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bertinworms · 1 year ago

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I Wish You Would

Pairings: Tangerine x gn!civilian!drunk!reader

Tags/Warnings: cursing/language, alcohol alcohol consumption, drunk character, mention of gambling/betting, bar atmosphere, kissing/make out, mentions of fire arms/weapons

Word Count: 5.3K

Summary: You are drunk. Not “black out and forget the entire night “ drunk, but white girl at the club with her friends drunk. One of your bestest friends is getting married soon and tonight you and the rest of your eccentric friend group are club/bar hopping to celebrate the engagement! Your friend group told you to think about it like the bachelorette party before the bachelorette party. Whatever that means… The group isn’t a big group, only about seven people, but the seven people all come from various backgrounds. Three of your friends come from pretty well off families and happened to be in university for law school. One of your friends works for some huge tech company with something to do with security. One of them comes from a line of surgeons and happens to be in residency for surgery. Your best friend and bride-to-be comes from an extremely wealthy and famous family, you aren’t really sure what for, but you know it has to do with tycoons and business and yada yada. And then there was you. You were in university too, at the same establishment as the rest of the group, but you didn’t come from lines of money. You were in school for education.

Various backgrounds or not, your bestie for the restie wants to go absolutely ballistic and celebrate her girlfriend finally popping the question, so of course your study buddy group just has to go out! With the intentions of bar and club hopping, you all end up at an arcade? Or a bowling alley? You aren’t really sure, but the place has heaps of alcohol, arcade games, a place to bowl, mini golf, and also some cute patrons….

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You honestly could not believe that you had agreed to this. You had been friends with your group for almost five years and you had always said you would do anything for them, but you never thought it meant being out since about 7:00 PM celebrating Ava May’s proposal. When you had gotten the notification that afternoon with an image attached, you were hoping that her partner, Jordan, had finally popped the question and you were right. And of course the groupchat had blown up.

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“Girls, Gays, & Daddies $$$”

Leoni: SHUT THE FUCK UP DID THEY REALLY PROPISE THIS TIME!!>>??!>!? Mateo: here comes leon with the typos 🙄 BUT OMG CONGRATS AVA!!!!!!! Camilia: HOOOOOOLYYYYY SHIT!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!! THEY HAD THE FUCKING BALLSSSSS You: OMG YESS!!!!! WHEN’S THE WEDDING!!?? Elijah boo: FORGET the wedding!!!!! bitch, when are we CELEBRATING!!!!!! Naomi: omg can we PLEASE go out tonight!!!!??? Wrenster: omg ava congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it took them long enough!!!!!! Ava Bear: omg y’all already KNOW we’re going out tonight!!!!!! b @ my house 5pm SHARP troops 🫡

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Of course five o’clock came, and everyone in the group chat was at Ava’s house. You all got to congratulate Jordan and Ava on the engagement, and say hello to both their family’s, but quickly carried Ava away to party the night away. That was of course after all seven of you pregamed getting ready.

The group was a close knit one. You all were giggling and laughing and dancing around each other while getting ready, raiding Ava’s closet and her accessories and checking yourselves in the mirrors. Everyone had gone for outfits that made them stand out, but complemented their features. You had ended up in some brightly colored crop top that Ava had shoved into your hands, your sneakers, and some designer jeans that Mateo had said would have your ass looking like you did 500 squats a day. You had laughed and rolled your eyes at that. You were pretty sure Mateo just wanted you to feel sexy.

The rest of the group had picked similar outfits. Some exposing skin, other’s exposing less skin but featuring skin-tight clothing pieces. Some had added accessories to their hair, their neck, their wrists and more. With six other bodies dancing around, you honestly hadn’t gotten a great look at everyone’s outfits – but you figured it didn’t matter anyway because by the end of the night most of those outfits would probably look a lot different from how they looked currently. And once everyone was ready, you all headed towards Ava’s car where a driver was waiting. And you all climbed in and pregamed some more.

Half of the group tended to be “partiers”not crazy party goers, but they liked to spend time when they could out having a good time. That didn’t really happen to be up your alley. You were a little more introverted than your friend group, especially since you didn’t necessarily have the same funds your friends did. The group loved paying your way through parties though and always made sure you were included, but the combination of feeling bad and not loving the party scene meant you didn’t go out with them as much as they probably would’ve liked you to. But this night was different. Everyone in the group had already sternly told you that tonight you and Ava were not spending a dime on anything. Mateo telling you that tonight that they were celebrating Ava’s engagement and also the rare occasion of you going all out tonight with them.

You didn’t disagree.

And that’s how you and your friend group ended up at some club? Arcade? Bowling alley? Bar? You weren’t sure what to call it, but the place seemed to have it all.. There was a bar with many-a-drinks, bowling alley lanes, an arcade, neon minigolf, laser tag, and televisions everywhere, each featuring a different sporting event which you assumed was for people betting on games.

It was loud, and dark, but also brightly lit all at the same time. You were cold, but kept comfortable with the warmth of your friend group buzzing around you. You were very out of your element. You would’ve been slightly uncomfortable if you hadn’t already had about seven? No, you think eight? You weren’t sure, but you and the rest of the group had a fair amount of alcohol in you.

Right then, everything seemed a little fuzzy. You had glanced at your phone and thought you had read some time around 11:00 PM, but with Rihanna blasting over the speakers in the building, it was a little hard to concentrate.

The group was currently at a bar-like table. Mateo, Elijah, Ava, and Naomi were currently on their fourth round of bowling with Ava still somehow in the lead. Leon, Wren and Camilia had snuck away from the group either to get more drinks or maybe to play mini golf, you really couldn’t remember.

Your glossed over gaze was disturbed by Mateo standing up and stretching as long as he could, his arms reaching up a little revealing a bit of his stomach.

“Okay, I am going back to the bar to get another drink, anyone else coming?” He said, eyes bouncing around the faces at the table. Nobody responded as they all seemed to be involved with something else at the time, so you stood up quickly.

“Mmmmmmm, I’ll come with Matty!” You smiled and trailed after him as he led the way to the bar.

“You know there’s some cuties here, you should try and chat one up.” He says, side eyeing you as you both arrive at the bar to look over what you want.

You roll your eyes and playfully push his shoulder. “That would be a grand idea except I’m drunker than a skunk currently and we’re here to celebrate Ava, not find me a date.”

Mateo rolls his eyes as he orders both of your drinks and collects them.

“Okay, yeah we are celebrating Ava, but you know good and damn well if I told that girl you saw a hot guy looking your way that she would jump on the idea of you making a move tonight.” Mateo chuckles as he finishes his sentence and starts walking you both back to the table, curving through the different people.

“I know, but tonight I’m just hanging out with you guys. I’m honestly shocked that nobody has attracted any spare wild men to the table with how loud and obnoxious we’re being tonight.” You laugh, a tiny hiccup slipping out of your mouth.

As you and Mateo round the corner to your table, Mateo sees the group before you and busts out into laughter. “Oh my dear, have you truly jinxed yourself tonight.” He walks the few steps to the table, puts the two drinks down. “Hellooooo boys!”

