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doggone-devil · 2 months

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How (Not) to Lose Your Soul: Chapter 2

Hello, dear readers! I'm back with Chapter 2! I apologize for how long this took. I ended up getting a job interview (spoiler alert, I got the job) so I didn't have as much spare time to write this as I wanted. But, here it is! I hope you all enjoy! It's a bit longer than I anticipated.. (over 3,000 words...woops). Pairing: Alastor x fem!Reader Warnings: mentions of unaliving oneself.

To the average sinner passing by, the haunting sounds from the tower above would sound like some rampaging monster. Growls, groans, and things crashing about sending any curious onlooker scurrying away in fear they'd be the ones that rage is unleashed upon. Yet to Charlie, her eyes casted up in worry and concern, knew what resides above the hotel lobby.

Sighing, she lays her head on her forearms, leaning onto the bar counter top. Vaggie lays a comforting hand on her back, but the soothing rubs do nothing to ease her troubled mind. "I just don't get it," she huffs. "I thought he'd be happy to be back in Hell after being topside so long! I mean, it's Al, right?" Charlie looks to Husk for confirmation, knowing the cat demon knows Alastor best. Husk only rolls his eyes, setting down the glass he had been cleaning.

"I've seen that man upset before but this? This is a whole temper tantrum. I don't know what happened up there but it's got his antlers in a bunch and I for one am staying clear of it," Husk states, turning his back to focus on the bottles lining the bar shelves. Charlie pouts and turns to her girlfriend, the ex-angel pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Maybe a deal went wrong? I mean, that's why he got summoned, right?" Vaggie asks. "Though why someone summoned him is beyond me."

"Maybe." Charlie hums in thought. "I don't think so, though. He looked so distraught when he came back. You should've seen him, Vaggie." Charlie recalls the way Alastor had looked when he finally returned to Hell. She had been shocked when Alastor was summoned, scared even as she watched his body practically disappear in front of her. She'd heard of mortals summoning demons before but never really witnessed it first hand until then. Most demons talked about how horrible it was, enslaved to a human's whim and only able to leave once the deal was completed. Knowing Alastor, she would've thought he'd return that same day, but as the day passed, then another, she knew something was wrong.

Tears well up in her eyes. Alastor had returned with an expression as if he had lost his life all over again, almost like he had died twice. There was pain in his eyes despite that permanent smile and she just wanted to hug him tightly, but before she could, he had sunk into his shadows. That's when the sounds started, up in his tower. Sounds of metal ripping, glass shattering, crashes and bangs. Charlie's brows draw tightly together, determination on her face as she stands, fists clenched.

"I'm going up there," she declares, walking away from the bar. Husk shakes his head, mumbling about how it's her funeral while Vaggie reaches out to her.

"Charlie, wait!" Her hand just misses Charlie's arm as the blonde demon continues up the stairs and towards the entrance to the radio tower. She was going to figure out just what was going on.

"It's not here." Rubble is kicked to the side, dust clouding upward from the sudden movement. "Another dead end." Two hours. You have been searching through this abandoned house for over two hours and absolutely nothing. You angrily scan around the room, eyes hoping but not finding the item you're looking for.

Veronica huffs loudly from the other side of the room, standing upright. "Maybe it got stolen?" she offers. You shake your head.

"Owners must've sold it or they still have it. Either way, it's not here." You turn and head for the front doors. "Waste of time," you mumble under your breath, exiting the large house and returning to your car. It was becoming the same end result. Promises of an item or book that would help you connect to Hell, and then nothing. Every location you've stopped at and searched proved to be useless. It was almost like you were one step behind every single time, something or someone dangling hope in front of your eyes before yanking it away once you were close enough. It was starting to wear you down, starting to make you angry.

"Maybe we'll have better luck at the next place," Veronica suggests as she steps outside behind you. She pulls out the list, checking for the next location, but you're already walking to your car. She calls out your name in question but you can feel it, deep down. Despair.

"It's no use," you whisper. Tears are forming, hot and angry. "I'm never going to see him again." Veronica, now at your side, places her hand on your shoulder.

"Hey, come on now. You did it once before, we can do it again. We just have to -"

"Have to what?" you bark out at her. "Without his book, I can't summon him. Without any book, I can't summon any demon at all! There's no way I can get to him, not with these fucking angels intercepting at every chance they find." You kick the tire of your car, shouting in frustration. Veronica stands silently as you continue to repeatedly abuse the tire. You turn to her, "Is it so wrong to want to love him? To want to be happy?" Your voice breaks, the tears heavier now as your begin to sob. Your curse under your breath, wiping them away as you hide your face behind your sleeve.

Veronica steps towards you, pulling you in her arms. Your head comes to rest on her shoulder where you bury it against her, letting the emotions you've bottled pour out. She strokes your head and lets you cry. "It's going to be ok, girlie. I mean, you already know where he's at and he can't leave there. Even if we can't find anything now, once you've lived your life and passed away, you can just go to Hell and -"

"Wait," you pull away, eyes wide.

"What?"

"Repeat that again."

"He can't leave Hell?" she asks.

"No, no. The last part."

"Once you've lived your life, you can just go to -"

"That's it!" you cut her off again, a small laugh bubbling up. Why didn't you think of it before? The answer had been in front of you this entire time.

"What's it?" Veronica narrows her eyes at you, unsure. You smile wide, grabbing her shoulders.

"I just have to go to Hell!" You giggle and run to the driver's side of your car, grabbing your phone from the mount where you had left it. Veronica remains in place, confused as she watches you.

"Um, girlie, there's just one problem? You're alive?" You practically skip back over to her, thumb swiping the screen as your search through google results.

"Exactly!" you exclaim, turning the phone around to show her. "But what if I wasn't?" Her eyes widen as she looks at the list of nearby satanic cults.

"Oh no. No, no, no!" She begins to look horrified, taking your phone from your hand. "Are you insane?!" You raise a brow at her, your turn to be confused. "Girlie, you're straight up crazy! I'm not letting you do this."

"What do you mean?" you snatch your phone back.

"Wha - What do I mean? You're not about to go and kill yourself as some fucking offering to Satan!" she shouts at you.

"I'm not offering myself to Satan," you reply, rolling your eyes. "That's ridiculous." She sighs in relief. "I'm offering myself to Alastor." You walk to your car as she throws her hands up in the air.

"That's not any better!" She watches as you climb in, the car roaring to life. She calls out your name again. You roll down the passenger side window, leaning over to look at her.

"You coming or not?" You expect her to sigh and climb in, to tell you that this is a crazy idea as she comes along, but she doesn't move.

"You're actually doing this?" she asks, arms crossed over her chest. You pause, thinking. It was a bit of a long shot, having some cult kill you in the name of your demon lover just so you could go to Hell, but at the same time… You've decided. He was more important to you than your life.

"Yes, I am," you answer firmly. Veronica's arms drop.

"Then I'm not coming."

"Veronica?"

"I'm not going to watch my best friend quite literally throw her life away," Veronica states, tears falling down her cheeks. For a moment, you genuinely feel bad, like maybe you're not making the right decision. Even she had said you could just live the rest of your life and then die, but there's no guarantee you'll actually go to Hell after. Sure, you could just sin like crazy, but you're not even sure which sins are legit enough to secure damnation and you're not about to commit murder. No, this was the only way you could see working.

You leave the car running as you step back out, walking over to Veronica. For a second, she looks relieved, like you changed your mind. You hug her tightly. "This is goodbye, then," you say to her. She doesn't hug you back and you don't chance looking at her as you climb back into your car. She has her phone, she has money, she can make it back home without you. Still, you forward the list of cults to her so she can retrieve your car and things after the deed is done.

Glancing one last time towards her, you steady your nerves and reverse out of the driveway. As you drive away, you start to feel your nerves calm down, a sense of happiness washing over you. You begin to smile, your lips stretched wide. In exactly one hour and forty minutes, you'll arrive at your destination. In exactly one hour and forty minutes, you'll finally have the chance to be reunited with him, forever. You just hope this cult is as legit as the reviews say they are.

Pink. It's fucking pink.

You stare at the building google maps led you to, the street lined with townhouses on other side. You're parked in front of the only one that has a pentagram above it's door, it's very bright, yellow door. You frown. The whole house is colorful from it's shingles to it's windows. None of it screams satanic to you as you walk up the steps to the porch. Even the outdoor chair is some pastel color and is that duck print? You squint, looking at the pillows on it. Yep, those are ducks.

"What the fuck," you sigh, approaching the front door. You recheck google one last time, just to make sure you're in the right place. The red pin on the map says you are so you pocket your phone, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door. A high pitch voice responds from the other side as footsteps approach, fast, almost as if they're running to answer. The door flings open and you're immediately pulled into a hug.

"Hello! Blessings to you! I'm so happy to meet you, sister!" the young woman greets you. You tense up immediately.

"Uh, hi?" She lets you go.

"I am Sister Beth." She looks up at your with a big smile. She's slightly shorter than you, blonde hair braided into a thick fishtail with little petals and leaves tangled throughout it. Her clothes are bright, reminding you of hippies from the sixties. Definitely not what you were expecting.

"This is the House of Lucifer, right?" You look around. "Did I get the wrong house?" Beth giggles again, grabbing your hand.

"Of course not, silly! You're in the right place." She tugs you inside, bringing you through a foyer and into an equally colorful living room. What you thought would be black candles, skulls, and cobwebs turned out to be lava lamps, beads, and bean bag chairs. She plops you down into one, taking seat opposite you with her legs crossed. You sit for a second, trying to take everything in. Was it possible to get whiplash from this? You sure felt like.

"So what brings you here, sister?" she asks, leaning forward. You sink into the chair, partially to lean away from her and partially because you're sinking.

"Uh, well, I was hoping to use your services." You didn't actually plan this through, now that you think about it. What were you suppose to tell her? You've come to be used as an offering to some random demon? Might as well tell her you're the Pope.

"Oh we have all kinds of services! Which ones? I could do a blessing ritual, read your fortune, contact lost loved ones - oh there's so many!" Her bright demeanor was starting to give you a headache.

"None of those," you say. "The one I have in mind is less…" You trail off, unsure what to say. Friendly? Cheerful? Legal? "Known." Beth tilts her head in confusion, almost like a dog, before her eyes widen.

"You mean our secret services?" she whispers. You nod. She looks around, then stands, grabbing your hand again. "Only Mamma Edith can do those." You gulp, not liking the way she said that.

"Mamma Edith?"

Beth shakes her head. "Mamma Edith is the one who started this house! She takes care of all of us and provides to us the word of Lucifer!" Oh no. The one cult you chose to visit and you got the one that was a legit cult. Why couldn't you have chosen the one where they wore black robes and turned out to be thirty year old men still living in their mom's basement?

"So she can help me?" you ask.

"Most definitely!" Beth leads you down a hallway and you can't help but notice all the duck décor. Figurines, paintings, even the fucking wallpaper was ducks. God, what was with the duck obsession? This was suppose to be a satanic cult, right? Where was the blood, the eerie ambience of tortured screams? Had all the horror movies lied to you?

Beth suddenly stops and your attention comes to a giant, ominous, black door. Ok, that was more like it.

"Mamma Edith is just through here, but I can't go in," she states, pushing you towards it.

"Wait, if you can't, how come I can?"

"Cause she's waiting for you!"

"What? How could she be -" You don't have time to question her as the door slowly creaks upon. Beth turns and runs back down the hall, leaving you to stand alone as the door opens, revealing a black abyss inside. You start to miss the colorful interior of the living room. "Um, hello?"

"Enter." You shudder at the voice that answers, stern and powerful. You don't get the chance to respond as your feet take you inside, almost as if compelled to. The door slams shut behind you, submerging you in the darkness. You gulp.

"Um, I'm here to -"

"I know why you're here." You try to look around, but nothing is visible. "You seek to commune with the Other World, to contact those of which you can not begin to fathom." In any other scenario, you'd roll your eyes at the dramatics, but right now, it's working. You're scared.

"Y-Yes?" It comes out as more of a question than an answer. You jump as lights begin to flicker on. Little by little, the space around you becomes clear and all you can see is … "Ducks." There's so many ducks. The whole room is like a shrine to them, every inch covered in nothing but the color yellow and ducks.

"Welcome, child," a woman greets you and you turn to face her. She's sitting at a round table, auburn hair pulled into a bun. She's older, much older, but her eyes are youthful as they take you in. "I am Mother Edith, but you can call me Mamma." Yeah, not happening.

"Hi." You wave your hand, unsure what else to do. She motions for you to join her and you sit at the table.

"Lucifer has told me of your arrival," she says.

"He has?"

"Yes." She pulls out a black mirror, placing it down flat on the table. Her hands hover above it. "He has told me about you, how a girl would arrive asking to be a ritual sacrifice." Damn, news traveled fast. Did that mean he was watching you? How did he know about you? So many questions swirled through your thoughts, making you dizzy.

"Then, if you know why I'm here, will you help me?" you ask. You start to explain your story but she silences you.

"Lucifer has already given us his answer. He says," she pauses, hands waving over the mirror. You wait with bated breath. "Fat chance." Huh?

"Huh?"

"Ain't gonna happen." Edith drops her hands, leaning back in her chair. You blink.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're shit out of luck. Lucifer denies you, won't accept you. Not for him, not for any demon," she explains. Your fists clenched. What the fuck?

"What the fuck? What do you mean he won't accept me? It's not even him I'm sacrificing myself for!" You stand from your chair. This was bullshit.

"No," Edith replies, her demeanor calm, "but he is the one who oversees any and all activities related to Hell. Nothing we do here happens unless he allows it. That includes sacrifices."

"Then I'll just find someone else."

"They won't do it, either."

"What?"

"Any and all persons who follow under him have now been told to deny you."

"So what? I'm like, banned from Hell now?" Edith nods. "Oh, fuck you." You don't hold back as the anger builds. "Fuck you and your stupid little rules. You know what? Fuck him, too!"

"Watch your tongue, child," Edith warns, but you're on a roll now. On a mission.

"Isn't he suppose to be some powerful fucking being, evil beyond human comprehension? I'd be just another soul for his collection anyways, right? Another mortal claimed by Hell to rub into God's face?" She doesn't reply and you continue. "Sounds more like a pussy to me. Probably can't even fucking do half the shit the bible says he can." You look around, needing to throw something. To break something. You spot one of the ducks.

"Don't -" Edith tries to stop you, but you've already done it. The figurine hits the floor, shattering. You huff, feeling slightly better. You turn to give Edith more of your anger, pausing when you see her body go slack. A chill runs up your spine, the air turning cold. The lights flicker. Shit.

"You come into my house, uninvited," Edith starts, but it's not her voice. This voice is deeper, darker as she stands from her chair. "You badmouth me in my own home and then have the nerve to BREAK MY THINGS?" You flinch and squat down as the voice shouts loudly, a flash of bright light blinding you for a second. You peek open an eye. Standing where Edith just was is a man, red eyes narrowed towards you. His skin is pale white, blonde hair tucked back under a hat. Large, red horns protrude from his forehead, fire crackling between them. Your eyes go wide as you realized who it is standing before you.

Lucifer.

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Masterlist ... Ao3

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin alastor #alastor #the radio demon #alastor hazbin #alastor x reader #alastor x you #hazbin hotel fanfic #fanfic #hazbin fanfic #alastor fanfic #alastor fanfiction

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basilf1res · 1 year

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DP x DC “Why do these look like jello?”

Just a little idea I had, the prompt I created for this post was:

Jason Todd experiences a bit of ghost hunger. Once these ghosts start showing up, so do the blobs. They come in different shapes and colors, the most common blob being the electric green ones.

So why are these little green blob ghosts starting to become more and more appetizing to Jason?

(Personally I hc blob ghosts are like a quick way to consume ectoplasm, they’re also another way ghosts are formed, if a blob is around when someone dies then the person imprints and develops from the blob. Blob ghosts are meant to help form and feed ghosts, they don’t really have much of a personality, only the desire to help a ghost out.)

——————————

It had been three days since Tim had been able to capture and contain one of the green bloby ghost thingys, and Jason was set to watch it for a few hours. The birds and bats observed that it had the most reaction around him, the next being Damian and Cass.

He didn’t know how to feel about these things. They first showed up after tin can - who had more than enough guns in his suit to make Jason jealous - completely wreaked an apartment complex in Crime Alley.

Ignoring how the Terminator-wannabe screeched about hanging his pelt on the wall.

Currently, Jason was sitting in a chair, looking at a tinted green glass box that contained the best smelling thing in the whole wide world. It was green, glowing, and had the appearance of jello.

He forcefully kept his helmet on, trying to block out that - delightful, delicious, ambrosial - thick and sour smell. Jason pushed his chair back, noticing he was creeping forward, almost looming over the box.

The blob thing had two black dots for eyes, a glowing green bloby body, and was pressed up against the glass wall closest to him.

He sighed, only a few more minutes and his ghost watching shift would be over. The rest of the family would be coming down to see the test results and conclusions Tim came to.

Stretching, he took off his helmet.

He needed to breathe.

Jason took in a big breath air, an aroma of something good filling his nose, making him feel all gooey inside as he did so. Staring at the blob, his mouth started to salivate the longer he held eye contact with it.

His stomach was empty.

The pit was silent, almost with what felt like anticipation. He wondered if the blob ghost would have a texture more like a chocolate-filled doughnut or the time he emptied a jello cup and shoved the whole sugary treat in his mouth.

He hummed, the thing wasn’t much bigger than his palm, fitting snugly in the center of his hand.

When had he opened the glass box?

Jason lifted the blob ghost up to his eye level, the ambrosial scent wafting through the air. He thought he heard the elevator doors open, but it didn’t matter at the moment.

All reasonable thoughts vanished and he popped the green orb of delight into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Jason absentmindedly thought it was like sorbet but made his insides feel warm and tingly as he began to hear the rapid footsteps to his right.

He purred in pleasure, leaning back in the chair. Jason glanced at the group that was now surrounding him, someone had gripped his shoulders and was talking fast paced. There was a light panicked tone before whoever- Dick, it was Dick - trailed off, wide eyes meeting his dazed ones.

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When Bruce, Cass, Damian, Dick, Steph, Duke, and Tim stepped out of the elevator, they didn’t expect the scene they were greeted with:

Jason had the blob ghost in his hand, his head was slightly turned to the left - enough that they couldn’t see his eyes.

All conversation stopped, Damian couldn’t even bite out a witty remark before their brother tipped his head back and tossed the ball of ectoplasm into his mouth.

That’s when the shouting started, Dick took off and skidded in front of Jason and put his hands on his shoulders. The rest not far behind.

“Jay? Jason!?” The eldest shook him a bit. “Can you hear me? Are you ohh…kay..?”

Dick trailed off, baby blue eyes meeting toxic green ones. A soft inhuman rumbling of satisfaction started coming from his brother’s chest.

“…what…” was the only thing Tim managed to say before Jason blinked a few times, the purring cut off and crystal blue eyes that they knew returned.

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Jason was looking at Dick’s concerned gaze, he blinked.

“Uhm…”

Memories rushed back, like someone had opened a floodgate. He jerked and fell off the chair, Bruce catching him as he started to gag and cough.

He- did he really eat that thing?

The pit was silent.

Jason wheezed, dry heaving for a few seconds. Nothing came back up.

What the fuck??

Dick scooped him up, his arms wrapping around him, Jason buried his face into his brother’s neck. He remembered how amazing the blob smelt like, how light it was, how his mind turned to a gooey mess, the feeling of it sliding down his throat, how the rage receded and the pit fled his mind, how the toxic waters were vanquished and his thoughts no longer muddled.

To say he was disgusted by his own actions was an understatement. He wanted to find a nice dark and lonely hole to roll into and never crawl out of.

Jason hated the silence.

He felt more bodies press up against him, the safety of their arms, how he wanted nothing but to return the favor by keeping them safe.

Words of comfort were constantly murmured in his ears.

It would be okay.

They’ll figure this out.

We’ll always be here.

The pit was gone.

A core was formed.

His stomach was full.

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If anyone wants to expand on this (or any of my prompts really), please tag me! I live for prompts being used and creatively twisted into something light and fluffy or cold and angsty.

This took a little bit to write, it’s also a filler as I kickstart “Project GH05T” since so many of you liked it- like really, it fills me with so much joy to know that y’all enjoy my posts and want to see some more.

I won’t be doing much more for this one specifically, but think of it more like a prologue to a fic, where Jason grows a core and basically goes through half of season one of DP before Danny himself shows up like: wtf?? Who are you???

And Jason proceeds to adopt a ghost kid on the run.

Anyways, I’m a mess because of school and I have to cook dinner tonight (it’s my turn :D).

See y’all with an official addition to “Project GH05T”

#dp x dc #danny phantom #jason todd #red hood #ghost hunger #batfam #blob ghosts #blob ghosts are meant to help feed ghosts #but only sometimes

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tinysocks0 · 10 months

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Pretty as a Picture

Abby Anderson x shy!artist!fem! Reader

Okay so this is the first fanficton I’ve written in a quite while, don’t expect this to be a normal occurrence lol. I’m only writing this because it’s an idea that I had that needed to be written into existence 😭 (also side note this turned out to be longer than I anticipated 💀) so enjoy!

This wasn’t the first time you’d been assigned with Abby for a patrol; yet every time you were assigned with Abby you got nervous jitters, butterflies in your stomach, heart aching, and mind racing about being around her.

You couldn’t help it, she was single-handedly the most attractive woman you’d ever met. Her strong, secure, and powerful persona made your knees and heart weak. Along with her well-built muscular figure, cute freckles that adorned her face and toned arms, and the rare times when she did smile made you melt.

So when you found out you were assigned on a patrol with her in the morning? You couldn’t help but be giddy with excitement.

You stripped out of your clothes until you were in your tank top and underwear, leaving the rest of your clothes neatly laid out on a chair next to your bed for in the morning. You lit a candle on your nightstand for light, shifting to your black-leathery worn cross-body bag you took everywhere with you, searching for your sketchbook and pencil. You smiled to yourself as you found them, closing the bag and placing it at the foot of your bed. You wanted to see if you were able to draw Abby without her as a reference.

I probably should be going to bed though..is it creepy to draw someone you barely talk to without their knowledge?..

You shook the thought, opening your sketchbook and gliding the pencil on the paper as you recalled memories of being around Abby. Her strong and beautiful features, freckles that danced around her pale skin, cute lips and nose, and powerful blue eyes that bore right into your soul.

A half hour of sketching later, you were still unhappy with the results. It just doesn’t look right you thought. You pursed your lips in frustration as you shoved your sketchbook and pencil back into your bag, hoping that tomorrow there would be a window of opportunity to draw Abby when you were with her, when she wouldn’t notice.

The last thing you needed was to embarrass yourself in front of Abby. What if she saw it and thought you were a total creep? Drawing her without her knowledge or permission? You couldn’t have that.

You tried your best to shut down all negative thoughts as you blew out the candle you lit, drops of white wax now littered around the candle holder. You plopped your head against the pillow, closing your eyes, waiting for sleep to take you.

You woke up the next morning as your alarm blared. You were lucky enough to have one, this one you found on a patrol a few months ago. The clock read 4:30 AM as you shut off the loud noise, quickly getting out of bed and getting dressed. Normally you would have been tired, especially considering you had only gotten 3 hours of sleep but all you could think about was Abby, aching to be around her. You dreaded being late, as you didn’t want Abby to think of you as an unreliable slacker. No, you wanted Abby to see you as you saw her.

You brushed your hair and made yourself look presentable, making sure you didn’t smell and that you were decently clean. You grabbed your cross-body bag and put on your boots, heading out to the spot you said you’d both meet.

You were supposed to just look around the area for supplies and infected, nothing really special. Soon enough you saw Abby standing tall by the spot you said you’d both meet.

The sun wouldn’t rise for another half hour so it was still slightly dark out, but luckily you had your flashlight with you.

“Ready to go?” Abby’s powerful voice rang through your ears, already making you feel weak with want for her. You nodded your head, smiling slightly up at her as she nodded. You both started walking, not saying much of anything, just enjoying hearing the trees rustle in the wind, birds chirping around you along with crickets and cicadas.

Abby walked slightly ahead but still beside you, making it easier to look at her without her knowing. You couldn’t help but stare, but little to your knowledge she knew your eyes were on her. She smirked a little and narrowed her eyes back to you, making your face engulf in a pink blush.

You look away quickly, pretending there was something oh so interesting up above you, trying to look anywhere but at her. She chuckled to herself, making you blush even harder. “W-what’s so funny?” You mentally punched yourself for saying that aloud, but your mouth spoke before you could even think about what you were saying.

“Hmm..it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

About an hour passed but with little luck. You both found a small abandoned convenience store that had a bottle of rubbing alcohol, some large bandaids but most importantly some bottled water, but that was it. You both stopped by a cliff side that had 2 decaying logs laying across from each other as seats, both talking one of the bottles of water and sitting separately.

As Abby stared out into the cliff side, you took notice how the warm morning sun lighting up her features made her look so breathtakingly beautiful. You took out your sketchbook and pencil, flipping to a blank page and started sketching. It’s now or never you thought.

Abby hadn’t said much, aware of the fact that you were drawing something but didn’t ask you about it, just letting you do your own thing. But it wasn’t until she noticed your glances up at her every so often that made her intrigued in what you were drawing.

You both sat silently for about 15 minutes, Abby making use of the time by cleaning her weapons, pretending not to notice your eyes scanning her features every once in a while. But while you were engaged in sketching, she silently got up and crept behind you, making sure to be dead silent with each step. As she got behind you and leaned towards your figure, you almost had a heart attack hearing her voice behind you.

“Whatcha drawin’?”

She had a smug smirk plastered on her face, face inches from yours as you nearly jumped out of your seat. You quickly looked at her, arms clutching your sketchbook to your chest and face red with embarrassment as your mouth hung open in shock. You tried to say something but you couldn’t, so you averted your eyes and shyly handed your sketchbook to Abby. She took it from you and her eyes immediately widened as her face grew red and mind raced.

How the fuck did she draw this so quickly? I look like a fucking goddess!! And she captured my facial features and muscles so good??

It was confident to say that you left Abby Anderson speechless that day. But while her mind was racing with thoughts of holy fucking shit this is amazing, you thought her mind was raving about how much of a creep you were. You grew more and more nervous with each passing second, starting to regret drawing her until Abby finally spoke up.

“I..I don’t know what to say..” She chuckled and had a slight smile on her face, still engaged in your talent.

“Do..do you think I’m creepy? I’m sorry I drew you without permission, it’s just that-“ She cut you off.

“What?? Are you kidding me? I absolutely love this. You’re artwork is insane, you captured me perfectly.”

You jolted your head up at her words, looking into her eyes for any sort of doubt, but you found none. She was being genuine, and her smile made your heart melt along with her complements. “You really think so?” You also smiled up at her.

She nodded and sat down on the log next to you, looking back at the sketch. “What compelled you to draw me anyway?” Abby asked you, looking at you with a soft smile.

“I..um…I..uh…“ You couldn’t say it. You couldn’t spit out the reason you drew her! You couldn’t just casually say you drew her because she was the hottest woman on Earth even though it was true and what you were thinking. You blushed and looked away, trying to come up with a believable fib but before you could, Abby spoke up.

