. With the rest of your clothes in your arms, you walked over to the door without sparing her a single glance, unlocked it and stepped out into the hallway. You clenched your jaw to hold back the tears from falling. The room remained quiet.

You found the bathroom right across Bada’s bedroom, and sat down on the shut toilet seat with your hands in your hair. You knew that you weren’t being totally unreasonable— so why did you feel like the worst, most cruel person in the world?

With a deep, shaky sigh you pulled your phone out of the pocket of your dress pants: it was 5:30am on the dot. Your roommate hadn’t responded to your text message yet, indicating that she had been fast asleep the entire time.

As you searched for an Uber in the area willing to drive this early, your phone dinged with a familiar notification.

Tinder.

You forgot you still had that installed.

You tapped the notification bubble and a familiar chat room opened up; one of Bada’s mirror selfies staring back at you at the top of the screen.

Today 5:36am fuck marry kill: kim tae ri, dick grayson, me

A breathless laugh escaped you.

Suddenly, you were filled with a clarity, thinking of the wave tattooed on her forearm.

You were willing to take the plunge.

Slowly, you stood up, leaving your clothes behind on the bathroom floor and headed back into Bada’s room. She was wide awake, face lit up by her phone screen as she looked up at you in apparent shock and gratitude.

You crawled back in bed, Bada’s arms curling back around your waist.

#bada lee x reader #swf2 #bada lee #street woman fighter 2 #bada lee smut #dalla!writes #i guess bada reads dc comics now idk

780 notes · View notes

yazthebookish · 3 months

Text

Hello my loves❤️!!

I've said that I do not intend to discuss anything HOFAS-related since I haven't read the book and I only know a few details I specifically asked.

But I read the beautiful, beautiful Bryce, Nesta, and Azriel Walmart chapter and I need to just gush about something. It's not the whole chapter but just small parts of it mostly relating to Azriel.

Disclaimer: I have no interest in engaging in ship discourse (annoy me and it's an immediate block) nor do I want someone to change my opinion because it will not be changed. I stick by what I read and interpret in these books and am quite happy and content with it 😉

⚠️ Bryce, Nesta, and Azriel Bonus Chapter Spoilers Ahead! ⚠️

And with each mile onward, she could hear Azriel humming softly to himself. The rolling, wild melody of "Stone Mother" flowed off his lips, and she could have sworn even the shadows danced at the sound.

Do you realize that the entire time Bryce was playing the songs on her phone, she made no comments on Azriel's shadows but towards the end when her phone's battery died and Azriel started humming to himself, then she made a note of the shadows dancing at his sound.

They did not dance to her songs, they dance to Azriel's humming and I find that so endearing!!

It proves my point again at the instances we get descriptions of Azriel's shadows singing are with positive connotations. Their dancing is not written to be nefarious or odd.

Pray tell, in the entire series when Az's shadows are described to be dancing, which scenarios triggered those actions? Mostly when it comes to Gwyn because if you search in every book you won't find a description of them dancing around someone except Gwyn. This is a point I've been making since ACOSF came out and I'll highlight them below:

• These excerpts are from Azriel's bonus chapter

"How was the party?" Her breath curled in front of her mouth, and one of his shadows darted out to dance with it before twirling back to him. Like it heard some silent music.

Gwyn wasn't singing here, they were reacting to some silent music... which we can suspect as much is the mating bond? A bond Sarah described in ACOSF as music between souls?

Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.

His shadows sang in answer. We don't know for sure if Gwyn was singing or it was something else but I'll bet on the latter since she was training and one of his shadows earlier darted out to dance with her breath as if it heard some silent music. It still reaffirms to me that it can hear the music between souls, the mating bond.

• This is from ACOSF (pg. 623) and keep in mind this is post-Solstice/Azriel's bonus chapter

Azriel clapped his hands, and all the females straightened. "You'll work in groups of three."

Gwyn asked Az, her teal eyes bright,

"What do we get if we finish the course?"

Az's shadows danced around him. "Since there's no chance in hell any of you will finish the course, we didn't bother to get a prize."

One of the things I absolutely love when it comes to SJM's romances is she creates a common ground for the couple and gives them some things to bond and connect to.

In this instance, it's not only about Azriel's shadows but the fact that he also is fond of music. He doesn't express his fondness through dancing like Nesta, he hums to the tune. He sings.

Who else adores music and sings? Gwyn.

Who made Azriel admit that he sings? Gwyn.

These are not a coincidental connections.

And the author is a big fan of music so I think it's such a beautiful connection to create between two characters that have had such a dark and tragic past and are still processing the trauma they experienced.

The chapter did not give us much in terms of ships or who is Azriel into, but it did elaborate more on Azriel's fondness for music. It did elaborate on the genuine reactions of his shadows which were sometimes always framed in a negative way.

It also kind of proved my cute headcanon about whenever Azriel sings, his shadows dance around him.

I honestly can't wait for his book!! But first we have to tackle HOFAS so look forward to my reading updates in a few days!

#hofas #hofas spoilers #gwynriel #yaz reads hofas #yaz the bookish breaks her silence #okay yaz didn't read hofas I just want to keep it in that tag for future reference Lol

350 notes · View notes

jazjelspen · 10 months

Text

leaving on wild charted waters [pt.5]

(what if our mc just got tired of Night Raven College and it's inhabitants?)

(what if our mc participates in RSA's annual ball!)

("filler" chapter/splashes of angst but it gets real more into the chapter/fluff/mc having fun/fleshing out RSA students/ basically the same author's note in pt 4 applies here/not proofread/oh and mc has like a few NRC scares here T-T)

(requested tags!: @vivianstar-blog2 @phantomcookiedough)

if you want to be tagged in future chapters please comment or message me! I will only tag you if you directly ask for it and i will only tag you once unless you ask to be tagged on all future chapters of a particular series. thank you to all those who asked for a part 5!)

the ball: part 2

(prepping)

three full weeks have passed since you first seeked refuge in RSA and now it's now a brand new day in the fourth week of your stay. it was the day of the highly anticipated ball!

it was the school's annual ball with students from all dorms joining together for a night of magic and music. many found this boring while others were excited for it. you were one of many that were excited for such an event!

you and your five best friends including a distant friend named Elias Ashes all came to visit the so called 'fairy godfather' of the school, Evan Bleu, a fourth year of RSA working towards his official fairy godparent license but for now is practicing by making wishes come true around the school here and there when the time is right. in this present moment every one of you were standing in certain parts of his dorm room while he stood there overlooking every one with a smile.

"seems like you all seven seem to be in need of my services! would I be standing correct if I said that you all are here for the ball?" all of you simultaneously nodded before Evan spoke up once again while clapping a bit in excitement "amazing! this'll be fun! now, would you all be kind to tell or show some elements of what each of you would like to wear tonight?" asked the platinum haired boy while scrunching up his sleeves to his elbows with a slim white wand in hand.

Alex first hummed while thinking before shrugging "not sure, something nice, fancy, comfortable. elements?... you put whatever you think fits me most." he gave Evan a small smile "giving you all the creative liberty as long as I look good, blue."

Evan chuckled as he nodded "I understand Alex, now who's next?"

immediately right after he finished speaking chirped in the light caramel haired boy, Elias, who raised his hand up as he spoke up second "oh! oh! me... please! I'd like something similar to what you usually give me!.. but with a different type of shoe fit for the occasion please. since last time I lost my left shoe in the middle of the dance..."

"oooh I'm so sorry... yes I'll keep that in mind!" exclaimed the white haired boy in blue.

you then raised your hand third, still unsure of what exactly you liked as long as it was comfortable for the night. "uhm, I'd like to go next!--" you spoke up while Evan gave his full eyes and ears to you "perhaps something comfortable yet fun looking?.. I'd still like to look good without feeling heavy or too tired at the end of the night!" you smiled as you spoke as well as mentioning several other elements to your outfit that you'd like to wear and have on you for the occasion.

Evan nodded and kept a mental note of what you wanted "a unique yet well established mix! I just know for a fact your outfit will be amazing!"

Neige then was next to speak, but anything he said became slowly muted in your ears since you felt two small set of eyes looking at you. you slowly turned your head towards the open window of the room to come face to face with a little bat. a bat that seemed very familiar but you couldn't exactly put your finger on it on where you remember it from. what made it even weirder was that it's beady little eyes were looking right at you when you slowly started to realize that you have never seen a bat on campus before. 'how weird..' you thought 'perhaps it's a pet, or it's from the courtyard..' you felt like you had it on the tip of your tongue but you really weren't sure. it did out nerve you though because the only other place you've seen bats around was in NRC, specifically Diasomnia.

but if the only place bats could come from is Diasomnia then... could it?..

no it couldn't be, no way-- they wouldn't be that crazy in sending a small mammal to find you and watch you right?-- right??

if so, poor bat.

but also if so, you knew you'd be overly annoyed and irritated beyond belief. why couldn't they just leave you alone?? wasn't it clear enough with you leaving that you didn't want to be around them anymore!?...

even if you did miss them all to death.

yet despite this you reminded yourself that you left for a reason. you left because no one helped you enough and most of the time you fended for yourself and Grim when no one looked your way when you asked for help. they insulted you belittled you and made you feel worthless. threw you in overblot after overblot to play therapist to all those affected with issues that weren't any of your business to begin with yet were dragged in anyway. you were forced to live in a haunted dorm with the floors creaking and ceilings at times caving in on their own-- sometimes the ghosts were helpful and kind at times but your bad first impression of the beginning of your experience tainted the rest of it.

then.. what even was there to miss?

'no, I can't go back. I came here for a way home and a place to stay where I won't have to risk my life every week or month. I can't do this to myself anymore.' you reminded yourself.

you let out a deep sigh before you felt a sudden gentle shake of your arm, you snapped your head towards who that was at the same time you snapped out of your thoughts. the one who shook your shoulder was Rielle.

"hey... you seemed to be staring at something outside but it flew away and you stayed staring at that spot.. you feeling alright?" your favorite RSA redhead spoke as we realized that everyone in the room looked at you worryingly. the feeling of all eyes on you made you shrink down a bit.

"im fine im fine just-- remembering some stuff from back at NRC.. it's nothing really I didn't mean to make any of you guys worry." you shrugged as you gave them a sheepish smile. "anyway, where were we?" you asked, but then everyone kinda had a confused look on their faces now.

"_____," Rielle spoke "we've all finished saying what we wanted to say, we're gonna go get a quick bite before getting ready and finally leaving for the ball."

you looked at him with wide eyes and a slightly gaped mouth, to which Chenya ever so politely with one finger pushed your jaw up to close your lips together. "was I zoned out for that long?.."

"uhh-huhh.." Chenya intercepted "kinda scary to be hones-- yoWCH!"

Alex slapped Chenya on the arm for his comment and spoke with an irritated tone "he's lying _____ don't listen to a thing this fur-ball has to say." huffed the young man.

"ahh well-- then let's get going then! so we can get ready and be on time for the ball!" you stood up from wherever you were sitting "and thank you very much for your time, Evan!" you spoke as you gave thanks to the boy in blue before you walked over to the door, the rest of your group rushing in getting up and speed walking towards the door with you. all but Elias whom seemed to wait till everyone left so he could leave himself.

Evan waved at all of you as you walked out "bye bye starshines! see you in a few!"

everyone else said or yelled their 'see ya' laters.

when you were all now away from the proximity of Evan's dorm room though Chenya decided to start speaking,

"he calls everyone 'starshine'... me-ow always thought it to be kinda cheesy dontcha think?-- yoWCH!"

"shut it cat, it's just his thing leave the poor guy be."

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

(getting ready)

the next few hours went by in a total blur. you all ate together while talking about school, common interests, and of course the ball. you all walked back to the Evan's dorm room to see a several group of students you recognized already walking out looking dashing and formal.

once you all walked in it seems like Evan just finished up getting Elias ready-- and gosh was he sparkling like the night sky. "ah! hello everyone!" spoke our 'fairy godfather.' "come in! I just finished up my friend here so whomever is ready can come on next!"

and the rest was also a blur but you clapped here and there for each of your friends who each looked flattering and stylish in their own unique ways with outfits that really suited their personalities. it wasn't until it was your turn to get ready that you fully now fully in the moment.

"now let's see... something comfortable yet fun.." mumbled Evan "let's try.. bibidi-babidi-boo." with a quick move of his wrist he pointed his wands towards you and a splash of tiny specs of stars engulfed your body to form the shape of your desired outfit. your hands almost covered your face as a reflex to shield yourself but quickly relaxed when you felt nothing but magic hugging you tightly before it dispersed and showed your outfit and-- it looked like something you'd only wish for in dreams. at first it was a bit weird to see yourself so formal after being in NRC for so long but you got used to it when you saw how it complimented all your features and your body type... and it felt hella comfortable!

except there was one thing missing...

Evan gasped as you poked a foot out "oh my! my apologies my dear" he flicked his wrist towards your shoes to change them to whatever pairs of shoes your heart wished for, along with some artistic contribution from Evan as well.

your entire group either were stuck frozen staring(respectfully) or complimented you to death, overall everyone shared the same opinion: you looked absolutely amazing.

as everyone fell into chatter and were getting ready to leave and go out in about in new fabulous attire Evan had to announce one important thing "now remember everyone! spell only lasts until--"

"--the clock strikes twelve! we know we know blue, at twelve we all go back to normies." spoke Chenya as he tried to get comfortable in these formal clothes.

"very well then! now go on everyone, have fun! take lot's of pictures and make many memories! oh and don't forget to post on Magicam so I can see too!" the blue fairy waved you all off as you all walked out and cheered many 'thank you's and 'see you soon's in unison.

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

(the ball)

you all walked to the ball since the ballroom was in such close proximity to the dorms. you all joked around and playfully mingled in a buzz of pre-party excitement. as you all approached the entrance you and your friend group stared in awe at the glowing entrance and banner welcoming you all to RSA's annual ball.

Neige let out a small 'whoa' under his breath as he held his hands up together under his chin "I knew the fireflies were a nice touch!"

Raps nodded, "just wait until you see the murals inside!"

as you took your first steps inside you could truly feel your breath sucked out of your lungs... in a good way.

the scene that stood before you inside was nothing but magically. the ballroom was very large and wide with various sets of tables that you all helped set up now being occupied by several groups of students at the ball. classical music played in the back as well as an empty dj booth waiting to be used beside the small yet very talented orchestra playing only a few main instruments. despite how far away they were from the entrance you could still hear the vibrant and elegant melodies play in and out your ears as if it were right beside you. various students from various different dorms were slowly starting to occupy many parts of the ballroom aside from the tables to either just stand in their own groups in the corners of the room or to just get food on the many side tables out on display for all to get. and when you looked up your mind just exploded even more with how beautiful the ceiling and wall murals looked thanks to you and Raps's team up. they looked similar to the vibrant and detailed church murals you've seen before except the paintings here were much more vibrant and rich in color and beauty. and we can't forget to mention the chandelier! with the light hitting each speck of glass hanging onto the chandelier it's like it emphasized the scenery and made the murals pop and look almost heavenly.

wow, you really had much to say about the event.

Rielle gently grabbed your wrist and carefully lead you to any empty table you guys could find with enough seats for the six of you to sit together, once you did you all made sure to leave a few items or coats to mark this as your spot.

"lets go get some grub now! all those sparkles and fancy outfits have made me hungrier than a hog." Chenya tittered before Alex and Raps each grabbed the cat's left and right arms individually to drag him to the table as they exclaimed 'you bet!'.

Rielle was about to head over with the other boys until he noticed that you haven't moved, seeing you still a bit star-struck at all the flowers, paintings, lights, and all other decorations you all set up as a group made him smile softly. "not joining us, shrimpy?" he asked,

'shrimpy'... you swore you almost heard Floyd's voice ring in your ears.

"I'll--" you interrupted yourself immediately by snapping your head to look at him in a split second "what?.." an almost afraid expression contorted your face.

Rielle immediately noticed this reaction and his heart cracked seeing that look on you "o..oh!-- I'm so sorry _____ I didn't.. know you wouldn't like it--" he then by reflex quickly but gently held one of your hands with a genuinely guilty look on his face "it's just-- it's silly really but you at times remind me of a little shrimp since y'know.. I grew up in the sea! but I didn't know it’d come off in a bad way! I’m truly sorr!—“

ahh right, now you remember. he's told you that he was originally born and raised a merman, just like those other three you used to know.

you immediately stopped him from talking by simply interrupting him "no no! of course not!-- look you didn't offend me at all it's just.. it reminded me of a nickname a..."friend"... from NRC called me too.." you paused only to smile warmly, which melted off that frown off the redhead's face. "but I like it better when you say it."

the young man nodded in understanding, feeling better now that you told him how you really felt as well as feeling a bit special. he gave your hand a bit of a gentle squeeze before he heard the voice of Chenya steadily coming closer and closer.

"hurryy Red! your favorite strawberries and cream that you like are at the dessert table and everyone's getting their grubby hands on them before youu! let's gooo!~" Chenya linked arms with Rielle before dragging him away from you, leaving your hand cold.

"I..I'll be right back _____!" he exclaimed before being dragged further into the crowd by his cat-eared friend.

even if the moment was resolved fast, it still left you a bit spooked.

You waved them off before you took your seat at the table you all decided on staying until you looked to your side to see Neige. you thought he left with the others but I guess not. "oh! hey Neige, not eating either?"

Neige who was currently on his phone perked up at the mention of his name and gave his full attention to you "I will! just that-- I'm kinda a bit occupied with some comments on a specific post lately.. they've been really weird and all.. I closed comments but as im previewing what they said before--" he spoke as he eyed his phone with a weird look on his face. "I understand what they mean but-- I also just don't get it exactly."

"mind if I take a look?" you asked before he gave you a nod and a sweet smile and handing you his phone. you gently took it from his hands to see it was the picture that you and him took on Magicam, you scrolled down to meet with an enormous amount of comments that you could only assume to be from NRC students considering what they are saying..

"so they went to RSA?.. lol they really switched up on us.."

"traitorous much?..."

"ooo so this is why my house leader has been meaner than usual."

"all of our house leaders have been meaner than usual anon."

"lmao tf is that the prefect"

"y is the ramshackle prefect in rsa..."

"that explains why everyone is talking about a boat."

"they do know they just started a war, right?"

and this was just a few of what you were able to read.

god, these comments really weren't helping..

"ah.." you sighed as you were hit in the face with the realization that now not only does everyone know, but that they are not handling it well. honestly you were glad they were at war with themselves at your departure. all you wanted was to leave them to their own devices with you not having to tug them all back like rabid dogs. yeah, let them be at war. let them handle things themselves, it wasn't your job to apologize for everything they did.

you wouldn't really call it a betrayal that you left, it was a necessary act to take care of yourself. so if they wanted to call you a 'traitor' because you left to find a better way back home then so be it.

"night raven students, guess my leave from there to here has got them in a buzz.." you shook your head as you huffed "ignore them Neige they are just so pressed because of your school and their school being rivals. nothing against you personally at all." you flashed him a gentle smile in hopes of turning his frown upside down "not only that, but we're at a ball!" you held one of his hands gently as you tried to stay optimistic "c'mon let's eat something fast then hit the dance floor once the dj starts! we will not let some students from across the sea ruin our night of fun."

Neige could feel himself sigh and let out a nice big smile at your words, since you were definitely right on that part, we couldn't let students that aren't even a few feet close to us ruin this night.

then just as fast as they left the rest of your group came back quickly with food! especially Chenya and Alex who both seemed to be balancing plates of food on their heads and arms.

"me-ow thought that maybe we'd bring your plates to you since both you lazy kittens didn't get up~" purred Chenya.

Rielle was the next to interact "here, your favorite!" he spoke sweetly before placing a dish you've grown to love in RSA right in front of you.

you thank him kindly, once everyone set their plates down and ate you and Neige silently agreed to ignore the comments that you read together. the thing is that you felt even more uneasy than usual.

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

(the needle)

after eating and the dance music started that's when all of you jumped onto the dance floor and stated jumping and dancing your faces off, even if some of you didn't even know how to dance or were not very used to it you all felt comfortable enough with each other to not even think about being judged. both music and blood were beating against your ears and the beat of your heart was hitting against your throat as you were dancing and jumping while all of you interacting and holding onto each other in the middle of the crowd of other RSA students that were enjoying their own times with their friends too. for once in your life you've felt free and full of healthy adrenaline. after months of having to play Cinderella at Night Raven College you were finally able to have your own night at the ball where no one could bother you anymore, no headmaster to boss you around and no upper or even lower class-men to ruin this for you anymore.

at least you really hoped this was the case tonight.

there was a moment where you felt a strong breeze from behind you, then another breeze, and another. it got to the point where you had to snap away from the excitement to now move your head towards whatever was that was basically flying beside you. you looked over at the side where you felt your last breeze and it was towards one of the open windows that were open to let in the fresh night air.

how odd.

it was a bat hanging from the top of the window, maybe the same bat that you saw recently?...

then there was a small yet very bright ball of light that shined right beside the bat as if accompanying it. anyone could've mistaken it for a small firefly but something was different, very off, it seems as if these two were watching you. what weirded you out more was that no one beside the windows noticed these two, almost as if it was only you who could see it.

you stayed there standing in the middle of the dancing crowds, you squinted your eyes to get a better view but all you could see was the little bat flapping it's wings as if motioning a 'come here' movement.