When Mateo steps aside, you're greeted by the eyes of two men who look like they don't belong here. They both are extremely attractive, but both appear to be in suits. Like suit suits. Like they could be working at the bank. You recognize the two as workers for Ava’s father. Bodyguards. Or honestly the word babysitters fit the situation too. ‘Babysitters with bullets,’ you think to yourself as you look down at one of the men’s waists, catching a glimpse of a not-so-hidden weapon.

Your thought is cut off by that said man speaking and your eyes trail from his waist to his face. He holds eye contact with you before speaking. “Sorry to crash this here lil shindig, but you lot should be wrapping all this,” he twirls a finger around in the air, referencing the group, “up pretty soon. It’s getting late.”

Once he finishes his sentence, it’s now his turn to look at you. You watch his eyes look up and down, scanning what felt like every inch of your body, before he looks back to Ava as she begins to speak.

“Oh my god! Look, I know Daddy sent you two to “look after me”’ Ava uses huge air quotes, “but I’m old enough to make sure I don’t get fucking dragged off drunk off my fucking ass. We’re just celebrating, just chillax, yeah?” Ava lets out a giggle as she clearly slurs her words and then playfully slaps the shoulder of the man that hadn’t spoken yet.

“Come on Tangerine, just let them be, yeah? They’re not doing any harm and they're all in one spot.” The man says, putting a hand on Tangerine’s shoulder, giving it a little squeeze and shake. If you remember right, you’re pretty sure he goes by Lemon. Or that’s what you’ve heard Ava’s father call him.

“Yeah Tangerine! Just let us chilllllll” Naomi drags out the last word as she tries to put a hand on his chest. He takes a step back away from her, his face slightly puckering up as it seems like he stifles a face of annoyance.

You sit down next to Ava, across from where the open seat in front of Tangerine is.

“Look. Ava’s father gave clear instructions to make sure she doesn’t make any fucked decisions tonight. And seeing as sh–” Tangerine’s speech is cut off once more, this time surprisingly by Elijah.

“Look man, if your concern is making sure Ava isn’t dead in a ditch, why don’t you two just pull a seat up at the table. It isn’t like we’re going anywhere else tonight, just fucking sit and relax. Have a drink!” Elijah almost barks this out before returning to the game of bowling. He’s currently in second place, behind Ava and you know he’s dying to beat her.

Lemon gives a nod before sitting down at the bar, grabbing Ava’s half finished beer and taking a swig. Tangerine on the other hand reluctantly takes a seat in front of you. You watch his demeanor once he’s sat. It seems like he’s avoiding your gaze, and you’re not sure why. You watch his face as he observes the people around you. You can’t tell if he’s just surveying the place or if he’s just uncomfortable. His body language looks stiff and his hands are clasped on the table in front of him.

“You have pretty eyes…” The sentence slips out of your mouth as you stare at him, rubbing your own eye as you feel yourself getting a little tired. You were hoping to break the silence. “Also pretty arms.” You let out a little giggle as you prop your head on your hand, continuing to stare at the pretty man sitting across from you.

You talking seems to bring him back to the group at hand. Or at least brings his attention to you. He gives you a weird look, seeming to calculate what to say. “And you seem pretty drunk, love.” He reaches across the table, grabbing your drink and taking a sip from it before returning it to you. “And that’s a pretty strong drink you got.”

You give yet another giggle, reaching for your drink and taking a sip. You were drunk all right, but you needed more liquid courage if you were going to be in the presence of this man. Your brain had fallen quiet and your friends seemed to not be coming to your rescue in this one.

You recall a comment from Mateo earlier in the night about ‘letting you do your thing if you ever came across a hot ass man tonight.’

You had been around Tangerine and Lemon before. From what you could recall, they weren’t truly employed by Ava’s father. You’re pretty sure it was more like a freelance thing? They weren’t always around Ava and her family, but they were hired common enough for you to know exactly who they are and remember Tangerine.

The first time you had ever met the two, the group was at a soccer game in the city. You were in Ava’s family’s suite at the game having a blast. You remember spotting Tangerine and asking Ava just who the tall man was exactly. After that, any time Tangerine and Lemon were hired to babysit Ava, you always basically gawked at the man. After Tangerine and Lemon left for the room, your friend group, especially Ava liked to tease you. Ava and Mateo knew you had a thing for Tangerine. Ava liked to get her father to hire the two as much as possible, especially if you were present. It meant you saw him often. It meant you thought about him often. You thought his curls were pretty and you could imagine what it would feel like to run your fingers through his beautiful hair. You could recall the accent he had. You thought the tattoos he had were attractive, or maybe it was just because they were on his arms. And god did he have pretty arms.

You’re once again brought out of daydreaming, this time by Naomi sitting down by Tangerine and placing a hand on the back of his shoulder, and one hand on his chest. You don’t listen to what she’s saying, but by the look on their face, you know she’s flirting. And hard. You hear her let out a giggle as she makes some sort of comment about the man before you swap from sipping your drink to straight up downing it.

You slam the cup down on the table and shoot up. “I’m off to get another drink..” You twirl around, maybe a little too fast, and begin heading for the bar.

You know the announcement of your departure was a little stern. You don’t know why, but it almost got on your nerves that Naomi was making a pass at the man. You let the jealousy stay for a second before rationalizing the thought.

‘I’m not actually jealous. It’s late and I’m drunk, it isn’t that big of a deal, I’m just being silly.’ You think to yourself as you arrive at the bar, propping both elbows up onto the ledge and waiting for a bartender to notice you. You wipe your face hoping to clear your mind.

While waiting your eyes slowly are drawn to one of the television hung above the bar – some wrestling match was going on. You notice the other people at the bar, their eyes glued to the screen. ‘I don’t understand why they are so invested.’ You think to yourself as you turn your attention back to in front of you, looking at the drink choices before noticing a man standing to your right. You turn your head and are happily met by the pretty blue eyes of a curly headed man.

You grin.

“Tangeriiinnnneeeeee” You draw out his name. You aren’t quite sure if it is on purpose or if you’re just drunk, but it didn’t matter as you watched the man’s lips twist into a smirk itself.

“Interested in the match, are we?” He asks, nodding back to the television.

“Mmmmmm, not quite. I’m not much of a sports fan.” You give a glance at the match before turning your attention back to him, noticing his shirt. He usually had it buttoned up all the way, as professional as you can get. But tonight, you notice at least two, maybe three buttons that seem to be open. You can see a tattoo peeking out from under his shirt. You take a deep breath before your eyes return to his. He had watched you check him out yet again.

You clear your throat before asking, “Are you a fan?”

He doesn’t break eye contact. “I am tonight.”

A noise escapes your throat, almost a hum. He still hadn’t broken eye contact. Maybe it was just you, but it seemed like it had gotten hard to breathe. You felt like you hadn’t taken a breath in ages. “And why’s that?” You ask, still looking at him and still maintaining eye contact.

In the moment you felt like the only thing in the room was him.

“Got money on the small guy. Everyone likes an underdog story, yeah?” The smirk returns to his face.

You nod your head in agreement. Once again, your brain has gone blank. The sudden movement of his lips catches your attention as your eyes quickly dart down to his lips, and quickly dart back up to his eyes. He had watched that happen too.

As your eyes meet, your body forces you to take a deep breath. You notice he does the same. Maybe his breath had also been caught in his throat. You realize the sound of the world around you also comes back to you.

