#big dog thinks they are a lapdog

[searenbound]

You might think me and Midoriya are very tender and lovey-dovey with each other

Cute awkward dorks in love? Hah! Maybe in the early days, but we’re absolute menaces when we’re comfortable.

He’s so sweet and polite until you disrespect him and his loved ones, and I do love to run my smart ass mouth so you know.

If I’m the bitch that yaps, he’s the dog you swear doesn’t bite standing behind me.

[wishfulsketching]

Every big dog thinks they're a lapdog

[dreamsteddie]

I think Steve just isn't aware that to a lot of people, Eddie is intimidating and unsettling. Like, he's shown to be easily agitated and highly defensive when they first introduce him in the show and he's kind of a dick to the kids (especially Lucas) and has a lot of strong opinions he's not afraid to voice. Mix it up with the chain, the leather, the tattoos, and the purposefully flippant attitude and I can see why a lot of people would be scared and/or put off by Eddie.

Of course, we know, and Steve knows, that Eddie would never actually hurt a fly. He's got a big heart and yes, big feelings, and the biggest doe eyes and once he warms up to Steve in the upsidedown he's like an excitable little dog. He wants to go on walks with Steve and sit in Steve's lap and adorn him with kisses and yes, ok, he does bite from time to time but it's always with love. Eddie can be bitchy, but then so can Steve and he thinks it's funny and it almost never crosses the line from funny to cruel, especially not if it's about Steve directly. When he crosses the line, Eddie is quick to apologize once he realizes.

Little does Steve realize that that kind of behavior is almost exclusively relegated to Steve. When Eddie is with others he's just as territorial and aggressive as he was in high school. The kids still get put through the absolute ringer during their sessions, the band still has to listen to his frustrated rants when things don't go how Eddie envisioned them in his mind, and god help anyone who looks at Steve or SteveandEddie wrong on the street. Eddie is ready to verbally eviscerate (or more likely, commit their face to memory and put peanut butter under the windshield wipers) anyone who makes Steve upset.

Boyfriend Lapdog for Steve and Feral Guard Dog Terrier for Everyone Else

[piratefishmama]

Werewolf Steve, but he's just like. A dog. As a werewolf. He behaves like a dog. He has no awareness of human shit as a wolf. He's just a big fluffy idiot that howls at the moon, barks at mirrors, rolls in dirt, and chews furniture.

He also thinks he's a lapdog when he is, in fact. Not.

[archie-sunshine]

do u think that tarn is like one of those really insistent big ass dogs who doesnt notice or care how big it is and acts like a lapdog regardless

[em-writes-stuff-sometimes]

mr. domestic │ Spike x Summers!Reader

everything he wants 'verse: see my Masterlist for the correct series order!

Part 1 │Part 2 │Part 3 (In Development!)

Spike thought love was supposed to hurt. Then he fell for you, bubbles, blood and all. Now he’s a kept man with a shopping list and a soft spot a mile wide, and honestly? He likes it that way.

Hey, again! Long time no see. Sorry for the wait! If it's any consolation, this is a 33,000+ word sequel to sweeter than blood. Please read that one before going ahead with this! Again, this is a multi-chap fic that I'm posting as a single one-shot up here on Tumblr. Just Spike POV this time.

Heads up: canonical character death, daddy kink, menstrual sex, Summers family drama, Season 6 BtVS finale references. Be ye warned!

It snuck up on him, this softness.

Didn’t happen in a bolt of lightning or some earthshaking, Slayer-slaying sort of moment. No, it crept in slow, easy, like a song he half-remembered from before the demon, some long-forgotten lullaby winding its way through cracked ribs and ruined veins. Now he’s got it stuck on repeat, and the worst part is, he doesn’t mind.

He used to think love was all fire and pain. Should be, right? He was made for ruin. Got his heart broke by that stuck-up bint Cecily, fought for Dru like a rabid dog, wore rejection from the Slayer like a second skin. Hell, even Darla and ’Gelus tossed him aside at the earliest convenience, not that he ever gave a tinker’s damn about their esteem. Every bit of love he’s ever known came sharp-edged and blood-slick. Cost him pride, cost him sanity, cost him skin more than once.

But you—

You giggle from the bathroom, the sound bright and clear over the faint hum of the pipes. It burbles up like champagne, a little drunk-sounding, and he can hear the splash of water as you shift in the tub. Knowing you, you’ve dragged a wine cooler in with you, meaning you’ll be too-hot and chatty the moment the water’s wicked from your skin—and he’ll listen to every word, because he never wants to miss a thing.

You’re different. Love with you is bubbles, is towels too warm from the radiator, is kisses pressed to the corner of his mouth when you think he’s not quite awake. It’s honey on his tongue instead of gore, comfort so sweet it should rot his teeth.

“Spike,” you call, sing-song, full of that mischievous lilt that always makes something in him go more than a bit half-witted, blood that ain’t his rushing down south. “C’mon. Water’s gonna get cold.”

He smirks to himself. Big Bad, brought low by bath time.

“Not happenin’,” he calls back, lifting his fag to take a long, slow pull. He smokes with his head stuck out the window, not wanting to infect your breathing with all that rot. Bloody tosser, he is, now, thinking about things like that. “You’ve already stolen my dignity. You’re not gettin’ my last shred of masculinity too.”

Another splash.

“But it’s all foamy,” you say, wheedling, “and warm. And my boobs look fantastic.”

He snorts. “They always look fantastic, kitten.”

“You’re missing the view…”

“Got the whole soddin’ thing memorized,” he mutters under his breath, though his hand is already twitching—itching—to toss the cigarette aside and slink toward the siren-call of your voice.

The Scoobies―stupid nickname, matches their bloody stupid personalities―they like to joke about him now. Xapper, mostly, talking up a big game about how he’s been defanged. The Slayer grits her teeth every time Spike drives to her house to pick you up, engine running too loud, making some muttered comment about him being your personal chauffeur. Even Little Bit’s been caught whispering “whipped” behind her palm, not knowing he hears everything. They think he’s been neutered all over again. Tamed. Domesticated.

Let ’em think it. Let ’em imagine he’s some shell of himself, panting after you like a lapdog. Truth is, they’re just jealous. Jealous of the way you smile when he passes you your tea, jealous of how you whimper his name like a hymn, hot little body writhing as he runs his hands all over. Jealous of the way you curl into him at night, muttering sleepy little secrets into his skin, affectionate, and meaning every last one. He’s never had someone to himself the way he has you: untouched ’til he got there, singularly devoted, all for him. And that kind of commitment—real, chosen—makes the rest of it fade: the flames, the chains, the clawing need to be anything but alone. You make the past almost worth it.

“Please?” you croon, dragging out the vowel sound like it’s foreplay. “I’ll scoot forward. I’ll be good.”

And that’s the problem, innit? You’re always so bloody good.

With a muttered curse and a flash of irritation at himself―soft, senseless, besotted―he tosses the butt of his cig out the window and heads for the bathroom, already peeling off his shirt. You’re gonna gloat, he knows it. Already sees the smirk on your face, the way you’ll tuck yourself between his knees like you were made to be there, all curves and warm, slippery skin.

God help him. He’s gone.

The bathroom’s a bit steamy already when he slips in, fog clinging to the mirror. You’re lounging back in the clawfoot tub, knees poking out of the water, bubbles piled so high it’s a miracle you haven’t disappeared completely under them. You beam when you see him, unabashed, shameless, playing the smug little nymph who’s just summoned her favourite demon with nothing more than a giggle and a moan.

“Took you long enough,” you say, budging over as promised, making room like this was always going to happen.

Spike huffs, tugging his boots off one at a time. “You really are a menace.”