“Ohhh, I see..you have a crush on me, don’t you?” She smirked at you, inching closer to your face, looking at you up and down with half lidded eyes.

You weren’t expecting Abby to be so forward. You couldn’t even look her in the eyes, just mindlessly looking at the floor and toying with the strands of your hair nervously. That was until she lightly grabbed your chin and made you meet her gaze. You looked at her with wide eyes, lips parted and cheeks pink with embarrassment.

“I asked you a question, pretty girl..you gonna answer it?”

Your face was pink before, but now tomato red at what Abby had called you. Your heart felt like it was going to thump out of your chest but you managed to stutter out a sentence that was barely over a whisper.

“I-um..I do..have a..crush on you, Abby.” You could barely keep your voice steady as you said it, eyes still looking into hers. She just smirked at you and looked you up and down, letting go of your chin but inching her face closer.

“Hmm..that’s what I thought when I kept noticing your eyes on me. You’re not very sneaky about it y’know.”

She was so close to you. All your senses were flooded with the smell of her pine soap you loved so much.

“Um, sorry about that..I couldn’t help it.”

“You couldn’t help but stare at me? That’s cute. Why? What’s so interesting about me?”

She was so straightforward it was driving you crazy. Did she really expect you to answer a question like that??

Yes, she did.

“I..well..that’s a hard question to answer. There’s a lot of things about you I like..but, if I have to be honest, I’ve never met someone as captivating as you.”

You couldn’t believe you said it. You looked away in embarrassment, toying with your hands, face flushed as your heart felt like it was going to explode for the millionth time.

“Well, I think you’re pretty captivating yourself. You’re cute, and you draw really damn well. I’d like to get to know you better, if that’s okay with you.”

Abby got up from the log you both were occupying and grabbed her backpack, swinging it up onto her shoulder. You looked up at her and smiled warmly.

“I’d like to get to know you too.”

#abby anderson x reader #abby anderson x you #abby the last of us #abby x fem!reader #abby x reader #the last of us #the last of us 2 #abby anderson #muscle mommy abby #abby and ellie

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fishnets-fingers · 11 months

Text

Underneath the Stars

“So, accept defeat,” he urges.

“Fine. Tell me where the alpha centauri is,” she demands.

“What would my compensation be?”

“How about not making you walk the plank at dawn,” she scoffs.

“You drive a hard bargain, Princess. I was thinking less along the lines of not drowning and more along the lines of this,” he mutters as his hands reach to cup her full cheeks. They are warm under his palms, even against the biting gust, his thumb moves to caress her pillowy lips, eyes flicking down to her mouth landing on the crescent birthmark by her chin.

PAIRING - spy!harry x princess!y/n

a/n - i wrote so much. so, i’ve decided to split it into two parts. i made a banner for forbidden hours and it took me a lot longer than anticipated but i think it tured out great. as always, like and reblog. feed back is not only appreciated but much welcome. happy reading!

Word Count - 6.2k (not proofread)

MASTERPOST | MASTERLIST

….

நீள்பயணம். Voyage. News had spread far and wide across the expanse of the empire about the Princess’ journey far East. Throngs of people gathered on the docks to bid farewell to her and scream out wishes of luck and fortune. It was a busy day, filled with fanfare from the subjects, priests blessing the vessel and ministers of court spewing out strategies whilst handing bundles of parchment of the meticulously crafted plans.

A journey always stirred up feelings of unbridled joy, especially since the aim of this particular voyage is to draw up a treaty with Handuman - three small islands that lie smack in the middle of a crucial trade route between the Cholas and Burmese. A tiny island kingdom that was a thorn on Y/N’s side for the past year; with news of shipment from Burma being pillaged and sabotaged at sea constantly thwarting her plans of bringing components of machinery to assemble aiding with agriculture. She put together a counsel which oversaw striking a peaceful agreement that would mutually benefit both nations, a long drawn process of negotiations with a vacillating King that finally culminated to this day.

A day where she set sail on a three week journey to visit the islands, attend a ball hosted in her honour, and cap it off with signing the treaty. Needless to say the kingdom was ecstatic with the promise of the Princess Royal bringing more riches into the land. All of Y/N’s voyages to neighbouring kingdoms resulted in astounding successes, so people did have a shred of doubt that this one would go south. At the break of dawn, the majestic vessel was filled with her entourage - guards, a trade minister, the guard captain who was responsible for her safety, the sail crew, two of her handmaidens, and her lady-in-waiting, Shobhita.

Shobhita has been by Y/N’s side since they were partnered together for dance lessons fifteen years ago. As kids, Y/N took it upon herself to teach her how to conduct herself properly in court. Despite not liking the bossy Princess Royal, things took a turn for Shobhita when some children of nobility made fun of her lineage - going so far as to calling her ‘murky blood.’ She had light blue irises and hair the colour of sticky toffee - resembling her overseas mother, far different from what everyone else looked like and that made her an easy target. Though Y/N was not around for the name calling, she personally gave the other kids a stern talking, going so far as shoving one them and getting confined to her quarters by the Queen Mother. The two have been thick as thieves ever since.

“Remember Y/N, you are representing our Dynasty from the second you dock there until you set sail,” the Queen Mother starts.

“I know. I know, grandmum. Best behaviour and all,” Y/N rolls her eyes.

“You know better than to roll your eyes at me?!?” The older woman narrows her eyes in warning.

“Have I not conducted myself well on my trips so far?”

“I’m not saying that you haven’t, but be wary. I’ve heard nothing but vile things about the Prince of Handuman. I’ve seen to it that your guards have been doubled.”

“Is that why I’m going there alone without any advisors? You know I can take care of myself-“

“I know you can,” the Queen Mother interrupts her. “Keep an eye out on all our girls.” She whispers, taking her palm in her hands and gives it a warm squeeze, before walking towards the chief.

When she gets a minute to herself, Y/N turns away from the enthusiastic crowd, gripping on to a wooden mast, she closes her eyes, picturing her garden. The patch of flowering shrub - right by her reading bench - which attracted the prettiest of blue butterflies. She feels the tightness in her shoulders ebb away, only to have it disrupted when she feels someone pull on her braid. She flicks her head around in annoyance to find her little brother sheepishly looking at her.

“What do you want?”

“You’re sleeping standing up,” Karthi notes.

“I was not. I was trying to relax,” she sighs.

“I’m sure that the vast blue of the water is relaxing enough. Never knowing what’s under the thousands of leagues under the sea. Maybe there’s a giant fish with razor sharp teeth as long as the mountains waiting to capsize the boat. Shame, won’t even know it’s coming in the dark of the night with nothing but pitch black in the horizon-“

“Shut up, Karthi!”

“Calm down,” he throws his hands over her shoulder, pulling her into his side. “You really think Dad is gonna let that happen to his favourite child. There’s no way this voyage was approved by him without contingencies for every single thing that could go wrong. He’s not gonna let the people’s Princess get lost at sea.”

“I appreciate you trying but it’s not helping. Why are you still here anyway? Didn’t Dad want you at the capital yesterday?”

“It can wait,” he shrugs it off. “I’m not going to leave without saying goodbye to my favourite sister.” He bends down to engulf his big sister in a hug.

“I’m your only sister,” she chuckles, swatting him away. “In other words you hung around for morsels of attention from Shobhita.”

“Give me some credit!” He says feigning being wounded. “I brushed my hand against her arm,” he whispers, pointing to his left palm.

Y/N shakes her head at the smirk that tugged at the corner of her little brother’s lips. They’ve had a crush on each other from when they were both old enough to understand what that meant. Being the daughter of a vassal king, who happened to be close friends with her father, it was agreed upon by the elders that Shobhita and Karthi were to wed. Though Shobhita was a Princess of a small hilly region in the dynasty, it was thought best by the parents to have her grow up in the palace and serve with Y/N as her lady-in-waiting to learn the ropes of handing the responsibilities that would fall on her shoulders once she married.

Right as Y/N was going to say something witty, their attention was pulled to the commotion at the gangplank. When Y/N peers over she sees Harry hold up his royal seal to the guards before lugging up his things.

“What’s he doing here?” Y/N asks her grandmother, but finds the Queen Mother cluelessly staring at her grandchildren.

“Your majesties,” Harry bows, and wordlessly hands the Queen Mother’s guard the parchment before it’s passed to the old woman.

His eyes flit over to Y/N with a small smile tugging but he finds her pointedly staring over his shoulder with a scowl. He frowns, did she forget our time at the docks? The last time he saw her was filled with fiery passionate kisses and sweet nothings. He didn’t expect the Princess Royal to throw herself at him in front of everyone but was he not warranted a polite smile.

“It’s from your brother,” the Queen Mother tells the siblings. “Looks like Harry over here would also be travelling with you.”

“What? Why?” Y/N asks, dreading the thought of being locked in close quarters with the spy.

“He wants Harry to accompany you and be added to oversee your guard detail along with the chief.”

“But that makes no sense, he’s hardly a guard,” she protests.

“That’s quite true, Princess but I do know a thing or two about fighting. The Crown Prince wants you to be protected, that-“

“I do not require your protection, Mister Styles,” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.

“The Crown Prince has spoken. His reasons are clear,” the Queen Mother tells Y/N firmly, handing her the parchment. “Harry Styles will be accompanying you.”

////

The texts spoke of the majestic wonders of the sea in all its boundless beauty, sailors talked about the vast bodies of water being their companion; the sea was glorified by almost everyone Y/N had met and even by herself - she’d allow herself to stand at the edge of the shoreline and daydream about what life on the other side of the water looked like. There was immeasurable poetry that was either written at sea or took place at sea, but what none of them talked about was what it did to your psyche. Four days of constantly bobbing about the tides, with nothing around but endless blue and a blanket of darkness at nightfall, not to mention the terrifying sounds that accompanied no visibility. She missed the feel of the earth beneath her feet, the smell of her freshly watered gardens, the buzz of bees, birdsong, the vivid colours of her flowers against the green.

She brushed them aside as champagne problems for the first two days but the confines of close quarters were slowly creeping up on her. It didn’t help that she was avoiding Harry on top of all this, so she’d holed herself up in her room with Shobhita working on a project for the gala that’s being thrown in her honour. That’s how she found herself standing at the stern, hands clasped firmly on the wooden banister, at an odd hour in the night. She had her eyes closed, not that it made much of a difference in pitch darkness as she felt the wind against her face. It was eerily quiet, yet noisy as the vessel zipped through the tides, and everytime she flicked her eyes open she would only stare into the vast expanse of the hazy abyss. An insidious fear crept in which made her bones tremble about the nightmarish creatures that would leap out from the water at any moment.

“Careful there, Princess, any more harder and you might splinter the wood,” Harry’s voice cuts through the silence, the teasing apparent in the undercurrent of his tone.

She blinks down at her the way her knuckles have gone pale from gripping onto the wood. Sighing she turns her head to the side, to catch a sweet smile painted on his face as he bows spitting out the formalities.

“Mister Styles,” she acknowledges him halfheartedly, turning her attention back to the abyss.

“Trouble sleeping?” He enquires, stepping forward but the guard captain steps out from the shadow, directly in front of him, blocking his path. Harry throws his arms up, pausing. “I don’t mean any trouble, Captain.”

“You may not approach her royal highness,” he warns, the captain towers over Harry.

“It’s alright, Captain. He may step closer,” Y/N says.

“Princess, no man is allowed in your vicinity without a chaperone,” the Captain reminds her, and it doesn’t escape Y/N, the way he flexes his mammoth muscles to intimidate the spy.

“He is no ordinary man, remember. The Crown Prince has instated him to oversee my guard detail,” she points out. “I think it is time he took over the watch. I have kept you up for three nights now, and it’s high time you get some sleep. You may retire to your cabin for the night, Captain.” She smiles, wordlessly thanking him for being diligent enough to follow her each night.

He nods, muttering something to Harry as he hands over his spear to him. He bids Y/N goodnight and disappears down to his cabin.

“Whew,” Harry breathes out in relief. “Thought I’d be tossed overboard. Thanks for the save.” He mutters, making his way to the banister, leaving a comfortable distance between the two in case the Captain decides to check in on him.

“Don’t go thanking your lucky stars yet, I can certainly see to it that it’s arranged,” she bites back at him.

“You’re angry with me,” he states, making her chuckle.

“Wonder what gave that away,” she mutters, directing an eye roll at him.

He ignores her retort and continues, “You’ve been avoiding me since the minute I came on board.”

“That’s two for two. Gee for a spy, you sure do have a knack for picking up on the fucking obvious,” she shakes her head.

“I don’t understa-”

“Of course you don’t,” she huffs out a weak chuckle. “Apologies start with an I’m sorry.”

“Princess-” he starts, running his hand through his locks. “Y/N, I don’t understand why you’re cross with me. Is it because I’m sailing with you unannounced?”

“God, you’re thick,” she lets out a weak chuckle. “A storm hit the coast two days after you set sail to Lanka, Harry. I didn’t know for weeks if Karthi got the message on time!”

“I’m a good spy, am I not? When have I ever faltered in keeping to your word? Prince Karthi reached the Port Palace two weeks ago, according to your word, did he not?”

“That’s not the point, you idiot!” She turns to face him. “I did not hear from you! I did not know if you made it there. For three whole months! I didn’t know what to think.”

“Oh.” His face reddens as warmth spreads across his chest. He doesn’t understand why but he feels his face split into a wide grin as he replies, “I was doing my job and protocol states that - .”

“And you rode off to Vikram up north,” her tone was still accusatory.

“I had to, Y/N.”

“Why? Why did you have to get to him with such urgency? Was it Karthi’s orders? Why was it so important that you come with me all this way? Don’t give me all that poppycock about me needing extra security. My brother and I trust the captain with our lives. He’s overseen our protection since we were children.”

“Vikram’s mingled with the close friend of the Prince of Handuman. He’s foul, according to his best friend’s admission. He hits women and beds them without consent. He has complete disregard for matters of the court and he is well known for schmoozing -”

“Why does that even matter?”

Harry lets out a frustrated groan, “Will you please just listen to me.” He continues when Y/N quietens down. “The royal astrologer had seen to it that your portraits were sent to all neighbouring kingdoms - under your father’s orders - for matrimony. Prince Vinay had come across it when you were liaising with them for the trade deal. He, um, publicly vowed to…”

“Vowed to what?” She implores when he trails off.

“I’m sorry for being crude but he said that he wanted to ‘tear off your clothes, pin you against his throne and thrust some obedience into you while the court watches.’” He takes in a long breath before he continues, “So you will be under his pinkie and he can boast that the great Chola Princess was another notch on his bedpost.”

Y/N’s face twists in disgust as she processes what Harry had just shared with her. “Vikram knows I can handle myself around such odious men. I have more protection during this trip than I ever had in my life. Why did he send you to supervise my security? You have no experience…”

“It was my idea actually. I asked him to sign that decree to let me join this company and this was the only way to not raise any eyebrows among our men. I know you can handle yourself around the Handuman Prince, but I would not forgive myself if something were to happen to you…” He pauses, eyes roaming around for any lurking shadows, what comes next is communicated in a murmur, “This could provide a perfect cover for a Chola spy to be digging around Handuman.”

“A cover for what?” Her eyebrows scrunch, mouth twisting down in displeasure of being kept in the dark.

“Too many ears around,” he reminds her. He interjects before she can protest, “You will be the first to know once I have evidence.”

They hear a heavy splash making the ship drag, and the two lurch forward at the sudden movement. Y/N gasps, grabbing hold of the bannister and tightening her grip as a strong hand wraps around her elbow and tries to pull her away.

Things feel dissonant for her, there’s a ringing in her ears that’s managed to make all other sounds feel like it’s echoing from deep inside a well, she feels her body spasm as she struggles to draw in breaths, like her throat has something blocking the way. Her vision fades around the edges making her scrunch her eyes shut, but that only makes the successive shallow drum of her heart louder. She can feel the way the boat has a pull under her feet, like it was lugging around something heavy as it resists the sway of the vessel. She’s experienced unease before, but this time was different. This uneasiness was not fleeting. It was a type of fear. Fear oozes from the centre of her bones, slowly following its wake across everything it could consume inside her being. Paralysing to her anomalous senses. “I knew it,” she whispers. “Consumed by the waters, of course.”

If this was how she was going to perish, so be it.

“Princess,” his voice is distorted and faint but she picks it up. “Y/N.” It’s louder this time, floating closer. “We’re fine.” She feels his arms tightening around her frame. “Y/N, look at me.”

////

Harry does not understand what’s happening. Once second, he hears the men throw the anchor into the water and the next Y/N’s crumpled over the banister beside him. She looks to be in pain, her face ashen under the silver beam, he tries to tug her back - away from the edge but she’s bolted, hunching over the banister. He tries getting her attention, but can hear her mutter something about being engulfed by the water and it all makes sense to him. Why she was so hesitant to get on his boat when they were at the docks, how uncomfortable she was sitting opposite him, what made her hole up in her quarters all this time, the way she was gripping onto the banister earlier. The ocean petrified her.

He understands why she was mad for not hearing from him sooner. He left right before a storm hit the coast, showering her in kisses and whispering sweet promises. Promises. Well, promise. He promised to be safe and he did keep up his word, and he left for the battle tents of the Crown Prince, like he normally would when his job was done. But things were not normal. They’d kissed. Several times in fact. And he’d confessed his fondness for her.

He never faltered in his duties, he’d kept them up this time too. He had not realised a duty had implicitly fallen in his shoulders to bear when their lips met. To let her know that he was safe and not taken by the treacherous waters of the stormy seas as she’d let herself imagine. She had been worried about him. He made her worry.

“We’re fine,” he reassures, moving closer to her, holding her close to him.

It takes him a few tries but he gets her to look at him and a few more to convince her to let go of the banister. Her quivering lips and glassy eyes pierce his heart, but he manages to get her to slump to the floor beside him. It takes her a long while to stop trembling but he tightens her torso to his side, hoping to instill some warmth into her.

“We’re fine now,” he reassures, squeezing her hands. “The men tossed the anchor overboard. That is what made us jerk forward along with the ship. It takes a while for the anchor to latch onto the seabed. They’ve retired to their cabins for the night. It’s just that. It has happened everyday since we boarded the ship. It will keep happening until we reach home. We will sail again just before the break of dawn. Nothing is wrong with the ship. We are not in the way of any harm.”

She nods as he continues, “I apologise for not letting you know that I had reached Lanka in one piece. I’m sorry for all the worry I have caused you. I never intended to. I promise to never make you fret again.”

“Okay,” she tells him in a quiet voice, closing her eyes, as she forces her shallow shuddering breath to regain its steadiness.

He looks around once more, making sure that they’re truly alone, before focusing on her blinking back her watery eyes. “Why did you agree to the voyage in the first place?”

“King’s orders,” she tells him softly.

“You’re terrified of the ocean,Y/N ,” he reasons.

“I have duties, Harry. I get to experience all the luxuries one can imagine, compared to all that-” she shrugs. “Champagne problems, I guess.”

Harry shakes his head, she says king like it wasn’t her father. He would never do something that he didn’t want to, no matter who’s orders. But it was important to the princess in front of him and there was no use trying to challenge that. This was her deal, and it only made sense that she saw it through - she owed her people that. Instead he picks a different route, one that would help him understand her better, “What’s got you this scared? I’ve never seen you like this before.” It’s true. She was the first Chola Princess to be trained in combat alongside her brothers - demanding her father that when it came to the worst, she wanted to defend her people. She did not want to be holed underground with other women of court or in a temple praying for victory. She was an excellent rider, often would compete in races and encouraged young girls to follow suit.

“I do not wish to say,” she says hesitantly. She leans back and scoots away, her face slowly regaining composure.

“I don’t mean to pry, Princess. I grew up sailing the waters, I understand not wanting to recount a time -”

“It’s not that. I don’t have a harrowing story or anything.” She adds the next part quietly, “It is risible,” and her cheeks heat in response. Harry quickly notes the way she blushes, making him smile down at her in endearment.

“I promise not to laugh. Sailor’s honour,” he crosses over his heart.

Y/N lets out a peeling giggle in response, “You’re no sailor, Harry.”

“Yes, I am! Was practically born on a ship, Y/N.”

“You were born on a ship?” Y/N asks, sometimes it felt like he knew more about her than she did him.

Harry shakes his head, “Was born in my mother’s cottage in North England.”

“Did you grow up there?”

He shakes his head again, this time quicker with a frown. “No. I grew up on my father’s ship. Back to what we were talking about; you can’t discredit me as a sailor.”

Y/N’s brows scrunch at the sudden pivot in the conversation, but she doesn’t press on further, opting to say, “I thought you were a spy.”

A warmth blossomed in Harry’s chest from the mocking undercurrent of her tone. He’s never had anyone volley a conversation with him, and it came easy with her. “I am more of a ‘Jack of all trades’ kind of person.”

“Ah, I see,” she chuckles, bringing her knees up to her chest and encircling her arms around it. “So a master of none?”

Harry laughs, a high pitched carefree one, “Better than a master of one.”

Companionate silence blankets around the two, Harry passes her his leather water flask - that was clasped to his belt - and she quickly drains it muttering a quiet thank you. Harry leans back on his elbows, looking up at the shimmering moon above, it’s lovely tonight, he thinks. He’s spent many nights in a bobbing vessel with nothing around but the moon as company but he doesn’t feel the familiar solitude tonight. There was no intolerable silence this particular night, just the tinkle of Y/N’s anklet and silent sighs that escapes her lungs. His gaze flits over to her cheek, smushed against her arm, her gaze is fixed on her fingers as they fiddle with the ornament. A simple gold rope with a small lotus motif made from three pink diamonds and an emerald, clasped around her ankle.

Her foot. That’s what caught his attention, not the precious stones, but the curve of the arch of her bare feet. He wonders if it would tickle when he runs his lips over them, as he slowly nudged her knees apart, the fabric slipping away, the way her anklets would tinkle over his shoulders in sync with his head between her thighs. He shakes his head, rubbing his face, shifting to conceal his hardening cock and shoots her a polite smile.

“Not knowing,” Y/N says. “I do not like the deep waters because I have no idea what’s underneath.”

“No one does, Y/N,” he reminds her.

“I know. It is uncomfortable to not know. It feels like I am at its mercy, with the currents that can drag me under in a split second, if I’m not careful enough. It’s vast, and we have not explored these territories. I met with this woman that studies living creatures, and she believes that there is a high possibility of colossal squids and fishes deep down. There are old sailing accounts and drawings as proof. You have seen giant sharks and whales, have you not?”

Harry nods, as she continues fidgeting with her anklet.

“Life began in the waters, Harry, and we hardly know a thing about it. We cannot survive diving the depths; we certainly cannot compete with the predators that we know of. Imagine being at mercy of something unknown. It is the biggest mystery known, quite possibly the worst because it takes up much of our planet and we cannot even begin to understand it. The ocean has had a longer time to evolve than us, and we know much of the sky than we do about what is below.”

Y/N looks up at him, chin resting on her arm, as she waits for a response. She feels a pang of regret opening up to him when she is not met with anything. You expect him to comfort him just because you kissed a few times, a voice rings in her head followed by her grandmother’s lecture of having one’s cards close to your chest. No royal ever spoke of things that frightened them, she never did either. So, why did she think this was a good idea? Her maternal great - grandfather, a Chera king, was thrown into the castle moat filled with crocodiles by his subjects. He was vain and cruel to his people - granted that could have been the reason - but it had been prophesied that he would meet his end by the scaly reptilians, so he rewarded people to poach every last one of them and had them all in his moat. Ironically, he actively participated in furthering his prophecy while trying to avoid it. People would not have picked death by crocodiles if they never knew about his irrational fear. The kingdom was in shambles for many years until the birth of her mother, which enabled them to forge an alliance with the Cholas through matrimony.

While the Princess was caught in her own dilemma, Harry had a similar one running through his mind. He wants to assure her how secure ships are. He wants to explain how when you’re in the middle of nowhere with dwindling supplies, you start to see and hear things that aren’t really there. He wants to tell her that worrying would do her no good, especially the things that were occupying her mind because they were simply out of her control. All of the things he’d come to learn from his father’s experiences and his own. She was right, they barely knew about the ocean, but it wasn’t something to lose sleep over. But he understands, Harry was also scared of the ocean as a child before he got used to it. This was Y/N’s first time, and fears aren’t supposed to be rational. It wasn’t far-fetched, she had her nose stuck in books for answers and was born into duties, which required she understood the workings of life. She prided herself for being a step ahead of people around her and to do that one needed control. But the moment didn’t call for revelations; she needed solace.

He gives her a sympathetic smile before going on to say, “I was scared of the endless ocean as a child too, especially at night. You’re right, we don’t know much about the sea but we do know a lot about the sky.

“Look up for me, Princess,” he continues and they both take in the twinkling dots in the blanket of the night.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispers, beaming up at the gleaming moon.

“It is. We’re so caught up by things around us, we often forget to look up. The sky's the one thing that will not change. The moon will wax and wane and the stars will stay right where they are, flickering, guiding us to shore. It helped to look up at the sky when I was scared or in trouble. To be reminded that in the grand scheme of things, my fears didn’t matter. For whatever reason, the cosmos flows through me and that would mean my existence is a marvel. Even for a speck - no bigger than a grain of sand on the beach - the sky has many wonders in store for me.”

She stays quiet, her eyes glassing over, blurring her vision. Harry quickly catches the stray tear from the corner of her eyes with the backs of his fingers. He coos, leaning over to brush his lips against her temple, “I apologise for saying something out of line, Y/N.”

“You're not out of line, Harry,” she hastily blinks back her tears. “It helps. Thank you.”

“You don’t need to-“

“I want to.”

Anyone else pondering their significance by looking out into the universe might end up feeling helpless, paralysed even, but she feels none of that. She was born into significance and her roles only cemented the burden of upholding the legacy of the Crown. So, letting herself feel like a mere speckle was liberating.

////

The days that follow the same routine - the Princess holes herself up in her cabin during the day with Shobhita. Harry’s unsure what she was up to - and formulating any judgement from the box of fabric spools one of the handmaidens carted into her room, and the occasional laughs from behind the door - he’s happy she was occupied. It was hard to catch a glimpse of her when the sun was shining; there were guard’s stationed outside at all times and he did not want to tick off the guard captain.

The nights. That solely belongs to the two of them. She would come out of her cabin two hours before midnight to catch some fresh air to find him softly smiling at her. He'd readily stand, at the ship’s bow, with a spear in his hand by the intricately carved wooden swan figurehead. Y/N had ordered the guard captain to retire at night, since he’d been stationed by her cabin all day. When he’d resisted - uncomfortable that the Crown Prince had instated a young man with no prior expertise as head of security- she’d gently reminded him that it was best for Harry to learn what guarding actually entailed in the safe confines of their ship. They’d spend the nights in each other’s companionship, Y/N’s heart swelled with Harry’s stories. Particularly the one of him as a boy, where he was convinced that someone had left a giant bunny up the moon. She looked at him endeared as he pointed out the outline of the rabbit in the dark markings of the full moon. It soothed her, looking up at the heavens with someone made her confining thoughts about the ocean melt away.

This night was no different, the Princess pads to her usual spot to find a blanket spread out with two pillows. Her eyes fly to meet him and he gives her the same smile he did every night, bending down to light the two oil lamps, illuminating the jade of his eyes. “Your highness,” he bows, stepping away.