You’re brought back to the real world completely as a bartender greets you and Tangerine, asking what you two will have. But before you can answer for yourself, Tangerine speaks for you.

“Water for this one, and whisky for me.” He says before telling the bartender exactly what he wants. As soon as the bartender turns to go grab the materials, you turn back to Tangerine.

“I can’t order for myself now?” You jokingly ask, your voice getting a little higher in disbelief as you raise both your eyebrows in fake disbelief.

He looks at you and gives a scoff. “You can, but I don’t know if you should be at this particular time darling.” He gives you a sly smile, one probably meant to comfort you.

And you lose your breath again and you avert your eyes. You thought you had gotten confident, but you weren’t expecting him to call you that. You clear your throat. And start to mess with a laminated menu on the bar.

“So why exactly are you here tonight? You know this isn’t the first stop we’ve made, right?” You ask, trying to change the subject. Or at least to get him talking.

“We’ve been hanging back most of the night. Nothin’ suspicious has happened, but a few o’ you idiots are getting a little too far gone. Ava’s father sent us specifically to watch her. The rest of the group is just an added bonus. Don’t wanna make any rich parents mad, do we?” He asks the last part rhetorically.

This time he’s the one looking away. He takes a drink while looking off. You can’t read the expression on his face, but it isn’t quite neutral. He looks like something is on his mind.

“You don’t seem all that excited to be babysitting a bunch of adults. Why do you even take the jobs offered by Ava’s family? I assume there’s other things you could be doing.” After speaking you realize your tone seemed a little snippy. You hadn’t meant for it to come out rudely, but it did just a tad. You really were on a roll tonight.

You didn’t want to necessarily influence the man to stop taking the jobs, but you were curious. You could tell by what he was wearing that he had money. In previous interactions, you had drawn the same conclusion. You weren’t extremely up to date with the latest fashion trends when it came to wealth, but you did know that the watch on his wrist looked very similar to one that Elijah had. And you knew it wasn’t cheap. Plus the extensive wardrobe the man seemed to have also led you to believe he was pretty well off for himself.

He half turns his head back to you, side eyeing you with a scrunched eyebrow.

“A little touchy on the subject are we?” He asks you before setting his drink down. He rubs his chin before turning his face to yours.

“Ava’s father pays well. The jobs easy, quick and usually clean. Easy money.” He pauses and you watch his eyes move down to your lips and back up to your eyes and then down to the drink back in his hand. “It's an added bonus that sometimes you idiots can be entertaining.”

“Well. I’ll agree that they – we – can be quite entertaining. I can imagine it can be a little obnoxious at times.” A few times come to mind.

Like this year's New Years Eve party held at Ava’s. Camilia had drunk way too much champagne and had eaten quite a few shrimps. She was in the midst of a nasty break up with a pretty popular actor and had seen the reports of him attending a party that night with his co-star. A smile comes to your face as you remember the look of absolute horror on Tangerine’s face when Camilia had thrown up on him. You remember Lemon’s gasp.

Or the one time you, Ava, and Leon had somehow ran into one of Leon’s father’s old clients who had recently gotten out of prison. You three had been out shopping at the beach when the man confronted the group. Calmly at first, but very quickly drew a gun and began yelling at you three. Tangerine and Lemon had resolved the situation as quickly as the man had appeared.

Or one of the most recent events. For Ava’s birthday, she had thrown a huge, fancy party out of the country. Some place in Ireland, with almost a Bridgerton theme. Somehow you and Tangerine ended up in a room on the outskirts of a castle while the party was booming in the distance. You remember how close he had gotten to you. How close his face had gotten to yours. How he had stared at your lips for what felt like ages as you spoke. You remember the silence that happened after you had finished speaking, and the way his eyes darted quickly back to your eyes to just as quickly return to your lips. You also remember the way he had drawn away from you as Jordan had busted into the room looking for Ava. You weren’t one hundred percent sure, but you were pretty confident that if she hadn’t done so, Tangerine would have kissed you.

“I wouldn’t say ‘obnoxious’. Not all of you at least.” Tangerine says. He seems to have a distant look in his eyes. You wonder if the memory of you two alone in Ireland had come to mind. You hope it had.

Eventually you and Tangerine began reminiscing on some of the funnier moments that had happened while him and Lemon had been present.

You two had moved from the bar to a small table in a corner. Tangerine was still able to see the rest of your group, most importantly Ava. Even then, it wouldn’t have mattered anyways as Ava had convinced Lemon to join the current round of bowling. The group didn’t seem like they were going anywhere and neither did Lemon.

The place was still as loud as ever, but in the corner it was a little easier to hear each other. The neon lights that were reflecting off of most everything in the building was giving Tangerine a glow. The lights were giving his hair a darker complexion than normal, while highlighting his blue eyes. If you weren’t sitting so close to him, you wouldn’t have noticed the details. But fortunately for you, you were.

You were close enough to him to smell his cologne. He smelled almost like citrus. Or maybe like sandalwood? Or maybe like the inside of a linen closet? You weren’t exactly sure of the scent profile, but he smelled good. He smelled familiar.

“Do you remember Ireland? That birthday party was insane! I don’t know how you two kept up with Ava that week, it felt like every ten seconds we were going somewhere new!” You let out a small laugh remembering just how crazy it had been.

Tangerine rolls his eyes with a smile on his face. “You honestly think I would forget? I felt like I needed a leash on that girl. I wish she would have stayed around me or Lemon like you had during the trip.” His eyes light up a little as he scans your face.

You hadn’t realized you had been so obvious on that trip. Most of the friend group had paired off in Ireland and you remember hoping to talk more to Tangerine on the trip. You hadn’t made it your priority of course, but during down times or sightseeing activities you had hoped to hear his thoughts.

The air got thin once more. You realized that you both were leaning in towards each other. You were sitting in your chair sideways. Your right elbow propped on the table, with your hand propping your head up turned towards Tangerine, your back turned to the group’s table. Tangerine was turned towards you, almost leaning into your space with his right arm draped over the back of your chair, his hand hung in the open air between the back of your chair and your side. His left arm draped into his lap. Your legs sandwiched in between his.

You hadn’t realized just how physically close you too were. Talking with him and drinking water seemed to have sober you up some. Realizing how close you were to him also helped to sober you up in the moment. Your eyes trailed to his lip as you went to speak.

“Well, I’d never pass up the chance to be around you all day.” You say, a little softly as you had grown even more distracted by each and every centimeter of his face. You think about how soft his skin would feel in your hands.

You readjust yourself, trying to redirect your thoughts. You sit up a little straighter and let your hand that had been previously holding up your head fall into your lap. It unintentionally brushes Tangerine’s knee and you watch it slightly move, almost shocked by the touch. Sitting up like you were now meant that your face was even closer to his. You really hadn’t realized how much you two were leaning into each other.

You're staring at Tangerine’s lips when your eyes rush back to his as he places a hand right above your knee. You watch as he begins to lean in, his eyes on your lips. Before you can even process that his hand is practically on your thigh. He stops an inch away from you, his eyes moving up to meet your glance. His eyes meet yours for only a second before they move back down to your lips, and once again back to your eyes. You could feel him let a breath out, nearly a scoff.

“You’re extremely drunk.” He says dryly. and goes to pull away from you.

