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starrynite7114 · 3 years

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always you (angel reyes)

A/N: Good morning everyone! I know I haven’t posted in a while, and you all know why. Thank you all again for being very understanding, it was a rough couple of weeks, and I’m trying to push through the best I can. This story was supposed to be a one shot for a prompt request I received some time ago, but I’m glad I’m able to finally fulfill it. I wrote out most of it already so it should be posted every 2-3 days. I’m also finishing up Roommates this week, at least trying to!

Hope you all have been having a good week thus far! Hopefully it is also warming up! Exams have been killing me, but my last one is later today, so yay!

The new Mayans trailer looked amazing! Definitely getting the creative juices flowing, even for EZ.

Anyways, thank you all again, you are all the utter best!

Special shoutout: To @blackmissfrizzle, you fucking crazy, violent person, my second brain. Because of you, I got a Tiktok guy on here. But thank you for listening to my crazy ideas about this story, a story that was supposed to be a one-shot turned into a series cause of all of those videos, love you though. And to @angelreyesgirl you’re the one who helped me figure out as to why certain things happen in the story, thank you, I just, I love you, you already know this, no more sappiness from me today, maybe. Also, happy birthday!

Groupchat for updates! Please join since the tags could be a bit iffy at times!

If you would like to be added to the tag list, please let me know! My tag list is a little messy, but please let me know if you want to be added!

Masterlist

Word count: 8657

Warnings: Mentions of stalker behavior, angst, smut

169: “ What a pretty sight. ”

187: “ Already? Do I really have that much of an effect on you? ”

You sighed, the knocks on the door following the call you just received from Coco made you want to pull your hair out. This has been ongoing since you two broke up two years ago. It was routine at this point and you were slightly getting tired of it. He chose to let you go and here you were opening your door so Angel could spend the night after a drunken stupor.

“Sorry again hermana, you know I try to bring his big ass home, but you know how stubborn he is.” Coco assisted Angel inside your apartment with Gilly helping him out.

They assisted Angel down to your couch, he was barely conscious. He had this obnoxious smile on his face as he settled on your couch.

“Where’s my girl?” Angel called out as he grabbed a pillow, resting his head.

Gilly looked up at you and you shook your head. “She’s asleep bro, just go sleep.”

“Okay, I’ll go to her.” Angel attempted to stand up, but Gilly held him down.

“Hey, remember, you don’t like bothering her when she’s asleep.” Gilly reminded Angel.

“You’re right, I just want to tell her I love her.” Angel laid back down, his eyes closing.

Before long, Angel’s soft snores indicated to you all he was asleep. Coco looked at you as you looked at Angel, confused as always as to why he had to come to you whenever he was drunk. They’ve tried asking him, both Coco and Gilly, and whenever you saw him in the morning, you just gave him coffee and chose not to talk to him. He tried to make small talk with you, but you didn’t entertain it.

Angel chose to break up with you two years ago, your year and a half relationship down the drain. You didn’t fight him when he ended your relationship. You accepted it and attempted to move on.

Problem was, Angel didn’t let you go. His presence was still felt even though you didn’t see him. Then three months after your breakup, the drunken visits came. At times, he would talk to you when he would come drunk, but you chose to ignore it and just took care of him.

You wanted to turn him away, but you love Angel. It was hard not to do so. Whenever you would think you had the courage to turn him away, you would let him back in your bed just so you could hold him. It was unfair to you, you wanted to move on, yet, when you had the chance to hold him, you never passed it up. You were addicted and you would break the habit eventually, but Angel was just, well, he was Angel.

“Y/N, we can take him home if you want.” Coco hated doing this to you. He was there from the beginning and he didn’t want to keep dragging you back in Angel’s life. He knew how hard you were trying to move on, but it seemed like Angel held on.

“No, it’s okay Coco, just let him sleep.” You pushed your glasses up the bridge of your nose, sighing as you draped a throw blanket over Angel.

“We can stay if you want.” Gilly offered. Much like Coco, he felt for you. You were a sweet girl, always nice to the boys and never made a fuss when Angel chose to break dates to hang out with them. For him, you were the ideal girl, you were reasonable, beautiful, and a hell of a cook. When Angel broke up with you, they planned to keep in touch, bug you every once in a while for dinner. But then they realized, Angel had no plans of letting you go either.

You chuckled and shook your head. “It’s fine, I’m sure you guys want a break from this guy.”

“We do, we really do.” Gilly agreed. “But we want to be here for you too, why did we bring him here man?”

“You gonna try to argue with Angel? He’s fucking unreasonable when he’s sober, it’s another thing when Don Quixote over here is drunk.” Coco shook his head. “If you need anything, just call me.”

“Call us.”

You nodded your head. You gave the two Mayans a hug before closing the door behind them. When you turned back, you gasped when you found Angel standing.

“Let’s go sleep?” His eyes were opening and closing and he was slightly swaying. You took one of his arms and led him to your room.

This was how it always ended. Regardless if you put Angel in your guest bedroom or the couch, he always ended in your bed.

You assisted him on your bed, going back to close your door. Angel took off his clothes, leaving him in just his boxers. “I love you.”

Your heart clenched hearing him say that. He always told you he loves you. Without a fail, he always did, when he was visiting you intoxicated. Yet, you never felt it, especially with the way things ended. And he never said it when you were together. You did, and that’s when things went downhill for you two. Holding on to the doorknob, you tried to stop the tears from coming. Angel was watching you, waiting for you to come join him on your bed. He just wanted to hold you.

“You coming?”

You nodded your head and went to your side of the bed as Angel scooted up to his. Moving the blanket, you two settled under the blanket and Angel pulled you flush against him. He caressed your face, before leaving a kiss on your forehead.

Looking up at him, he was looking down at you, he was caressing your face again.

“What a pretty sight.” He sighed.

Your head rested on his chest and you eventually heard his breathing even out. You’re not sure how much more you could take of this.

You had to move on.

It was time.

The next morning, you hoped it’s one of the days that Angel left while you were asleep. And he did, which you were thankful for. It was always awkward when Angel was still here when you woke up. Rolling over to the side, you sat up, slipping your glasses back on. Yawning, you checked your phone and had a few messages from Coco and Gilly, one from EZ.

Choosing to reply later, you placed your phone back on your dresser and stood up. Stretching as you let out a yawn, you walked out of your room and froze when you heard movement in your kitchen. Rushing back in your room to get the bat you had for protection, you made your way back towards the kitchen, peaking in and found Angel. You contemplated pretending to go back to sleep, but Angel’s voice stopped you.

“Don’t even think about pretending to go back to sleep, I made you breakfast and you have work in an hour and a half.” Angel called out.

You sighed. Placing your bat at its spot in your room, you go to the kitchen and found Angel making a plate. He handed you the plate and you murmured a thank you. Sitting at the dining table, you made sure to sit on the other side since the two chairs beside you were full of presents you have yet to wrap for Christmas. You still had time, but your dining table was basically full.

Angel smirked when he saw where you were situated. You acted as if he wasn’t with you for four years. He placed his plate down at the other end of the table. Moving your stuff to your coffee table, you opened your mouth to protest, but Angel already placed the presents down.

“You don’t have to move them, there’s plenty of room.” You protested.

“Away from you, yes. But I want to sit next to you.” Angel moved his plate and sat beside you. He shot you a smile before picking up his fork. “Come on, eat up.”

“Angel, this really isn’t necessary. I can just grab something on my way to work.” You didn’t like spending time with Angel, especially in this way since it still struck a chord with you. The familiarity of it was a painful memory of what was let go two years ago.

“It would be rude for you to not eat after I made your favorite.” Angel knew you couldn’t resist a good omelette filled with spinach, bacon, sausage and cheese. “Please, let me do this for you, you did me a solid, again.”

Picking up your fork, you began eating. Letting the silence enveloped between you two. This was better. You didn’t want to talk to Angel. You didn’t want any thank you’s or apologies, you just wanted him to go so you could pretend that the other didn’t exist again.

Angel watched as you ate, keeping your eyes on your food. He hated how he did this to you, how you couldn’t even look at him. Every time he became highly intoxicated, Angel refused to go anywhere but your place, since it’s when he needed you most. Angel hardly drank himself to a stupor, but when he did, he was mostly troubled and was trying to forget the issues that were weighing heavily on him. Even though it’s been two years, you were one of those issues. He saw you around town often and it hurt him whenever he did. You were so close yet so far away. He knew that Coco and Gilly hang out with you every once in a while. Every day, it was a struggle for him to not see you, talk to you, hold you and be with you.

So he came up with this ridiculous plan after you accepted him into your home one night after he got drunk.

Whenever missing you became too unbearable, he got wasted and refused to go anywhere but your place. He was always aware enough to know he would be brought to you. And once he was with you, you would take care of him. He felt somewhat bad, but he didn’t know how else to approach you.

“Are you busy tonight?” Angel broke the silence between you two.

“What?” You had to make sure you heard him correctly. Looking over at Angel, he was waiting for you to reply. “I have a dinner thing.” A lie, and you were almost sure Angel could see right through it, but you didn’t want to think that. You could pull this off.

“A dinner thing?” Angel raised an eyebrow, amused by your choice of words. “Sounds like a fake thing.”

“Doesn’t matter to me if you believe me or not, I have plans.” You had finished your food. Picking up your plate, you placed it in the sink and turned to face Angel who was still sitting down. “Don’t worry about the dishes, I can do them. Also, I’m not really sure why you always decide to keep coming to my place when you get drunk, but I would really appreciate it if you didn’t come here anymore.” Your best friend, Marie had advised you to create boundaries, to tell Angel that you no longer want him coming over whenever he was intoxicated.

That it was time for you both to stay away from one another like you intended to do so when he broke up with you.

“Querida.” Angel stood up, but you shook your head, holding your hand up.

“You wanted to break up, we’re done Angel. As much as I want to be there for you, I can’t keep doing this and hurting myself. You chose to let me go, so go.” You left the kitchen and entered your room, locking the door.

Angel watched as you walked away, telling himself to run after you, but he couldn’t. He’ll let you walk away for now, but after you put such a decisive end to this whole thing, he couldn’t just let go. It may be selfish, but living without you for the past two years further opened his eyes.

He wanted to be with you and just you.

It’s always been you.

=================

A month without any incident with Angel. You're glad he has finally decided to leave you alone. Coco had texted you a few times expressing that he was proud of you about putting your foot down with Angel. EZ has been frequenting the library more as of late, and he’s either had Marie with him, his girlfriend, or he came by himself.

A new year and new decade ushered in a new era for you.

You caught EZ coming in, a smile appearing on your face.

“We got that book you’ve been waiting for, I saved you the copy since it was the only copy we got.” You grabbed the book and handed it over to him.

“Thanks Y/N.” He looked around. “Um, did Coco come? Or any other Mayan?”

“No,” you gave him a confused look. “You’re the only Mayan that comes during business hours. The others usually come when the library is closed waiting for me to make sure I made it home safely when I was still dating Angel.”

EZ opened his mouth to apologize but you held your hand up.

“Ezekiel, I’m not fragile, it’s fine to mention your brother.” You laughed lightheartedly to lighten the mood. You knew EZ tried his best not to mention his older brother. “So you and Marie are getting serious?”

“Something like that,” the sheepish smile on Ezekiel’s face made you want to pinch his cheeks. “Just put a good word for me.”

“A good word? My best friend hates hanging out at the library with me, yet, she comes here to what? Watch you read?” You loved teasing Ezekiel. You were glad when he got out of prison, the way everything turned out for him, it was awful but you were grateful he was getting another chance at life. “You should at least take her out on a date.”

“Look, don’t judge me, I just got out of prison.”

“It’s been two years.”

“Alright, fine, Marie is just intimidating. One day she seems impressed with me, the next she’s not into it.”

“I think you’re reading too much into the situation. You two have been talking for four months now and you still haven’t asked her out. Marie is simple, start with the movies.” You suggested.

“That’s fucking lame though.”

“Okay Netflix.”

“How about the fair? You and Angel can be like our chaperone.” EZ was trying to help Angel, soften you up some, but you were pretty good at blocking EZ’s charm.

You looked at EZ for a moment, a small laugh escaping your lips. “Nice try.”

EZ smiled and took the book to his usual corner at the library. You knew your best friend would be bursting through the door in the next thirty minutes. Marie and EZ have been playing the flirting game for the last year and have been officially talking for the last four months. It was cute and you were happy that Marie found EZ and vice versa.

You got on the computer, trying to organize the library website like you promised your boss that you would do. The door opened and you expected the usual coffee Marie brought you.

“I feel like I should start requesting for a pastry since you two use my library as your hangout spot.” You teased. “I’m glad you’re here, coffee will help me through the rest of my shift.”

“I didn’t bring coffee querida, but I can run and get you some.”

You froze. That wasn’t Marie’s voice. Looking up, you found Angel with his staple kutte on his back along with a navy blue button up. His body has changed over the last two years, his muscles were more prominent. You weren’t blind, you could appreciate Angel taking care of his body.

“Can I help you?” The professional tone killed Angel, but he was determined to break through that.

“Came to check out a book, maybe you can help me?” Angel leaned against the countertop of the kiosk desk. His scent hit you and it made you want to smack him. How dare this man? You wanted to move on, and you’ve been doing so well.

“I didn’t know you could read.”

“You know that’s a lie, I used to read to you while I fucked you.”

“Angel.” You hissed out his name, not wanting to yell.

Angel chuckled at your reaction. “Is it not true?”

“Listen, loitering is not allowed here.”

“That’s literally what everyone does around here.” Angel looked over at EZ and he shot his baby brother a smirk. “Well, I was looking for Stanford, I’ll be seeing you.”

You chose not to reply, saying ‘yeah right’ in your head. Marie walked in coffee and a box of Krispy Kreme in hand. The sigh of relief you let out was definitely noticed by her and her eyes immediately roamed the library to see if your creepy admirer was around, but instead she found EZ and Angel.

“Never pegged Angel as a library type of guy.” She placed your drink on the countertop.

“He actually loves poetry, he really likes the European writers, British novels mostly Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Shakespeare.” You mouthed off Angel’s interest which never surprised Marie. When you love someone, you made it a mission to know that person, so you would know their ins and outs. You become invested in any relationship you forge since you rarely make friends as it was. It wasn’t about quantity, it was all about quality for you. A hard lesson you learned over the years. “He’s a big fan of Scarlet Letter and Invisible Man. But he really likes poetry from all generations, when we were still together, I got him a few poetry books from a few authors he liked.” You paused, realizing the tangent you went on. It wasn’t uncommon whenever you spoke about Angel.

Marie enjoyed it because she got to learn about her old obnoxious neighbor that never deserved her best friend. You met Angel through Marie and in some ways, she regretted letting it happen, but when she saw how happy you were, how could she be so opposed? Even with knowing Angel’s history, she had faith. But then Angel decided that the single life was more of a life for him, something you never knew about. You never wanted to know about it and she didn’t push you.

“It’s okay, I love your tangents, even if they’re about that asshat.” Marie rolled her eyes. “So, have you given any thought of going on a date with Tyler?”

“You mean your co-worker you always refer to as a man slut?”

“Bitch, we’re trying to get the pussy wet, not a serious relationship.”

“That’s a no.”

You and Marie jumped, not expecting to hear Angel’s voice.

“Where did you even come from?”

“You setting her up?” Angel ignored Marie’s question. He was going to bug you for the name of that author you always raved about when you two were together, but he became intrigued when he caught the tail end of your tangent about his interests. It was endearing for him to hear that you still knew so much about him, but his mood soured when he heard Marie trying to set you up. “Tyler, the douche that always gets drunk out of his mind at the clubhouse?”

“Again, just trying to get her dry spell to end.”

“I volunteer.” Angel smirked.

“Not interested.” You replied as you turned to face Angel. “We talked about this, please, just respect my wishes. I don’t even know why you’re here.”

“Hate to break it to you querida, the library is public property, unless I’m disrupting the peace, I have every right to be here as much as you do.” Angel placed his chin on his hand, smiling sweetly at you.

You grabbed the coffee and the box of donuts. “I’m going to take my break.”

Your co-worker, Sienna took over the kiosk desk, Marie making her way over to Marie. She knew you needed some alone time. As she passed Angel, she patted his back.

“Give her space, don’t push it.”

Angel wasted enough time. He knew you. It’s not that you didn’t want to be around him, you were just protecting your heart. He gave you five minutes before he followed after you, finding the trunk of your Toyota RAV4 opened. Walking over to you, he opened his mouth to speak, you beat him to it.

“Eugene, please, I’m on my break, I would appreciate it if you didn’t follow me.” Your day was starting to become shit since seeing Angel helped you realize that you weren’t over him. It’s been two years but due to his drunken escapades, it was hard for you to move on.

“Who the fuck is Eugene?”

“No one.” You didn’t want to tell Angel about Eugene. It’s not like he would care, but you haven’t exactly told Angel about how your kindness to Eugene went from endearing to him becoming obsessive. “Can I help you?”

“I was going to take a smoke break then I saw your trunk open.” Angel shrugged, taking note of the name Eugene so he could ask Marie later. “Can I join you?”

“No, I’m done.” You closed the box of donut, picking up your drink as you stood up.

“Come on, throw me a bone here. Can you give me a chance to explain?”

“Explain what exactly? Why you broke up with me? Why you kept me in your back pocket by being your go to house when you're drunk?”

“You gonna let me explain or are you gonna continue interrupting me?”

“I don’t care what you do, just please stay away from me. You’ve made your stance very clear two years ago. I don’t care why you came to me while you’re drunk, but it doesn’t matter. Don’t come to my job, don’t come to my apartment, just please stay away from me.”

“You don’t mean that.” Angel frowned. He didn’t expect things to go like this. Maybe he was an asshole or an idiot, but he expected you to welcome him with open arms.

“I do, I want to move on, build new relationships and be happy. I didn’t break your heart, I didn’t hurt you, if you don’t love me that’s fine. If you feel bad for what happened, you’re good, you’re forgiven.” You pressed the button that automatically closed your car. “I’m suffocating right? I’m too nice right? Then leave me alone.”

“You really just gonna walk away?”

You were about to answer Angel when you heard a familiar voice call out your name. Looking to where you heard the voice, you saw Jay, your ex-boyfriend. Angel cussed under his breath when he saw him. Jay was a sore subject for Angel. You two rarely spoke about Jay and it was mostly due to the fact that Angel never brought him up. When you did bring up Jay, it was a rare occurrence. It’s not that Angel didn’t care about your ex-boyfriend, in fact, he cared too much. Too many times he’s heard people spoke about how epic you and Jay were together. The perfect couple that would have stayed together if you decided to go with Jay to Germany.

“Jay?” You hopped out of your trunk and was in disbelief. Jay, from what you knew, was still in Berlin, and wouldn’t be back for another three years. You kept in touch with him since you had a quite amicable break-up.

You two had dated for eight years before you two eventually parted ways. High school sweethearts, intended to last forever, but forever wasn’t a thing. You two broke up amicably and remained friends. It was hard not to be friends with a person you spent eight years of your life with.

It was your ex-boyfriend.

He couldn’t forget his name, he knew everything about the fucking guy. The first love, the one you would always love, that was the cliche, right? He remembered that he briefly met Jay before he left for Berlin once again. He was bringing you home after a catch up dinner with other friends and he saw just how your smile shone brightly around him. Jay was looking down at you, returning your smile as you animatedly spoke to him about something. You turned to face Angel and what he missed was how your smile changed, it was that smile specifically for your Angel. You had made your way towards him, wrapping your arms around him. Jay first met Angel then and much to your surprise, Jay took a liking to Angel, especially since he was a big fan of his Harley. Angel didn’t show much interest towards Jay, but you knew it bugged your then boyfriend how close you were to Jay.

Angel was not friends with any of his exes, but he also wasn’t with them for a long amount of time. If anything, you were his longest relationship. And seeing you react the way you did with Jay, he regretted it further that he let you go.

“Eugene is still coming here? You told me you handled that.” Jay was annoyed, you told him that you handled your too friendly library consumer. Jay stood at 6’4, 210 pounds, the Marines shaped him well.

You looked at Angel and Jay did as well.

“If you’re going to bother her when you’re drunk, you should at least get rid of her stalker.” Jay didn’t have a problem with Angel, but he knew Angel had a problem with him. He could see it when they first met. He couldn’t blame him, he rarely knew of exes that were friends, but Jay couldn’t exactly let you go.

You two grew up together, you knew him best.

“Excuse me? Who the fuck do you think you are?” You saw how quickly Angel’s face turned sour and you knew you could have a fight in your hands.

“Aright, let’s not do anything crazy.” You got in between them, with you facing Angel. “We’re done.”

You locked your car before making your way inside the library once again, dragging Jay with you, and leaving Angel to his own devices. The broken look on your face, he wanted to take that away, especially since he caused it. He loves you, he really did, he was just an idiot.

The fact that Jay was seemingly back in town, Angel had to make a move.

And you should know better, Angel was anything but a quitter.

=================

Angel walked in the library and found you talking to one of your co-workers. He saw her nudge you and your eyes met. Quickly you looked away, shushing your co-worker. Angel took his usual spot opening the book he had borrowed earlier in the week. You weren’t surprised Angel burned through books, people counted him out due to his affiliates, but you knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

Jay hasn’t been back since he saw him two weeks prior. Angel frequented the library and never saw a sign of him.

“You look beautiful Y/N.” Eugene, a regular at the library, complimented you. What started off as you being kind, feeling bad for a man who appeared to be a loner, was starting to make you feel uneasy. For the last three years, he progressively became bolder and you could tell that he was getting to the point where aggressive behavior was going to come out. Regardless of how nice you were, you always made sure he knew that you two were friends.

“Thank you Eugene.” You faked this small smile on your lips, but you didn’t want to provoke him. Sienna stayed beside you, she was more straightforward and had no problem telling Eugene to fuck off.

“Have you thought of my invitation for dinner tonight? My mother would love to meet you? I speak about you often with her.” The uneasiness at the pit of your stomach was unexplainable and Angel noticed the change on your face.

Sienna looked at you, her eyes slightly widening. She’s had enough of Eugene. It was small talk at first, but as of late, the man was beginning to be more bold. Starting with grabbing a drink or coffee, it evolved to having dinner at his place. You never entertained the idea and always let him down, but he wasn’t understanding.

“I’m sorry Eugene, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why not?” You saw how his face slightly scrunched up, his voice slightly raising. A few of the library patrons looked over before going back to their book. “Stop being such a tease and just go to my place.”

Both you and Sienna were appalled by his suggestion. You never teased him.

“Excuse me? I’ve never done such a thing.”

“Oh please, with the skirts and dresses you wear, how do you expect anyone to not be teased by your clothing. Mother is right, you’re a slut, but no mind, I can repent you.”

Angel heard enough. You saw him from the corner of your eye.

“Call security, I’ll handle Angel.” You walked out of the kiosk and intercepted Angel.

“Let go of me, he’s not going to get away speaking to you like that.” The restrained tone in Angel’s voice made you nervous for Eugene.

“Please, Angel.” The way you whispered his name with a plea, it made Angel sigh deeply, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he looked up at the ceiling.

“Make sure he’s gone when we get back.” He instructed Sienna. You led him to the restricted area of the library which was situated at the back. Older books or original versions of books were kept here, with only employees having access and at times guests who were accompanied by employees.

When you two were all the way at the back of the restricted area, you leaned against one of the bookshelves as Angel paced back and forth in front of you.

“How long has he been harassing you?” Angel questioned, continuing his pace.

“Angel.”

“How. Long.” He let out through gritted teeth. There was no argument. He let you take him away, you owed him this.

You didn’t want to tell Angel, it didn’t matter anyway. All you knew was that you had to take care of this, he was making your anxiety spike up. “Three years.”

“Three years?!” Angel’s voice echoed throughout the library.

“Angel.” You hissed, keeping your voice low.

“Are you fucking kidding me? And you never told me?” Angel didn’t heed your warning. He was livid. How could you not tell him, especially while you two were together?