She nods, shooting him a surprised smirk as she curls up with her book. Harry eyes the old parchment she unfolds, a star catalogue, and he can’t help the chortle that escapes his lips.

“Stop it, Mr. Styles,” Y/N shoots him a warning look, not wanting to draw the attention of the crew.

“I apologise, majesty,” he murmurs, but Y/N notices the mocking smile that paints his lips.

She pointedly ignores him with a roll of her eyes, as she focuses her attention on Aryabhata’s text in front of her. Harry had challenged her last night, and she was determined not to lose.

The crew had dropped the anchor and had retired below deck a short while ago, and Harry could not help but admire the furrow in between her brows as she concentrated. Harry had spent the last few nights pointing out different constellations that Y/N simply could not fathom. Harry was amused that it bugged her so much that she couldn’t map out the stars in the night’s sky with ease. Her anklet falls on the blanket, and he’s sure that she had loosened the clasp from how much she fiddled with it while reading. She sighs, turning her attention back to the gold rope, fastening it in place, making sure to press down on the hook.

“Rijl al-Qinṭūrus”, she reads out loud in Arabic after a long while, flicking up to look at the sky. The star map had a figure of a centaur and all she had to do was find the brightest one right at the bottom. Her head cranes to find the brightest spot in the sky - the alpha centauri.

The only problem was, there were multiple bright specks and she lets out a defeated sigh, pushing her hair back, “Fuck this,” she mutters.

“Not very royal of you, Princess,” Harry’s teasing tone floats over, she finds him slumped over the bannister looking at her.

“It is the brightest and biggest star to spot at night,” he reminds her.

She narrows her eyes at him, looking back at the star catalogue again, and slumps back in defeat. “There’s something wrong with this star catalogue,” she declares. “There has to be, Harry.”

“Or maybe you are inept at this,” he smirks, coming to sit beside her.

“I am not!” She protests. “The illustrations are misleading. None of the constellations look like this,” she points to the image of a centaur holding a spear on one hand and a dead goat on the other.

“That’s because it’s meant for people like you,” he chuckles.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She arches her brow.

“Someone who learns from books. It only makes sense the catalogue has full fledged pictures of animals on there, otherwise it would be a mess of lines connecting one dot to another. So, accept defeat,” he urges.

“Fine. Tell me where the alpha centauri is,” she demands.

“What would my compensation be?”

“How about not making you walk the plank at dawn,” she scoffs.

“You drive a hard bargain, Princess. I was thinking less along the lines of drowning and more along the lines of this,” he mutters as his hands reach to cup her full cheeks. They are warm under his palms, even against the biting gust, his thumb moves to caress her pillowy lips, eyes flicking down to her mouth landing on the crescent birthmark by her chin. They hadn’t kissed since he’d left for Lanka and every night he’d spend in her presence, Harry’s mind could not stop drifting to the way her mouth pressed against his with urgency.

Y/N eyes flutter shut, leaning towards him, nudging his cupid's bow with her lips. Her mouth brushes his as she whispers, “Not before I get my information, spy.” She backs away, observing the way his pupils dilate under the soft buttery light.

“You can’t spot the alpha centauri-”

“I know, which is why I asked you.”

He rolls his eyes at her hastiness. “No one can, because it can only be seen from the southern hemisphere.”

“You tricked me,” she gasps.

He shrugs, as he tugs her to him, wasting no time in capturing her lips against his. It was more heavenly than he’d remembered. Y/N’s hands snake up to bury them in the baby curls at the nape of his neck, bringing him closer. She melts against his chest, curiously slicking her tongue against his lips, smiling as he parts his mouth for her. She tasted like the tamarind candy she loved. Harry drops one of his hands from her cheek, finding home in the curve of her hip. It’s heady, both greedily smacking wet kisses the curve of their jaw when they part to draw in air. Harry’s heart thumps loudly against his chest, sending him rhythmic reminders that he was twitterpated by the woman trailing her lips against the stubble of his jaw. Plebeians and royalty don’t mix, and on the rare occasion that they did, it never ended well. But until midday tomorrow - when they would reach the port of Handuman - she was just a woman, made from the same stardust as him, whom he wanted to keep melding lips with.

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK SO FAR!

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles x reader #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry styles angst #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #spy!harry #princess!reader #princess!y/n #indian!princess #COME SAY HI #fishnets-fingers #please leave tags if you reblog #underneath the stars #harry styles fanfiction

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duskyashe · 10 months

Text

CAMP NANO DAY 1

Calling All The Monsters part 4 chapter 1

[First] [Previous] [Next] [AO3]

=============‹«⟨·•★•·⟩»›=============

Jason was more than ready to get this over with. Unlike the others, he'd known he wasn't fully human for years, pretty much ever since he'd come back from the dead. Looking back on it, he'd even known the others were slowly changing, too, he just hadn't had the words. He hadn't known there even were words for the feeling of slowly finding his footing among others that were just as inhuman as himself. Well, other than relief.

As soon as Dick confirmed when and where the kid was willing to host tutoring sessions for all of them ("He said he wanted to work with each of us individually, first, but that he was willing to work with groups of up to three at a time if B was more comfortable with that," Dick said with a thoughtful frown, cowl held loosely in one hand. "Personally, I think the first meeting should definitely be two of us, but the rest should be played by ear, but it's your call, B,") Jason was nearly vibrating out of his own skin in anticipation. Answers to all his questions about himself, from his first fully conscious thought after his dip in the Pits to a reaction he'd had to something just last Tuesday, were just out of his reach and he could feel his frustration and impatience building in the back of his throat. Grimacing, he swallowed the urge to vocalize his feelings before taking a deep breath. It was only an hour more before Condor and Starling would be meeting up with their new tutor, he could hold out that much longer. He could.

"You alright there, Jay?" Steph asked as she entered the cave. Her long blonde hair was braided tightly against the crown of her head in preparation for getting in costume.

He shakily let out the breath he'd taken and nodded in her direction. "Just anxious," he said, meticulously going over his guns yet again. He was mostly suited up, himself, just needing to mask up and slip his gloves on. He'd initially had his gloves on, but cleaning his guns was easier and more grounding barehanded, so off they'd come.

She gave him a searching look. "You really believe Phantom, don't you?" Steph asked after a moment.

Jason paused his movements and let out a sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, I do," he replied, setting his cleaning rag to the side and finally looking directly at her instead of just from the corner of his eye. "Look, I'm pretty sure it was fairly obvious to B, Dick, and Alfie, and maybe Tim saw it, too, but I didn't come back from death the same as I was before. And I don't mean "the trauma of my death changed me"," he said with finger quotes, rolling his eyes at the same time. "I mean I literally didn't come back fully human. At the latest, I've known I wasn't fully human since shortly after everything that happened with Tim, but it's far more realistic to say I've known, at least on some level, ever since I first came out of the Pit." Jason sighed and ran a hand through the tuft of white hair that liked to fall into his eyes. "Looking back, almost every single fight between me and another member of the family, except Damian, started because I either misunderstood something someone said or took insult where none was meant, because I reacted based on instinct and emotion first instead of logic, and while I've gotten better at thinking crap through before I respond, interactions between all of us for the past year and a half have been noticeably less tense and have resulted in a lot less bloodshed. That's not all on me, and neither is it all on the Demon Spawn finally starting to get a clue."

"Alright," Steph said, the gears in her head almost visibly turning. "Putting aside you knowing years ahead of us that it was possible to start out human and end up not, what do you mean by almost every fight between you and a different family member except Damian? Are you saying the fights between you two were that different than all the others?"

He blinked at the blonde in incredulity for a moment. "Steph… Damian's from a warrior culture," he said slowly, praying he didn't need to spell it out for her. She just blinked blankly back at him and he let out a soft curse under his breath. No luck. "Out of the entire family, only four of us have been trained by the League of Assassins, and B didn't exactly keep up with the cultural practices after his stay with them. Cass may have picked up on a lot of those practices from her sperm donor and whatever other trainers he allowed her to train under, but she didn't have all of them and didn't really understand what she had picked up or how to actually apply it. I was the only one who, in Damian's eyes at the time, was cultured and spoke a familiar language. He saw me as someone who was reliable, and a part of me saw him in a similar light due to my own experiences with the League right after my resurrection. Fights with the Demon Spawn were more like training spars while fights with pretty much everyone else were basically honor duels." How has this not come up before now? Are the others just as clueless about this crap? Jason wanted to shake some common sense into some of his siblings, maybe scream a little in frustration. If the only ones who knew anything accurate about his and Damian's relationship were literally just the two of them, he was going to be so disappointed in his family…

Steph looked like she was going to say something more on the subject when Bruce and Babs entered the cave, Babs heading to the Batcomputer while Bruce walked over to the two of them.

"I had a feeling you two would still be down here. Steph, go get changed, I'll help you with your hair pins before you head out, okay?" Bruce asked. Steph gave a sloppy salute and skipped off to the changing rooms, though Jason could tell she wasn't going to let their conversation drop that easily. Bruce took a moment to watch Steph go, and Jason got back to cleaning his guns as he waited for his father Bruce to say his piece. "Are you alright, Jaylad? You usually aren't this anxious before an op, especially an information gathering one like this."

Jason finished rubbing down the last part that needed attention before quickly reassembling his guns. "At the beginning, back when the Demon Spawn first came to live with us, did any of his interactions with the family stand out as different to you?" Jason asked instead. He switched to checking his hidden ammo pouches, making sure everything was topped off. He wasn't expecting a fight tonight, but he needed something to keep his hands occupied.

A hand, scarred and familiar, caught his attention as it came to rest on his own. "I've always known yours and Damian's relationship was special to both of you. You both got each other in ways the others are still trying to understand. And yes, I'm aware a large part of that is due to your time with the League, I'm not as blind to your dealings with your siblings as you all seem to think I am," Bruce said with a chuckle. He brought his other hand up to gently raise Jason's head, making eye contact soon after. "I'm grateful you were able to give Damian a small slice of his first home when I couldn't, Jason. While I wish neither of you had ever been in the situations that lead to you both being with the League, I'm grateful those experiences were able to bring you two closer together as brothers."

He stared at Bruce in shock for a moment before clearing his throat and looking away. "Damn it, B, warn a man before you bring out the emotion talk," he said, stalwartly pretending his eyes weren't misty.

Jason saw Bruce smile out the corner of his eye as his father patted his shoulder with the hand that had been on his cheek. "My bad, sorry about that. Finish getting ready then meet by the Batcomputer for a quick briefing," he said before walking away.

As Jason finished checking his ammo pouches and slid his gloves back on, he couldn't help but smile to himself at the faint, almost tangible, warmth in his chest. Things had really changed in the past year and a half, and for the better, at that.

=============‹«⟨·•★•·⟩»›=============

Danny was both excited and nervous for what this evening would entail. He'd been obsessively going over everything he'd ever been taught about the various non-human beings that called Earth and its various pocket dimensions home in preparation for this night. He didn't know who he was meeting with first, nor did he know how many of Batman's clan he was meeting with, so he and his Fright had probably gone a bit overboard with potential lesson plans. He just wanted to give the Bats a good first lesson about their various species and the instincts and abilities that are a part of them.

He was waiting at the rooftop shrine where he met with Raven, once more sitting cross-legged about a foot above the roof. It had been almost two weeks since he and Raven had set up these lessons, and he was eager to get started. The current plan was that for the initial lessons, if everything worked out during this first one, Danny would be meeting each publicly known member of the Batclan at that exact shrine for basically what boiled down to essentially bookwork before eventually moving on to hands-on training with their current and future abilities at a different, more secure location. He had to admit, it was a pretty good system for having been developed at the drop of the hat between two beings who didn't even know each other yet.

A sudden burst of flame on the corner of the roof drew Danny's attention to Condor's arrival. Y'know, Danny thought with eyes wide with awe as the hooded form of Condor stalked out of the fire with a predatory grace, little tendrils of fire chasing after him, if we'd known Condor literally appeared in a burst of flames at times, lich would have been the last thing we thought of. It's so freaking obvious he's a phoenix that in hindsight I feel like an idiot.

The faint rustle of feathers against fabric had him turning around just in time to see Starling drop down from on top of the shrine and land in a stooped crouch, feather headdress flowing in the breeze as her head tilted ever so sightly to the side, the hood of her own costume shading her face enough to make the florescent red lenses of her full face mask stand out starkly.

"We aren't late, are we?" A soft, almost lyrical voice asked from behind Danny, brimming with power and potential but holding nothing but eagerness and nervousness. Condor's voice was most definitely masculine, but it was almost impossible to tell if it were tenor, baritone, or bass as it seemed to be all of them at once. It was captivating and bone chilling all at once.

Danny looked over his shoulder, more sure in his assumptions of the species of these two vigilantes than ever before. "Not at all, you're right on time. Shall we begin?"

=============‹«⟨·•★•·⟩»›=============

HEY EVERYONE!!! So sorry for the wait, I meant to get this chapter finished and published back in May, but, well... That obviously didn't happen (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ also, you may have noticed something different about this part (⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠) yes, that's right, part 4 of this series has been broken into chapters!!! This will mainly come into play on AO3, as part 4 will be a multi chapter fic over there (as well as actually have a title (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）) but I thought it was important to acknowledge it here, too!

#camp nano 2023 day 1 #camp nanowrimo 2023 #danny phantom #batman #dpxdc #finally continuing this fic series!#fanfiction #Calling All The Monsters part 4 chapter 1

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dino-boyo-agere · 1 year

Text

Not On Valentine's Day

╰→ Steddie AgeRe fanfic

[Word count: 1748] holy crap, that's a big boi!

.･｡ﾟ×ﾟ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ.✧.ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ☆ﾟ×ﾟ｡･.

Character info:

Steve - Age Regressor (lil age 3-ish)

Eddie - caregiver ("Poppa")

Plot:

Steve deals with immense pressure, caused by him planning a elaborate Valentine's Date for Eddie, while desperately trying not to slip into little space.

Tw! Angst, Hurt & comfort, mention of: impure regression, mental health, self loathing, anxiety & intimacy.

╰→ It's all kept SFW!!

! Age Regression is not a k*nk !

.･｡ﾟ×ﾟ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ.✧.ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ☆ﾟ×ﾟ｡･.

Steve felt like he was going to burst under all this pressure, it was to much. He planned and prepared a romantic valentine's date...

Well, he wasn't quite done yet, even though it was already Feburary 14th.

It was still in the early hours of the morning, but nonetheless, his anxiety was through the roof. He barely got any sleep and he still had so much to do. Steve whished he could just curl up infront of the TV, in his PJs, eating fruit loops and-

Oh, no..

He could feel himself beginning to slip.

No, he can't have that, not today, darnit..

"Get it together, Harrington.." he mumbled to himself, slightly slapping his own cheek, as a means to stay aware, stay alert, stay big.

He wanted this day to be perfect.

He wanted tonight to be a romantic and.. hecc.. intimate experience with Eddie. Not whatever his stupid, effed up brain wanted to make out of it.

He won't- no.. He can't let himself ruin this for Eddie, not again..

Why did he always have to make everything about himself? Eddie deserved better. He deserved a nice, romantic date, in which he would be the center of attention. And Steve was going to make that happen, today.

He pushed aside the self-destructive thoughts and his urge to regress, focusing soely on making this work. On making this day perfect, for Eddie.

So, he continued with the preparations to make this happen.

He went all out, exhausting himself more and more in the process.

The whole ordeal also took him way longer than anticipated, since he continually had to fight slipping.

While cleaning the house, he constantly got distracted by finding toys or other 'little stuff'.

Whilst cooking a fancy three course meal, he found it frustratingly hard to read and understand the recipe, resulting in him having to start over two times.

He had to calm himself down and remind himself that monsters aren't real, before being able to enter the cellar, so he could pick out one of the most expensive whines from his parents collection.

Upon selecting some romantic movies, he had to resist just throwing in- and watching a cartoon.

He had to give up on the idea of building a blanket fort, while making the bed.

When he took a shower, he denied himself using his 'spiderman shampoo', though he really wanted to.

And as he picked his clothes, Steve had to go with something elegant, instead of his cozy footed PJ's he so desperately wanted to snuggle up in.

Hopelessly klinging on to his big headspace, Steve had to remind himself to stay focused on the mission, constantly.

In the evening, he was finally done, right before Eddie arrived.

He embraced his boyfriend with a hug and excitedly explained his plans for the day.

Steve could still feel his brain being fuzzy, though he eagerly tried to hide it.

Eddie could tell that something was bothering Steve, he avoided eye contact and seemed to be restless. Always jumping up 'to get-' or 'because he forgot something'.

So, he asked his boyfriend if everything was alright.

Steve just shrugged him off, stating: "Oh, yeah. It's- I'm just a little tired, that's all. And so excited for today, really."

Eddie knew he was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth, but he didn't want to push it, so he just accepted Steve's explanation and moved on from the topic.

The date was going great.

Their food was delicious and they've snuggled up infront of the TV, watching some cheesey romance movies. They liked judging- and making fun of the stupid decisions characters tend to make.

Under the blanked, Eddie started gently caressing Steve's thigh. As he was just about to lean in for a passionate kiss, he stopped right in his tracks, when he saw Steve's face. A look of unease, or even fear, in his glazed eyes.

Eddie knew that look. He knew it too well.. This was the look of a- no, of his deeply afflicted darling boy.

Immediately, he lifted his hand from the boys leg, ever so gently placing it on his cheek instead.

He rubbed his thumb against the soft skin lovingly & with such vigilance, as to not scare Steve further.

"Oh, oh baby, I'm so sorry." Eddie said, his voice shaking from guilt and hurt, for almost harming his little one.

He felt like punching himself in the face. How didn't he catch that sooner?!

He almost kissed his little one passionately, hasn't he looked up in time. What kind of awful Caregiver would he be if..

Eddie could feel his stomach turn at the thought of that.

"I'm so sorry." He repeated.

Steve was perplexed, at first.

He didn't notice how far he had already slipped, cuddled up on the couch like that.

He wasn't fully regressed yet, still capable of thinking somewhat adult-ish. But it was definitely noticable that he wasn't fully there.

Nonetheless, he wanted to play it off, he's come so far, he won't let himself ruin this for Eddie.

"N- no, it's okay.. look." Steve tried to sound as convincing as possible, leaning in for a kiss, desperately pushing away the feeling of unease and disgust. Attempting to assure, not just Eddie, but himself aswell.

'Eddie is my boyfriend, darn it.. Why do I have to be so weird about this.. He's not disgusting..I should just kis-'

Eddie stopped his thoughts and advances, backing away, while gently holding Steve at arms length by his shoulders.

"Whoa there, Kiddo.. What are you- That's not appropriate!" He exclaimed.

Eddie was mortified.

Something was clearly affecting his little one in a very negative way and he had to know what it was. He had to know how he could help him.

Steve, meanwhile, grew frustrated.

"What do you mean 'not appropriate'? You're my boyfriend and boyfriends kiss." He snapped at the bewildered man in front of him.

Eddie remained calm.

"Yes, I am your boyfriend, when you are big-Steve. When you are little-Steve, I am your Poppa. And right now you are not big, Buddy." He explained, his voice assertive but tender.

Tears formed in Steve's eyes, prompting Eddie to pull him into a warm hug, kissing the top of his head. "It's okay, Darling. I've got you. You can talk to me." He reassured his little one.

Steve began sobbing, slipping further into his regression.

He started apologizing. "I'm s- so sor-ry. I ruined valentine days. I aways ruin tings an I'm aways se- selfish.. sorry.. sorry."

He was unbelievably upset with his actions and ashamed for again making everything about himself..

At least that's how he viewed the situation.

Eddie tightened the hug.

"Don't say that. You didn't ruin anything, nor are you selfish in any way.-"

His attempt to comfort Steve was interposed by the latter, who was vehemently fighting his regression once again.

"Yes, I did an- and yes, I am.. I always do this.. I- it's always just.. me. Me. ME.. This was sup- supposed to be y- you day. So.. so I tried to.. just.. s- suck it up.. and.. and.."

Steve was visibility shaking, when Eddie interrupted his rambling.

".. and just kiss me? Disregarding your own emotions? Ignoring how you felt unsafe and uncomfortable?"

Tears where forming in his eyes now aswell, at the thought of his Darling having to deal with such harmful thoughts, all on his own. Eddie's body also began to tramle too.

Steve looked up at him, having fully slipped now. Besides, he was to exhausted to fight it any longer anyways.

*¹ "Is sowwy. I kno it bad foa meh. I jus' wan u to be happeh. sowwy, Poppa."

He sniffled into his caregivers chest.

Eddie pulled him even closer.

"Steve, Darling.. I love you." He could feel hot tears running down his cheeks.

"Wether you're big or small. I'm more than excited to spend valentine's day with you." The boy in his arms looked up at him, wiping away a tear from his caregivers face, before letting him continue.

"I don't care if we eat fancy cuisine or dino nuggets. I don't care if we watch a romantic movie or cartoons. I don't care if we get intimate or just cuddle." He paused again, to kiss Steve's forehead.

"I am happy, as long as I am with you. So.." Eddie tightened his hug, pulling his Darling closer once more.

"..just let me be with you, whichever you it may be. Please stop trying to hide yourself, to try and accomodate me."

He loosened the hug, to gently grab Steve's face with both hands, lovingly looking into his eyes. "I love you, Steve. I love each and every part of you and that'll never change, ever."

Eddie was full on crying now.

Both of them embraced in a tight hug again, weeping into each others sweaters.

They stayed like that for a little while.

As the sniffling and sobs slowly subsided, Eddie could hear a soft whisper. So quiet, he couldn't make out what was said.

"Sorry, Stevie. I didn't quite catch that. What did you say? Could you repeat it for me, Darling?" Eddie asked softly, rubbing his little one's back.

"Pwomise?" Steve repeated, intently staring at his carer's hoodie strings, with which he was fiddling.

Eddie immediately understood what he was referring to.

"Promise. I'll always love you as you are, Sweetheart." He promptly answered and placed a kiss on Steve's forehead.

*² "Wuv yuh too, foreva.. pomise." The boy replied, now sleepily chewing on the strings of Eddie's hoodie, his eyes half closed.

He was exhausted..

Exhausted from all the planning and preparing.

Exhausted from trying to fight slipping all day.

Exhausted from crying so much.

Exhausted from having to deal with all those big feelings for so long.

After sitting there, cuddling for a while, Eddie got up. He turned on some soft music on his speakers, before carrying his Darling Boy to bed.

Kissing his forehead again, he whispered: "Happy Valentines day, Stevie." into the little one's hair, before closing his eyes aswell.

Steve knew he was safe now. In Eddie's arms, he was home.

His strength was barely enough to give a dazed "mhmm" in response.

Eddie was content with that answer. With Steve in his arms, he was home.

They layed like that, tangled up in each other's arms, snuggling, until they fell into a deep and much needed slumber.

.･｡ﾟ×ﾟ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ.✧.ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ☆ﾟ×ﾟ｡･.

I hope you liked my little Valentine's Day story.

& thank you so much for reading!

.･｡ﾟ×ﾟ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ.✧.ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ☆ﾟ×ﾟ｡･.

Footnotes:

╰→ (Stevie's Baby-Talk Translation)

*¹ "I'm sorry. I know it's bad for me. I just want you to be happy. sorry, Eddie."

*² "I love you too, forever. I promise."

.ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･».ﾟ°･⁠✧ ↓ DNI ↓ ✧･° ﾟ.«･｡ﾟ×ﾟ｡･*.ﾟ.

Banner by @froggy-clubhouse !!!

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elisysd · 10 months

Text

Power - Little Mix

Masterlist - Previously - Next Chapter

You shoud know, I'm the one who's in control I'll let you come take the wheel, long a you don't forget Who got the power?

After much hesitation, Lyanna finally agreed to appear in the interview that Charles would give on Ferrari's social networks. What neither she nor Charles had anticipated, however, was that Ferrai would make a public announcement of her participation and invite the tifosis to ask whatever questions they wished, resulting in an alarming number of questions about their relationship rather than Charles' ambitions and the 2024 season.

It was in the middle of the week, at 8am one morning, that the Scuderia media team and Silvia arrived at Charles' house with cameras and microphones. They spent an hour setting up the equipment and arranging the room to create an aesthetically pleasing setting for the shoot. Charles and Lyanna then had their make-up and hair done and the microphones set up.

Lyanna didn't feel comfortable, despite the fact that it was far from being her first interview and that the cameras on her didn't really bother her. On the other hand, it was the first time she had allowed her private life to be voluntarily exposed. She hoped she wasn't opening the door to too many excesses, even if Charles had made it clear to Silvia that this kind of interview was the first and last.

She took a seat on a chair next to the camera, which was pointed at the pilot, who, seeing the stress on the young woman's face, desperately tried to relax her by making faces in her direction.

The interview began. Charles recounted what it was like for him at the time of the crash, what he remembered and what happened afterwards. His convalescence, the importance of mental strength and how the desire to get back into an F1 car and wear the Ferrari colours again had motivated him, along with the importance of the support of those close to him, without whom it would not have been possible.

Then it was Lyanna's turn. She in turn took her place in the same spot where Charles had been sitting a few moments earlier as he stood facing her, taking care to remain within her line of sight to reassure her. Lyanna couldn't help fidgeting with her fingers.

“So Lyanna, can you tell us what you recall from the accident?” asked her Silvia

“Honestly? Not that much…It was like I was dissociating from everything. My body was there but my mind was elsewhere. The only thought I had was him, in that car, and not knowing if he was alive or…” she shook her hear as if it could keep away the bad thoughts. “I kept replaying the last words I said to him. Then, Fred gave me his headset so I could be connected to Charles’ radio, so could talk to him and when I heard nothing but white noise it felt like the ground was collapsing under me. I know that it was just two minutes between the actual crash and learning that he was alive, but to me it felt so much longer.”

“Is it something you had prepared yourself for? Having to witness a car crash.”

“I mean, I know that when Charles gets in the car, there is a possibility of him having an accident. But I’m not expecting the worst. There is a whole team behind that is supposed to make sure that he comes back in one piece. So I’m not scared. I try to not show that it’s stressing me out because I know that Charles doesn’t need to see me worried before a race.”

They continued talking for a few more minutes. Lyanna mentioned how she had been by Charles' side during his convalescence and how annoying he had been. This was supposed to be the light moment of the video. Charles then took his place alongside his girlfriend for the Q&A.

“So this question is for Charles: how important is your girlfriend in your day to day life since the crash.”

“She had been the most supportive person. Always there to help me when I couldn’t even get out of the bed. Always encouraging me. I haven’t been the easiest person to be around, and I’m sorry about that, Lya. I haven’t been appreciative enough.”

“Lyanna: What was the most difficult part about having Charles sick at home?”

“Watching him watch the races and endure all his complaints about how he should be there and how he would have driven every single corner. Positive side of it, I’m beginning to understand F1 better. Negative side, he was really annoying.”

“Could we expect to see you more on the tracks for 2024 season?”

“Well, it’s going to depend on a lot of things but even if I can’t be physically there, I will always cheer him on from whenever I am.”

The interview came to an end and Lyanna was relieved to see the team soon leaving the flat. She wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing the final result, she just hoped that the editing would reflect what she had said and that the video wouldn't be dramatised.