"hey ______! why're you standing our song is playing!" Raps exclaimed you out of your thoughts, you flinched a bit before giving them a small yet obviously forced smile to them all before responding back.

"oh! I.." you paused as your eyes flickered between your friends and the bat with the little bright light "I need to use the restroom! I'll be right back!--" you exclaimed right before you tried to squeeze yourself through to go straight to the window in hopes that your friends were too high on the dancing adrenaline to not notice you. when you got closer the bat it quickly flew out and darted to somewhere up higher..

the bright little light stayed for you to finally approach it, seeing how close you finally were this same light started to slowly fly towards a quick back exit from the ballroom where almost no one paid attention to. as it flew you could hear your name being faintly ushered by said light, this only piqued your interest even more and the faint tone of it's voice held a sense of familiarity to you. it caused your legs to then quickly catch up to it out the exit and swiftly walk out.

the light lead you to a brick wall behind one of the school's towers, the light seemed to phase through the wall before coming out again when it saw you didn't follow it. the small light slowly walked through the wall, following each step you took. you took a deep inhale, puffed out your cheeks, closed your eyes and walked right through the wall! when feeling no impact from it you then opened one of your eyes and let yourself exhale.

looking around your surroundings you see that it's all dark, a large and wide stone space with a small window above the ceiling that shined the moonlight towards the middle of the room where it rested a spinning wheel with the bright little light that continued to usher your name landing right on top of the tip of the spindle. your footsteps echoed and bounced across the room as you slowly approached the spinning wheel.. you watched the little light continue to glow and then seep itself into the needle of the spindle. your hand, without any of your control, then slowly reached towards the needle. it was slow with your conscious trying to stop it from moving but your hand continued to hover over the needle. right as you felt your finger graze the tip of it..a large puff of black smoke immediately engulfed and wrapped itself around your entire body.

until you felt a heavy weight lean and hold onto you, two arms around your waist, a face on your shoulder, black hair in your own face as well as the shadow of horns... very familiar horns.

"my child of man... I have you again."

oh.. no.

oh no.

(hope this came out alright! I don't know if I proofread this properly at all so I'll just count this as not proofread T-T hope it's still a nice chapter to start off the angst and drama that will seep in from NRC to RSA!)

696 notes · View notes

tempobaekh · 6 months

Text

Golden dresses, broken legs

PAIRINGS: OPLA!Zoro x harlequin!reader

WARNINGS: zoro being hot as usual, creepy man getting what he deserves, maybe ooc Zoro idk, kind of suggestive at the end, Y/N is mentioned once, the reader looks and acts like Harley but not much body, hair and facial is mentioned, just the fact that the reader has two toned hair like Harley, same makeup and personality.

AUTHORS NOTE: I fucking love crossovers with like characters and stuff and my mind is running wild with this crossover idgaf what people say. this one can be read like a part one with the headcanon's that I'm not done with yet so it can be like a background for this story but this can be read alone as well. this is also inspired by this one scene in birds of prey.

The Straw Hat Pirates had gathered at a bustling bar in a nameless town, celebrating yet another victorious adventure on the Grand Line.

You were wearing a stunning gold and black checkered sequence dress, it having a strapless design and features a sweetheart neckline, emphasizing your figure and adding to your provocative appearance, turned heads as you entered the establishment.

The deep V-line dress showcased your elaborate tattoos, from the ones on your collarbone to the intricate back piece’s and down to the ones on your legs.

The golden accessories gleamed under the dim lights, and you proudly sported multiple gold necklaces, including a layered necklace with one layer that says "Y/N," another with "Loves," and the last one bearing "Zoro." With gold bracelets adorning your wrists, you looked like a treasure yourself.

You quickly became the life of the party (as usual), downing shots and drinks with a contagious energy, cackling and giggling with your dear crew mates.

Zoro, the quiet swordsman and ever watchful lover, noticed a man with unsavory intentions leering at you. His grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, his anger simmering just beneath the surface.

As the night progressed, you decided to take the celebration up a notch. You spotted a table with a dancing pole on it and grinned with an idea popping in your head.

You climbed onto a table with the pole on it and began dancing and twirling around it.

Throwing Zoro winks and seductive smirks, directing your dancing and grinding towards Zoro, the entire dance and performance had been directed at him, and Zoro took pleasure in every single second of it with a small smirk at seeing you dancing around the pole like that in such an exquisite dress.

Usopp, Nami, and Sanji were all intoxicated (with Usopp being especially drunk) and hyped up the dancing girl's every move, while Luffy just clapped along innocently, delighted to see his crew having fun, and sipped on his glass of milk.

Meanwhile, the guy who had been ogling at you earlier now sported a hideous grin, hoping he may get fortunate and undoubtedly delusionally assuming that the entire dance was for him.

To be honest, it was just you having fun. (and possibly rousing Zoro for a quickie, but we won't get into that right now).

Without realising because of the hyped up energy around you, you were still holding your drink when you began dancing on the pole.

In your enthusiasm, you accidentally spilled the alcoholic beverage all over the man and continued dancing as if nothing had happened.

I mean you didn’t even notice that you spilled it on him, in your defense!

The man was furious, huffing and puffing while attempting and failing to wipe the booze off his awful suit jacket, and couldn't hold back his rudeness anymore, any previous hints of desire gone, and his fragile ego bursting forth.

"God dammit! Sit the fuck down!" he loudly commanded, his annoyance visible.

The arrogant attitude of this stranger's comment made Zoro's blood boil.

Zoro set his alcoholic beverage on the table in front of him and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to pull the blade forward if necessary, but he waited.

He was well aware that you could defend yourself just fine without his or the crew's assistance, your pure strength and muscle not failing you in any fight or confrontations.

Even though you could get a bit distracted by flirting with him in some fights, but you had the attention span of a one year old, none.

You had heard the command and feigned innocence and asked, "What?" Just to get a rise from the man and your playful demeanor only fueled the man's anger.

He sneered, "I said sit your ass down, you dumb slut," and brazenly placed both his legs on the table in front of him, thinking he did something accomplishing.

You simply responded with an innocent "Okay!" and shrugged, before Zoro could make another move in pure rage.

In a split second, you leaped off the table and landed squarely on the man's legs, breaking them with a sickening crack.

His cries of pain filled the bar, and you, with an unsettling, almost psychotic grin, sat in his lap, cackling and laughing loudly in his face.

“You broke my fucking legs!” The man yelled in agony.

Placing your arms around his neck you mockingly taunted him with a sing-song "Oh, bo-hoo!" The crew looked on in shock, but Zoro couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at how Y/N had handled the situation.

That's my girl, he thought with a smirk as the crying man with broken legs was hauled out by his peers.

“It’s not a party without a lil’ drama!” you cheered with a smile.

Without missing a beat, you casually resumed dancing.

The incident in the club had left the room in a mixture of shock and amazement, and as you resumed dancing, the atmosphere slowly shifted back to the celebration.

The night continued with the crew continuing dancing (minus Zoro), and the defeated man learned the hard way that underestimating you was a grave mistake.

"Puddinnn' " Zoro recognized the drawl of the familiar nickname that he had come to adore, looking up to see you walking towards him, with a sway in your hips and your curled hair with half blue and half pink ends bouncing along.

The owner of the voice sat shamelessly on Zoro's lap sideways, and Zoro couldn't care less at the public display of affection that would normally be more subtle from his side and more open from yours.

He couldn’t care when you were sitting there on his lap, looking so perfect and beautiful.

He lowered his arms around your waist, his hands dragging up and down in a caress with a sly grin, while you loosely placed your arms around his neck.

"You really showed that guy huh," he said, admiration evident in his eyes and tone.

Still caught up in the spirit of the night, you winked at Zoro and answered, "Well, you know me, puddin', I don't take shit from anyone." before moving down and planting a kiss on his neck, grinning gleefully at the mark left by your bold red lips and the fact that Zoro didn't attempt to wipe the mark away.

Zoro couldn't help but smirk at your actions. "I've always liked your way of dealing with trouble."

You leaned closer, her fingers tracing a path from his sharp jaw to his chest that was partially exposed from the few button’s open on his shirt. "Just for you, I can be very persuasive."

Without saying a word, Zoro moved his hand to the back of your neck while using his free hand to sneak a finger under one of your layered necklace’s that read 'Zoro' and pulled you down, smashing his lips on yours in a rough and fierce kiss.

You responded with equal ferocity, straddling Zoro's lap without breaking the kiss and pressed yourself impossibly closer to the green-haired swordsman, your hips gradually grinding against his.

The swordsman growled subtly at the movement and bit your lower lip, eliciting a slight moan that he swallowed and used it as an opportunity to enter his tongue past your lips and explore your warm mouth, tasting your sweet taste on his tongue.

You tugged on Zoro's nape hair and slowly pulled away from him in need of oxygen, leaving a string of spit that kept your lips connected with his, your crimson lipstick smudged, and residues of it on Zoro's lips.

With foreheads pressed against one other, rapidly gasping and attempting to catch your breath.

Zoro began placing small kisses up your neck, occasionally grazing his teeth against your skin as you leaned back your head, allowing him easier access.

"Want to continue this somewhere else?" Zoro rasped out in his low voice, staring at your lustful gaze as you grinned.

"I thought you'd never ask puddin'."

Note: gifs, pictures, and header DOES NOT belong to me. CREDITS TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS!! Feedback is appreciated.

162 notes · View notes

chubs-deuce · 3 months

Note

I think I also saw a post explaining that if a ship in the fandom got too popular, the network producers would try and force that ship to become canon.

It's like, I love Charlastor, but I really don't want it to be canon. I feel like non canon ships are more fun!

yeah!!! 100% agreed, and I despise it when producers actually let that happen too :/ Glaring very hard at the grossly entitled people a good while back to tried to sway their preferred ship into canonicity by doing petitions....

I wouldn't want charlastor to be canon tbh.

It's, frankly, wild to me that so many people even equate shipping to exclusively mean "to root for two or more characters to get romantically involved in the source material", and any exploration of dynamics beyond that is then frowned upon, shamed or invalidated.

To an unfortunately large amount of people, shipping is little more than a popularity contest :')

To me, a huge part of the appeal in shipping is that it's a means to explore interpersonal character dynamics from a piece of media in ways we don't necessarily see happen in canon.

I LOVE non-canon ships for the fact that they leave us with SO much creative freedom! [more in-depth thoughts + what appeals to me about charlastor under the cut]

It allows us to hypothesize and experiment in-depth with how these characters would find their way from one type of dynamic into a different direction in so many different ways, without canon to give us one solid path to stick to.

One trope I'm very fond of in fanfiction in particular has always been slowburn with a touch of mutual pining - when a dynamic is truly given room to breathe and naturally grow into different directions and REALLY digs into the involved characters, it enables the authors to thoroughly lay out why and how their feelings change, what affected them in the process and how/when they eventually choose to act on them!

Character analysis is my bread and butter, so if a dynamic strikes my interest it's almost always because it has something unique about it far beyond just wanting to see them all lovey-dovey bc it's cute (though that can be part of it lol).

Charlie and Alastor as a combination are so intriguing to me because they're in many ways polar opposites, but simultaneously also have just enough similarities to leave a lot of potential for a genuine bond.

They combine the most conniving, manipulative, steadfastly and proudly immoral person with someone whose good intentions color absolutely everything she does, who also has the willpower and moral code to see it through.

They're like a forbidden, alluring dance, endlessly circling in each other's gravitational pull - which parts of them will prevail? Who will inevitably buckle to the other's influence first? What draws them in? What drives them apart?

I love watching Alastor's masterfully crafted plans get absolutely thwarted because he can't get a consistent read on her - a being who's - by her very nature of being part demon and part angel - a bundle of contradictions.

I'm also extremely fond of Charlie 100% seeing through him every step of the way and still keeping him around - regardless of his motivations, he is a vital, helpful part of the hotel, and she won't give up on trying to win him over for her cause in earnest.

There are very few things as funny to me as the idea of Alastor -master manipulator - being so far up his own ego, obsessing over getting a figurative hold over this fascinating and yet frustrating princess, that it takes forever for him to realize he's the one being used all along, expertly playing right into her cards.

Simultaneously, there's so many other ways to write them!!! It's just so damn fun to explore all of the what-ifs.

#there's more I could say abt all this but the post is long enough lmfaoo #charlastor #radiobelle #shipping #chubs answers #long post

85 notes · View notes

thegildedbee · 4 months

Text

Sherlock Fic Recs: Christmas Edition {2023}

❄️ Gather ~ ☃️ ☃️ ☃️ ~ 'round and 🎉 make 🎷merry🍹, all ye fic-loving fandom elves -- 'tis the season to shine a spotlight🕯️on Sherlockian Christmas fics!!! Here are some of my favorites -- I tried to pick ones that I haven't seen mentioned in recent lists that have been in my tumblr stream. Whether they're new to you, or just a reminder to re-visit faves, enjoy!!! ❄️ [In order of the year they were published.] ........................................................... 1. I'm Not His Date [2014] by objetpetita [ 17,029 words / T ] :: It all starts in a Boston coffee shop, where English professor Sherlock Holmes upends a visiting John Watson in a clever and fun "meet cute" (or "meet irritating-pompous-insufferable") in a whirlwind of Sherlockian proportions, and we're off to the races. There is a snowfight on the Common, Death Driving Miss Daisy: Lacan and Popular Culture, a Harry & Clara Christmas Eve wedding, witches, and a very boozy department party. It's as adorable as my favorite Christmas rom-com film, The Holiday. And it starts off with a corker of a first sentence: "It was morning, it was zero bloody degrees, everything around him was unfamiliar and American and cold, and John Watson was right on that inhuman precipice between still drunk and terribly hung over."

2. 5,687 (Approximately) [2015] by prettysailorsoldier [ 6,771 words / T ] :: Just a few years post-uni, Sherlock is enduring the agonies of a long-distance relationship with his boyfriend, who is on deployment in Afghanistan. During those times when John's on leave, the last people Sherlock wants to see are the idiots at the Met, so they've never caught sight of John and think he is a figment of Sherlock's imagination -- especially since he can't get home that Christmas. The set-up is sketched out with delightful fic flair, and the ending is not only sweet, but satisfyingly punitive [ c/o a very bamf John ]. The text messaging is some of my favorite writing in the Sherlock fandom -- their relationship in all of its multi-dimensionality comes through beautifully.

3. The 12 Truths of Christmas [2016] by @breath4soul [ 3,321 words / T ] :: This is a fic that has at its core the surfacing of unspoken emotional attraction betweenJohn and Sherlock via a very fun concept: “In place of some appalling or imbecilic gift inflicted upon me in the name of tradition on Christmas day, I propose that you provide me with one previously unknown fact about you for each day leading up to Christmas. 12 in total, John.” #9 has all the feels, and is a tour de force -- every time I re-read it it makes me break out in a smile, even though I know what's coming. Sherlock breaks out somewhat more: "Sherlock feels a flood of heat in several places at once. He stands up quickly and walks to his violin. He plays wild, erratic snaps of quick-paced music." The author has a whimsical and entirely understandable note to add: "You may fall in love with John reading this - I did." 4. The Romance Was There [2017] by @apliddell [ 4,011 words / G ] :: The author deserves an award for this being one of the best uses of Harry Watson in a fic, and of HW by Sherlock in a fic :-) 221B has never been cozier, Sherlock has never been more winsome, and John is a species type model of John in all of his clueless Johnness. The narrative dances along and sparkles and shines as seduction evolves, and Sherlock's rogueish charm is on full display. There's a poignant and endearing confessional letter, plus there's a Sherlock/Jeremy Brett reference that is absolute perfection in serving its role in helping the narrative quickstep the night away. 5. The Man in Aisle Ten [2020] by @blogstandbygo [ 1395 words / G ] :: Sherlock has several mysteries to unravel in the midst of Harrod's on Christmas Eve: what is the perfect gift for John? why is he having so much trouble identifying the perfect gift for John? and, incidentally, along the way to solving those, a local one. Luckily, Sherlock has Moira, master department store sleuth, to lead him to the solution. This fic is a small, perfect gift -- rather like the story's denouement --and is as witty as all of SBG's fics are. This is a veritable Peppermint Schnapps Hot Chocolate of a fic, warm, rich, sweet, delicious, tingly, and you'll find you reach the last bit much too fast, immediately requiring a refill. [ And there's a splendid podfic by @podfixx ! ]

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

*fic repost recruits, perhaps??? ❤️ @totallysilvergirl, @7-percent, @discordantwords, @helloliriels, @elwinglyre, @mydogwatson

#bbc sherlock #sherlock fic rec #johnlock #sherlock fic #reposting :-) helps the love go 'round xoxoxo #christmas #objetpetita #prettysailorsoldier #breath4soul #apliddell #standbygo

104 notes · View notes

buckyarchives · 1 year

Text

Metal Arms and Short Skirts [Drabble]

summary: you and bucky run into a small bump when he brings up kids.

word count: 6k

author note: i, personally, have a strong hatred towards the “girlboss has tradwife ephihany after meeting a man” trope so here is me doing the complete opposite

second (sober) note: i wrote, edited and posted this stoned as fuck so tell me if you like this more than usual fics so i can make a note to write high more often

read on AO3 | masterlist

It was a well-known fact after two years into the relationship that you and Bucky were the ‘it’ couple, both inside the compound and outside. Especially due to the rise in the avenger’s popularity, your hobby of walking red carpets and mingling with the rich and famous (you’ve even been over at the Kardashian for dinner once — yes, Sam was beyond upset he didn’t get an invite) helped with that fact too. Many times have you brought Bucky along as your plus one, so much so that he started getting invited and being plastered on magazine covers and Twitter feeds.

So when the news - no, rumors of a breakup came out? Dear god, Nick Fury would have thought the world was ending.

no one was sure what happened, and no one saw it coming either. you guys had been absolutely thriving since announcing it officially. Steve saw a complete difference in Bucky’s demeanor, he still wasn’t the old Bucky — but a new, healthy, and not despair ridden. He was happy. and maybe Tony wasn’t happy about it in the beginning, considering he saw himself as a sudo-father figure. He couldn’t deny you seemed happier with life, your work sure shows it.

Natasha noticed it first when Bucky's shoulders sagged more and he was spending more nights in the compound instead of your apartment. as well as the continuous night eating and sleeping in. Then, Wanda, she gossiped a lot. about good and bad, so when you skillfully began to avoid the man in every conversation. she began to realize something was wrong.

Soon everyone noticed it. because once Bucky's depression turned to blind hatred and his sparring partners (Sam) were getting beaten a little too hard. snide comments were being made and he just became a genuinely unpleasant person to be around. Sam and Steve more than jumped to find out what the hell happened.

Wanda and Sam stood before the stove, flipping pancakes and eggs. The morning hue showed on everyone’s face and hair. Natasha's red hair looks wild in her messy bun, if you can even call it that. She sat next to Steve, trying not to publicly flirt since their relationship started to flourish. mostly not to miss Bucky off too.

and Bucky sat hunched over like an old and angry man, shoveling bacon into his mouth with the seemingly permanent scowl he’s worn for the past few weeks.

they had a loosely put-together plan to figure it out, but Wanda couldn’t help but slip up out of frustration, she missed the days when you sleep over and join them on their team breakfasts. “what happened to breakfast at y/n?”

Bucky visibly flinched at your name, his breath hitching in his throat and almost choking on his bacon. they had danced around the subject of you once figuring out the obvious separation, your appearance at the compound got less and less to the point someone would think you got transferred somewhere else.

Sam sent a surprised glance towards Wanda, whilst all other eyes were on Bucky as he gaped his mouth open and tried to find a response. Steve was practically on the edge of his seat after not getting a word of you from Bucky for weeks.

clearing his throat, and gulping down both water and his nerves. “we’re not on good terms right now.”

“Well, if that wasn’t obvious” Natasha murmured under her breath, focused on her food. Bucky sent a glare out of the corner of his eyes. rolling his eyes, he threw the now empty plate into the sink. not wanting to be bothered by the looks of the other, he headed for the door.

“ah! not so fast, tin man. we have some serious stuff to talk about.'' Tony popped up from literally nowhere and stood before the exit, blocking Bucky from leaving the kitchen and to his room or the gym.

“move, Stark. I'm going on a run.” Bucky said - a lie - he was most likely wallowing in self-desperation in his room.

“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, honey?” Tony snarked.

Bucky went to shove his way around him, but then Tony stepped to the side and suddenly the common room was on lock down and the door slammed shut in front of his face.