“Eugene is harmless.” He shot you a look and you sighed. “He was harmless.” You amended your statement. “Angel, please, it’s okay.”

“No the fuck is not, the way he spoke to you?” Angel felt his temper rise again. Fuck security, he would beat the idea in to Eugene that he was to never breathe the same air as you again. “Wait, Jay knew? And you didn’t tell me?”

You cussed under your breath. You accidentally told Jay about Eugene. He was FaceTiming you when Eugene came in after hours. You were able to shoo him away since Jay was on the phone. You never even thought of telling Angel, you didn’t want Angel to make a big deal out of it and you honestly thought you were reading too much into it.

“I,” you sighed. “It wasn’t on purpose. Jay was FaceTiming me when Eugene walked in after hours.”

“Did you have him pretend to be your boyfriend?” Angel knew he was being unreasonable, but it irked him that your ex-boyfriend knew about your stalker and he didn’t. He was the one who was in Santo Padre. He was the one who could deal with it.

“No, Angel, it was years ago.”

“My fucking point exactly, it’s been years and you never told me. I was your boyfriend then, not him. How could you not tell me?”

“I don’t know, it was harmless, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing.”

“Out of nothing?” Angel exclaimed, shaking his head at your ridiculousness. “We’re gonna fucking talk after this, this should have never been an issue.”

Before he could leave, you blocked his way.

“Move.”

You shook your head.

“Don’t act like I can’t just lift you out of the way.”

You weren’t exactly the lightest, and hardly looked like any of Angel’s previous girlfriends. You had meat on your bones and some people may poke fun at your weight, but Angel always made you feel like a queen. He loved your curves, kissed and worshipped every part of your body. Well until he broke up with you.

“Angel, please, just stay with me.” You wrapped your arms around him and he wrapped his arms around you.

“No, he’ll never learn his lesson unless,”

You cut Angel off by bringing his lips down to yours. Whenever Angel became irritated or upset, small touches or kisses from you would always calm his anger. You took a chance knowing Angel doesn’t exactly want you anymore, so you’re not sure what this would do for the situation, but you had to try. Angel immediately responded to your kiss, his hands cupping your face. One of his hands slid down to your neck, slightly moving you so you were against the bookshelves. His hand moved down, brushing against your breast causing you to moan. Angel’s tongue slipped in, deepening your kiss. He pressed you against the shelf, pulling away and pressing his forehead against yours. The anger that had overtook his body was gone, and was now replaced for a burning desire for you.

“You still taste so good.” Angel kissed you again, your back arching so your front was pressed against his front. One of his hands was sliding under your skirt, causing you to pull away.

“No Angel.” You shook your head, moving away from him to fix yourself.

Angel groaned, his dick was hard and he was at a library with no means of relieving it. He thought of anything that could help his erection to go away, his third grade teacher who was horrific to him did the trick. Turning to face you, he found you looking around before you took his hand and led him further down the restricted area of the Santo Padre library. It was an old library, built by the Spaniards when they were doing their missions along California. Bringing him to the last row where you knew there was an entrance to the inventory the library had for the restricted section. You knew no one ever went in there till closing. You didn’t want Angel to do anything to you, but you could definitely help alleviate some of his anger.

“Querida, where the fuck are we?” Angel looked around and the shelves were against the walls, a few shelves were in the middle of the room, otherwise, there were books everywhere. You led him to a desk that Sienna used to organize the unlabeled books. You pushed Angel down onto the office chair. He watched as you sunk to your knees, your eyes focused on unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his jeans. “Hey, you don’t have to do this.”

“I know, but I want to.” You lifted your eyes to meet his and the softness in his eyes was such a stark contrast from earlier where they were dark, anger obviously apparent. Now, it was adoration and lust that clouded his iris. You tugged on his jeans, which Angel assisted you with, lifting himself up so you could pull down his jeans and boxers. Smirking, you wrapped your hand around his semi-hard cock, using some of his pre-cum to help your hand glide down with ease. Angel groaned, leaning his head back. It was his weakness, watching your beautiful lips around his cock, trying to take in as much of his cock, he was a goner whenever you did that. The way your eyes would water, your cheeks hallowed, your mouth full of him, the image alone could make him cum. But he always held back, letting himself enjoy you.

“Fuck, look at you mi sol,” he watched as you spat down on his cock, holding his thick member with one hand. Placing a kiss on the tip of his cock, you looked up at Angel as you opened your mouth to take him in. Just as he taught you, you took Angel until you could not take any of him anymore, moving your head back up, his cock sheath with your saliva. You took him in your mouth once more, Angel gathering your hair in one hand. He loved your eyes on him. Those hooded eyes under those thick black rimmed glasses of yours. You move your mouth up and down his cock, hollowing your cheeks and swallowing around him whenever his tip reaches your gag reflex. You let go of him with a pop, your hand replacing your mouth. “That’s right baby, take your dick and let me fuck that pretty mouth of yours.” Angel tried not to lose himself with you, but any part of you that was connected always felt so good for him. He didn’t know what it was but everything he did with you was a hundred times more intense when compared to others.

Placing two hands on his cock, you had your mouth on the tip of his cock, running your tongue over and over again over Angel’s sensitive cock. He moaned out your name, gripping your hair tighter. You were licking his cock like it was a tootsie roll lollipop and you were trying to get to the center. You moved so that your tongue was moving up and down his shaft, getting to the top and engulfing his tip with your mouth. Angel groaned, throwing his head back, licking his lips as you continued to bob your head up and down. His hand assisted you, the tip of his cock hitting the back of your throat, swallowing around it.

“Holy fuck princesa, keep going I’m about to cum.” Angel moaned. “You want me to cum in your mouth baby? You gonna swallow daddy’s cum?”

You chose not to answer and continued your ministrations. Just as you felt Angel’s cock pulsing in your mouth, you pulled away, placing a kiss on his cock. Angel slammed his hand on the desk, grabbing your hair.

“You really want to play with daddy?” His face was so close to you, your hand still around his cock. You tightened your hold, moving your hand up and down causing Angel to close his eyes. He moaned out your name, further dampening your panties. “Put your mouth back on my cock so I can fuck that pretty little mouth of yours.”

You followed Angel’s instructions, taking him back in your mouth. Angel began to thrust up in your mouth, tears forming in your eyes as he moved in and out of your mouth. Your hands rested on Angel’s thighs, your nails digging into his skin. He chanted your name before he came in your mouth, holding your head against him. You swallowed some of his cum, keeping some of it in your mouth. He let go of your hair, saying how much of a good girl you were for swallowing daddy’s cum. His cock was still semi-erect and you smirked, dropping some of his cum on his cock, making Angel groan as he felt himself hardened again at the sight of you using his cum as lubrication, moving your hand up and down once again.

“God, my dirty little librarian.” Angel always fantasized doing numerous things with you in the library. You weren’t opposed to it, but Angel hardly came to pick you up from your work. And now, Angel regretted that.

You placed a sweet little kiss at the tip of his cock before you stood up.

“Stay here, I’ll get you some paper towels.” He grabbed your hand, pulling you towards him.

“Let me make you feel good.” Angel smirked when he saw your breast just calling to him. You balanced yourself on the arm rest of the arm chair. Your dress was sinful since it was this black cami dress that you usually wore a cardigan with. He knew without that cardigan, all those fuckers that pretend to go to the library for books would be staring straight at your ample breast. And even though you were wearing leggings under, the imagination was running wild. “Where the fuck is your cardigan?” He hated how your breasts were just out in the open, even though your dress did cover your cleavage well, Angel had fucked you too many times in this dress, pulling the top down, watching as your breast bounced up and down as he fucked you.

“No, it’s okay, I just wanted to make you feel good.” In reality, you were ashamed you let this happen. For two years, you did nothing with Angel besides cuddling and now you not only kissed him but you gave him a blowjob. The only reason you did it was because seeing how protective he became over you, it made your heart melt. “I left it on my chair.” You bit back a moan as Angel grabbed your breast.

“What did daddy say about this dress?” He pushed one of your straps down, licking his lips as his eyes focused on your beautiful skin, calling him to mark it.

“Angel,” you whimpered as he pulled a part of your dress down, your naked breast immediately greeting him.

“Where the fuck is your bra?”

“It has a built in one.”

Angel wrapped his hand around your throat, making you look at him. He growled, squeezing your breast, taking your nipples in between his fingers.

“I’m gonna ask you one more fucking time, what did daddy say about this dress.”

“Not to wear it unless you’re with me.” You gave in and you couldn’t even be angry. Angel was doing a number on you. But you had to snap out of it, pleasuring him was one thing, but you didn’t want to go back there with Angel. “But we’re no longer together.” You moved away, fixing yourself. You were so wet, but you couldn’t give in to Angel.

“I can change that.”

“I’ll meet you at the kiosk desk.”

When Angel eventually joined you at the kiosk desk, you were surprised when he sat right beside you. Sienna threw you a smirk before finishing a few things around the library since you were set to close in forty-five minutes. Eugene was escorted off of the property, but you knew he would be back. You should really be more stern with Eugene, but at the same time you knew he found solace in the library since it was his time away from his mother.

You were organizing a few things at your desk, trying your best to avoid Angel and making yourself look busy. His eyes were on you, you could feel them.

“We’re closing soon, you should go.” Boundaries, you shouted that in your head. Boundaries. You had to set up boundaries or you would be in this endless loop with Angel. There was no future between you two, there was no point of prolonging the inevitable.

“I’ll wait just in case he’s waiting for you outside.” Angel’s voice was strained. You knew he was upset about your comment earlier.

“He won’t be, this isn’t some crime drama.” You tried to lighten the mood, but that seemed to upset Angel further. “I’ll be safe, I promise.”

He leaned in, so only you could hear his words. “Stop it, I’m not leaving you, I’m going to make sure you’re fucking safe. You chose to hide this from me for years and now that I’m in the know, you’re not going to be a fucking statistic.” He took the cardigan that was resting on your chair, and placed it over you. “Wear your fucking cardigan. You think just because we’re not together you’re no longer mine?” Angel chuckled. “You’ll always be mine, you can fight it all you want, but you shouldn’t fight the inevitable.”

“I’m not yours, there’s no fighting anything. We’re not together and it’ll remain that way.” You moved away from him, focusing your eyes on the computer in front of you once more.

The library was finally closed and as Angel promised, he remained by your side. You stood up gathering your things and you saw Sienna making her way towards the door.

“Hey! Are we still meeting at that new Thai place?”

Sienna was about to confirm your plans when Angel shook his head behind you. She refrained from smiling and shook her head.

“Sorry babe, my man just texted me. He’s having some technical difficulties at home. Rain check?”

“Sure.” You smiled and waved her goodbye. You could feel Angel behind you, his heat was just radiating. “Hey, so, I have to do inventory. You can sweep the parking lot to see if he’s there, but otherwise, we’re good. Thanks again for standing up for me.” You didn’t want to face Angel, you were nervous about what you would see. Resisting Angel was difficult and you just had so much willpower left. You never felt your dry spell, it never bothered you, until today. Now you really had to get laid.

You felt Angel box you in, his front against your back. You felt his hot breath against your skin. “Are the cameras on?”

“Huh?” Being in such close proximity to Angel, you wanted to close your eyes, bask in the feeling, but you have to set up boundaries.

“Are the cameras on?” Angel repeated his question.

“No, Sienna turns them off, only the outside cameras are on.”

“Good.” Angel placed his hand on your breast, grabbing it through your dress. Placing your hand on top of his, you incidentally intertwined your hands, with your hand on top of his as his other hand slid down your dress starting from your chest down to your abdomen and under your dress, pulling down your leggings. You felt him smile against your ear when he felt just how dampen your panties were. “You’re so wet, is this all for daddy?”

You whimpered when you felt Angel press against your clothed pearl. He squeezed your breast making you let out another whimper. “I didn’t hear an answer.”

“Yes daddy.” Your other hand grabbed Angel’s before he could move your underwear to the side. “Angel, let’s not do this.” Your mind screamed boundaries while your heart said fuck it.

“Why baby, you let someone else touch my pussy?” Angel swatted your hand, slipping his fingers under your panties. “I’m gonna make you feel so good, stretch out this pussy.”

Your phone began to ring and you immediately grabbed it. It was Jay, your ex-boyfriend. Angel saw the name and growled out your name.

“If you answer, I’m gonna make sure to make you come while he’s talking to you.” Jay was a sore spot for Angel. He was your high school sweetheart. The one that supposedly got away. Fuck that, Angel refused to acknowledge that. Jay was a part of your past, one he never wanted to address since he made him feel even more insecure about your relationship.

Angel ran a finger up and down your slit, slipping it past your entrance shallowly, moving his finger tip in and out. It was just enough for you to feel him, but not enough.

You let your phone ring, focused on the sensations or lack thereof that Angel was providing.

“You want my finger all the way, so you can feel my rings against that pussy?”

You nodded your head, loving the feel of Angel’s hand against yours. His hands were always so fucking big, it made yours feel small.

“Naw, I know you got a voice,” he kissed your ear, nipping at it. “Fucking use it.”

“Yes, please daddy.” You begged.

Angel chuckled lowly and slipped his finger further in, adding a second finger. “Tight as always, no one touched you baby?” His thumb landed on your throbbing pearl, tapping it.

“No daddy, just me.” You didn’t want to disclose with Angel that Marie’s words were true about your dry spell. You felt him add a third finger and you threw your head back, your head landing on Angel’s shoulder.

Angel wrapped a hand on your throat, chastely kissing your cheek. He kept his lips on your cheek, his breath against your skin further turning you on.

“Did you use that toy I got you?” He questioned. He was rubbing his clothes erection against your back, the friction was amazing, but you knew it would be so much better when it was his bare skin against yours.

“Yes daddy, I did.” You were clenching Angel’s fingers, his fingers tightening around your throat.

Just as Angel was about to unzip his jeans to slide on home, the door opened. You tried to move away from Angel, but all he did was fix your dress and kept you pressed against him. Jay looked at you, the swollen lips, the disheveled state and the smug look on Angel’s face gave it away.

“Was I interrupting?” Jay questioned, walking further inside the library.

“No.”

“Yes.”

You and Angel answered at the same time. He looked down at you, but you kept your eyes on Jay.

“You said you wouldn’t be back till next week.” You really wished Jay didn’t come, but at the same time you were glad he came. You were going to cave to Angel and that was the last thing you wanted to do.

“I decided to surprise you.” Jay leaned against the kiosk desk once he arrived, smirking. “You could have continued Reyes, I don’t mind watching.” The smugness on Jay’s face irritated Angel.

You sighed and pushed Angel out of the kiosk desk. “Go home Angel.”

“I’m not leaving you with this guy.” Angel stood his ground. Jay wasn’t your man, and he never would be again.

“She’s safe with me, go back to your little club, fix bikes, fuck bitches, and sell drugs.” Jay knew what the Mayans were, he’s had his fair share of run ins with them over the years. He was friends with Neron, a gym buddy of his you could say and he served time with Johnny in the Marines.

“Jay!” You hissed.

Angel just smirked and shook his head. Jay wasn’t worth it, not yet at least.

“I’ll see you later querida.” He brushed past Jay. It took every fiber in his body to not knock him out.

There was a time and place.

His main goal right now was to get you back. You two had plenty to talk about and Angel planned on discussing things with you. He wasn’t going to let Jay weasel his way back in, especially since he may never let you go again.

Angel understood he fucked up.

He made a hasty decision.

But, it was a new year.

It’s 2020.

A brand new decade.

Your past grievances could be left behind in 2019.

Valentine’s Day was around the corner and he was determined to spend it with you.

Angel was more determined to win you back. That kiss, he knew he wasn’t the only one who felt that undeniable spark between you two. And the sexual encounters you two just had, it left Angel wanting more, as he always had.

But he had to take care of Eugene and then Jay.

=================

tagged list: @justahopelessssromantic : @carlaangel86 : @woahitslucyylu : @encounterthepast : @enamoured-x : @anangelwhodidntfall : @briana-mishell24 : @bribri-82 : @chibsytelford : @agirllovespancakes : @twistnet : @everyhowlmarksthedead : @trulysuccubus : @jadert15 : @sammskellington : @cind-in-real-life : @onmyspookysblock : @sadeyesgf : @thickemadame : @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass : @gemini0410 : @elcococruz : @samcrobae : @sesamepancakes : @iambabyharry : @blackmissfrizzle : @mrs-losa : @1-800-imagines : @phoenixhalliwell : @lady-pswrld : @dazzledamazon : @getyourcrayoncas : @fvckthisbxtchup : @lukealvxz : @scuzmunkie : @lilac-tea-time : @danie1432 : @cocotheclown : @soaronmywings : @my-rosegold-soul : @buttercup812 : @un-poetryy : @angelreyesgirl : @sheeshgivemeabreak : @vicmackeybullshxt : @bigcreatorwombatdreamer : @khyharah : @strawberrywritings : @cherry-icetea : @fuzzy-jellyfish : @losolvidad0s : @brownsugarcoffy : @courtrae89 : @prdsdjarin : @blessedboo : @marvelmaree : @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat : @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead : @thesandbeneathmytoes : @dark-twisted-and-mechanical-mind : @maddie-georges : @pearlkitten33 : @incorrect-mcdanno : @that-chick212 : @imanerdychubbyqueen : @60shannon : @deeandbobbymcgee : @marquelapage : @justlikebreathing : @mindless-x-dreaming : @thesewordsareallihavetogive : @wiccanmetallicrose : @appropriate-writers-name : @likedovesinthewnd : @admirehermind : @krysiewithak : @helli4nthus : @robbosvgdens : @scuzmunkie : @proudlittlewitchbitch : @lilacyennefer : @witchyhours

#angel reyes #angelreyes #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes fic #mayans mc fanfiction #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fic #mayans mc fanfic

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arcadejohn127-9 · 3 years

Note

Hi! This is my first time requesting so I dont know if this is correct but headcanons of the brothers if the MC asks if they have eaten human meat before?? You can ignore this if your uncomfortable with this, have a great day! :))

I only don't write certain triggering things like sewerslide, self ouchie and forced devils tango - I know these are very non serious ways to censor these sensative topics but I would like to avoid triggering anyone

I know some people just shut down just by hearing it or seeing the word and it's really unfortunate

So yes, I'll take your request!

Warning: food, blood, gore-ish?, eating, teeth, human consumption, hallucinations and angst

It was dinner; you were having a fatty steak with garlic bread and a creamy seasoned sauce that the meat was cooked in and chewy dough balls filled cheese. The brothers wanted a meat dish and it was your turn to cook so you got human world ingredients to give everyone what they wanted.

You weren't sure what was eating at you. For the past few days stress as been at an all time high! You've become irrationality emotional to every situation which didn't help as you were experiencing mini hallucinations and continuous tricks on the eyes.

You hoped cooking and getting your mind off whatever was happening around you would help but it seems to be a futile attempt.

You set the table, making sure to add extra vegetables for asmo and levi. As soon as dinner was announced all the boys came trampling through the halls to reach the table first, Beel beating them by already being at the door. He was waiting there feeling himself drool whilst you cooked. Once everyone was seated you smiled, taking your seat and began to eat.

Your appitete diminished the more you chew. Finding it to be unfufilling. Your stomach felt like a void and the food only made that feeling more present. You poked at your food with a growing frown.

You heard a fleshy squelch.your eyes flickering up to see Satan; his sharp teeth sinking into the steak. He easily ripped it apart letting any sauce from the meat drip down his chin. For most of the demons it was medium rare; blood mixing in with the sauce. You could still see pink on the inside. When he bit into it it looked so soft with left over blood forming at the bite.

It was so fleshy. For a moment the steak slice turned into an arm. Just a slice of human flesh; his fangs ripping into it as if it was nothing. Apart of your arm ached just from the sight.

You shook your head, rapidly blinking. You hesitantly looked back up and it faded back to normal. These kind of hallucinations were popping up more often; you were terrified. It was putting you off food because you couldn't stop seeing it as something disgusting.

Asmo raised his voice, a sound of a knife stabbing down on a plate following it. You looked to see he stabbed the space between Beels fingers as he tried to steal a dough ball. But that didn't stop him, curling a finger around it and quickly detracted his hand. His brother huffed chomping down his vegetables.

Your eyes couldn't leave Beels figure; it was as if you had to see what he was doing.

Once again your eyes focused on the teeth. Beels fangs were the biggest out of Everyone meanwhile Satan's were long and thin. Levi's teeth reminded you of a shark. Mammons were like a cat with the focus on his top fangs. Asmo's teeth were the most human, reminding you of a vampire. Lucifers teeth were like Satan's but not as long. Belphegor was similar to his twin brother.

Your tongue poked along your smooth teeth. A few bumps here and there and the little prick from your canines. It was nothing compared to them.

Time seemed to freeze as his teeth sank into the ball. It squished with the juices from the cheese and the sauce forming on the flesh- flesh? It wasn't flesh. No it was dough. You held back a scream when you saw an eye replace the dough ball. You immediately snapped away your gaze.

"(Y/N), You haven't been eating."

All of them looked at you. Noticing how little was eaten on your plate. You could see the concern on their faces but your brain slowed. The words leaving your mouth before you even realized it.

"Have any of you eaten a human before?"

The air became thick. It made you choke, a knot forming in your throat as you stared at your plate. Waiting for their answer. Hoping they'll answer. Why aren't they saying anything?!

"That's an unpleasant question, what's prompted this?"

You wanted to say you weren't sure but then memories flashed before your eyes. The threats you've gotten from Beel, asmo telling you're delicious after nipping your skin, mammons stomach suddenly growling after hiding his head in your skin. This what has been bothering you.

You were frightened - no terrified you were going to end up on this table. Striped and ready on a silver platter for them to dig in. Would they do it whilst your alive? Desiring to feel you squirm between their teeth or would they be merciful? Killing and cooking you. A Morbid part of you wished they made you into a good meal if they did that; to not let your body go to waste and mean nothing other than something to tear into.

You felt sick. Your stomach churning the more you thought but you couldn't shut off your brain.

"Just.....curious, you're demons afterall so I thought it would make sense."

All of them were uncomfortable. They knew what they've done in the past and some in the more recent times. But what is recent and past to beings who've forgotten time? Where procrastination could last centuries and no one would bat an eye. What was hundreds years for humans could feel like a week to them.

"I'm going to tell them-" Belphie piped in but immediately got shut down by his brothers.

"don't ya dare even utter another word, you can't frighten them like this-!"

"Are you crazy?! They're never going to want to be around me again!"

"Don't be disgusting, this shouldn't even be a topic we talk about right now!"

"Keep your damn mouth shut."

"You'll frighten them, they already look unwell."

"That's enough, all of you, you're not doing anything to soothe-"

"Would you eat me?!" You suddenly stood up, looking at all of them with an expression of fear and determination.

They just stared at you absolutely stunned by your question.

"No way! We wouldn't do such a thing to you! We care too much about ya to do something like!"

"so if I didn't mean anything would you eat me? Atleast give me some comfort and tell me you'd kill me before you did it-!"

But none of them could give you that comfort. They knew they eat it with their prey still crying and thrashing for their lives.

"You don't need to worry about such a thing, you're going to experience no harm from us or anyone in the Devildom, we've made sure of it."

You shook your head. "Just answer my questions! If you're innocent then you'll just be able to say no! So do it! Say no!"

"We've all eaten a human but since the exchange program was planned we were banned from doing it - we've lost the taste for human flesh or... atleast I have."

His eyes skimmed over his brothers faces, lingering on the ones he knows still hunger for it.

"I think I need to take a break from here....…just need to get away-"

Your voice trailed off, your vision becoming fuzzy. Their faces contorted and stretched into monstrous beings. You stumbled back before your eyes rolled back, your body falling to the floor.

"(Y/N)-!!!"

When you finally woke up you weren't in the house of lamentation. Simeon crouched beside you, placing a damp towel on your cheek. You whined at the cold feeling; it made your burning skin sting.

you weren't sure how or when you got here. The angel helped you slowly lay down, caressing your skin.