“I was dead sober in Ireland.” You quickly remark before retaking the distance he had put between the two of you. You plant a quick kiss on his lips.

“I haven’t forgotten about Ireland either.” You say softly as you move one of his curls behind his ear that had fallen when you kissed him a little too forcefully, the fear of missing another chance had brought some adrenaline into your system. Your hand makes its way to the back of his head as you begin to play with his hair. “I’ve been hoping you would be around more after that trip. Especially after the party.”

The hand Tangerine had set previously on your knee quickly moves to your face as he gently goes to hold your chin before lifting it up. This time h initiates the kiss. He’s more gentle than you were.

You grin into the kiss, only slightly thinking about how contrasting the situation was. The harsh man kisses gently, yet you, a more soft person kissed him like you were a thirteen year old kissing their crush at the school dance, afraid to be seen.

His hand moves from your chin to hold your head as he pulls you in more. Once he’s pulled you in as close as he can, his hand trails to your waist where it rests. Both of your hands quickly move back to his head where you pull him in closer.

His mustache tickles you, but you don’t care. All you could think about was how his head felt in your hands. How you wanted to be closer to him. How his hand was pulling your waist in. How his lips felt against yours. How you felt like you were breathing for the first time this entire night.

Your breath hitches as you feel his fingers dig into your waist. You feel yourself becoming warm as your attention is drawn to the fact that his skin is touching yours. Both of Tangerine’s hands are now holding on to your waist, pulling you in even more if it’s possible. One of his hands begins to trail up your back. It feels like he’s trying to find a better way to pull you closer to him, but at this point if you two got any closer you would be in his lap.

You accidentally let out what you think is supposed to be a gasp as one of his hands runs back down your spine, returning to your waist once more. This doesn’t faze Tangerine as he takes the short break from your lips to move both his hands now to either side of your head as he pulls you back into the kiss, not without a short and breathy ‘shit’ that escapes his mouth.

You aren’t sure who initiates the harsher kiss, but you didn’t care. As Tangerine bites your lower lip, you let out a breath and you grab onto the neckline of his unbuttoned shirt. Tangerine plants one last hard kiss onto your lips he pulls away, and leans into your ear before.

“I’d slow your breathing down, we’re about to have a visitor, yeah?” He plants a kiss on your cheek and pulls his head back to look at you before wiping your lips to get rid of some spit that had been left from when you two had separated. “Gotta make sure you look good too, dear.”

He takes a deep breath in, clears his throat and seats back against his chair, while running both of his hands over his head in an attempt to put his hair back in place after you had tussled it. He then leans back in his chair, giving a smile at the unwelcome visitor.

You wipe your hands over your face, and then over your own hair in an attempt to self soothe. You take a deep breath yourself as you try to slow your breathing and your heart rate. You wipe your hands down the thighs of your jeans before turning to meet whoever was coming towards you.

“Hey, you guys ready to go? Lemon is rounding up the rest of the group now. Ava and Elijah finally got bored with bowling.” Naomi says before finishing the drink she had in hand.

“Right. We’ll be over shortly.” Tangerine says, raising his eyebrows at Naomi and turning his attention back to you. You give her a smile and a nod to acknowledge her. As she goes to walk back to the table, you turn yourself back towards Tangerine.

“Glad we weren’t interrupted before this happened. Hope it was worth the wait.” Tangerine says giving you a sly smile.

You let out a half hearted laugh. If you thought nothing was in your brain beforehand, it was even more empty now. All you could think of now was when you would be alone with him again.

“How long did you say you and Lemon were staying this time around?” You manage to get out, looking up at him. You didn’t want to get your hopes up, but you also wanted to do this again.

Tangerine chuckles as he fixes his shirt from where you had grabbed it as he goes to answer, “I’m in the city for a couple of days. Off work too.” He tucks a curl behind his ear. “You have something in mind that could keep me busy?”

You nod your head as you give out a short laugh. “Ask me out to a proper dinner and I think we could figure something out."

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A/N: hey home slices, so here's this. i recently rewatched the movie, and am about to read the book and thought i would write something. who knows if i'll write more, but it was fun lol if you liked this, check out my master list! --> HERE

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bertinworms · 1 year ago

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how do i get over someone who i never dated

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bertinworms · 1 year ago

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Yeah I’m dtf. Diabolical Tiny Frog.

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bertinworms · 1 year ago

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Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine ⤷ Bullet Train, 2022 | dir. David Leitch

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bertinworms · 1 year ago

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Late Night Talking

Pairings: Tangerine x gn!Reader

Tags/Warnings: language & cussing, reader is sad/going through it, comfort, angst ig, lmk if anything was missed!!!

Word Count: 3.7K

Summary: You had been having a hard time recently and it all hits a wall when Tangerine comes home early in a bad mood and accidentally scares you. You end up sobbing in his arms.

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Most people you knew assumed that in your relationship, you were the one who kept both of you down to earth, and most of the time that was true.

You and Tangerine had been together for a while which meant that you had been present for multiple Tangerine tantrums, as you and Lemon liked to jokingly call them. Sometimes the boys would have a job go wrong and Tan would come home upset, steam practically coming out of his ears, rambling about what could have gone better and why. Sometimes Tangerine would come home from a particularly scary job, like the job in Kyoto that he refused to tell you anything about, and practically go mute - shut off the world, and take a break from everything. Whatever he needed to do to decompress — but he never, ever aimed any of it at you. His anger or frustration was shared, but he always made sure that you understood he was not upset with you, he’d just had a rough job that go around.

Tangerine’s many moods and how he processed his job never bothered you. The man had a pretty tough job and whatever way he chose to process that job was up to him. Plus you enjoyed taking care of him – when he let you. It seemed that he took care of you in every other aspect of life. The man paid for anything and everything you wanted or looked at, so being there for him made you feel important. It had taken him a while to get used to the constant reassurance, trust and love from you, but he now greatly accepted it.

You on the other hand were still having a hard time letting Tangerine be there for you emotionally. Being vulnerable was not one of your strong suites.

Tangerine’s jobs usually took him away from you for long periods, and usually took a lot out of him. So whenever Tan was home, you didn’t want to bother him with what was going on in your mundane life. You felt like your worst days would probably be a wonderful one compared to some of his bad days. So when Tan was home, and even when he was on a job, you didn’t usually tell him the full truth of how you were doing or how your day went. You would conveniently leave out the part where you accidentally dropped your keys into the garbage somehow, or how you dropped your phone in a muddy puddle, or how the day had been an extremely overstimulating one for whatever reason. You usually could step away for a second, take a breather, and you were back to being fine. It wasn’t that big of a deal, you just needed to push it down and enjoy the time you had now with Tan before he went away again for gods know how long.

Sometimes when Tangerine was on a trip, you would come home and have a good cry for a solid ten minutes and then get on with making dinner or any other chore needing to be done. And today was no different.

This March had felt like the longest month you had ever lived through. So many little things kept going wrong. Every day seemed to be a little bit worse. And you hadn’t seen Tangerine in exactly fifteen days. You had woken up late that morning because your phone apparently hadn’t charged the night before, then you couldn’t find your keys, you had spilled coffee on yourself right before walking into work, you had a coworker who had made a rude comment to you, your boss had reprimanded you for something that wasn’t your fault, and to top it off on your way home someone had rear ended your car, sending you to the hospital to be checked out where you had sat in a room for three hours, alone, waiting to be discharged.