“no one is leaving this room until I figure out what happened to you and y/n, and fix it,'' Tony said, taking a seat with an annoyed and almost angry face. Bucky’s jaw clenched as he stood awkwardly, half of the avenger's eyes on him, staring at his feet. “because my best worker is lacking in worK and most important — trying to leave the company.``

“What?” the brunette's head pops up, as well as everyone else’s in the room. a matching concerned face was shared through the avengers, wilder on Buckys.

“she won’t tell me why, but I can only assume it has something to do with you so don’t mess up my life anymore and tell me why.'' Tony lectured, the usual blind and comedic annoyance turned to actual anger towards Bucky as he explained. Then everyone soon realized you weren’t just distancing yourself from Bucky, but everyone and it hurt Tony - someone who (despite popular opinion) actively tried to keep the family together at all cost. because he was losing one of his longest friends now.

“He's right, man. we’ve all noticed how this thing has affected you.” Sam spoke up, much more concerned than tony.

Bucky noticed all the eyes on him, stripping him down and making him feel seen and vulnerable. he felt small. Bucky huffed disappointingly as he shuffled to the small couch in the common room. falling dramatically on it as he clenched his jaw, “y/n and I have come to some… disagreements about…” Bucky's words were slow and shaky, trying to figure out how to describe what happened. “our future together so we’ve decided to see other people.”

glances were shared of confusion and concern, and Bucky’s gaze stayed glued to the air. He really, really did not want to talk about this. it sends a cold and painful chill down him that aches.

“what the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Tony shouted, still frustrated and mentally done with Bucky’s grief spared attitude. He just wanted you back at work and happy again or he’ll try choking out a supersoldier today.

“It means she broke up with me, okay?” Bucky choked out, not wanting to dwell on you anymore.

“But why?”

Bucky groaned, “because we had a disagreement!”

“About what?” Tony shouts back, growing more and more frustrated as Bucky dodges the real question.

Bucky shot up, beginning to grow frustrated as well. He yelled, “I can't tell you if you're going to yell and look at me like a caged animal!”

“Okay, boys. Tony chill, Bucky - sit and just explain to me what happened." Natasha shot up and nudged herself in between the two, breaking up whatever brawl was going to happen.

Bucky was so drained mentally and depressed that he just plopped down and sat next to Natasha, Natasha gave bucky such a warm comfort he didn’t fight against it, he felt safe enough to talk about this with her (and maybe more if Sam, Steve or Wanda didn’t continue to stare down his neck as Bucky mustered up any words)

“I brought up our future… kids and marriage.” bucky started, “and we disagreed on a few things, and it sparked an argument. We both said some very hurtful things and we decided to end it, or at least a break.”

“Like officially breaking up?” Natasha asked.

Bucky wore the pain he felt on his face, he just missed you and felt speaking it out loud would give it a mouth, and then he really would never see you again. “I don’t know, maybe? We were too busy yelling at each other to figure that out.”

“Okay, “ Natasha breathed out, Sam and Wanda were quick to join the impromptu therapy session. Bucky was glad it was them rather than someone like Tony or Thor. The one time Thor gave Bucky relationship advice it was along the lines of having an orgy because “it builds trust and passion.” or something along the lines of that.

“Have you talked to her since?” Wanda asked, approaching the topic gently as he sat across bucky with soft and understanding eyes. Realizing he should have brought this up sooner with the group rather than his therapist, the girls came to him with a much more understanding and comforting approach.

Bucky shook his head shamefully, “the morning after the argument, she said she wanted space and to possibly seek out other people. Told me to explore other options.”

Everyone shared confused looks, either bucky was lying through his teeth or something really weird had gotten into you. None of this sounded like you, “what type of disagreement did you two have for her to come to that?'' Sam perked up.

“Um, well.” Bucky's head fell down as he fidgeted with a loose string on his shirt. “I brought up having kids, and other things like marriage and moving in together, but mostly kids. She didn't want it and I don't even know how the argument started but we were both really frustrated and tired and it did. By the end of it it seemed she practically gave up on us because our idea about the future looked different and now- now, I don't know how to fix it.”

Bucky's voice croaked a little toward the end, showing how absolutely hung up he was on the possibility of losing you. Since the gala he's known that you were it for him, the one secure thing he could come back to at the end of the day and you were stripped away from him so abruptly.

It didn't help that fact Bucky was very adamant about having a family, since he technically doesn't have one anymore. Not blood anyways, so eventually retiring and starting a family was one of the most important things to him now that he was free.

“She did always says she wasn't going to have kids,” Tony mumbled under his breath, but Bucky heard it and it definitely did not help his mental state.

“Anyways, by the end of it - we both said very hurtful things and I don't think she wants to speak to me right now.” Bucky sighed.

“Did you apologize?

“She hasn't given me a chance to yet,” Bucky admitted, he tried to – not very well. But you've done more than enough to avoid it, it hit bucky in the chest like a spear. So far you were trying to transfer to San Diego and work for Pym. And everyone knew Hank would be more than pleased with the idea of that, so yes - it scared Bucky to death that he was slowly losing you.

Everyone sat silent for a moment, unsure of where to go from here as it seemed Bucky had hit a brick wall with you. Everyone knows how stubborn you can be.

“You are all a bunch of idiots.”

A low and raspy voice snarked from the doorway, and a blonde archer stood with a less than disappointed look as he leaned against the wall.

“How’d you get in here?” Tony perked up.

Clint decided to ignore the questions, “you’re asking advice from a bunch of single people, a girl who's dating a literal toaster, and don't get me started on Pep and Tony's dynamic. I am the one happily married person with kids on this team.”

Everyone was left dumbfounded as Clint continued his speech, striding in front of the slouched and sorrow-filled Bucky Barnes, leaning down with his hand on his knees to meet Bucky's face.

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.” bucky quipped like it was second nature.

“Like, really, really love her. Like take a bullet for her or have to snake the drain every 2 weeks love her.”

Odd questions but Bucky already was snaking the drain frequently for you, for a doctor-engineer you were weirdly squeamish. And Bucky knew he'd step in front of a bullet for you with absolutely no thought, and that didn’t even scare him, as long as you were safe.

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Clint's voice rose and fell stern, almost in a lecture-type voice he'd only heard from a mother. “Snap out of it, get off your ass, buy her flowers or something, and go get her. Because you are losing her every second you don't.”

“But I don't know how to fix it.'' Bucky realized he was starting to sound whiny and desperate now, but he felt it inside too. He was a complete mess, and Clint was going to shake it out of him one way or another.

“God, you really need help. How have you survived these two years.” Clint mutters, “you compromise! That's like 60% of keeping a long-term relationship. Communicate and compromise, if you love her that much you will do that.”

Bucky felt stupid now, but maybe he would have tried that out earlier if he had the chance. “But she's made it very clear she doesn't want to talk to me.”

“Doesn't matter, she's had three weeks of space and I'm sure the one thing she's waiting for is for you to seek her out.” Clint explains simply like he's gone through the situation before. “I don't care if she’s already found a new place in California, go to her and beg for forgiveness for whatever hurtful things you said and just. Talk.”

Bucky carded a hand through his brunette locks, his hair was getting grease from simply being too depressed to shower and letting his emotions out on the poor punching bag in the gym. He nodded slowly, hyping himself up in his head to do exactly what Clint was explaining.

“Okay, I'll find her and talk.” was all bucky could say, he still had a lot of thinking to do.

“And shower first, please. You smell like a dog.”

Bucky just nodded.

Three weeks ago.

Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to bring this up now, Bucky had just gotten back from a 2-week-long mission, and being stuck with a fake identity with Sam in Tokyo had made him beyond frustrated but equally happy to come home to you. Bucky didn't know it then, but you'd been working yourself to the wit's end after the new discovery of nanotech between you and tony. Many nights were spent up late and awake early, since Bucky wasn't there to drag you to bed and away from the lab.

But, It's been on Bucky's mind for a moment now, on the tip of his tongue every time he got a moment alone with you. And now as he sat across from you, the kitchen light shining down on you as you went through the new research on nanotech. Your eyebrows furrowed as you concentrated on the words, gently tugging at your bottom lip. Bucky let himself watch you for a moment before bringing up the topic that's hovered over him for the past couple of months.

“Baby?” he stared, your head perking up towards him.

“Hm?” you hummed, closing the file to put your full attention on bucky.

He fidgeted with his thumbs nervously under the table, licking his lips before starting. “We’ve been together for a while and I was just wondering about something…”

You instantly put on a defensive face, many assumptions swirled in your head about what he could be alluding to. Many things but all you knew is that it was going to be a hard conversation to have. “Yeah?”

“I was thinking about trying for kids, you know? If that's something your able to do…” Bucky spoke slowly and cautiously, this was the first time he’d seriously brought this up. Only a few jokes were shared about kids' names and how you'd raise your children, always lighthearted and mostly unserious.

You gulped, unsure of how to exactly approach this topic with bucky. You knew his stance on family and how important that was to him, “yeah, I can get pregnant. but, I'm not too sure about kids, buck.”

“Why not?” Bucky asked innocently, he didn't mean to sound pushy even if it may have translated like that towards you.

“I- I don't know, I just don't think that'd be good for us right now.”

Bucky tried to bite his tongue, but that had never worked in the past, especially not now. “I think it'd be nice, you don’t want a mini us running around?”

In truth, you were beyond tired, you had been barely keeping your eyes open as you read. Your hazy mind was caught off guard by such a question, especially after work has been so hectic for each of you. Bucky was either away on a mission, or you'd be in the lab or flying out for research and meetings. Barely anytime for each other right now and suddenly, Bucky asking to start a family now?

Frustrated, you sighed. “I didn't say that - I know how important family and kids are to you but I just don't know if I can do that.”

“You don't have to agree because I want to, it's your body – you do what you want.” bucky shot back, growing equally frustrated, he started to regret the timing of this conversation but he opened the pandora's box and he wasn't sure how to close it now. “It was just a suggestion.”

The attitude and words left your mouth before you could even understand how harsh it was, but you were working with half a brain right now. “Well, it kinda feels like you're pressuring me into this, Bucky.” you huffed, abruptly getting up from your seat to put the files away. You'd had enough reading for the night.

“I'm not!” bucky quipped, almost instinctively following you around the apartment. “I just think we’ve been together long enough to seriously talk about our future.”

A headache began to grow and you just wanted to go to bed. “Well, I'm sorry but I can't give you the answers you're looking for, bucky.”

“I just wanted to at least talk about it together.'' Bucky pleaded, he was trying – at least. Yes, he was frustrated and equally tired but somewhere in his head was telling him to stop and finish this later, but maybe the desire of starting a family was too strong.

He realized soon after he got his mind back that most of his bloodline was killed off by either the war or simply just died off by old age. He remembered the night he looked for nieces and nephews, hoping Becca got married and lived a good life. Only to find nothing and then truly realize he was alone at this time, Steve and you – sure. Maybe he was getting greedy but he wanted someone he could call real family.

But now he realized he shouldn't have pushed.

You threw your hand up, almost angry now as you shouted back. “I’m sorry, but I’m not 100 fucking years old and looking to reproduce right now!”

Bucky's face dropped, “really? You have to bring that shit into it.”

“Yes, because I have other things to be focusing on right now,” you yelled back.

“Like what?” Bucky argued back.

“My job!” you shouted like it was completely obvious, which it sort of was, and that made you even more angry that bucky couldn't see that.

“y/n, your net worth is nearing eight fucking figures! It's not like you're going to starve anytime soon!” Maybe Bucky was bitter, for many reasons. Growing up poor, and the feeling that sometimes you pay more attention to your work than bucky. “What about us?”

You stood back, mouth gaped and utterly taken off guard by bucky. Narrowing your eyes at him, “really? I cannot believe you actually said that.”

“I'm serious. I feel like I've been left in the dark recently and just want to know the endgame with us.”

“Okay,” you snarked, “we finish this conversation and you figure out I can't give you what you want? What happened then?”

“I don't know but-”

You quickly cut him off, bitterness dripped from your words and your head grew hot from anger. “You find out I can’t give you kids, or marriage or I don’t turn into a 1940s fucking trad wife you expect out of me. What then? You gonna go find someone else?”

“I don't expect any of that out of you! And I don't want anyone else but you.” Bucky shouted, his hands shaking with nerves and anger at your jabs at him. Never expect you to bring up his more than unfortunate past. “Do you want that?”

“At this point, maybe! Because what's the purpose if I can't give you a life you're happy with?” you choked out and the fear that washed over Bucky was unreal, if what you're alluding to is true.

Bucky's face scrunched up in anger, and confusion and his heart pounded in his chest and threatened to break. “Really? Are you really saying we need to end this?”

“I'm not going to continue a relationship if either one of us is unhappy, no amount of love can fix that crack, bucky.”

Bucky's breath hitched and he can only assume that his heart has broken now. He's been a hopeless romantic since his first crush in elementary. So the words coming from you hit him like a train - and he is not a fan of trains – and caused tears to threaten to spill as he bit back any further hurtful words.

But the damn was broken and both tears and his words came out with no stopping, he scoffed. “It's great to know how much faith you have in us.” sarcasm and anger dripped from his words and equally hit each other like a knife.

“Bucky–”

“No,” he croaked out, hurt and defeated by this argument. “I can't do this right now, I'm sleeping on the couch and we can talk about this tomorrow.”

Bucky didn't want to end it like this, you've had arguments before but never like this. Always fixing it before you could leave the room, never leaving words unsaid or arguments hanging unresolved. You two have never gone to bed angry with each other or worse – separated.

And you let him snatch his pillow from your bed and leave the room, despite the urge to pipe up and ask to stay. But you were stubborn and held grudges, it was a well-known fact and one bucky had too. Which was the last way each of you needed to be acting right now.

Because as each of you woke, the tension in the air was thick and hurt like a fire. Bucky stayed in the kitchen making food for both of you and kicking himself as he heard you successfully avoid him for half of the morning by taking your sweet time getting ready.

It hit bucky like a knife when you shamefully stared him down, arms crossed and jaw clenched. Telling him that this was it and to see other people, he choked on the swarming thoughts and just held his tongue and nodded. Frozen in fear of actually losing you, unable to stop you from walking out the door and going to work.

You had the final word and Bucky cursed to himself as he left the apartment for what he thought would be the last time.

“I don't know. Hope.” you sighed, balancing the phone between your shoulder and ear. “I said some mean stuff, and buck wants a kid but I just can't do that right now.”

“I know, but are you really going to separate because of it? Not to be mean, but that seems pretty dramatic.” hope scoffed, slightly distorted as she spoke from the other line.

“He deserves a good and happy life though, after everything he's gone through. If kids and marriage and the white picket fence thing are what he needs, I just can't give him that.” you sighed, “I tried to go on a date with an old classmate, and he tried to kiss me. I felt like I was cheating somehow. I just kept thinking about Bucky.”

“Isn't that like a perfect sign to talk to him?”

“Maybe.” you sighed.

The past few weeks have been a little less than torture, bearable if you threw yourself into work but that also meant going to the compound where you would most definitely run into bucky. This is the last thing you need if you were trying to move on for him, it's for the better – you'd tell yourself at night when you were close to just calling him because you miss falling asleep in his arms.

Work and money have been the top priority in your life since you got your first job working at a car garage at 15. It wasn't stopped anytime soon and the way bucky spoke made you feel as if he expected you to stop that for him. Which sounds selfish, yeah – but you knew how men thought back in the 40s and you were the farthest thing from that. Your mistake for thinking bucky would understand.

“Well, you know my dads been trying to steal you from Stark for years now so if you need that much space you have a job over here.” Hope offered, referring to moving to San Diego. You lived near the area for a while after college, you didn't like the hot weather and slowness of the city but stayed for work. It would be a sure way to stay away from Bucky and maybe get over him, but that commitment and sureness of it being all over scare you.

“Maybe, I'll think about it.” you rubbed your hand on your neck to soothe your anxiety and nerves, the thought of bucky recently had done nothing besides spring tears in your eyes.

Ding!

The doorbell rings through the apartment and snaps you out of your self-wallowing thoughts. “Hey, hope. I'll call you back.”

“Sure, y/n. Just send me a text if you want the position here, it's open to you anytime you want it.” Hope reassures.

“Mkay, bye.” you bid your goodbyes and quickly hung up, taking a deep breath as you set your phone down on your bed. Your feed padded as you went for your front door, and whoever was waiting patiently behind it. You hoped it was your new self-indulgent purchase from Prada.

You experience something short of whiplash when you swung open the door, your mouth gapes and you swear you stopped breathing. Definitely not Prada.

Bucky had somewhat planned this appearance, with the help of Clint. He shaved a little, but not full because he knew you liked him with stubbled. His long hair was tucked behind his ears neatly and he wore that one blue sweater you bought him, your favorite. Bucky held your favorite flowers in one hand, a bouquet the size of your head by two. And in the other, if your nose was correct, your favorite food.

Oh, he's good, too good.

You both stood awkwardly in front of each other, Bucky had to restrain himself from either bursting into tears or dropping everything to hug you as if his life depended on it.

“Can we talk?” is what he settled on.

You nibbled on your bottom lip nervously, going over your options quickly. But everything in you was telling you to bring him in and never let go, despite how much it hurt. “Using my favorite food against me is cold, sarge.”

Bucky's heart ached and leaped at the nickname, being deprived of your sweet words for weeks did something to him. With a cheeky grin, he held up the pack. “Spicy Thai soup with shrimp. Just for you.”

It was way too hard to be mad at him when he was so attentive and so good-looking.

“Come in.” you sighed and moved out of the way to let him in.

hesitantly, keeping you at arm's length as he walked in and set the food and flowers on the island. You watched him intensely, he kept his gaze away and bit his cheek. You settled down on a bar stool and watched as he found an empty vase in the pantry.

With no words shared Bucky cut the ends and put the flowers in a vase of water to be displayed. A routine he knew by heart, getting flowers every week or so was normal and you didn’t realize how much you missed it until now.

You gritted your teeth, shame swelled in your stomach for pushing him away so aggressively, someone who loved so fiercely. You felt like you were going to hurl when his gaze met yours, he looked so sad.

Looking down at the counter, not moving an itch. “I'm sorry for using the fact you're 100 years old against you.”

The phrase was so comedic and stupid that Bucky couldn't help but stifle a small laugh, it worked in his favor when he saw you bite back a small grin. How could he stay away this long?

“I think it's actually 102 or 103, I lost count after 90,” he mentions, but you looked at him and his face fell seriously. “And I'm sorry for pressuring you to have kids, that wasn't my intention.”

You nodded, “I'll have kids with you, I want to. Just not right now.”

Bucksy face lit up and nothing could stop you from swooning over him now, biting back a grin as he spoke. “Really? I'm serious, you don't have to go through that just to please me.”

“I want to, I really do,” you reassured, taking deep breaths. “There's just so much going on right now and I panicked because it felt like you were asking that of me now, and I'm sorry for working so much and pushing you–”

Bucky sprung up with a more than sympathetic face and he cut you off by holding your jaw in his hands. You forgot how warm and welcoming his embrace was, you almost collapsed into him there. “Hey, don't apologize for being the badass, genius, hard-working woman you are.” he spoke with an adoring grin, “I shouldn't have put that against you.”

“No but you’re right, I've been putting Stark industries and my projects before you and I shouldn't be doing that.” you leaned farther into his touch. Chasing his comfort, bucky just smiled down at you because he missed this too much, being starved of you is high on his list of torture tactics. “And you are right about needing to talk about our future, it's just that…”

You trailed off, avoiding bucky’s eye contact again and nipping at your bottom lips from nerves. Bucky was quick to run a thumb across your lips to stop you and get your attention once more. His voice was unbelievably gentle and soft, “What is it? Come on, let's talk.”

“I know I don't talk about my family but my mom was a lot like me, you know? Workaholic, always trying to rack up the digits on her paycheck, lavish and indulgent lifestyle,” you explained and bucky was so attentive to your words - it took everything to not kiss him right there. You exhaled a shaky breath, “but then she met my dad and had me and she kinda stopped all of that. Stayed at home and got a small part-time job, letting my dad bring in all the money and there's nothing wrong with that! I could just tell she was miserable like that but kept at it because it was what my dad wanted.”

“Oh.” Bucky sighed, urging you to continue.

“And I think I took your words the wrong way that night and got scared of ending up like her, I know you wouldn't do that but I panicked and pushed you away because of it.” you finished and let your eyes travel to your lap, but bucky was having none of it as he urged you to look him in the eye.

“Hey, I forgive you and I'm sorry for scaring you like that, but it's important to me that you know I wouldn't force that lifestyle on you.” bucky smiled, a tease to the end of his next words. “If anything, I'm trying to be a stay-at-home dad and live off your paycheck.”

You couldn't help but laugh at his statement, a smile growing from ear to ear. All the past emotions rushed out of you as a few happy-sad tears sprung to your eyes, chasing his embrace when you pulled him close and hid in the crook of his neck. Oh, how you missed his smell, “I love you, James.”