"It's okay, Solomon will be back soon, Diavolo said it'll be best you go back home for a little while, don't worry I'll be sure to visit."

You nodded, your head feeling like a sack of bricks balancing on your neck. You let your eyes close as Simon kept brushing the towel on your exposed skin. Humming an unfamiliar tune.

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werezmastarbucks · 4 years

Text

more like honeymoon [1]

stuck in the prison world together with kai, and it turns out to be awesome

kai parker x reader (ER)

word count: ~4160

warnings: mentions of suicide, suicide, graphic violence, glorification of violence

music: right in the text + darkside by iann dior and travis barker

DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY by Bobby McFerrin segment

You danced, while making sandwiches. This kitchen rocked. They had... they used to have about four hundred types of cheese.

The only thing they lacked seemed to be black bread, so you were forced to make one yourself. Kai was a bit grumpy about it since he wanted to move on to the library, and you got stuck in this hotel. He ended up going without you, while you had a go at making bread, and returned with a hip of books that he threw around in the lobby. He moved all the cozy puffed armchairs together and created a neat nest that didn’t seem to have an end, right in the middle. You were still getting used to how incredibly stylish everything was back in ‘94. The year was absolutely special to you, and you couldn’t have wished for a better year to get stuck in. The best music was already out, the fashion was on its peak, and they already thought of creating relatively skinny jeans - not the kind you enjoyed in the new world, but not the baggy horror of the eighties, either.

It’s been one month and a half that you stayed in the prison world, and it was going very well. So far, it felt to you like a long prepaid holiday with absolutely no restrictions. You were breaking into houses and raided supermarkets, you could visit any cafe and any shop, Kai changed cars every day unless it was a Chevy; maybe there was something dramatically wrong with your head, you had no way of knowing.

You were spreading California cheese on fresh, still warm slice of black bread, dancing goofily to music, and chopping tomatoes.

Kai was resting like a little birdie among the expensive cushions which you knew he’d spot with the tomatoes or the cheese, and you still brought the food out. He gasped, excited, and threw the books away, and you stuffed your faces.

Every day, which was the same day again and again, you discovered the new shades of good in him which was frankly unthinkable before. Kai Parker good; but it seemed like being back in prison either broke him completely, or, more likely, put him back into the environment he knew well. Sooner or later you work out your comfort zone; some people, spending years in imprisonment, learn to live and enjoy the place. Not because they’re weak, but because it’s a survival instinct. Kai’s survival instinct was unbelievably strong.

You listened to music and traveled, and every day you asked yourself when the horror will settle in, and it still didn’t. Looked like, with the right company, and the whole world to explore, the magical prison world could seem like a resort.

COME WITH ME by Phil Collins segment

You were standing on the edge of the Canyon. Kai was holding your hand, clearly thinking about something.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been here before”, he muttered.

You were considering other things.

“Where’s the path again?”

“Right there, where the river turns. There’s a narrow way between the rocks that leads up”.

He looked at you. The sun was slowly going up, climbing over the red mountains, coloring them in insane shades.

“We don’t have to do it, if you’re afraid”.

His face gave a mocking expression as he squeezed your hand lightly.

“I’m not afraid”.

“Then just do it. I gotta say, the first thing I’ll do when we get out, I will marry you”.

You got distracted from your thoughts by this. You looked at him. The rising sun was coloring him, too. Kai had that kind of face which you always wanted to hold. It was just so... holdable.

“You fucking with me?”

He shook his head with a smile.

“No. This place doesn’t even feel like a prison anymore. I love it. Because of you”.

Of course he loved it. He had the whole planet at his disposal, but he wasn’t alone anymore. He still had magic from the merge, and he was high and lovestruck. He was about to jump from the Grand Canyon and fall to death, and then come back and continue his journey.

You’d asked him before which way to die was the most painful. This was about to be your first time dying. Before that, you only witnessed people die.

He said being crashed by a car slowly was probably objectively the most painful. He has never set himself on fire because he wasn’t crazy.

The irony completely escaped him.

Feeling your joints tear, and bones shatter, and all, that’s the worst. But psychologically, suicide was scarier. Knowing that it’s your own hands doing that. Falling from a height like that, there was danger of breaking something and staying alive for a fragment of a second, being horrified by the violent collision with the sharp pieces of rocks, but you wouldn’t probably even notice. Jumping from the Canyon was your idea, and that was why he got so inspired.

You looked at each other. Dying together is fucking symbolic, and this world rocked. For a second there you thought, even if you didn’t know you would resurrect, you would still jump, as long as his hand was holding yours.

You interlocked your fingers not to lose each other too soon, and hopped down. The air whistled and howled in your ears as you fell down. It’s nothing like flying, you thought with disappointment. And too fast, as well. You see nothing but the racing red stone. The feeling of being free is still good, until you crash into the first step of the hard mountain, crushing your skull in several pieces.

The Grand Canyon didn’t hear you two die, it was too big.

It took you the whole day to get out, but it was okay because the next day was the same again.

HEARTS IN FLAMES by Red 7 segment

And the next one. And the next. You discovered something you kinda know, but can’t fathom completely until you actually go there: on the other side of the world, it began with night, because it was the eleventh of May after midnight. Somewhere, the time was going further, and somewhere it was slower.

You rode down the long sandy and stone roads in the deserts, and sped as much as you could, not afraid to crash. You ate at any place you wanted to, Kai showed you the ‘secret’ recipe of making the McDonald’s fries, and he cooked it so well you didn’t see any difference. The process looked disgusting, and you knew, once you got out, you’d never go to McDonald’s again.

Once we get out became a kind of a proverb, a catchphrase you used, hopeful and indefinite, and light-hearted. Neither of you really suffered or felt confined in here; you didn’t know when you’d get out, really, because this time the Mystic Falls gang seemingly made sure Kai never has a chance to walk the earth again. You were just there when they tried to send him away, and you wouldn’t have it.

There are several most important moments in a person’s life, and you knew, in a weird way, that was when you and him got absoultely, ultimately connected. It was your chance to stand up for him for once, and, more importantly, to show him that there is somebody after all who refuses to give up on Malachai. So they sent you away, too. Clutching hands together, as you held his open wound, because Kai kicked and bit better than anybody else you knew, and they had to stab him first, you flew away in a tunnel of white light, didn’t feel anything, and it was ‘94 again.

Once we get out had all kinds of plans you weren’t sure you’d fulfill. Like marrying, and getting a car, and moving away from Mystic Falls. Settling down in New Orleans was yours, and burning New Orleans down to the ground was his, because he didn’t want to live there.

Once we get out was a point in the future very vague and distant, because, three months since you landed in the front lawn of the Salvatore mansion in the past, you had only a spell that was useless without Bennett blood. Somebody, whoever hid the spell, overestimated its importance hugely, and went a very hard way to secure it. Kai found it in Florence, of all places. He couldn’t speak any Italian, and your saying you’re fluent in French only made him chuckle with adoration. Do not let it fool you, his adoring chuckle only meant he thought you were a silly creature. French is no use because it’s Italy, bella, he said. Your ass started arguing that a lot is similar in the languages, and he shut you out with jokes. Then went into the library. You preferred to spend time in the streets, cruising around and remembering everything Anne Rice used to write into them.

The spell was scribbled on the piece of yellow paper and put into The Name of Rose. The backup spell which allegedly could go round the whole blood routine. Kai tried it and nothing happened. You weren’t even that sorry, and you both looked at each other long, promising you would keep looking. But honestly...

The whole world. It was yours.

YOU GOT IT by Roy Orbison segment

You had to carry a big bag with you now with the clothes you ‘stole’ from shops because, even though you could change every day, there were still a couple of things you refused to let go of. Kai was trying to teach you to travel light, but the whole life spent in a usual world still had a hold on you.

You realized you liked sweet life, you liked staying at the big houses where the rich people of ‘94 used to live, with all the rich things they had. The pools were the same, and the mini bars, too. May was warm and sunny, especially so in warm and tropical places, and only in Madrid it constantly rained, again and again.

You realized you still had an overall petrifying respect for the pieces of art, but the prison world was an amazing chance to push your limits. Whatever you destroyed, returned back on its place the next day, because it was the same day. You watched Kai swing a bat at Venus herself. The poor gal didn’t have arms for all you knew. He had no mercy for her. Everything here was like a video game. Kai only did it to show you what it feels like. It seemed like he was determined to use this opportunity to make you completely liberate yourself, but something had a hold on him, too.

You danced a lot, you found it especially romantic to dance in the dim lights of the evening in the hotel lobbies. You could choose anything, anywhere, and yet, so it happened that when you finally got tired of traveling non-stop, you found yourselves in Las Vegas. Kai said, awesome, this city has the best hotels. You really doubted that.

But nothing was better than dancing with him, foreheads touching, in the empty, well-furnished space of the Cesar Palace, and sing to each other. Without other people constantly interrupting, the time and schedules, other faces triggering hatred or anxiety in him, it became so easy to just be with each other. You were high on the free wealth, the opportunities this empty planet provided. You had no idea how much Kai was really enjoying it.

The feeling of closeness was overwhelming, even you felt that. Sometimes you wouldn’t be able to let go of each other for days; Kai kept his journal he understandably abandoned once he got out of here the first time. Now, it was its second go. By the time you have finally had sex to every single song in your 576 songs playlist, it’s been seven months in the prison world.

Las Vegas was cool but it was a desert. However, the desert was simply magical at the end of the day, when the heat settled down, and the dense air cooled a little. You’d drive down the avenues of the empty city to look at the dark and lit buildings. Some of them looked occupied, but there was nobody. You never understood what determined which windows were lit.

CLOSE TO YOU by Maxi Priest segment

“Sometimes I was thinking about killing you”.

You’d be more surprised if Kai had never thought of it. When you love someone, you think about killing them constantly. The one option you never tried before left, which is an absolute no go. The forbidden apple of relationship, the ultimate joy of possession, feeling as the life drains from the one you love. You wondered if it would be scarier than jumping off the Canyon if he killed you. You didn’t know if that was Kai poisoning your mind already, or it was what made you two click in the first place.

“Now you have the chance”, you said. He looked a you, cocking his head, and examined you as if trying to understand if you’re joking.

“You want me to kill you?”

Uttering it was still a little bit too much. You were nervous about falling down that rabbit hole where the whole pushing the borders experiment turns into bloody twisted chaos, and you end up like the children from Gummo. Senseless, pointless violence, filthy, dictated only by lust or ignorance. Kai was far from that still. He was essentially hurt and curious, not filthy. He was bold in the ways he professed his violence. But there’s always this danger of going too far and not being able to pick yourself up anymore.

“I mean, it would be good for you. You know what your cravings do to you if you don’t let the steam off from time to time. Now you can kill me safely and close that door”.

He was thinking about it quietly.

“I’m not interested in hurting you anymore”.

It sounded like a song.

But he listened to you, and listened well.

“By the way, if I can kill you, then you can kill me, too”.

Your head snapped towards him.

“I know you”, he chuckled, “you always wanted blood. But you’ve never killed anybody, have you?”

You shook your head no. Kai was like a serpent playing disinterest, but you could see the tip of his tongue split two ways, showing through his sharp teeth as he spoke.

“It’s a changing experience. Nothing quite like it, a good exercise”.

“Did you actually enjoy hurting others?”

“It felt necessary”, he said simply. “I woud die if I didn’t. Better them than me”.

You looked at him blinking slowly. He was a textbook killer you’ve read about millions of times. The philosophical question of whether that darkness that pushes them towards violence has the bottom and end was still unanswered in the future. You yourself had some gems of unanswered mysteries inside of you. Why were you so attracted to this boy, what made you want to stick with him so much? Why this obsession with being the only one who cares for him? Momma complex much? The saint redeemer? He was just so so cute and murderous and that was it. Maybe you did come from a completely cursed generation after all.

“How would you do it?” Kai asked. You were sitting on the porch of a suburbs house you chose to squat in by the way. It was your ‘pretending like you’re middle class’ week.

“Stab you”, you replied, without thinking. “You?”

“I’ll choke you”, he responded, looking at you. You noted how he didn’t use the conditional, but the future. He has made his mind up.

He took his time, though, trying to intrigue, or unnerve you, perhaps. It’s been about two weeks, or even a month, and you almost thought he forgot about it, which wouldn’t be atypical of him. His thoughts were all over the place.

You really loved this house, resembling any house from a 90s sitcom, with that big family couch in the living room which had the way right into the kitchen.

You finished doing the dishes and put the last plates away. Kai usually cooked, and you did the cleaning, all was fair. He appeared silently, wrapping his hands around your waist, and distracted you with heated kisses. They were heated literally, like he had a fever; you turned to feel his skin, and drowned in the kiss. You felt the itchy hot wave coming up, as his hands slid down your hips, and suddenly, his fingers were on your throat. He broke the kiss, leaving your mouth open, and the next second his face was cold, eyes black like two pieces of coal and you recognized that old Kai whom you met at the Grill. While he was still pretending to be fun, pretending to be nice, before you two got together.

His palms closed on your neck and your brain went in overrun. A part of you knew that was something you had discussed beforehand, and he even chose the right time, just after the sunset, when the kitchen was only lit by the pink-scarlet cloud light. A part of you, the more physical chunk, started fighting him, and the air got blocked out from your throat. The feeling of your own cartilage pressing on your artery was one of the most disgusting types of pain you’ve ever experienced. Your hands flew up, slapping his face, but he could as well be made of stone. The murderousness of Kai Parker was unmatched. Like a bulldog, once he closed his clutch, there was only one way it’d end.

Slowly, as you suffocated, blood throbbing in your eyes, he laid you down, while the darkness was consuming you. Damn, it’s taking so long, you thought with a grudge. You’ll definitely kill this dick back. You knew choking someone takes minutes, but these minutes feel like agonizing hours when it’s you being choked. Just relax and try to enjoy it, your mind said, and you suffocated even further on the inner dying laughter. Your hands were shaking violently as they grabbed his, and you wiggled on the floor. He shook you once, banging the back of your head on the tiles, and you almost blacked out. Your body bent out towards his in a fake desire motion. He put his knee on your stomach to keep you in place and pressed further and you died slowly, confused the hell out, in pain, and a little but irritated.

IKO IKO by The Belle Stars segment

You stood there, looking at the row of knives. A song from the future got stuck in your head, where there were lyrics that went,

that you’ll love me more when I’m dead

Your overall mood has not changed. It was just so good to be together, all the time, like a long, magical [sic!] honeymoon. You did not argue. You weren’t upset. Sometimes you’d get slightly disappointed, entering supermarkets, like this one, and expecting people to be there. After all, you have spent a huge chunk of your life... well, all your life, surrounded by other people.

It was another side of good though, knowing, that Kai is the only other one here. He joked a lot about ‘the last girl on Earth’. He was extremely romantic about it.

One of the knives laid in your palm obediently. It was beautiful: short stirdy grey handle, and the sharp broad blade. You could almost see your own reflection in its perfectly clean steel. There’s something about knives. Something about their inevitability, their thinness. You weighed it in your hand, completely mesmerized. You liked knives and was always the one to chop all the food before Kai could cook it. You were the Chopper in this... family?

You turned to look at him, the tall, lean frame, his black as hell head cocked on the side as he was reading something on a pack of nuts. He never read anything from the packs, so you found it curious. What were you calling yourselves? He was like that demon who slides from below your bed and you hold its cold paw in the dark, questioning, what are we?

The way he looked at you, it really felt like he has reached the end of his path in searching. You’ve never seen him so calm before. And vice versa, he was the only one who ever made you feel like that. It was a unit. He never once called you his girlfriend, and it was different. You never spoke about it, except that one time on the Canyon when he said he’d marry you. He looked very sure about it, but, knowing him, you didn’t think much of it. It was one of the things you’d do once you get out...

You walked up to Kai, and as he turned to you, about to show you something that got him so interested in a plain pack of nuts, you stabbed him in the side of his body.

Kai gasped gently, like it was more of a kick, and, unsure if you’re applying enough force, you pressed further.

His hand didn’t even get down to stop you. Unlike you, he didn’t even begin fighting you. He shot you a short glance, and there was nothing but curiousity in his eyes. He’s died thousands of times. It was horrible to think about it, but he was used to this kind of pain. You asked yourself why you’re hurting him, of all people, but it was cold math. You had to get even, because that’s what you had both decided. Plus, once the blade was inside of him, you couldn’t stop yourself.

You stabbed him again, as he grabbed on a shelf no try and stay on his feet. The second hit went right into his abdomen, and you wondered at the thickness of his stomach; being an innocent child before, you believed that a human body would be like butter, since a knife is sharp and extremely thin. It turned out to be a bit harder than you expected.

Kai fell down and laid on his back, putting his hands aside. You suddenly realized, with bursting heart, that you were the only one person in any world that he allowed to kill him and didn’t even struggle. It was the ultimate demonstration of trust, better than any kind of I love you. The best thing he could ever do.

You sat on top of him, stabbing him again and again, trying different spots. The side proved to be the most vulnerable, and the chest was the hardest to break through because of the ribcage. When the blade got stuck against the bone, Kai was already dead, and your elbow hurt. No matter how much you climbed and how much heavy stuff you carried here, you weren’t becoming stronger, because one day’s excercise does nothing.

The blood was splattering onto his face and yours, and then you got tired, and horror finally seized you. At some point you stopped being curious, and became enraged for no reason, stabbing him blindly, just because he was good being stabbed.

You stopped, panting, and looked into his white face with his eyes open, turned away, drops of his own blood on his chin. Your hands were red as you touched his open wounds, and your own stomach seemed to have sucked on itself with fear.

Why did I do this? What does he like so much about it?

You knew for sure he’d come back. There was no reason for him not to resurrect. But the irrational nervousness grabbed you. You took his chin and turned his face up, looking at him.

I love you so much, and I don’t know why I did it.

His blood was warm and salty. It went well with bubblegum ice cream.

You had no idea that it was invented SUCH a long time ago. You had no hope to find it in ‘94 and felt like an idiot, but a happy one.

You sat on the floor two steps away from him and stress-devoured ice cream for an hour until he finally woke up.

Kai groaned and attempted to get up, lifting his head and looking at the high ceiling for a moment. He then rolled to his side and lifted himself up on an elbow.

“How did it feel?” he went straight to the point.

“Good at first, but then horrible. I think I went a little overboard. I stabbed you about twenty times”.

“I always knew there was something deeply, fundamentally wrong with you”, he said with tenderness. He got up and crawled up to you, attracted by the sight of the half-empty bucket of ice cream.

“I don’t wanna do this anymore”, you said, and felt lonely for a second. “I didn’t really enjoy neither the first nor the second time”.

“Each to his own, I guess”, Kai shrugged, and opened his mouth. You shoved a spoonful into it.

#kai parker #kai parker imagine #kai parker x reader #vampire diaries #vampire diaries imagine #tvd

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mhdiaries · 4 years

Photo

Freak Du Chic Gooliope Jellington Diary

5, April

“Family Night” at Freak du Chic is always a little bittersweet for me. On the one claw it’s a joy to sometimes see three or four generations of a family sitting together and enjoying the show, but on the other I know that it is something I will probably never experience. Of course, I never say anything to any of the other performers because I know it would hurt their feelings. In fact, just tonight I heard Jitterwing say to one of the customers, “Oh, that’s Gooliope. She’s the Ringmaster’s daughter, but every monster on the midway claims her as their own.” When I heard that it made me feel I was being ungrateful for the unlife I have, but when the show closed and everything was quiet and still, I came back to my tent and opened my trunk. There, inside the glass jar that was my first “crib” is a well-worn note. I always expect it to say something different, to mysteriously change and tell me something it didn’t before, but it never does. On one side is typed:

Experiment 816 Batch 8708

And on the other side is:

To Whom It May Concern: A cold, sterile world is no place to raise a little goo. I can give her everything, except a community where the only thing about her that will ever be measured is the size of her heart. I know that you can give her the unlife I cannot. Sincerely, R.S.

One day maybe I will find R.S., or maybe R.S. will come and find me. Until then then note goes back into the jar, the jar goes back in the trunk, and I will try to go to sleep, for tomorrow everything must be broken down and packed to move. Then it’s on to the next location with my family.

9, April

I have heard that when unlife gets creepy crazy, some monsters threaten to “run away and join the circus.” I think if they knew what unlife in the circus was really like they would threaten to “run away and join a team of dragon dentists” or something equally eventful. I guess I don’t blame them, though; the Freak du Chic really is quite magical when there are daring acts under the big top and the midway is hopping; when the cadence calls of the pitch monsters ring and the deadlicious smells of scarnival treats rill the air. Then there’s the excitement of travel. Moving from town to town, seeing new scenery and constantly meeting new monsters does have an adventurous mystique about it. But... it takes hours and hours of practice to make those daring acts look flawless, and our audiences never see the bumps, bruises and sprains that come before the perfection. Yes, scarnival food is indeed clawesome, but there are only so many fried cheese stuffed pies on a stick you can eat before all you really want is an apple. Traveling can be exciting, if you can actually stay awake long enough to see the scenery between stops. I mean, after we’ve finished packing tents and wagons and rides and concessions, and everything else that makes the Freak du Chic what is is, being able to sleep is a real treat. In fact, I think I’ll treat myself now before we get to the next location and the magic and adventure start all over again.

12, April

Today the show was “dark,” so some of the crew went into the local town to get some supplies. They asked me if I wanted to go, but I said I had homework to catch up on so I couldn’t. When I was just a little goo I loved making those trips into town, but I wasn’t very little for very long, and now that I’m 15 feet 2 inches tall it’s impossible to be inconspicuous. It was scary sweet of them to ask, but I really never feel comfortable away from the scarnival. I guess I don’t mind so much when monsters stare at me during the shows because that’s part of the reason they come to Freak du Chic. Here, I’m a performer; out there I’m an oddity.

18, April

Today is my birthday and no one acknowledged it. I spent the whole day trying to convince myself that it was okay that no one remembered, but I wasn’t doing a very good job of it. I just kept thinking that somebody would SAY SOMETHING, and when no one did I went back to my tent and threw myself a pity party. It was a good one, too, complete with “no one loves me” and “who needs a stupid 16th birthday anyway?” I was even getting ready to unwrap “if they don’t appreciate me here I’ll just go find someplace where they do” when the FDC emergency siren went off. It didn’t take me long to forget about myself, because that alarm is only sounded when every monster’s help is needed. I ran as fast as I could to the place where we were all supposed to gather in an emergency, but when I got there no one else was around. Then the lights went out and I was like, “What’s going on?” That’s when I noticed candles coming towards me through the darkness. The candles, of course, were on a ginormous birthday cake. As it got closer I could see that Dad and Mom were carrying the cake, and behind them came everyone else, and they began to sing “Happy Birthday.” I was so surprised that I almost started crying. Dad and Mom said, “You didn’t think we forgot your birthday, did you?” I had to admit maybe just a little bit. I got some scary cool presents, too! The scarousel monster gave me a killer pair of shoes with horses for heels and a callope hair comb. The tent monster and seamstress used canvas and sillk to create a beautiful dress and epaulettes just my size. The wagon monster and blacksmith gave me earrings made from wheels. The clowns got me two ginormous jars of my favorite gummy candy. Actually, only one of the jars had candy; the other was a trick jar that shot out spring-loaded bats. Clowns. Finally, Dad and Mom gave me a necklace with an 816 pendant. Then I really did choke up. They are the best parents any goo ever had, and I’m so grateful to be a part of this family. It was the BEAST. BIRTHDAY. EVER.

1, May

Dad has a big map of the wall of his ringmaster’s trailer. He uses different colored pins to show where we’re going, where we’ve been, and even a color for places on his “casket list.” This year he was able to change one of those out for a “place we’re going” pin. The place is Monster High. Dad said he’d always wanted to take the show there, but the schedule could never be worked out. This year one of the towns where we usually play canceled because a giant sinkhole opened up under their scare grounds, so now we’re going to Monster High! Dad says we’ll be there for two weeks, and he thinks that we should make enough money to repair and upgrade a lot of our equipment during the off-season. I really hope that it turns out like he hopes because I know he’s been worried lately, although he would never admit it.