“Your menace,” you correct, chin tilted up with the kind of confidence that drives him mad. “Now get in before I change my mind.”

“Oh no. Not that,” he says sardonically. “Anything but the dreaded mind-changing.”

He strips slow and dramatic, knows you like the show, even if you pretend not to. Your eyes dart down when he pushes his jeans down, and your teeth catch on your bottom lip as though you’re trying to hide how much you’re staring. That look—just that—could bring a man to his knees. He’s killed for less. Sliding in behind you, he hisses a bit at the heat, then exhales once he’s settled, your back flush to his chest. Your hair tickles his chin, your skin damp and flushed, the tub too small and too full. Perfect. You let out a satisfied hum and melt against him, like it’s the most natural thing in the world, and maybe it is.

“I swear,” he mutters, arms folding around your waist beneath the water, “you’ve got me completely bollocksed.”

You laugh, leaning your head back onto his shoulder. “Yeah. That a bad thing?”

He kisses your temple, then your cheek, then lower, just under your jaw where your pulse flutters—a secret only for his ears. “Not complainin’. S’just a bit of a come-down from eatin’ hearts and evisceratin’ priests, yeah?”

You roll your eyes, but you’re smiling. “You’ll survive. Big Bad can take a bubble bath now and then. You’re still scary. But, y’know, in a sexy kinda way.”

He groans into your skin. “M’never gettin’ my reputation back.”

“Nope,” you agree cheerfully, reaching forward to pluck a handful of bubbles and plop them onto his head in a crown of soapy foam. “Too late. You’re mine now. My cozy, bath-loving, emotionally-attached vampire boyfriend.”

Spike scoffs, but he doesn’t move to brush them off. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

You tilt your head to look back at him, lips curved up. “And?”

“And I’m bloody buggerin’ ruined.”

His hands roam beneath the water, not looking to start anything—yet. Possessive, reverent. They rest low on your hips, then glide up your belly, like he’s checking you’re real. You sigh, a soft, contented little sound, and that’s it: that’s the stake through his heart. Not pain, not fire. Just that noise, that ease, that trust.

“You know,” you murmur, eyes fluttering shut, “you’re really good at this.”

“What, bathin’?”

“No. This. The whole… making-me-feel-like-I’m-worth-it thing.”

His breath catches slightly. “That’s because you are.”

You shift, twist a bit so you can see him better, water sloshing a bit over the side. He cups your face with one hand, bubble-damp and still dripping, and leans in, pressing his lips to yours. It’s not desperate, not filthy, just… warm. Solid, like a promise.

“You really love me,” you whisper when you pull back, eyes wide as if it still surprises you.

You say it like you still can’t quite believe it. He can’t, either. Not really. Not deep down, where the doubt still sleeps. He watches your face, waiting―always waiting―for the laugh, the flinch, the way it all usually goes. But you don’t. You smile, stunned and real, as though you’re feeling it settle in your chest too.

There’s a beat where everything holds. No laughter, no flinch. Only you, looking at him like he’s something you chose, like you’d do it again.

“More than anything,” he says simply, truth so heavy it sinks straight to the bottom of the tub. “More than I’ve ever loved anything. Ever.”

And he means it, means it in the kind of way that terrifies him: quiet, vast, swallowing. Because he’s had obsessions, addictions. People he’d burn the world for, starve himself for, kill for without hesitation just to hear their praise. But this isn’t that. You don’t demand things, don’t test him the way Dru did or spit in his face like Buffy. You look at him, with those soft eyes and that stupid little smile, and he wants to be good. Not for redemption, not even for you, but for the chance to matter.

You blink a few times, like you’re overwhelmed—and maybe you are—but the next thing you do is reach for the mostly-empty wine cooler sitting on the rim of the tub. You take a sip, then turn and offer it up to him with a cheeky little tilt of your head.

“Want some?”

He looks at the bottle like it might bite him. “What, and ruin my street cred?”

“You’re in a bath full of bubbles, Spike.”

“… Fair.”

He takes it, drinks, and grimaces. It’s toxic—or nearabouts—sickly-sweet and full of something artificial, just like most of the swill humans poison themselves with. But you grin as though he’s passed some kind of test, and suddenly he doesn’t mind so much.

“Tastes like shite, baby. Not sure how you choke this down,” he says for the hell of it. “Gonna drink piss, it oughta be the real stuff.”

“Ew. No thank you. Smells like paint thinner.” The scrunch of your nose and the way you shudder is cute as anything. You waggle an eyebrow at him. “I shouldn’t even be drinking, y’know. Not legal.”

“Would be in the homeland,” he mutters, prompting an ‘oooooh’ sound the way you always do whenever he does something you find stereotypically British. He jabs a finger into the sensitive divot of your belly-button, a low bark of laughter escaping at your loud squeal. “Whoever got you ’em must be a real bad influence, then.”

You giggle again, soft and indulgent, and lean back against him. “The worst.”

Your hair sticks to his skin. The air’s thick and hot and wet, clinging to both of you, and it should be uncomfortable, cramped, undignified… but it isn’t. It’s peace, and that’s the part that guts him.

Peace is fragile, he knows that. Spike’s not supposed to have this. Somewhere deep down in the bones of him, he’s waiting for the moment it breaks. When you wake up and realise you could have more, when the Scoobies stop whispering and start prying, when some prophecy tears its way through your front door and takes him out like trash. But if it’s coming, let it come. Let it try, because if this is all he ever gets—steam, skin, sweetness—then it’s more than he ever had any right to ask for. While he has it, though, he’ll hold you like the last warmth of sunlight before night falls.

You sigh, all sleepy-soft and trusting, and tip forward again.

“Okay,” you say, “soak time over. You can wash my hair now.”

“Oh, bloody hell,” he gripes.

He’s already reaching for the shampoo.

There’s something heady about watching you open things he’s bought you. Not nicked, not looted―bought.

Sure, the credit cards are the great poof’s way of making sure you’re provided for, but it’s about time Spike got back in on the family money. Ain’t exactly his, ain’t exactly come by honestly, but if anyone’s owed compensation for generational trauma, it’s him. The bloodlines of hell still recognize sire-claim even if the soul-havers don’t, and with Darla somehow returned from dust and kicking ’round again, the Order’s financial backers have been bending arse over to avoid a power dispute. Not that the old bitch seems keen on taking up her place of seniority: a woman of her time, that one, too willing to go along with Angelus to take charge of her line. That, and Dru’s re-siring her makes the chain of command too confusing to figure out.

Oh, well. Sod ’em. It’s Peaches’s problem. Always is.

The Aurelius estate is a fortress of trust funds and ghost accounts. And Spike? He’s got access again, courtesy of the little plastic rectangles bearing the name William P. sent by post along with a letter from his grandsire. Didn’t even bother with pleasantries, did he? No, just a line about responsibility and a warning not to spend it all on ‘foolish pursuits’, as if loving you’s somehow a waste. Wanker. Not only that, but the added indignity of the bloody thing is it opening with a curt ‘as promised, Pratt’—always ready to throw in a dig ‘bout his poncy human name.

A small price to pay in the name of lasting security, he thinks. Now, he’s finally free to follow through on a little spoiling.

You gasp when you find the velvet-lined box on the bed, wrapped in brown paper and sealed with a red ribbon made of real silk. He likes the drama of it all: leaving little gifts like kills for you to find, emblems of his love for you, eyes tracking as you tear them open to find the treasures within.

“Spike,” you breathe, drawing the chain up to the light. Gold―the real stuff, none of that low-grade plated junk. Delicate. Long, tapered charm, nice big garnet studded in at the top. Reminds him a bit of a railroad spike, though he’s not telling you that. “You didn’t have to―”

“Yeah, I did.” He leans against the doorframe, staring with that stupid too-tight feeling in his chest, like his heart wants to start beating again at the sight of you. “Saw it ’n thought of you. That’s the deal, innit?”