Bucky handheld your back as he pulled you even closer, he felt warmer than ever and smiled to himself. “I love you too.”

You stayed tucked in Bucky's arms for a while, you missed him too much to pull away right away. Bucky’s hand caressed your back as he soaked up your touch. Mumbling into his shoulder, “let's try not to fight over something stupid again and actually talk.”

“Agreed.” bucky nodded to himself, slowly pulling you back to peck your cheek. A mischievous grin fell on his lips that made you quirk an eyebrow.

“What is it?”

Bucky pursed his lips, “so no babies right now, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Okay,” he hummed, his hands falling to your waist and pulling you against him. “Then let's just practice for when we want to, yeah?”

“Bucky!”

Bucky's phone began to ring annoyingly from beside him, somewhere hidden in the couch cracks. Gently reaching over to grab it, not moving too much so he doesn't wake the sleeping beauty on his lap.

After catching up on about 3 weeks of sex, a few rounds on the kitchen counter, and a few more on the couch. You both ended up half-naked and heating up the now-cold Thai food. Bucky was surprised it didn’t get knocked to the ground when he quite literally bend you over and fucked you hard on the counters. You both settled warmingly onto the couch and begged Bucky to watch Pixar movies, and of course, he couldn't say no.

It was dark now and empty containers of food littered around the coffee table, getting fucked good and hot food sure can wear a girl out as you fell asleep on Bucky. probably the best sleep you've gotten since the fight.

Steve was calling, definitely to check up on the talks. Bucky glanced back down at you before pressing accept, still sound asleep and slightly snoring. Bucky put the phone to his ear.

“So, how'd it go?” Steve asked.

Bucky wore a warm smile when he replied, gaze not leaving you. “Good, really good. We talked it out and it mostly boiled down to miscommunication.”

“Just talked or?” Steve teased, something bucky wondered if the blonde could read his mind.

“Oh, zip it,” Bucky said, a chuckle coming from the other line. “I don't want to wake her, so I'll call you tomorrow?”

“Alright, don't get yourself into any more trouble.”

“Don't plan on it, pal.'' Bucky bid his goodbyes to Steve and hung the phone up, throwing it to the side.

Bucky knew he had to wake you and get you into bed, clean up the apartment, and slip under the covers close to you. But for now, he was just enjoying the safety he felt with you in his arms, and not alone in the compound with you in California. It was more than true that you were it for him, and after getting a taste of what it was like to lose you.

Well, he'd be damned if anything got in between you two now.

tags; @matchat3a @sebsgirl71479 @heavenswrld @ivywasmaroon

@nt-multi-fandom @michaelfuckinglangdon@fand0mskullfa1ry

@athenabarnes @almosttoopizza @genlovesdcb @mavrellover91

#bucky x reader #bucky fic #james bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky x female reader #bucky fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel #winter soldier #the winter soldier

309 notes · View notes

v3nusxsky · 1 year

Text

Hold on| H&c

*Authors note~ this little idea was not leaving my head as I was battling with my requests. I am writing them guys it's just when an idea strikes you have to run with it Yano? I want to get the best versions I written that I possibly can. I appreciate how Patient you all are with me*

Trigger warnings~ stabbing angst etc

Prompt~ raven goes wrong. R gets hurt and Larissa fears she'll lose her lover.

☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾

The Raven dance was single handedly the best event of the school year. The students were abuzz with plans of what to wear, themes and even ways to ask their partner of choice to attend with them. Even the students of Jericho high knew of the yearly event so it wasn't a surprise when the noted the students of Nevermore walking through the town to find outfits. Relations between Outcasts and Normies were still incredibly strained despite all the work you knew Larissa was trying to do.

The weekend before the dance you had to make a simple run into the town to choose a last minute outfit, as Larissa had asked you to attend the dance with you as her girlfriend but under the pretence of you chaperoning the dance. She had even promised you a private dance in her quarters. Unbeknownst to the rest of the school you and Larissa practically lived in her quarters, your relationship strictly kept between the two of you for the time being. It was not because either of you was ashamed of the other, no it was simply because you were basking in the glow of the honeymoon period. So you wanted to find something deliciously sinful for the end of the night alongside a dress that would drive your girlfriend wild.

You knew exactly what type of dress that you wanted to get. You knew that a floor length, tight fitting emerald dress would would highlight your eyes. You found the perfect dress and took a few teasing photos to send of to your girlfriend. You decided to stop by the Weathervane to grab your usual and Larissa's before returning to Nevermore.

The day of the dance came around rather quickly and so far there had been no issues or problems with any students or any staff involved. It was set to be a complete success even with the arrival of Wednesday Addams you couldn't see this going wrong. Admittedly, the arrival of Wednesday had caused your girlfriend to be overwhelmed and stressed most nights, which resulted in many interestingly satisfying nights shared between you both.

The venue was absolutely stunning as always, your girlfriend definitely had an eye for the finer things in life and this demonstrated that perfectly. Her attention to detail was astounding. The students were equally as impressed with the magical decorations and the event seemed to flow perfectly. Yourself and Larissa had even managed to sneak a few shared moments together in the corners of darkness. Fleeting kisses or longing touches as you past each other, teasing for what lay ahead.

Yes, it was simply one magical night and you couldn't be prouder of the success your girlfriend was having. That was all well and good until it came to the last dance of the night, even with Wednesday Addams in attendance nothing had strayed from the plan. In fact she had spent most of the night extremely well behaved following Enid Sinclair around. That's why it was a complete shock to you what followed. It's crazy how some peoples small minded actions could destroy what was a perfect night.

The last song of the night was "Hayloft, Mother Mother" what ironically set the mood for what was to come. As the song progressed and the lyrics "whatever happened to the hayloft? Burnt to the ground and what about pop? My baby's got a gun" Rang out through the hall as a group of some Normie teens brush in, clothed in all black and masks that hid their faces. Instantly screams of panic we're battling the music to be the loudest. Nevermore students frantically trying to run from the three new arrivals while Wednesday Addams just remained frozen in the middle of the dance floor. It was as if it was all in slow motion for you. The three teens circled Wednesday and all withdrew weapons from their pockets. It was then you knew what would happen.

You immediately jumped in front of Wednesday feeling the bullet piercing through layers of skin tissue and even muscle of your abdomen. The pain being fought off be adrenaline. Wednesday maybe the cause of the stress for your girlfriend but she was a student none the less and that meant you'd do anything to ensure her safety. Even if it meant comprising your own. The three teens seemingly disappeared after shooting you. You spared a glance back to see a shocked Wednesday and a distraught Larissa. But they all looked unharmed. Adrenaline was wearing off now the threat was gone and the pain quickly encasing all of your senses, every muscle every nerve buzzing with it. You collapsed backwards grunting in pain as it nudged the bullet in your abdomen. The sharp intense pain stole consciousness from your body.

When you came too you immediately noticed your lover above you, hands pressing on your shoulders to keep you pressed into the ground and still. She would turn away from you and wince as another set of hands worked on your abdomen removing the pieces of shrapnel from you. Larissa's face displayed the concern and guilt she felt. You let out a gut wrenching sob as every small piece of shrapnel was plucked from your wound and placed onto the ground with a plunk. Your sobs had Larissa screwing her eyes shut and inhaling sharply knowing you were in pain and she couldn't help, instead she was holding you still subjecting you to the pain. Despite how necessary it was didn't mean it made her feel any better holding her lover down as you attempted to wither in pain below her. She spared you a glance and saw your red tear soaked face as you began to shake and moan in pain.

"Just keep looking at me darling. That's it. Let me see those pretty eyes my love. I know it hurts darling but Marilyn is almost done and then you can sleep for as long as you desire y/n. Just keep those pretty eyes on me and focus on my voice okay? Stay with me love" she pleaded with you to follow her instructions and you were trying. It was Marilyn taking the pieces of the bullet from your skin. And she was here with you. Comforting you. Loving you. You nodded weakly, pulling your plump bottom lip in between your teeth sinking your teeth in it as tears streamed from your tightly squeezed shut eyes.

Her praises were ever flowing and that's what kept you going despite the immense pain you were in. You did your very best to follow her words, in the end all you could do is scream out for her, your love, to make this all go away. Whimpering at the pain pleading with her to make Marilyn stop. She couldn't do that so settled for reassurance. Clearly after tonight you're relationship would be common knowledge but in this moment you couldn't care less. You were in pain and you wanted your Rissy. Soon enough Marilyn was bandaging you up and helping Larissa carefully move you. Originally Marilyn had planned to move you to your quarters until a worried glance was shot her way by Larissa. Soon enough you were placed in warm soft sheets that smelled of your girlfriend. Not the sexy night you had planned but everyone was safe and that was all you cared for.

Word count~ 1314

#fanfic #larissa weems #wednesday netflix #gwendoline christie #larissa x you #larissa x reader #larissa weems x reader #principle weems #principleweemsxreader

184 notes · View notes

strigeist · 1 year

Note

Heyyyyy!!! You still do Encanto? If so the can you do Camilo x male reader and like the madrigals throw a party for whatever and male reader knows how to dance so he dances with a girl/guy whatever and they accidentally kiss and male reader explains or whatever that it was an accident. (Sorry if it’s long and too detailed)

~ Yes! Since we're so close to the new year I decided to mix it up with that, I hope you don't mind. And it's no biggie, really! I prefer more specific requests anyway. Thank you for the request, it's the first one I get so I'm pretty happy about that s2. Hope you like it! ~

Camilo x Male reader

Summary: You accidentally kiss someone else while dancing. Camilo, your boyfriend, sees it. Misundertandings ensue. (You make up at the end, though, so don't worry!)

Word count: 1830.

Genre: Emotional hurt/comfort(?)

Author's notes: This might be a bit ooc, I'm not too sure, it's been a while since I've interacted with anything Encanto! Also, I used the word "parce" at some point, I've heard it's similar to "bro" in English or "mano" in Portuguese. I say it a lot so I feel it would fit in the dialogue but do let me know if it's not used like that in Colombia. And!! The dance I had in mind for this was cumbia since it's, apparently, a very popular dance there, but it's not really mentioned explicitly (and it could be wrong, since if you looked up that about Brazil Google would make you think most people dance samba at parties here when it's not really true, at least in my experience). And yes, the way the "kiss" happens isn't that realistic but who cares? Not me (though, fun fact, something very similar happened to me irl once!)

Celebrating the new year was always fun at Encanto. The whole town came over to the Madrigals' house and danced, drank, ate, and just generally partied until dawn. Now, it wasn't as wild as it sounds, but it was always a treat.

This year was particularly exciting for you since it was your first year officially attending as Camilo's boyfriend!

What did that change? Well, not much, only that you helped organize the place before the party, which you didn't mind (not when that meant you could spend the entire day goofing around with Camilo while doing so). But even though you partied together almost every year, there was just something different about dancing as a couple instead of friends.

The two of you had danced for a while after the *real* party started, however eventually decided to switch partners every few minutes as most did. It was just more fun like that, and you were still close enough for it to be considered time spent together. Plus, you were amongst friends, so it didn't feel weird.

Eventually, you ended up back together. After a few short minutes of dancing, Camilo suddenly seemed distracted, staring behind you as he stepped along to the beat of the song.

"You know, if you keep doing that you're gonna step on my foot!" You teased, then asked, "What's wrong?"

"... Oh, perdón, corazón." You cringed a little at how that rhymed. It seemed intentional by the way he giggled after saying that. "Mi mamá wants me to fix something, I think, I don't really understand what she's trying to say."

You stopped dancing and turned around to look as well, quickly finding Pepa gesturing angrily at the upstairs of the house and mouthing something to your boyfriend. After she noticed you looking, however, she stopped, smiled, and waved almost awkwardly. You and Camilo laughed.

"Want me to go with you?"

"No, no, it's fine! I want you to enjoy yourself, you already did enough by helping me with the decorations earlier. Just keep dancing or whatever." he explained, then grabbed your chin and gave you a soft kiss on the lips, grinning right after "See you in a few minutes!"

With that, he left.

'Charming bastard..." You thought as you watched him go, lips still tingling from his kiss.

[...]

You tried to wait for Camilo to come back but got bored after a few minutes. He did give you permission to dance with other people, and you were doing that before anyway, so you were sure he wouldn't mind.

The dance floor (that was actually just the main room of the house) was considerably fuller now that people started drinking, but you still had enough space to dance. Your current partner was Daniela, your sweet next-door neighbor. It was actually her mother that taught you how to dance along with some of the other kids in your street, so you were very comfortable dancing with each other.

You were facing each other to be able to talk better, one of your hands on her waist and the other on her hand. You spoke about your plans for the year, how your relationship was going, did some casual gossip because why not, when suddenly someone ran into her from behind. She fell forward, and your natural instinct was to try to hold her so she wouldn't fall. This, unfortunately for the two of you, ended up causing something quite awkward: your lips on hers.

It was very, very quick, but felt weird nonetheless. You hadn't really kissed anyone other than Camilo, but did this even count when it was on accident?

You stared at each other for a few seconds after separating. She was slowly becoming red like a tomato (and your face felt very hot as well, so Lord knows what you looked like), but both ended up laughing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't- someone ran into me-" She tried to explain, but you just shook your head and put your hand on her shoulder with a smile.

"I get it, it's fine, I noticed. Still wanna dance?"

She nodded positively and you went back to doing what you were before, not giving the event much thought.

[...]

A few more minutes passed, and still not a trace of Camilo. You weren't worried before, but now you were. Did something happen?

"Parce... I'm gonna go look for Camilo. He's been gone for a while, I'm worried." You announced and stopped dancing.

"Alright! See you later, (Y/n)! Tell him I said hi." She said.

"Will do!" You waved, then left.

You looked around the entire house and still couldn't find your boyfriend. Now you were really worried. It felt a bit irrational since it was Pepa who had left with him, so surely she would keep him safe. But what if something happened to the two of them, then?

Before your paranoid thoughts could get to you, you managed to find Dolores, who looked around as if looking for someone while holding a cup of juice.

"Hey, Dolores!" You greeted and she jumped before looking at you. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Have you seen Camilo around? I can't find him anywhere!"

"Oh, he's mad at you because you kissed Daniela." She explained, then widened her eyes and squeaked when she noticed what she just said. "I mean, no."

Your chest tightened when you heard what she said. So he thought you cheated on him?

"He saw that? But it was an accident! I don't-"

"I tried to tell him, but he didn't want to listen." She shrugged.

You didn't know how to feel about how Dolores was apparently listening to you and Daniela talk for her to have managed to catch that part, but didn't give it much thought. You were more worried about Camilo as of now.

"Where is he?"

She looked around with just her eyes, then replied.

"His bedroom. You should go, he's very upset."

You didn't wait a second before you left, quickly making your way to your boyfriend's room. Even though it wasn't really your fault, you still felt extremely guilty. This day was supposed to be one of fun and parties, not sadness! You weren't even sure he would believe you when you told him what had actually happened, but the thought of him breaking up with you because of that gave upset you too much, so you chose to think about it.

When you got to the glowing door of his bedroom, you knocked a few times, hands shaking a little from the built-up anxiety. You hoped he wasn't THAT hurt.

"Camilo, it's (Y/n)!" You said. "We need to talk!"

You couldn't hear anything behind the door for a while, but it suddenly just opened, revealing none other than Camilo. His eyes were red and puffy and he was still wearing what he wore at the party, though a little crumpled and with some small bits of dust that probably came from a blanket.

You could have cried at the sight, especially with this misunderstanding being the cause of it, but before you could say anything Camilo started talking.

"There's nothing to talk about!" he exclaimed angrily and sniffled, tears starting to fall from his eyes. "Y-you kissed her while I was gone! I trusted you! I thought..."

"No, no, mi vida! It's nothing like that!" you interrupted before he could go on, determined to avoid any further misunderstandings. "Someone pushed her on accident and she fell, I tried to catch her and, well, that's what you saw! I didn't say anything because, to us, it didn't mean anything! It was an accident! She has her boyfriend and I have you, and I would never want to kiss anyone else! I'm so, so, so sorry..."

Camilo stared at you silently as his tears came to a halt. He sniffled and dried his eyes with his hands before speaking again.

"So... You still love me?"

"Of course I do! I love you more than anything, amor!" your face got warmer after saying that. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything, I just didn't think it was that big of a deal, but I should have-"

Before you could keep going, Camilo hugged you so fast you didn't even see it coming. You returned the gesture and wrapped your arms gently around his figure, softly caressing his back as you did.

"... Mi hermana tried to say that to me, I think, but I didn't really listen... I'm, uh, sorry." He said. The words were a bit muffled since his face was pressed against your neck, but they were still understandable.

You let out a relaxed sigh, then giggled and placed a sweet kiss on his forehead.

"It's fine, she told me. I'm just glad you're not sad anymore... Unless you still are?" You pulled away and looked at him with a worried expression.

He pulled you back and shook his head.

"No, no! I'm glad I was wrong! I'm sorry for having jumped to conclusions so quickly-"

"But it was perfectly reasonable for you to get upset about that, I-"

"Ey, ey!" he interrupted as he pulled away, placing both hands on your shoulders. "What if, instead of infinitely apologizing to each other, we went back to having some fun?"

You laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds better. Wanna go back to the party?"

"Actually," Camilo replied with a mischievous grin "I had something else in mind." He walked a few steps back and looked at the inside of his bedroom, then at you again. "Wanna come in?"

You only raised an eyebrow and complied, following him into the room.

[...]

The idea turned out to be surprisingly mild. You were laying down comfortably on Camilo's bed, with your arms wrapped around him as you watched some telenovela his tío, Bruno, had recommended to him.

"But... Wasn't she his tía or something?" You asked, confused.

"Amor, are you even watching?" Camilo huffed in an annoyed manner but didn't bother looking up at you. "Yes, she is! But she doesn't remember that, she has amnesia! That's like, the whole point!" He said as he gestured at the screen.

"Perdón, perdón. I'm just busy looking at something else." You said, staring lovingly at him.

He turned his head towards you in curiosity, staring blankly for a few minutes before becoming almost as red as a tomato.

"Eres ridículo, (Y/n)." He laughed and gave you a quick kiss on the lips, then went back to watching the TV.

"What can I say? I love you! And you're very, very pretty."

"He, I love you too. Now pay attention to the telenovela or I swear I'll make you watch it all again!"

You both ended up falling asleep together while watching television. It wasn't exactly what you had in mind for the new year, but waking up in the morning with him still in your arms was certainly more than you could have asked for.

#encanto x male reader #camilo madrigal x male reader #encanto x reader #camilo madrigal x reader #camilo madrigal x y/n #encanto fanfic #requests open

167 notes · View notes

nordschleifes · 6 months

Text

chapter seven — el perdedor

➝ when that fateful day in montreal is repeated in belgium, charlie is sure that the fairy tale with fernando has come to an end. she just didn't expect that she hadn't been the biggest loser that afternoon.

➝ word count: 7,3k

➝ warnings: fight, cursing, bribery, an angry cat, smut

➝ author's note: tagging @christianpulisic10, @alonsogirlie and @enaticosencantados as requested.

Sitting inside the plane, tears were streaming down Charlie's cheeks. She was trying not to cry in earnest in fear of disturbing the two other passengers beside her, a man dozing against the window and a woman in the middle seat who was immersed in the movie. But, she wanted to. She needed to. She needed to get all the frustration and anger consuming her out.

She needed to do something other than ruminate on the fact that the fairy tale of just over two months between her and Fernando was over, ending in the worst possible way.

Fernando had just come off of an incredible streak, one that not even the most optimistic of his fans could have imagined. After the unsatisfactory race in Barcelona, he was fully motivated to get back onto the podium in Montreal.

— It was like I said yesterday, that was our last race off the podium, nena — Fernando had murmured to her, the morning before the first free practice of the weekend, while they were still in bed together.

Driven by that desire to turn the tables, the two agreed to use a more aggressive setup than Lance's. However, against Max Verstappen's practically unstoppable RB19, they needed much more than a good strategy and a perfectly tuned car.

They needed luck.

— Is Max in trouble? — asked Fernando, a few laps after his first stop, during the safety car caused by George Russell. At that point they were in second place, more concerned with fending off Lewis Hamilton than chasing the championship leader through the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

— He hasn’t reported anything, why?

— He’s braking too early in the turns.

— Understood, I'll check — she said as her eyes scanned the telemetry charts, comparing the two drivers' lines and noticing that Max's braking line was longer and smoother than Fernando's. “Something's wrong”, Charlie kept repeating to herself, as he watched the lap times continue to fall, lap after lap.

Then, Charlie got a message from Max, in a way. The engineers at the race support room in Silverstone informed her that he had complained of overheating brakes and had been advised by the team to cool them. After a brief conversation with them about what to do and the possibility of Max retiring, she opened the radio channel with Fernando.

— Max has problems with his brakes. Difference dropping one second per lap. It's time to attack, Fer.

— Copy — he replied.