10, May

When it comes to working around here, there really can’t be any dead weight; because if one monster doesn’t do their job it means someone else has to work twice as hard to pick up the slack. That’s never been a problem with our crew. In fact, most of the time whenever someone finishes the work they’re supposed to do, they go and find someone else to help. So when monsters started coming down with the boo flu we all just did what was natural. Even so, we were down to a skeleton crew when we put up the tents this morning. After that they all pretty much crashed. This is the first time we’ll be performing at Monster High and it’s a big show for us, especially since it’s the last one before we take a break for the year. I guess I should be thankful I was born in a lab, because I never get sick and I’ve been able to help take care of everyone. Only... I’m starting to worry that without some help the show might not groan on. So I’ve made up my mind that in the morning I am going to go find some help. The very thought of it makes my entire body feel wobbly, but there are monsters that I love who are counting on me and I will not let my family down.

#monster high #monster high diary #freak du chic #gooliope jellington

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marveloussupernerd · 3 years

Note

Yoosung is so under appreciated in this fandom >:( if you could write about cooking in the kitchen with Yoosung that would be fantastic >:)

YES poor sweet bby Yoosung. I get why ppl think he maybe doesn’t have a personality esp in other routes but also ... he do b a college student I don’t have a personality either JSJSJ

Cooking - Yoosung Kim

Summary: Yoosung is best boy. And best boyfriend. He wants to make you a special dinner since you just moved in with him and you offer to help

You had finally unpacked the last of your boxes. You were officially moved into Yoosung’s apartment. With all the threats of the hacker, which shouldn’t have been much of a big deal since Seven and V supposedly took care of them... but Yoosung wasn’t sure. He was stressed with you in that apartment. Still, it wasn’t until the next school year came along that he was looking for a new apartment to lease and offered to look for a larger one so you could move in.

You had stayed the night at Yoosung’s dozens of times, but this was different. The energy was different. You never had to worry about what time you were going home. It was like every second was a date. But also, it was going to be hard to stay focused working from home with him by your side. All an adjustment, but more than worth it to stay with your perfect boyfriend.

The two of you were sprawled out on the couch, exhausted but satisfied with your hard work moving everything in. Yoosung’s head rested on your shoulder; he pushed off from his position to look at you. “Can I make you dinner? Anything you want,” he offered.

“Oh it’s chill. We can just get a pizza.” The last thing you needed right now was a mess in the kitchen. Making food was way too much work.

“B-but!” He protested, his voice cracking, “this is our first night living in the same house together. And you want to celebrate it with pizza!?”

You shrugged. “I’m really craving pizza.”

“Have you ever made pizza?” Oh boy. It was like a lightbulb went off over his head. He was always overcomplicating things, but that’s one of the reasons you loved him so much.

“Of course. I feel like everyone’s done that at like a sleepover before.”

“You’ve done that at a sleepover!?” He seemed to not believe you. “I’ve... never done it before. But we could try! If you’re willing to help me out.”

You sighed, pushing yourself off the couch to stand up. “I would’ve been totally fine with just ordering but... of course I’ll show you. I don’t know how well I remember though.”

He was pulling up a recipe as you spoke, just in case you did forget a part or two. But it seemed like he would rather learn from you, as he set the phone face-down on the counter and focused on you, rolling up your sleeves. “First we need dough. I’m imagining you don’t have frozen pizza dough here.”

He chuckled, shaking his head.

“That’s okay! Technically we could make it from scratch but... you don’t have any yeast, do you?”

He shook his head no again, his ears heating up red. “I didn’t realize that was a thing to have.”

You giggled. “That’s okay! We can improvise.” He grabbed his phone while you turned to the fridge, sorting through to find anything that could be used as the crust.

“Got it!” You called, pulling out a roll of Pillsbury crescent roll dough. “This will work just fine. You wanna open it up and try and make it into a nice flat pizza shape?”

He took the roll from you eagerly, smacking it against the table to open it up. “I love this stuff. I think it’ll work pretty well.”

“Now while you do that... we need sauce. You have any sauce?” You turned back to look at him, tongue stuck out as he concentrated on smushing the sides of the dough together.

“Huh!?” He looked up at you. “Oh, yeah. It should be in the little side door thingy in the fridge.”

Well Ragù was admittedly not your first choice, but how different could pizza and pasta sauces be? (AN: as an Italian who makes both homemade... they rlly aren’t too different and I’ve def made pizza w pasta sauce before oop)

You set the jar of sauce next to Yoosung. “This is shaping up to be a very nice pizza. Now how about cheese?”

His grin on his face widened. “I’ve got a ton of different cheeses. Makes me feel fancy.” He abandoned his workstation to walk to the fridge with you, opening it up and opening a drawer which had just... wow... a lot of cheese. “We’ve got parmesean, mozzarella, brie, provolone, American...”

“Mozzarella. That’s the traditional kind.”

“The shredded kind or the string cheese kind?” He asked. You wanted to laugh but... oh boy he was serious.

“Shredded, Yoosung.” You couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry. You’re so sweet and cute.”

“Don’t call me cute,” he pouted, tossing the bag of shredded cheese to the counter. “I’m very mature.”

“Of course you are,” you teased. “You do have like a million different kinds of cheeses.”

He sighed, rolling his eyes, then making his way back to the dough. It looked pretty good honestly. You grabbed a baking tray and set the dough on it. “Now we can add the sauce and start jazzing it up,” you instructed.

Yoosung got to work on the sauce. Or... opening the jar of sauce. He was putting a lot of muscle into it, but it was not working.

“You need some help, Baby?” You offered, batting your eyelashes at him so he wouldn’t get mad at the nickname.

“Yes,” he whined, passing the jar to you. “I can’t get it.”

You popped the jar open in a few tries. Granted, it was hard to open. He wasn’t absolutely crazy. “There ya go.”

He made his way behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist. “You’re so strong. And talented. And smart,” he complimented.

You leaned back into his touch. “So are you. That was tough to open.” You grabbed a spoon and put it in one of his hands that was on your waist. “Help me spread the sauce?” You asked, looking up at him innocently.

He couldn’t say no to your puppy dog eyes. The two of you dipped your spoons into the sauce, plopping down sauce and spreading it out across the dough. He got a little too violent with dropping sauce, splashing some on you by accident. He hadn’t noticed until you jumped, cringing.

“Aw Honey, you’ve got sauce on you!” He exclaimed, setting his spoon down and using the pad of his thumb to gently wipe it off your cheek. “Ah, I-“ he glanced anywhere but to look at you, still flustered by the intimacy of the action. He was so adorable; he had his arms tight around you but was embarrassed by wiping sauce off your face. He let out a sigh and put the sauce-coated thumb into his mouth, sucking off the sauce, his face bright bright red, his eyes looking anywhere but at you.

“I, uh, think the sauce is all done,” you told him, trying to put his attention elsewhere. He jumped, his hand leaving your hips, and made his way over to grab the cheese.

The two of you sprinkled a ridiculous amount of cheese on the pizza, making sure no square inch was uncovered. And with that, you were able to put it in the oven. You hopped up onto the counter to sit and wait, coaxing Yoosung by your side with a tilt of your head.

He stood to the side of your legs, and you rested your hands on his shoulders, later opting to loop them loosely around his neck. “We did pretty good, huh?” You commended, unable to wipe the smile off your face.

“I think it was a great first meal. Well, I don’t know if it’ll taste good yet, but I had fun with it,” he nodded eagerly.

“Yoosung, I’m so happy to be here with you.” You leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his lips.

“Me too.” He pulled you back in before you could completely move back to begin with, connecting your lips right on with his this time, one of his hands settling on your hip and the other on your thigh.

The timer sounded; the pizza was done! Yoosung’s face was bright red, as it always was after you kissed. You’d think he’d be used to it by now, but he wasn’t. He was just as sweet as always. He looked so cute putting on his oven mitts to pull the tray out of the oven. The pizza smelled good. You were just proud that you made something together.

#mystic messenger #mysme #Yoosung kim

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sesamestreep · 4 years

Text

stack the deck with wild cards (chapter 1)

(read on AO3)

SUMMARY: The situation with Cassian is complicated even before Jyn finds out she's pregnant, but deciding to get an abortion should really be the last straw for him, right? If there was any chance he'd still want to date her, she thought it had to be long gone by now. And yet he always finds a way to surprise her. [AKA - The Obvious Child AU you didn't know you wanted]

A/N: I’m going to be posting chapters of this fic daily, since it’s already completed. I never write chapter fic, so I have no idea what I’m doing and please bear with me. Also, this fic (and the movie it gets its plot from) is about abortion, so if that’s not something you’re into reading about, you should really strongly consider not reading this. I promise you won’t hurt my feelings. For those interested, there’s additional notes if you follow the AO3 link above. If you want to blacklist any future updates of this fic on tumblr, I’ll tag it with [#stack the deck verse] for your convenience. Chapter 2 should be posted tomorrow. Stay golden.

The reality of the current situation doesn’t hit Jyn at the doctor’s office when she gets the news or even when she’s booking her follow-up appointment. It doesn’t sink in when they tell her how much it will cost or give her the information she’ll need or the prescriptions to fill. It doesn’t hit her when she’s on the subway, heading home and texting Bodhi with numb fingers to see if he wants to have a movie night, or even when his cheery reply—replete with emojis—comes through saying he can come over tonight.

No, the moment everything becomes real is when she’s standing in the wine aisle at Trader Joe’s, going back and forth on whether spending eight dollars on a bottle of wine so that she can drink all of it in one sitting is irresponsible when she’s pregnant but she’s also not keeping the baby. It’s only then that she starts crying.

She’ll blame it on the hormones if anyone asks, she decides, which might even be accurate. She’s not really a crier under normal circumstances, but even if she wasn’t pregnant, she’s pretty sure draining her savings account for a medical procedure that she wouldn’t need if she had just been a little more responsible with her body would make her cry no matter how tough she thinks she is. Lucky for her, though, she lives in New York City and no one bats an eye at a crying woman in the grocery store. An older woman with a toddler in the seat of her grocery cart passes by and nods in understanding without saying a word, which is oddly comforting.

It’s the reminder that she needs to be careful about her money that talks Jyn out of buying wine for this evening (Bodhi probably wouldn’t have any and she doesn’t need to drink an entire bottle by herself under any circumstances, let alone these, even if she really really wants to), but she goes on to throw whatever snacks she wants into the cart indiscriminately because it has been a spectacularly shitty day. She spends more than she should (what else is new?) and sweats profusely trying to drag all of it back to her sixth floor apartment. She slams cabinet doors in frustration as she puts everything away and then takes the longest, hottest shower her shitty pipes in her shitty apartment will allow. When she emerges, her skin is bright pink and she pokes her stomach viciously, somehow annoyed and confused and relieved all at the same time that it gives away nothing of her current condition.

She spends too long sitting in a towel on her bed, dicking around on her phone instead of getting ready and ultimately decides Bodhi doesn’t care what her hair looks like and so she runs a comb through it and calls it done. She puts on her softest, stretchiest leggings and an ugly sweater she raided from her dad’s closet when she was a teenager that she loves because it has been washed and worn so many times that the sleeves now have holes in them that she can stick her thumbs through. It’s easily the least glamorous look she could have come up with, but she’s pregnant and she’s mad about it, so she’s going for comfort over style.

By the time the buzzer goes off, signaling Bodhi’s arrival, Jyn has managed to light a few candles and put some of the snacks she bought into bowls, so at least it looks like she put effort into some part of the evening. She presses the button to let him up and fidgets as she waits to open the door. She has to tell Bodhi as a trial run for telling…well, everyone else, basically…but a part of her wants to tell no one, deal with it by herself and pretend nothing is wrong. Of course, that would be stupid—the doctor even told her not to try and handle this by herself—but it seems more appealing than the alternative at this particular moment. It’s not possible, though. She needs someone to come with her to the appointment, at the very least, and Bodhi will do it without hesitation, that much she’s sure of.

When she hears footsteps in the hallway, she undoes the locks and opens the door. She takes a deep breath that is immediately squeezed out of her when Bodhi wraps her in a big hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” he says, rocking her a little side to side as he embraces her. “I’m so glad you suggested this! I feel like I’ve barely seen you lately.”

“I know,” Jyn says, clinging a little. Her eyes feel misty again already and that is definitely the hormones’ fault.

Bodhi pulls back to smile at her and his eyes catch on the candles and food. He gives her a suspicious look. “Okay, if this is an intervention for spending too much time with my new boyfriend, I know I deserve it but also I would have expected a much better turn out. You couldn’t even get Cassian here?”

Jyn winces at the mention of Cassian’s name but she thinks she covers it quickly with a forced smile. “It’s not an intervention,” she says as she steps around him to close the door.

“So why all the fanfare for a regular movie night?”

“What fanfare? There’s no fanfare!”

“Jyn, you put cheese puffs in a bowl ,” Bodhi says, as if she’s being obtuse. “You’re gonna have to wash that later. You did not have to do that for me.”

It’s on the tip of her tongue to make a joke— I’m nesting —but she refrains. “It’s no big deal,” she says, instead, and gestures to the couch for him to take a seat.

“If you say so,” he replies, still eyeing her warily and not taking the hint.

“Why don’t we sit down?” She finally asks, sounding strange and false even to her own ears. She leads the way over to the couch and Bodhi follows her, eventually lowering himself into the armchair with the same demeanor of someone approaching a wild animal.

“Jyn, seriously,” he says, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees once she’s curled up like a cat across from him, “is everything alright? You’re acting...odd.”

“Everything is fine,” she says, lightly, and hopes that saying so makes it true. “I just, uh, need to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

Jyn twists her hands together nervously, not sure how to get started now that the moment is finally here. “I need you to promise you’re not going to freak out,” she says, stalling for time.

“Ah, yes, that thing everyone says when everything is, in fact, totally fine.”

“Bodhi…”

“You’re leaving New York, aren’t you?” He asks, worried. “To be closer to Saw?”

“What? No, I—”

“Oh my god, it’s not Saw, is it?! He didn’t die, did he?”

“No, Saw is fine,” Jyn says, resisting the urge to rub her temple in frustration. “I mean, he’s not fine , obviously, he’s still sick, but he’s not—”

“Tell me you’re not quitting the band,” Bodhi interrupts. “Listen, I know things have been crazy lately, but I think—”

“Bodhi, I’m pregnant,” Jyn shouts, and the silence that follows is overwhelming.

“You’re…?”

“Pregnant. With child. Expecting,” she says, bitterly. “Yes.”

He looks like he’s been hit over the head with a mallet, which is bizarrely satisfying. She handled the news better and it was actually happening to her.

“How long have you known?” He asks, after a long time and with apparent effort. It’s not the first question she expected, but it’s not totally surprising.

“Like, five hours.”

“Five—?” Bodhi shakes his head in what she thinks is disbelief. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Jyn just blinks in response. What is he talking about? “Sorry?”

“You and Reece broke up like six months ago, how did you not realize you were pregnant sooner?” He asks.

“I…Bodhi, I’m not six months pregnant,” Jyn sputters. She smacks her stomach to drive home the point, which in retrospect is a stupid move, but she’s not thinking straight. “I mean, do I look it?”

“No! No,” he says immediately. “That’s why I was so confused, but you…you haven’t been with anyone since the breakup. You would have told me.”

When Jyn says nothing in response, just bites her lip, Bodhi narrows his eyes at her. “You would have told me, right?” He asks.

Jyn takes a deep breath, looking down at her hands. “I’m eight weeks pregnant,” she says, feeling close to tears again. “I found out today, I have an appointment in a few weeks to—to terminate it. I just need someone to go with me, the nurse said I had to, otherwise I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”

“Jyn,” he says, placing his hand over hers. “Of course, I’ll go with you. I just—I’m not upset with you, you know that, right?”

She nods, even though she doesn’t feel altogether certain of it. She loves Bodhi and trusts him, more than she trusts almost anyone else, but she’s not convinced she deserves to have him be nice to her after she’s fucked things up this badly. He ought to be upset with her.

“I know,” she says, anyway. A single tear escapes, which is just perfect. “I’m upset with myself.”

“Are you okay?” Bodhi asks, delicately. “Did this person hurt you or force you in some way?”

“No, no. God, no,” Jyn says, pulling her hands free with more aggression than the act required. She wipes the tears away in annoyance. “Nothing like that.”

“Thank God,” he says, looking heavenward and everything. “Then why all the secrecy? I texted you the minute I finished hooking up with Taidu for the first time.”

Jyn laughs even as she continues crying. “I did not ask you to do that.”

“No, but...not even a braggy ‘I just got laid!’ text? I thought we were best friends!”

“We are,” she replies hastily. “I was just embarrassed.”

“Why?” He asks, intrigued. “Is this person weird? Are they famous?”

She laughs again, feeling better in spite of the bomb she’s about to drop. “No, Bodhi…”

“They’re not married, are they? Because I promise not to judge you, but come on!”

“They’re not married.”

“Good, because for a second I was worried you slept with Baze and that would definitely break up the band,” he says, solemnly.

Jyn smacks his shoulder half-heartedly. “I would never sleep with Baze,” she says. “Don’t even joke about that.”

“Fine,” Bodhi says. “So, it was Chirrut, then?”

“Bodhi!”

“Well, you’re being so cryptic,” he shoots back. “If you just told me—”

“I slept with Cassian.”

Bodhi just blinks at her for a long, torturous moment. She’s never actually seen Bodhi yell at anyone before, so she doesn’t know if that’s what is about to happen but she braces herself for it anyway.

“What,” he finally says, flat like a statement and not a question.

“I had sex with Cassian and now I’m pregnant,” she says firmly, as if just admitting it out loud isn’t making her heart hammer in her chest.

“You’re pregnant with Cassian’s baby,” Bodhi says, disbelieving and Jyn winces. She’s been trying not to think of it as an actual baby, because she’s not keeping it. But if she did nothing for seven more months, she would have a baby and it would be Cassian’s, in a purely biological sense. She doesn’t admit to that line of thinking to Bodhi, though.

“Yes,” she says, instead. “Technically,” she adds, because she can’t stop herself.

“Technically? What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just—Getting someone pregnant doesn’t make a man a father,” she says, with more heat than she intended. “Raising a child does. And there’s not going to be a child, so…that’s all I meant.”

“Sorry,” Bodhi says, placing his hands over hers again. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just so surprised.”

“You didn’t upset me,” Jyn replies, shifting uncomfortably. “It’s these stupid hormones, that’s all.”

“Yeah,” he says, nodding. He moves to sit next to her on the couch, and she folds her legs up to give him room. “How did he take it when you told him?”

Jyn winces again before she can stop herself and she knows she doesn’t hide her reaction quickly enough from the way Bodhi stands abruptly. He always paces when he’s freaked out.

“Jyn, please tell me Cassian knows,” he pleads as he makes a circuit around her coffee table.

“I’ve only known for half a day! I haven’t had a chance to tell him!”

“Why would you tell me and not him?”

“You’re my best friend!”

“It’s his baby!”

“I wanted to make sure you could come to my appointment with me,” she says, and hopes the reminder is enough to make him feel sorry for her. He only stops pacing, but that’s still an improvement. “I was hoping you’d tell me what to do,” she adds, since it’s the actual truth.

“Well, obviously, go to your appointment,” Bodhi says, sinking back onto the couch.

“No, I mean—what I should do about Cassian?”

Bodhi looks over at her, confused. “What do you mean, what should you do about him? Tell him what’s going on.”

“I know, but how?”

“Same way you told me. Use your words.”

“Can I text him?”

“Absolutely not,” he says, scandalized. “You can’t tell him you’re pregnant via text. Who raised you?!”

“Saw.”

He acknowledges that with a nod. “Fair point.”

“I bet you’re going to say I can’t leave him a voicemail either,” Jyn says.

“You’re right, but mostly because no one under the age of eighty checks their voicemail anymore,” he says, patting her knee absently.

“Really?”

“Really,” Bodhi replies. “Just...sit down with him and tell him what’s going on. Same as you did with me.”

“It’s different with you.”

“It’s not that different.”

“It’s not your baby I’m aborting,” Jyn says quietly. “And you love me.”

Bodhi looks over at her then, some strange mix of emotions playing out on his face. She half expects him to object and say something ridiculous like Cassian does love her, and the very idea stresses her out. When he doesn’t say that, though, she finds herself oddly disappointed.

“Cassian’s a good guy. He’ll understand,” he says, instead, as if she doesn’t know that somehow. As if that isn’t a huge part of why this situation sucks so bad. As if she isn’t mortified that she has to involve him in something like this. As if she isn’t furious with herself because this is going to blow any chance she ever had with him in the first place. As if she hadn’t already done that by hooking up with him and then never calling him afterwards.

“I know,” Jyn says, looking down at her hands. She doesn’t actually know that—that he’ll understand. She thinks she knows Cassian fairly well, in a casual way. They’re mostly friends through Bodhi but they see a lot of each other. She suspects, from things he’s said before about politics, that he’s probably okay with abortion in a general sense, but it’s different when it’s your potential kid. She can’t actually be certain he’ll be cool with it, but she’s also not asking his permission. She just thinks he deserves to know. Or maybe she just wants an excuse to call him, for all this is the worst possible one the universe could have handed her.

“It’s just weird,” she adds, after a minute lost in thought, “for this to be the thing I call him about, after we hooked up. It feels shitty.”

“Wait, hold on,” Bodhi says, waving his hand dramatically at her. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I don’t know what you think I’m saying.”

“Have you not talked to him since you slept with him?”

“I haven’t,” Jyn says, bracing herself. Bodhi opens his mouth to interject, so she continues quickly, stopping him. “But, in my defense, it was right before the holidays and then he was out of town for like a month, so it seemed weird to reach out, and—”

“Jyn,” he says, and his tone is so full of reproach, it shuts her up immediately. “None of those are good reasons and I think you know that.”

“It’s not like he and I talk a lot anyway,” she objects, but it’s futile, if Bodhi’s unimpressed look is any indication. “We mostly see each other at the shows and the band didn’t have any in December, so I just haven’t had the chance. That’s all.”

“Okay, so none of it had to do with your overwhelming fear of intimacy and vulnerability?”

“No…?”

“Very convincing,” Bodhi says, and Jyn shoves him.

“Shut up,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Well, if that’s not what happened,” he says reasonably, “you have to tell me what did.”

“What—you want details?!”

Bodhi shrugs. “You hooked up with my roommate and didn’t tell anyone about it for almost two months. There must be a reason.”

“Maybe it was bad,” she says, petulantly.

He just gives her an arch look in reply, which she deserves. “Was it bad?” He asks, bored.

Jyn bites her lip, hard. “No,” she admits. “It actually really wasn’t.”

“Well, then. Spill!”

She sighs dramatically—more dramatically than the situation deserves, honestly, and it’s already a pretty dramatic situation. “What do you want to know?

“When did this happen?”

“By my doctor’s estimate, eight weeks ago.”

“Jyn, for the love of—!”

“I was just trying to lighten the mood,” she says, for all she was actually just trying to stall. “It was that night we played at that terrible hipster bar in November.”

“Jyn, we exclusively play at terrible hipster bars. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“It’s the one with the arcade games in the back? It’s changed names like three times this year?”

“ Oh , that place. Yeah. What is that place’s name?”

“No clue,” Jyn says, with a shrug. “But it was at that bar.”

Bodhi’s eyes widen, though whether it’s with shock or delight or both, she’s not sure. “You hooked up with him at the bar ?”

“No, no. We went home together afterwards, once the rest of you had left.”

“I knew it,” he practically shouts. “I knew something was up that night!”

“You did not!”

“Yes, I did. You can ask Taidu, I definitely said something about it to him.”

Jyn waves him off, not because she’s convinced but because she’s not going to bother Taidu about something this stupid. “Whatever.”