He almost didn’t buy it. Too fancy, maybe. Too much. You get squirrelly about this sort of thing, still mucked about from your dad’s neglect. But he wanted to see that look on your face again: the one you wore when he laid that coat on your shoulders, the one that said you couldn’t quite believe someone thought you were worth the dosh.

He sees that look now.

You gaze wide-eyed at him, as though you aren’t sure what to do with his statement. He shrugs, casual as ever as he enters your personal space, sidling in behind you.

“’Sides,” he adds, swiping the necklace from your grasp and lifting your hair over your shoulder. The clasp takes him a few goes, tiny as it is, but it comes free with a little click, allowing him to fasten it behind your neck. “You deserve nice things.”

Turning to him, you lips curve softly as his fingers trace the pendant resting beneath the hollow of your throat like a collar. Marked. The garnet catches the light, blood-bright. He wants to kiss it, wants to press his mouth where it lays and bite down. Not to harm, not to feed; just to feel the truth of it. Of you.

“So do you,” you whisper back at him.

But he doesn’t need you to get him things to be happy. Doesn’t know how to explain to you without sounding like a pillock that you’re the only thing he needs. You’re young—in a way that would probably make him feel guilty for corrupting you if he was more like one of your little pals—and still swayed by shiny baubles. It’s not about buying you, though. Been there, done that, got him nothing but pain and trouble. It’s different. You love him with or without the trinkets. It still eats at him, how someone like you can look past the monster in him, past the chip and the history and the bodies in his closet. Not disregard, no, but deciding that they’re not worth the cost of leaving. When you look at him, when you kiss his knuckles as if they’ve never torn anyone open, he believes it. Wants to.

Mostly, Spike just enjoys providing for you. It reminds him that he can give more than grief and gore. Makes him feel manly in a way that doesn’t require claws or carnage or cruelty, a claiming bite made in cash.

’Course, your merry band of morons don’t see it that way.

At first, they think he’s stealing it all. Shove him up against the wall, stake to the chest, demanding to know where he swiped it from or whose corpse he filched it off. He’s not that bloody pathetic, and he says as much before you yell at them to back off, li’l hand sneaking into his back pocket and copping a feel before withdrawing his wallet to show off his newly regained fortune. There’s grumbling after that, a few nasty things said about the souled prick who set him up―he’s keen enough on that line of discussion, if the Slayer wasn’t always so defensive of her one true love―and that’s the end of that. Threats turn to taunts, and he’s never minded words when fists and feet, whips and chains hurt so much worse.

The truth is, they’re probably seething mad. Spend all their time playing goody-goody and all they get are a bunch of bruises and scrapping by in a 9-to-5 just to afford three square a day. Meanwhile, all you gotta do to live the good life is love him. It makes him smug enough to show off whenever he can.

When he drops a new pair of boots at your feet at the Magic Box―soft leather, real Italian make, fit you like sin―Zeppo snorts into his coffee.

“Wow. Sleeping with Spike comes with perks, huh?” It’s a little too defensive to be a true wise-crack, pointed with an edge of mean. “Should’ve tried it back when he was living in my basement. Might’ve scored a matching set.”

Too easy. He takes bait like no-one else.

“Please. Gotta offer more than a hole to get into my wallet, mate.” Spike glances at you, smirking when your face goes warm. You know what’s coming. One of the best bits about you? You don’t flinch. Don’t get shy when he runs his mouth. “My girl’s sharp as hell, deadly where it counts, and tight in all the right ways. You? Just a bobblehead with knees that click.”

He’s rewarded with a face turned the colour of a sunburned tomato, the boy choking on his coffee so hard it sprays all over a stack of bridal magazines he’s been made to look through. He sputters, glaring daggers, but can’t seem to get a word out past the sound of his own dignity combusting. The Slayer makes a strangled sound—half gasp, half growl—and bolts for the back room before she blows her self-control all to hell.

Next to the boy, demon girl lets out a snorting chuckle.

“He’s not wrong,” she says bluntly, flipping a page. “Your knees do make that weird crackle when you get off the couch. Very unsexy. Like old popcorn.”

A second later, the rhythmic thump-thump-thump of fists hitting the punching bag starts up, hard and fast. Spike smiles. He knows exactly who Buffy’s picturing with every hit. Didn’t miss the way her shoulders tensed when you laughed, the way she watched your hand when it found his without hesitation. As if it’s a betrayal. It burns her up inside, he reckons, that he’s found peace where she’s only ever had war.

He still remembers the day he found out. Learned before the rest, though it didn’t keep for much longer. He was trying to sneak through the back of the magic shop to spend some time with you in the basement. Stumbled on the Slayer instead. Tried to play off his presence, act casual. Lingered too long―long enough for her secrets to start spilling.

“Everything here is hard and bright and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch. This is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that. Knowing what I’ve lost.”

Knew then that she was strugglin’, looking for something to seek shelter in. He’s no genius, but he’s pretty sure he gets how that story would’ve ended: rage and ruin, him all but destroyed, her no better. Stayed away after that, let the Scoobies do the heavy-liftin’. Not interested in kissin’ her woes better when he had―has―far more interesting places to kiss on his baby. His girl.

He shakes off the memory. Bad omen.

“You good, Harris?” Spike drawls in Lackbrain’s direction, mock-concerned. The boy coughs, wheezes, waves him off—like that’s going to repair the shrapnel of his pride.

Worth it.

Red mutters something about capitalism and exploitation under her breath, but even she doesn’t refuse the takeout when Spike foots the bill. Something nice from the restaurant down the street, not the usual filth they drag in from pilfering through pockets for the last tarnished penny. The others make their fun, but his baby’s gotta eat well. That, and Captain Forehead gets the statements on his spending—and he wants that bastard to know he’s treating you the way you deserve. Another nail in the Buffy-and-Angel coffin. He might not feel anything for the chit now, but anything involving riling ‘Gelus up is motivation enough in his books.

The Magic Box is all mildew and musty shelves, stale incense and the stench of dried demon guts, but you kiss him like it’s Versailles: soft and grateful, a little bit hungry, uncaring of the complaints you get from the rest. Like there’s no one in the room but him. Like you aren’t ashamed of him, don’t think he’s anything less than enough. It shuts him up, takes all the clever little comebacks and bitter asides and melts them into something warm behind his ribs.

They can scoff. They can sneer. You chose him, and that’s more than any of them ever did.

You’re… achy. That’s the word Spike lands on after trying a dozen others. Achy, squirmy, soft-eyed and irritable in the same breath.

You curl up on the bed in one of his threadbare old shirts—black, holes at the hem, still smelling like smoke and him—towel laid out underneath, clutching a heating pad and looking like heaven in bare legs and frustration. You’ve been this way all day: overwrought, oversensitive, caught somewhere between a whimper and a tantrum. It’s making him feral.

S’like this every time it comes around. Makes him feel like he’s never wanted you more.

You make a noise, something between a sigh and a growl, and Spike shifts his eyes from the telly. From his vantage point on the sofa, he can just see you through the crack of the bedroom door. You wriggle again, curling onto your side, and he catches the scent. Rich. Warm. Sexy as all hell. Rust and sugar, rain hitting hot pavement. The kind of smell that makes the demon in him rise below the surface, temples tightening and fangs prickling at his gums like they know what’s coming.

They do.

He swipes the remote from beside him, turns off the noise. Slinks down the hall, pushes the door open fully, quiet and careful. Walks over and sinks onto the edge of the bed with you.

“You alright, baby?” he asks.

You pout, eyes glassy and desperate. Close, now. “No.”