You just wanted to go home, crawl into bed and disappear. The regular day had been a horrible one anyways and sitting in a cold, scary hospital room alone where you had been examined and poked about fifteen thousand times did not help. You also hadn’t heard from your partner in almost a full 48 hours. Your anxiety was now through the roof. You were tired. You were sore. You were sad. You wanted to go to bed.

You unlock the front door and step into the dark and quiet place that belonged to you and Tangerine. You quickly slip off your shoes by the front door and head towards the kitchen where you set your keys and phone down on the island counter.

You tap your phone screen – 8:43PM and no notifications. You take a deep breath in, and let out a sigh as you rub your eyes, willing the headache of the day to go away. It didn’t work.

‘Maybe some water and a snack would help,’ you think to yourself as you head towards the refrigerator. You quickly grab some water and a snack and grab your phone before making your way to the living room where you slumped onto the couch. While eating your snack, the thought of Tangerine can’t help but come to your mind.

You pick your phone off of the couch cushion, unlocking it and going to your last text thread from Tangerine.

Tangerine had texted you the morning before, a simple, ‘Good morning, love. Thinking of you, hoping to be home in the next few days. X’

When you had woken up to the text, it had made you smile. But now that it had been two days of no responses from him or Lemon, it felt more like a taunt. You were used to Tangerine being very hit or miss when it came to communication while he was on the job – it was for safety. But with this being one of the longest jobs he and Lemon had ever been on, it made you nervous. So you read back over your texts.

7:03AM: morning tan – hope you and lem are keeping each other safe! im ready for you to be home safe again ♡

1:43PM: a package was delivered for you. im not sure if its a new suit, work stuff or something else so im leaving it in the garage for when your home lol

9:42PM: im headed to bed, but wanted to let you know im just thinking about you. i love you and hope youre safe wherever you boys are at. get home soon ♡

11:32AM: missing you extra today, as cheesy as that sounds. hope you arent getting yourself into too much trouble

You roll your eyes at the last text you had sent. That was a little too cheesy even for your taste, let alone Tangerine’s.

You start typing out a message to Tangerine. Thinking about telling him a little about your day, or even just telling him you missed him and loved him and couldn’t wait to just see him face-to-face again. But you erase the half written message, worrying that he might get annoyed by your abundance of needy texts that didn’t really have a need to be sent.

You let out another sigh as you turn your phone off, setting it on the coffee table in front of you along with the trash of your snack. You grab the throw blanket laying across the back of the couch and slump further down the couch until you’re laying down with your head supported by the arm rest. You absentmindedly look out the window next to you.

You were glad you had left the lights off in the flat. The lights of the city outside the window allowed for a soft glow to seep into the room. Without the lights on you were able to see the quiet street and watch the people of the night go about their business. You wanted some sort of distraction, but the thought of scrolling on your phone or turning the television on seemed like it would make the headache you had even worse. It also allowed for your brain to wander gently between thoughts.

You wonder where the people on the street below are going.

You wonder where they’re coming from.

You wonder where Tangerine and Lemon are.

You wonder if they were safe, if something bad had happened.

And before you realized it, your eyes had grown heavy and you had dozed off.

You jolted as you were rudely awoken by the refrigerator door shutting harshly. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears as you realized you weren’t in the place alone. You didn’t move at first as you opened your eyes to see who was there. You could make out the silhouette of a man standing in the kitchen, illuminated by a small amount of light coming in through the window from the street lights. Tangerine hadn’t called or texted you before you had fallen asleep so you weren’t sure if it was him. You were hoping it was him, if it wasn’t you didn’t know what you would do.

“Tan?” you half whispered.

“Yeah.” He says dryly. You watched as he turns towards your voice and flips on the light above the kitchen island. You blink a few times to adjust to the bright light and give him a look over.

He looks tired, or maybe annoyed? You couldn’t really place the emotion, but it wasn’t a positive one. You notice his suit jacket is laid over the back of one of the barstools with his suitcase propped up against it. You look from the jacket, back to him and notice a few bruises and small cuts that range from his face to the exposed upper chest sticking out from a slightly unbuttoned undershirt.

You watch as Tangerine quietly moves around the kitchen gathering a variety of things to make some sort of meal. His movements are sharp and more than once he lets a cabinet shut a little roughly.

You clear your throat as you readjust how you’re sitting so you can see Tangerine better. “I didn’t realize you’d be back home tonight. How did the job go?”

He looks up at you with half a sandwich on the way to his mouth. “D’rather not talk ‘bout it, love.” He quickly says before taking the last bite of his dinner.

You watch as he puts his dishes in the sink and washes his hands. You watch as he dries them off and then places his hands on either side of the sink, almost bracing himself. You could tell something was stuck on his mind as he takes a breath in and closed his eyes.

You begin to play with the blanket laid over you out of nerves, avoiding looking at him. You couldn’t read Tangerine’s mood and you worried something serious had happened.

“Why didn’t you wake me up when you got in? You scared me when y–”

You were cut off by Tangerine.

“Wouldn’t have to be concerned about who had gotten in if ya’d keep the front door locked, would ya now?” He snaps, raising an eyebrow and cocking his head at you. He hadn’t raised his voice, but the look on his face shares the irritation he has.

The tone in his voice had taken you by surprise and had caused you to stop fidgeting with the blanket and look up at him. Tangerine wasn’t prone to snapping at you out of nowhere like he just had. Even after a particularly bad job, he usually was able to keep his aggravation not geared towards you.

“Excuse me?” You question him, your voice faltering as you look at him. His face was tense. You couldn’t pin if he was truly irritated with you or if he was taking out his last fifteen days on you.

“Ya left the fuckin’ front door unlocked. Again, love.” He readjusts his stance and stands up straight, with his arms crossed. You let out a small sorry, but either he doesn’t hear it or doesn’t care as he continues on.

“I’ve told ya so many times, ya got ta keep it locked.” He drags a hand down his face, and rubs his chin. “Do you know how dangerous it could be? What happens if some prick comes lookin’ for me? When me and Lemon aren’t here, you’ve got–”

This time you cut him off. “Tan, I apologized. It was a fucking accident. Okay?”

You couldn’t even remember if you had or hadn’t locked the fucking door when you got home. All you remember is wanting to just be inside and hidden from the day. And you start to tear up just thinking about the last few weeks you had had.

“Accident or– if someone – it is dangerous, darling. Do you know–” he cuts himself off as he looks directly at you. At this point tears are streaming down your face and you’re wiping them off of your cheeks.

“Tangerine. Please. For the love of god. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to leave the god damned fuckin’ door unlocked. I don’t even remember– I–”

It becomes harder to speak the more you talk. You hadn’t meant to just break down. But the combination of the last few weeks, being startled awake and the tone of Tangerine, you just couldn’t not let it all out.

You rub your face with both your hands as you take a shaky breath in and look up towards Tangerine. You realize he had made his way across the distance from the kitchen island to the coffee table as he stood a few feet away from you. The features of his face had softened, he had a look of sadness on his face.

“I know you’re afraid when you leave me someone will show up, it was an accident. I’m fine now. Okay? Just let up, Tan.” You can’t even try to stop the tears now.