“You still haven’t told me how it happened.”

“Do you need me to explain how sex works? Because I feel like you get the general idea.”

“No, smartass,” he says with an eye roll. “I mean, you and Cassian hang out at bars all the time together and you’ve never hooked up before. So, what happened this time?”

“Well,” Jyn says, taking a steadying breath, “you and Taidu left early for some reason and you said you were going to stay at his place. And Baze and Chirrut left right after that, because I think that’s when Baze had that terrible cold.”

“Jyn, no offense, but who cares?”

“You asked me what was different about that night! I’m explaining!”

“Okay, fine,” Bodhi allows. “It was different because we all callously abandoned you.”

“Yes, thank you! Anyway, it was just me and Cassian at the bar and I had just ordered another drink when Baze and Chirrut decided to leave and I was giving them a hard time about it and Cassian offered to stay with me for another round, so I wouldn’t have wasted my money or have to drink alone.”

“How gallant of him.”

“No editorializing,” she snaps, and Bodhi dutifully mimes locking his mouth and throwing away the key. “Anyway, we had a couple more drinks, we had sex, and now I’m pregnant. The end.”

“Fine,” he says, giving up. “If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. I was just interested because you’re both my friends and I love you. Also, I know how hard the break-up was on you, so I was excited that you felt comfortable enough to move on. But you clearly don’t want to talk about it, so forget it!” He pivots away from her on the couch and leans forward to grab some popcorn. “What movie are we watching, anyway?”

Jyn groans in frustration. He’s always been way too good at guilt-tripping her into anything she doesn’t want to do. “You’re such a brat!”

“What? I’m changing the subject, like you clearly want to!”

“I’m embarrassed, Bodhi!”

“I don’t see why,” he says, looking at her blankly. “Cassian is good looking and he’s not a creep. You could do way worse. You have, in fact.”

She punches him in the shoulder in retaliation. “Hey!”

“What? I mean, you dated Reece for two years and he wasn’t exactly a catch. Cassian is an improvement, in my opinion.”

“I see we’re not sparing my feelings anymore where Reece is concerned.”

Bodhi covers her hand with his own. “Jyn, that guy cheated on you for a long time, and then he broke up with you so he could be with the other woman—right before you went onstage to perform, I should mention—and he had the audacity to blame you for the cheating because you ‘didn’t give him enough attention,’” he says, with the most judgemental use of air quotes she’s ever seen. “I care about your feelings, truly I do. But I do not care about Reece and I will not pretend you aren’t way better off without him.”

“I’m not his biggest fan either,” she says, defensively. “But what does it say about me that I dated him for all that time without realizing what a dick he was?”

“That he was an even bigger scrub than we thought, because he managed to hide his true colors for so long,” Bodhi says, easily. “You’re not responsible for his actions.”

Jyn wants to believe him, and most days she already, mostly does. But sometimes she catches herself replaying the break-up in her head and the part where Reece said that if she’d really cared, if she’d really been in their relationship for the long haul, she’d have paid more attention to him and he would never have even thought about cheating. She’d left him no choice, with all her weird part-time jobs and her crazy schedule and her gigs with her silly little band all over the city in the middle of the night. If she were more together, if she knew what she wanted from her own life, she could have been there for her partner, but she was too much of a mess. Too much of a work-in-progress to be the sort of girlfriend someone wanted to be serious with.

“I know,” she says, half-heartedly. If Bodhi’s told her this once, he’s told her a thousand times. Maybe she’ll really believe it someday, but not quite yet. “It just gets in your head, when someone treats you like that. You start to wonder if you have a neon sign over your head that says you’re not really relationship material.”

“You do not have a neon sign over your head that says anything of the kind,” Bodhi reassures her, surprisingly earnestly. “If your relationship with Reece needed work, he could have brought those issues to you to resolve them. Instead, he cheated on you. He took the easy way out and then blamed you when it made him look like an asshole. That’s on him.”

Jyn sighs, hating how often she and Bodhi have to have this conversation or some variation of it. She wishes she could just magically not be upset about it anymore, but it’s not like she didn’t have trust issues before this. The situation with Reece just made them worse. That was part of the appeal of hooking up with Cassian; she wanted to get back out there and feel desirable again, but she couldn’t do it with just anybody. Cassian was safe because she knew him and trusted him, but they weren’t super close, so it’s not like hooking up with him would ruin their friendship. He knew enough of what happened with her breakup to know that it was just a rebound, but not enough about her mental state to worry about her when she initiated things between them. She didn’t need someone to worry about her; she just needed someone to take her home.

The bar had been surprisingly busy that night, probably because some local favorite band was on after their set and they had a weirdly devoted following. Even though the rest of their group had abandoned them, the spots around Jyn and Cassian at the bar quickly filled in with noisy patrons, which left them no choice but to lean close to each other when they talked. Cassian’s arm had been curled around the back of the barstool that she was perched on, not possessively but in a way that didn’t encourage anyone to interrupt them. Jyn didn’t object; she didn’t want to talk to anyone else anyway.

Something about having Cassian’s full attention, her elbow brushing his ribs anytime she reached for her drink and feeling the warmth radiating off him in the already overly warm bar, felt nice in a way that went right to her head. She was shamelessly leaning into it, both literally—if she had curled any further into him, she would be hugging him—and figuratively—asking him personal questions she’d never bothered with before and laughing a little too loudly at his answers in a way that would have probably made him suspicious if she hadn’t distracted him by constantly touching his arm. It was the oldest trick in the book, and he must have known that, but Jyn wasn’t really in the mood to be subtle anyway.

If he was wary of her motives in flirting with him so obviously, he hadn’t mentioned any of his concerns to her. Cassian tends to be wary as a rule, which is part of why Jyn trusts him. He’s always waiting for the other shoe to drop too, just like she is. There’s a subtle understanding between them as a result. Other than that, Jyn had never given him much thought. Sure, he’s good looking, even when he comes to their gigs still in his clothes from the office, which make him look like an accountant. He’s not actually an accountant, though; he works at some organization that works with kids in the foster system, which is the sort of job that immediately put Jyn on edge when she first heard about it after he’d moved in with Bodhi. She’s technically a freelance illustrator, but since that doesn’t pay the bills with any consistency, she also works all sorts of other odd jobs to make up the difference. She doesn’t have a 401K or a high yield savings account, but she’s pretty sure Cassian does, even if he’s also probably underpaid. But he’s underpaid in the good way, the what-a-Saint way, while Jyn is underpaid in the no-one-values-your-skills, get-a-real-job way. So, at first, she’d been a little suspicious of him.

But, back then, he was Bodhi’s new roommate who also took him up on the invitation to come see his band play during one of their glamorous midnight slots at some crummy dive bar, which earned him a little respect in Jyn’s mind. When he kept showing up, she was surprised. It didn’t seem like his scene at all, but when she said as much to him one night, he’d given her a self-conscious smile and said that coming to Bodhi’s shows gave him the pretense of a social life when his co-workers asked what he did with his free time. He had a tendency to look worried or miserable when left to his own devices, but self-deprecation was a good look on him and it was nice to know he wasn’t dead serious all the time. They never became close friends after that, but Jyn always liked talking to him after the shows.

Something changed when she was going through the break-up, though. Cassian knew what happened, of course, enough to tell her he was sorry to hear about it from Bodhi, but they didn’t exactly talk in depth about it or anything. He treated her the same as he always had. The change had come from her, honestly. She’d always thought he was attractive, in that split-second way you decide when you first see someone, but she’d never given it any thought beyond that, really. But once the initial fog of I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening lifted after the break-up, she started to notice Cassian more and think about him in a way she hadn’t before. She was disappointed if he couldn’t make it to one of their gigs. She started to appreciate the dorky work outfits he wore to the dive bar venues they played and she liked talking to him after the set, when he’d give her his full attention like she was the most fascinating person in the world.

She couldn’t tell, though, if he was genuinely interested in her or if he just thought she was hot and (now) single. If she’d been smart, she would have figured that out before hooking up with him. Instead, the universe handed her the perfect opportunity to be alone with him, without any of their friends to talk them out of it or ruin the mood and she’d taken full advantage of it. She had felt almost dizzy with the possibility of it, that she could ask him to leave with her and that he’d probably say yes. Next to her, some drunk guy stumbled up to the bar and, in his haste, accidentally and rather fortuitously shoved her even further into Cassian’s arms. He’d tightened his hold on her to catch her fall and when she’d looked up, he was glaring at the man, who was completely oblivious to having made an enemy. It was ridiculously charming, to think he was offended on her behalf, as if her honor had been threatened. Really, what was she supposed to do then, except kiss him?

He’d been surprised, at first, and who could blame him? Sure, she’d been giving the corniest, most textbook signals that she was into him all night, but she hadn’t even known she was going to actually make a move until she did it. He recovered quickly, though, which was nice, and reciprocated immediately. Jyn’s not sure what she would have done if he’d asked questions or tried to talk things through first, even though she kind of expected it from him. They’d both had a few drinks, not enough to impair them by any means but just enough to embolden them.

His hand had come to rest on her back when she got pushed into him and she felt it flex, as if he was trying to hold her even closer. The other moved to her face as soon as she kissed him, though it was really just his thumb grazing her jaw, like he was worried she might turn away and he wanted to offer a slight incentive to stay where she was. She probably would have kept making out with him at the bar like they were college students or something, but she didn’t actually want to spend another second with the drunk patrons or the shitty band that was onstage. She wanted to be someplace else—anywhere else, really, so long as it meant she and Cassian could be alone. She pulled back, with great effort, and the look on Cassian’s face made her think he expected to be let down easy.

“Do you want to get out of here?” she asked, instead.

His eyebrows went up, as if that was the last thing he expected her to say. He closed his eyes, like gathering his thoughts was difficult at that moment. “I, uh—what are you asking?”

Jyn bit her lip, which was a bad habit of hers when she was nervous, but if it also happened, by pure luck, to look flirtatious, that was fine too. “I’m asking if you want to go back to your place and have sex with me,” she said, because she wasn’t about to waste time and not get exactly what she wanted out of this.

“Do I want that?” He’d asked, dumbfounded, and if she hadn’t just been having a completely normal conversation with him, she’d have worried he was drunker than she thought. But this was entirely her effect on him and it was incredibly flattering. “Do you?”

“I think the fact that I suggested it makes it pretty obvious what I want.”

Cassian had run his hand through his hair, clearly a nervous tic. “Yeah, but—yes, I would like that.”

He said the last bit decisively, as though he realized he might be accidentally talking her out of it with his hesitation. He needn’t have worried—Jyn has her mind made up about this—but she thought it was better to keep him on his toes than reveal that. She gave him a bright smile before turning to get the bartender’s attention. They paid their tab and got the hell out of there in record time.

When they left the bar, it was raining lightly, barely a drizzle at this point, but there was evidence that it had stormed earlier in the evening. The small heel on Jyn’s boots brought her close enough to Cassian’s height that, even standing outside the bar, she didn’t have to strain to reach him and pull him down for another kiss. His hands came to her hips to steady her anyway and she’d have happily continued like this for a while if the bouncers by the front door didn’t wolf whistle at them and ruin the moment.

They started walking to Cassian’s apartment without discussing it, like they agreed via telepathy that no cab driver would tolerate them given their current amount of PDA. It wasn’t a far walk, though, and Jyn had internally thanked the forces of the universe for making this happen at the closest bar to Cassian’s place, because she’s sure they would have lost their nerve over the course of a lengthy subway or cab ride. Instead, they headed for his apartment in silence, more because they were focused than not having anything to say. He held her hand the whole way, as if he was afraid she’d disappear if he wasn’t touching her. While they waited for a crosswalk signal at one corner, he pulled her into his side and kissed her again, like she really needed the reminder that he was a good kisser. How could she forget?

“He’s a really good kisser,” she says, suddenly, to Bodhi, as they sit together on the couch.

Bodhi scrunches up his nose, looking disgusted. “Who? Reece?”

“No! I’m talking about Cassian!”

“Oh!” His eyes light up. “I thought you didn’t want to.”

Jyn shrugs, noncommittal. She wants Bodhi’s reassurance that she didn’t fuck things up beyond repair and this is probably the only way to get that. “I’m obviously not going to tell you everything . But we can talk about it, a little. I guess.”

“Okay, but how good is he?”

“Is there an accepted scale I should use?”

“One to ten would suffice, I think. Ten being the best kiss you’ve ever had and one being…well, you already said it was good, so we don’t need to worry about that.”

She exhales noisily, not sure how to describe it. “I don’t know. I can’t even think of the best kiss I ever had.”

“That’s kind of sad.”

She punches him on the shoulder. “I hate you,” she says, petulantly. “It was really, really good. Definitely an 8.5 or a 9. Maybe a 9.5.”

“Really?!”

Jyn nods, feeling awkward. “Yeah. We made out for a really long time before we…well, before anything else happened.”

She doesn’t mention that she’d almost lost her nerve, when they first got back to Cassian’s apartment. Being in his bedroom, the idea of sleeping together suddenly became real and all of her tipsy confidence evaporated. She’d been in a relationship for two years—she’d thought she and Reece would move in together whenever their leases were up, even though she hadn’t had the confidence to bring it up to him before he turned around and left her for another woman—and suddenly she wasn’t ready to be with someone else. Naturally, Cassian had picked up on her change in mood and asked her what was wrong. She lied and said it was nothing, though he hadn’t looked convinced. To prove her point, she’d kissed him again, hard, trying to psych herself up, but he’d eased back, turning their kiss into something easier and softer. He’d kissed her like that for a while, his hands in her hair and on her jaw, not reaching for her clothes or straying anywhere new. It was only after they’d continued like that for a long time that Jyn felt her nerves mellow into pleasure and then sharpen into desire again. Even though they’d kept things fairly chaste, all of that kissing had made her want more, and she clearly had to be the one to take the lead.

“And was he a gentleman with you?” Bodhi asks primly, interrupting Jyn’s thoughts.

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” she says, with a frown.

“Did he…how do I put this…take care of your needs?”

“Oh. Uh, yes.”

“First?” He asks, clearly enjoying himself.

“Yes,” Jyn replies, through gritted teeth. She leaves out the fact that she’d not-so-subtly rushed them past the point of foreplay so Cassian wouldn’t get any ideas. Maybe it was wishful thinking on her part, that he would have even tried something like that with her, that she got in the way of some grand plan of his to gallantly fulfill her needs before worrying about his own, but he had looked surprised when she took them straight from kissing to taking his clothes off to fucking him. Maybe it was a pleasant surprise, maybe he was relieved to find someone who didn’t expect so much effort from him. She didn’t ask. She just knew that she couldn’t handle the idea of it being unequal, of him being smug or, worse, expectant with her. She didn’t want to owe him anything, so they were going to have sex once and then she could move on. Naturally, she hadn’t counted on getting pregnant.

“I told him I was on the pill and I wasn’t,” she blurts out before she can stop herself.

The way Bodhi swings around to stare at her would be funny, under any other circumstances. “Why would you lie about that?” He asks, unable to keep the judgement out of his tone.

“I didn’t lie ,” she says. “I thought I was on the pill! I’ve been taking it for years, so I didn’t think anything of it. I forgot to get my prescription refilled a few months ago and I was like, ‘who cares?’ because Reece and I had just broken up and I was convinced I was never going to have sex again.”

“But then you had sex with Cassian!”

“I know! And I forgot I wasn’t on the pill anymore.”

Bodhi covers his eyes with his hands. “Please tell me you used a condom.”

“Cassian definitely offered,” she says, trying to sound upbeat.

“And you said, ‘yes, of course, because you’re a man I’ve never slept with before and that’s the safest way for us to have sex!’”

“No. I said, ‘it’s fine, don’t worry about it, I’m on the pill.’”

“Jyn!”

“Before you yell at me, I would like to remind you I’m already pregnant, so the worst case scenario has already happened.”

“That’s not the only reason you should use a condom!”

“I know, but I got tested for STDs when I went in for my pregnancy test and nothing has come back positive yet, so hopefully I’m not that unlucky.”

“Listen, I know you’re going through some stuff right now and I don’t want to pile on, but that was really risky,” he says, looking more serious than she’s ever seen him. “You have to promise me that you’ll be more careful.”

“I promise,” she says, feeling like a teenager being chastised. “Believe me, paying out of pocket for an abortion is a pretty great way for me to learn my lesson.”

“God, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s my fault. Like you said, I wasn’t being careful.”

“That wasn’t—I’m not trying to hit your nose with a rolled up newspaper, Jyn. I’m just worried about you.”

“I know. This is why I was embarrassed. I made a complete idiot out of myself. And now I get to explain all of this to Cassian, which won’t be humiliating at all.”

“He’ll understand,” Bodhi says, with enviable levels of confidence. “He’s good like that.”

“I said I’d call him and I didn’t,” she says, trying not to cringe as she remembers how quickly she’d left after they’d had sex, how she hadn’t even looked Cassian in the eye when she promised to call. “Even if he was fine with a one-night stand, I still lied to him. I doubt he’ll be happy to hear from me, especially under the circumstances.”

“If the alternative is not hearing from you at all, I think he’d rather hear from you. No matter what the circumstances are.”

“I don’t know.”

“Jyn, you and Cassian are friends, even if you don’t think you’re particularly close. And you’ve slept together, which involves a certain level of intimacy—”

“Not the way I do it,” she jokes. Although there’s some truth to it, she thinks.

Bodhi smacks her with a pillow, which she completely deserves. “Call him or I’ll kick your ass.”

“God, fine!” She slouches down in her seat on the couch. “Do I have to do it right now?”

“God, no. I don’t want to be here for that conversation,” he says, grabbing another handful of popcorn. “Besides, you promised me a movie night. What are we watching?”

“I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t involve babies or pregnancy.”

Bodhi’s scrolling through the titles on Netflix as she speaks, nodding absentmindedly. “‘Sleepless in Seattle’?” He asks, when he lands on it.

“That totally has a baby in it!”

“The kid is, like, eight,” he argues. “And it’s not about the process of having kids!”

Jyn sighs, defeated. “Do you want to watch ‘Sleepless in Seattle,’ Bodhi?”

“Yes, but I’m mostly in it for Bill Pullman.”

“Fine,” she says, settling in next to him. “I’m probably going to fall asleep in twenty minutes, anyway.”

“That’s the spirit,” Bodhi says, and hits play.

#rogue one #rebelcaptain #jyn erso #cassian andor #bodhi rook #obvious child #obvious child au #baze malbus #chirrut imwe #star wars #abortion #abortion tw #my fic #my writing #stack the deck verse #otp: built on hope #otp: your mother and i have been together ever since #anyway here's wonderwall

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fromthewifecage · 4 years

Note

Imagine Kombants sees Reader with bunches of cats

I LOVE kitties, all kitties, ALL of them. So do Erron Black, Johnny Cage, Nightwolf, Bi-Han and Kano. As usual Kano is last so if you don’t like him then you don’t have to read that one.(Yeah I kinda got over excited writing this and went a bit crazy. The Johnny Cage one is inspired by a scene in Red Dragon/Hannibal.)Hope this is ok, if not then feel free to throw a shoe at me.

Erron Black: (So this I actually took from a stupid Cowboy/Victorian Lady (called Clementine) thing I’ve been writing. It’ll never be finished because it needs to be probably 50k words or more, but this bit I liked writing. Erron’s trying to be a better man, got caught up trying to save a kids life, but the kid died, and Erron’s pretty cut up about it. Yes it’s not the reader with a bunch of cats, it’s about Erron with a cat, but the other Kombatant’s scenarios definitely the reader with kitties!! Please don’t hate me.)

Arms slid around his waist, her body pressed hard to his back and enveloped him in a much needed embrace. His head drooped forward, shoulders slumping, his head in his hands. He’d tried his best, hadn’t he? But it wasn’t good enough, never was. He was a God-damned failure.To his eternal shame his eyes prickled with the threat of tears. He hadn’t cried since Ma had screamed at him for crying over the body of a barn cat. The large ginger cat had been Erron’s only friend since he’d had first found the cat. He’d first seen it sat upon a dark brown saddle in the barn, the saddle’s leather gleaming from the earlier oiling. The cat paused between washing its ears to stare, and when Erron held out a hand it took a moment to sniff at his fingertips before going back to its wash.

Erron had named the cat Peter and they’d quickly become firm friends. Peter would chase after mice and spiders, batting at them with a large ginger paw until he got tired of the chase and quickly killed them. Erron would bring Peter scraps of meat and cheese filched from the larder as a reward. Erron would often find half a mouse in one of his boots, Peter obviously thinking Erron was too skinny and needed fattening up, and Peter was right, Ma was far too stingy with her portions. If Erron had been judged to ‘deserve sleeping outside’, usually after answering his Ma back or being caught filching from the larder, then Erron would climb the long rickety ladder to reach the hay loft, and spend the night with Peter on his chest, purring happily.

They’d been friends for 3 long summers until Erron had gone into the barn at the end of a particularly hot and long day helping in the fields. Ma found Erron sobbing over Peter’s stiff and lifeless body, and dragged him back into the house by his ear, beating him harshly for caring about “that ginger shit more than you care about the rest o’ us.” It was true, so Erron didn’t put up a fight as he took his hits. He merely filed away the hate with all the other times she’d beat him, hurt him, scorned him and neglected him, so when years later, he stood by Ma’s bed as she took her final breaths with cancer riddled lungs, he shed no tears.

Erron sat there, fighting with the sadness of not being able to save the child, until the small bedchamber was dark enough that he could barely see his own hands. Clementine still held him, had made no protest or whispered fake platitudes that he’d get over it or he’ll feel better soon. She’d let him take the time he needed.

More after the cut! (these ones really are about the reader with kitties, promise!)

Johnny Cage: Johnny is more excited than you are for your birthday. His grin has been extra sparkly for the entire past month, and each hint about what he’s got for you has been more ridiculous than the last. You keep trying to tell him you don’t want a fuss, and to not spend more than £20 on a present, but it’s like telling a child they have to eat their broccoli if they want ice cream for afters. He’s not going to eat the broccoli, he’s sneaking into the freezer as soon as your back is turned.

He wakes you up extra early, despite your protests that it’s your birthday and you want to sleep. In the end he picks you up and carried you into the shower, washes your hair and refuses to leave the bathroom until you brush your teeth. He doesn’t stop singing ‘Happy Birthday’ either. Even when you threaten to leave him he doesn’t stop being annoyingly amazingly cute.

He blindfolds you in the car (the driver starts to get worried that you’ll ruin the seat leather but Johnny calms them down with promises there’ll be no sex in the car) and does his best to confuse you with increasingly remote landmark spotting. Quite how you’ve gone from home to the Louvre, past the Pyramids via the Lin Kuei Temple, you have no idea. Eventually he leads you from the car, your hand tightly in his grasp and a hand on your shoulder so you don’t stumble.

As you walk to your secret destination you hear all sorts of animal and bird sounds, chirruping, squeaking (including a couple of gasps from some humans along with “OMG it’s Johnny Caaaaaaaaaaage” whispered under their breaths), some growling, even trumpeting.“Surprise!” Johnny stage whispers as he unties your blindfold, leaving you blinking in the dim light.

Before you is a scene from one of your very best daydreams. A room full of lion cubs, each one rolling, biting, investigating, chewing or playing with it’s brothers and sisters. A hand clasps over your mouth when your heart bursts with joy, Johnny chuckling and letting you know that the kitties are so little that they’ll be scared by squeals of happiness. The zookeepers are more than happy to let you play with the cubs, showing you how to feed the furballs, how to hold them and cuddle them.

You spend the rest of your birthday in lion cub heaven. Johnny takes so many photos of you surrounded by the kitties that his photo groans, and of course you take a bunch of him with the cubs too, he’s just as excited by the balls of fluff and teeth as you are and he almost cries when it’s time to go home.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Nightwolf: The man is an expert on nature in all its forms. He can live self sufficiently from a small plot of land, he built his own home and keeps not only real animals happy, but spirit animals too. An ideal day for him would be to tend to his crops and land during the day and spend the evening surrounded by his animal and human companions.You’ve spent significant time with Nightwolf, and he’s grown not only to love you, but trust you to share his life and loves. Hana took a while to warm up to you, but will now sit on your shoulder almost as happily as she will with Nightwolf (it took many batches of mini pancakes for her to get to this stage, and now she demands you make her some food whenever you cook).