“S’wrong?” He lets his hand drift idly to your knee, purposefully vague, grin threatening at your subtle attempt to widen your legs a touch in silent invitation. Not the game, though. Gotta say it.

“Everything hurts. I’m bloated,” you complain. “My back’s killing me. And you’re—you’re looking at me. Like you wanna do something about it.”

“I do.”

You squint up at him, half-hearted protest at the ready. “It’s gross.”

He tilts his head, brow lifting in amusement. “It’s not. Say it every time, don’t I?”

“Spike…”

Easy, easy girl. The indecision’s performative now, innit? He can smell it on you, the salty tang combining with copper sweetness to form a potent elixir. Arousal and blood, tucked up between your thighs like a pressie just for him. He needs it.

“Want you.” Spike leans over you, voice dropping into something darker. Lets the yellow bleed into his eyes a bit, just to hear the pitter-patter of your heart reach fever pitch. “Want all of you. Always. Doesn’t matter what time of the month it is.”

Your mouth twists, unsure. He sees you want to give in. Not yet.

“Got a nummy treat for Daddy, yeah?” He doesn’t often voice that fixation of his plainly; hits too close to home for you, reminds you of what you don’t have. Gotta ease you into it real careful, get you used to it. And bugger if it doesn’t make a little whine sound in your throat, tears well up a bit. Desperate. “Gonna bleed for me? I’ll lap it all up, promise. None to waste.”

You choke on your breath, fingers clutching at his nape as he noses against your pulse, gives the vein thrumming through your skin a quick lick to get you going.

“Bet you’re sensitive,” he purrs. “Little thing like you, all full ’n sore. Could probably make you cry just from touchin’ you.”

He withdraws, relishes the pleading noise you make when you think he’s leaving, but he’s got a different goal in mind. Moves down, kneels between your legs like a man praying for absolution. You resist at first, soft and trembling, legs warm against his palms as if they’ve got second thoughts—but he’s stronger, and he’ll win. He witnesses the shift of emotions play out on your face: the uneasiness, the desire, the pride and shame and need fighting it out in your head.

When he starts peeling your knickers down slow, you don’t stop him, and that’s how he knows victory’s assured. You stare at him, pink-cheeked and trembling, as he slips them off, holds the gusset up and takes a deep inhale from the crinkly pad stuck there, fang flashing at the aroma. He tosses them away; won’t need them when the source is about to give in.

“Lemme have a taste,” he says, a bit coaxing. “Make you pop like a rocket. Take the edge off.”

A second of hesitation, then you nod, tiny and mindless and obedient.

“Nuh-uh.” He shakes his head, thumb slipping down to circle whisper-soft against your clit, all but purring at the stifled cry you let out. “Gotta use your words. Tell ol’ Spike: yeah or no?”

“Ye—yeah,” you sigh, crumbling like a house of cards. Beautiful, the way you break. “Please?”

Don’t gotta say much else. He settles back against the headboard, already stripping his shirt off, chest bare and hungry-eyed as you struggle to your knees beside him. Scooting lower, he offers you a lazy curl of the lip, hooded gaze running down your body as he reaches for you.

“Come on,” he says, the invite you’ve been waiting for. You’re already crawling up, up, over by the time he adds, “Sit on my face, baby, yeah.”

Your knees are planted firm to either side of his head, thighs trembling, hands braced on the wall as he puts his mouth to your red-slick folds. Laves flat and slow and filthy through your slit, hands holding fast to your hips like they belong there—they do—when you try to jerk away. His tongue catches the first drop, thick and metallic, and his whole body thrums. You cry out, thighs flexing, and he can smell the salt in the air as your eyes spill over.

The blood is hot, a bit syrupy in its nutrient-rich form as it coats his lips and chin and throat like a lolly. You’re a delicacy, and he’s consumed by consuming, eating you as if he’s starved―as if this is what he’s for. S’like a rich wine, aged to perfection, tasting like heaven and ruin and life. Nose brushing your clit, his tongue laps and curls at your tight little hole, scooping up the flavour and feeding as though it’s his last meal. He growls, low and constant, the demon rippling into view and catching against your skin.

As always, it makes you shake, naughty when you chase the scraping of his fangs against your innermost thigh, keening high and clear. When he snags on slick pink flesh, you come fast, too fast, hips jolting and breath hitching on a sob.

Spike doesn’t stop. Doesn’t even slow down. Just keeps you pressed against him, licks and licks like he can’t get enough, listens to you cry and moan. It’s the best kind of music, a symphony in his ears.

“Can’t—” you gasp, legs shaking. “I can’t—Spike, it’s too much—”

You tip forward, only the headboard holding you upright. Lift your hips as though you mean to leave. He’s a bad, rude man; doesn’t let up, purses his lips around where you leak slick and hot and sucks, sending you shrieking into another orgasm. He dips a finger into you and finds you clenching, pulsing, too snug for anything more.

“No, no…”

You’re whining, dithering between grinding down and lifting off. A weak protest. He pulls away only to graze at the skin down your thigh, smirking at the winking of your entry when you catch sight of his face, ridged and monstrous and covered in blood.

“Can take it, baby,” he purrs, licking his finger clean. “You always do.”

He returns to his meal.

This time, when you finish, your whole frame goes taut, hips rolling, knees locked against his skull, wail caught in your throat while your nails claw at the wall as if you’re trying to anchor yourself to the earth. You ride out the wave, rocking frantically against his mouth, and he moans like he’s tasting god herself; sin and sacrament, the first kill after a fast. It’s only when you reach down, grab his hair at the root and wrench away, your signal to stop, that he gentles his touch, withdraws to soft kisses against your folds.

Shuffling from under you—you’re frozen, panting for breath, locked in tremors as you try to find equilibrium—he holds himself against you, chest to spine, running his hands up and down your body to ground you, bring you back. He’s still got his game face on, and he knows he’s looking at your side profile like you’ve hung the stars.

“Did so good,” Spike says against your temple, throbbing in his jeans at the streak of red adorning your face. “So good for me.”

You crane your head to look back at him, blinking and vacant. He brushes your hair back, kisses your sweaty cheek, your ear, your jaw, the crown of your head. His hand maps your contours, cupping your breast before descending to settle against your belly, the warmth of you absorbing into his cold flesh. Matches the heat of your blood filling his gut, glutting his hunger and making him dozy as a cat after a hunt.

“All wrung out,” he coos. “Nearly creamed me pants, havin’ you up there. So proud of you.”

A small, broken noise is his only response, your throat too dry, too sore, too strung out to offer more than a whimper. That’s alright, though.

“C’mon, kitten,” he says eventually, nudging at your side. “Let’s get you to the loo. Gotta go, yeah? Then I’ll run a shower. Get you all cleaned up.”

You nod, barely. He slides off the bed and lifts you with care, arms cradling you bridal-style even though you mumble something sleepy and offended about being capable. He lets the corners of his mouth lift. “Yeah, yeah. My capable girl with jelly legs and a twitch in her thighs. Let’s not test gravity just yet, alright?”

The bathroom’s chilly, even for him, so he turns the big warming light on that floods the room in brilliant gold. The glow catches in your hair, in the damp of your skin, making you shining and radiant. Venus, come to life in his dodgy flat on the Hellmouth. Setting you down on the closed toilet lid―blood’s easy to clean off the surface―he turns to the shower faucet, turning the hot water on and adjusting until it’s comfortable. Kicks off his jeans, while he’s at it, freeing his poor chafed prick from its denim prison.

“You okay?” he asks, crouching in front of you. “Need anythin’ else?”

You look up at him, lashes wet and cheeks still flushed. You shift a little, then wince. He sees it immediately.

“Still hurtin’, huh?”