That evening, over pizza for Lyanna and a salad for Charles, who was on a diet, Charles asked her if she had any plans for the following day. He wanted to spend some time with his girlfriend alone, feeling that it had been far too long since that had happened, between their argument and his trip to Maranello. He was therefore surprised when she told him that she had planned a day's shopping to buy presents for her family and also for Charles's, not wanting to appear ungrateful by coming empty-handed.

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked her.

“No, it’s fine. I’m already meeting someone there and it would spoil the fun if you already knew your Christmas present, don’t you think?” she replied, which piqued the Monegasque's curiosity even more.

“Who are you going to meet? You don’t know anyone in Monaco?”

“Well first of all, thank you for making me look like a recluse who won't come out of her cave. And second, I kind of befriended Charlotte.”

Charles dropped his fork in surprise and it landed on his trousers, leaving a stain of vinaigrette in the process.

“When you say Charlotte, you talk about Charlotte my ex-girlfriend who was at my birthday or you happen to know another Charlotte who lives in Monaco?”

“We are thinking of the same Charlotte.” Confirmed Lyanna.

“But… Okay, I have a few questions. When? How? Why? Don’ get me wrong, I have no problem with it and I’m happy that you are making friends but… she’s my ex-girlfirend?”

“I mean… it happened. She really helped me understanding some things and put my thoughts in order. She was really straightforward about what I should expect as your girlfriend and she was kind enough to answer my questions. And then we just bonded over things. Don’t worry we are not talking about you. She has not revealed your worst embarrassments yet.”

“Well thanks, I guess? So you are meeting with her tomorrow? Where?”

“At the shopping centre and we will probably go eat somewhere so don’t wait for me. I’ll be out all day.”

Charles nodded. When Lyanna disappeared into the bathroom after dinner to take a shower, he quickly took out his phone and isolated himself on the balcony before dialling his best friend's number.

“Joris? It’s me. Tell me, do you have some plans tomorrow? I was thinking of going Christmas shopping.”

Far from imagining for a moment her boyfriend's intentions, Lyanna left the next morning excited at the idea of shopping for Christmas presents. She didn't really know what to get Charles's brothers and mother, so she was reassured to have Charlotte by her side to advise her. She met up with the young woman in a café near the shopping centre and the two of them wandered through the aisles looking for the perfect present. For Arthur, Lyanna had bought a comic book on the history of motor sport. For Lorenzo, she had opted for a stationery set, thinking it would be useful for him as he was partly in charge of Arthur's career, and as for Pascale, Lyanna had opted for a body and face care set so that she could take care of herself.

“Did you find a gift for Charles?” asked Charlotte as they were heading to a restaurant.

“Yeah, I have it already. I just hope he’ll like it.”

Caught up in their discussion, the two young women paid no attention to the all too recognisable Pista of a certain number 16 following them at a distance.

“I keep on telling you that we should have taken my car… they are going to see us.” Mumbled Joris, his face between his hands starting to question his life choices and how they led him to sit in his best friend’s car, spying on his current and ex-girlfriend.

“And I’m telling you that we are super discreet. And we don’t spy. We are just trying to see what they are doing. I just want to understand.”

“That’s the definition of spying, mate.”

“Shut up.”

Charles ended up parking awkwardly in a spot where he wasn't sure he was really allowed to, but at least it was out of sight. He took two black hoodies and sunglasses out of his trunk. He handed one to Joris before putting on the second.

“You really went overboard with the I’m definitely not spying my girlfriend.” Commented Joris.

Charles glared at him to shut him up and the two friends headed for the restaurant where Lyanna and Charlotte were eating. Fortunately for Charles, they were sitting near the window and he could see them quite clearly. They were laughing together and looked very friendly and Charles couldn't help wondering what was so funny.

It was the crowd around the restaurant that caught Charlotte and Lyanna's eye as they enjoyed a coffee with macaroons. Lyanna naively thought it was for her at first, but when no one entered the restaurant or seemed to be paying any attention, she discarded the idea. It was Charlotte who realised what all the fuss was about when she spotted Charles's best friend a little way back in the crowd, seemingly enjoying the warm greetings his friend was receiving.

“Did you tell Charles that we would meet today?”

“Yes, he knows. Why?”

“Because I think I see Joris, and unless he has become a superstar in the span of one year, I do believe that Charles is here.”

Lyanna sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. The two young women got up, took their time paying the bill and left the restaurant to approach the crowd. And indeed, the closer they got, the more Lyanna could hear Charles's name being called out. The two young women stood back for a few moments, just long enough for all the fans to get a photo or an autograph and then to leave.

When Charles saw Lyanna and Charlotte, both with their arms crossed and the same disapproving look on their faces, he knew he was in trouble.

“Hey… Girls… Fancy seeing you here.” He tried to play it nonchalant.

“Charles are you following me?” asked Lyanna bluntly.

“Following you? Babe, you are hurting my feelings. It’s just a pure coincidence. Joris called me this morning asking me to help him find a gift for his mom and being the great friend that I am, I accepted. Nothing more. Right, Joris?”

Charles stared at his friend, who cleared his throat and approached the group.

“Yeah… my sister… I mean my mom is picky and Charles has great taste so…”

“You don’t need to cover for him, Joris.” Said Charlotte.

“I promise you, Lya it’s not what it looks like…”

“So you are not spying on us?”

“Yeah okay, fine we were spying. But can you blame me? I just wanted to see by myself what a friendship between you and Charlotte would look like.”

“Were you scared that I would turn her against you by saying what an idiot you are sometimes?” intervened Charlotte. “Because if so, don’t worry I think she doesn’t need me to see that. You do wonders by yourself.”

“Haha very funny.”

“Since when are you following us?”

“Lyanna, believe me you don’t want to know.” Said Joris.

“We might have been behind you in that cosmetic shop. By the way my mom is going to love the gift.”

“I don’t know if I should be scared because your behaviour is creepy or admirative because how the hell were you so subtle.”

“Go with the second option, it will make me sleep better tonight.”

Lyanna rolled her eyes and turned to Charlotte.

“I’m so sorry about him.”

“Don’t worry. I see you around. Happy holidays to you both.”

Joris not wanting to spend another minute in Charles's company, took the opportunity to go his own way, leaving Lyanna and the pilot alone at last. The young woman handed her bags to Charles, who grabbed them sheepishly.

“You are so going to sleep on the sofa tonight.”

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

author's note: A little chapter to celebrate Silverstone week end aka one of my favourite race on the calendar! Next chapter will be Christmas at the Leclerc, I can't wait and then off we go for the 2024 season. We are slowly approaching the end of the story and I'm not going to lie, it makes me very sad. As usual, don't forget to comment / reblog / like the story since it's the best way to let me know that you are actually enjoying it. And see you for another chapter very, very soon!

taglist: @zendayabelova @purplephantomwolf @ru-kru @dakotali @blueflorals @aundercover @ruleroftheuniverse @fangirlika @writerscurse @elijahmikaelsonbitch @leclerc13 @karmabyfernando @stargaryenx @pitlanebabe @boiohboii @reengard If you are tagged but did not receive any notifications, please check your settings because it means that Tumblr didn't let me tag you.

#charles leclerc #fiction #writing #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc imagines #charles leclerc x female reader #cl16 #cl16 x reader #charles leclerc blurb #charles leclerc fanfic #f1 x oc #f1 fic #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic

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delopsia · 25 days

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Del my lovely, I got you some lovely little snapdragons from the garden. I know they're your favorite and as an added bonus they're all fire colors too. The vase is Rhett and I'm afraid I must once again send them via message in a bottle (lol).

Rhett's seen alot of really hard animal births on the ranch and so hasn't Royal, but none were as tough as a little dairy calf who was born in early spring. She was really, really tiny, horribly underweight even because of her mother's condition (Cecelia had managed to get her from an owner who couldn't take care of her anymore) and couldn't nurse either.

You and Rhett made a little spot for her near the woodstove and did everything in your power to make sure she survived. You guys would all be up at all hours of the night feeding her and making sure she was ok. Sure enough, she gained both weight and strength because she had the best caretakers in the world.

It's not long either before she's going out to play with the other calves in the pasture and you, Rhett and Royal occasionally stand by the fence watching her to make sure none of the bigger ones go after her. She's fully nursing from her mother too (Royal will let the calves nurse for however long they need to because it makes less work for them) which is an excellent sign, but you and Rhett can't help but joke about how she bucks and kicks with her spindly little legs and you've nicknamed her "Bambi" as a result. Sure enough the name sticks and you and Rhett have a lifelong familiar in her.

Del my lovely, if I could give you all the snapdragons in the garden I would. You've been too good to me and to all the others out there. 🥰🥰🥰🥰

oh my god, I'm so sorry for taking forever to answer this 😭 I put it on hold to finish one of my wip's first, and that took so much longer than I anticipated it would.

Everyone had a feeling that when Cecelia came home with that lone dairy cow in the back of the trailer, this was probably gonna end in tragedy. Due to give birth at any time and so underweight that Royal didn't trust she would survive the walk to the south pasture, it was a wonder that she even made it on and off of the trailer. Hell, Rhett was so certain that it wouldn't end well that he avoided telling you about her arrival entirely. It was just one of the harsh realities of working on a cattle ranch.

Rhett always gets unusually quiet when he's trying to hide things. So you knew something was up when one day, his work days started getting summed up as a short "was fine" rather than his usual detailed recounts of the day's events. But you could have never expected him to walk through the door one night with a little brown and white calf in his arms. Not particularly unusual for him. Your current record is three calves in the kitchen, but this one is an entirely different breed from what the Abbotts keep.

She's such a funny little thing. She can hardly stand on her own feet, and yet, every time you go to give her a scratch, she's kicking her little legs and trying to kick you! Silence in the house is something of a rarity because she's a hell of a talker. Fussing because her meal was a half second late or even just for the hell of it.

It's a hell of a sight to look out into the pasture, full of cattle bred for meat, with two little dairy cows mixed in amongst them. But aside from her appearance, Bambi blends into the herd just fine, always loosely following her mother and only parting ways to fuss when she sees someone walking past. These other bottle-raised calves may have forgotten the luxury of treats, but she has not. She's spoiled and she demands a tax every opportunity she gets.

Never really grew out of the whole yelling thing, either...💐

#delgato's asks #rhett abbott x reader #auroralightsthesky #delopsia's birthday bouquet

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whatwhump · 1 year

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Ex-Villain Whumpee: Pt. 4!

Hello lovely whump community! I apologize for how long this took me; I’m in school so it can be hard to find time to write sometimes. :)

Anywho, thank you for all of the encouragement for this story! I’m excited to announce this will be an ongoing series! I’m not sure for how long, but what I anticipated as being only a few posts I think has potential to be a larger arc. I’m really excited to dive into these character’s relationship dynamics and plan to use all of my favorite whump tropes! I’ve got some pretty evil fun ideas in the works. ;) My goal is to update this story bi-weekly.

This is by no means my best work because I’m just doing this for fun. I hope you don’t mind and still walk away with whumperflies!

**For list of character names/roles as well as Parts 1-3, see the previous post here**

TW: whipping, torture, beating, self-harm reference, suicidal thoughts (of the passive ideation variety), severe self-esteem issues; bad caretaker

“I. Won’t. Break.”

Despite their diminutive stature, Charlie towered over Alex as they writhed against restraints on the table of Eric Goodgrave's torture chamber interrogation room.

Charlie stared down at their victim grimly. “You will. You have to,” they responded matter-of-factly.

Both of them were sweating beneath the bright, hot lights. They were going on hour three of their little dance, now. Charlie still held the whip but it now dangled lifelessly beside them. They simply stared down their victim. Cool. Calm. Collected.

Alex–lying on their stomach–strained their neck to glare back at them, practically seething with rage. The anger protected them; as long as they held on to the fury deep within, it helped distract them from the excruciating burning all across their bare back. Yes, inside that room and beyond, anger protected them from the brutal realities of life as a hero.

Charlie began the interrogation in a suit with a buttoned-up white dress shirt. By now, though, they had abandoned the blazer and rolled up their sleeves. It struck Alex as a strange juxtaposition. Here they were, being torn apart by this…this psychopath, as if they had just arrived home from their 9 to 5 to find the dog had peed in the house and were slightly irritated.

“Tell me where the team is,” Charlie murmured, slowly raising the whip up off the ground in a warning.

Alex wanted the suffering to stop more than anything; they’d already passed out–twice–and hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in at least two days. But not more than they wanted to keep their teammates safe. No, they cared about them too much. They would die for them, there was no doubt in their mind. Alex scowled; unfortunately, although they wished to spit right in Charlie’s stupid face as they had at the start of the session, their parched mouth could no longer produce any saliva. I think I might die here, they thought to themselves…

That’s when they saw it. How hadn’t they seen it before?!

Charlie’s dress shirt had shifted just enough to reveal a tattoo on their collarbone—a tattoo of a sparrow…the symbol of the hero's resistance. Identical to the tattoo they had as well!

A roguish smile crossed Alex’s battered face.

“So…what’s it like to be a traitor?” Charlie’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your defection from the Hero’s League, silly!” Charlie’s face flashed with surprise momentarily before they returned to their stoic expression.

“I think the blood loss is getting to you.”

“Come on! Spill the tea!” cried Alex. Charlie tightened their grip on the whip and took a menacing step forward.

“Ughhh–FINE, Mopey-Pants,” they said rolling their eyes. “Lucky for you I’m a good guesser. Hmmm….let’s see. You…stole documents with sensitive information?”

Charlie sighed. “Stop this. Just spit it out already. There’s no other way you’re getting out of this.”

“Ok, not that one, then. Ummmm…failed a dangerous mission that resulted in the deaths of thousands? Yikes, that’s definitely a big no-no! How about…unencrypted the hero’s security system? Staged a coup?”

Charlie was starting to get red in the face. Of course, this only provoked Alex to push further.

“What about damaging top-secret technology?”

“Alex–”

“Oooh oooh, I know! You shared your secret identity? Took an extra tray of tater-tots in the cafeteria?”

“STOP,” Charlie exclaimed, adjusting their stance uncomfortably. They weren’t used to these things not going their way, of not having total control. The grin on Alex’s face spread even wider.

“What about just sucking at doing your job, plain and simple?”

“I will give you twenty more lashes if you don’t–”

“I’ve got it! You fell in love with a co-worker!”

Alex opened their mouth once more to continue their diatribe but paused. It was slight, barely perceptible, but they saw it. Charlie’s eyes had widened a bit on that one…

“Wait…seriously? Oh. My. GOD!! You actually–” Alex burst into laughter. But honestly, it wasn’t just to piss them off. It was genuinely ridiculous to them. (And the blood loss and malnutrition wasn’t helping either).

“You have got to be kidding me! But I guess it’s kinda sweet; you had a little office crush!” Alex mocked, their eyes sparkling in pure, unbridled joy at the humiliation evident on Charlie’s face.

“That’s–that’s not true,” Charlie stammered. “You’re just making shit up! Stop this nonsense because I swear I’ll–”

“You were actually so butt-hurt that after they broke your heart you became evil?”

“Shut–”

“Your self-esteem is so fragile you actually became a villain! Like a coward! A self-pitying, coward!”

Charlie was pissed now. Mortified and pissed. Their chest heaved as their breathing grew heavy and their nostrils flared. They couldn’t get a word in as Alex continued to denigrate them.

“What are you, an incel?! How absolutely–”

“STOP–”

“PATHETIC!” Alex wheezed. They were howling with laughter now. So invested in the hilarity of the situation and having pulled one over on their abuser, Alex didn’t notice as Charlie…well…broke.

“You were NEVER a true hero! You’re just a slimy, insecure, foolish bastard! Oh lord, whoever broke up with you dodged a HUGE bullet! Like what kinda idiot thinks you of all–”

“SHUT UP!!!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!! DON’T YOU DARE SPEAK OF THEM! DON’T YOU DARE INSULT THEM IN MY PRESENCE!”

What happened next was a blur, for both hero and villain. Charlie whipped out the knife from their pocket and slashed it across Alex’s face. Then, they wrenched back the whip and slammed it against Alex’s back, over and over and over again. They were absolutely relentless, the entire time screaming, “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!”

Alex screamed as Charlie used more force than they had before. The lacerations already on their back deepened, scarlet red practically flooding off the sides of table. Charlie’s barrage just would not stop. Tears streamed out of Alex’s eyes as apologized profusely and begged for it to stop. Soon their vision grew blurry and they silently thanked God for the embrace of unconsciousness. But they knew this nightmare would still be here when they woke up.

Before they completely lost touch, they managed to shriek…

“I’LL TELL YOU!”

Alex shot out of bed with a whimper. They ware disoriented at first, still babbling through sobs, before their eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. They are in the cell. Goodgrave’s cell. The small skylight above them emanates the soft, bluish glow of early morning hours. Dew drops dot the dirty glass and they become aware of just how cold the room is. The calmness felt eerie and unsettling after such a nightmare.

Then they looked beside them.

Seeing Charlie asleep in the bed brought back a tsunami of memories from the day prior. It generated a visceral reaction in them–making their stomach churn in knots and their heart pound even faster. Immediately they bolted off the bed, backing away until they were on the other side of the room. They sunk down to the floor and watched as their enemy remained asleep.

Charlie had the blanket draped over them but it was thin and raggedy; no match for the icy, winter morning. They shivered and their teeth clattered slightly. They were still covered in blood and bruises from the night before and hugged the broken arm to their stomach. It bent at a disturbing angle and was an angry red color. But what Alex noticed the most was their pallid face. It was drawn down in frown. Grime and blood painted their cheeks.

Without even thinking about it Alex’s finger softly ghosted along the scar across their face. They stood up and crossed the cell to the small mirror hanging above the dirty, old sink. They’d become used to it by now. Their mind spun in circles, overrun and overwhelmed.

The prone figure behind them couldn’t hurt them now. Not just because they were asleep, or because they had become weak and sickly after their time with Eric, but because by the time Charlie was taken captive by the Hero’s Alliance eight months prior they were a shell of themselves. The stoic, fearsome interrogator they once knew was replaced by a nervous, obedient individual. Ripley said Charlie seemed genuinely repentant. To the point of self-disgust. Alex refused to believe this. (They did notice the way Charlie avoided looking at themselves in the mirror, and a couple times noticed the scars they tried to hide beneath long sleeves. They noticed it because Alex used to be like that, too. But Alex didn’t care…how could they?)

“Alex.”

Alex jumped, startled by the groggy voice, and spun around. Charlie was using their good arm to prop themselves up. They could only open one eye, the other nearly swollen shut and mottled with purple, black splotches.

“Sorry,” Charlie whispered. They ducked their head as the tips of their ears reddened. “Didn’t mean to startle you.” Alex hummed in response. A moment of awkward silence elapsed. Alex focused on removing a piece of lint from their shirt and did their best to look completely unperterbed despite their recent dream.

“Are you…um…are you okay?” Charlie asked.

“I’m fine.” An awkward silence filled the space between them once more. Charlie tried to move from their position but quickly regretted it, hissing as their broken arm was jostled. Cautiously, Alex neared the bed. They shifted their weight as they watched their enemy struggle to sit up.

Charlie appeared to still be in the throes of a fever. They let themselves fall back on the bed. Their eyes seemed glazed, lids half open and struggling to stay that way. Again, they tried to sit up but only managed to hurt themselves once more. They moaned as their arm burned and their head throbbed with a migraine.

Alex hesitated momentarily, and then untied the sweatshirt from around their waist. “We need to do a make-shift cast for your arm. It will take some of the weight off it.”

“Oh no, it’s fine. Really. You keep it. It’s cold in here. Thank you.”

“No, you need it or it’ll get worse.”

“I swear I’m fine. You need it, you–”

Alex huffed stubbornly and began reaching for their enemy anyways. They were taken aback when Charlie flinched.

“I’m not going to hurt you, you idiot,” Alex bit out, annoyed. I should be the one flinching, not you! They thought to themselves. Resentment bubbled up to the surface and Alex tried to focus on putting villain in a positon where they could make the cast to distract themselves from it.

“Sorry. I’m really sorry. I don’t know why I did that. It was–yeah. I’m–”

“Just stop talking, okay?” Alex barked. Charlie bit their lip and nodded ashamedly.

Alex’s resentment manifested as roughly tending to the villain. Charlie did their best to not make a sound but when Alex harshly man-handled the broken arm into it’s place in the cast they winced and whimpered.

“Stop whining. You’re the reason we’re in this mess. You should have left when I told you to!”

“I know…I’m so sorry.”

“If Team Lead had just listened to me in the first place…ugh. They’re way too nice to you. You don’t deserve their sympathy. Pff. You don’t deserve anything really.”

“...I–nngghhh–agree,” mumbled Charlie weakly.

“Yeah right. I don’t believe you.” Alex grins as they glance over to see Charlie’s face; they wanted to watch their words hurt in real time. Instead, Alex didn’t feel the joy they expected. They could tell Charlie was holding back tears. One escaped and Charlie hastily wiped it away.

Something felt wrong in the pit of Alex’s stomach. Their grin quickly dissipated.

They had finished with the cast and were about to get up when they noticed just how much blood still covered Charlie’s neck and chest. They retrieved and wet a cloth like they had the night before.

“Let’s clean this up a bit. I don’t like the smell of blood,” they rationalized. Charlie’s eyes were half-mast and they nodded woozily. While wiping their face Alex felt heat radiating off their nemesis’ forehead.

Charlie swayed slightly and they steadied them.

“You feeling nauseous?” Charlie shook their head. Alex shot them a look.

“...A little. But it’s really not that bad. I’m fine.”

“Here. Drink this. Then you need to lie down.” They took a cup of water they had filled at the sink and made Charlie take a few sips. Alex put their hand behind Charlie’s neck and slowly lowered them. Charlie hissed in pain once more.

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll be quiet” they reassured.

Within a few minutes Charlie’s eyes were closed. Alex decided to lay down again and try to get more rest if they could. It was quiet except for the slightly congested breathing coming from Charlie.

Faintly came the sound of someone whistling. It grew closer and closer until footsteps echoed outside in the hall as well. Charlie’s eyes shot open and they strained to sit up, a look of horror on their face.

“He’s coming.”

“It’s probably the guard. Go back to sleep,” Alex warned.

“NO. It’s...”

Abruptly, keys rattle in the door and it swings open. Eric Goodgrave’s lanky frame waltzes in and a mischievous smile spreads across his face.

“Oh goody, you’re both awake! Alex, my dear: may I ask you a personal question?”

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#ex-villain whumpee #my post #emotional whump #angsty whump #reluctant caretaker #whatwhump #bad caretaker #whumpee turned caretaker #hospitalized whumpee

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friedbaekhyunandeggso · 1 year

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Reason ~ ch. 36

pairing: female oc (devon alba) x levi ackerman

tropes: instructor x cadet, strangers to lovers, male mc falls first

warnings: angst/slow-burn, strong language, upcoming smut(18+ readers only for those chapters pls 🙈), fluff

brief summary: This story takes place a few years after the Fall of Shiganshina. Devon Alba is in her final year of the 101st Training Corps (844-847), due to her success as a cadet she gets the chance to meet Captain Levi. She doesn’t think too much of him until he catches her in the midst of doing something that she isn’t entirely supposed to be doing. But surprisingly, this leads to something unexpected...

ch. 1 [...] ch. 35 | chapter 36 | ch. 37

“Oh I know that look.”

Devon immediately snapped out of her trance at the voice. She turned to face the shorter old woman.

Devon blinked, “What?”

“That lil smile while starin’ off. You’re in love aren’t you?”

Devon’s eyes widened before immediately going scarlet.

In truth, she had been thinking about Levi. More specifically the body-tingling kiss he’d given her during lunch. She was able to make it back to the apartment during his lunch hour today.

What was meant to be a chaste kiss at the door resulted in her back against the wall and his hands gripping her sides—all because she hadn’t broken the kiss first.

She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.

The older woman sighed, “I remember those days.”

Devon offered her a gentle smile—feeling rather embarrassed. She knew she’d zoned out but to think that her face had given away her thoughts that easily..

Maybe Imada had a point in calling her clearer than glass.

The elderly woman returned her smile with a kind one of her own.

“Who is he?” she inquired, gently.

Devon hesitated at the question—suddenly questioning the state of their relationship.

What are we?

“He’s my fiancé..” she answered with a subtle frown.

The woman’s smile widened, “How’d you meet him?”

She fidgeted a bit, absentmindedly messing with the strap of her bag over shoulder.

“Ah—It’s a bit of a long story.” she said, feeling somewhat shy.

“Does it look like I have something better to do?”

Devon couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that.

She supposed it was true. The woman seemed to be waiting for the public traveling carriage-wagon like her. The carriage seemed to be taking longer than anticipated to arrive.

She bit at her lower lip. She supposed sharing the story couldn’t hurt. She kind of did want to talk about him with someone anyway…

“Oh wow! So what started out as a fake engagement turned into a real one!” the old woman exclaimed.

Devon smiled, “I suppose so.”

“How fortunate.” the woman responded with a warm smile.

“He played the long game, huh.” a dreary masculine voice piped up from behind them.

They both glanced over to see a trench coat clad, dirty blonde male in his early thirties leaning against the building behind them.

He caught Devon’s shocked expression.

He blew out a puff of smoke from his cigarette, “What—the guy’s probably had eyes for you the second he saw ya. Probably took you to his spot on purpose.”

Devon’s brows drew together.

“Didn’t you just say he told you he liked you since the training corps or some shit?”

She didn’t like that this random male suddenly knew the details of her relationship. She hadn’t seen him show up at the carriage stop.

She frowned, “Yes but..” It wasn’t planned.

..Right?

He let out a low chuckle, “You thought he messed up your career and took you to his place out of the kindness of his heart?”

At her blank expression he smiled smugly, “Naive girl.”

Before Devon could address her bubbling agitation the carriage arrived.

The man tossed his cigarette onto the ground, smothering it with his heel before walking past them to get into the carriage first.

“Good luck to ya.” he spoke while passing her.

She glared.

She suddenly felt a hand touch her elbow and immediately glanced over.

The elderly woman stood beside her, “Ignore him. Probably got his heart broken once and forgot things can unfold genuinely if you let em.”

Devon nodded expressionlessly before helping the woman get onto the carriage.

She tried to dismiss the strange man’s words from her mind but the seed had been planted. Uneasiness swirled within her gut and she couldn’t help but feel an undercurrent of doubt.

She stared out the carriage window, a subtle frown spreading along her lips.

She tried not to think about it. Tried.

She told herself she wasn’t going to let some bitter man’s words get to her but the more she tried not to think about it the more her brain wanted to.

Because it was possible. She couldn’t deny the possibility of what that bitter man said being true. Levi could’ve ruined her scout career to get her alone—it wouldn’t be the first time that had happened.

After all, when she was little she’d gotten kidnapped and sold by her ‘adoptive father’. It wouldn’t be the first time someone used her for their own means.

The possibility felt like a knife to her gut.

She took solace in the fact that Levi hadn’t necessarily tried to have all of her yet-but what if that was all a part of the ‘long game’ that bitter man spoke of. After all, her adoptive father had seemed like the nicest man alive before his true intentions became clear.

She entered the apartment and locked the door behind herself. She wandered into the living room, setting her bag of leftovers from culinary school onto the coffee table. It was some sort of specialty dish that nobles supposedly enjoyed. She’d made it perfectly despite not liking the taste herself. The chief chef loved it though.