“Love, m’sorry.” he sits down at the edge of the couch, “I just worry. So, so much when I’m not ‘ere. Especially when I’m gone so fuckin’ long. ‘Didn’t mean to snap, it was just a shit job. M’sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, my love.”

“It wasn’t just you, Tan. Its… It’s just been such a day. It’s been such a month.” You sniffle and wipe another tear off of your face. You take a deep, shaky breath. “I’ve really missed you.”

“Oh, darlin’. I’ve missed you as well, more than I’d probably like to admit. How about a hug? Is ‘t okay if I get closer?” He asks, setting a hand close to your crossed legs on the couch.

You sniffle and nod your head.

At this point Tangerine readjusts himself to where he is fully sitting on the couch. He pulls you into him and holds you tightly, wrapping one of his arms around your head and pulling it to the crook of his neck. He kisses your head as you further break down.

“I’m so sorry. You just got home and I don’t mean to be like this. I just, I had such a bad day and then you scared me waking me up like that and you’re upset with me, I know it’s scary when you leave and you can’t be here making sure I’m safe. I know you just got back and you were gone for so long and–” you wrap your arms around his waist and begin to cry harder.

You hadn’t meant to upset him in the first place. You knew he always worried about you, and you felt even worse that you were sobbing into his chest, making him worry even more.

“Tangerine, I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to–”

You're cut off by Tangerine hugging you a little closer.

“Love, it’s okay. M’not upset with you, I was just being a right fuckin’ asshole, yeah? I didn’t really mean what I said. You’ll always be safe as long as M’here. Wha’s happened? Wha’s wrong?” Tangerine says while he starts to gently run a hand over your hair.

“One thing just hasn’t happened, it’s just been so many little things. And you’ve been so busy with work. Tan I’ve missed you. And I didn’t mean to make you mad as soon as you got home. I hadn’t even realized I didn’t lock the door.” You say, squeezing your arms around him even tighter. If you could be any closer to the man, you would be, but you don’t think it’s physically possible.

You take a deep breath again with a sniffle, gaining more composure before starting again.

“I just got home tonight and I just wanted to go to bed, Tan. I barely even remember what all I did when I got home. I’m sorry. I don’t want you to have to worry or to be mad at me.” You sniffle once more and bring a hand up to wipe your eyes.

“Darlin’, I promise I’m not upset with you.” Tangerine says petting your head again and kissing your temple.

“But you’re tone. Tan, you’ve never spoken to me like that. You were mean, you sounded mad.” You sniffle again. God. You needed a tissue, but you weren’t going to risk moving out of Tangerine’s arms. You didn’t think you could bear to look him in the eyes, even if you had stopped sobbing.

“M’sorry, ya know I’ve been with Lemon for the last few weeks and I’ve been dealing with right arseholes. It just slipped, yeah? It isn’t right of me, but it just happened. I promise I’m not upset with you or even mad at you – I could never be mad at you, love.”

He lets out a sigh before pulling back from you for a second, adjusting you both in a way where he can look into your eyes. He wipes away some of the left over tears on your face

“I promise I am not mad at you. And I promise I won’t bring my work tone back home to you.” He says, making sure to emphasize each word a little slower than he usually would.

Your eyes trail over his face, looking at the bruises that scatter his body closer than you previously could. “Okay,” you say quietly, realizing just how tired you were and you could imagine Tangerine felt the same.

“What can I do to make it up to you? What can I do to make up for the last sixteen days?” He holds your face in his hands softly, rubbing a thumb over your cheek. You let out a yawn, followed by a soft smile.

“You don’t have to do anything, Tan. It’s okay, really.” You bring your hands up and place them over his. “Let’s just go to bed, yeah? We can make up for the last few weeks after some sleep. I know you’ve got to be tired – not to be rude, but you look like hell.”

Tangerine lefts out a soft chuckle, and you smile once more. He leans forward and places a soft kiss on the tip of your nose, and then your lips.

“Let’s put you to bed then. But I’ve got to shower before bed, love.” He helps untangle you from the throw blanket you were previously wrapped in and then stands himself. You walk to the barstool in the kitchen grabbing the handle of his suitcase as he grabs his suit jacket, and you both head towards the bedroom.

“Well I’m glad you made that decision by yourself. I wasn’t going to say anything, but you do smell like work.” You say jokingly, scrunching your nose at him and letting out a small laugh.

Tangerine’s face breaks out in a grin before he throws his suit jacket towards the hamper and turns to you. You go to set his suitcase by his side of the bed when you’re suddenly blinded by Tangerine coming up from behind you and engulfing you in the shirt he was just wearing.

While your back was turned, Tangerine had unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and had now cocooned you in it. “Shoulda kept your mouth shut, love.” He laughs as you try to push him away from you.

You laugh as you turn around, now facing his chest. “Jesus, Tangerine– you smell so bad.” You duck down and out of his arms, falling back onto the bed before Tangerine tackles you flat onto the bed.

“It's the wonderful smell of a man who’s not showered in three days, dear.” He begins to shower you in kisses as you try to push him away between laughs.

“Tan, EW! Go make it zero again!” You laugh as he gives you a final, overdramatic kiss on your cheek as he gets off of you, throwing his shirt into his hamper before heading to the bathroom with a “Whatever you say, lovely.”

You smile to yourself as you wipe your face, attempting to wipe off the grime you felt from Tangerine’s attack.

While Tangerine quickly showers, you plug both of your phones into their chargers and set them on their respective bedside tables. You also change into your own night clothes before turning off the overhead light and crawling into the bed. A few seconds later Tangerine follows suit and you move closer to him.

“Better now, yeah?” He says, pulling the collar of his shirt out and offering it to you to smell.

You swat his shirt away before snaking an arm around his waist, and giving him a kiss on his jawline.

“Much better, thank you.”

You smile to yourself as you lay your head onto his chest, and Tangerine scoots closer to you letting his arm snake around your waist and pulling you tight to him as he gives your forehead a kiss. You had missed this, you had missed him.

You knew you and Tangerine would have a chat in the morning about how he was doing, and what had happened with you, and how much you had missed the other. Lemon would probably come around and would tell you about how much Tangerine whined about missing you the entire trip, which would cause a spat between the two. But for now, all you could think about was how at home you felt. How comfortable you were. How happy you were that your Tangerine was finally home, safe in your arms.

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A/N: i dont just absolutely love this piece, but i've been going through it and very much benefited off of writing this lmfao

if you liked this, check out my master list! --> HERE if you have a request, feel free to send it in! :]

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3/21/2023: edited to update warnings

3/22/2023: edited to fix grammatical mistakes and text formatting

751 notes · View notes

bertinworms · 1 year ago

Text

New Opportunities (Pt. 1)

Pairings: Tangerine x gn!nurse!Reader

Tags/Warnings: blood, wounds, language & cussing, mention of guns, mentions of stabbing, some mentions of medical tools and practices.

Word Count: 3.9K

Summary: You are a nurse at a residency near Kyoto, Tokyo. You had been called in to go to the wreck of a bullet train that smashed through a wall into a city. On your way, you spot two men walking on a road looking disheveled. You patch Tangerine up, and he offers you a job working for him and Lemon.