Nodding, you bite your lip. Ah, game’s not over yet, then. That look―wide-eyed, wanting, just a little helpless―always gets him going.

“Say it,” he tells you, already rising to his feet, already stepping into your space. His cock bobs with the movement, your eyes snapping to it like a hound to scent. He leers down at you, grabbing himself at the base and giving it a good few passes with his fist, locking at the head to eke out the bits of white fluid beading up. “Say what you want.”

You swallow, nervous as though you aren’t familiar with this part of his body, as though it’s your first time. It half gives him a mind to keep going, to wank off until he coats your face and make you lick it all away. Wouldn’t be new for you.

“I want you,” you whisper, peering up at him through your lashes. Your mouth drops open as he brings himself in close, tongue peeking out to lap at his tip.

He grunts. “Yeah? How bad?”

You kiss where saliva is cooling on him. “Bad.”

Spike growls. It’s low and barely restrained, the sound vibrating through the room. That’s how he remembers that he never shifted back to his human visage; that all the while you’ve been gazing up with something like worship, you’ve really been looking at him. Who he is, underneath the man he pretends to be. It knocks the wind out of him.

Helping you to your feet, he spins you slow, gentle hands pushing you forward until you’re braced on the edge of the sink. He takes in the sight of you through the mirror as you pant against the counter, thighs still trembling, body already knowing what comes next.

“Look at you,” he murmurs, voice thick with awe as he rubs his prick through the mess between your legs, huffing amusement at your little shiver and the arch of your spine. “Bleedin’ and cryin’, so bloody wrecked you can’t stand straight—but you still want me.”

You make a noise of assent, hips tipping up to catch him where he’s needed. “Always.”

“Gonna be rough, kitten.” He can already feel it: the bloodlust, the thrill of the hunt requiring satiation. “Not gonna be sweet.”

You don’t quite catch his eyes given his lack of reflection, but the plea is clear. “Don’t want sweet.”

Well. That’s it, then.

He grabs your hips and thrusts in hard, one callous push that makes your mouth fall open on a soundless cry. You’re soaked, tender and slick, walls fluttering from the last time, and he can feel everything: every spasm, every pulse, every sweet ache still echoing through your cunt.

“Bloody―fuck,” he snarls, digging his fingers into your hips. “Tight little thing. Always so good for me, yeah?”

You whine, tears falling once more.

He snaps into you again and again, rutting rough and deep, pace relentless and angle brutal. You scrabble for purchase on the spout sticking up from the basin, the tap handles digging into your ribs as you’re jostled up and up and up. Calling out with hurt little ah-ah-ahs, your hand slaps against the mirror, driving back against him. The wet sound of it echoes, melting together with the hissing of water on tile. Shower’s still running, but the bill’s unimportant compared to having you like this. Leaking all over his prick, over his belly and his legs, honey-soaked blood that’s all you, and he’s so far gone he doesn’t care if he dusts here and now.

“Filthy girl,” he groans, fixated on the curve of your neck as you twist to watch him, eyes stuck on his face and heart thundering at the sight before you. S’not fear that’s making it race. “Let me work you open, let me feel it all. Want me to hurt a little, don’t you? Want me to fuck the ache away.”

“Yes, yes,” you gasp, the words distorted from the force of his thrusts, spine hunching as you clasp your head in your hands like it’s the only thing keeping you from losing your mind. Bruises are already forming under his palms. “Spike, please―don’t stop―”

“Never,” he vows. “Never gonna stop takin’ care of you.”

He stares at your expression in the mirror, sees every shudder and sob, every time your mouth falls open as you constrict around him as though you’re trying to keep him inside forever. Wishes he could see himself too, see the devotion in his own eyes. But the glass stays empty, like always. You’re the only proof he’s real.

Spike reaches around and rubs your clit, forceful and fast. You come again, screaming, legs giving out as you shake under him. He catches you and holds you close, hips still moving as he rides it out, chasing his own high now.

“Inside?” he asks, breath ragged. “Want Da―want me to fill you up, baby?”

You nod frantically, words gone. He slams into you twice more and groans—harsh, grating—as he spills inside, chest pressed to your back, arm banded tight around your waist to keep you upright. Buries himself to the hilt as if he’s trying to brand you from the inside out. You’re his. All of you. Even the blood. The last of it washes over him and he stirs himself deeper in you, forcing you up on tiptoes. You like the hurt, so he keeps going, rocks in until you’re squealing and writhing, begging without words. Finally, spent, he falls still.

For a long second, there’s only the rattle of your breathing, yours faster than his. Not like he needs to, really. Just fond of the sound of it. Your heartbeat in his ear, your lungs pulling air through your battered little body… there’s no better noise to him.

Then, he leans down, mouths at your neck, your ear, lips sticky. “Still hurtin’?”

It makes you laugh, exhausted and winded and drunk. On him. He could bottle and drink your laughter for a century, sustain himself on your joy alone.

“Not that way,” you say.

He grins, kisses your shoulder. “Didn’t think so.”

His grip doesn’t loosen. Doesn’t want to move. Doesn’t want to pull out and lose the heat of you, the weight, the ruin he’s left on your skin. He’s never been good at quiet, but now? He’d stay here forever, buried. Blood-warm. Belonging.

“Mine,” he murmurs, voice low and gutted. “All mine.”

And there’s no one left to argue. Not now. Not ever.

Famous last words, eh?

Got too confident. Too sure that there’s nobody standing in his way, in yours. That’s why he’s not expecting the visitor that shows up at the door.

Spike hears it before you do: three sharp raps, knuckles stiff with self-importance. It’s the kind of knock that’s used to being answered promptly, that thinks it deserves to be. You’re in the kitchen, humming to yourself, shirt sleep-creased and bare legs swinging as you sit on the counter eating your little seedless grapes straight from the stem. Domestic as anything. Pretty in a way that makes him wish Peaches taught him to draw way back when, to create instead of destroy. It’s the kind of scene that should be immortalised. He’d been about to drag you back to bed, or maybe spread you across the marble and feast, if not for the knock interrupting the peace.

It comes again, more forceful this time. Spike stands.

You frown. “Was that someone at the―”

“I got it,” he says, already moving. He notes as he passes by that the sofa bed’s been folded back in, bags gone. Glinda must’ve decided to head back to the dorms after all. Probably for the best; no one there to hear her cry.

As he approaches the entry, he can tell it’s not a vamp or some other nasty. Not a threat. There’s no weight behind the sound, and the heartbeat’s easy enough to hear through the wood grain. The scent hits him first—rich cologne, too polished for good ol’ Sunnyhell—and something else buried under it: a trace of blood not fresh, but familiar. Family.

Spike opens the door, and there he is. Tall, tanned, money-washed. Not a hint of the smalltown vibe he gets from everyone else ’round here. Pressed linen, Rolex gleam—Hank bleedin’ Summers, right here in the flesh. Recognises him from the dusty photos tucked at the back of the shelf in the living room, the place you and your mum and your sisters dumped everything to do with the useless sod. Out of sight and out of mind, just like he’s been all these years.

He’s holding a manila envelope in his too-soft hands, his expression stony. Doesn’t have the effect he’s after―too doughy. Niblet’s scarier than this one, and she’s just a kid.

“Can I help you?” Spike asks with a raised brow. He doesn’t need to turn; he can feel the shift in the air, the thrum of your heart stuttering into worry. Bugger.

Hank doesn’t blink; barely even acknowledges him, the wanker. Instead, his gaze shifts past him, somewhere behind as he steps forward like he owns the place. “How could you be so stupid?”

No foreplay, then. Straight into the bloodletting.

You’re right behind him: breathing coming unevenly, the scent of the shampoo you use wafting his way. Double bugger.