A soft sigh left her lips. Just as she raised her arm to remove her cloak a deep voice arose from the kitchen.

“Don’t tell me you brought food from class again.”

She immediately glanced over to see Levi seated at the dinner table. He set down the newspaper in his hand, despite being completely impassive there was a subtle gleam in his eyes.

He’d come home early and he knew it. He usually came home later in the night but it was merely a quarter after seven.

Her gaze dropped to the open box of chicken skewers at the center of the table. The plates and utensils had already been set out as well.

Her eyes widened as she remembered telling him last week that she missed the food they had at the festival together months ago. And chicken, at that—she was certain they must’ve cost a pretty penny.

He found them?!

Her rising excitement was quickly shot down when the bitter man’s earlier words rang through her mind.

You thought he messed up your career and took you to his place out of the kindness of his heart?

Naive girl.

Her expression faltered, her stomach lurching.

She inadvertently bent over, her hand cupping the lower half of her face as she got the sudden urge to puke. Nothing came out.

He shot out of his seat. “Devon-“

Before he could step towards her she straightened.

She held out a hand, “Don’t move.”

His eyes were wide as he immediately stopped mid step. Standing completely still.

His brows furrowed when he noticed how pale she looked.

She swallowed, slowly lowering her hand, “I need to know something a-and don’t even think of lying to me.”

His eyes narrowed. His jaw clenching as he contemplated her words before settling on, “Go on.”

She spoke as firmly as she could manage—despite her thoughts running rampant within her head, “Tell me.. you didn't plan any of this. That you didn’t stop me from being a scout just to get me here, alone with you—to make me fall for you, j-just to..”

“To what.” The words felt curt despite his natural monotone.

She met his sharp, hard-set gaze. She didn’t need to look too long to see his thinly veiled anger.

She hesitated, feeling almost nervous to say it out loud but she knew she had to get it off her chest. Yet the words still seemed to stick to her tongue.

“To. what.” he repeated, his tone more severe somehow.

“To take advantage of me.” she spat, her chest heaving in and out-as if it took her a lot to say.

“Tch.” he scowled. His hand flat on the table curled into a fist at his side.

His silver eyes were sharper than razor blades, “You think I’d wait this long if all I wanted to do was fuck you.”

“If that’s all I saw you useful for what’s stopping me from fucking you the second I got you here.”

“Hell—what’s stopping me from fucking you in the damn training corps? You think your word would’ve mattered over mine if you snitched?”

Her eyes were blown wide—speechless.

His scowl deepened, “But you did get one thing right.”

He looked aside. His expression gloomy as he stared off elsewhere, “I never planned on sending you to the damn Scout corps.”

Her brows furrowed in astonishment.

He continued, a tad quietly, “Sometimes I think I knew the second I met you. You just.. reminded me of myself-a much, much better version of myself.”

“I never cared to talk to you. I watched you and didn’t hate you the second I saw you, so I figured that’d be enough to cut it with Erwin but you just-“ he grit his teeth, “you just had to be you.”

His narrow eyes met hers, “There was no way in hell I’d let you go through what I did.”

She felt her heartstrings tighten within her chest.

She forced her voice to come out steady, “That still wasn’t your choice to make.”

“Yeah? Was I just supposed to not give a shit? Was I supposed to assume you’d do great against a titan when you couldn’t even defend yourself against Carter?”

Her face twisted into a glare, “Yes.” she spat.

He returned her glare by a thousandfold, “You don’t know what you looked like on that Infirmary bed.”

“I don’t care! It’s better than having someone else make my decisions for me.”

He went quiet at that—his jaw clenching before he looked away. His dark hair covered his eyes as he faced downwards.

Her voice came out crisp, “And what then-if I still wanted to be a Scout?”

“You want to be a chef.”

“Yes, but if I didn’t—what would you do?”

He shifted-still not meeting her gaze, “That’s not—“

“Answer the question.” she snapped.

His eyes flashed to hers in an instant, “I obviously would’ve done everything in my fuckin’ power to not let that shit happen.”

Her eyes widened at the harshness of his tone, before her gaze hardened.

“You would’ve lost me.”

His posture stiffened, “I don’t lose if you’re alive.”

She was rendered speechless at that. His face was a cold mask of indifference—she felt like she was back at day one with him. Back to the days where she couldn’t read any emotion off of him.

The air felt heavy between them, like a dark undercurrent that no one wanted to address. The silence only making it worse.

His hands tightened into fists at his sides before he ran a hand over the bottom half of his face.

He exhaled-before speaking lowly, “It’s me, right? It’s me that’s bothering you.”

His voice was flat, detached, “I’ll leave if that’s what you want. We both know this place is more useful to you than me-“

Her eyes widened, “What.” her voice wavered.

He took a step towards the door, “I’ll transfer the apartment's ownership to you whenever you want. If you need me-“

She ran towards him, not stopping until she stood directly before him.

“Levi, what are you saying?”

He couldn’t meet her eyes.

She searched his face, “That’s not what I want.”

His steel-gray eyes flashed to hers. Her heart skipping several beats when she saw the desperation in his eyes despite his gruff tone.

“What do you want.”

Her hands went to his chest. Her voice wavering, “I want you” -to stay.

His lips were on hers in an instant—stealing any incoming breath she had left. His arm wound around her waist, crushing her chest to his while slipping his hand up through her hair to hold her in place by the nape.

He pried her lips open with his and she couldn’t help but moan softly when he tilted his head to kiss her like he couldn’t get enough. His tongue moved against hers in that familiar way-that lit up her insides and left her weak to his advances. The butterflies in her gut kicked off at an unprecedented rate.

He drank her in with his lips. His grip on her faltering when she stumbled a bit—her sense of balance nowhere to be found.

Suddenly she was backed into the table. A short gasp leaving her lips when he grabbed her by the waist to sit her up on the tabletop.

He captured her lips once-more, her hands slipping around his neck in the process. A quiet sigh leaving his lips-mid kiss-at the feeling her chest being pressed up against his ignited.

His hand on her hip managed to find her skin once more. His fingers slipping underneath her shirt—his fingertips grazing her hip before cupping the curve of her waist. Her skin warm to his touch—he squeezed her waist, caressing-only to inadvertently make her shiver.

She immediately broke the kiss, only to flush when she met his gaze. She looked away-unable to maintain eye contact with him. Before he could let that bother him his eyes caught the untouched skin of her neck right before him-openly teasing him.

She gasped when she felt his lips latch onto her neck.

Her hands slid down his neck to his chest as she gripped his dress-shirt in her fists. The feeling of his warm mouth and teeth nipping at the sensitive skin of her neck was indescribable. Butterflies churned restlessly within her stomach.

His hand flat on the table by her side kept her from leaning away too far as she caved under his touch. His hand on her waist underneath her shirt slid up further. His palm slid over the skin of her ribs, his fingers grazing the edges of her bra.

A stuttered moan left her lips when his lips seemed to find a sweet spot on her neck. She lurched sensitively under his touch. Her hand on his shoulder squeezing tightly.

Her gaze flitted upto Levi’s when he backed up slightly. His steely, narrow eyes pierced into hers—making her body tremble slightly when he pressed his forehead to hers.

Her hands found the sides of his neck just as moved to make her lean back against the table.

“L-levi.” she nearly whispered, making him pause.

A deep hum emanated from his chest, “Hm.”

Her fingertips caressed the sides of his neck-scratching lightly in that way he liked it. His half lidded eyes fluttered close as his jaw locked.

He pressed his forehead into hers once-more, silently urging her to continue.

Her eyes widened when she realized he stood between her spread legs at the edge of the table. If her hips were a slight bit closer to the table’s edge her groin would’ve been right against his.

She shivered at the thought, before looking up to meet his gaze again.

“I’m a virgin.” she mumbled, her face hot.

He didn’t seem to react. Instead his silvery eyes seemed to search her face before his deep voice rumbled,

“You don’t think I can be gentle.”

Her face seemed to burn hotter, “Well.. I know it’s the last thing you want to be.”

She gasped when she was suddenly flat against the table. Her hands gripping his shoulders as he raised his forehead away from hers slightly, his face hovering before hers.

His dark gray eyes glimmered with barely veiled lust as he stared down at her. His ragged breaths trailed down her skin as he rasped, “The last.”

She blushed-hard.

She felt how tense his body was underneath the grip of her hands on his shoulders but.. to hear him sound like that. So restrained… it made her almost fearful of what was to come.

Her eyes flickered upto his, “How about this..”

Her heartbeat pounded rapidly within her chest as she came up with something on the spot, “If I leave my room door open.. at night.. that means I’m ready.”

His eyes widened and she couldn’t help but redden further.

She shifted slightly under him before placing her hand on the side of his face, “O-okay?”

A soft smile tugged at the end of his lip, he nodded. Strands of his black hair tickling her forehead.

The sight of his little smile stole all of her attention. He was just so handsome.

“Kiss me.” he ordered gruffly.

She intended to give him a peck but he pressed his lips down against hers—holding her lips captive for a moment longer. Her lips melting like butter under his.

He broke the kiss with a low sigh. His arm slipped around her back, easily lifting her upright as he stood up himself.

He stepped back, running a hand over his face before he noticed the other end of the table.

“You made the skewers go cold.” he grumbled.

When she didn’t respond he glanced over at her. His eyes widened when he noticed she was looking down at his lower region. He didn’t need to check himself to know he had a raging boner.

But to see her looking at it—all shy and nervous. Her hair disheveled and shirt rumpled from all their prior lip-lock. Her neck blooming with hickeys. His cock twisted in his pants, the tent growing noticeably larger.

Fuck.

His eyes narrowed, “Devon.”

She glanced up at him, eyes wide, only to glance back down again. She couldn’t seem to pry her eyes off of the bulge in his pants.

“Keep starin’ and I’m gonna make you do something about it.”

In truth he was embarrassed-really embarrassed-despite knowing it couldn’t be helped. Especially not with the way she drove him up the edge but taking control of the situation to watch her get flustered was always worth it.

The flush that spread across her cheeks was unmatched, “There’s nothing to stare at.”

She quickly hopped off the tabletop-intending to quickly pass him but his hand caught her wrist, yanking her towards him. His free hand clasped around her throat, pressing her back to his front.

She gasped when she felt the outline of his hard length against her bottom. Her body instinctively jerking away only for him to let go of her wrist and press his hand into her lower stomach–holding her in place. His hand at her navel didn’t stop though, continuously pressing her so that her bottom was flush against the tent at his groin. His cock throbbed appreciatively.

She twisted slightly under his hold before placing her hand over his at her navel–preventing his hand from going lower.

“L-levi..” she whined quietly, as his fingers tightened around her neck.

She heard his breath hitch before he turned his face into hers, his voice rough against her cheekbone.

“Nothing, huh.”

She shuddered and she swore she heard a low growl emit from his lips. It was taking everything in him to not grind his cock against her ass and bend her over the table to have his way. The warmth of her body felt too good against him. His cock was harder than stone-painfully so. He didn’t want the contact to end.

She swiftly pulled herself from his grasp–scurrying to the other side of the kitchen. He could’ve easily caught her but forced himself to keep it together. God knows what he would’ve done had she not slipped away just then. He didn’t want to act more impulsively than he already had–especially not after the consent she’d provided him today.

That was a lie. He wanted to act impulsively so bad… his cock was like a voice in his head, paying attention to every detail of her–making him lose his mind. But he cared more about her wishes and he was head-strong about that.

Or at least, one head was.

He watched her stand at the opposite end of the table. Her face flushed as she kept her arms crossed-unable to meet his eyes.

“That’s what I thought.” his low voice rumbled.

“I’m gonna kill him.” Levi muttered.

Devon was sitting on his lap, happily eating a chicken skewer when he’d asked her why she came home all guns ablaze today. She’d told him everything from top to bottom-starting from when the older woman had noticed her zoning out to when the bitter man bid her ‘good luck’ in that tone.

She was too happy to let that bitter man’s words get to her anymore. Maybe the food in her hands had something to do with it.

She looked over at him with a small smile, a playful squint to her eyes. “You want to kill everyone.”

“I don’t want to kill you.”

She paused, raising a brow, “Really?”

A moment of silence followed as he searched her face–completely expressionless, “Never mind.”

She broke out in a fit giggles and his eyes widened. He didn’t notice the small smile that had spread across his lips the longer he stared at her laugh. She always managed to make something within him melt.

His hand on her hip pulled her further up his lap. He reached over to wipe away a crumb from her bottom lip when her laughter subsided.

“You shouldn’t talk to strangers.” he advised, quietly.

“But the old lady looked nice.” she rebutted, lightly.

“You wouldn’t say the same about an old man.”

“What do you mean?”

His eyes narrowed as he saw her attempt to hide the shy yet goofy smile spreading across her lips.

She continued, “I’m with you after all.”

Just as she lifted herself off his lap, his hands found her hips–firmly planting her back down on his thigh. His hands were at her sides–tickling the living shit out of her. She gasped-twisting, turning, laughing all at once as she flailed within his arms.

“Levi! Stop—stop. Please–” she choked out through laughs.

He didn’t stop, only continuing to tickle her relentlessly, “Old man? That what I am to you.”

“I was joking–joking–ah!” she cried out through giggles.

He finally stopped, letting her head fall into his chest as she went limp from his tickles. She took a moment to catch her breath.

She finally opened her eyes, “You’re the worst.” she mumbled.

His small smile reappeared, “Mhm.”

She shoved his chest, “I mean it!”

There was a moment’s pause before he spoke.

“ ‘Oh I know that look. You’re in love, aren't you?’ “ he mocked the old woman’s words from the encounter she’d just recounted.

Her eyes widened. She’d meant to leave that detail out but he didn’t understand how Devon became tempted to share their ‘story’ to a stranger so she’d just told him. She hadn’t expected him to bring it up though.

She blushed-retorting, “She was just saying that. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“So you weren’t thinking of me.”

She blinked, “I-erm-I.. I was but-”

“That’s all I need to hear.”

She glanced up at him-her heart skipping a beat. Despite the words coming from his typical low, flat tone–the words felt oddly gentle.

She straightened up slightly, feeling shy. Maybe it was childish of her but the ‘L’ word felt rather intimidating. Not in the sense that she was simply scared to say it but because she still wasn’t sure if she knew what it fully meant. In her mind the closest she felt connected to the word was when she thought of how she would do anything in the world for her friends.

Would I do anything in the world for Levi?

The first time she’d said those three words was to her adoptive father. Even if she’d said the words innocently-and meant it as purely as a child would’ve, it left a scar. One that wasn’t physical–because we all knew how that had turned out.

Levi assessed her quietly. Watching her eat in silence without that usual spark in her eye. He knew something was brewing in her little mind.

His hand went to her temple, tucking her hair behind her ear. His silver eyes raked down the darkening hickeys on her neck. The sight shouldn't have elicited the deep rooted wave of satisfaction that it did.

“Oi.” he spoke calmly-forcing himself to focus on the task at hand.

She glanced over at him.

“What’re you thinking about so hard.”

She blinked before a soft smile spread across her lips. Who am I kidding–I’d do anything for him.

The realization made her heart flutter and also made a small laugh leave her lips. She couldn’t help but think of how absurd it was for her to realize right after he asked such a question.

She leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, “Nothing.” she murmured, airily, before turning back to her food. He watched her continue to eat with wide eyes.

He sighed-before grumbling as he squeezed her hips, “Keep doin’ that and this old man’s never gonna let you go.”

She blushed, “Maybe that’s the goal.”

“Careful what you wish for.”

He began to tickle her again and she cried out, “Levi!!”

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clumsy-jiminie · 1 year

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ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ ᴄᴏᴅᴇꜱ | ᴊᴊᴋ | ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ

◦ ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ :: mafia!jungkook x mafia!female reader

◦ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ :: 18+

◦ ɢᴇɴʀᴇ :: mature content, angst, smut, mafia!au

◦ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ :: 10.2k ( this is becoming a habit )

◦ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ :: smut - dry humping, dirty talking, taunting, oral ( f. receiving ), fingering, use of pet name - baby, jk simply adores you, a disgusting amount of fluff for the type of story this is ( in my opinion ), cursing, mc is terrified of falling, jk is an asshole but one of those damn you’re still hot assholes, really a filler chapter tbh

↠ ɴᴇxᴛ :: ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ :: ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪɴᴅᴇx ↞

You lay in your bed, hands resting on your stomach as you stared at your ceiling. The beginnings of the morning were peeking out behind the horizon. You sighed deeply to yourself. You got 3-4 hours of sleep, maybe. You were restless, constantly tossing and turning before succumbing to your mind and giving up. Your senses were running wild. Phantoms of where he touched you linger amongst your intimate parts. It felt so real, like he was still here pressing his thumb against your clitoris. You were so close — just a few more moments, and you would’ve been over the moon with ecstasy. But he ripped that away from you, essentially blue-balling you for the first time in your life.

You tried to put those feelings to rest with your hand hovering over his ghostly touch, but it was to no avail. It wasn’t enough. Your body knew it was just a pity attempt to recreate what you had, refusing your satisfaction unless you had the real thing. As a result, insomnia struck and forced you to watch the sun as it rose. Frustration grew inside of you with each passing moment. How could he get you started like that and then just leave? How could he act like that wasn’t the first time you’ve kissed him in months? You were always unsure where you stood with him — sometimes it was obvious that he wanted you, but most times, it was like he was indifferent towards you. But then, out of nowhere, he decides that kissing you was no longer a risk. He even decided to push it further than just a kiss, going as far as fingering you in the kitchen. All because of his jealousy. All to prove a point to no one.

You pushed yourself out of bed and walked out of your room. You took deliberate footsteps down the quiet hallway, cautious not to wake the inhabitants around you. You approached a room, quietly turning the door knob and slipping through the crack. Just as you anticipated, Jeongguk was sitting on the edge of his bed. His head hung low, probably staring down at his phone. This was around the time he would come to wake you up to practice boxing. You shut the door behind you, causing him to glance over his shoulder at the noise. He watched as you walked around his bed until you stopped before him through half-closed eyes filled with sleep. You were surprised to see him in just a pair of black boxer briefs. You thought he would’ve at least worn pajama pants to bed. He noticed your furrowed brows and scrunched nose, the cutest angry face he had ever seen. Dressed in one of his t-shirts, you folded your arms over your chest while looking down at him.

“What are you—” You quickly placed a finger to his lips, stopping the gravelly heaven-like sound coming out of his mouth. Jeongguk's eyes went wide as you looked at him, confusion flooding his face.

You removed your finger from his mouth before placing your hands on his shoulders. You then pushed him back, causing him to land on the bed. “You’re an asshole,” you kept your voice low enough for only him to hear. While you sat on top of him, straddling his hips, you repeated yourself. “Such an asshole.”

He quirked a brow, suppressing the excitement that wanted to coarse through his body. The warmth between your legs, placed directly on his groin, was enough to drive him insane. He didn’t want to show how much he was about to enjoy whatever you had in mind. “Is that so?” He teased as his hands found your thighs, playing with the hem of your shirt.

You nodded once as you reached down to grab his hands with yours, interlocking your fingers together. “And for that,” you whispered as you suddenly leaned forward and pinned him to the bed. His eyes grew wide for a second, glancing at both his hands before he looked at you again. “I get payback.”

“Payback?” His brows furrowed together, trying to figure out what kind of payback this would be. Maybe you weren’t here to make his last wet dream come true.

You smirked while nodding. “Payback,” you repeated just as you slid your hips back. You felt his cock twitch between the thin pieces of fabric that kept your intimate areas separate. You began to rock your hips back and forth against him. Your grip on his hands tightened as he let out a low groan. You tried to keep your moans at bay by biting down on your lower lip. You felt him growing harder with each stroke as you grew wetter. The clothed friction was way better than you expected, almost as good as his fingers last night.

Your hips moved steadily, slowly back and forth, against his hardening length. Within seconds, his member was full of blood and stiff as a rock. The direct attention from your hips was enjoyable, but you didn’t even have to do that to get him hard. All you had to do was merely glance in his direction, flash him that soft smile of yours, and he was ready to go. Surprisingly, you would never notice. You were either too focused on the training or other things. Too focused to realize you could just give him the word, and he would be ready to please you. Words couldn’t describe how great it felt to have something other than his hand stroking him. You began to pick up your pace. Your dampness began to create a small wet spot in your panties where it clung to you.

“Fuck,” he sighed as his hips gently bucked upwards. His breathy moan sent a chill down your spine, encouraging you to keep going. You released his wrists from your grip, leaning back into an upright position as his hands rested against his abdomen. The new placement provided a closer feeling, causing a moan to slip past your lips. "Just like that, baby," he moaned as he stared at your grey panties pushing against his black boxer briefs. It’s only been a few minutes, but you were already close to that release you craved. Your hips slowed a little, switching to long strokes with a pause. You needed the feeling to calm down a little, not wanting your fun to end so soon. You tried to keep the growing ball of warmth dancing right along that line of ecstasy.

Jeongguk’s hands found your thighs once again as he watched you. Eyes shut with your head tossed back, exposing your neck, which was prime for his markings. Your mouth hung open slightly, little, breathy moans slipping out before you silenced them by biting down on your lower lip. God, if only you knew how sexy you were. He could have this image of you framed in his room. He wanted — no, needed — to see more of you.

"Take this off for me," he directed. He grabbed the hem of your shirt, raising it before you took the rest and pulled it over your head. When you glanced down at him, you swore he made the same face when he first saw you topless. The same look of pure adoration — like you were a piece of art. He didn't hesitate to run his hand up your side, cupping one of your breasts in his palm. You hummed with delight as his thumb swiped over your nipple once before continuing to rub it in the same motion as your hips. Your nipples stiffened from the attention, pushing you closer to that edge as your pace increased.

"God, you feel so fucking good." He groaned as his free hand gripped your hip, pushing you down a little to add more friction. Both of you struggled to hold back your moans. It was the first time in a long time you felt this good, and you were getting lost in the incredible amount of pleasure. He let go of your breast and pushed himself to sit up. He quickly mumbled a, "C'mere," before crashing his lips into yours. The kiss was nothing like last night. It wasn't a slow build-up to show what he wanted — he laid it all on the line from the beginning. The kiss was messy, full of want as your tongues glided past each other. Your hips started to slow, becoming too distracted by how amazing his lips felt against yours. Your arms wrapped around his shoulders. His cold hands were placed on your back and hip, causing you to jump slightly from his touch. He pulled you in closer, your bare chests pressing against each other. Your nipples brushed gently against his skin, a moan slipping past your lips.

He turned to the side, causing you to land on the bed underneath him. As he propped himself up onto his elbows, he continued the pace you set before. He grinds his hips into yours with skill, making you wish you had the real thing again. He leaned up, supporting himself with his hands now. He then grabbed your legs. He placed your calves on his shoulder while his hips started to move faster. It felt much different now that he was in control. He knew what speed he should be going and how much pressure he should add to drive you wild. It was all so intense. You shivered violently before pulling away, a loud moan escaping before he quickly hushed you. Jeongguk then backed away, crawling off of you. He stood by the side of his bed before grabbing your legs and pulling you closer to him. Your butt hung halfway off the edge as you looked up at him, anticipating his next move.

He took a moment to stare at the art before him — how your chest slightly raised and fell as you panted, the flushed tone that spread across your skin, and the darkened area in your panties covering your core. Fucking hell, if he could take a picture, he would.

“Look at you,” he taunted, “sprawled out on my bed with your panties drenched. Did you come here just to use my cock?”

His words stirred you, making the ball of arousal inside of you shake with excitement. He knew your type. After spending enough time with you, he took note of the quick remarks. Whenever he assigned you a task, no matter big or small, there was always a little resistance. You were a brat to your center. And he wanted that bratty side to come out and play. But you weren't going to stoop to his level. You weren't going to give in to him. You knew he wouldn't be able to handle your mouth. And with him giving off this dominant energy, the silent treatment would piss him off just as much.

He quirked a brow, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Oh? Now you don’t wanna answer me?” He scoffed, “That’s fine, you don’t have to.”

Feeling satisfied that your silent treatment worked, you basked in your success. That was until you felt a sudden cool breeze. Jeongguk pulled your panties away from your core, the material fighting him a little from the wetness you gathered. He stared at your glistening core, unable to help himself as he slid his finger against your swollen clit. You inhaled deeply, eyes shutting as you let out a long moan. Then his fingers disappeared.

“Keep that same energy then. I don’t want to hear a fucking sound from you.”

Jeongguk pulled down his boxer briefs before you felt his tip slide between your lips and right against your clitoris. Your panties kept his shaft in place, pressed against your heat while he rocked his hips back and forth. The direct stimulation to your clitoris caused you to gasp out in pleasure when he suddenly stopped.

“What did I say?”

You stared up at his face, seriousness etched behind his eyes full of desire. As you pressed your lips together, you nodded your head and he continued to set a pace from before. This was supposed to be about your payback. When the hell did he become the one in control? You had to regain back your composure. You had to be on top again. But his skin against yours felt so amazing, pushing you closer to the edge. He quickened his pace, looking down at the marvelous sight as he held your legs apart. You slapped your hand over your mouth to stop any noise from slipping out while he was moaning and breathing up a storm. That didn't help. You wanted your moans to mix with his. You wanted him to hear how good he was making you feel.

“You look like you're struggling over there, Y/N. Is there something you wanna say?” He breathed, chuckling lightly. You shook your head quickly, not wanting him to win in any kind of way. You were strong, you had to be strong. “You sure, baby?” You arched your back a little, almost letting a whimper slip out. He had to know what that word did to you at this point. “It seems like you’re holding something back.”

He was such an asshole. He knew what command he just gave you, yet here he was teasing you about it. Did he not know how hard it was to not scream out his name? No, he knew, he wanted to see how long you were going to be able to hold it together.

He then pulled his member out from your panties, causing you to exhale deeply through your nose. Finally, he gave you a break. But then he got down onto his knees, pulling your underwear to the side. Jeongguk couldn't help himself, leaning forward before he pressed his tongue flat against your clit. Your eyes went cross, and shocks of pleasure jolted through your system as your eyes rolled into the back of your head. A soft moan parted from his throat as he moved his tongue in waves against your sensitive bud before swirling around it. God, how he missed how you tasted. He hooked his arms around your thighs, holding you in place as he lapped at your sex. He was only supposed to tease you — give himself a little taste — but he easily got carried away. Your fingers gripped his sheets tightly as he took no mercy. He had to force himself to pull away, chuckling softly at the few whimpers and whines that did slip out of you now and then. You were trying so hard. Jeongguk rested his hand on top of your heat. He rubbed quick circles onto your bud with his thumb, your back arching at his touch. Your legs trembled as everything inside of you wanted to scream out. You wanted to make sure he heard how easily his fingers could make you come undone. It was almost painful to hold back these sounds. You've never been told to stay quiet before. You hated every second of this punishment.

“Please,” you whimpered out, feeling your high approaching.

“Ah? What’s that?”

You whined. The ability to form sentences failed you as your mind clouded with arousal.

Jeongguk smirked, feeling accomplished that he had you begging. He knew damn well how desperately you needed to moan. You were never one to hold back, and he was going to make sure to keep this little challenge in his back pocket whenever you wanted to be a smart ass.

“Let me hear you.”