Nightwolf is in the kitchen when he realises you’ve run out of salad ingredients. The evening air is warm and sweet, the frogs by the small creek are noisily calling for mates, and the idea of a short walk to the vegetable plot to stretch your legs before dinner sounds appealing. Hana follows you out the door, first taking to the sky and circling the house, then drops down to land upon your shoulder, tugging at strands of your hair in her own way of looking after you. As you gather some lettuce Hana squawks and flaps her wings, then flies over to a patch at the very end of the plot, squawking some more. You call out to her, maybe one of the frogs has got lost?

But it’s not a frog you find, it’s even cuter than that. It’s a tired stripy cat with large ears, surrounded by the smallest of kittens, each one latched to a teat. You gasp excitedly and whisper to Hana to go fetch Nightwolf. Hana gives one final indignant squawk, then flies off, returning on the shoulder of the beautiful man you love.

“Welcome back Koko, it is an honour to meet your children.”

Nightwolf greets the cat as a friend, and your heart melts a little more for this wonderful man. He asks you to stay with the kitty family whilst he returns to the house to fetch some things. Koko watches you with sleepy eyes, trusting that since Nightwolf trusts you, you aren’t a threat. You don’t reach for the kittens, they are far too tiny to play with, but you make a wish upon the stars that you’ll get to play with them when they’re a little older.

Nightwolf returns carrying one of the chicken coops he’d been mending and with blankets in a backpack. He sets up a little home for the cats in the dark corner of the vegetable plot. You’ll be able to visit the kittens whenever you like (with Koko’s permission of course).

Yay for kittens!

Bi-Han: The man might be a deadly (the Lin Kuei are NOT ninjas) ninja assassin, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a heart. As a trained spy he has to take notice of everything, no matter how innocuous it seems, so he knows more about you than you know about yourself. So he knows that you’re getting a little lonely in his absences, and recently, he’s been absent a lot more due to an influx of contracts.

You’ve tried so hard not to show your loneliness, thinking it would upset Bi-Han and make him consider breaking off your relationship to try to save you from more pain, and that has crossed his mind. Then he looked upon his life and decided that he didn’t need anything but you, and that no matter how often you were apart, it was the together that mattered.

It was early morning, the blood of his latest target swirling down the sink as he scrubbed himself clean, when his phone blinked with a new message from you. His smile curling the corner of his mouth when he sees that you’ve sent yet another cat picture, this one of 2 kittens wearing ninja outfits with the caption “You and Kuai!” Bi-Han is about to flick back up through the conversation to where you’ve sent some pictures of yourself rather than kittens, when his smile widens as an idea pings into his head.

You’re woken by a cold gentle kiss to your forehead, a brush of icy fingers across your cheek when you stir then wake with a happy yawn.

“You’re home!”

You sprint to the bathroom to first wee then brush your teeth, sprinting back to jump into Bi-Han’s fierce embrace. When he doesn’t immediately tug off your pyjamas you’re puzzled, the man is normally insatiable. He laughs at your pout and tugs you into the living room where he nods towards a box resting on the table.

“Happy Tuesday!”

His grin is huge when you squeak upon looking inside the box to find two kittens curled around each other. It widens even further watching you cry with happiness when the kittens wake to first sniff you, then immediately demand attention. He pulls out his phone and takes some pictures, seeing you this excited has to be recorded.

Yay for kittens!

Kano: The big burly scary Australian beefcake actually has a soft spot. You.

You’ve heard the stories, the ones about him scaring someone so much they wet themselves and when Kano laughed at their fear they burst into tears. About the time he had someone skinned alive and thrown onto the street. Kano could be a Bond villain, he already has the one-eye thing down, he had the comfiest squidgiest chair for his desk (it swivelled so Kano could spin around when he got bored), all he needed was a cat for him to stroke when watching a Special Forces member wet themselves.

You’d gone to the animal shelter to pick up a cat for him (he’d laughed at your idea then shrugged.

“I already got my kitten, but if you want a kitty, I ain’t gonna stop ya.”

Then he’d pulled you into his arms and kissed you until you forgot how to breathe.)

At first you were going to adopt the fluffy white cat with the huge blue eyes, she was gorgeous, but it was when you were walking to the corner of the room to discreetly take a phone call when you saw the 2 kitties that had been forgotten by everybody. They sat by their small window, peering out into the world they’d never get to experience again. One of the kitties had lost a leg, the veterinary nurse later telling you she’d been attacked by an enormous dog and had carried on fighting even when she’d lost the leg. The other had only 1 eye, again, having lost it in a fight. Your heart went out to these sweet brave kitties, and you knew you could give them the best home.

“What you got there, love?”

Kano stood in the doorway, bare chested as usual, huge 'sexy-as-hell' grin as usual.

“I couldn’t leave them, no-one wanted them and they’re all little.”

Kano looked from you down to the kitties exploring every nook and cranny of the bedroom, tails twitching secret messages to each other as they couldn’t believe that they were finally out of the shelter. He chuckled then strolled over to you to wrap you up in a huge embrace.

“Think that one wants a cyber eye?”

#Erron Black #Johnny Cage #Nightwolf #Bi-Han #Kano #Mortal Kombat #Mortal Kombat Asks #Mortal Kombat Headcanons #Mortal Kombat Headkanons #Mortal Kombat X Reader #Erron Black X Reader #Johnny Cage X Reader #Nightwolf X Reader #Bi-Han X Reader #Kano X Reader

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peachyteabuck · 4 years

Text

eye on the prize

summary: commission for astrid, who asked for chris evans x reader interview fluff.

pairing: chris evans x reader

words: 3,006

trigger warnings: RPF, slow burn, heavy flirtation, idiots in love, nondescript mentions of misogyny in the media as a business, a likely poorly reconstructed timeline (time fake and reality is a construct!)

ask box / masterlist / commission info / ko-fi

The hotel bed is large, big enough for four of you. The blankets are thick and the soft, the pillows a perfect balance of structured but plush. Sunbeams stream onto the mused sheets, warming your face. It’s nice, but only as nice as the calm before a major tropical storm can be. As your phone alarm blares next to you, you start to wonder if being caught in a category five hurricane would be better than press junkets.

A whole day talking to people about a movie you made months ago that you know jack shit about. Sometimes you have nightmares about giving a book report on a novel you’ve never even opened (you’re how old? And high school is still haunting you? Jesus, you need to go back to therapy) that cause you to break out in a cold sweat and kick all the covers from your bed and buy a bunch of stuff online to distract yourself from your racing heart and shaking hands.

Still, those are never as bad as interviewers asking about character arcs and plotlines and your relationship with actors you’ve barely (if ever) met and whatever else a normal interviewer would ask a normal interviewee when all you know is your character, the fact that she does shit with magic, and she’s Dr. Strange’s daughter. Anything other than that is anyone’s guess.

Your stylist and makeup artists are the ones to eventually drag you out of bed and plop you into hair and makeup after squeezing you into an incredibly tight pair of jeans and a non-controversial sweater. The forty-five minutes are a complete blur, but then again, nothing feels real until Sebastian hands you a large coffee in a travel cup that bares no logo or other kind of copywritten signifier – your knight in shining…cardboard? What are travel coffee cups even made of? Paper? Can paper even “shine?”

You’re nearly purring when the taste of caramel macchiato burns your tongue. “Ah. Thanks, Seb. I appreciate it.”

Sebastian shrugs, sipping at his own drink masquerading as generic brand. “No problem. I didn’t want you to bite an interviewer’s head off this morning. Or worse, mine.”

You play-hit him in the face and laugh with him, making small talk and trying to kill the time before the mind-numbingly long day really begins. You’re halfway through a rant about the woes of make up artists trying to put you in a full face of makeup to a man who barely has to put on concealer, the fucking asshat, when Chris makes an appearance.

“Hey, guys,” he’s is also drinking coffee from the unmarked travel cups. He looks you up and down before taking another sip. “You look really nice today.”

You blush, smoothing out your sweater – one of the color-blocked ones that sits at the intersection of casual, feminine, and not-intimidating. “Thanks, you too.”

Sebastian’s about to say something snarky when someone wearing a headset calls upon the three of you.

“Let’s get going, people!” she calls, ushering you into three barely-comfortable seats. You’re between Chris and Sebastian, the sheer mass of them making you feel approximately three feet tall. It doesn’t take much to forget how large they both are – even if Sebastian doesn’t weight two hundred pounds anymore and Chris was able to tone down his exercise regime since finishing Infinity War, you still feel like you’re sitting at the big-kid table for the first time.

The first interviewer is from some YouTube channel you only know because your fourteen-year-old niece gushes about them every family dinner. The woman who sits in front of you is young, cute. Dresses trendy, dark eye makeup and red lips.

She’s nice, too, along with being knowledgeable about the projects of each of you. She banters with Sebastian about his seven million movies before turning to you.

The interviewer turns to you. “And you! You’re nominated for some pretty major awards!”

You smile wide, unable to help yourself. “Yeah, best actress and best original score.”

“That’s so cool,” Chris mumbles. You blush and pretend not to hear him as you speak again.

“It’s just super crazy,” you tell the interviewer. “Not even gonna lie. When I was younger, I would look at stars who like, cried when they found out they were nominated. Not even winning, just their name shows up on the ballot. But now I’m like, it’s me, two-time Grammy nominee! I was nominated for a Grammy, twice!”

Sebastian chimes in, laughing. “When we were at bunch together, I got there early and the caterer showed up and they were like, we’re here for the two-time Grammy nominee?”

“You had a brunch?” The interviewer asks.

You nod. “Yeah, I bunch of the Avengers cast and the cast from my last movie were in my hometown, which is super rare, so I hosted this giant brunch-”

“As one does,” Sebastian chimes in with a crooked smile.

You nearly hit him. “Yes! As I do! I wanted to see all my friends, whom I love, so I host a brunch. Sue me! Anyway…I hosted this brunch and invited a bunch of people over. Just a bunch of my favorite food from my favorite restaurants. Everyone I’d wanted to see for such a long time was there. It was amazing.”

The interviewer paints a faux frown across her face, looking at the man on your right. “Chris, you look very sad.”

“I didn’t get invited to the brunch,” Chris frowns. Unlike the woman in front of you, he looks genuinely sad. A twinge of pain bounces in your ribcage, and you rub his cardigan-clad back

“You were out doing Broadway shit!” you laugh. “You were halfway across the country!”

Chris continues to frown, staring at the printed-out pictures from the social medias of various guests. A few are from yours – you in a flowy sundress with your head thrown back laughing, a shot of you and a few of your friends from college drinking alcohol in the bright mid-afternoon sun. One you recognize from Sebastian’s Instagram, another from Hemsworth’s. A few from Twitter of a few of your non-movie-star friends. You look so happy in all of them, so beautiful in each shot. “I still wanted to be invited.”

You just roll your eyes. “Okay, call me when you’re in my region of the country and I’ll host a brunch,” You touch your forefinger to his nose. Chris blushes, profusely, in his cheeks and his ears. “just for you and me.”

You don’t hear much after that, too focused on Chris’ eyes meeting yours and his small smile. You’re taken aback by how sweet, tender he looks, and before you know it the interviewer is saying goodbye and the next one is taking her place.

It’s a man this time, a little older than the last one with artsy facial hair and a button hip. He mostly pays attention to the two men and soon your brain goes on battery-saver and you’re lost in your own thoughts.

Are hipsters still a thing? Is that what this guy is trying to be? Do hipsters even like Marvel? Is that too “mainstream for them?”

Eventually he asks a question about you, your recent entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, your music, your composing. You’d be happy to talk about your passions, of course you are, but the first genuine question of the interview is positing towards…not you. You’re about to tune everything out again, but then Chris speaks and you snap back to attention.

“It’s always interesting to meet people who bring something new to the art form, ya know? A huge part of acting is learning and evolving and all that, especially from other actors,” Chris avoids your gaze, and the gaze of everyone else, as he speaks. “If you stop learning, if you stop growing, what’s the point? Why would I do this job if I didn’t think it could change me for the better?”

There’s a moment of thick silence, the heavy weight of Chris’ introspective answer settling over the people in the room. It’s one of the things you lo-

It’s one of the things you enjoy most about Chris, how dedicated he is to acting as more than a job. It’s amazing, truly, how much he adores what he does. You could spend the rest of time with him, a plate of cheese, and a bottle of wine; listening to him talk about how he thinks of acting as an art, how that art can impact people and society, how actors have a responsibility to that art (that is, of course, after you mock him endlessly for Not Another Teen Movie and Fantastic Four).

You feel like a high schooler again, doodling your first and his last name in hearts in your math notebook with your favorite pink glitter pen. You’re an adult, why are you blushing red as a raspberry every time he says something smarter than a fast food order?!

The rest of the day goes down in a blur, the only time you start to care again when someone on the production staff calls for dinner (yeah, no lunch on press junket day. You can ask for a light snack, but you learned the hard way a full meal is “bad for your figure” and “makes you likely to burp on camera” and a bunch of other stuff you care very little about).

All three of you groan in happiness when you enter the room designated as craft, the thick smell of barbeque hitting you like a baseball bat. But a good baseball bat, though, like…one you ask to be hit with. Honestly, you have no idea what you’re talking about because you’re so hungry.

When you finally manage to scavenge food, Sebastian’s right behind you as you stare at a very delicious looking tray of pulled pork. Your plate is already full, but what if they take the food away? And then what if you get hungry later?

“You know he’s flirting with you, right?” he whispers as you watch the man in question scroll through Twitter on his phone. Chris is eating about the same thing you are, plus celery. You almost make a quip about it being “nature’s floss,” but then you realize that would be dumb because Sebastian definitely wouldn’t find it as funny as Chris would.

You shrug, picking up a French fry from your plate. “Yeah, but you were, too.”

He scoffs into his second Americano of the morning. “Nah. Not like that. He likes you! He like likes you!”

“He does not-“

“And you like-like him!” He boops you on the nose and pinches your cheek like some sort of grandmother who hadn’t seen her fifteen-year-old son since he was five. “My little baby has a cruuuush!” he coos while making small kissy noises.

You’re about to bite back about how you’re not that much younger than him, but then the sound guy on the other side of the meat tray glares at the both of you. Looks like, while Chris couldn’t hear your bickering from the across the room, this dude definitely could – and he’s not very happy about it.

“Sorry,” you both mumble, shrinking away from the persecuting techie and his judgmental eyes.

Sebastian only talks again when you find an unpopulated corner, devoid of prying eyes and anyone who could be annoyed with the two of you gossiping like high schoolers.

“You know I’m not wrong, right?” he says around a bite of crisp apple. What is up with this guy and fruit? Sure, he’s on a restrictive diet for a role to keep him from bulking up (something at the intersect of keto and vegetarian but able to eat lean meats) but he’s can’t eat like, the vegan stuff? Why must he always eat like rabbit in your presence? “Have you not seen what he says on Twitter?”

You scoff. “No, because I don’t have a Twitter. And neither do you!” You narrow your eyes accusingly. “How do you know what he posts?” Sebastian rolls his eyes. “I see screenshots on Instagram, first of all. Second, he could be complimenting your music on the inside of a cave. It’s about the principle.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” you hiss. “Also, I’m done arguing with you about this. Let me find a cheeseburger and eat in peace. Is that too much a woman to ask, Sebastian!?”

He just laughs you off and lets you eat in peace, eventually getting his own food. Though, you suppose the meal was specially timed, because then Chris Evans is sitting next to you.

He’s about to say something, too, and you’re about to listen, but then you get called for an individual interview for a women’s health magazine and you have to leave him and you plate of food and fuck…you hate this job. A lot.

The interview is boring, once again, and the next time you have another coherent thought you’re taking the elevator back up to your hotel room and waving off your manager, who is telling you to be downstairs by seven tomorrow to catch your flight back home.

You’re just kicking off your heels when you hear a faint knock at the door. When you look through the peephole, you see a very sad-looking Christopher Evans. With his small frown and hunched shoulders, he looks like a kicked puppy; and even though all you want to do is take your bra off, you let him in.

He’s quiet for a moment before speaking as if he was a child preparing to be scolded.

“I lost my hotel key. And my backup got demagnetized.”

You bite back a laugh, trying to seem sympathetic. “Do you want to chill in here until security brings you another one?”

Chris nods solemnly as he steps through the threshold. “Thanks.”

Neither of you speak for a while, instead Chris looks around your quite messy (or “homey,” as you call it when you FaceTime your best friend and she scoffs at how easy you can make a room look like a hurricane tore through it) room and you…find an outfit for tomorrow?

You’re the first one to speak, only breaking the quiet after changing into fuzzy socks and sneakily taking off your lacey bra (and tucking it under the covers of the bed for you put away later).

“Well, that was excruciating,” you mumble. All you want to do is change into your biggest, most comfortable hoodie and your cotton panties and order room service and ignore humanity until you leave for a flight the next morning, but a man you’ve had a crush on since he appeared as Johnny Storm is right in front of you and after that talk with Sebastian your world is kind of shaken to its core and should you make a move? Is he the kind of guy to not like that? Would you want to be with a guy that doesn’t like that? What if he-

“Always are, I guess.” Chris interrupts your train of thought, saving it from going off the rails. When you at him he looks just as, if not more than, exhausted than you are. “That’s one of the things that you forget, I think. How hard it is to talk about these movies.”

You snort. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Chris smile a little wider as you laugh. “Yeah. Other movies I can talk about like, characters and plots and shit. With these I live in constant fear I’m gonna pull a fucking Ruffalo and get my ass fired from the best paying gig I’ve ever had.”

Chris laughs with you, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Word.”

An awkward silence fills the room and you find something, anything to do to avoid his heavy gaze under those thick eyelashes and his thick beard that you just want to run your fingers through or his even softer hair that you want to mess up while you-

“Do you want to get dinner together sometime?” you blurt. You’re ready to take back the words as soon as you say them, wanting to backtrack or say “just friends” or “ha-ha, just kidding!” or something else that absolves you of non-platonic commitment.

By a long stretch of luck that you can’t even begin to thanks a long number of deities for, Chris doesn’t laugh at you or turn you down or even walk out of the room. He meets your gaze with excitement in his eyes and a smile wider than your home state. “I’d love to,” is all he says. It’s all either of you get to say before his phone rings loudly, and the name of the head of security flashes on his screen. He sighs loudly, apologizing as he takes it. Somehow, you feel more awkward as he turns away and answers the call. You fidget with your hands, with a loose thread on the sweater you’ve come to hate more than anything else in the world, with your phone. Nothing makes it easier to face Chris again once he hangs up.

“That was…,” he laughs lightly. Not laughing at you, maybe at life or how weird his life is, but never at you. “You know. They fixed my key and want to give it to me in person.”

You swallow and nod. “Yeah, understandable. I’ll, uh,” you clear your throat. “I’ll see you…”

Chris finishes for you. “How about we find a good restaurant near here after I’m confirmed to actually be me by the private security detail our employers hired to make sure no one kills us? We can have that second dinner I’ve heard you always eat late at night.”

Holy shit…he remembered that time you vaguely mentioned how much you enjoy staying up late and eating lots of food. It makes you blush as you respond.

“Yeah that sounds,” you sigh happily, smile just as big as his is. “That sounds great.”

#chris evans x reader #lukis does commissions #lukis writes stuff #chris evans imagine

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lemonsandstrawberries · 4 years

Text

An after Christmas Snack

fandom: Stony (Steve x Tony), MCU

summary: Christmas season had ended, but Steve is still finding some things to remind him of the past celebration and, oh boy, he intends to celebrate.

length: 1 449

a/n: HEY, LOOK AT THAT, FIRST FIC IN 2020! And I think it is a very me kind of fic, buuut I am not gonna tell you what I mean exactly, I am sure you can figure it out while reading *wink wink*. you will get one hint though, this fic is inspired by this lovely post. also, I still have a Christmas tree at my house so this fic is totally valid ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . as always, feedback, reblogs and likes are appreciated and needed!

——————–

An after Christmas Snack

"Tony, I brought you a snack - what the - ?!"

Steve stopped, catching a shining object with the corner of his eyes and staring at it. Silver branches, blue and red ornaments. A Christmas tree. A Captain America themed Christmas tree Tony had proudly decorated and put on display in his workshop and he and Steve had a good laugh about it, while Steve had been secretly flattered.

Back in December. It was the end of January.

"Huh?" Tony turned around from his workbench, stopping the spinning hologram of his suits. Always upgrading, adding something to make his armor better and more efficient. "Oh, hi, baby. Is that for me?" Tony smiled, eyes lingering on a cheese grilled sandwich Steve was holding on a plate.

"Uh, yeah, but - why you didn't put the Christmas tree away yet?" Steve asked while Tony walked to him, taking the steaming hot sandwich in his hand and then tossing it to his other hand, just to blow on his fingers as the hot bread stung his fingertips. There was a reason people used plates.

"Duhno," Tony shrugged, biting into the sandwich, cheese strands stretching from his mouth. "Tho shoon."

"Too soon?" Steve laughed, watching his boyfriend getting his mouth dirty with ketchup. Tony shrugged again, grinning adorably. There was something really sweet about Tony's love for Christmas trees. Each December every corner of the Tower had a Christmas tree, no matter if it was a conference room, one of the gyms or private floors of the Avengers team. While on the main floors, they tried to limit the number of Christmas trees and keep them in the main rooms, Tony didn't have the same composure on his and Steve's floor. They had a full-size Christmas tree in the living room, bedroom, Tony's study, smaller one in the kitchen standing on the window sill, and even in the bathroom - the smallest one of them all, decorated with figures made out of soap. It was a very unusual place to put a Christmas tree in, but soon became Steve's favorite one and it was a pleasure to catch one of the apple-cinnamon scented soaps and use for his showers or baths shared with Tony. Gradually, Christmas trees were slowly disappearing from the Tower after 6th January, safely stored for another year, but somehow Tony managed to keep the one in his workshop.

"Do you plan to keep it till Valentine's Day?" Steve teased.

"Easter if it goes well," Tony answered and Steve wasn't sure if it was a joke or not, but he just shook his head fondly. There was a crash coming somewhere from the workshop and Tony whipped around with an irritated look on his face. "Dummy! I told you to watch out!"

Steve blinked, noticing another thing when Tony turned around and away from him. Something that he didn't notice earlier, hidden under layers of shirts and suit jackets or baggy Christmas sweaters, but becoming perfectly noticeable when Tony wore his undersuit compression shirt.

Seemed that Christmas trees were not the only thing that was left after the Christmas season. Steve remembered the moments that led to this one very vividly - the way Tony enthusiastically piled more mashed potatoes and roast beef on his plate, second helpings of sticky toffee pudding cake, and that their evening kisses tasted of hot chocolate and sugar cookies. Denying anyone food wasn't in Steve's nature and he had happily cooked with the rest of the team and they all spend many good days, eating and laughing and relaxing, and it was a pleasure to watch them all and especially Tony, his Tony who loved food, but had days when he was neglecting eating in favor of working. Steve had been just happy to see his boyfriend slow down and enjoy the season.

Steve couldn't turn his gaze away. He always had some sort of weakness for Tony's softer shape, not as angular and sharp as his own body, but rounder and more delicate with a round, bubble butt, curved hips and a belly that formed a soft slope and wasn't rock hard and didn't have to be. The compression shirt fitted snugly around Tony's shape, pronouncing the belly that became a bit rounder in the past weeks and little more sticking out and that coupled with the way how low Tony liked to wear his pants and how it left his whole tummy on display was making Steve's breath quicker. Yet, the worst (or best) was to come. When Tony turned away completely from him, scolding Dummy about something Steve didn't register, he saw Tony's silhouette and while the sight of his boyfriend's ass was gorgeous, as always, something new appeared. Little rolls above the belt on both sides of Tony's waist. Love handles.