“Huh? Dad?” you say. Spike looks at you―bare legs, loose shirt, hair a mess of sleep and satisfaction―and sees the moment the fire dims in your eyes. “What… what are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” Hank repeats, volume rising like it’s the most obvious question in the world. “What are you doing here? Shacking up with a guy twice your age―this―this thug―and acting like that’s normal?”

Spike snorts. Not the worst thing he’s been called. Tame, even.

“Sorry, mate,” he says, tone light as he moves an inch or two into the tosser’s space, a hint of a threat seeping into his posture. “Missed the part where you got visitation rights. Or where I let you know my address.”

“Not all my daughters are reckless chumps,” Hank tosses out, unknowing or uncaring of Spike’s tacit intimidation.

The barb stings you as intended. You flinch. “Buffy told you where I live?”

“Yeah.” He laughs, but there’s nothing funny about what’s happening. “Stopped by earlier. Seems she’s got a lot of thoughts about this set-up, too.”

Spike files that away. Buffy. Should’ve figured that. Twice now, she’s handed you over to someone who hurt you. Gonna have words about that.

“She called you?” Your question’s slightly hysterical. “So what―you won’t pick up when Mom’s dying, but you’ll fly here because I’m in a relationship? Jesus, Dad.”

He’s glad to hear some of the grit back. Got worried for a second that you’d fall apart completely.

Hank stares at you like you’re something he’s stepped in. “Nice try, kid, but you’re not throwing that in my face. And no, Buffy didn’t call. I got something interesting in the mail a few days ago. Mrs Greenberg is very concerned about you.”

Spike feels the wave of ire wash over him. ’Course it’s that manky old biddy. Always nosing over the shared fence into your front yard, back when you lived with your sisters. Always with snide comments about the Slayer’s ripped clothing, or all the people walking in and out of the house, or how cropped Little Bit’s shorts are. She’s had a bloody field day with him since first capping eyes on his hair, his duster, his car. Hates him, and the feeling’s mutual. He wishes the chip’d give him a freebie, just one. He’d pick her.

“She sent me some photos,” Hank continues, tossing the envelope in his grip at your feet. It lands with a dull thwack. “And a note that said ‘thought you should know what your daughter’s up to.’”

Your face drains of colour as you crouch to pick it up, pull out its contents, rifle through the pages. Spike can’t see the particulars, but he can certainly imagine them. You, in his coat. Laughing next to him on the pavement. His hand on your waist, mouth on your neck. All of it damning if you squint at it with the wrong kind of eyes.

You’re silent. Spike pushes down the urge to speak, to defend you, ’cause this isn’t his fight. Not yet. His job is to be here after.

Hank’s shoulder knocks his as he edges further inside the flat, uninvited. “Do you have any idea how this looks? How this reflects on me?”

What a wanker.

You laugh, brittle and sharp. “Of course. Of course it’s about you. Not about me―not about how I’m doing, or what I want. Just your reputation.”

“You… Don’t talk back to me!” Hank snaps. “I took you in when you needed it. I paid for the best school, gave you everything―”

“Everything?” you cut in. “You dropped me off at Thacher and forgot I existed. I was fourteen, Dad! Fourteen years old! And scared out of my mind. All you gave me was a checkbook and a dorm room before you disappeared.”

“I did what I had to,” he says coldly. “You needed discipline. Direction. God knows your mother didn’t give you any.”

“Don’t you dare―don’t you dare bring up my mother.” Your words are shaky, eyes wet. And yet, no tears fall. “You don’t get to say stuff like that. You don’t get to walk in and act like you have a right to judge her, or me. You left me. I needed a parent, and you left.”

Spike would tear the old man’s throat out if you asked him to. The chip’s not what holds him at bay. It’s the knowledge that no amount of violence would fix this, would make you feel like you weren’t left behind. Besides, this ain’t about today. Ain’t about Spike. It’s a lifetime’s worth, spilling out all at once.

Your shoulders are curving in, your voice growing thinner around the edges. “I wasn’t the screw-up, remember? That’s the only reason you bothered. Because I was the one most likely to turn out alright. To make you look good.”

“That’s not true―”

“Isn’t it?” You scoff. “I spent every year trying to be perfect, trying to make you proud, and it was never good enough. So don’t you dare come into my home and call me stupid like I’m some lost little girl who doesn’t understand what she’s doing.”

“You don’t,” Hank says, face red. “You’re sleeping with a man who belongs in a mugshot. No job. No prospects—”

“Right. Because money and status are the most important things in life.” You smile, vicious, and let out a bitter laugh. “Who the hell do you think you are, trying to lecture me―”

“I’m your father!”

“No.” You say it soft. It lands like a gunshot. Even Spike flinches.

A hush falls.

He’s starting to hate these bloody family rows always going on in front of him. Feels like watching himself, years ago, all rage and grief with nothing to show for it. Only difference is, no one ever stood beside him back then. Now, he always seems to end up looking on, unable to toss himself into the ring lest he risk his impulses overriding his common sense.

“Dawnie… You know how many nights she cried herself to sleep after Mom died? I don’t. Hard to remember. But I do remember how she’d keep asking me where you were. Why you weren’t picking up our calls. Why you wouldn’t come.” The anger’s eased up, leaving only a sort of resigned sadness that makes you sound so much older than you are. Spike hates it. “Where were you, Hank? Where have you ever been when we needed you?”

Hank’s mouth opens, but nothing comes out. Eventually, he gives up, staring back at you. Spike can hear him grind his teeth beneath his closed lips. Not sorry, then.

“I think we should just be honest here,” you say, quiet. “You… you stopped being my father a long time ago.”

Spike’s seen a lot of screaming matches. Started more than his fair share. But this? Watching you peel yourself open like this, letting old pain see daylight for the first time? This one cuts different. Deeper. It makes his fists curl with something more than rage. It makes him ache.

Hank sighs, wiping a hand over his face. “I did my best.”

“Then your best sucked.”

Glancing down at the envelope you’re clutching, you appear to make a decision: your spine straightens, your shoulders squaring back out. You throw the contents back at Hank in the exact same manner he did, the stack landing at the man’s feet.

“Leave, Hank,” you tell him. “It’s the only thing you’re good at.”

Hank’s mouth curls, examining you like he doesn’t recognize you. Maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he never did. A light in your eyes sputters out; abruptly, you turn and leave the room, a door creaking open behind you as you disappear down the hall. The air shifts.

“I’d get goin’ if I were you, Summers,” Spike says, stepping forward slow and smooth. “Not wanted here.”

Hank glares. “You―you ruined my girl―”

“My girl, actually.” Spike’s fingers dig so hard into his palms that he can feel the damp of blood starting to well up. “Shouldn’t have chucked her away if you planned on havin’ any sort of say in who she shacks up with. Between you and me? I ain’t the one who ruined her. You did the job well enough on your own.”

Hank snorts derisively. “Enjoy it while it lasts. She’ll wise up soon.”

“Maybe.” Spike shrugs. “Maybe not. Either way, has nothin’ to do with you anymore. She needed a dad. Got a ghost instead. Now make like one and disappear.”

One more long moment―then Hank turns and leaves without picking up the evidence he’d trekked all this way to shove in your face, door slamming behind him. After, silence.

Wanker.

Spike collects the packet from the ground, tossing it onto the kitchen counter as he retraces your steps. The door creaks open as he steps into the room, sees you curled up on your side at the edge of the bed, facing away from him. He crosses the room, kneels by your side.

“You alright, sweetheart?” he asks. Already knows the answer, though.

You don’t respond; just look at him with wide, lost eyes, gleaming with the promise of an impending meltdown. He reaches forward, strokes your hair, flattens his hand to the contours of your arm until his touch meets your wrist. Your fingers dart out to grasp his like a lifeline.