All the moans and whimpers poured out of you, followed by a sprinkle of curse words. Jeongguk’s cock throbbed as he watched you reach the peak of your orgasm. Your body trembled while your hips rocked against his fingers, riding out your high until the only sound remaining was panting. He pulled his hand away before crawling over you, situating himself between your legs where his length pressed up against your throbbing core. You whined from the pressure, still highly sensitive from before. As your eyes opened and looked up at him, you watched as he stuck his fingers in his mouth, licking off your slick.

Fuck, why was he so hot?

“That was payback?” He smirked as his hand found your cheek, thumb caressing your warmed skin.

“Yes,” you breathed, confident that your plan still worked. “You didn’t get off,” your legs then wrapped around his hips, ankles crossing as you pulled him into you. You both hummed, half tempted to start grinding into him again.

He knew you were going to try to take an eye for an eye — he blue-balled you, so you did the same. “Mmm, I don’t need to,” he said before leaning in to place a quick kiss on your lips, “watching you get off is more than enough.”

Heat flooded your cheeks before you tried to push him off, attempting to hide the shyness spreading on your face by turning your head to the side. He chuckled, his heart becoming full as he made you look at him again. "So cute," he mumbled before pressing his lips against yours again. He kissed you so sweetly, so delicately, that your stomach did a flip from the affection. It felt different than the last. Why did it feel so different? Could this...? No, don't be ridiculous. It was just the mix of happy drugs in your system, that's all. It was the cocktail of oxytocin and dopamine. Even though the way his hand ran down your thigh gave you chills. And how he would pull away only to return to your lips a few seconds later made you giggle. It was because of your orgasm. Nothing else.

He rolled into his back, bringing you with him. His hands glided across your skin until they reached your waist before finally breaking the kiss. He rested his head on his comforter, letting out a content sigh as his eyes closed. It felt so nice to have you around, just near him. It made him sleepy like you were a walking dose of melatonin. You stared at his resting face, his eyes furrowing for a moment before relaxing again. With your lips pressed into a small smile, you carefully tried to sit up so you could leave him to rest. His grip on your waist tightened and caused you to stop.

“Where are you going?” He asked without opening his eyes.

“Um, back to my room? To let you sleep?”

He opened one eye, peeking at you before closing it again. “No.”

“No?” This was the first time he ever opposed you leaving. Before, if you ever wanted to leave, he would tell you to close the door on your way out. You figured he enjoyed whatever alone time he gets since it’s so rare now.

“Stay.” Your eyes went wide at his demand. “Nap with me, it’s not like you haven’t done it before.”

You were quiet for a moment before finally sliding off of him and finding your spot on his chest. You’ve napped with him after workouts quite often. It was convenient for you to stay in his bed since you used his shower, after all. But this felt different, more intimate than what you were used to. As you traced random shapes against his skin, watching him relax under this simple touch, you couldn’t ignore the overwhelming feeling of peacefulness. Something about him just felt right. You heard his light snores soon after, listening to his slowed heart rate as he slept. The rhythmic beats put you to sleep once again.

The soft beeps of Jeongguk's phone stirred him awake. He groaned, did an hour pass already? He swore he had just fallen asleep two seconds ago. He leaned back a little, rubbing his eye with the back of his free hand. Your back was against him with barely any space between you. You were a mover whenever you slept, and today you wanted to be close. Most days, you end up on the other side of his bed, practically dangling off the edge despite starting close to him. On other days, you wanted to feel his skin against yours. You were interesting, and he enjoyed that. One of his arms draped along your midriff, where he found his hand casually cupping your breast. This shocked him for a moment before prompting a small, childish, giggle from him. When was the last time he fell asleep next to a woman? Was it you? No way... He has hooked up with other women since you, but has he never spent the night? Oh, man.

Would it be wrong to skip breakfast and morning assignments? He already knew it was his day you watch you while the other members went out and about, and you would probably end up doing this — napping in his bed or stealing his phone to play whatever games he has — anyway. He debated for a moment, looking down at your features as you quietly slept without a worry in mind. He sighed deeply. If he didn’t come, Namjoon would probably find his way up here, and he didn’t want to deal with the mess that would bring. So he reluctantly peeled himself away from you. He was careful, making sure you stayed off in dreamland. After successfully leaving the bed, a skill that would be useful in parenthood, he stood up and grabbed a pair of sweatpants that were nearby. As he grabbed his phone off the bed, he heard a whimper from you. Small and soft, barely apparent had the room not been dead silent. Could you have noticed his presence already gone, or were you in some kind of nightmare? He froze in place — arm outstretched in mid-grab as he tried to steady his balance so he wouldn’t fall. He held his breath, watching as you shifted your position before relaxing again. He let out a soft sigh of relief, and a chuckle followed as he shook his head. He grabbed his phone before leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss to your temple.

He headed to his door, quietly opening it just enough to slip through the crack before closing it behind him. All he had to do was get through breakfast so he could return to his rightful spot next to you. Maybe you’ll do the little thing with your nails again that always seemed to knock him out. He rubbed the remaining crust out of his eyes as he started to walk down the hall.

“Oh, hey!” The sudden sound of Jimin’s voice caused the man to jump slightly. Jeongguk turned around to see the blonde who was way too excited for the time being.

Through half-closed lids, Jeongguk grumbled out a low “Hello.”

“Have you seen Y/N?” He asked while pointing his thumb behind him, towards your room. “Jin’s making pancakes, and I wanted to make sure she got some.”

His nose scrunched for a second. Will he ever leave you alone? Ever since Jeongguk suggested him for night duty, Jimin was suddenly nice to you. It was weird, considering he was so for roughing you up to get the code. And now he’s buying you dresses, flirting with you so obviously that it was painful, and making sure you get food. Come on. There’s a line between being courteous and having an interest in someone. All of these concerns were boyfriend things — things Jeongguk should’ve been doing himself. Not saying that Jimin shouldn’t be nice to you, but his niceties should only extend so far. If only Jimin knew how you were laying in his bed half naked, exhausted from the orgasm he just gave you, then maybe he could back the fuck off.

Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it, Jeongguk thought to himself.

“She’s in my bed.”

Well fuck.

Jimin’s eyes widen, then his brows furrowed as he tilted his head to the side slightly. “What—?”

“Just kidding!” Jeongguk quickly said, letting out an awkward chuckle afterward. He could already feel his palms developing a coat of sweat over them. He didn’t know why he was suddenly nervous. Maybe because the chances of Jimin coming out of character and opening that mouth of his to Namjoon was slim to none, but not zero. What if he decided he wanted you to himself and tried to cut Jeongguk out of the picture? He could have a whole plan set up and is just waiting for the perfect moment, collecting evidence to show that Jeongguk has been flirting and getting close to the captive. You were supposed to be just a fuck buddy, solely there because the sex you have is outstanding. But he has now seen sides of you a fuck buddy isn’t supposed to see, sides that opened his eyes a little more than he would’ve liked.

“She’s just showering right now. If you need her that bad, I can go let her know.”

Jimin’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment. “You’ve gotten that comfortable with her?”

Jeongguk simply shrugged, “I do hang out with her every other day now, so we are pretty close.” There was a cockiness to his tone as he folded his arms over his chest, a smirk forming on his lips. Despite Jimin’s efforts, the younger will always have a one-up on him for quality time.

The blonde quirked an eyebrow, half a smirk forming on his lips as he let out a soft scoff. “Oh, so you know about where she grew up?” Jeongguk’s smirk instantly dropped and transferred to Jimin’s face. “Or about her favorite anime to watch? Or what about—?”

“Enough,” Jeongguk stated as his brow lowered.

Jimin chuckled as he stepped closer to the other man. “What’s wrong? Starting to realize you know absolutely nothing about your little crush?” Jeongguk remained silent, glaring at him while the realization sunk in. How could he have missed all the most basic information? It was the first step in getting to know someone, and he completely skipped it all because he had a one-night stand with you. He knew how to make you cum and moan for more, but didn’t even know your favorite color.

“You know,” Jimin started, “I wasn’t going after her, I was just trying to be her friend.”

Jeongguk scoffed. “Yeah right, with all the flirting you do? Anyone could spot your interest from a mile away.”

Jimin’s eyes narrowed, “Then let me confirm your suspicions. You, now, have some competition, Jeongguk.” He pushed past the taller man, his shoulder bumping into Jeongguk’s as he made his way to the stairs.

“What happened to she’s a captive, Park?” Jeongguk shot back, turning to face the man.

“She’s a part of the team now, it’s fair game.” He replied before walking down the stairs.

“Fuck,” Jeongguk mumbled to himself. He thought he had the upper hand solely based on the intimacy you two shared. But now since Jimin confirmed his interest in you and knew things about you Jeongguk didn’t even think to ask, what if your interest wavers? What if you decide Jimin is the better fit? He just had to go open his stupid mouth. He didn’t want to think about the possibilities, he couldn’t if he wanted to make sure Namjoon had no clue. He shook his arms and legs as if to rid himself of the want to punch Jimin in his pretty face before continuing his path downstairs.

Once he reached the bottom of the steps, he heard a very familiar giggle. Jeongguk let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes as he prepared himself to encounter the most annoying person. As soon as he turned the corner and walked toward the kitchen, he heard a shrill squeal.

“JeonJeon!!” She squealed again as she ran over to Jeongguk.

He forced a smile, besides feeling her hands pinching at his cheeks. "Ms. Yong-Su—"

“Oh stop it!” She cut him off before playfully slapping his bare chest. “I told you to call me Solar so many years ago.” Her hands then instantly went back to his cheeks, “You make me feel so old JeonJeon!”

Taehyung and Jimin couldn’t help but snicker at the scene in front of them. Solar was the only one in the world who could call Jeongguk that, and he absolutely hated it. He didn’t want to disrespect the women, but it was just a horrid nickname. And it was all because she found out his birth name. Even though he goes by Kim since being adopted, Solar gets a hoot out of Jeon Jeongguk.

He should’ve shot Seokjin in the foot for showing her that.

After the proper assault on Jeongguk’s face, Solar returned to Seokjin’s aid with making breakfast. Jeongguk took a seat in between the giggling Jimin and Taehyung, promptly telling them to shut up as he sunk into his seat.

“Thanks for the warning,” Jeongguk mumbled to Jimin.

A smirk played on the blonde’s lips. “Well, I thought you knew since it seemed like you know everything.”

Jeongguk rolled his eyes as Namjoon finally joined, allowing everyone to sit down and enjoy breakfast while he gave out their assignments. Just as Jeongguk assumed, he was assigned to watch you today. After breakfast, Jeongguk started to gather everyone’s plates to clean up.

“Jeongguk,” Namjoon said just as he set the stack of plates down. The tone he used sent a chill down his spine. He glanced at his elder over his shoulder. “Join me in my office, please.” Please? Something was wrong. Namjoon rarely used the word 'please'. Maybe towards Seokjin and Hoseok, but never anyone younger than him. Jeongguk nodded before following the man to his office. He closed the door behind him as Namjoon sat at his desk.

“I heard some interesting sounds this morning,” he folded his hands neatly on his desk while looking up at his younger. Jeongguk instantly grew tense, already seeing the beginning of the end in his mind. “Care to explain?”

His blood ran cold. What was with everyone today? First Jimin, now Namjoon? Everyone seemed to be on to something, and he could’ve sworn he’s been careful — only having slip-ups when it came to Hoseok and Taehyung. Was he wrong? Was it possible they opened their mouth and told?

These were thoughts for another time. He could visibly see the patience running thin on Namjoon’s face. Keep it cool, he thought to himself.

He shrugged nonchalantly, his eyes glancing to a spot in Namjoon’s office that held a small plum tree. “Maybe it was from Jin’s room. Solar’s here and we both know how they get when they're together.”

Namjoon’s eyebrow quirked for a moment, only for him to nod his head afterward. He could vividly remember the many occurrences where he had to walk out of his room, butt-ass naked occasionally, to tell them to shut the fuck up. Solar is a screamer, and Seokjin seems to be an overachiever. But he knew Seokjin wasn’t here this morning because he was out getting Solar from the airport. So he just let out a sigh. Namjoon could use this to his advantage in the future. He leaned back in his chair before reaching into a drawer and pulling out a piece of paper. He placed it on the desk before sliding it out towards Jeongguk. “There’s a bounty out for her.”

Jeongguk’s eyes grew wide as he stepped forward, almost snatching the paper from him. His eyes hurriedly scanned over the black ink. In large, bold, letters was the word wanted, followed by a CCTV picture of you walking into what he could assume to be your building and a price underneath. “800,000 US dollars?! That’s a little over 1 billion won!” He looked at Namjoon who nodded. 1 billion just to deliver you to a specific address… “This can’t be real.”

He shrugged, leaning back in his chair again. “Someone really wants her.”

Jeongguk slowly put the paper down. His mind was working overtime, trying to figure out a reason why Namjoon shouldn't claim the money. You were useful — he knew so deep down in his gut. He just had to make sure Namjoon knew that. He grew quiet as his brows furrowed.

“This could solve our problems and then some,” Namjoon stated.

He was right, but a bounty of this amount couldn't mean good news for you. No way did this person just want you because they missed you or wanted to know you were safe. Say they handed you in, as soon as the people who made this bounty got what they needed from you, you were probably as good as dead. Namjoon thought the same of you, you were only worth the code in your head, but you deserved so much more.

“Do you think this is more than what’s in the safe?”

Namjoon’s brows furrowed. “1 billion won? You think her father would put that much away for her?”

“We don’t know what her father could’ve put away for her. It could be half a trillion.” Jeongguk watched as Namjoon’s facial expression relaxed, then grew tense again. He was deep in thought, pondering the other’s words. “Do you wanna take that risk for what could be less money?”

"Has she even hinted at anything about the safe?" He suddenly asked. Jeongguk became an icicle. "I know we agreed to do things your way, but nothing is coming from it."

“I just need to spend more time with her, that’s all. She needs to feel comfortable.” Jeongguk was slowly but surely prying you open. You were already comfortable to lay with him, so he just needed to get deeper. “She needs to feel like she’s needed here — like she’s part of the team.”

"But she isn't," Namjoon retorted. "She's useless and already caused trouble even though we agreed that she would be treated as one of us."

“You broke her fucking pinky yesterday and expect her to just drop the code to the safe right after?” Jeongguk scoffed. “You probably set us back ten steps just by doing that shit.”

Namjoon's eyes narrowed, glaring at the other over the lens of his glasses. "Watch your fucking mouth when you talk to me," he said sternly, sending a chill down Jeongguk's spine. He then leaned back into his chair. "She tried to run away and needed to be taught a lesson. Now every time she even thinks of doing something stupid like that, her pinky will twitch. Besides, she couldn't even get a fucking drug run down."

"Maybe that's not where her skills are! She's had everything handed to her her whole life, so stealing wouldn't be something she needed to learn. We know she could fight. We just need to apply her skills to the appropriate situations."Namjoon sighed deeply, taking his glasses off for a moment. He pinched his nose bridge between two fingers to delay the incoming headache. "Why don't we put her on the next mission?" Jeongguk suggested. "We've been scouting that house for weeks, and I just know she would be perfect."

Namjoon glanced at his younger. There was one quality Jeongguk seemed to possess that Namjoon could never grasp; hopefulness. Jeongguk always saw people’s potential rather than taking them as they were. Sometimes he’s right, Hoseok being the prime example, and he hasn’t been wrong until you. He put his glasses back on, “I’ll think about it. You’re dismissed.”

Jeongguk managed to suppress the smirk that wanted to grow on his face. Whenever Namjoon would say he'd think about something, it was practically a yes in disguise. He only said it to keep you on your toes and make you unsure, but Jeongguk knew his brother. He walked out of his office and headed back to the kitchen. After he finished cleaning up, he walked upstairs to his room. He quietly entered. He hoped you didn’t wake up and leave after realizing he wasn’t there. But a glance at his bed laid that fear to rest. He was glad you decided to stay, snuggled into his pillow with half of his blanket dangled over you. He made sure to lock his door before crawling into bed behind you. He wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him before falling asleep again.

You shifted your position a little — changing from your stomach to your side, where your back pressed against Jeongguk’s chest again. Your body was trying to wake you up by making you toss and turn. But you fought it, forcing yourself to stay in your dreamland where a shirtless Jeongguk was riding horseback with an extra cheese pizza in hand. You felt his heavy arm thump across your waist, only taking you out of your precious dream for a second. You managed to return safely, finally getting comfortable…

“Ahh!~”

What the fuck?

One of your eyes shot open at the sound. Was that…? No. It was probably something from your dreams. Maybe Jeongguk stepped on a crab or something, causing such a high-pitched sound to come from him. In reality, the quiet snores from the man behind you confirmed the sound was definitely from your dreams. Silence fell over the room once again, prompting your eyes to close. You fell into slumber once again with ease.

“Oh my god!~” Your eyes shot open again. OK, that was definitely too high to be anywhere near Jeongguk’s voice. Is someone moaning right now? So loudly that you wouldn’t be surprised if they were getting banged right against the door. Who had the absolute audacity to do such a thing? They had to know other people lived in this house.

"Oh god, oh god... Jin!~" The high-pitched squeal caused a groan to part from your throat. Fucking Jin. For some reason, you pictured Hoseok or even Jimin having obnoxiously loud sex. Seokjin seemed too uptight to even gaze at a pair of boobs. Has it finally started? The inevitable downside of living with a group of men? Why wouldn't Seokjin wait until later to enjoy his sexual hobbies? It was 11 in the morning! The moans continued, growing louder at particular points before calming down for a second before starting up again. Jeongguk finally let out a guttural groan. He pulled the arm wrapped around your middle even closer as if it was possible.

"God, not again," he mumbled. His lips were by your ear, his breath gently ticking you. Jeongguk's morning voice was nothing to mess around with. You noticed it earlier when you first entered his room but were too encased in the thought of revenge to enjoy it. Now that you were relaxed, and your mind was empty, you could appreciate it in all of its glory. It was deep and gravelly, but it wasn't rough at all. His tone was still soft, dipped in sleepiness. After he released the grip on you, he turned onto his back and stretched out his limbs.

“Again?” You questioned as you turned to face him. “As in this happens often?” You room right next to the man, and since you’ve been here, it’s been nothing but silence.

He nodded his head as he hummed. “Solar’s here, so Jin is making up for the missed time.”

There was another obnoxiously loud moan that dragged out. The look you shared with Jeongguk was one of utter disgust. Seokjin was akin to an older brother to Jeongguk, so as happy as he was to know he was finally getting some, he was just as easily disgusted to hear the odd low grunt or moan coming from Seokjin. For you, hearing someone having intercourse always made you remarkably uncomfortable. Sure, it was a very human thing to do, and you participated in the activity yourself. But living by yourself, you didn't have to worry about hearing a roommate getting it on. It felt so wrong, so forbidden, so... dirty. It was an intimate act shared between two people, and hearing it made you feel like a third.

Jeongguk glanced at you, watching the slow wave of discomfort wash over your face. You looked stuck for a moment as if you were trying to drown out the noise with only your mind. "Come on," he said suddenly while getting up. He picked up your shirt from the floor and tossed it to you before picking up his own.

You caught the t-shirt and pushed yourself up. You tried drowning out the moans that seemed to be getting louder by the second with some conversation since just pretending it wasn’t there failed. “Where are we going?” You asked as you slid the oversized material on your body.

He did the same as he walked towards one of his windows. “Somewhere where we can’t hear this shit.” He opened his blinds, allowing sunlight to enter the incredibly dim room. He then opened his window and crawled through it. He looked at you, assuming he was standing on some part of the roof, outstretching an offering hand to you. “Come on.”

Come on, he said like he wasn't just asking you to crawl out of a window. You acted tough, walking towards him where you took his hand. You climbed onto the window-sill where your body began to give you away. You started to tremble as fear coursed through you. Now, you didn't necessarily have a fear of heights, it was when the chance of falling came into play. You hated the feeling of it, never knowing when the ground was going to come. Being suspended in midair as seconds felt like hours until you're untimely doom was horrid. As you gripped Jeongguk's hand for dear life, resulting in a quirked eyebrow from him, you were suddenly reminded of those coming-of-age movies. You know, the one where the teen sneaks out to see their significant other or go out with their friends where something life-changing happens? It felt like you were the star, and in front of you was your best friend who always had the worst ideas. You've always wondered what it was like to sneak out of a window, but now you could tell this was not for you. You never needed to do so anyway. Your father's home was heavily guarded as a teen, so sneaking out of a window was instant game over. You preferred picking locks, considering it was much easier to bribe some guards with doe eyes instead of running from attack dogs.

Jeongguk watched as you made each precise move. He chuckled softly, realizing this may have been your first time climbing out of a window. “Are you scared?” He asked.

“No!” You quickly shot back despite the death grip on his hand and the window sill. “I ain’t scared of anything,” you mumbled to yourself. After firmly placing your bare feet on the rough textured tile you glared up at the man. “See!” You gestured to your feet as if to prove your point to him, but you were proving it to yourself. It wasn’t as bad as you thought.

Jeongguk let out a laugh until he heard the quiet cracking of the tile beneath your feet. All at once, you were wrapped in that dreaded feeling. A squeal escaped your lips as you lost your balance. Lucky enough, Jeongguk was quick to act. He reached out and grabbed your arm, pulling you forward with more force than needed. Your body collided with his, and your arms wrapped around his torso tightly. You were panting heavily, trying to calm the quickened thuds of your heart as you heard the tile hit the ground below you. Adrenaline worked through your veins as you glanced down at what could’ve easily been you.

“I guess I should’ve told you to watch your step, huh?” Jeongguk said, a faint smirk playing on his lips.

Your eyes narrowed as you looked up at him. “You think?!” You took another glance at the tile on the floor. “I could’ve fucking died!”

A chuckle escapes his lips. With a hand placed firmly on your lower back, he used the other to close the window. “You’re so dramatic. If anything, you would’ve bruised something.”

“I could’ve broken a leg! Or an ankle!” Jeongguk laughed at you again, prompting an eye roll from you. “Oh haha, I’m glad you find my pain amusing.” Fed up with his cute giggles, you placed a hand on his chest and pushed at him. He stumbled back, freeing you of his grasp. “Get off of me,” you pouted. Jeongguk’s laughter died as he raised his hands in the air, showing his compliance with your demand. “Yeah, keep those hands where I can—”

Somehow, you lost your balance again. Your feet weren’t used to the slight curve of the tile. You let out another squeal as your arms wailed desperately in a circle, hoping to keep yourself from delaying the inevitable at this point. This was it. You were going to fall and hit the ground, cracking your skull open on the cement as you watched the world around you fade to black. And the last person you were going to see was Jeongguk. It was a bittersweet feeling. He wasn’t the first person you’d want to see before you die but wasn’t the last. Just as you were about to accept fate, Jeongguk came to the rescue. He grabbed the material of your shirt this time before yanking you toward him once again. Your arms wrapped around his body just as tightly as you shut your eyes.

Jeongguk could feel you trembling again. Your little hands gripped onto as much of his shirt as you could, trying to anchor yourself to him. “It’s alright,” he cooed as he stroked your hair. “I got you.” Suddenly, something inside of you shifted. Your heart was no longer thudding from nearly falling to your doom, but now a different type of falling. You squeezed his shirt in your hands as your face hid in his chest. You started feeling a little more at ease with him being so gentle.

“Fuck you,” you mumbled. It was a self-defense mechanism. You felt small, and you didn’t like feeling that way. It was scary feeling yourself grow this comfortable with someone who may have had ill intentions at a point.

“That could be arranged.” You could practically hear the smirk on his lips.

“Ugh, shut up. You’re so gross.”

“That’s not what you said this morning.”

Your eyes suddenly opened wide with shock as you finally looked up at the man. “Jeongguk!” All he did was offer you a cheeky grin. The happiness spread from his system to yours, forcing you to suppress the smile that desperately wanted to form.

“You know you like it,” he said confidently while winking at you.

You rolled your eyes, ignoring the singular butterfly that fluttered in your stomach. He was so annoying, making you feel these things. “So are we actually gonna go somewhere or was your plan just to stand on the roof?”

“We are going somewhere,” he stated, “but that all depends on if you’re good to walk.”

“I am!” You answered quickly, but you slowly released your grip on him. You didn’t dare to take a step away from him, considering what happened the last two times.

Once you let go of Jeongguk, he turned you around and guided you along the rooftop. You went at an unhurried pace. His hand was secured to your waist, just for safe measures. Each step you took was deliberate and cautious. The feeling of Jeongguk’s hand did help your confidence quite a bit. He stopped walking, causing you to stop as well. He turned you around to face him before lifting you with ease. You climbed onto a separate portion of the roof, crawling on your hands and knees until you reached a section far from the edge. You sat down, and Jeongguk joined you soon after. He laid down next to you while letting out an enormous sigh of relief.

You sat next to him, enjoying the quietness for a moment. There were normal sounds such as birds chirping and some cars passing by. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and warm, so there were bound to be people out. Neighbors had their conversation, and kids played in their respective yards, unaware of what happened in a house a few hundred feet away from them. How could they feel OK with others beating people up and kidnapping them in a wholesome neighborhood? At least your dad had the common courtesy to commit his atrocities on a private acre of land.

“You grew up here?” You asked as you glanced over your shoulder at the man.

Despite his eyes being closed as he took in the warm sun, Jeongguk shook his head as he answered, “No.” He opened one of his eyes, peeking at you briefly before closing them again. “We moved here a couple of years ago. This place is cheaper to keep up compared to my childhood home.”

“Ah, I see… Have you always lived with so many people?” Having such a full house was odd to you. For years, there were three people maximum in your home. You never had to wait for a bathroom to be available or have someone around at all times. Privacy seemed scarce, and even when you thought you had some, someone was always there a few rooms away.

Jeongguk shook his head again. “Nah, it was me and Namjoon for a while, like most of my teen years, then we started acquiring more people.”

“Wow, you guys must be close friends.”

“Brothers,” he corrected nonchalantly.

“Brothers?!” You looked at Jeongguk, who peeked at you through one eye again before nodding. You stared at his face while trying to picture Namjoon’s layered on top of it. Brothers? Was there some miniature resemblance that you missed?

He couldn’t help but chuckle at your perplexed expression. He gave it a minute, letting you work through your thoughts before finally chiming in. “I’m adopted.”

"Ooooh," you drawled out as you nodded. "That makes sense." You returned your gaze ahead of you before sitting in silence once again.

Jeongguk noticed the quiet falling between the two of you, deciding that maybe this would be the perfect moment to get to know you. He opened his eyes and sat up. "Where did you grow up?"

You blinked a couple of times before glancing back at the man. It was a little weird for him to suddenly ask questions about your life, especially since you'd been hanging out for almost a week. What was with the sudden interest? Nonetheless, you didn’t want to leave him hanging.

“Um, by an ocean. My room had the most incredible view of the sea,” a small smile formed on your lips as you began to remember. “Every night I would watch the sunset. It was my favorite. But we had to move.”

“Oh? How come?”

Your smile slowly faded as the last time you saw your mother's face flashed before your eyes — trapped underneath a car, smiling despite the tears staining her dirt-covered cheeks. Her smile was still a beacon of light even in the worst situation. Tears started to brim your eyes before quickly wiping them away. "Family issues," you said vaguely.

Jeongguk noticed how your energy changed, feeling a deep sadness radiating from you. He knew whatever happened was more severe than just some family issues, but he decided not to push it. It wasn’t the right time to share your trauma.