That made Steve's mouth water. He wanted to haul Tony over his shoulder and carry him out to kiss and touch and admire.

And what exactly was stopping him?

Despite, Tony still going off on the increasingly sorry looking Dummy, Steve sneaked to his boyfriend and wrapped arms around him, pressing Tony's back into him.

"Stop being so tough on Dummy," Steve whispered into his boyfriend's ear, and Tony huffed, still irritated.

"Dummy, clean it!" Tony ended his rant, pointing his finger in the direction where his creation made a mess. They both observed as Dummy used his claw to grab a broom and swiped the floor from broken bits of something and Tony couldn't stay mad for long seeing his special bot's honest effort. "Good boy, Dummy," he praised and the bot perked up and resumed cleaning, looking a lot less sorry.

Steve ran his nose over Tony's ear delicately and inhaled. God, Tony didn't only look delicious but smelled delicious too.

"Whatcha doing?" Tony asked in a singing voice, twitching his head away from the tingling feeling on his ear. Encouraged by the playful tone, Steve brushed his fingers along Tony's sides, gently and light, testing the new curves.

"Steheve," Tony giggled, still open and enjoying the closeness, just twisting his hips a bit, causing the nicest friction between their bodies. Steve made some approving sound in his throat, liking what he was feeling, just a soft and warm and wonderful body. The material of the compression shirt was very thin and clung to Tony's torso like a second skin, and was smooth and allowed his fingers to glide down easily and feel every curve. Speaking of curves -

"HEY!" Tony jumped, a startled laugh escaping his throat when not knowing when the sweet contouring of his sides changed into firm burying of fingertips, right into his belly, just in the very center. "Dohahan't," Tony laughed, batting on the hands that tried to come back, this time deliberately teasing and tickling around his belly button. The shirt hugged his rounder tummy snugly and there was a small dent in the material, just where his belly button was, something Steve had noticed right away, making it a very easy target. "No no nohoho, come ohohn," Tony continued to laugh, successfully knocking Steve's stubborn hands away and managing to turn around. Still wrapped in an embrace of strong arms, Tony looked at his boyfriend with a playful smile, hoping that, despite the short distraction, it all was going in the direction he thought. It felt very nice, when Steve's hands firmly slid down his back, smoothly gliding on the slippery material, stopping above his butt, thumbs resting on the small pockets.

"You can go lower if you like," Tony encouraged in a low murmur.

Steve smiled hungrily, wondering if his hands were big enough to still cup each cheek. Tony's breath stopped when it turned out that yep, they still were. Nice and firm and round globes, sitting perfectly on each palm, carrying a nice weight. There was no other feeling like digging his fingers into the glorious thing that Tony's ass was, and Tony shivered, pressing closer into him. Steve made some very needy whimper that escaped without his consent, when Tony's softer belly pressed into his hard one, the contrast driving him crazy.

Tony was warm and eager and Steve wanted to make his boyfriend melt like he had melt butter for Christmas cookies Tony had so enthusiastically devoured.

The very dark, promising look in Steve's eyes was a good enough reason for Tony to put his all projects on hold.

"Dummy! You're on workshop duty!" Tony called, pushing his hips into Steve's and hooking one leg around his soldier's thigh. With a more predatory smile, Steve slid his arms below Tony's butt and carried him out of the workshop, having his own snack to enjoy.

#stony #steve rogers #tony stark #tickle fic #fanfiction #fanfic #tony stark is ticklish #belly tickling #tony's belly #belly button tickling #light but still is #chubby!tony #body acceptance #weight acceptance #basically tony is curvy after Christmas season and Steve is mesmerized and enjoying his boyfriend's body #told ya it is my kind of a fic

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ladyfogg · 5 years

Text

Cold is the Night - 4/20

Fic Summary: You and Pat have known each other for years but this summer, everything will change. As the two of you start to grow close, your matching tempers threaten the foundation of your rocky friendship and prevent both of you from realizing your true feelings. Cold is the Night Masterpost.

A/N: These two…do you know how hard it is to write characters who can’t stop being soft around each other? I have a whole outline and they are stomping all over it!

Fic Song: Cold is the Night by The Oh Hellos. Fic playlist can be found here.

Pairing: Pat Murray/Female Reader

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Language, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, Multiple Chapters

Gif by @ cillianmurphy

You were promoted at the bar a week later.

Excited couldn’t even begin to describe how you felt. All the extra hours and hard work had actually paid off for a change. You could finally quit the batting cages. Of course, the new promotion meant you’d be working weekends for the foreseeable future but still. Steady income and a raise was nothing to brush off.

Which was why you decided to throw a party at your place on the only Saturday you’d have free before your new schedule kicked in.

You invited mostly the D-Backs since you didn’t really hang out with anyone else. Almost all of them had said they were coming, so it was bound to be a fun time.

You set up a makeshift bar in the kitchen so you could practice making drinks. The living room was decked out with comfy chairs and bowls of chips. You told everyone to bring food so you didn’t have to handle the cooking. Buying extra food for a party just wasn’t in your budget.

You played music through the TV as you got ready. It took you an unusually long time to figure out what you wanted to wear. Eventually, you dressed in your cutest outfit because if you were hosting a party, you wanted to make sure you looked damn good.

The guys arrived in batches, with Vinnie and Nellie showing up first. You liked your brother’s fiancee. She was bubbly and sweet and had the patience of a saint. She was the middle child between Ty and Dells, so she had a lot of experience playing mediator. Which often came in handy anytime you and Vinnie were in the same house.

Nellie greeted you with a big hug. “How are you?” she asked.

“I’m good, really good.”

And you meant it. For the first time in a long time, you felt solid and like you had your shit together.

“I’m so proud of you!” she gushed. “I know you really wanted that job.”

“Thanks, Nel.”

Vinnie threw his arms around both of you, pulling you in close. “I’m such a lucky guy to have these awesome ladies in my life!” he gushed.

“Have you been drinking already?” you asked.

“No!”

“Yes, he has,” Nellie smirked. “But don’t worry, I’ve got my eyes on him.”

“Yeah, you do!” Vinnie pulled her into a kiss and, while it definitely was gross to watch, you couldn’t help but long to find someone of your own to grossly kiss in public.

“Alright knock it off,” you ordered, pushing them apart. “Help me finish setting up.”

The rest of the guys trickled in over the next hour or so. Barone and his girlfriend, Gina, brought wine and cheese, Zapata and Tree came with a huge crockpot of chili which they proudly announced was homemade. Garvey had pigs in a blanket and a plethora of dips for the chips you spread around the house. Ty and Dells lugged a keg through the door which instantly told you things were probably going to get crazy.

After that, you lost track of who brought what as your kitchen table became covered with various plates and dishes of delicious food. You stood at the island in the middle of the room, mixing drinks when Maz walked in.

“Hey, Mazzello! What’s your poison?” you asked.

“Surprise me,” he grinned as he grabbed a paper plate. He began to load it full of food. “Damn, everyone really went all out.”

“I was thinking the same thing! When was the last time you guys got together and partied?”

“Not for awhile.”

“That explains it then.” There weren’t many weeks left before the last game of the season. Once the summer was over, life would take over, making it difficult for them to spend as much time together. “Here, I made you a classic Old Fashioned. Let me know what you think.”

Maz took the glass from you and gave it a sip. “Damn, that’s good!”

“Fuck yeah it is!”

As you reorganized the drinks, Maz seemed to study you for a moment. “I think everyone’s here,” he said. “I even saw Pat drive up.”

That was news to you. While your invitation had been extended to everyone, you weren’t sure Pat would accept. You hadn’t spoken much since the laser tag team-up. “How’s he doing? Does he seem better than before?”

Maz gave you an unusual smile. It could almost be considered smug. “He seems more upbeat at least. That was an awesome suggestion, by the way. He was telling me all about your epic win.”

“He was?”

Maz nodded, taking another sip of his drink. He glanced through the doorway that led into the living room, waving to someone. Turning back to you he said, “I’ll talk to you later.”

Before you could say anything, he was gone.

“Weirdo,” you muttered, turning around to put several empty glasses in the sink. A moment later, you heard your name and turned back around.

Pat stood in the doorway to the kitchen holding a plate wrapped in foil. “You should never have let those assholes into your house,” he commented. “They’ll never leave.”

“Hey, Murray,” you smiled. “I didn’t think you’d come.”

“I was in the neighborhood,” Pat smiled back as he crossed into the room. He glanced at all the food, eyes wide. “Shit, there’s enough to feed an army in here.”

“And then some. What did you bring?” you asked, motioning to the plate.

“Cookies.” Pat placed them on one of the only open spots on the table.

There was a moment of awkward silence as both of you tried to figure out what to say next. “Drink?” you offered.

“God yes.”

“Alright, I need to practice my mixed drinks. Pick something.”

“Tequila Sunrise.”

You mixed him the drink and, for some reason, felt nervous. It didn’t make any sense. You had been around Pat numerous times before. Somehow this time it felt different. It was the third time you two had been left alone in the last two weeks.

“Your place is awesome,” he commented, looking around the spacious kitchen. “I can’t believe you rent a whole house by yourself.”

“The landlady is super sweet,” you said. “And now I don’t have a roommate anymore so I have the whole place to myself.”

“What are you going to do with the spare room?” Pat asked as you handed him his Tequila Sunrise. He stared at it for a moment before taking an experimental sip.

“I don’t know. Maybe install a sex swing or something.”

Pat snorted in amusement and surprise, nearly inhaling his drink. You laughed as he started to cough. “Fuck! Don’t say things like that while I’m drinking!”

“That was amazing!”

“Ahh! I feel it in my nose!”

Still laughing, you handed him a paper towel so he could clean the dribble of tequila from his chin. “You’re something else, you know that?” he asked.

“Yes. Yes, I do.” As you watched him clean himself up, a wave of affection washed over you. It startled you but wasn’t so unsurprising. The two of you had been spending a lot of time together lately and you enjoyed his company. “I’m glad you came.”

Pat gave you a lopsided smile. "Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The moment was broken by Palacco calling your name as he entered the kitchen. He had been at the party for some time and was well on his way to becoming drunk. You could tell by the redness of his face and the glossiness of his eyes.

“There you are!” he smiled, sidling up next to you. “Heard you were making drinks. Why don’t you make me one, love?”

“I think you’ve had enough.”

“Oh, come on…”

“She said you had enough, Palacco. If she doesn’t want to make you a drink, she doesn’t have to!” Pat snapped, glaring at his teammate.

“Hey, Murray, did you tell her how many balls you missed during practice today?” Palacco asked. “Was it…um, all of them?”

“Fuck you!”

Not wanting a fight in your house, you purposefully put yourself between them. Pat stood directly behind you, the heat from his chest nearly touching your back. It was enough to give you goosebumps. “Alright, calm down, children. Palacco, what do you want to drink?”

“Something smooth and fiery, with a little kick.”

“I can do a spicy sunset margarita…”

“I was talking about the bartender.”

Behind you, you heard Pat scoff. “As if she’d fall for that one.”

“Murray, why don’t you run along. Don’t you have Maz’s ass to kiss?”

“How about I jam my foot up yours?” Pat took a step forward, bumping into you in the process.

You turned around to face him, placing your hand on his chest and gently pushing him back. “Pat, I got this,” you said, giving him a stern look. “Go into the living room. I’ll be there in a second.”

His eyes met yours, jaw clenched. Already you could feel his body shaking with rage, his heart beating wildly under your palm. After a second, he let out a deep exhale and left, downing half his drink in one go. Once he was gone, you breathed a soft sigh of relief.

“Now that we have a moment alone…” Palacco began.

You whirled around to glare at him. “I’m gonna stop you right there.” You weren’t an idiot. You saw the flirty looks and noticed the way he paid extra attention to you. His clumsy drunk attempt at a pick up did nothing to help his case. “I’m not interested, Palacco. Sorry.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“I have an idea.”

“Why? You interested in Murray?”

“I’m interested in people who don’t try to start shit in my house,” you told him. “If you can’t keep your shit together, get the fuck out. Are we gonna have a problem?”

Palacco put his hands up in surrender. “Fine, I’ll play nice.”

“Good.”

You left the kitchen in search of Pat. The living room was crowded with people but you spotted him standing by the couch, scowling as he sipped his drink. There were so many between you and him, you had to worm your way through the crowd to head in his direction. But before you could reach him, you were stopped by Vinnie.

“Sis! Settle a bet!”

“Yes, you’re a pain in the ass.“ Someone passed in front of you and then suddenly, Pat was gone. You swore under your breath.

"No! That’s not it!” Vinnie said.

You lost track of what he was saying after that. The night dragged on and you and Pat kept missing each other. Every time you tried to talk to him, he disappeared or someone pulled you into another conversation.

Drinks flowed, food was eaten, and by the time you finally escaped everyone, you needed a few minutes to yourself. You slipped away to your room. Clearly Pat had been upset about the situation with Palacco. While you didn’t owe him any explanation, you did want to make sure he was alright.

You no sooner sat on your bed when a voice said, “You have my hat.”

Pat stood in the doorway, beer in hand. You recognized the same red cheeks and glossy eyes you had seen in Palacco and half your guests. He clearly had been drinking but didn’t seem as far gone as some of the others.

You glanced over at your dresser where the red hat lay. “Yeah, you left it in my car. I keep forgetting to give it to you.”

Pat nodded silently. There was something different than when he had arrived. The warmth you felt from him in the kitchen was gone and he seemed closed off.

“Are you okay?” you asked.

“You and Palacco seemed close.”

His statement took you by surprise. Mainly because you weren’t sure where he got that idea. You had had about as much interaction with Palacco as you had with Pat. Maybe even less.

“We’re not.”

Pat wandered into the room. “He likes you though.”

“Good for him. I’m a fucking catch.”

Pat’s face cracked into a smile and he shoved his free hand into his pockets. “Do you like him?”

“Are you jealous, Murray?”

“No!”

“You sound like it.”

“…what if I am?”

The air shifted and your heart skipped a beat. “Why?”

Pat didn’t respond. You could hear Vinnie call your name but you ignored him. Pat shuffled further into the room and sat down next to you. He put his beer on the nightstand. “You didn’t answer my question,” he said.

“No, I don’t like him. Not like that at least.”

Pat’s shoulders seemed to relax and he gave you a smile. You found yourself smiling back, a strange shyness taking hold. The sounds of the party seemed to be drowned out by the racing of your heart.

“You’re beautiful.”

Your stomach flip-flopped and you couldn’t help but feel a warmth in your chest. At the same time, however, you knew he had been drinking. “Are you drunk?”

“A little.”

You could smell alcohol on his breath and even though you were drawn to him, you were worried he was saying things he wouldn’t say if he were sober.

“Come on, let’s join the others,” you said, getting to your feet. If he kept looking at you with those soft eyes you were going to do something stupid.

As you stood, Pat did as well and caught your hand, gently stopping you. Swallowing past the lump in your throat, you looked back at him. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked.

He hadn’t. Quite the opposite. What he was doing, what he said, felt wonderful. But it wasn’t real. Only the musing of a drunk friend. You didn’t want to hold him responsible for words he probably wouldn’t remember the next morning.

Just then, Vinnie appeared in the doorway. “There you are!” he exclaimed. “The guys don’t believe me that you can do a keg…stand…” His eyes fell on yours and Pat’s joined hands. “What’s going on in here?”

Not wanting him to get the wrong idea, you pulled your hand from Pat’s. “A private conversation which you so rudely interrupted.”

“Making a move on my sister, Murray?”

“No,” Pat said.

“Good cuz trust me, she’s not into gingers. Blonds maybe but–”

“Not exclusively,” you argued, shooting Pat a sideways glance.

“Still, your track record speaks for itself.”

“Vinnie, stop being a dick.”

"What? I’m just saying all your previous boyfriends were definitely a specific type.”

“Shut the fuck up, Vinnie!”

You did not like where the conversation was headed and the last thing you wanted was for Pat to feel like shit. Clearly the conversation with Palacco had affected him. Your brother was adding fuel to the fire and you didn’t want Murray to lose it like he did on the field.

“You can do a keg stand?” Pat sounded surprised, and like he hadn’t even heard what Vinnie had said other than that key phrase.

You chuckled. “Yes, I can.”

“Fuck, I gotta see that!” Pat exclaimed.

“Yes! Fuck yes!” Vinnie shouted. “You have to do it now!”

“Only if you do it first,” you told Pat.

“Fine! I will!”

Vinnie cheered and grabbed your hand, pulling you from the room. You grabbed Pat’s and the two of you were dragged into the living room while your brother shouted, “Keg stand! Keg stand! Keg stand!”

The rest of the party went by in a haze of alcohol and laughter. Pat sort of managed a keg stand, though he didn’t last as long as you did. Your memories blurred after that but for the first time in a long time, you felt carefree and happy. Pat remained by your side for most of the party, but at a certain point, he disappeared into the crowd as you both were pulled into separate conversations.

Eventually, the group began to disperse. Designated drivers carried your drunk friends home and by the time the last person left, you were ready for bed. The house was a disaster, a mess of empty plates, beer bottles, and other trash.

Deciding it could wait until morning, you headed to the bathroom to clean yourself up, only to find Pat slumped over the toilet.

“Murray, have you been here this whole time?” you asked, kneeling next to him.

He let out a groan and began dry-heaving, clearly having nothing left in his stomach. “Why did you make me do the keg stand?”

“I didn’t make you do anything, Murray.”

“I still blame you.”

Chuckling affectionately, you immediately went into supportive-friend mode. “Okay, okay, you’re alright.” You rubbed his back.

“I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Palacco flirts with you and I get all jealous…I never drink this much…”

“Don’t worry about it.” The last thing you wanted was for him to pour his heart out while his head was in your toilet.

“And then we were in your room and you looked so beautiful…”

“Murray, stop talking.”

He was too far gone to listen. “I just want you to like me and I don’t know why.”

“I like you just fine. You don’t have to get drunk for that. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and on the couch, okay?”

“…okay.”

He let you help him to his feet and over to the sink. After he rinsed his mouth out and washed his face, you carefully led him to the living room. His hoodie was covered in vomit so you helped him remove it before he flopped onto the couch.

“I should go home and leave you alone.”

“Bullshit. You’re going to sleep here so I can keep an eye on you. How’s your stomach?”

“Hurts. Empty.”

“Did you drink any water?”

“No…how are you fine? You drank too.”

“High tolerance, food and water,” you said. You pulled a blanket down from the back of the couch and draped it over him. “Stay here, I’ll be back.”

He looked pale and you were worried he was dehydrated. After filling a water bottle with room temperature water, you grabbed the trash can from the bathroom and brought both to Pat.

“Here, take small sips,” you said, holding the bottle for him. Once he did as you instructed, you put the trash next to him in case he needed to throw up again. “Get some rest.”

“I just…I think I like you.”

“Sleep, Pat. We’ll talk in the morning, okay?”

He nodded, tucking his hands under his head as he got comfortable. You didn’t want to leave him alone just yet so you went around the living room picking up trash. Every now and then you’d look over to check on him, but he was fast asleep.

You tried not to think about what he said, knowing he was drunk and most likely wouldn’t remember the next morning. But you couldn’t help it. The way he looked at you sent your heart fluttering.

“I think I like you.”

But did you like him? You hadn’t thought about it, yet now it was all you could focus on. You definitely enjoyed spending time with him. Before you had only ever seen him angry. Now, there was a sweetness there that you hadn’t anticipated.

The fatigue of the party and alcohol got to you. Casting one final look at Pat, you went to your room, making sure to leave the door open just in case he got sick again. You changed into shorts and a tank top before sliding into bed. As tired as you were, it took a long time for you to fall asleep.

Your thoughts strayed to the young man asleep in your living room, and the way his eyes sparkled when he looked at you.

#undrafted #pat murray x reader #pat murray #pat murray x you #joe mazzello

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alindakb · 4 years

Text

Letters to my Parents - Saturday 1 Augustus 1992 - by Alinda

Saturday 1 Augustus 1992

Dear mom and dad,

I miss Hogwarts. It’s like I have a constant stomach-ache, that’s how much I miss it. I miss the castle, the secret passageways and ghosts, the classes, the mail arriving by owl. Hedwig is locked up in her cage and she keeps waking uncle Vernon in the early morning because she’s bored and makes loud hooting noises. We have an argument about it almost every morning. And yesterday on my birthday I accidentally said ‘you’ve forgotten the magic word’ when Dudley told me to pass the frying pan and the room exploded. Dudley fell off his chair, aunt Petunia screamed and uncle Vernon jumped to his feet and roared at me, telling me the M word was forbidden and that I shouldn’t threaten Dudley. But all I meant was please. I just wanted Dudley to say please.

I also miss the banquets in the Great Hall, sleeping in the dungeon, visiting Hagrid in his cabin next to the forbidden forest, Quidditch, and most of all I miss my friends. I haven’t had any letters, or birthday cards or presents. I feel really lonely. It seems that Draco and Hermione don’t miss me at all. Neither of them has written to me all summer, even though Draco had promised me to write as often as possible. And he said he would try to convince his parents that I could have my birthday party at his house. Well, that didn’t happen since that was yesterday. I just can’t believe that they have forgotten my birthday.

And on top of all that, the Dursleys had completely forgotten my birthday too. For one moment at breakfast, I had hoped they remembered when uncle Vernon cleared his throat and said that it was a very important day. But he was just talking about his dinner party with a rich builder and his wife. They had a schedule for everything, and my only role was to stay in my bedroom, without making a noise and pretending I’m not here. O, how I wish I wasn’t here, but at Draco’s or even at Hermione’s house. Then maybe I wouldn’t have just had the worst birthday ever.

It all started in the afternoon when I saw two enormous green eyes between the leaves of the hedge. I jumped to my feet, but the eyes blinked and vanished because Dudley walked towards me. He taunted me; he made fun of the fact that I hadn’t gotten any birthday cards and questioned if I had any friends at my school. I tried to play it cool, to not let Dudley know how much it hurt me that none of my friends had remembered my birthday. Especially Draco, I thought there was something between us, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe he doesn’t like me as more than just friend. I don’t know, I only know it hurts.

Dudley also asked me why I was staring at the hedge, and I made up a lie, saying I was thinking of the best spell to set it on fire. Dudley stumbled backwards at once and started stuttering that his dad will send me away and that I have nowhere else to go because I don’t have any friends. And that just made me angry, so I started saying nonsense words pretending to do magic. Dudley ran back inside to his mom and she made me do work around the house all day. I wasn’t to have anything to eat until it was finished.

So I ended up cleaning the windows, mowing the lawn, trimming the flowerbeds, pruning and watering the roses and repainting the garden bench on my birthday. And when I was finished Aunt Petunia gave me two slices of bread and a lump of cheese for dinner, while the roast pork was sizzling in the oven for their dinner party.

When I had finished I was sent upstairs, where I had to pretend that I wasn’t here. Only there was one little problem. When I walked into my room something was sitting on my bed. It was a little creature, with large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. It were the same eyes I had seen in the hedge earlier that day. As soon as the creature saw me he slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its nose touched the carpet. He said it was an honour to meet me. He told me his name was Dobby and that he was a house-elf. And everything went downhill from there.

Dobby had come to tell me something, but it was difficult, according to him. So I asked him to sit down, and that just made Dobby wail. I tried to make him quiet down and managed to get him on the bed, telling him that he couldn’t have met many decent wizards if they had never asked him to sit down before. Only that made him jump up again and he started to bang his head on the window, shouting bad Dobby. That made Hedwig wake up and she also started making loud noises.

It seems that Dobby is bound to serve one family and he had to punish himself because he almost spoke ill of them. He will also punish himself when he gets back home because his family doesn’t know that he came to see me. He can’t escape them, he needs to be set free. So I asked him if I could help him and that just made him wail again. He said he had heard of my greatness, but not of my goodness. I told him I wasn’t great, that I’m not even top of my class, that Draco and Hermione are fighting over that position. It was painful thinking of them, so I stopped that line of the conversation.