He makes a vague soothing noise, a sort of hum that he wishes would ease that horribly wounded expression you’re wearing. “What d’you need?”

Finally, you whisper, “Hold me. Please.”

That he can do.

Spike crawls over you and crowds to your back, arm wrapping tight around your middle and legs winding with yours. You pull him even closer, an unspoken demand to squeeze harder, mould himself to you to the point that your bodies cannot be separately distinguished. He does it. It’s all he has to offer.

“Got you,” he murmurs in your ear. You shudder, then relax, boneless.

You lie there, quiet and tucked close, like the silence itself is a bandage. Spike doesn’t tell you it’s not your fault. Doesn’t tell you it’s okay. He waits, steady and present. Yours.

Because that’s the point, innit? He’s staying.

The DeSoto’s headlights sweep across the curb and up the pavement as he pulls in to 1630 Revello Drive, engine idling low. You sit in silence beside him, backpack at your feet, hands wringing themselves to death in your lap. Outside, the streetlights cut long shadows over the bonnet, blinking amber across your face. You look calm—too calm—and it eats at him.

It’s funny how strangely time passes when you’ve got no end in sight. Decades pass in a blink, half-forgotten. But the hours since Hank’s nasty li’l turn-up? Endless. Truth is, Spike’s been waiting since the man left for you to completely break apart. Long time coming, and you deserve a release of a different kind. Instead, it’s this: quiet, withdrawn, something melancholy that he can’t touch, can’t save you from.

“You sure about this?” he asks, voice rough. Not hesitant; just making sure.

You nod. “Dawn needs help with her history project. I’ll… I’ll deal.”

Yeah. Deal.

S’not often that he has no idea what’s about to happen. Spend enough time kickin’ ’round, you learn some things about people, the way they behave, how they’re going to respond to finding stuff out. But you? Ordinarily, he’d say you’d go in swinging, maybe not with fists but with words. Now, though, you seem so… so defeated. Like fate’s gone ahead and cut all your strings.

This is what moves him to follow you to the front step instead of hanging back in the car. Wednesday nights are for you and Little Bit, usually, but this time, he’s coming in too. You flick him an odd look, saying nothing. He wishes you’d say, do something. Tell him to bugger off or send him packing back to the flat. But nothing. Is he the corpse here, or are you?

Before you knock, the door swings open.

The Slayer’s expression flickers between surprise and wariness, gaze skipping from you to Spike and back again. “Oh,” she says. “It’s you.”

Figures she’s the one answering. Red’s probably off somewhere knitting or meditating or whatever it is witches do when they’ve sworn off casting. Maybe with Zeppo, making sure he’s not drinking his weight in cheap beer after making the biggest mistake of his life leaving demon girl at the altar. Prick.

You don’t answer. Just step past Buffy, impassive but for the way your chin folds into your chest a bit, subtle enough to be missed by anyone not looking for it. He is. He sees it all.

Her eyes narrow. “Did he show up? Dad?”

Your head jerks up, down, a spasmodic nod. No words still.

“Well?” she asks. “How did it go?”

Now you’re paying attention. Your gaze snaps to her, and for a second Spike can see intensity there, a burning set to consume. Then it fades, replaced by an ache too deep to name.

“I’m… I don’t think I can be around you,” you say. It’s not quite an answer. Comes out strangely. Stops and starts, like you’re fighting the urge to scream or cry. “I’ll come by for Dawnie. But I—I need space from you, Buff. Indefinitely.”

“What are you—”

It’s all you can say, it seems. You turn your back on her and head upstairs, white-knuckled grip on the rail. Buffy’s forehead creases, smiling in clear confusion.

“Wait—what?” she asks after you with a short bark of laughter. “You’re mad at me? Seriously?”

You don’t answer her, instead disappearing up to the landing. Gone, and all that’s left is the rage thrumming in his chest like the heartbeat he no longer has.

Spike remains in the entry, waiting for the telltale creak of the door at the end of the hallway. The sound cleaves through the silence, dull and echoing. He pictures you on the other side, face buried in Niblet’s quilt as she watches on with bewilderment, trying not to cry loud enough for Buffy to hear. A helplessness claws up his throat, bitter and sharp. He’d give anything to follow, but someone’s still got to fight your corner down here.

He clears his throat, shifting his weight. Buffy turns to him, arms crossed tight across her chest.

“What?” she snaps.

“Oh, don’t play dumb now,” he says, temper flaring.

He advances on her, gearing up for a beating. More shouting, like last time. Typical. Another spat at Casa Summers. Bleedin’ place might as well be cursed. Never just tea and telly; always ends in blood or somebody stormin’ off in tears.

“Thought I’d have a little chat with you, Slayer,” he continues. “‘Bout how you sicced that deadbeat old bastard on her like a bloody trained hound.”

Her face tightens. “He’s her father, Spike. And you’re just—”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolls his eyes. “A demon, evil, some thing. Heard it all before. You keep sayin’ it like it still means anything. But I get it now. Why you hold onto it so much. Eats at you, doesn’t it? Me an’ her. Makes you lie awake at night, wonderin’ what could’ve happened between us.”

She flinches, tries to cover it with a scoff. “Oh my god. Don’t flatter yourself.”

He steps closer, smirk flashing. He can feel the coil of it winding in his spine. The pressure in the room surges: hot, close, electric. Slayer bristling like a cornered thing. Spike leaning in like a wolf scenting blood. His hands flex at his sides, itching. Always comes to this with her, doesn’t it? A beat too long, a breath too fast, and then—

“I’m not,” he says.

Doesn’t want to say it. Doesn’t want to open the door to that memory—her, eyes full of anger, heart tapping out a maybe. Maybe. But she never did. Never would.

“I’m tellin’ you the truth you won’t admit,” he adds, following through. “You got her hurt just to hurt me. ’Cause you can’t stand the fact I found something real before you could figure out if you even wanted it―me―first.”

“I didn’t―I didn’t mean to upset her!” Buffy’s voice rises, but the aggression’s hiding something vulnerable, insecure. She won’t make eye contact with him. “She’s just a kid. She shouldn’t be with you. You know it, I know it. Everyone does.”

“Funny,” he growls. “You keep sayin’ it’s so wrong, but she’s never been as happy with you as she is with me.”

There we go. The look, all wrath and malice, the one that promises a world of suffering. “What the hell would you know about her happi―”

“You think you’re doin’ all this to keep her safe, yeah? But you’re not. You’re just twistin’ the knife in her back, over and over. Callin’ it love.” He chuckles. It sounds nasty to his ears. “Coward.”

She gets in his face, hissing at him like a viper spraying venom. “Shut up, Spike! You’re dangerous! I have to protect―”

“I am dangerous! You, though? You’re worse. Least I’ve never made her cry so hard she passes out. You don’t care what it costs her, so long as you get your digs in. And you call me soulless.”

From the way her eyes begin to shine, that last bit landed hard. Good. S’time she understood how bad she’s been treatin’ you. How bad all her pals have been treatin’ you. Sure, they don’t jump you the second you walk in the door or anything, but they don’t do a great job at hiding their contempt, either. You’re too content with your lot to make a fuss about it right now, but he knows where this goes: another big blow-up, and maybe one you all can’t walk back from.

Spike tilts his head, lets his leer fill in the gaps between his next words. “Good goin’, luv. Didn’t even have to lift a finger. You’re the one makin’ it so easy for little sis to crawl between my sheets.”