“What’s your favorite color?” He asked, desperate to keep the conversation going in some way.

You sniffled as you glanced back at him, letting out a small chuckle. “What?”

“What’s your favorite color? I’m pretty sure everyone has one.”

“What’s yours?”

“I don’t have one,” he said with a shrug.

You stared at him for a moment, and he stared back at you, mirroring your expression. A few seconds passed before you erupted into laughter. You attempted to cover your mouth with your hand as a smile cracked on Jeongguk’s lips. He felt a growing warmth in his heart as he watches you laugh so hard that tears form in your eyes again. The only kind of tears he would ever want to see in your eyes. As you calmed down, you looked at him with your wide smile lingering.

“It’s lilac,” you sniffle as you wipe the remaining tears from your eyes. “Or any kind of pastel color.”

“Lilac,” Jeongguk repeats, almost absentmindedly. His smile broaden just a bit as he tilted his head to the side. He swore he’s never seen anything as beautiful as you — how the sun hit the highest points of your skin and how your hair blew in the wind. He would never grow tired of looking at you. “Pretty, just like you.”

You stared at him before laughing again, reaching out to push him playfully, a poor attempt to mask the warmth flooding your cheeks. “You’re so dumb.”

That definitely should’ve been an insult, but the grin on your lips made him think otherwise. Your tone was sweet, almost filled with tenderness, which was nothing like when Namjoon would use that exact sentence. To be called dumb by you, with that smile, was the greatest form of praise he could ever hear.

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes before returning to his original position. He placed his hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky. “I’m dumb but you still hang out with me.”

"That's because you're my favorite kind of dumb," you said as you lay next to him.

“Oh yeah?” He scoffed. “And what kind of dumb is that?”

"The kind where you make me laugh until I cry," you beamed as you turned your head to look at him. You watched him shake his head despite the smile on his lips. You also looked up at the sky, watching as the clouds peacefully drifted against the endless blue.

“I have another question for you,” he said.

“What? Is it what’s my favorite food?”

“I— What?” He stuttered for a moment, chuckling softly. “I mean yeah, I guess that too.”

"It's chicken tenders." He let out a laugh. "Hey, get really drunk one night and tell me some chicken tenders and fries don't hit!"

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it. But, um,” Jeongguk cleared his throat for a second. Things have calmed down a lot since yesterday, and being out here with you was so much fun. He didn’t want to ruin the mood, but he was curious. He had to know for himself. “Why did you try to run away?”

You went silent for a moment, not expecting such a serious question. “I still feel like a captive,” you admitted. “I know the only reason why I'm here and not dead is that you guys need the code to the safe. You need me alive, or you get no money. I’m not dumb.”

Jeongguk nodded his head. At least you knew why Namjoon still had you alive. “How do you feel like a captive?”

“You guys literally take turns watching me just in case I try to escape. Like I—”

“But you did try to escape,” he said with furrowed brows. “You proved that you did need someone to stay with you just for that reason.” You fell silent again. Being here wasn’t ideal, of course, but you just took ten steps back from gaining their trust. “And if I’m being honest, what you call a plan of escape was pretty stupid.” Your eyes went wide as you turned your head to look at his side profile. “I mean honestly, where were you going to go?”

“Shut up,” you said with a glare. “I was in the moment. I didn’t think Hobi was going to hit me.” You almost cringed at the feeling of his nickname leaving your lips. To be fair, you never thought Hoseok had any combat training, to begin with. He was always so nice to you, with what seemed to be a permanent smile. He may have joked around with you yesterday, teasing you about your crush on Jeongguk, but it still felt a little forced.

“You’re not good at escaping, are you?”

Your brows furrowed, and your nose scrunched as you sat up. "That's because I've never been caught! I wasn't taught how to escape because I was taught to make sure I'm never in that predicament! You guys just got lucky."

“Oh, that’s what you’re calling it? What if you’re just not as badass as you seem to be?” He asked calmly, glancing over at you. Jeongguk was curious as to why the well-known mafia princess hasn’t busted her way out of this place yet or hadn’t had her endless amount of followers come to her rescue. Besides the bounty, it’s like you disappeared off the face of the map. Was no one looking for you?

“I’m not a badass?”

You watched as he sat up, resting his arms on his propped-up legs. “Let’s see, you got kidnapped by a ‘nobody’ gang, and had two unsuccessful escape attempts. So I'm thinking that no, you’re not as badass as you try so hard to be.”

Your tongue briefly poked at the inside of your cheeks before looking at the sky again. You nodded your head. Did you agree with him? Absolutely not. He watched you before letting out a chuckle. Jeongguk could see you were getting frustrated, it was all over your face. He may have let his button-pushing tendencies get ahold of him. "So that's it? No pushback?"

"I'm not fighting you because I have nothing to prove to you." You shrugged before leaning back into your elbows. "You said what you said and I'm gonna let you have it." You were confident that the only reason why you were here in the first place was due to over-exhaustion. The night they kidnapped you, you were already past your physical limits. Fighting three guards, plus Hongjoong, then getting choked out? Someone could've blown on you, and you would've passed out. But that was beside the point. Being here was like a vacation almost. A heavily guarded vacation, but it was nothing you weren't used to. You're staying because you want to and not because of the responsibilities you have to face as soon as you go back.

Jeongguk raised an eyebrow slightly. He wasn’t going to admit that this confidence was a turn-on. So he scoffed, “Sounds pussy to me.”

Your eye twitched before looking at him. You completely forgot what an asshole he can be.“You just love riling me up, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said with a stupid smile on his lips as he stretched the word out. “You do this cute little nose scrunch, and sometimes you make a little fist with your hands. So cute and small.”

You groaned, looking away from him as the heat stained your cheeks. Him and that stupid smile. The same stupid smile that made your heart flutter like some lovesick high schooler. “Fuck you,” you muttered. It was sad that was your only line of defense whenever your heart was in control. Stupid thing hardly knew the difference between right and wrong before things were too late.

You felt Jeongguk’s chest press against your shoulder as he lay next to you. He placed his finger on your cheek before turning your head towards him. He smirked as he looked down at you, his fingers cupping your chin while his thumb rested against your lower lip. “Like I said earlier,” he leaned in as his voice lowered to a whisper, “that could be arranged.” He pressed a kiss to your cheek, then started a trail down to your neck.

The feeling of his lips trailing over your skin left you in shambles. It was a shame your angry exterior so effortlessly diminished into nothing but tiny giggles. How could you fold so quickly when it came to him? “On the roof?!”

“I mean,” he mumbled against your skin before pulling away to look at you. “If you’re kinky,” he wiggled his brows before returning to your neck.

You let out a squeal as you laughed. “Oh my god, get off of me!” After a few more kisses on your neck, he pulled away. The both of you giggled as you looked at each other, seeing a fondness in his eyes that made you flutter. “I hope you know you’re still an asshole.”

“Oh, I know,” he grinned, his thumb caressing your cheek, “but you like it.” Before you could answer, he leaned down and kissed your lips. You inhaled deeply, all further rebuttals erased from your mind as you melted into him. He placed his hand on your waist and pulled you into him as your hand rested on the side of his face. Why did being here, at this moment, feel so right?

↠ ɴᴇxᴛ :: ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ :: ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪɴᴅᴇx ↞

#fic: broken codes #jeongguk fanfic #jeongguk smut #jungkook fanfic #jungkook smut #jeon jeongguk fanfic #jeon jeongguk smut #jeon jungkook fanfic #jeon jungkook smut #bts jungkook #bts fanfic #bts smut #jungkook mafia au #bts mafia au #jungkook x y/n #jungkook x you

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another-lost-mc · 11 months

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2K Followers Event: Afterthoughts

The request window closed last night and I am floored by the number of requests and incredibly sweet messages I received. I appreciate each and every one of you. I'm so happy that I took a chance and ignored my anxiety so I could start this blog in the first place.💙

I thought it would be fun to share some of the interesting trends I noticed about the requests:

Most Requested Characters: Lucifer and Solomon (tied for first place), Satan and Barbatos (tied for second place) ➤ some of my favs I write a lot of content for already, and with NB's popularity, these don't surprise me

The Demon Brother with the Fewest Requests: Belphie (only 1 rip) ➤ his prompt literally came in during the last hour of the request window, and it's going to be smutty as a consolation prize

Dateable with the Fewest Requests: Diavolo ➤ I wrote that longer piece about the leather jacket anticipating this result because he deserves more love

Side Character with the Most Requests: Mephisto ➤ he's in my top 5 favs list now, I can't even—

OC with the Most Requests: Azra and Karasu were both tied?! ➤ their content for this event isn't necessarily "canon" to their respective AUs, but consider them sneak peeks for what the future holds

Characters with Fewer Requests than Michael (omg lol): Asmo, Belphie, Diavolo, Raphael, Thirteen ➤ the Michael simps came out to play and I am 100% on board with this

Number of Polyship Requests: 1 ➤ it's a polyship I've written before so I wasn't totally surprised (also, great taste anon)

So, what happens now?

I've saved all the uncompleted prompts so I can work on them slowly between other projects when inspiration hits. All the completed requests are being compiled on this handy masterlist (which also located on the blog's pinned post for future reference).

💙 Thank you again for your support and participation! 💙

#jes.events #jes.2k event

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j0kers-light · 1 year

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His Lighthouse: Choices part three (LedgerJoker x f!reader)

Choices part three

series summary:

Y/n is an aspiring writer living in Gotham City and struggling to find her next muse. Her recent novel is getting all the buzz, earning her far more attention than she signed up for. But when a chance encounter results in her nursing The Joker back to health, will she find the time to write another best seller or will her own story become front page of the Gotham Gazette?

chapter summary:

The initial choice of leaving with Bruce weights heavily over Y/n’s head but as fate would have it, she finds a way out of her predicament only to fall into a deeper situation than before. Can Y/n find another way out or will she need to make another choice?

Author’s note:

I’m super excited for everyone to read this chapter as I draft the next. We’re hitting another milestone in this story (another chapter that was the main inspiration for me writing His Lighthouse) This chapter paves the way into that greatness. Thank you so much for sticking along for the ride. The next update is the long awaited....

Taglist!

@blackreaderatrisk @twinkledinkle @clemdango04

Let me know if anyone else would like to be added to the taglist!!

Last Chapter | Next Chapter

Two weeks, four days, and nine hours.

That's how long you tortured yourself. You never intended to stay for so long yet here you are. Miserable and in the middle of a self loathing episode.

Every time you thought, 'just pack your stuff and leave,' Bruce would pop in out of nowhere and do something romantic to distract you from taking any leave of action.

At first it was sweet, endearing even, well to an extent. Bruce showered you with attention that you never experienced before with a partner and he spoiled you absolutely rotten. What more could a girl ask for? You quickly forgot about the stresses and cares you left behind in the city. Staying at Wayne Manor truly isolated you from everything and everyone.

But not for long.

It was only a matter of time before Bruce's honey dipped smiles and lavish gifts grew stale. Even Alfred's immaculate home cooked meals were getting old, as much as it pained you to admit. Alfred had been nothing but kind and filled your stomach with dishes you could only dream of, yet you believed all good things must come to an end.

Every day you woke up with a frown and a heavy heart.

You shuffled into a bathroom bigger than your entire penthouse and stared into the mirror. You hated the reflection that glared back. You looked nothing like your former self that was once so full of life and hope. This choice of yours to stay with Bruce was sucking the life out of you like a leech.

If you stayed any longer you feared the person that you would become. Yet for the life of you, finding an excuse to leave proved to be tougher than you anticipated.

In theory it sounded simple. Just leave, but boy was it anything but.

It seemed like Bruce took you out almost every day. He took you clothes shopping– again, after you realized just how severely under packed you were for your stay.

As a treat, (like this entire experience wasn't one already) he took you to visit various high end art museums and tasted the many five star restaurants within the city. A helicopter ride above Gotham City ended just about every night despite your fear of heights. If Bruce's plan was to sweep you off your feet, he was off to a good start.

And the media gobbled it up.

Is Y/n the new arm candy for Gotham's most coveted bachelor, Bruce Wayne? How long will their fling last or is she the one?

They captured everything down to your unique sense of fashion to the way Bruce always stood to your right when out in public. He was ever the gentleman who was always caught with hearts in his eyes in every candid shot.

They dubbed him a smitten bachelor finally in love and you, the apple of his eye. You were a romance writer but after reading that headline you still managed to gag. Some tabloid columns were harsher and called out the noticeable age difference between you and Bruce, claiming you were nothing but a gold digger trying to strike it rich.

It ate away at your insecurities until Bruce completely dismissed them.

He later went on to stage a publicity stunt where you were caught walking into Wayne Tower. He never let any of his past flings step foot on the property and everyone knew that.

Security personnel and employees alike watched in awe as you waltzed in dressed to the nines, on a mission to the executive suite. There wasn't a shred of doubt in their minds that you belonged there since you gained visitors' access with no questions asked, in mere seconds.

It sickened you to play along with Bruce's games to appease the media but you hated yourself more for not speaking out against it.

Your former opinionated self had all but dissipated in the dominating presence of Bruce Wayne. You hated the docile trophy girl you became around him. Where did your brains go? That attitude that always got you in trouble? Where, or rather, why did it disappear?

This current version of Y/n disgusted you. She was not a girl boss. But no matter what circumstances you found yourself in, your head remained stuck in the clouds.

The entire time while you visited Wayne Tower your eyes were fixated outside the window at the tall white, glass roof building a few blocks away– daydreaming of who could still be inside.

Was Joker there? Was he angry that you didn't come back? How long did he expect you to be gone? Was he patiently waiting for you to come back? Those questions and many more wracked your brain until Bruce called you over to meet a business partner in film.

At times you thought Bruce knew exactly what you were thinking. It was the only explanation for how he could interrupt your thoughts with a suspicious spot on accuracy. He didn't get to be as old as he was without being keen on these sorts of things.

When you were lost in thought, you abused your poor lip and attacked your cuticles which were both telltale signs of stress. Something heavy was on your mind and he would wager a profit share in Shanghai, it was about where you spent the night on that ill-fated Friday.

Bruce had yet to coerce you into telling him where you were. He also failed to get closer to you sexually.

A brick wall separated you from him and he didn't like it. Something changed since that first shopping trip the two of you went on the first day you arrived.

You were distant and withdrawn from anything he tried to do with you, to the point of rudeness.

He was a world renowned detective; he knew your smiles were fake but as your stay became longer, your smile slowly turned compliant and hit a level of acceptance that he selfishly rejoiced in. Sure your heart wasn't in this relationship from the beginning, but he was chipping away at your defenses one day at a time.

The longer you stayed, the closer he was to winning you over.

And things were going well! Alfred looked on with a sense of pride believing Bruce was finally settling down. The media was hounding his PR team for comments pertaining to you and for once, Bruce felt truly happy with someone.

One time around dinner Bruce almost slipped up and revealed his secret identity. You were dressed to go somewhere fancy per his request, when he got a distress bat signal from GCPD headquarters.

Batman and his duty always came first so Bruce came up with a lie about an urgent international call and locked himself in his study.

Not like you cared.

You simply changed into something more comfier and worked on your current WIP. It saved you the energy of not being fake all evening in front of Bruce. This cheerful, girl in love, act of yours took a heavy toll on you. You didn't know how long you could keep up the façade. The quick pep talks behind closed doors and saccharine smiles weren't cutting it anymore.

Unfortunately Bruce thought a date could fix anything and decided to take you out the next day as an apology. It just so happened to be an afternoon lunch date at the second best place in Gotham to get a slice of pie. The number one spot was closed for the day.

Bruce was tempted to call their management and have them open until you told him money doesn't solve everything. He found himself listening to your advice and put away his phone.

However, he still pouted all the way to the Little Italy sub district and into Luigi's Pizza.

The mouthwatering aroma smacked you right in the face and had you drooling faster than the Flash. There was a cozy heat inside the building due to the wood burning ovens and the place itself was packed with patrons from all walks of life.

Food brought people together and at Luigi's, it wasn't uncommon to see a police officer sitting a few booths away from a convicted felon or an active gang having a meeting.

"Ya dinin in or out?"

You strained to hear the waitstaff over the din of people and her loud gum chewing.

She looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. How she and the other employees didn't suffer from a heatstroke in all black uniforms was astonishing but at least her hair was done up and away from her sweltering neck.

She looked between you and Bruce, getting irritated by the lack of response. Her eye roll competed against her foot tapping for most annoyed performance award.

This was the second best place for pie? Maybe Luigi's was more famous for its food rather than its customer service. You tossed a dubious look over your shoulder at Bruce. He knew you were two seconds away from walking out.

He cleared his throat and took control over the interaction. "Inside please."

You two were hauled further into the building and seated at a round cloth covered table. All that was on the table was a stack of napkins and two shakers containing red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese respectively.

Bruce took off his suit jacket and hung it on the back of his chair before helping you into your seat. The lady watched quietly but still rolled her eyes. Rich people and their dates always took their time like other people didn't have places to be.

"Call us when ya ready to order." The worker tossed two laminated menus on the table and disappeared without a trace.

"What's her problem?" You pointed at her retreating form.

Bruce hardly looked up from his menu. "Don't worry about her, just look over the menu Y/n."

You huffed at being dismissed but did as you were told. A normal Y/n would have complained or simply got up to go eat someplace else, however, you couldn't escape from your own situation– much less a restaurant.

You sat back and stewed in silence.

Luigi's had classic pies, both sold whole and by the slice along with specialty and customizable orders. A list of toppings was printed on the back next to the sides, along with the traditional appetizers that they served.

One look at the dessert menu had you planning to save some room for later. Everything read off as authentic and you knew the place had to be passed down through generations to be voted second place in all of Gotham.

You glanced at their guarantee printed at the bottom of the menu, 'Don't finish a slice and the meal is free.' You wondered how they enforced that.

Bruce set his menu down on the table and folded his hands on top of it.

"Well that was fast." You commented while still scanning the choices.

"I know what I want."

You glanced up and caught him staring directly at you with a headed gaze. He wasn't talking about the pizza.

Oh boy.

You cleared your throat and picked something different to try from the menu. Bruce raised his hand in the air and made some weird motion that had another worker barreling down the aisle to answer. So that's what they meant..

"What will it be?" He asked with a click of a pen.

So not everyone who worked here had a stick shoved up their rectum. That was good to know.

Bruce recited the combined order to the guy and only returned his focus back to you once the waiter left. Unfortunately your attention was elsewhere.

Just a table away four men were doing a terrible job at whispering. Any other day you would have complained about their noise level but today was different. The minute they said Joker's name, your ears tuned in like a radio feed, itching for more.

"Something's off man. He's more.. I dunno. Violent? Crazier? If that's even possible." He flicked his fourth slice of pizza back onto his plate.

He glanced to his left when his buddy spoke up, spitting marinara sauce everywhere in the process.

"Nah you're right! He's not himself and every little thing irritates him! Remember when he snapped lil John John's neck for no reason?"

Another guy at the table chewed his crust and answered. "I heard it was because he touched Joker's books or sumthin stupid like that."

"Nah I heard John John was bad mouthing his assigned shift. I don't blame the guy but geez! Boss won't tell us who we're shadowing. We're just supposed to keep our distance with only a vague description to go off by. No questions asked. It's annoying.. but heh, I'm not complaining! Whoever they are, I hope they keep up this lavish lifestyle."

He received a punch to the shoulder from the first guy.

"What? I'm being paid to watch over someone I don't even know while taking in the wealth of the city! Who can complain about that?"

"Lil John John did."

He waved off the reply. "Bah! That's a dead man's problem. As long as I don't have to do anything taxing, this beats helping Joker plan out his next hit any day."

They all mumbled in agreement and the conversation came to a natural end. That is until one of the men glanced up and looked you dead in the eye.

"You got a problem lady?"

You blinked like an owl, mouth agape. All four of them sat up straight in their chairs– staring you down and you immediately panicked. "Well?" They urged.

You shut your eyes and went on autopilot.

"Pft me? No! God no. My eyes just um... wandered off. I w-was admiring your uh.. slice of pie! Yeah, that's supreme right? I almost ordered that but then I thought, ahhh black olives ya know? They're so salty.. I mean– should they really be on pizza?"

Your frantic rambling gained the attention of two other tables in the pizzeria. They were quick to tune you out.

Bruce could taste the awkwardness in the air. You were still talking, now going on about traditional Italian cheeses, and the lengthy aging process it took to make them.

He could tell everyone in the vicinity wanted you to shut up and he had to admit, he'd never seen this side of you before. You had a bad case of diarrhea at the mouth but there was still an allure about you. Too bad not everyone identified it as charming like Bruce did.

The billionaire was thinking of how to get you out of this predicament without having a violent confrontation, when a solution presented itself. The man seated on the farthest right of the table, most likely the boss of the trio, squinted his eyes at you before they flew wide like saucers.

"Hey, leave the cheese nerd alone boys. She's trying to have a date with pretty boy here." He got the other three men to laugh and successfully diverted the conversation back to their table, albeit much quieter.

But his eyes darted over to yours with a clear message. Your heart beat loudly in your chest knowing exactly what it meant. The food came out at the perfect time to take your mind off of Joker's goons and the feeling of Bruce's piercing gaze on you.

Unfortunately Bruce didn't see the four men get up and leave, he was too focused on you.

Your eyes were darting all across the table and you kept fidgeting underneath it. You also didn't touch your food.

"Y/n, your pie will get cold if you don't eat it soon." Bruce mentioned.

You nodded your head. You had to get a hold of yourself before he got suspicious, if he wasn't already. Bruce was reaching across the table to grab your hand when you used the oldest trick in the book.

"I'm going to the ladies room to freshen up! I-I'll be right back."

Of course you didn't wait for his response before making a run for it and thus a sour, dark look fell over Bruce's face. You were reverting back to your socially awkward self. Bruce wasn't a real fan.

He wanted answers and he would get them today.

Screw going to the bathroom. You walked straight out of the pizzeria and onto the curb looking for any sign of Joker's goons.

Your heart was a drum banging in your ears and your lungs sat like soiled laundry in your throat. How did you miss them that quickly? They were just here! If you left any sooner it would have been too obvious but this was the only opportunity you were going to get since Joker thought you weren't coming back.

And why would he think otherwise?

It was two weeks and counting, the same amount of time you gave him to heal in your apartment– without a word from him. You failed to reach out to him, (not like you could) and he vice versa. You were officially cut off from—

Being snatched from the curb with a hand over your mouth was not on your to-do list today.

You flailed around with all your might and even landed a good blow to whomever was holding you when they abruptly spun you around.

"F__k lady! Those heels hurt you know!" He let you go to rub at the sore spot on his thigh and you took that time to take a deep breath. "Scream and I swear on my grandma..."

You finally got a look at the person who grabbed you. It was the same guy from the restaurant who went pale as a ghost when he saw you.

He rose to his full height and eyed you down. "You look different. How's life with the rich and famous treating you?"

He held up his hand when you tried to respond. "Don't talk. I know you heard everything we said. The other three are newbies but I remember you. You're that girl the Boss brought to the hideout a while back."

His demeanor didn't seem friendly in the way he circled you slowly in the narrow alleyway. No one could see you from the street unless they ventured further inside.

"Y-Yes that was me. You said Joker's been acting strange lately. Is he alright?" You asked.

The guy sucked his teeth and leaned on the brick wall behind him. "Like you care. Didn't you leave him hanging high and dry for Wayne in there?" He smiled at your instant reaction. "Ahh there's that attitude the Boss talks so much about!"

"Don't act like you know me! I wanna know if he's okay!"

"That ain't your problem anymore Princess." The nickname slapped you in the face and jogged your memory.

You lifted a shaky finger towards the guy. "But.. but Joker told Frost to snap your neck back then! I remember.."

"Yeah well- let's just say I got a promotion instead. Now I run with the big boys. Frost, Mac, and I are the pyramid that keeps Joker's operation running and.." He stopped and invaded your personal space, catching you off guard.

"I smell a rat." He laughed when you tried hitting him but failed.

"Don't worry Princess. Only the top three dogs know who you really are. The other idiots get filtered out eh, every two to three business days. Collateral damage, 'specially since Boss is pissed at Dent for stirring up some old beef."

"He's not seriously doing all of this for me is he?" You mumbled.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't go feeling all special. It's about time we gave Dent a taste of his own so-called justice. You just so happen to be involved in the skirmish."

He let out a few choice words under his breath before spitting on the ground.

You were convinced now more than ever. "Yeah this is definitely about me. Can I talk to Joker now?"

"F__k No."

You deflated like a balloon. This guy was a tough cookie to crack. You tried a different approach. "Okay.. why not?"

"He doesn't need distractions like you.." He eyed you up and down making you feel exposed in your modest attire. "..bothering him. If Joker loses focus while making big decisions, we all go down. You might be hot but not hot enough to risk it all."

After hearing that you crossed your arms. You knew for a fact he didn't fix his lips and tell that lie. Today was supposed to be a lazy day in the city but your outfit was anything but.

"Excuse me? Care to repeat that?" You argued.

He rolled his eyes knowing he hit a nerve.

"Listen... you're just not my type aight? Besides, who wears something like that to a pizza joint?" He waved at your tailored jumpsuit.

You glanced down at yourself and shifted your weight in your favorite color stilettos.

"Uh. Someone with a sense of fashion? Look! I just wanna talk to him. I have so much to say and if I don't let it out soon, I might explode! Please.. let me talk to him."

It was calm in the alley after your desperate plea.

Car horns still beeped in the background and people's voices still floated in the breeze. Your hand was latched onto Joker's henchmen like a vice but you didn't know that yet. He looked down at your hand like it offended him and you followed his line of sight. You swiftly pulled your hand back. If looks could kill...

'No touching, Y/n. Bad bad idea.' You thought to yourself.

"Sooo? What do you say?" Surely that would sway his mind.

He yawned. "No."

"Oh c'mon! I'm supposed to be in the bathroom right now! Do you know how long I've been out here arguing with you? Wayne is going to get suspicious if you don't say yes in the next few minutes." You thought you had him but alas, no dice.

"Good thing I'm still gonna say no. I know what's best for the boss and you ain't it." He sneered.

That was the last straw. You were living in a nightmare of your own creation with no way out. This guy was your last glimmer of hope and he was being a butt about it.

Screw being nice and forget about the risks. You had to be aggressive to get what you wanted in Gotham. And you wanted Joker more than anything. A shame it took you so long to realize that.

Now was not the time to dwell on the past. You stomped right up to this dude's face and went to town trying to secure your future.

"You really.. don't know who you're talking to! If it wasn't for me, your Boss would've bled out in Chinatown. He would have been a sitting duck for GCPD officers to haul him back to Arkham over a month ago but I took pity on Joker. I invited him into my home! I gave him everything but the one time I do something self-indulgent, I get dragged for it? Why do I have to be punished?"

"Why can't I be selfish and greedy and want things well beyond my means? I wanted the sun to shine on me as I sat in the arms of darkness! Well. That obviously backfired. I took a risk that I'll regret for the rest of my life but at least I'm trying to rectify the situation!"

He shook head at your flowery words but let you have center stage. It would be rude to walk away while you were mid rant.