Watching him chase the RB19 around the track like a predator was fascinating to Charlie. The way he found the tenths of a second in each curve, passing within what seemed like millimeters of the Armco barriers sent a shiver through her body. It was sensual, wild, a kind of dance.

— You have DRS available — she said, as soon as she saw the three letters light up on the screen, an indication that Fernando had closed the gap enough. The closest he'd been all season.

And then, at the hairpin, when Max braked, his wheel locked. Losing the apex of the corner, he headed towards the gravel trap, opening the door for Fernando to pass and take the lead on the Casino Straight.

— Yes! C’mon! — he said into the radio, as Charlie took a deep breath, trying to contain herself as much as the garage cheered effusively. She had to concentrate on helping him build up a lead over Lewis, while Verstappen struggled with his own car before pitting and retiring.

When the dark green car crossed the finish line, she felt like she was on cloud nine. On the other side of the radio, Fernando roared in celebration, as if he was letting off the pressure of ten years without a win in Formula 1. All those years of frustration, doubts and challenges in other categories, in search of that feeling, that moment, those seconds when the work had finally come to fruition.

It was a mission accomplished. The plan had finally worked.

Meeting him after the race, drenched in sweat and champagne, was another thrill. The effort not to kiss him right there in the pit lane, in front of the world, was overwhelming, despite him not making an attempt to hide his delight at seeing her. He hastily shoved the first place trophy in the hands of his press officer to run towards her, picking Charlie up and twirling around with her in his arms.

— Thank you, thank you, thank you — Fernando repeated in her ear, while she laughed, tears streaming down her cheeks — Thank you so much.

— I have to thank you — Charlie said softly as he set her down on the ground — You're amazing, Fer.

— And you're beyond amazing, nena — he replied, before hugging her again, the champagne that was still on his overalls soaking into the front of her uniform polo, leaving a damp spot.

Two more wins followed, one in England and one in Hungary. At both races, the feeling of seeing him happy and on top of the podium was sublime for Charlie, not just because she'd done her job well and helped him achieve his goals for the weekend. It was the smile on Fernando's face, the pride in his eyes when he heard the notes of the Spanish anthem, the way he hugged her when he finally saw her in the pit lane each time.

And just when everything seemed perfect, everything fell apart.

Sunday's race at Spa, the last before the summer break, had been a replay of that catastrophic afternoon in Canada when they were both at McLaren. When Charlie heard Raúl tell her that there was a problem with the fuel consumption, a pit formed in her stomach.

This couldn't be happening again. It couldn't. She didn't deserve this, Fernando didn't deserve this, especially not when they were so close.

— The injection system is feeding the power unit erratically, consumption is above normal — the performance engineer said, pointing to the screen where the graphics foreshadowed the impending disaster.

Charlie felt her heart pounding in her chest.

— Is there anything we can do?

— At that point, all we can do is retire the car to see if we can save something from this power unit.

— Is that coming from mission control? — she asked, trying to buy herself some time to try to put into action some breathing exercise Hannah had taught her.

— Yes, and Mike already gave the okay.

Heaving a sigh, Charlie pressed the button next to Fernando's name.

— Fer, we have a problem that we can’t resolve. We're going to have to retire the car — she said, as she braced herself for a catastrophic response. An outburst of curses or worse, him fighting with her over the radio. “Please, Fernando”, she begged mentally, while he remained silent, seeming to process the information that his race was over.

— Understood — the driver muttered.

As soon as the car pulled up in front of the garage, Charlie took off her headphones and left them on top of the pit wall. She was beside herself with sadness and dread. She tried to assure herself that the team made the best decision for their championship ambitions, she couldn't help but think of how frustrated Fernando would be about it.

At that moment, it was killing her.

She watched as he climbed out of the car and handed Mikey, his mechanic, his HANS device, and walked toward the back of the garage without even taking his helmet off. Charlie ran after him, crossing the pit lane to try to catch up.

— Fernando! — she exclaimed, as he walked towards the paddock — Wait, Fernando.

However, Fernando continued to ignore her, making no effort to take his helmet off as he walked into the Aston Martin motorhome. The guest area was full, and all eyes were fixed on him, then on her. "I must look like an idiot", Charlie thought to herself, as she climbed the stairs.

She was out of breath by the time she reached the door of Fernando’s drivers room, but the door was open. She could see that he’d finally taken off his helmet and balaclava, his hair damp with sweat and sticking up at odd angles.

— Fer...

— What? — he asked gruffly, as he unzipped his overalls, revealing his black fireproofs.

— I'm sorry — Charlie said quietly.

The driver stared at her, not seeming to believe what she was saying.

— You’re sorry? Do you think that being sorry is of any use?

She blinked, stunned.

— I…

— Your sorry does me no good, because, in the end, I'm not on the track. I'm not doing what I love to do!

— I know…

— Why didn’t you let me stay out? — Fernando exclaimed, taking a step forward — Why didn't you ask me if I could continue?

— The car wouldn't have made it to the flag — Charlie stammered, her hands feeling clammy and cold.

— I could have figured it out, I could have.

— There was an issue with the fuel injection system, there was no way to keep going without severely damaging the rest of the power unit...

— Of course, for you there's never a way to keep going. The solution for you is to always accept the circumstances and do nothing.

— I never said we shouldn't do anything — she snapped.

— But you accepted that there was no resolution instead of talking to me and analyzing the alternatives.

— Do you think there's time to debate options in the middle of a race? Especially with you going 300km/h?

— It’s better than taking whatever shit life throws at you! You've been doing that since your McLaren days, haven’t you?

— Fernando, we don't need to talk...

— Actually, we don't need to — he said, cutting her off — You know I'm right. You know you’d been content for too long with that shitty team, with that fucking engine, and now that you have a chance to fight for more, you give up, just like you’re back there.

Charlie swallowed hard. Fernando didn’t know it, but by the end of her time at McLaren, she felt like she had stayed with the team far longer than she should have. Her working environment there was chaotic, made worse by the issues with the Honda and Renault engines, and the team’s inability to be competitive. But McLaren had taken her on fresh out of university and gave her a career in Formula 1, so she felt obligated to stay out of gratitude, even as things deteriorated season after season.

— You know why I was there so long...

— You stayed for the worst reason possible — he exclaimed — Staying only because your grandfather only likes English teams, that's ridiculous!

— He has his reasons...

— Stupid reasons that had you stick with a shitty, uncompetitive team when you could’ve moved on to bigger and better things! — Fernando shouted.

— Why does it matter? — Charlie said, raising her voice to match.

— It matters because you keep acting like you still work for McLaren and that all you can do is just give up!

The rational part of Charlie begged her to turn her back and leave Fernando talking to the walls, to leave him to take out his own frustration with the awful afternoon he'd had. However, she couldn’t help but stand there.

— What do you mean by that?

— You keep acting like a fucking loser!

His words landed like a punch to the gut.

— A loser? — she murmured, feeling her throat tighten and her lower lip quiver.

— Yes, that’s what I said. Are you deaf?

— Fernando…

— Charlotte, just get out of here and leave me in peace.

She thought of thousands of things to say at that moment. However, all Charlie could think to do was to leave the room. She walked to the engineers' office to pick up her backpack, feeling disoriented. “I have to go, I have to get out of here”, she thought, as she walked out of the motorhome, down the paddock, straight through the exit turnstiles, all without pause.

While waiting for the Uber, Charlie sent a quick message to Raúl, making up an excuse for having to leave before debriefing with Fernando. The last thing she needed was for him to say even worse things in front of everyone else.

In less than three hours, she was flying back to England without a second thought. There was no reason for it. It was all over.

— Miss? — someone said, touching her shoulder as she stared out the window. Charlie startled a bit before turning her head to see that there was a flight attendant standing in the aisle, a worried expression on her face — Do you need anything?

She hesitated for a few seconds, her mind searching for something plausible to say.

— No, I’m okay.

— Are you sure?

— Yeah, it's just something in my eye — Charlie lied, rubbing at her eyes in an effort to cover for herself.

— Well, if you need anything, we're here for you.

— Thanks — she replied, giving a sheepish smile.

After landing, Charlie drove to her grandparents' house to pick up Ron. Her grandparents always watched Charlie’s cat while she was out of town. As she put the cat’s carrier in the back seat, Amanda asked about her puffy eyes and red nose, irritated from rubbing it on the sleeve of her team sweatshirt.

— I'm fine, grandma, don't worry — Charlie said, as she sat in the driver's seat, forcing a smile.

If only she believed what she was saying.

Returning to her empty apartment was dismal. It was the start of summer break for Charlie. For the next four weeks, there would be no Formula 1, no traveling, no simulations to analyze, no videos to watch, no plans to make.

In a way, it was a good thing, as it would give Charlie the time and attention to focus on other things. She was determined to use the break wisely. She had a bookcase to assemble after buying it for her office over three months ago. There was a faucet in her kitchen that was leaking and needed to be fixed. She needed to organize her vinyl record collection after dismantling it to find one specific record to show Fernando during a video call — one of what seemed like hundreds that they’d had over the past few months.

“Forget about him”, Charlie told herself, shaking her head in order to physically push the thought away. He was part of the past, a reminder of something that no longer existed. The Fernando of the past few months was just a ruse. The real Fernando was the guy she’d known for so long. The real Fernando was the two-time world champion, demanding and uncompromising, who said and did what he wanted without regard for how his actions affected other people. The Fernando that she’d come to like was just in Charlie’s imagination, he never really existed, not even in her dreams.

"Was it all just a lie?", she asked herself, as she laid down on the bed with Ron purring at her feet.

She fell asleep with that question on her mind.

The first week of the summer break was tedious. Charlie busied herself with household chores, trips to the factory, and visits to her grandparents, not allowing herself a moment to think. It was intentional — she wanted to distract herself and not allow herself to imagine what it would be like to spend her summer break in Switzerland, especially not at a particular villa in Lugano.

But the second week was torture. With the factory on lockdown and a mandated restriction on the work she could do, her avenues for distraction were limited. She’d accomplished all of the chores around the house she’d wanted to do, as well. With no reason to leave the house, she found herself trapped in a cycle that consisted of drinking wine, watching LOST and feeling frustrated every time her cell phone’s screen lit up and it wasn’t Fernando.

After what had happened at Spa, she hadn't received any calls or texts from him. In fact, it was as if he had disappeared entirely, as not even his Instagram had been updated after the race. Charlie didn't want to admit it, but the lack of updates made her more anxious. She couldn’t even find recent photos from fans that had him tagged. What kind of Formula 1 driver was he to not post a single photo of his summer vacation?

That was the question she asked herself on Saturday night, when the doorbell to her flat rang.

— I’m coming, calm down — Charlie yelled, as she set her glass of wine on the coffee table and extricated herself from her sofa. She’d been lying on it with Ron on her chest for the last few hours, watching something mindless on television. It was strange for someone to ring her doorbell, and her first thought as she opened the door was that it would be Rita, her elderly neighbor, asking for her help with something.

But, it wasn’t Rita.

Standing in the doorway, wearing a black T-shirt, looking forlorn with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, was Fernando. However, it wasn't the clothes or the messy hair that caught Charlie's attention. It was the sadness present in his eyes.

— Good evening — he said softly.

— What are you doing here? — Charlie asked, her voice as dry and unimpressed as she could make it.

— I came to see you.

She snorted.

— As far as I last knew, you said you didn't want to see me anymore.

The driver let out a heavy sigh.

— Can we talk?

— We're already talking.

— Somewhere more private, I mean.

Charlie pursed her lips. Her neighbors definitely didn't need to see her arguing with Fernando Alonso in the hallway. She stepped aside and gestured for her to come in. He couldn't help but smile as he walked past her, into the living room of her flat.

Closing the door, Charlie took a deep breath before turning towards him. The driver was standing in the middle of the living room, looking around curiously. Seeing him in her flat gave her an odd feeling, until she realized something.

That was the first time he’d been to her flat.

— How did you find my address? — she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

— I spoke with HR — Fernando replied with a smile.

— And they gave you my address without saying anything?

— Of course not. They told me they couldn't hand over sensitive information about another employee, even someone who works closely with me. I tried to argue that I needed your address to send you a birthday gift, but they didn’t buy that.

She blinked.

— My birthday isn’t until October.

— I know.

Charlie hesitated, trying to puzzle out the situation.

— So, how…

— I made a personal appearance in the HR office and had a conversation with an intern. If you want an important tip for life, always have an envelope with you, you never know when you'll need it.

Charlie was shocked.

— You bribed an intern to get my address?

— Bribery is a very strong word, Charlie.

— How else would you describe it?

— I prefer “gratitude for services rendered”.

Running a hand over her face, she couldn't believe what he had done.

— And how much did my address cost?

— Less than Lewis’ mechanics cost me in 2007, that's for sure.

— How much? — Charlie repeated the question, placing a hand on her hip.

— A hundred pounds and an autograph.

She snorted, half outraged, half impressed by his audacity. Charlie couldn't fathom how troublesome that had been. Bribing someone for personal information could lead to serious problems within the company, both for him and the intern. But at the same time that she was pissed off, a part of her was in awe of all that effort on his part.

— What do you want, Fernando?

— I already told you, I wanted to see you.

— Well, if that's all, you’ve seen me, so you can go now.

— Charlie — he murmured, in a sad tone — I want to talk…

— What could we possibly have to talk about, Fernando?

— Charlie, you know what we have to talk about, and that’s what happened in Spa…

She shook her head.

— If you skipped out on your vacation to come to Northampton…

— Charlie...

— Just to complain about your fucking fuel injection system, you can leave right now, because I won't listen to any more of it…

— Fuck, Charlotte, I came to apologize! — he exclaimed, interrupting her.

Charlie felt her heart skip a beat.

— But…

— I came here to apologize to you — he repeated, in a lower tone — I came here to tell you that I was an asshole to you, and I’m sorry. I was upset about what happened at the race, but I shouldn't have any of the things I said to you.

— But you did say those things — she whispered.

— And I regret every word of it — Fernando continued — I regret saying that you act like a loser, I regret saying that your reasons for staying at McLaren were stupid. What I regret most, though, is when I asked you to leave me in peace.

— Why? — Charlie asked, feeling her throat tighten.

— Because it’s been horrible. It hasn’t been peaceful at all. Not having you by my side is the worst thing in the world, Charlotte. If living in peace means not having you with me, I would rather live in hell.

— Fer...

— I'm serious, Charlie — he said, stepping forward — I don't want you to leave me in peace. I want you to make every second of my life hell. Make my life an eternal torture if you need to. Please, make my life hell.

Her eyes burned with tears.

— I accept everything you do to me if it means I find heaven on your lips — Fernando whispered, his eyes wet — Torture me, destroy me. But please, don't leave me, Charlotte. Don't leave me alone. Because that is the real hell.

Charlie's lower lip quivered as her chest filled with a familiar, overwhelming warmth. Leaving Spa like she had had been horrible, almost as if she was leaving her own heart behind, and she’d found out the hard way that it was exactly what she’d done.

When she turned and left Fernando’s driver room, she’d left her heart with him.

— Come here, dickhead — she finally said, opening her arms.

Fernando stepped towards her, enveloping her in a tight embrace. With her head nestled against his neck, Charlie closed her eyes and allowed the tears that had been building to spill down her cheeks onto the fabric of his T-shirt. A few seconds later, he pulled back slightly, looking down at her. His eyes were red, and his cheeks were damp.

— Thank you — he whispered, resting his forehead on hers.

— For what? — she asked quietly.

— For not giving up on me.

She smiled as she brought a hand to his face, gently cupping his cheek.

— If I didn't give up on you even when you were the biggest asshole in the world, I wouldn't give up on you now.

Giggling, he moved closer to Charlie's face, kissing her gently. The taste of their tears mingled with the taste of the wine she had been drinking. After a few seconds, the driver pulled her face away slightly, his nose brushing her skin.

— Mi cielo. Mi paz. Mi luz — he murmured, pecking her lightly between the words.

Charlie couldn’t understand what his words meant, but hearing them in his delicious accent were enough to make her melt in his arms and kiss him even harder. As she felt Fernando's hands sliding down her back towards her ass, something inside her started to burn, her skin tingling.

She needed more than hugs or kisses.

She needed to fuck him.

Tugging on the front of his shirt, Charlie started to lead him through the corridors of her flat towards her bedroom. They stumbled on the way, unable to keep their hands off each other, divesting each other of their clothes as they walked. It would be almost funny to an outside observer, with arms getting trapped in t-shirts, a lock of Charlie’s hair ending up in Fernando’s mouth in the chaos, the stumbling and grasping and groping at the wall to find the bedroom lightswitch. However, as soon as Charlie felt the edge of her mattress behind her legs, a wave of warmth ran over her skin.

— Mi nena — Fernando purred as he placed her on the bed, his teeth grazing her neck — Te extrañé tanto, mi cielo.

— Fuck, Fer — Charlie grumbled, bringing her hands up to his shoulders, nails digging lightly into his skin.

And then, a loud hiss made Fernando yelp and stand up, looking startled at something above Charlie’s head. Following his gaze, she realized they weren't alone in the room. Standing on Charlie’s pillow with his back arched, fur standing on end, and ears back, was Ron.

— I think someone isn't happy that we interrupted his nap — the driver said to her, with a smile. Then, he stretched out his hand towards the cat — Hello…

However, if he expected the cat to sniff his hand in greeting, he was wrong. Ron gave Fernando a warning growl, even louder than before, before swiping at his hand with his front paw. Charlie pushed Fernando off of her and stood up.

— No, Ron, not like that! — she said, scolding the cat as she picked him up and set him on the floor — Be nice! We’ve already talked about this.

As she watched the orange cat bolt from her bedroom, Charlie ran a hand over her face. She had forgotten about Ron’s tendency to nap on her bed. She was embarrassed, but at the same time, she certainly didn’t blame the cat. He had been snoozing peacefully in the dark before being so rudely interrupted by the presence of a stranger, after all.

— Ron, huh? — she heard from behind her. When she turned around, she found Fernando sitting on the bed, a mischievous smile on his face — I guess I know your cat’s name now.

— Yeah, that’s Ron — Charlie replied.

— I didn't know you were a Harry Potter fan.

She blinked.

— I’m not… Not really.

The driver raised an eyebrow.

— But Ron is one of the characters, right? With red hair? I remember watching one of the movies with my nieces.

— I think so, but his name isn't Ron after Ron from Harry Potter.

— Where is his name from, then?

— Ron Dennis — she replied.

Fernando’s face fell.

— Are you joking?

— No, he's named after Ron Dennis.

Fernando laughed, incredulous.

— Did you name your cat after the guy who hates me?

— Yeah — Charlie said, closing the bedroom door.

— Charlotte! — the driver exclaimed.

— What? — she replied, with her hand on the doorknob — Are you bothered by my cat’s name?

— Of course, you named him after someone that hates me!

— Why do you think I chose that name?

Fernando blinked, looking shocked.

— Do you hate me? — he asked softly.

Charlie snorted, before stripping off the cotton bralette and shorts she was wearing, along with her panties. Then, placing her hands on her hips, she glared at him.

— Does it seem like I hate you?

Fernando was staring at her, his mouth open for a reply that seemed to get lost on the way to his lips. His pupils dilated as he took in every detail of her body, almost like he was trying to memorize details he’d seen dozens of times, from the fair and soft skin from her belly to the tattoo in her ribs of a V10 engine.

Charlie walked towards him, stopping in the space between his legs.

— I asked you a question — she said, her voice hard and serious.

— What was it again? — he mumbled, his eyes fixed on her breasts.

Charlie shook her head before touching her fingers to Fernando’s chin, gently tipping his head up to bring his gaze to hers.

— Does it seem like I hate you?

— No.

— Because I don't — she said softly, her fingers stroking his cheek — On the contrary. I quite like you, Fer.

Leaning on his shoulders, Charlie straddled Fernando's lap, her knees pressed against the mattress. The closeness of his skin to hers made her shiver, a mixture of excitement and anticipation that made something tingle just below her navel.

— Nena — the driver murmured, his hands drifting down to her ass, giving it a gentle squeeze.

— I like you quite a bit, my dear — Charlie continued, as she felt his beard brush against her skin as he buried his face in her neck — And my cat's name doesn't mean anything anymore.

— Mi cielo — Fernando whispered, before bringing his hands to her cheeks and slowly lying down on the bed. Then he kissed her slowly, his tongue patiently exploring her mouth, as if their week apart had dulled his memory of what she felt like, and he wanted to remember every inch of her again.

Pulling away slightly, Charlie unbuttoned Fernando’s jeans. With a laugh, she pulled them down with his underwear. Fernando smiled as his erection was revealed.

— Do you have a condom, or do I have to go to the car and get one?

She rolled her eyes as she positioned herself on top of him.

— Only if you go downstairs like that.

— Like that?

— Naked — Charlie said, with a smirk — It would be fun to see.

— Do you think your neighbors would appreciate it? — he asked, his fingers pressing into her hips as she brought her hand to his cock and pumped it a few times.