Dobby went on to say he knew I triumphed over the Dark Lord twice, the last time only a few weeks ago. And when I confirmed, he said I was valiant and bold, but that Dobby has come to protect me, to warm me that I must not go back to Hogwarts. Well, that isn’t an option. So I told Dobby that I have to go back. I don’t belong here in the muggle world, I belong in the wizarding world, at Hogwarts. The only thing that kept me going for the last weeks is the knowledge that I’ll be going back there on the first of September.

Of course, Dobby didn’t agree with this. He was certain I would be in mortal danger if I would go back. Because there is a plot to make the most terrible things happen at Hogwarts this year. Dobby said he had known it for months and that I was too important to put myself in peril. I still don’t know what terrible things or who are plotting them, because Dobby wouldn’t tell me. He just started to bang his head against the wall. I did learn it wasn’t Voldemort who was planning it. But when Dobby tried to tell me more he just started banging my desk lamp against his head and making a lot of noise.

It was then that uncle Vernon came upstairs and I hit Dobby in the closet. Uncle Vernon was very upset and told me to keep quiet, or else I would wish I was never born. And he is right, I kind of wish that now. After uncle Vernon had left I told Dobby I had to go back because it is horrible here and that I think I’ve got friends at Hogwarts. And then I found out that Dobby had been stopping their letters from reaching me. He had them with him and I could see letters with Hermione’s handwriting, with Hagrid’s and Ron’s untidy scrawl. I didn’t see any letters from Draco.

I asked Dobby if there were any letters from Draco, but he wouldn’t tell me. He said I could have my letters if I promised not to go back to Hogwarts. But I told him no and that he should give me my letters. And then everything went wrong.

Before I could reach Dobby he had darted out of my room and down the stairs. Dobby was sitting on top of a cupboard and Aunt Petunia’s pudding was floating up near the ceiling. I begged Dobby to put it back, but he wouldn’t unless I would promise not to go back to school. I told him I couldn’t and then he dropped the pudding on the floor and vanished.

I had to clean the kitchen and uncle Vernon promised to flay me when the Masons had left and I had hoped it wouldn’t get any worse than this, but it did. Only an owl came to deliver a letter from the improper use of magic office of the ministry of magic. It turned out that Mrs Mason is mortally afraid of birds and the Masons left, making uncle Vernon lose the deal he wanted to make with Mr Mason. Uncle Vernon then locked me in my room with a mad gleam dancing in his eyes. He laughed about that I was never going back to Hogwarts, and that I would get expelled if I would try to magic myself out of my room.

And Uncle Vernon has kept true to his word. I’m locked in my room. A man has fit bars on my window and uncle Vernon made a cat-flap in the bedroom door, where they pass through small amounts of food. I only get let out to use the bathroom in the morning and evening. Otherwise, I’m to stay here, in my room, by myself, all alone, with no way of escape.

I don’t know what to do now. I have no way to contact anyone who could help me. And I still don’t have my letters. No kind words of Hermione telling me summer will be over before I know it. No funny stories from Ron about his crazy family. No words from Draco to ease my mind. And even if I had the letters, I’m sure there weren’t any letters from Draco between them. I would have recognized his handwriting. And that is one of the things that keep me up at night. Why didn’t he write to me? I thought that the kiss he gave on my cheek when we arrived at King Cross mend something. And I had hoped that maybe we could become boyfriends. Why would he kiss me and then change his mind?

The other thing keeping me awake is Voldemort. I still have nightmares about him, about his livid face, his wide, mad eyes. I wake up drenched in cold sweat, wondering where Voldemort is now and if he found another way to come back. And would he come after me again if he has?

I hate my life right now. What is it worth being alive when I can’t go back to Hogwarts? When I can never find out why Draco didn’t write to me. When I will never see my friends again. Maybe it would have been better if I had died when Voldemort killed both of you, or when I met him again only two months ago. Then I wouldn’t be alone and locked up now, but with both of you. That sounds so much better than this.

I love you and miss you so much right now.

I wish I was with you both.

Your Harry James Potter.

#fanfic #drarry #letters to my parents #Harry Potter #Draco Malfoy #letters #school holidays #dobby #second year #suicidal thoughts

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retail-truestory · 5 years

Text

Who wants to hear Another Retail Story?

There I was, on register during another busy weekend. It wasn't a particularly long shift, but with how many customers there were it felt like I'd been stuck on that register forever. And I knew it was going to get even crazier because at 4:00 I'd be heading to self scan. I had 20 more minutes on register, but I would've gladly taken the rest of my shift there instead. I was finishing with one customer and their order as another got on my line. Then my supervisor told me to shut down for my break; I'd go straight to self scan when I came back. The customer who just came didn't start unloadng yet so I could have told her I was closed. But that would've made me a glutton for punishment because she was technically there when my light was still on. She had a decent sized order. I figured if I scanned fast enough and helped her pack, I could be on my break within 10 minutes. If only I knew how wrong I'd be! It started off alright. The only downside was as I was scanning, instead of her going to the other end of the belt to help pack, she was ripping coupon after coupon after coupon from multiple flyers. She gave them to me as I was about 3/4 of the way done scanning. There were between 10 and 20 manufacture coupons in the pile. And when I was done scanning the items, I went for the coupons. The first coupon was denied. Which basically meant I'd have to call a supervisor to override it. That is, assuming the customer had the item/the correct number of items for the coupon. But before I did that, I read the coupon to see why it was being denied. It was for frozen vegetables. "Did you get the [Brand] Vegetables?" I asked her. "Yes," she said. I looked at the frozen food that was still on the belt and unpacked. There was a lot of frozen food in her order. But I only remembered scanning TV Dinners. Not frozen vegetables. I double checked the screen. No [Brand] Vegetables. I told her it didn't look like she got them and gave her back the coupon. I scanned the next coupon. It was also denied. I read it. It was the exact same coupon. As was the next 2 coupons. I gave them back to her. She looked at me like I was a nut. Then came the third...or was it fifth?...coupon. It was also denied. It was a cleaning product. But I knew all she had bought was food. So I gave the coupon back to her. After the next coupon was denied, once again for an item she didn't get, I looked at each individual coupon. I put 3 to the side, unsure if she got the right amount of those specific items. I gave her back the rest, all of which she had none of the items for. She still looked at me like I was a nut. I scanned another coupon. It was denied. "Did you get These Crackers?" I asked her. "Yes," she answered. I checked the list on my screen, but didn't see them. It was possible I scrolled too fast and missed it, so I printed the on demand receipt. I scrolled down past the Frozen Food section, past the Bakery section, and past the Dairy section to read the Grocery section. It looked like she had the item. But did it match the size the coupon was asking for? "May I see These Crackers?" I asked. "I don't know where they are," she brushed me off and continued packing. She left me no choice but to start going through the bags she packed and placed in her wagon. Fortunately These Crackers were easy to spot. But there was only one box. She was supposed to get 2 boxes. I told her this and handed her back the coupon. Then I read the last 2 coupons. They were exactly the same - $3 off of 8 [Brand] greek yogurts. I asked her how many she got. "I got plenty," she said. I dug through her bags, eventually finding them at the bottom of the cart. There were only 4. I told her this. "Check again, I definitely got more." I double checked. There was all of one yogurt hiding under the cheese. "There's 5 yogurts here. These coupons are for 8. So you'd need to buy 8 to use one coupon or 16 to use both." "So I only need to run back and get 2 more?" she asked. I shook my head. "3 more," I corrected. I walked back behind my register after handing her the coupons back. From the corner of my eye I glanced at the time on my screen as I helped her pack the rest while she stood there. It was 3:50. It was sure cutting it close to getting to self scan after my break if my coworker had to leave at 4. But I didn't say anything. "How much were the grapes?" the customer asked. Silly me, I'd already thrown out the on demand receipt. I scrolled through the list on the screen searching for the grapes. Fortunately they were one of the last items I scanned so it didn't take long to find. "About $9.24." The lady made a face. "That's a lot to pay for grapes. Take them off." I voided off the grapes and she dug through her bags to give them back to me. She then asked the price of a few other items, some of which I had to reprint the on demand receipt for to double check. I answered her questions and she stood there thinking. After another couple of minutes, she took out her credit card to pay. Her total was $136.72. The payment processed $21.89 on her card. "Your new total is $114.83," I told her. Once again, she looked at me as though I were crazy. "What?" "Your card took off about $21," I explained. "Where does it say that? It should've gone through," the lady said. I turned the other moniter so she could see it better. My finger brushed over the screen, signaling toward the last line. Visa - $21.89. "Oh..." she blinked. She paused. "Can you cancel the transaction?" "Yes...I just need to a supervisor." I called for a key - a shorter way of yelling for a supervisor. Since one was on register and the other was preparing to clock out, my coworker at Customer Service came over to help. She asked what was wrong and the lady said she wanted the transaction canceled. Coworker blinked. "The whole thing? Or just the payment?" "The payment," the lady specified. Coworker put her key into the slot and typed in her code. The payment became undone and the total went back to $136.72. Coworker said she could try paying again. I asked Coworker not to go too far, as I might need her help again and I was already late taking my break. Fortunately Coworker did not have a line waiting for her at customer service, so it was nice she even wanted to stick around and help me. This was one of the Good Ones. The lady attempted to pay again. But this time her card was denied. "Why isn't it going through?" she gasped. Coworker proceeded to give her a list of reasons why the card might've been denied. She could've gone over her limit. Maybe she got locked out of her account. Maybe there was just a problem with the card. This time, it was Coworker who got the crazy look. Coworker paused and blinked before asking, "Do you have another card you can use?" "No," the lady answered simply. "So...do you want me to suspend the order? We can hold it at customer service for you and you can come back later with another payment method," Coworker explained. "Oh I'm not coming back later," she shook her head. Coworker and I exchanged glances. She then slowly brought her gaze back to the lady. "Sooooo should I just cancel the whole thing?" Lady shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so," she said before turning and leaving the store. Coworker sighed and proceeded to void the transaction, once again using her key and her code. By now it was 3:57. Realizing this, I sighed. "Guess I'm not going to self scan at 4." "Oh really? How come?" Coworker asked in a genuinely happy tone, as she knew how I loathe self scan. "[Other] Coworker goes home at 4. I was supposed to be on my break 15 minutes ago," I said. I then glanced over to the wagon the lady left behind, full primarily of perishables. I bit my lower lip before glancing at my Coworker again. "What do we do about all that stuff in the meantime....?" Coworker sighed. "Just...I guess bring it over to the throwbacks and let self scan know you're gonna be late. There's no one to run anything back and there's nowhere to put any of it right now. You just take your break." "Soooo all that's stuff's just gonna go bad now?" I asked. Coworker wasn't thrilled about it either, but there was no other choice. "It's gonna have to." Luckily [Other] Coworker at self scan was understanding why I was late to cover for her and didn't mind staying the extra 15 minutes. Admittedly I only took a 10 minute break instead, as I already felt bad she was stuck there longer than needed. And I didn't get asked about why there was a wagon of perishables sitting there fully bagged at all. But looking back on this story I'm not sure what annoyed me more.... The fact that this lady gave me so many coupons for things she didn't even get just expecting to get at least $10 off her order without me even batting an eye (did she even read the coupons to be sure she got the items?) or the fact that because someone didn't schedule enough people on a busy weekend to work that there was all that frozen (and some dairy) food that ended up needlessly going to waste. Maybe it was both. Maybe I'm just cynical from all this time working in retail. Or maybe it's just that I reached the Are You a Nut? look limit. All I know for sure is this - you can't make this stuff up. And that, my friends, is a True Retail Story.

#retail #retail life #retail problems #cashier #cashier problems #customer service #customer service problems #customer #customer problems #annoying customer #coupons #perishables #retail stories #retail story #true story #i hate people

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nowitsdarkfic · 4 years

Text

chapter thirty-five (marcia and some spiders)

Lupe and I are hurrying back down the corridor to the stairwell. The noise has died down a great deal downstairs but I'm still trying to figure that whole thing out back there on Mrs. Snow's part. “Remember the last.” I'm afraid I don't remember because I don't even know what the hell she's talking about.

And she called me by my full name, too. I have never heard her refer to me as Joseph before.

Eh, I don't know. And I'm too preoccupied with leading Lupe back downstairs to the main floor of the bar in order to give it any more thought.

Lars, Barney, Billy, and Spence are awaiting me on the other side of the room, near a heavy black curtain. Lupe meanwhile ducks away from me and towards the bar.

Spence shows me a mischievous grin as I'm coming closer to them.

“Who's that little lady?” he asks me.

“That was—Lupe, wasn't it?” Lars fills in.

“Lupe!” the three of them gawk all together.

“She's a stripper,” I tell them, out of breath. “It's—It's nothing.”

“A stripper with a thing for you,” Lars cracks.

“Oh, hush—besides, you're the one who Lizzy's going all bat shit crazy for.” I return to the three of them and the eager expression on each of their faces. “Really, you fellas should'a seen the two of them last week when we were over at Black Orchid.”

He nibbles on his bottom lip while his face turns as red as a cherry tomato.

“A man named baby kangaroo!” I recognize Dominique's voice call out from behind the curtain.

“Baby kangaroo?” Billy chuckles at that.

“Yeah! Man named baby kangaroo! Come back here!”

“Oh, that's me!” I declare, and then gesture for them to follow me behind the black curtain.

We're met with a narrow area secluded from the rest of the place. I don't remember this part here, with the green lamps and the matching couch pressed up against the wall, and the big buffett table on the other side of the room with a bunch of food served out for us. Dominique, Nancy, Chris, and Matt are all seated on the couch, while Hiro is pouring himself a glass of water and Kim is cracking open a beer over by the table.

“This can't be the dressing room,” I mutter aloud.

“This is our dressing room,” Matt assures me. “The actual ones around the other side of the place are closed off.”

“Why's that?”

He shakes his head. “No idea. But anyways—help yourselves to our comida du jour.” He gestures towards Kim, Hiro, and the table on the other side of the room.

“Comida du jour?” Dominique echoes with a giggle. “One's Spanish, one's French, babe.”

“It's Spench,” Spence jokes, and we all burst out laughing. I make my way over to the table for a couple of those little fingerling crustini sandwiches. Hiro tosses his black hair back before taking a big drink of water.

“Badass show you guys put on,” I tell him.

“Thanks, man,” Kim replies, extending a hand for me to partake in a high five.

“Yeah, really,” Hiro follows up once he puts down the water bottle.

“We should hear you sing some time.”

I shrug at them.

“I dunno 'bout that,” I confess, picking up two crustinis with a bit of smooth white cheese and some sliced turkey and ham.

“Also, help yourself to those,” Kim insists as Spence strides up behind me for a couple for himself.

“Yeah, there's a whole lot more where those came from,” Hiro adds, taking another drink of water. Spence and I make a toast with each other with our little bite sized sandwiches before popping them into our mouths at the same time. The cheese is soft and melty, like maybe it's Brie. The turkey and the ham meanwhile taste fresh out of the deli.

We double back to the couch to meet up with the four of them as well as Lars. I offer him one and he waves it off.

“Are you sure?” I ask him.

“Yeah. I'll wait for the next batch.” He winks at me and I take it back for myself. Chris puts his arm around Nancy and she leans over into his chest. There's a part of me that wishes I had more time with Lupe but what was I to do when Mrs. Snow was right there looming before us? The memory of her looming before me reminds me of the first time I saw her and she looked as though she was about to mutilate the family jewels. There was no way I would go through with that again.

I sigh through my nose and finish the first crustini before eating the one I had offered to Lars.

“So I got a call from Angeline,” Dominique begins, “Angeline Belotti, the woman I shadowed over at the New York Times.”

“Yeah?” Matt follows along.

“She told me she'll be going out to Seattle in the next two weeks so we can do some dual reporting together on the uptick in cybernetic technology. I'm taking it to the next level, babe.”

“Oh, that's fantastic!” Matt puts his arm around her and kisses the side of her head.

“She also said she'll be stopping on the way through Syracuse, Oswego, and Rochester,” she adds, turning to me, Spence, Barney, and Billy, “because I guess there's a bit of resistance against it all right now with the town councils, like they don't want any of the advancements we have in Seattle there. They all keep voting against it.”

The four of us glance at one another, and I feel my heart sink. I know it's run by Maxwell Industries, and I can only assume what's happening with Brick and Maya right now has something to do with that company. They do have his name after all. Her, I have no idea about but I can't but help feel a link here.

“Hey!” Chris calls out from right next to me. We all turn to see Sonia's head poking out from the break in the curtains.

“Sonia!” Lars declares, his face flushing.

“Hey, you,” I follow up in a flat tone of voice, popping the crustini in my mouth. Marcia pokes her head from in between the curtains, right underneath her.

“And Marcia,” Lars follows up.

“And Miss Marcia,” I add to it with my mouth full.

“What are you ladies doing here?” Matt asks them.

“We need to talk to you guys,” Sonia states to us.

“The two of us?” I ask her, my mouth still full as I'm gesturing to Lars and me both.

“Yes. In private.”

I swallow and we glance at one another: Lars has his eyebrows raised and his eyes riddled with a look of seriousness.

“'Scuse us,” I tell all of them behind us, and the two of us lunge for the Bennett sisters behind the curtain. They duck back to let us out of the dressing room and onto the stretch of floor in between the bar and the stage. Marcia grins at me.

“Hey,” she greets me in a soft voice, reaching for my forearm.

“Hi,” I return the favor with a little smile. It's all I can do for her.

“What's going on?” Lars asks them, rubbing his hands together at a slow pensive pace.

“Maya showed up to the upholstery shop,” Sonia informs us, “totally out of the blue and speaking some weird language.”

“Weird language?” Lars echoes, keeping his hands pressed together before his chest.

“What'd it sound like?” is all I can think of.

“It sounded—backwards,” Marcia fills in, tugging down her blouse over her full hips.

“Backwards,” we say at the same time.

“At least that's what we think it was,” Sonia continues, brushing a ringlet of hair behind her ear. “She also said something about how Spence and Joey are both gonna royally fuck something up soon enough.”

“Me?” I'm stunned by that.

“Yeah. But we didn't believe her, though, especially since you're the one who found her.”

“But she said it out of anger, though,” Marcia points out, “like she sounded pissed when she said it.” She frowns at the two of us. “Where is Spence?”

“He's in there,” Lars gestures back to the curtains behind us.

“I need another word with you, too,” Sonia curtly says, waving a finger into his face and he recoils back at the sight of it before him. She weaves around him and he follows her back, which in turn leaves me alone with Marcia. She shows a little smile, her cheekbones filling out as a result.

“So how are you?” she begins in a soft voice.

“I'm doing alright. Kinda worried about my friend Brick, but I think he'll be okay, though.”

“That's good. It's good to remain positive to ensure he has a quick recovery.”

She touches the upper part of my arm even though I have my jacket on.

“You know, sometimes I'll catch myself thinking about you,” she admits to me, her gaze dropping off to her hand on me.

“Do you now?”

“I do. Like I think about—” She lifts her gaze to my face. “—those big puppy dog brown eyes, and those soft lips, and that beautiful hair.”

I swallow and I feel the butterflies well up inside my stomach.

“Marcia, I'm—” I almost choke on my own spit trying to speak to her. “I'm not gonna lie to you—I'm a little uncomfortable here.”

She purses her lips and shakes her head.

“Uncomfortable. Come on now. We're in a bar after a show. It's only natural for us to—you know.”

“No, I don't.”

She runs her tongue along her bottom lip. She keeps her hand on my shoulder as she moves in closer to me. Her chest is right up against mine while her belly is pressed against my own. I feel a little sick. And I feel a little bad for resisting her, but there's no denying how I feel. I'm uncomfortable.

But she's lifting her other hand onto the side of my neck and I swear she's about to kiss me, leaning in closer to me when I hear Lupe yell out on the other side of the room. We turn to look at some of the people at the bar lunging back from the bar itself. I take a closer look to find those spiders, those same gigantic black spiders the size of my hand I saw in Ellen's apartment down in New Orleans, scurrying along the top of the bar and down the front. They're going into people's drinks and the ashtrays, and over the bar stools.

“Oh my God,” Marcia gasps, her face turning as white as a sheet.

“God damn,” I blurt out in a hushed voice.

“Alright, everyone tuck your pants into your socks!” the bartender shouts. I watch Lupe throw her jacket over her before ducking out the front door and out to the rain. Lars, Spence, Billy, and Barney all file out from behind the curtain with looks of concern upon their faces.

“The fuck's going on?” Barney wonders aloud.

“Spiders,” I tell him, and Marcia jerks her hand back from me like she got burned; “huge ones, might I add.”

“Holy shit!” Lars declares.

“Well there's no way we're getting out that way now,” Spence points out as the spiders make their way upon the floor. They're crawling all over the tiles and upon the walls. Then a couple scurry our way.

“Back door, back door, back door!” I shout, and we run back to the dressing room. The six of them flash us startled looks as we return to the area.

“What's wrong?” Nancy demands.

“Spider infestation,” I tell her, scooping up some more crustinis, “massive ones, might I add.”

“Oh, Jesus!”

We all scramble to pick up the rest of the food before they get to it. I lead the way out of the area, across the stage and towards the emergency exit behind the platform which held up Matt's drum kit. I'm running blind through the rain with my hands full of crustini sandwiches, but I do remember where Lars had parked.

“OKAY EVERYONE FOLLOW JOEY!” I hear him bellow behind me.

I run down the alleyway to the sidewalk. I shove my mouth full of two sandwiches and then tuck the other two under my jacket to keep them from getting wet. My hair matts to my forehead with every step, but by the light of the neon sign, I recognize the hydrogen car parked at the curb. Indeed, once I reach the car, I hear a low hum emerging from the base board. I fling open the door and collapse into the passenger seat.

Once the door is closed and my mouth is absolutely stuffed full of seared sourdough bread, Brie cheese, turkey, and ham, I push my bangs out of my eyes. I peer out the window to find Barney and Billy running towards the car; the former reaches the back door behind me first and dives into the seat on the opposite side. Billy follows suit into the middle suit.

Not even before he can close the door, Spence takes his place right behind me.

Meanwhile, Lars rounds the front of the car: through the streaks of rain on the windshield, I can see his hair is already a matted mess. He opens the driver's side door, and throws himself into the seat, and yanks the door shut. Breathing hard, he shoves his hair back from his face: but in the pink light from the neon sign, I can still see a rather thick tendril stuck to the side of his face.

“Alright, is everybody in?” he asks us, peering over his shoulder. “Nancy, Dominique, and the guys all have their gear together and they were going to leave soon anyways. So, we cool here?”

“Yeff,” I still have my mouth full.

“Good man, not letting food go to waste,” Spence notes, patting my shoulder. “She's in Rochester, Sonia said?”

“Yeah—” I choke out upon swallowing. Lars shakes his head and sets his hand on the top of the steering wheel.

“Honestly, if Maya's back in Oswego, I'm gonna freak,” he confesses, and then I remember wormholes don't close all the way. That's probably how the spiders got here. That's my guess, anyway.

“You're gonna freak?” Barney demands, stunned. “It's our neck of the woods, dude! If it was San Francisco or Copenhagen, I'd definitely be worried because we could lose her, but this is Nowhere, USA we're talking about.”

“What should we do, Joe?” Billy asks me, gripping onto the side of my seat; I turn my head for a better look at him and also Lars, who has his hand on the wheel. “You're our captain. What do you think we should do?”

I really have no idea what to do or where to go from here. But after what happened with Marcia back there in the dressing rooms, I think it's best we begin from the top. If Maya is back in Oswego, and since Brick is home, we should probably check on him and make sure nothing too extravagant is going on.

“I say we get our asses back to Oswego,” I tell them. “If she's there—and I have faith that she is, and I have a ton of hope for Brick, but—it's hard. You know? So—we've got the car started already. Let's bounce.”

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