"I look hot but behind these brand names and fancy frills, I am broken inside. I'm still the same Y/n looking down from my penthouse at the people walking by wondering, pleading– when is my turn? When will I be happy and full of life? The two weeks that Joker was in my apartment were the best days of my life. I would do anything to have him yelling at me to turn the thermostat down or for me to remind him it's time to eat. I want his hands, forever stained red with blood and smelling of gunpowder, to braid my hair while we watch trashy reality tv shows together! I want to call him an idiot for letting his leg get infected again after all I did to keep it clean. I want him to compliment my cooking after every meal; dang it. I just want him!"

You were out of breath and panting but you didn't stop there. You just inhaled and went back in.

"That's the Joker I know. You get his jagged edges but I know his smooth lines and I love his many flaws. I want that Joker back.. my Joker back. And guess what? You are in my way!"

Everything was riding on this speech. You spent far too much time outside and if this guy wasn't going to do anything to help your cause, you unfortunately had to go back inside to Bruce.

You hoped this henchman had a sliver of a heart left in him. If that empowering speech didn't move him to act, then he was Lucifer himself.

He nodded sagely to himself and after a while– looked you square in the eye.

"God you women are so dramatic."

Your head tilted to the side and he groaned at how dense you were. "For the last time, no. Now shoo."

You were flabbergasted. In utter disbelief.

How could such a beautiful and raw display of emotion be so casually dismissed? Was this guy even human? You were shaking your head in denial when you heard a metal clicking noise.

"I see you're a bit slow so I'll say it again where even bimbos like you can understand. Go back inside. Eat your meal. Have fun with rich boy Wayne because that's who you chose."

He waved the gun in your face causing you to back out of the alleyway and towards the restaurant entrance.

"I don't understand. Just let me talk—" You tried.

"You want your brain splattered on the sidewalk?" He saw you shake your head. Tears flew in the air from the jerky motion.

"Then go back inside." He pointed to the pizzeria with the gun.

Nothing made sense but you knew when all hope was lost. It pained you to give up, but you had no choice. You fled back into the restaurant in a fit of tears. Whoever that guy was, he was considered to be one of Joker's top three men. Frost and Mac told you the same thing this guy said.

It was best to leave Joker alone. But that's not what you wanted nor what you were going to do.

You needed Joker's unpredictability in your stale life and you craved his dark cloud looming in your corner. It grounded you in so many ways you realized only until it was gone. Were you acting like a stubborn female in a romance novel? Absolutely, and you didn't care if you inconvenienced others around you because of it.

Up until recently you were a boring side character wishing for more excitement to magically appear before you. The dull routine you made for yourself was getting rather annoying once you got a taste of adventure in the form of Joker.

Day in and day out watching the city and its inhabitants from your penthouse window and creating stories you wished could happen to you wasn't enough anymore. Joker was a wave of technicolor amidst the sea of grey that you called your life and like the junkie you came to be, you needed more.

Dad always said you were more unique than the stars and Mom backed up his analogy by saying it would take a man beyond your wildest dreams to handle you.

They were right– although you doubted they would approve of someone like Joker courting their daughter. You wouldn't give up on him despite their disapproval.

There had to be another way to talk to Joker and you would find it. You would get the guy at the end of the story. Even if you had to rewrite it yourself. This was a game of strategy and tactics. The prize at the end of said game? Joker: wrapped around your pinky finger.

Well.. you knew a man like Joker wouldn't bend to anyone's will, not even your own. Perhaps you should dial back the prize to something more realistic. A girl could still dream though. No matter how the cards were dealt, the endgame was Joker. You just had to wait. All you needed was a smidge of patience and that motivated you to turn the corner and open the door to the pizzeria.

The henchmen waited until you were out of earshot before pulling his phone out of his pocket. It was still lit from the active call and fresh off of mute. "Did you hear all that boss?"

For a second he thought the person hung up until a few seconds later a deep sigh was heard over the phone.

"Every single word."

Common sense dictated that you emerge from the bathroom just in case Bruce was looking that way.

You ducked inside the girl's room and washed your hands to create a believable cover before returning to the table. Bruce was still seated there however, his normal charming demeanor was gone.

In its place was a side of Bruce you never wanted to see. This was the Mr. Wayne who closed business deals and single-handedly pioneered his father's business into the modern age. His blue eyes could cut steel. You hated how they immediately locked on your approaching form and silently picked you apart piece by piece. You felt exposed by his azure gaze and deep down you knew Bruce was putting all of the clues together to call you out on your lie.

You were barely in your seat when he began his interrogation. "You were in the bathroom for a long time Y/n."

Busted. Being caught red handed unlocked your nervous rambling. Deflecting the situation was only objective for your mind to complete.

"Bathroom, I uh.. oh! I ran into a girl in there and we got to talking and then she asked me where I got my jumper from. Of course I told her but then we lost track of time and—"

"You're crying." Bruce noted.

"Huh?" You dabbed at your lash line and found it wet. "Oh, silly me. I probably got soap in my eye. That stuff smells amazing but wow is it strong. N-nothing to worry about though. I'll be fine. Now let's eat!"

"It's cold."

'No kidding. It matches the cold treatment you're giving me right now.' You thought wryly.

"Right.. We can always order some more hehe?" You said that with a strained laugh but it fell flat. Nothing was getting past Bruce.

You finally screwed up. And here you thought Bruce would make the first mistake in this stupid relationship. He sat up further in his chair and laced his fingers together. He looked every bit a CEO, minus a big office.

"I deserve an explanation Y/n. You've been acting very distant lately but disappearing for almost forty two minutes on our date? I'm more than concerned."

Were you really away for that long? You glanced off to the side to try and recount the time.

Bruce didn't seem to care, "We're both adults here, at least I am, so I can admit this relationship is going nowhere with the attitude you currently have."

Your eyes instantly lit up. "Bruce.. I can explain."

"Then by all means do so." He waved his hand and gave you the floor.

You grew quiet amidst the noisy restaurant. The rebuttal you had queued up in your head was suddenly gone.

Bruce chuckled lowly. "Right. Let's head back to the Manor. After you collect your things I'll drop you off at your place."

You couldn't believe it, your way out without hurting anyone's feelings, was finally happening. You pretended to be sad but mentally you were jumping for joy as Bruce signaled for the check to arrive. You just got rejected by Gotham City's most eligible bachelor but you were on cloud nine.

It took every ounce of your strength to keep the wide grin off your face. You didn't want to be rude to Bruce, but it was about time he noticed your displeasure.

You were free! (You overlooked the fact you could have left at any time..)

The original waitstaff dropped off the bill, loudly snapping her gum in the process. "It's free. Little miss sunshine here didn't touch her slice."

She eyed you like a pesky vermin she wanted to squish.

You looked down at your slice of pie that was once piping hot and oozing with flavor. It sat in its own cooled grease giving you a stink eye from the afterlife. Hopefully they didn't expect you to still eat it. Bruce must've eaten his two slices while you were outside talking to Joker's henchmen but the restaurant still had to honor their company slogan.

Too bad Bruce insisted on paying the bill. This man made the simplest things complex for no reason. He convinced them to let him pay the full amount despite you not touching your food. You also turned down a to-go bag and any dessert for the road. They were most likely trying to suck up to Wayne to stay in business.

That wasn't your problem. You were more eager to get back to the Manor to pack your things. The faster you left Bruce, the quicker you could reunite with Joker. Thankfully things wrapped up quickly at the pizzeria and you and Bruce were able to leave. Not much was said during the drive back to the Manor.

You were not interested in small talk and Bruce seemed to read the room and kept quiet.

With the crazy amount of times Bruce drove you to the city and back to his manor, you knew the route by heart. You spotted a particular grove of trees and knew Bruce would be merging into the right hand lane to exit onto the private road and twenty minutes thereafter, onto the Wayne Manor driveway.

You might forget a turn or two, but the majority of the drive could've been done in your sleep. Too bad this was the last time you would visit Wayne Manor. You would make sure of it. The car softly rumbled along on the smooth pavement until its tires were steered into the hidden garage.

Screw being polite, you were bouncing in your seat from too much energy and beat Bruce from opening the passenger door for you. You were already at the family elevator waiting on him by the time he turned off the car. He mistook your ecstatic energy for guilt and thought nothing more of it.

Why else would you willingly run away from him?

Alfred was nowhere to be found but after two weeks of staying at the manor you could vaguely remember where your guest bedroom was without any assistance. It was 'down the hall' from Bruce's room if rich people stopped and used normal means of measurement.

Their definition of down the hall was actually the length of a football field. For once you didn't get lost on the way to the room and immediately set to work packing your bags. You originally came here with an overnight bag and your laptop for work.

Now you were packing the new luxury luggage set Bruce bought you. You had eyed it in intrigue at the store and that was all the confirmation Bruce needed to buy it for you. And he wasted no time filling it up with designer threads and other gifts.

Excessive was not the term to use for the shopping spree Bruce took you on. He funded you a new wardrobe and brushed it off like it was nothing. At the time it was a sweet gesture, but now you regretted letting him buy so much. You didn't have the confidence to take it all with you.

'Just take it Y/n. He bought it for us and he's definitely not gonna return it.'

A stereotypical representation of a devil, pitchfork and all, appeared on your left shoulder.

You knew what came next.

'Noooo.. Bruce bought this stuff out of the kindness of his heart while we were dating. Dating? Wait a minute, were we dating Bruce Wayne?'

The angel fluttered its wings on your right shoulder and turned to you for confirmation, but packing was more important than your crazy mind talking to itself and jumping to conclusions.

The mini devil version you admired her nails. 'Yeah we were. I say we stick around a little longer and score us a Ferrari. I saw a matte black one in the garage with our name written all over it...'

'What makes you think Bruce will give us a car?' The angel yelled at its rival.

'Tuh! With this pussy we can get anything.'

A real life Bruce knocked twice on your open door. The two little figments of your imagination poofed away, mid argument and you jumped at the intrusion. The jury was still out on if you actually dated Bruce or not.

"Need any help?" The billionaire pointed at your suitcase.

You picked up a backless cognac colored dress made of silk. "That's an understatement. What do you expect me to do with all this stuff?"

Bruce hated that he didn't get to see that silky number on you. It moved like water on the hanger, you would have put the dress to shame.

He rubbed his chin imagining the sight. "Wear them? I bought everything for you to keep."

"Wait. I-I get to keep all of this?" You glanced across the room at the numerous boxes of clothes, shoes, and shiny accessories he had accumulated for you.

Two weeks of excessive shopping stared right back.

"I can deliver everything else to your place. That would be easier instead of trying to haul it all away now." He offered.

You chuckled and let the silk fabric fall from your fingertips. "That's a wonderful idea. It beats trying to shove all of this.."

Bruce spun you around by your shoulders, causing you to gasp mid sentence. Nothing prepared you for his awaiting kiss.

You thought maybe after two weeks a spark had grown between you two. Nothing. The same empty feeling you felt the first time Bruce kissed you remained. It wasn't fair. He was rich, intelligent, handsome, and kind yet there was no physical connection to latch onto.

Joker truly ruined you for all future men. You were fine with that.

Yet Bruce's ego had to be taken into consideration. Your hands rested on his chest and they gently pushed him away after a natural end to the kiss.

He sighed and rested his forehead against yours. "I'm afraid there won't be another woman after you Y/n. You'll take a piece of my heart with you when you go."

You underestimated just how invested Bruce was in this relationship. Talk about awkward.

"I don't know if I should be flattered or concerned by your words."

He stepped back and smiled. "Both." He almost fixed your braid back behind your ear but stopped himself.

After today he no longer had the right to touch you so freely. Even kissing you just then wasn't proper. Although he would never truly move on, Bruce would respect your boundaries and ultimately your feelings.

He knew firsthand no one can force the heart to love. It was a sentient being that operated on its own agenda. No amount of wealth could buy its loyalty. Bruce could only hope that you would go home and have a change of heart and choose him in the end. You were absolutely perfect and completely unaware of the power you held over him. He took one look into your intense e/c eyes and fell even further.

"I'm sorry. Care to repeat that?" He wasn't listening to you at all, but that was a one time offense. It would never happen again.

"I'm ready to go." You repeated as you zipped the suitcase closed.

Anything else that you left behind Bruce could ship to your penthouse which would be practically everything. It was impossible to pack everything into the suitcases and he knew it.

Bruce wanted an excuse for you to come back but you weren't falling for it. You expected a delivery soon.

It was time to close the Bruce Wayne chapter in your life for good.

Due to the bulky luggage you had with you, Bruce had no other choice but to drive a four door car.

You teased him the entire walk to the garage about him not owning a SUV, let alone one big enough to carry your luggage, but he never disappointed you. He commanded his Lamborghini SUV to remote start right as you walked past it.

It purred to life, scaring your soul up and away with its white finish and sleek design.

"Of course you have a exotic SUV. I didn't expect anything less." You said after rolling your eyes.

He failed to keep his snickering to himself. He would miss showing off around you. The faces you made were priceless. Bruce loaded the two luggage bags into the trunk and buckled in. Once again, everything looked so expensive inside the vehicle you didn't want to touch and accidentally break anything.

You resigned yourself to staying quiet during the road trip to your penthouse. Familiar scenery and bright flashing lights kept your eyes occupied for the hour ride since your pride would not allow you to talk to Bruce. He minded his own, navigating the vehicle onto Gotham's streets with ease.

You always managed to underestimate the mph Bruce's cars clocked. You blinked and the SUV was already in the apartment carport circle in front of the valet. Bruce put his hazard lights on and turned to you with a hesitant gleam in his eyes.

"Do you need any help?" Ever the gentleman. You could thank Alfred for Bruce's impeccable manners.

You already said your goodbyes to the dapper male but it seemed like Bruce was struggling with his own farewell.

"No no I got it. The rest can be delivered later like you said."

He nodded at your words but you didn't budge from your seat. Something else was on your mind.

"Listen, although we didn't work out, I enjoyed every moment with you. Truly." You looked over at Bruce to find his charming smile on full display.

"Thanks. At least I didn't waste your time Y/n."

"Ugh. If anything, I feel like I wasted yours."

Bruce didn't reply as you unbuckled your seatbelt but you still felt tension in the car. "Speak now or forever hold your peace Wayne."

He didn't. You knew he was holding something back but that didn't stop you from hopping out the SUV and heading towards the back.

The set of luggage you packed was easy to grab without the valet's help. Not that you wanted their assistance. At least today they weren't fishing for pictures to sell to gossip magazines. They stayed behind their post, watching you struggle to get the SUV's trunk to close. The wheels on your designer luggage were brand new but started to roll after a few test pushes. You nodded when everything was good to go and ready for your departure.

However you knew Bruce wouldn't leave without a proper goodbye. He may have turned off the hazard lights but he had yet to leave after you closed the trunk. He was stalling.

So you decided to pop around to the driver side and rasp on the window with your knuckles. Of course he didn't jump. (Like you could even see him through the tinted windows to tell.)

Bruce rolled down the window with a raised eyebrow.

Maybe it painted the wrong message (you were technically breaking up with Bruce, but it still felt like the right thing to do. You scanned his face and didn't think twice before you leaned forward into the car and kissed Bruce on the cheek.

He was just as shocked as you were but it felt like the final goodbye between you two.

"Yeah.. um. I did that. Goodbye Bruce." You said with a sharp nod.

He exhaled under his breath and watched as you walked into your apartment building, luggage dragging behind you. He missed you already.

The two workers behind the front desk didn't look up as you waltzed past them towards the elevator. It sensed you coming and parted the doors for you to enter. The mirrored background was a welcomed sight and it felt like second nature to mash the twelfth floor button to your penthouse.

You took the time to adjust your original overnight and laptop bag as it dug into your shoulder. Just a few more floors and you could put everything down and finally breathe.

It was another whirlwind of emotions crammed into one day and once again life didn't give you a moment of reprieve to stop and process it all. That and these new heels were killing you. The vivid color accented your black jumper but they were impractical for walking.

That's the price you paid dressing business casual for a pizza date. The one time Bruce didn't take you to a five star restaurant.. you dress up for one.

"At least that's all a thing of the past. Now I can wear sweats and casual wear in the comfort of my own home. Dang it, where did I put my keys?"

The elevator dropped you off on the top floor and you shuffled over to your door that was painted a glossy black.

Hopefully Joker locked up when he left two weeks ago. If he didn't, there wasn't much you could do about it now. It's not like he wanted anything to do with you now. That fact only deflated your mood even further.

Your free hand touched the cool metal ring that held your keys and you pulled them out from your bag. The key then found its way into the chamber to unlock the door.

You stepped inside.

"Hey Boss! We got movement on the Grant Row cameras."

Joker was sitting in the shadows plotting something nefarious when a goon came and ruined his brooding.. brainstorming. Whatever, same thing.

He set up cameras on a whim before he left your apartment two weeks ago. He didn't think anything would come of it but apparently his last minute decision paid off.

"You mean Y/n's apartment?" Joker grumbled.

He stood up from his seat and walked towards the door. The goon gulped but stood their ground, nodding.

"Uh yes sir. The motion sensors went off three minutes ago. You said to tell you if they ever went off."

He urged Joker to follow him back to the control room where countless other surveillance cameras were set up throughout Gotham. Some vantage points were standard, like monitoring the other hideouts, whereas others had a purpose. Your penthouse fell under that category.

Joker approached the displays where your place was monitored. Another goon was seated keeping an eye on things and he jumped after spotting Joker walk up behind him.

Of course Joker preferred to stand and that creeped out the poor guy sitting at the controls. "What have I missed?" Joker demanded.

The guy stuttered at first but quickly composed himself to give an update.

"N-Nothing major. She just walked in a few minutes ago." He tapped a screen with a bird's eye view of your living room. "It's real-time so.."

His sentence fell to moot when Joker focused all of his attention onto the screen. Joker hadn't seen you in weeks, but your beauty still had the power to render him speechless.

The sun was still out, however it sat low on the horizon this close to dusk. It provided both much needed sunlight for him to see inside your apartment while also casting shadows within your home for a play on perspective.

The afternoon sun bathed you in a fiery glow and Joker loved every minute of it.

True to the goons words, you walked further into the penthouse wearing a posh black number that Joker made googly eyes over. It was obviously a jumpsuit but the sharp cut could have fooled anyone into believing it was a two piece suit.

Your shoulders were completely bare and a tasteful cut out over your cleavage and back exposed even more skin to his gaze. It had long sleeves and the hemline for the pants fell straight to the floor allowing for just the points of your favorite color heels to peek out from underneath the dark fabric.

Joker wasted no expense with the high definition video feed and corresponding real-time sound coverage. He could hear your high heels echo loudly in the room as you walked towards the main light switch with virtually no lag. The lights flickered on and both you and Joker could see your apartment now more clearly.

Your apartment had seen better days. Nothing seemed out of place but the space itself felt foreign.

At least that's the energy it exuded as you cautiously walked around the room. Unfortunately Joker didn't have access to your thoughts (as much as he would love to, it would save him a world of trouble) so he didn't understand why you were roaming about.

Your first objective was setting some things down.

The first item on your list being your laptop. It had a permanent home on the desk in the far corner of the room. As you sat it down, you found the reason for the stale air in the penthouse.

Joker wasn't expecting you to talk out loud. "Wow. I should have scheduled housekeeping while I was gone."

For a moment Joker was confused until he saw you drag a finger through a thin layer of dust before wiping it on the crochet blanket hanging off an accent chair.

You rounded back over to a set of brand name luggage. Joker didn't remember you leaving with them so they must've been new. Just what had you got into during the two weeks you were gone? Seeing the two bags of luggage sparked doubt in his mind.

Obviously you enjoyed yourself, so why would you suddenly return home with a melancholic air about you?

There were more questions than answers here– but none of them mattered when he heard you talk again over the speakers. You groaned out loud seeing your precious plants withering and losing leaves in the corner. The one week preset you programmed onto the auto watering system wasn't nearly enough water to keep them healthy until your return.

You couldn't turn a blind eye to your babies no matter how much that made you sound like Poison Ivy. You strutted over to inspect them.

Speaking of Ivy...

"Ohh my poor baby, your soil is so dry! I turn my back on you and look at how you act out!" You pouted as your English ivy crawled up your bookshelf, clearly out of control.

It was covering up the small pot of lavender you kept there along with the starter rex begonia you had planted. It wasn't big enough to place in a floor pot yet.

Joker thought it was amusing how you talked to the plants like they could actually hear you. That was your quirky personality that he liked so much at play. He chose to ignore the way your voice sounded when you said baby. He wouldn't mind being called that by you. Or being babied by you. He was desperately craving your attention due to the long separation between you two.

That was the only excuse for his random thoughts. Why would he want to be called a baby? It was nonsense really.

The monstera deliciosa and the birds of paradise plants you owned had long since outgrown their original baby pots and stood proudly in decorative containers the size of ottomans in your sunroom.

Joker ignored them most of the time during his initial stay at your place. He thought they weren't real at first until he saw you water them one day. He never pegged you as a gardener but you never failed in surprising him. He wanted to be there in person so bad...

The living organisms needed some liquid love so you made it a mission to give them just that.

So much for coming home and taking a breather. Perhaps you could a little bit later and officially detox from everything pertaining to Bruce Wayne. You may have cut yourself off from Bruce but your mind needed a hard reset to completely purge him from it. Right now your plants were crying out for help and they provided a much needed distraction from boys.

"That's it. Everyone is getting some water! Hang on my babies." You said to yourself.

Joker made a mental note that you tended to talk to yourself when you were alone. It could be a coping mechanism for being a loner/alone for so long but it was worth remembering.

You scolded yourself all the way to the kitchen where you found the huge water pitcher and fertilizer mix that was stashed under the sink. Joker ordered his goons to follow your live feed and the monitors situated in your kitchen soon came on screen. Nothing important was missed but Joker soaked up this footage like a sponge. He hadn't interacted with you in so long, he'd take a one way exchange any day.

A shame it was done without your knowledge. Would you be pissed if you found the slew of cameras Joker had set up in your apartment?

He would cross that bridge if he ever got caught. For now this was his little dirty secret. The less you knew the better. Most things Joker did, you were better off not knowing about anyway.

You eyeballed a cup of fertilizer for the mix and after a good shake of the solution, you were ready to water your plants— but not before you kicked the irritating stiletto heels you've been wearing all day off.

There was no doubt that the bottom of your feet were blistered red. A small price to pay for beauty. That's why you never wore new heels without breaking them in.

Joker watched them fly and come to a rest some distance away before his vision cut back to you.

The cold hardwood brought some relief to your aching feet as you moseyed around the room watering everything green in sight. Nothing was overlooked and each plant got an apologetic tap and a coo of praise from you.

He admired your fierce dedication to even the tiniest of tasks.

It showed your meticulous behavior not only extended to your writing but to everyday tasks as well. He wondered if you treated your romantic interests in the same manner. He couldn't wait to find out the moment he finally faced you. He quite honestly wouldn't know what to say to you right now if he were there.

A lot had to be discussed between the two of you and Joker wasn't one for settling conflict. He could create it, that wasn't the problem.

He just refused to apologize to anyone. He never needed to and he wasn't going to start today.

He'd work something out to earn your favor (that didn't involve apologizing) but he had more than enough time to craft the right thing to say before he saw you. You were content in your own world humming a soft tune and failed to hear the approaching footsteps coming from behind.

Joker was distracted by your sweet humming and failed to see the motion in the hallway cameras as well. Even worse, the goon at the controls had slacked off on his phone and didn't pan the view correctly.

No one was prepared for what came next.

You felt a sharp prick-like sensation on your neck. Your hand immediately slapped over it thinking it was a pesky bug wanting a snack. If it was a mosquito, then he was heavily mutated. Or maybe just a human. The effects were instant. You felt dizzy all of a sudden and quickly lost control over your own body.

You crashed to the floor taking the pitcher of water that was in your hand down with you. It left a wet spot on your jumpsuit but you couldn't feel the cold temperature seeping into your skin.

The loud noise gained Joker's attention and his soul left his body watching the live feed from your living room. The fight to stay conscious was proving to be difficult. You twitched helplessly on the floor as two shadows appeared over you. You didn't have the muscle strength to look back and see who it was.

"And that's how you take down a target." An overly stocky voice oozing with a Gotham accent said.

"Took ya long enough. We've been waitin' here for days." One of the shadows kicked your leg. You didn't feel it.

"It paid off didn't it? She came back, so quit ya whining. Now where's the duct tape?"

You strained all your energy to try and talk but the only thing that escaped your throat were wet hiccups. Your eyelids were so heavy it pained you to keep them open.

One of the intruders saw you struggling and crouched down to your eye level. "Shhh don't fight it. I promise it'll be easier if you give in."

His hand closed your eyes for you and that's when your fear was amplified. It was pitch black and the darkness felt heavier due to the fact you couldn't move. You felt trapped in your own body, struggling to get out. A lone tear slipped from your eye.

"Call the boss and tell him we got the girl."

You knew who was in charge here. Two Face and his men were going above and beyond to capture you. It was pointless but you felt compelled to try and scream.

Your lips barely moved in your pathetic attempt to say Joker's name. You wanted him to save you. Not like he could hear you cries or even cared enough about you to help, yet your subconscious appointed him as your savior. He would never come. Your captors placed duct tape on your mouth right as you lost the will to stay awake.

Joker was numb. He didn't hear his goons asking for orders, his eyes were still watching the horror unfold on the screen.

Frost came into the control room when he heard the commotion and immediately put two and two together when he saw a team of Two Face's henchmen binding your legs together.

"They're taking Y/n. We gotta act fast, what's the move boss? Boss?"

Had he ever experienced fear before? The real kind? Swift, hot dread that stopped his heart and shocked it back to life with frigid ice? Joker couldn't hear, let alone think. His green eyes were glued to the surveillance video, motionless.

Something snapped within him when he saw your body crumble to the ground. His eyes watched it happen but his mind refused to believe it was real. You shouldn't be exposed to these types of things. You were a civilian, an innocent person he dragged into his dark world filled with pain and suffering.

The only terrors you should endure were the ones you created for your stories.

He got you into this mess; it was only proper to get you out of it. Joker plotted all the ways to kill everyone involved. If they put their disgusting hands on you, they would die. He would go against his M.O and save you. He had to. Screw his reputation.

The way you tried calling out to him hit hard. He saw it clear as day. Joker was honored to be on your mind in your moment of fear but when would you fear him?!

If that's how you looked stricken in fear, Joker would rather see your light, carefree smile paired with your airy laugh any day. He was glad his third in command, Neo, was at the same pizza place as you today. Hearing your confession through the phone made Joker even more determined to gain access into Dent's territory and get you back.

Joker was not new to the scene. His name held weight in this city and Dent's scale of justice was way off. There was already beef between the two gangs, but now Dent crossed a line that couldn't be repaired. Joker knew exactly what he had to do.

"Harvey wants to play a game? Hmm? I'll play a game. I'll play along.." Joker looked at his second in command with a sinister smile.

Frost knew only destruction would follow. Whatever plan that was racing across Joker's mind was gonna cost Dent big time and possibly the man's death.

Joker was already insane, but the days spent without Y/n's presence made the green haired clown even more unhinged. You were the cure to his madness if there was such a thing. Witnessing you getting kidnapped was the last straw for Joker's sanity. The Prince of Crime could deny his feelings for you until pigs could fly but it was so obvious. He needed you. And Joker would burn Gotham City to the ground to get you back.

Nothing would stand in his way.

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