— My neighbors include a gay couple and an elderly widow. The sight of a handsome man like you walking naked down the hall would probably be pretty exciting — she replied, bringing her face closer to his — But, I don't think we need a condom today.

— Don't you want to see me running to the car naked?

— I don't want them to see you naked — Charlie said, towering over him — That's for my eyes only.

Pulling her hips down onto his, Fernando let out a growl as he penetrated her, while Charlie let out a long sigh, the pleasure coursing through her body like a warm wave. They had already had sex dozens of times, in many places and positions, but the first few seconds always felt like the first time they became intimate on that night in Imola, like settling into a warm bath.

— All good? — he asked through clenched teeth.

— Yeah, my dear. And you?

— Yeah, just — Fernando stopped moving for a moment, seemingly to try and catch his breath — You're going to drive me crazy, nena.

Charlie chuckled.

— We’ll see — she replied, moving her hips slowly, gasping softly as she felt his cock brush against a specific spot inside her.

It didn't take long for them to find a rhythm that they both liked, with Charlie resting one hand just above the tattoo on his abdomen to steady herself. The sound of their bodies colliding mingled with their sighs and moans, as well as her wetness, which was already forming a shiny layer on his cock.

— Fuck — Fernando groaned, his hands making their way up her stomach until he could cup her breasts. The way he was touching her, with his rough fingers massaging her sensitive nipples, made heat course through Charlie's body in ever-increasing waves.

— Yes, Fer, yes — she moaned, tightening her hold on his hip, rubbing her own clit against his pubic bone. Charlie felt as if she were in limbo between agony and ecstasy, her muscles tensing as she chased her release. It was tantalizingly close, but still too far away.

Suddenly, Fernando decided to take matters into his own hands. He planted his feet on the mattress for maximum leverage, gripped Charlie's waist tightly and began to thrust, angling his hips so Charlie canted forward a bit, giving her more friction where she wanted it. The sudden change in pace had her letting out a loud moan, her nails digging into his arms.

— You're going to come… For me… Mi cielo ? — he asked through gritted teeth, his fingers pressing into her skin harder with each thrust. The driver seemed to be clinging to the little self-control left in his body to get her closer to her orgasm.

— I… Yes, fuck, yes!

— Then… Come — he growled, practically as an order.

And then, Charlie came undone.

Pressing her knees against his ribs, she felt her body become seized by the tension before relaxing, the pleasure coursing through her like an overwhelming tsunami. Beneath her, Fernando gave a few definitive thrusts, his voice strained as he called Charlie by her full name as he released himself, deliciously hot, inside her. Still shaking, she collapsed on top of him, her eyes half-closed and her heart racing in her chest.

They stayed in that position for what seemed like an eternity. There was no reason to move when she felt complete, with Fernando inside her, hot and pulsing as he gradually softened. There was no reason to move, not when she was enjoying being back where she should have been all along, where she always wanted to be.

— Are you okay, nena ? — Charlie heard Fernando whisper below her. Cocking her head, she found him looking at her with a tired little smile on her face.

— I’m wonderful. And you?

— I'm great, actually.

— Good — she replied softly, smiling.

A few seconds of silence followed, the two gazing at each other as if neither of them knew what to say. For Charlie, there weren’t words that felt adequate enough to describe what she was feeling. That almost unbearable feeling of joy and desire and satisfaction that filled her chest and made her want to laugh and cry at the same time.

— I missed you — Fernando whispered, caressing Charlie’s cheek with his fingers.

— I missed you too — she said, smiling. Fernando smiled, bringing his lips to hers and kissing her gently, one hand sliding down her back, resting against the base of her spine in a gesture that felt equally affectionate and protective. It was a simple contact, but it felt so intimate that it made Charlie wish that time would stop, so that they never had to leave.

However, it was not to be.

The sound of Ron meowing and scratching at the bedroom door made her let out a long, frustrated sigh.

— I think someone isn't happy — Fernando muttered.

— He must be hungry — Charlie replied, snuggling his head on the driver's chest, trying to enjoy every last moment she could with him — This is normally when I feed him.

— Do you want to get up?

— No, but I need to get up. If I don’t, he will whine all night.

He placed a kiss on her forehead.

— Stay here, I'll get you something to clean you up — Fernando said, as he put her on the mattress and finally got out of Charlie's body. The empty feeling had her pressing her thighs together, trying to push away the discomfort.

— You can get one of the flannels from the bathroom — she instructed as watched him get out of bed.

— Where is that? — he asked, his eyes scanning the room, doubtlessly searching for his underwear.

— Second door on the left — Charlie replied, stifling a laugh when she realized he had a hand on his own cock — And you don't have to hide your dick here.

Fernando looked over his shoulder at her, a sly smile on his face.

— You're a naughty little thing, you know that? — he said, before taking his hand away and stepping out of the room. As Fernando disappeared into the hallway, Charlie saw Ron slip inside and jump onto the mattress. He sat at the edge of the bed, watching Charlie carefully.

He gave her a meow that sounded like a whine.

— Oh, my love — Charlie murmured, reaching out her hand to scratch his tufted ears. He backed away a little, before leaning his head closer and sniffing her fingers, which probably smelled like a Formula 1 driver to Ron. However, the cat soon relented, pressing his head into her hand — I'm going to feed you, okay? Just wait a little bit.

Fernando returned to the bedroom, already in his underwear and with a damp flannel in his hand. With a small smile, he sat on the edge of the bed, close to her legs. His presence made Ron hiss as the tip of his fluffy tail twitched angrily.

— No, Ron — Charlie scolded him again while scratching under his chin — No fighting with Fernando, he's my friend.

— Friend? — he asked, raising an eyebrow at her, resting a hand on one of her knees.

— Yeah, friend. My friend.

— Just your friend?

— Yes, is there a problem with that?

— No, Charlotte — Fernando replied, gently swiping the damp fabric over her labia — I just wonder if you let all your friends clean your pussy after having sex with you.

— Well, do you let all your friends ride your cock, Fernando? — Charlie asked, mimicking his sarcasm.

He chuckled, pulling his hand away from between her legs.

— Not all of them — the driver said, causing her to raise an eyebrow — Only one, actually. The prettiest one.

— Do I know her? — she asked, sitting up in bed.

— Yes, you see her every day in the mirror — Fernando replied, giving one of those smiles that made Charlie's heart melt — I'll take this to the laundry basket. Do you need anything?

— No, I’m fine. I need to get up and feed Ron.

— Want your clothes?

— I'll get something from the closet — she said, as she got up from the bed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. However, before going to the wardrobe, Charlie felt one of Fernando's hands slide around her waist, stopping her for a few seconds. When she turned her face, she found him staring at her with a goofy smile on his face.

— You're beautiful — he murmured.

— You already said that.

— I don't mind repeating myself.

— And I don’t mind hearing you repeat yourself.

— You’re beautiful. The most beautiful woman in the world.

She gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before walking to her dresser, grabbing the first clothes she saw. Afterwards, she walked to the kitchen, Ron following after on her heels. She put a scoop of kibble in Ron’s bowl and crouched next to him, encouraging to eat, but watching his owner interact with the interloper seemed to make Ron lose his appetite. After a few minutes, though, he started picking at the food in the wide, flat dish, his head shaking as he crunched.

— Good boy. Now, it’s time to go to bed — she said, after Ron had seemingly eaten his fill. She walked back to the bedroom with Ron following after her again, jumping up to his usual spot next to Charlie’s pillow. However, upon seeing Fernando lying on the bed again, Ron hissed and left the room. "I'll sort this out tomorrow", Charlie thought to herself. Charlie laid down next to Fernando, and he threw his arm around her waist, pulling her body closer to his.

— Good night, nena — Fernando whispered, kissing her neck.

— Good night, Fer.

The sun was shyly peeking through the crack in the curtain when Charlie woke up the next day. Stretching a hand across the sheets, she found it strange that they were cold. As she opened her eyes, trying to clear the remnants of sleep from her vision, she found that she’d woken up alone. She was a little puzzled, but went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.

The silence inside the apartment was unsettling, especially with the knowledge that she’d fallen asleep in someone’s arms, and that someone was nowhere to be seen. However, as soon as Charlie entered the living room, she felt her heart warm.

Fernando was sitting in an armchair near the sliding door that led to her flat’s balcony. His face was illuminated by the sun’s rays that managed to break through the cloudy Northampton summer sky. His eyes were closed and his head was tipped back, and he seemed to be in his own world. As she got closer, Charlie noticed that Fernando was chewing on something.

The grumbling of an irritable cat made Fernando open his eyes and look down to his feet. Ron hissed at him again, clearly disturbed by Fernando’s presence, but too stubborn to actually move. After years of being the only male in the household, he clearly felt threatened by the arrival of another, especially one who stole his owner’s attention and affection. Fernando just smiled at the ginger-colored instigator.

— I didn’t think cats liked peaches — he murmured, taking another bite of fruit, the juice running down his chin, some of it getting caught in his beard. He swiped at the edges of his mouth with his fingers as the remnants made them glisten in the sunlight.

Charlie watched without saying anything, and felt something tingling below her navel, and felt her heart racing a little. The shine on his lips reminded her of the times when Fernando had laid her in bed and taken her to her climax with his mouth. The memory of him between her legs, his eyes locked on hers as he pleasured her with his tongue made her melt.

It was then, seeing Fernando looking so comfortable in her flat, remembering their nights together, that made her realize just how much she had missed him.

Charlie had missed their stolen kisses and touches, the words murmured with desire in her ear. She had missed his stubble brushing the inside of her thighs, his tongue and fingers circling her clit, the satisfied sounds he made when he felt her pull at his hair.

Charlie walked quietly toward the balcony door, watching as Fernando took another bite of the peach. Then, as he chewed, he turned his face to her, giving her a small smile.

— Good morning, nena — he murmured, his mouth still full.

Without saying anything, Charlie eased herself into his lap, wrapping one of her arms around the back of his neck. Then she brought the thumb of her free hand to his chin, wiping away the juice and fruit pulp caught in his beard and bringing it to her mouth, savoring the sweet notes of fruit on her tongue.

However, nothing was sweeter than the way Fernando looked at her.

— Good morning — Charlie said, before kissing him slowly and deeply, enjoying the taste of fruit on his lips. It was sensual, almost erotic, and unlike anything she’d ever done. But she felt comfortable like this, like it was just part of their daily routine.

Pulling her face away from his, she nestled her head into the crook of his neck, eyes closed against the sunlight. "This is heaven", Charlie thought, as she felt Fernando caress her arm.

— Have you been up long?

— About 20 minutes, I think. Ron woke me up.

Charlie cocked her head toward Ron.

— He did?

— He climbed on top of me and stared at me for a while. When I tried to pet him, he started grumbling.

She sighed, looking down at the cat. Charlie felt bad for not taking their introduction more slowly, but there was nothing to be done. It wasn’t like she was expecting Fernando to drop by any time soon.

— Yeah, I don’t think he likes you.

— What a surprise, another Ron that hates me — he muttered.

— Well, unlike the human Ron, this one can be won over.

— How? Do I need to neatly slice up my fruit before eating it in front of him?

— No, we can start with treats. This Ron doesn't care how you eat your peaches.

— The human Ron does.

— Well, that’s just one of his problems — Charlie sneered as she stood up from Fernando’s lap. — You’re familiar with how bribery works, so let’s bribe this cat.

#fa #fernando alonso #f1 fanfic #f1 fic #fernando alonso fic #fernando alonso x oc #fernando alonso fanfic #formula 1 fanfic #formula one fic #formula 1 fic #formula one fanfic #formula one x oc #formula 1 x oc #f1 x oc #nordswrites

48 notes · View notes

phoenix-manga · 4 months

Text

Briar Auroria

CV: Kotobuki Minako

Biographical Information

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Birthday: March 20

Starsign: Pisces

Height: 176 cm

Eye Color: Seagull Blue

Hair Color: Golden Blonde

Professional Status

Dorm: Rosadormienti

School Year: 3rd Year

Class: 3-D | Student no. 1

Occupation: Student | Dorm Leader

Club: Griffin Scout Club

Best Subject: General Magic

Fun Facts

Favorite Food: Berry pana cotta

Least Favorite Food: Sushi

Dislikes: Waking up in unknown places

Hobby: Takinga stroll | Feeding wild animals

Talents: Tapestry weaving

Idol Stats

Performance: Vocals are known for its gentle and alluring tones that can also sing acapella

Choreography: Interpretive dance with flawless movements and complex footwork

Styling Jewel Outfits: Classical | Gothic

Briar is compassionate but can also be a leader type of person. She is skilled in a lot of subjects that it almost looks effortless, she appreciates the praise she gets but in return she also uses her skills to help out other people. She is seen as a person worthy of respect by a lot of people.

Very open-minded and would not shun anyone regardless of their background because she knows how it feels. Her motherly attitude stems from her lack of a mother figure in a portion of her life.

However, she tends to try too hard even if she is exhausted. She tries to be her best for her father and even goes out of her way to try and bond with him a little even if it was fruitless in the end. She tends to be affection-starved and anyone who is close to her can tell, she feels proud when she is given praise.

Briar can maintain her composure even if nobles whisper behind her back, she can very much handle herself by keeping a stoic mask. But there have been times it tends to crumble and she would have a breakdown in her room where no one would hear her.

Hometown: Kingdom of Slumbering Willows

Family Life

Briar’s mother passed away after giving birth, the old lady who was a neighbor of the mother took care of Briar a few days before Roland came and adopted Briar. Briar grew up not knowing the warmth of a parent as the king was always busy and even if he had time, he didn’t want to upset the nobles.

Though he did provide Briar with tutors, servants and expensive gifts but as if that made her feel any better when the tutors and servants who grew up in a certain mindset would talk behind her back or look at her as if she’s done a heinous crime.

It didn’t help that her stepmother and stepbrother often had to scold her for trying to bother the king even though all she wanted was to at least greet him. She was reminded of a cruel social rule amongst the pure blood nobles, “stick to your own kind”.

Ever since, Briar has tried to try and give off the proper royal image to show them that she can be just as good as they claim to be, if her father acknowledges her then they will realize it too.

At first, she tends to stress herself out and didn’t even smile genuinely until the incident that led her to meet the Foxtwill family that she started to at least feel affection for the first time. She then started to hang around the palace less often unless there was an event or ball scheduled.

Briar has gained a good reputation amongst the commoners who are made up of different races. She put all her effort and authority as a royal on improving the lifestyle and economy of the commoners. She at least has this permission and there would be no one who would stop her from doing so as she was still performing her duties.

Childhood Memories

Briar’s most vivid childhood memories in the palace were all sad and lonely. The most painful memory was when she was expecting her father if he would plan a birthday ball for her just like he would for Aurus. However, she wasn’t even greeted a “Happy Birthday”, there was no ball held and even if there was, it wasn’t about Briar.

Though she learned to stop expecting a birthday party for her, it still hurt her feelings every time. That is to say, when she spent her birthday with the Foxtwills during the time when there wasn’t an event at the palace, she decided to go see the Foxtwills who surprised her with a cake and handmade gifts.

She cried that day, out of happiness and sadness. Happy that she had people that care about her but also sad because why couldn’t her father do something this small for her? She would’ve been happy with just a greeting.

Her next memory was when she first met Gula, taking home the egg and eagerly waiting for the day it hatched made her feel a lot of emotions. The moment her eyes looked upon the hatchling’s gaze, she felt like there was a true companion with her and would be loyal to her.

Briar is a 3rd Year Rosadormienti student and is the current dorm leader.

She is known as the strongest student in the whole academy as well as the top student. Many admire her and are inspired to work hard. Briar is always humble and wouldn’t make comments if a student was falling behind on studies, there would be study groups from time to time and the ones with the highest grades would tutor the ones who need the support.

Briar also excels at magical spells, those who competed against DCA were said to feel frustrated that they couldn’t get past Briar’s defense. There were some rumors about her facing off against Malleus Draconia during a magift tournament one time, which was true that the two were powerhouses during the match. Briar only lost because she exhausted herself and Malleus took the opportunity to defeat her team.

On the outside, people praise her for being a top mage in her school but the school knows her as a reliable “Mom” friend who has the tendency to sleep on a lot of weird places. There were times her friends spot her sleeping in places that aren’t supposed to be slept in. No one knows why she ends up there and Briar doesn’t even know either.

School Relationships

Briar used to be a little distant when she attended the school but over time she got close with a handful of students. Such as Evonie, Vidya, Ella and Perrine.

Evonie and Vidya’s confident and strong personalities as well as rivalry were a shock to her. But then they sparked a competitive drive in her and made her feel included. For once, she was allowed to act how she wanted with no one to criticize her.

Ella’s fascination for Briar’s beauty and lineage reminded her of the young Foxtwill children. And Ella always was very sweet to her, it was like the sibling that she wished Aurus was. Yes, even though she envied him, a part of her wished he would at least try to get to know her.

Perrine somehow seemed to see through the mask of regality that Briar wears, she has met a few people who can read her like a book but Perrine was the first to talk to her about it. She told her words that she wanted to hear all this time.

Briar’s relationship with Willow is more on the former seeking guidance in the latter. Willow’s form is from Briar’s need for a voice to tell her that she is enough and she is noticed. Willow feels sad for her charge not being able to have a happy memory with her family.

But as much as she wants to yell an earful in Briar’s father, she can’t because this matter needs to be handled by Briar when the time comes. So, she becomes the conscience that always tells Briar positive things to help her self-esteem.

Gula

Briar has a black dragon named, “Gula”, he was found as an egg when Briar almost went missing during a hunting party for the nobility, not like anyone would care though. She had to beg in front of her father to let her keep it until he reluctantly did so but she had to promise that there won’t be any problems with whatever hatched out of it. Briar kept her word took good care of the egg until it hatched.

Gula became protective of Briar and wouldn’t listen to anyone other than her. His species of dragon is classified as a mix between a toad and a volcanic dragon. It was only until she read a book about dragons that she realized that his species were known for being aggressive and a danger if approached, they also loved to ingest ore due to their stomachs being able to melt even iron.

But Gula is such a baby who would follow her around and scare away the servant who even come a feet closer to them. Briar often kept Gula in her room and fed him quality ore, though bathing was a bit difficult, Gula hates bathing and is the only time he would try to avoid Briar. She thinks he’s such a child for not wanting to bathe.

Gula has the ability to eat rocks and spew them out as green, flaming orbs. He also can lift five times his own weight. He also is surprisingly a fast flyer despite the chubby body.

Lusio

An Arabian horse that Briar purchased at an event once. He is a proud horse who may come off as arrogant at first. He cares a lot about winning and will whine about losing, Briar has to comfort him if they ever lose, which rarely happens. Lusio is skilled in many horse contest categories but he is known for racing the most.

Her unique magic is called, “Three Gifts”. She can use three elements and even combine them for a more powerful spell. Though this would tire her out quite a lot due to her being only a half-blood.

Apart from her UM, she specializes in healing magic and spells that manipulate nature to an extent which is considered an incredible feat. She would have been recognized as one of the top mages if the nobles weren’t pushing her younger brother to the international public while they kept her in the dark.

Roland Stephan Auroria

The fairy king who loved a human woman. After losing his lover when she gave birth to Briar, he kept her at the palace but due to the pressures of tradition as well as the guilt of leaving the one he loved to die alone, he let his fear overcome him leading him to ignore Briar so as not to lose the respect and praise of the nobles.

He does provide her with servants and tutors and even allows her to roam outside, at least up to the limitations placed on a royal. But other than that he hasn’t contributed to anything nor tried to defend her when the nobles gossip about her.

His relationship with Eletha was merely political and he can’t really stand up to her whenever she reminds him to keep to traditions. He was a coward with no courage to even stand for his own opinions.

Eletha Lilith Auroria

The king’s second wife. She is very strict on keeping traditional beliefs and makes sure to keep Briar away from the prince. Constantly reminding the king about the importance of keeping to the same group and upholding the tradition of pure bloods belong with other purebloods while half-bloods belong with other half-bloods.

She doesn’t outright bully her; she just blatantly ignores her like the other pure blood fairies do. Though she is taking proper care of Aurus, she only wants him to look good in front of the nobles to the point where she would do a lot of events that will give him a good reputation even if it wasn’t his own contribution.

Aurus Gladio Auroria

The prince who is also Briar’s younger step brother that will inherit the throne because he is the only child in the family who is a pure blood fairy. He follows in his mother’s guidance and ignores Briar, though he wonders why his father bothered to keep her in the palace at all. He never got to know Briar and sometimes catches a glimpse of her wandering the palace gardens.

He is easily swayed by nobles and would often be lead to believe that he is the best and the most brilliant even though he tends to skip lessons to play outside, not like his parents or tutors would scold him for it. Thus, he ends up becoming naïve with no idea what to do without any guidance of some sort.

Amare Casia

Roland’s first love. She was a commoner and a human with merely just a flower shop to her name, she met the fairy king who was wounded in her garden after he was careless and was thrown off his horse.