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“What do you think really happened to make that train go off the rails like that?” asked your coworker who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car as he reached to turn down the volume of the radio. You had purposely had it up a little louder to deter him from striking up a conversation – and it had lasted for about fifteen minutes.

You shrug before letting out a dry, “I don’t know.” It had been a long day already. You had finally made it home before you had been called out to the wreckage of a bullet train that had evidently not stopped at its last destination and instead crashed through a wall and into a village outside of Kyoto.

You watch Elijah out of the corner of your eye, readjust awkwardly and turn his eyes to the side of the road. You didn’t mean to come off as rude to him, the tall brunette sitting in the front seat next to you. He was your coworker, but he also was your friend you had known since Freshman year at university. And now you both were in Tokyo for a medical residency at a fairly high-end hospital.

“What do you think happened? You have some wild theory, yeah?” You ask him, trying to soften the blow of your previous response. You didn’t mean to turn him down – you were just tired.

“I mean don’t you think it’s kind of weird? Like. They are so well designed and operated. Why would one just–” Elijah stopped mid sentenced and dramatically pointed in front of the car, “PULL OVER!!”

You notice the two men a few seconds after Elijah does. You weren’t even that close to them and you could still tell that they seemed badly injured. The taller of the two had an arm of the second man draped around his shoulder. The shorter man with longer hair seemed to be limping along. Even from where you sat behind the wheel, you could tell both men were heavily disheveled, wet, exhausted and bloodied – neither one of them looked very good.

You quickly pull over behind them as they turn to face the car. Elijah doesn’t even wait for you to fully come to a stop before jumping out of the car and then racing to the back seat to grab his medical kit and quickly walking to the men. You can’t hear what he is saying, but you know he’s already introduced himself and has probably already begun evaluating them.

Once you put the car in park, you follow Elijah’s hasty lead and grab your own bag and go to turn around and almost run into one of the men. You stop in your tracks as you come face to face with the man who was previously limping alongside the road.

“Your friend there sent me over here to be checked out. He thinks I ought to sit down while you do your thing.” He says, standing there and staring at you – waiting for some sort of direction. You notice how his hair is beginning to curl at the ends, probably from it drying from being wet. It reminds you of the tail feathers of a duck.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s set you down here.” You say as you move out of the frame of the car door and motion for him to sit down on the backseat of the car. He gives you a look up and down with his eyebrows held low over his eyes before he complies. While you could tell he was trying to act normal, you could see he was in pain. As he went to sit down, you watched as his body almost stiffened, preparing for the commitment of sitting down and the moment his hand grabs onto the seat, it's almost like he just melts into the seat of your car with a muttered “bloody fuckin’ hell.” under his breath.

“Man, you really got beat up. I’d hate to see the other guy.”

You chuckle, making a joke to lighten the mood hopefully. You hadn’t expected a laugh from the injured man sitting in front of you, but you also hadn’t expected the hardened stare that met your eyes.

“Okay,” you say while raising your eyebrows and clapping your hands together after putting some gloves on, “Nevermind the jokes, let me have a look at ya. Do you mind if I set this here?” You had opened the kit and gestured to the man’s lap. You usually would’ve set your materials next to you on the ground somewhere, but with the already limited space between you and the man sitting half in the car, it made it tough to move around as easily if the kit was on the ground.

“Not a problem, love.” He says, once again with no emotion. He uses both his hands to push his hair out of his face, and then holds out both hands to take the kit and places it in his lap.

You now put your full focus on the man as your eyes scan his face. You notice that he had a few cuts, scratches and bruises on his face in various places – some still bleeding. You also notice that it looks like an earring had been ripped out of his left ear as his earlobe was torn. You also notice that he’s quite attractive – even this beat to shit. You begin to examine the cuts you can see on his face and go about determining what needs to be stitched or just cleaned.

“So, Mr…” You start, hoping he would at least give you a name to work with.

“Tangerine. Just Tangerine.”

“So Tangerine, what did happen if you don’t mind me asking.” You say looking down at him as you grab some materials.

You don’t want to necessarily pry into Tangerine’s life, but you know it might help distract from any pain he is currently feeling. Especially as you go to stitch up a nasty cut on his forehead. You make a mental note to check for a concussion later.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business, love.” He snaps back, watching you discard some gauze on the floor of the car.

You raise an eyebrow at the sudden sass from the man sitting in front of you. He seems feisty, even when he seems to not have the upper hand in the situation.

“I mean, I don’t have to know. But you and your friend are walking down a pretty solemn road. Both of you tattered, bloody and wet. And both of you are near where that bullet train crashed. ” You say back. You busy yourself with cleaning dried blood off of his face, allowing the task to let your voice seem disinterested; like it didn’t matter if he told you or not.

He still has no expression or a tell that he’s going to speak. “You know, I’m just trying to make conversation to distract you from your pain. You do seem pretty beat up, and that’s just by looking at your face. I imagine the rest of your body is in the same shitty shape.” You look at a slice on his upper arm as you finish your sentence and lean on the frame of the car door staring at him.

Tangerine readjusts in his seat, you assume because of your comment.

“Yeah, well I’ll be fine.” He clears his throat. “Why are you lot even here now. Shouldn’t you two be at the crash site helping the survivors then?” He says, this time meeting your eyes.

You stand back up straight and go back to cleaning his face gently.

“Well, Elijah over there saw you two and basically jumped out of a moving car to help you two. I’m just here to do my job and go home. I go where the people need me, and seeing as you and your frien–”

“Lemon.”

“Seeing as you and your friend - Lemon - are people in need, here I am. On the side of the road, stitching up a man who looks like he’s had an even longer day than I could even begin to imagine.”

You go to wipe some new blood off of Tangerine’s forehead as a curly, brown lock of hair falls down and you instinctively tuck it back into place with the rest of it. Your instinct takes you by surprise, and you choose to act like it was nothing. But you watch as the small, unplanned touch causes Tangerine to readjust once more and it seems to bring some type of tiny emotion to a previously blank face.

“You know you’re allowed to talk to me. I might be in the medical field, but there’s rules in place. Patient-doctor confidentiality and all that, yeah? Plus I’m pretty sure any story that comes out of your mouth, nobody would believe coming out of mine if I repeated it.”

While small talk wasn’t really something you enjoyed, it would definitely beat the awkward silence that kept filling the small space between you and Tangerine. It was another attempt to get him to speak, not a strong one, but it felt pretty cut and dry. He seemed like he wanted to speak, but it was clear he thought it wiser not to in this situation.

You give him a second or two to speak, but he just stares at you. You let out a small sigh.

“Okay, your face is all patched up now. It probably isn’t as perfect as it was before, but with time some of the bruising and swelling will go down. You might have a small scar on your forehead as well, but that isn’t from me.”

You start giving him instructions on how to care for the new cuts as you shine a flashlight into his eyes to check for a concussion. You were about to speak to ask about how his head was feeling when he abruptly spoke.

“I was on the bullet train. Me and Lemon had a job. We were supposed to get off in Kyoto, but things went south pretty fuckin’ quickly.” He says, now seeming to want to have a conversation.

Maybe Tangerine did have a concussion.

“We both jumped out of one of the holes in the side of one of the carts into a lake or some shit down the road. It seemed like a much better plan than getting absolutely crushed by a bullet train being pancaked into a wall or getting shot in the fuckin’ face by some bellends.”