She brought him into her house to help him recover, he fell for her the moment his eyes met hers. Even after he recovered he continued to visit her until it was one night they spend together that led to her pregnancy.

He was petrified at what the council might say so he asked her to keep quiet which she reluctantly agreed to. Amare started to regret her naïve romance with Roland as she spent those nine months alone with only her old lady neighbor as her support.

She passed away after giving birth to Briar and she was left to be taken care of by the neighbor who now occupied the old flower shop. It was when the king returned he finds out what happens, out of guilt he takes Briar to his castle. Briar’s looks resemble her mother’s so much that the king can’t help but remember the woman he left to suffer all alone.

Yolanda Foxtwill

A fox beastwoman who married a half fairy. The seamstress of the Tailor Shop that is a family-run business. She saw Briar all soaked in the rain when the carriage that was supposed to take her back to the palace, didn’t arrive. The poor child caught a cold while standing outside and Yolanda offered to keep her in the house until she feels better.

When the royal guards knocked on their door, they were shocked when she realized that the child in her house was a princess. Briar reassures them that they are safe from any supposed punishment. Yolanda reached out to Briar because she saw the sorrow in her eyes.

And from then on, Yolanda welcomes Briar to live with them when the palace gets unbearable to her. Outright thinks she is better suited to be queen instead of the narrow-minded royals.

Ash Foxtwill

Yolanda’s husband who delivers the clothes and fabrics made by his wife. He is a buff man who is half fairy that married a fox beast woman. He loves his wife and he treats Briar like his own daughter.

He can’t hide his excitement whenever Briar had time to bring Gula along, he’s always had a soft spot for animals. For some odd reason, Briar is approached by a lot of animals which is a heaven for the buff man.

A big softie who comforts Briar and was the only father figure who gave her the encouragement she needed to hear, he will enthusiastically proclaim that Briar is the image of how royals should be. He in charge of making corsages that are cute and popular among the other villagers.

Oliver Foxtwill

The eldest son who takes care of silkworms that make the materials for the cloth. He is a skilled weaver and has a soft spot for silkworms, he once tried to convince others how cool silkworms are but that didn’t go well.

He once mentioned sneaking a live silkworm into the King’s pants to teach him a lesson, Briar hopes he’s joking… He respects Briar a lot after she helped out the commoners despite how nobles talk behind her back.

Olivia Foxtwill

The youngest daughter who admires Briar because she is an actual princess. She loves to play dress up and shows Briar all the dresses she will wear when she marries a prince. She has the typical girly personality and dislikes getting dirty.

Briar tends to spoil Olivia a bit by sending her dresses she sewed herself. Olivia wishes that she would have Briar as an older sister. You would think that she would also want Briar to marry a prince but due to how disrespectful the nobles were known to be, she claims that she will be the judge of who Briar’s suitor is.

The character’s name, “Briar” is derived from the name the three fairies used to hide Aurora’s identity, while her last name, “Auroria” is just Aurora with rearrangements on the letters.

Briar is the one with the most detailed backstory mainly because Sleeping Beauty was one of the films the artist watched a lot other than Cinderella.

The concept of Briar’s unfortunate home life came from the idea of her being half-fairy. The artist thought it would be boring if she seemed too perfect. It would turn her into a Mary Sue if that was the case. There should be conflict on her character and flaws.

Her character design is close to the original Disney princess she is based on with a few differences, mainly her hair style lacking the curled bangs that Aurora has.

#twisted wonderland #diamond crown academy #dca #twst #auroria briar #rosadormienti #headcanons

19 notes · View notes

it-happened-one-fic · 1 year

Text

Jive - Quite Literally Floating - Strictly NRC Dancing

Author Notes: Another character I have never written a fic for, but I can say he was an interesting person to write. I also now have a healthy respect for the people who dance jives and a healthy alarm for the aerials and flips that are done in swing dancing. The dance in this fic was largely inspired by Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold’s jive on week 9, season 22 of Dancing With the Stars. It's an enjoyable performance that is well worth watching so I recommend it. Just like the rest of this AU/series the reader is female for this fic. I hope you enjoy!

If you would like to read more this AU/series, the fics can be found here: Strictly NRC Dancing Master-List

Type: Dance AU/female reader/fluff/platonic but could probably be taken as romantic

Word Count: 1009

I rolled my shoulders in preparation for what was no doubt going to be a very…. Interesting, experience.

It wasn’t that I was scared or didn’t trust Lilia. Because as much of a trickster as the potentially ancient fae was, he would never let me get hurt and would sooner hurt himself before he caused me any injury during the dance.

I also wasn’t actually concerned about the dance I was going to be performing with the lively third year. The jive was a good fit for Lilia. It was bubbly and vivacious, just like he was.

My only concern was how well he would obey the rules.

This was Lilia’s third dance class, and by now it was beyond obvious that the man knew how to dance. I could imagine that this was due to his having been part of the Valley of Thorns court, as I understood it.

During choreography practice, he’d even told me that dancing was like child’s play to him. Which was perhaps the reason why he had so much fun taking the rulebook and throwing it out the window as hard as he could.

I eyed the short man with at least a small degree of wariness that had his pink eyes sparkling, “Let’s have fun with this, child.”

There was a giggle to his voice that had me wondering exactly what the mischievous little fellow was planning, even as I shook my head with a slight smile, “As if you’d have it any other way.”

Everything was fine at the start of the dance, with the two of us having few to no problems. In fact, dancing with Lilia was almost like dancing with a shorter version of one of the teachers.

He knew exactly what he was doing, where he needed to be, and how to guide me around for the maximum effect.

A small part of me began to wonder if he would indeed pass this class without incident. Perhaps the jive was just wild enough that he didn’t feel the need to add his own sort of pizzazz to the dance. But I soon realized that I’d been ridiculous to think that when I noticed the height of Lilia’s head had shifted.

It took only a glance to confirm my fears. The fae man was no longer grounded and was now, quite literally, floating his way through the dance. Perhaps the most impressive thing about it was that he was still executing his moves perfectly.

To make matters worse, he was gradually pulling me up with him, causing my grip on his to tighten as my eyes flew back to his sparkling ones. He winked and gave a tiny snap of his fingers on his free hand as he released me.

I let out a tiny squeak in fear before realizing I had not fallen. No, I was seemingly dancing on an invisible dancefloor even though I no longer had a hold of the impish fae, who was still grinning as he danced next to me.

I looked up, my eyes finding Crewel’s, who looked just as flabbergasted as I was and offered no guidance. Leaving me to place all my trust in whatever magic Lilia had worked as I resolved to do my best to finish the dance as planned.

And it was a good thing too, considering it had come time for the flips. I glanced over at my partner to see him already grinning my way. Obviously ready for the part of the dance he'd dubbed his favorite section just moments before we’d started dancing.

I cartwheeled towards him, his hands catching my waist as my arms locked around his legs, and he proceeded to cartwheel while holding onto me. I made a total of three revolutions with him like that, stopping hand in hand with him and letting him twirl me back into him as he lowered us to the ground.

We touched down to the final drum beat of the pounding song, with me still holding quite tightly to his shoulders as I forced myself to relax.

I was on solid, visible ground again.

I’d known dancing Lilia would be undoubtedly fast-paced, but nothing could have prepared me for having to dance while floating at least a foot over the ground with a considerably excitable partner who’d been giggling the whole time.

I at last released the still chuckling fae and stepped back, eyeing him closely.

Lilia had just executed an impressive jive that I doubted anyone else could pull off, but he wasn’t passing this class. Because while there was no rule explicitly saying you couldn’t float, something told me that Trein, at the very least, would frown upon that.

Especially since there technically weren’t supposed to be any lifts in a jive, though that rule had been flouted with astonishing success in past classes.

True to form, Trein was frowning, Crewel was shaking his head, Crowley and Vargas didn’t look like they knew what to think, and Sam was laughing.

Lilia glanced my way and shrugged, eyes still sparkling like those of a little boy who knew he was in trouble but really didn’t care, “Tough crowd.”

“Lilia… You do realize you aren’t supposed to use magic in these classes, correct?” I didn’t know if I pitied Trein at this point or if I was impressed with his ability to continue enforcing his rules.

Lilia shrugged, giving a little fanged grin at Treins’s question, “I just couldn’t help myself; Y/n makes a wonderful partner, and the jive is an equally enjoyable dance.”

“Be that as it may, I’m afraid you aren’t going to pass this class either, Mr. Vanrouge,” Crowley shook his head, still mystified-looking, but delivering the judges' grade nonetheless as Sam at last recovered.

“Even though that was possibly the funniest jive I have seen. Especially with the face Y/n made when you started floating.” The shopkeeper was still wiping away mirthful tears as Lilia offered me a smooth bow and wink before strolling off to watch the next performance.

If you would like to read more:

56 notes · View notes

smolwritingchick · 4 months

Text

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 36- My Ideal Type

Chapter Summary: Throwback chapter for Episode 95 of After School Club while they promoted Danger, Jennie shows off her guitar skills, reveals fun facts such as her ideal type, first kiss and the high expectations & insecurities with her anticipated DJ skills.

Words: 4,000+

Author's Note: English is in Italics.

----

With Eric Nam and Jimin as the MCs for this episode of After School Club, they happily announce BTS to come on stage. The members of BTS were all in their Danger outfits, promoting their new album Dark & Wild.

"Aye! What up! What up!" Jen happily greeted with a mic in her hand. Suga started to lay on the ground, posing coolly while Jimin kneeled next to him. "And let the goofiness begin." She laughed at the members lying around the set. She decided to sit with Jimin on the yellow box afterwards, while the rest of the members lay around the other seats.

"Okay, so they're lying around." Eric watched them.

"Okay, I think BTS is the first group who has...okay and now they sat on the MC chairs." The female Jimin looks around.

"What is going on?" Eric laughed. After they finally regrouped, BTS stood with the MCs. "We finally have Bangtan here in the studio. Nice to see you guys."

"2! 3! Bangtan! Hello, we are Bangtan Boys!"

"Woo! Yes, we have them here and it's really, really great to see you guys again." Eric says as Rap Monster recalls being on the show around 8 times. He discussed that it's been around three months since their last appearance and he's the second person to be on ASC the most and hopes to make the show more enjoyable.

"We have the energetic, charismatic, talented BTS here, in the studio. Please tweet us your requests for BTS with the hashtag, ASC, pretty please!" Eric announced.

"And BTS will be reading your names and doing your requests so tweet us now." Jimin added.

After a commercial break, BTS was seated with the MCs. Jen sat behind V, next to Jin. "Please introduce yourselves." Jimin gestured.

The camera panned to Taehyung. "YO! V!" He screamed and threw up a peace sign. "HI!" He grinned, waving the peace sign. Jennie let out a soft laugh at Jimin and Eric Nam's reaction because of how shocked they were.

"Ah, that scared me." Eric laughed, still startled.

"RAP MONSTER!" Rapmon shouted.

"Okay." The female Jimin chuckled.

"Chim! Chim! Hello!" Jimin introduced himself.

"SUGA!" He shouted.

"I'm your hope! I'm engine! J-Hope!"

After Jungkook and Jin introduced themselves in Korean, the camera panned to Jennie. "Aye~! It's your girl Jennie!" She waved and blew a kiss to the camera with both hands.

"They're all hyper today." Jimin applauded. "And I'm kinda getting small, right now."

"It's okay. Hey, you know you have a song with his name in it." Eric pointed out, glancing at Suga.

"Give me some Suga~" The MCs started singing and dancing in their seats.

"Suga! Suga!" The rest of the members started to sing and dance in their seats.

"Anyways, we have people that have been waiting for hours." Eric pointed at the screens to a variety of BTS fans with posters, and other merch.

Then he goes on to say that there are two Park Jimins. The one in BTS and the MC that sat next to him.

"I'm younger than him though, so I'm the second Park Jimin." The female Jimin informed.

"Shall we switch seats?" Jimin suggested as everyone let out a laugh.

"As we mentioned in our opening, BTS has been on the show the most often. Most frequent out of all our guests, so I'm sure they feel a little more comfortable and its more family like. How do you guys feel?" Eric asked.

"Of course, it's like family like, I see you like more often than my mom." Rapmon answered with a smile. Afterward, the members explained what they've been doing abroad from going to Germany, to America for a reality show.

"Did you learn any new English?" Eric questioned as Jen laughed at the random English words the members would shout out.

"What's up?"

"What's poppin'?"

"Turn up!"

"Church!"

"All right well we have a lot of fans that's excited to see you guys here on today's show, so we're gonna go straight into our pretty please corner." Eric announced as he and Jimin headed to the screen to check out the tweets.

The first tweet was from DyoQueennie, tweeting, 'Hi BTS I'm Queennie from BTS. I would like V to sing a song for me. I love you ❤.'

"Queennie, hello!" V waved and started to sing briefly, winking and calling her baby.

The next tweet was from piquantstyles. 'Can Jungkook sing Haruman to me and say "I love you, Esmeralda.'

After Jungkook sang a snippet of Just One Day, the members and MCs praised him for his angelic, smooth voice.

The next tweet was, 'Jennie, who is the idol you want to meet the most?'

"AILEE!" She shouted loud and proud, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Fangirl!" Suga teased

"I love her. She's so dynamic. If I could meet her, collab with her, or even be on the same stage as her, I would die. Like if I meet her, I will probably shout, 'This is not a drill! I am with Ailee!' Man, my life would be complete."

'ERIC. DANCE BATTLE WITH JIN' Was the next tweet read by the MCs.

"WOOOOOOOWWWWW!" The members shout, turning to Jin. Some of the members were shouting, "Jin! Jin!" while gesturing for him to dance.

"Oh, I have GOT to see this." Jen got comfortable in her seat.

Eric and Jin dance to Girl's Day's Darling as the MC Jimin and Jennie cringed. "Oh, I'm so embarrassed." The MC, Jimin looked on. Afterward, they have J-Hope and Jimin dance to Sistar's Touch My Body. "Wow!"

"Let Jennie dance! She's our guy group dance expert." Jin called her out.

"Yeah, let's let Jennie dance." Eric beckoned for her to come over.

"Jennie! Jennie, Jennie, Jennie, Jennie~!" The rest of the BTS members sing and chant while clapping their hands, encouraging her.

"Hahah, all right, all right." She got up from her seat and walked to the front of the studio. "Any requests?"

"Let's just put on a random song," Eric replied as Got7's Girls Girls Girls blared out. "Are you familiar with this?"

"I got you." She gave him a thumbs up, getting in position as the instrumental continued to play. But as soon as JB started to sing, she rocked back and forth, powerfully, smoothly dancing the choreography.

After she finished, she was applauded and praised for her dance skills.

"My question is, where does she have the time to learn these dances!?" J-Hope exclaimed.

"That's my secret." She grinned.

While watching her dance, fans tweet:

'My weave has been snatched!!'

'Stop-sleeping-on-Jennie!'

'DAMN! Go, girl!'

'Did she just smirk at the camera!? Rude!! Stop killing me!'

'Ahhhhh I love her!!'

Back to the questions, Jen was asked another question with the tweet saying, 'Jennie! You are the only BTS member who has yet to dye their hair! When are you going to dye it?'

"Hahah, I love this question. Everyone asks me this. My hair will be dyed when you least expect it. Patience is a virtue. I already know the color, just not sure what the style is. But it won't be anytime soon, unfortunately. But it will be worth the wait." She reassured the fans.

As they answer more tweets, Jen is asked another question with the tweet saying, 'Jennie! When are you going to show us your DJ skills?'

"Ah...I get so shy about it. I dunno...Suga has been asking me almost every day to show him me DJing in front of him instead of a little snippet of what I've played around with. He told me that he might want me to help make music for BTS or maybe use it for a concert, but we'll see. I just get so insecure about my DJ skills. Everyone keeps asking and then the high expectations. I'll admit I'm a little scared to show it off to the public. I'm not gonna say I'm not good enough but I'll just say that I don't feel like my skills are that level for me to showcase my potential for it. So, I'm still practicing alone, trying to keep away from Suga because he always tries to catch me practicing. One day I'll show my skills. We'll have to wait maybe a few years before I'm ready. Just like with the rapping which he's currently teaching me."

After a few more tweets, they all gather back in their seats for the pretty please requests as they reveal the winner's tweet for a special prize.

"Jennie, Rapmon do one of you want to read it?" Eric gestured as the two members glanced and smiled.

"I can do it," Jen spoke up as Rapmon nodded in response. "Okay, this tweet is from Sara Sarah. Say hi to Canadian A.R.M.Ys and please come here soon. Love you!" She read. "Aw, so sweet. What's up Canadian ARMYs!?" She waved.

"What's up!" Rapmon spoke up. "I like Toronto, I like Vancouver. I like everyone in Canada. I like the nature, I like the mountains, so I love you."

"He's just rapping." Eric exclaimed while the MC Jimin tried to mimic Rapmon's wording. "But his is so much cooler."

"O-kay." Jimin looked back down at her cards.

"I totally will make sure to try to make a trip up to Canada. I have yet to see the sights and I absolutely want to enjoy all the beautiful attractions there. So, shout out to all the Canadian ARMYs. You'll always have a special place in my heart." Jen eagerly said, making a heart with her hands.

"So, we gotta talk a little bit, it's been a busy few months for Bangtan. They've been overseas for a long time and they've been preparing for their new album that finally dropped. How's that been? How's that been going for you guys? You guys have been super busy. You guys doing okay?" Eric questioned the members.

"Ah...not okay." Rapmon let out a low chuckle. "It was busy but I think being busy is the best thing because I think it's better than not being busy. Having no schedule, ASC doesn't call us." He playfully rambled on.

"Oh really?" Jimin asked while Eric let out a laugh

"We rest, we've been getting fat." Rapmon went on.

"So, I've heard that your practice videos are a really big hit right now." Jimin went on and started doing exaggerated movements with Eric.

Once she stopped, Eric kept going and she tried to stop by placing a hand on his arm. His actions caused the members to laugh once again.

"So, this is BTS' first full length, so we want to ask what it means to BTS," Eric stated.

"It's our first official album and compared to our other singles and mini albums that was simply a warm up. This 14-track album is amazing." Suga explained.

"What's your personal favorite song?" Jimin asked.

As Suga said Let Me Know is his favorite since he produced it and it's different from other BTS songs because of the emotion, he decided to show everyone the high note.

"Everyone you may want to plug your ears." Eric joked.

"GIRL LET ME KNOOOOOOWWWWWW~" Suga suddenly sang and fell off his seat.

Eyebrows raised and jaw dropped, Jen stared at Suga in disbelief. "Oh hell no." She exclaimed while Eric approached Suga to ask if he was okay, while he continued to exaggerate the high note.

Afterward, Jimin stated that Danger is his favorite song. Rapmon said 24/7 Heaven is his favorite song, demonstrating singing the song.

"Okay, I'm a rapper, but I just did some melodies on that song." He explained, preparing to sing. "All night girl. I think about you all night girl. naeirimyeon geudael boge dwae. And I don't know what to say."

"GIRL LET ME KNNNNOOOOWWWWWW~" Suga overdramatically sang in a high pitched voice, again.

"Oh, mah gosh! Suga!" Jen laughed with the rest of the members.

V, of course, said that Cypher:Killer was his favorite as he eagerly performed it for the show.

"I ne beonjjae aelbeom jeonggyuui gwanjeom!"

"Cypher!" All the members shout, dancing around in their seats, getting hyped.

"I teuraegi naomyeon Haterdeul wanjeon!"

"Amjeon!"

As V went on, Jen hyped him up even more by shouting, "AYE! AYE! OKAY! OKAY! UH! UH! KILL EM! KILL EM!"

After settling down, it was finally Jen's turn to reveal her favorite song. "Okay, my favorite is War of Hormone because this song is very different for me. It challenged me because it made me portray a sexy persona for this song. I was so reluctant to even do it, honestly because I get embarrassed with sexy personas. I'm not used to it, it's not my favorite concept but I'll do it if you want me to. It made me try a new persona and I think it went well with my voice."

Jin's favorite song is please turn off your phone, while Jungkook's song is Rain and J-Hope's is Hip Hop Lover. Next up was a pop quiz, the question was how many times did the scene of Jimin hitting the sandbag appear in the music video? In the meantime, they reveal the fans for the Hangout session.

They reveal the first person, Anja from Serbia. She explained she went to their showcase and was on the plane for around 24 hours to Berlin, enthused that BTS is amazing, while the members and MCs were in awe.

"Dedication. Fans are amazing." Jen smiled.

Anja showed some of her drawings, mostly of Rap Monster while Jin asked where were the rest of the members. Her request was to see V dance the choreography for Danger. Then Eric requested for all the members to dance.

Next was Kasey from the U.K. She said that she went with her best friend to Berlin to see BTS and it was amazing. She thanked BTS because seeing them so passionate and hard working and talented inspired her to work for her dreams. After Rapmon translated, the members were touched by her kind words and her request was for Jimin and J-Hope to have a dance battle.

Next was a girl from America, whose name was Taylor. "Jennie! Jennie, you are my favorite member, and you inspire me to achieve my dreams, no matter where I go. I love you so much! You slay my life!"

"Aye! Thanks, girl! I love you, too!" Jen grinned happily. "It's fans like you who keep me going. Thank you for always being so supportive."

"Of course! So, my question for you is, what are your struggles while performing here and what do you want to improve?"

"Okay, I cannot for the life of me dance cutely. I can't do cute dances. I'm more into the badass concepts and powerful dances. I'll try my best to work on that, though. I want my high notes to improve. I feel as though my voice isn't strong yet, so I'm also working on that with vocal lessons. But I also want to try to sing different genres of songs and see what my strengths and weaknesses are. So, to help with that, I want to start working on covers to post on the BTS SoundCloud near the end of 2014 when I have some free time from the promotion, so keep a lookout, for that."

"And what is your request?" Eric asked Taylor.

"So, since you said you want to start working on covers, can you sing a little bit of one of the songs you want to cover?" She requested with an eager smile.

"Yeah, of course!" Jen beamed and began to sing a snippet of Amerie's Why Don't We Fall in Love. "So many things I'm goin' through. So much that I wanna do. It startin' to become so clear to me. Tomorrow ain't really guaranteed. So many days I've thought of you. It's about time you knew the truth. Got to act quickly, you and I. We fall in love, so many reasons why."

"Oh, my gosh!! I cannot wait until the full version! That was so good! I love your voice!" Taylor started fangirling on camera, earning a shy giggle from Jennie. She thought she was cute for freaking out like that, as she thanked her, while the MCs and members of BTS praised her for the song.

"I could hear the love and passion in her voice. Is there someone special in your life?" Jimin asked her. "Is Jennie in love?"

"Hahah, not yet." Jen waved away their funny accusations.

"How long have you been practicing?"

"I haven't practiced yet but since this song is a throwback, I already know the lyrics. But once the promotions die down and I'm not working on anything, I'll be practicing and preparing to record the cover."

After revealing the winner of the pop quiz, they go back to hanging out with the fans. A fan from China appeared as she was greeted by the members and MCs.

"Jennie, I have seen these questions all over the internet for some time now and wanted to ask them, so I hope you won't get too shy about them. Us ARMYs would love to know what was your first kiss like."

"Oooohhhhhh." The MCs turned to Jen while she buried her face in her hands, laughing. As soon as Rapmon translated the questions, the rest of the members yelled uncontrollably and eagerly awaited her answer.

"Ah, my first kiss...it's a very interesting story might I add. Shocking and off guard but somewhat cute. Well, it all started with a box of pocky. Or pepero as it's called in Korea." She began to explain. She tried not to laugh at the focused stares the members were giving her.

"You kissed with Pocky?" The MC, Jimin asked. "Aw, that's cute. Were you playing the pocky game?"

"Yeah. Remember when we filmed Rookie King?" Jen turned to the guys as they laughed and remembered the wild memories. "I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this out to the public, I don't think he knows this either but Jungkook was actually my first kiss since you guys wanted to smash our heads together during the pocky game." She shook her head.

Jungkook felt his stomach drop when he heard Jen say his name and saw her point at him. Then when she gestured about smashing heads together and said Rookie King before that, he had figured out what she said in English, immediately looking down at his lap, shyly. His face began to warm up as he tried to fight the growing smile on his face.

"No way! So that's why you had your head down for so long." Rapmon remembered clearly, ignoring the members but Jungkook questioned what Jen had said.

"Wow!" Eric Nam said, pleasantly surprised as he had a smile on his face, thinking it was cute.

"Aw! That's adorable!" The female Jimin smiled sweetly as Rapmon translated the bombshell to the members.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaa~!" The members but Jungkook start to yell and freak out in their seats. Jen tried not to laugh as J-Hope started screaming, running around the studio with Jimin and Tae. Suga had fallen out of his chair yet again while Rapmon shook his head at the chaos.

"Jungkookie?! OUR JUNGKOOKIE!?" The male Jimin pointed Jungkook out, who still shyly had his head down. "What is going on!?"

"What!? WHAT!?" Jin shouted in mother mode.

"Oh dear, I didn't think it would cause so much commotion." Jen rubbed the back of her neck. She avoided turning around to see Jungkook's reaction.

She hoped he wasn't mad at her.

"Jungkook, what is your reaction to that?" Eric questioned, turning his attention to the Maknae.

Feeling bold from an unknown source of bravery, Jungkook looked up, speaking in English, "Not sorry.", causing the guys of BTS to laugh.

Widening her eyes, Jen turned around, meeting his stare, taken aback at his reaction. He smiled at her as she turned back around, feeling her face heat up.

So, he wasn't sorry for giving her, her first kiss? He wasn't mad?

"Do you regret the kiss? How was it?" The female Jimin asked, wanting all the details. Everyone has their full attention on Jennie.

"Regrets? Honestly, I don't have any but if I'm nitpicking...I just regret not being a good kisser for him, to make the kiss more enjoyable, even though it was unintentional. So, I'm sorry that my kiss was terrible and sloppy, haha. But all jokes aside, no, I don't regret it at all."

"She's very considerate." Eric Nam pointed out.

As Jennie turned around to look at Jungkook, she decided to translate her statement for him instead of Rapmon, as she smiled at him, apologetically.

'But you have nothing to apologize for.' Jungkook thought to himself.

Next was Ardina from Indonesia, using a hangout free pass. She explained that watching Jimin dance made her go to dance school, and she danced for them, wearing the Bulls Jersey that Jimin wore.

"Yassssss! Go girl!" Jen looked on. She had some moves, it was amazing, and the rest of the members were blown away by her performance.

"Adina, I think you're better than me." Rapmon smiled.

Next was Olga from Poland, who asked Suga where she got his inspiration for his songs. The MCs translated that everyday life inspires him. She says she's supported them since debut and loves their meaningful songs. Her request was to ask Rapmon what his favorite method of learning is because he's one of the smartest students in Korea.

"Actually, it was computers. Playing games and yeah." He answered, shooting up a thumbs up.

Fanny from Belgium was next to talk to the group. She announced that she was going to show a drum cover of Danger. "Hey! Jen and Fanny should collab. Jen plays the guitar and fanny plays the drums!" V pointed out.

"That'll be nice!" Jen agreed. As they watched her play a small portion of Danger for the group, the members were in awe at her performance. "That was sick!"

After saying goodbye to Fanny, Rapmon pointed out, "We actually caught Jennie playing a guitar version of Danger."

"Putting me on blast!" She teased.

"Oh, are you planning on making an acoustic version of Danger?" Eric asked

"You never know." Jen shrugged.

"Can we see a demonstration?" Jimin asked as Jen was handed an acoustic guitar.

"I wonder if this was planned. You magically just had a guitar waiting for me, huh?" She teased the MCs who laughed in response. Making sure it was tuned up, she prepared to play. "Chorus. Five, six, seven, eight!"

A loud, strong strumming sound was heard, sounding just like Danger as the members swayed and bobbed their heads along to the music.

jangnanhae neo? dodaeche naega mweoya?

manmanhae Uh? nal gatgo noneun geoya?

neo jigeum wiheomhae wae nareul shiheomhae?

wae nareul shiheomhae? hetgallige haji ma

jangnanhae neo? dodaeche naega mweoya?

manmanhae Uh? nal gatgo noneun geoya?

neo jigeum wiheomhae wae nareul shiheomhae?

wae nareul shiheomhae? hetgallige haji ma

neo ttaeme neomu apa

hetgallige haji ma

neo naege neomu nappa

hetgallige haji ma

"Woo! Great job!" Eric applauded with Jimin. "Is that a full song? The acoustic version? It sounds so good."

"Nah, I was just playing around," Jen answered, placing the guitar down.

"Playing around? That needs to be recorded!" Jimin demanded.

"That's what I'm saying." Rapmon chuckled. "We'll think of something."

"I wouldn't mind playing the guitar more for our songs. I'm down for acoustic versions or even electric. We'll see in the future." Jen reassured.

------

And the last person was a guy from the Philippines, who happily greeted BTS. "I've been waiting so patiently because I really wanted to speak with Jennie."

"Aw, thank you!" She smiled and placed a hand over her heart.

"I wanted to tell you how much I admire you in BTS. And I also wanted to say that you are my ideal type."

As soon as she heard him say ideal type, she pointed to herself, stunned at his statement. "M-me? Really?"

"She's really surprised, haha." Eric looked on.

"I love your personality, you're so down to earth. And you have a pretty smile. You and Jin are my favorite members. Now, there are some male ARMYs around and I wanted to ask this question for them and for myself. Jennie, what is your ideal type?"

As soon as the MCs translated, the members of BTS turned to Jen, awaiting her answer.

"First, I'm shocked that I am your ideal type, like wow. You're the first that I know of to call me that and I am touched, so thank you. That just made me really happy. Like honestly, I'm not used to that and I'd feel left out since I'm never described as someone's ideal type here. I recall myself as a singing and dancing potato." She joked.

"A very beautiful potato!" The guy countered with a genuine smile.

"Hahaha, he's charming." Eric laughed.

"Thank you." She smiled. "Now, I don't have a specific person as an ideal type, like with Rapmon, who likes girls with red converses, though I personally prefer Nikes. And with Jungkook head over heels for IU."

"But to answer your question, my ideal type..." She paused for a moment. "Well, some things I would like is someone to be patient with me. Sometimes I'm not going to get things right away, but I would love for whoever I date in the future to just help me and be there for me and work with me through any struggles. Uh...someone to make me laugh, I love hugs so I would love to have someone to always be open to hug me and even cuddle. Am I getting too cheesy?" She looked around and got laughs in response from the MCs while Rapmon translated what she said.

"I do enjoy skinship, so hugs, or piggyback rides, anything. I tend to focus more on the personality, not the looks. I want someone that makes me happy and respects me. I'm outgoing so, if I date a shy person, I will do everything I can to bring them out of their shell. Everything." She shot the guy a thumbs up. She continued, "And another thing, to the fans and anyone in general, please don't change who you are to fit someone's ideal type. We're all different, we have different personalities from others. And I know what you're thinking. How can anyone want someone so skinny and bony like me? Or someone so chubby like me? Flat chest, big chest, skinny legs, thick legs, or I have acne on my face, scars or stretch marks, or whatever. Love comes in all shapes and sizes. There is someone out there for you."

"Sadly, there are people who don't understand that. And I think media can also be an issue because of that. Oh, I gotta look a certain way for this person and that person to notice me," she added. "Like no, don't do that. Keep doing you and be yourself. That's attractive to me. Let me see who you really are, behind any makeup and behind the scenes. And don't get upset when you're not like someone's ideal type. I'm guilty of this, I've had a crush on some K-pop idols before when I was younger. But remember that there's someone out there for everyone and someone will love you for who you are, no matter what you look like or what you've gone through. Just gotta wait. Love is patient. Love is unpredictable."

"I don't see myself dating anyone here since I don't really fit anyone's ideal type around here and besides, I always imagined myself dating someone in America, anyway. But you never know, someone might come in and change that. I think it's a beautiful thing, how love can be so unpredictable in the craziest ways. And whoever my special someone is, I hope that they are eating well, are happy, and are getting enough sleep. And I hope they're thinking the same about me. And...I just rambled. Sorry, heheh." She looked down, feeling her face heat up.

After Rapmon translated, Jungkook gazed at her. 'Love is patient and unpredictable.' He repeated in his head.

"That was inspiring." The female Jimin applauded with Eric. "I'm getting emotional."

"Did I answer your question?" Jen smiled at the guy on the screen.

"Very! Thank you for giving me hope! That was a passionate response." He smiled.

On the Twitter live feed, fans tweet,

'Yo...we ALL have a chance to date Jennie!!'

'Does she like girls!? Because I have a MAJOR crush on her, she's so damn beautiful!'

'Well she did say they instead of specifying a guy.'

'We don't deserve this girl!'

'Protect her!'

'I knew it! First kiss with Jungkook!? AHHHH! DATE!'

'We ALL have a chance with Jennie. She's so cool!'

'She just made me feel so much better about myself.'

'Do you think she'll date one of the members??'

'Well she did say she doesn't see herself dating in Korea, but in America.'

'Yeah but remember, she said love is unpredictable!'

'I bet her special someone is closer than she thinks.'

'I still ship her with V!'

'Nah, JenKook!'

'Um, no, JenMin!'

Before they could go to the next person, the MCs announced that they were out of time. They finally take their ending shot. "All right, thanks for joining us, we'll see you next time on ASC!" Eric closed the show.

#bts 8th member #bangtan boys #jungkook x oc #bts #the bangtan gal #bts additional member #bts fanfic #bts fluff #jungkook fluff #bts fanfiction #bts fic

7 notes · View notes

ciaraswritings · 1 year

Text

Anxiety

Disclaimer: I do not own DC or their characters, or their settings. This is certainly not canon.

Warnings & Topics: Social anxiety disorder. 18+, if you please.

Word Count: 1.7K words

Summary: fem!Reader is struggling with social anxiety while attending Bruce Wayne's birthday party, but then she meets a woman named Barbara who helps her escape. Very happy ending. Just fluff & stuff.

Author's note: Thank you all so much for reading. I hope you enjoy.

How the hell did I end up here, I asked myself.

I pressed my back to the mahogany wall as colors and watched the pastel colors swirl past me. I should have never come to this event, this celebration. I'm not even sure how I got invited to this. I had barely ever crossed paths with Bruce Wayne. Sure, I'd edited news stories covering his spotlight before sending them off to be published on the internet, but I could never bring myself to meet with him face to face. I'd talked with him over the phone, fact checking a wild take that a journalist had submitted, but in the two minutes and five seconds that we had chatted, he had obviously decided I was suitable to be invited to his birthday reception.

That's what I absolutely love about my job. I can sit in a dark office all day, I don't have to see anyone face to face, all submissions and communications are sent via email. I'm trying to make arrangements to work from home, so the stress of being so close to the other offices won't be on my mind. My job only requires a computer and phone, after all.

My boss was overjoyed when he heard I had been invited to the big event. Any more excitement, and he would have started a fire with how fast words were spilling out of his mouth. His thrill, however, did not match my own by a long shot. I thought back to when I was sitting in my comfy, swiveling office chair, staring up at the balding, sprightly man who was positively demanding I accept the invitation and attend the event. I don't think I even verbally responded to him at the time. My plagued mind overtook my body, and still had ahold of it even then as I tried to blend into Bruce Wayne's wall.

Social anxiety disorder, my constant companion. My nemesis, my excuse, my greatest hurdle. The only reason I stood there in my old prom dress is because my boss has been on such edge lately, and like my coworkers, I wasn't ready to risk the consequences of saying no to him right then. My anxiety was to blame for that too, coincidentally enough.

As the sea of long dresses and black suits moved past, I tried my hardest to remember my therapist's favorite phrases. Be aware of your body. Be aware of your surroundings. How is your body reacting to this situation? I could answer the last question easily enough. My heart was beating out of my chest, my stomach was churning, sweat was appearing on my trembling hands. Fear was wrapped around my throat, my breathing labored. An older gentleman in a very nice suit gave me a concerned look before his glamorous college-student wife pulled him towards the dance floor. Yes, please go, stop looking at me. I wonder how many people are looking at me right now.

Be aware of your surroundings. I tried, I really tried. I tried to take in the luxury of the room. The velvet curtains, the gold trim, the expensive art, the... was that a tapestry? Be aware of your body. I attempted to become aware of my physical senses. Deep breaths, eyes closed, trying to relax my tense muscles.

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

My eyes flew open. A young waiter with a tray was quizzically observing me from a couple feet away.

I can't do this anymore. "Yes! Yes, yes, I'm alright." Fight or flight mode had been activated. Not bothering to thank him, I slipped past the waiter and made a not-so-graceful getaway to the hall. Lush ivy and large chairs decorated the long room, along with a huge mirror that I planted myself in front of, my entire brain trying to retake control. But no, the sickening, uninvited fear had ahold of my entire body.

Looking up into the mirror, I was not exactly pleased by what I saw. My eyes were full of adrenaline and my mascara was running slightly. My dress was wrinkled by where I clutched it at the hip. My hair was the only thing that didn't look frazzled (thanks to an hour of straightening before I had left for the party). Using the tip of my finger, I tried to clean up the mascara around my eyes.

"Did you get bored too?"

My finger nearly went into my eye, startled by the unexpected and unwelcome voice. I wanted to run like a deer being threatened by a panther. I turned nervously to the owner of the voice, and my fear alleviated if only for a moment by the spectacularism of the person I saw. A red haired young woman in a black velvet dress had approached me, a single party-goer from the roar of festivities behind her. I could see the door swinging closed from when she had entered. My anxiety lurched and I could feel liquid coming up in my throat. A hard swallow later, and I assumed my most casual pose. "You could say that."

The redhaired woman turned, pulled her lipstick from her clutch, and repainted her red lips in the mirror. "I'm not even sure why I'm here, my father is the one who actually knows Mr. Wayne."

"I don't know him at all. Bruce, I mean. Not your father." Oh, that sounded so rude. "Sorry... about that."

She turned back around and gave me a shiny smile. "Are you okay?"

Hell no, I'm not okay. "Yes, of course." My hands were still trembling and my cheeks were flushed. Breathing hurt. The radiant woman in front of me could obviously see through the lie. Her head cocked, her beautiful, wavy red hair swayed.

"You don't seem okay," her concern was evident, but I wasn't in the mood for people being concerned and trying to make me talk about it.

"I'm okay, I just haven't eaten today. So... I should probably go do that," that wasn't even a lie. I had only had coffee today so I wouldn't throw up from nervousness tonight.

"What's your name?" asked the woman who was freshening her eyeliner in the mirror.

"(Y/N) (L/N)."

"I'm Barbara Gordon. It's good to meet you. And funny enough, I'm hungry too," the stranger straightened and shook my still shaking hand. "Want to go get something? I can't fill up on shrimp and caviar."

"Neither can I, seafood isn't my favorite." I was shocked at my own boldness. My fear had released its painful grip slightly, but it was far from gone.

"Me neither. I could go for Chinese," Barbara smiled at me. "Want to join? My treat."

Now this was an unexpected decision. She seems nice enough... I want to so badly. It'd definitely be a way out of here, and with a nice person. But what if she's not nice? What if she's not who she seems? What if I mess up in front of her? What if she invites more people? "I'm not sure..."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm chill, I need a way out of this place too. I mostly came for my dad, he loves Bruce. I'm just... not in the right place to party like this."

How about this, my brain bargained with itself. If it turns out bad, we never have to see her again. If it goes good, then we... still never have to see her again. "What the heck. Got a place in mind?"

"Of course, come on! I can't think of a better time than two well dressed girls getting the best Chinese in town. We can take my dad's car."

My hands had slowly stopped trembling. I think it's going to be okay.

...

My escape with Barbara was a needed lifesaver. She made the car ride pleasant, complimenting my dress, asking me about my job, commenting on my hair. I think she sensed that I wasn't as comfortable talking about myself, so she told me about her own life. She was a college student, she was multilingual, she lived with her dad at the moment, but was looking into getting her own place. Listening to her talk was relaxing, knowing I didn't have to talk about myself, no risks of stumbling over my words like I did earlier.

We arrived at what looked to be a family-owned place, it wasn't a chain restaurant, which I sort of admired Barbara for. The best Chinese food came from small restaurants, and she seemed to acknowledge that. The woman assured me she knew exactly what I would like, telling me she'd order then come join me.

I slid into one of the empty booths. Actually, all of them were empty. Too late at night for most people to get takeout, but Barbara and I were evidently not the same as those people. She joined me at the table with trays that smelled much tastier than the takeout Chinese that my boss had delivered at the office every day for lunch. "This looks amazing, thank you so much."

"No, thank you for coming with. It's nice that I found a friend to do this with." Barbara smiled before picking up one of the cartons.

Friend. The word felt so new. "It's been a really long time since I've had a friend." Anxiety brewed and steamed in my throat, but I forgot all about it when she slid her phone across the table to me, a new contact form ready to fill out on the screen.

"Well, now you have one," the redhaired woman said with a smile, before taking another bite of the food.

...

That was four years ago to this day. It's Bruce Wayne's birthday again, but neither of us are on the guest list. That's perfectly okay, we have our own party going on for us. Empty Chinese takeout cartons lay on the coffee table, an actress on the television screen dramatically screams in fear, and I am laying on Barbara's chest, my finger becoming accustomed to the new diamond ring.

I look up at her, admiring how her fiery hair glows in the pale light of the television screen. Anxiety? Hah, not around Barbara, not anymore. Finally finding a person I can experience only joy around... that feels good. Her hand rests on my head, holding me close. Her eyes are focused on the television, but by her smile, I know her mind is somewhere else. She notices I'm no longer interested in the film, turns off the TV, and smiles down at me. Butterflies, not anxiety, fill my stomach.

"Did you get bored too?"

"You could say that."

20 notes · View notes