He practically sneers as he says the word ‘bellends,’ and you accidentally let out a sound that is a mix between a laugh and a scoff.

“‘Bellends’? That’s a new one for me – do you mind rolling up your right sleeve or taking it out of your shirt so I can dress that stab wound? – So who was after you and Lemon anyways? You just happen to make some really bad enemies while in Tokyo?”

You ask the question as you take the medical kit from Tangerine’s lap to allow him to readjust and begin to gather some supplies as Tangerine starts to move around, and doing what you asked of him. You set the kit back down in his lap after he unbuttons his shirt enough to bring his arm out and hand it to you.

You go to reach for it so you can get a better look at his wound when you're interrupted by Tangerine holding a single finger up to you before saying, “Do you mind?” and you watch as he takes a holster and gun off of his waist.

You weren’t an expert on guns, but it was small, and it was a gun. He sets it down on the floor of the car before readjusting his position and holding his bruised, and bleeding arm out to you as you basically gawk at the man.

“Sorry, pretty damn uncomfortable, and I’ve had plenty of that for one day.”

“Okay then. So I’m going to assume you didn’t just accidentally make an enemy or two in Tokyo. What do you do?”

You gently take his arm and turn it over in your hands, examining the cut before deciding how to proceed. You can’t help but notice the muscles he has and you wonder if it has anything to do with his job.

He takes in a deep breath before answering, almost preparing for a response from you.

“Well, if you must know, I’m a contract killer. I kill who I’m told, occasionally save someone's ungrateful rich and pompous ass, deliver money and I’m usually on my way. But not today.”

He says the last part as he stretches his shoulder and neck backwards and pops them.

“Okay, that makes the guns, bellends, and stabbing make sense I guess?” At this point you’re once again working on stitching a part of Tangerine up and disinfecting a wound.

“That’s it? You believe me. You don’t think I’m toying around with you?”

There’s a tone in his voice that makes you look up at him from where you’re almost hunched over his arm. You make eye contact with him and realize that this wasn’t just a remark – he’s seriously asking.

“I mean, you and Lemon are pretty beat up. You look like you’ve been stabbed, shot at, punched and probably more. You told me you jumped out of a moving train AND a bullet train just crashing through a wall isn’t just a daily occurrence here if you were wondering or confused about that one. It all adds up, it makes sense. I’ve heard of worse, trust me.”

You keep eye contact as you say this, adding a shrug at the end. His expression doesn’t change, but you see his eyes slowly soften and you know your answer was “correct” in his eyes.

You go to turn back once again to his arm when he asks, “Do you like what you do?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your job - do you like what you do?” He repeats himself, leaning his head on the back of the seat.

“I mean. It pays the bills, it’s allowed me to travel, and I paid to get here. I help people most days, so yeah. I’d say I enjoy it for the most part.” You shrug, not really making eye contact with him and just going about your business. “Do you enjoy your job?” You ask in return.

At first Tangerine just responds with a hum, and you watch as he closes his eyes. You imagine he’s replaying the events of today to try and decide.

“For the most part I would say. I travel across the globe, deal with scoundrels, and most of the time get paid to get rid of scums. And majority of my jobs I spend with my brother. Seems like a win-win to me, love.” He opens his eyes and looks to you as he finishes his answer.

“Does repeatedly getting hurt not make you want to find something different?” You ask, meeting his gaze. You truly wanted to know. He wasn’t the first person you had come across that led a life of danger, and he wouldn’t be the last. But so far Tangerine had been the first one to be honest with you.

“Does repeatedly stitching up assholes ever get boring?” He asks in return, still holding your gaze.

You look over his face before responding.

“Not if the asshole carries a conversation with me and holds my med kit while I stitch him up.” You say as you give him a small smile and he returns an even bigger one. You notice that his eyes also smile back at you.

You quickly finish stitching his arm and stand up fully, once again discarding what you no longer needed.

“All done.”

You say with a smile. You begin to take off your gloves to throw to the side as you’re now done. Tangerine watches your hands before finally speaking.

“Would you ever seriously consider switching careers for one that provided more money, but might be a little more of a risk?” His voice sounds steady, but when you look him in the eyes, you think you see a hint or nervousness.

“It depends on who it’s under, how much the pay is, and how much of a risk it is. I mean that’s a pretty serious question you're tiptoeing around, yeah?” You say with a half smile on your face. You lean back onto the frame of the car door and cross your arms as you look at Tangerine. Once again your eyes search his face for any hint of what he’s thinking, feeling, or about to say. With no results besides him stretching his jaw and meeting your eyes.

“So you don’t have kids, family, a partner or spouse, that would play a part in that decision? At all?” He pries, this time his eyes searching your face for a reaction.

“No, not really. I mean I moved here from the States for a residency. I have some friends, but they’re all only really coworkers. No spouse or partner or no kids – I’m single, if that’s what you’re looking for. Not even a pet right now. My decision would fully be up to me and what benefits me. Point, blank, period.”

You try to keep an emotionless face. Not that you wouldn’t consider what you think Tangerine is considering asking – you just wouldn’t want to get your hopes up. The daily life in the hospital wasn’t what you were expecting and you had been wanting to swap things up. Plus working for Tangerine seems like it would be just what you needed. He seemed cheeky, he had banter, the pay would probably be more than what you could imagine and the man wasn’t hard on the eyes.

“Would you want to come work for me? I mean you’d be workin’ for Lemon as well and all. But would you consider it? With all the jobs we go on across the middle of fuckin’ nowhere, it probably wouldn’t hurt to have our own personal medic. And you do a fine job from what I can tell.” At this point he begins to put his right arm back into his shirt, but doesn’t button it back up. You look from his exposed chest to his eyes, and meet his gaze.

“Of course we would pay you well, and probably help pay for travel expenses and anything you needed to get situated into this position. I’d have to talk pay over with Lemon before I gave you an exact amount, but we wouldn’t fuck you over or anything like that. We aren’t pricks.” He continues to babble, this time his voice almost faltering. You were making him nervous the longer you didn’t react.

His eyes once again search your face, looking for some pre-existing answer to his job offer. You watch as one of his eyes twitches.

“Take me on a date first, and I’ll consider coming to work for you. And Lemon of course.” A small smile makes its way to your face.

“You mean like an interview?” Tangerine looks to you, confusion written all over his now blood-free face.

“I mean, you can consider it if you’d like. But I’d like a date with you.” You shrug. “You’re an attractive man, you seem intelligent. And you’ve called me love about four different times since you’ve given me your name.” You once again smile at the man sitting in front of you. Calling his actions out might be ballsy, but it seems to work as his face turns a slight pink.

“I’d love to take you out on a date. But let’s not forget who was practically gawking over who’s bicep now shall we?” Tangerine gives you a shit eating grin as you turn blood red and cover your face laughing.

“Lemon’s going to love having you on as a third member.” He says, getting out of the car and walking towards Lemon and Elijah.

You close your medical kit and place it back into the car and turn around to shut the car door.

“What a meet-cute story.” You mumble to yourself as you go to follow Tangerine over to where he was already talking to Lemon.

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A/N: i dont just absolutely love this piece, but i've been going through it and very much benefited off of writing this lmfao

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3/19/2023: edited to fix spelling mistakes

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