The Slayer draws herself back and swings. Her fist crashes hard into his cheekbone. The blow lands with a wet crunch, pain blooming like a struck nerve beneath his eye. He grins through the deep-seated throbbing of bone fracturing apart, because it’s familiar, real, a reminder that some things still break the old-fashioned way. Letting the punch sit a mo’, he rubs at his cheek—then returns it twofold, skin on his knuckles splitting from the force he uses. She slams back into the wall with a cry, clutching her jaw. As she catches her breath, shock blooms across her face.

“Ah,” he says dryly, just to rub it in. “The pain.”

She’s off-balance, eyes wide, the realisation crawling over her like cold fingers. He watches her swallow, sees the tremble in her lip before she catches it. Emotion flashes across her expression: confusion, then dread. For the first time in a long while—maybe ever—she looks at him not like a mistake, but like a threat. Something inside him leaps, then curls in on itself. He shouldn’t like it, shouldn’t want her to flinch. But bloody hell, it feels good to be stronger for once.

“You… you hit me.” Her stance has gone slack. “How?”

“Got me first, didn’t you?” His hand is throbbing. Worth it. “‘Sides, you copped one a few weeks back too, remember? Night you tried to rake my girl across the coals?”

Thought it might’ve been a fluke, actually. Or maybe that the memory of the zap wiped itself from his mind the second after. But nah, this here proves it.

She stares. “But the―the chip…”

“Still got it.” He shrugs, but it feels hollow. “Still works―on humans.”

And that’s the thing, yeah? All this talk of him being beneath you, but he’s been fighting the good fight for a while now. Maybe it’s not something he chose at first, but he’s choosing now. He’s been choosing since you came into his unlife. Wants to be better, for you. Not ’cause you want that, necessarily, but ’cause how else will he ever be enough? Still, still, the Slayer doesn’t see it. Or won’t. Too blinded by her power to see she’s using it to crush you.

He tries to chase away the sting by doing what he does best: cruelty. “Guess Red wasn’t as good as she thought. Didn’t bring you back right. Maybe that’s why you’ve been such a monster since you clawed outta your grave.”

Breathing unsteadily and shaking her head, still pressed to the wall, Buffy whispers, “Get out. Get out.”

“Piss off, Slayer.” He’s had enough. Started like a thrill, but now it’s just noise. “Get off your high horse. Think I’m the evil one―then what the bleedin’ hell are you?”

He turns away, jaw aching and knuckles bleeding. It doesn’t feel like a win. Nothing ever does, not really, when it comes to her. But he’ll take the scrap of justice, even if it’s come at the cost of a little more of himself.

Spike doesn’t wait around. Just heads upstairs, the thud of his boots on the steps grounding him again. As he draws closer to you, the anger melts away. Your scent calls him, and like a planet orbiting the sun, he’s bound to the path, up and up and up. The hallway stretches ahead, filled with the sort of quiet that comes after a storm. The weight of what just passed clings to him like dust, but your voice―soft, threadbare―pulls him onward. There’s blood on his hands, and still, he reaches.

For the first time today, the atmosphere’s peaceful. No shouting, nothing being thrown, no limbs flying. Only this: dim light, muted rustling, the creak of the pull-out as you set it up. Your movements are practiced, careful. A trajectory on autopilot.

Niblet dumps her backpack on the floor beside the sofa, muttering curses under her breath like willpower alone could bring a curse down on the Slayer. “I mean, seriously. I can’t even look at her right now. She actually told him where you were? Like that was ever gonna end well.”

You nod faintly, tucking a fitted sheet over the mattress corner. She hasn’t noticed that you aren’t throwing your own complaints in yet. Hasn’t noticed much beyond the burn of betrayal bubbling up in her voice.

“And then she tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal. Like I was being dramatic. She lied to me! Said she didn’t tell him where you were. But she did.” She huffs, tossing her still-damp hair as she looks at you. “And now she’s acting like you’re the one who blew things out of proportion?”

While it’s no small thing to have her on side―the ringing in his ears after listening to her shriek at big sis is proof enough―Spike knows you’re maybe a half-hour from complete breakdown, and this isn’t helping. He leans against the kitchen counter, watching, not getting involved. Not yet. Not until he has to.

“And Xander?” She goes on, flinging one of the throw pillows onto the sofa like it’s personally offended her. “He still talks about you like you’re some helpless little idiot and Spike’s a predator, and Buffy and Willow never call him on it. Especially after the whole wedding thing.”

She shudders, and Spike can picture what she’s thinking. That godawful get-up demon girl made you all wear, though he still thinks you can pull the green off alright. The boy taking her hand, speaking softly to her. The way he slipped out, letting her walk up the aisle by herself. Still raw, it all is. Not a thing to mention at your li’l gatherings. Like it never happened.

“Yeah.” Your shoulders twitch, eyes downcast.

“I just…” She drops onto the edge of the pull-out with a frustrated grumble. “I thought after—after everything, they’d all back off. Let you be happy. But no, it’s all fake smiles and pretending that they’re okay with it when they’re clearly not. And they keep putting me in the middle of it, acting like I’m supposed to be on their side. I’m not.”

“I know, Dawnie.” You pat her head and busy yourself with smoothing out the creases in the duvet, trying to conceal your sniffling.

“They don’t see how you are together. They think it’s some… some creepy sex thing, but it’s real, isn’t it? It’s love. They don’t get it. It makes me wanna―”

“Alright, Bit,” Spike says, gentle as he can make it. “That’s enough.”

She freezes, startled. “Huh? I’m only―”

“Tellin’ the truth, yeah.” He pushes off the counter and crosses to her. “S’not what’s needed right now, is all.”

You still don’t look up. You simply stand there, fingers twitching at the corners of the blankets piled generously on the makeshift bed. Spike tugs it from your hands, palm to the small of your back.

“Go start your shower, baby,” he tells you. “Yeah? Let me finish this.”

You hesitate, but then your lip wobbles and you nod. His gaze follows you down the hall, your arms hugged to your torso like they’re the only thing keeping your insides in. Like you’ve been gutted. In a sense, you have. Hank, Buffy. An absolute shite day. The bathroom door clicks shut; the taps creak; the water heater hums to life, a low buzz through the thin walls. Without you, the flat feels smaller.

Dawn pulls her legs up, chin resting on her knees. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to make her sad.”

“I know.” Spike kneels to grab the last of the pillows. Too many of the bloody things. “She knows, too. S’why she let you say your piece.”

No response. One’s imminent, though―the real source of her explosion tonight. Sure, some of it’s about the Slayer, about her little lapdogs and the way they treat you and him, but he reckons it’s a front. An ugly, angry wall she’s using to hide from reality. So he lets the silence sit for a while, fetches a glass of water for the small table beside the sofa and draws the curtains closed in the meantime. Lets her work through her feelings.

Then it comes.

“I…” Little Bit sighs, hands fiddling with the hems of each pant leg. Her nose is turning red, a sign that she’s about to cry. “I thought he came to see us. For real. Said he was gonna take me out for ice cream later. I wanted to ask if we could go to that place by the promenade. The one with the waffle cones? And then he just… didn’t show. Didn’t even bother to call. Now I know why.”

Her confession cracks the fount open, tears winding down her face. He crouches before her, catching her line of sight with a sympathetic twist of his lips.

“You’re too good for him, Bit. Always were.” He tries to inject as much surety as he possesses into his words. It’s not enough to fix what Hank broke, but better than letting her believe she’s to blame for his failures. “Nothing to do with you.”

Bit glances away, wiping her eyes. “I know. It’s ’cause of Buffy.”

Not exactly. But not wrong, either.

“I―I had one chance. To spend time with my dad. And she wrecked it, just to stick it to you. To hurt her.” She frowns, turning back to him with beseeching eyes. “Why?”

Part of him’s always touched by how much she trusts him to have all the answers. To a kid like her, he’s seen everything, understands everything. Doesn’t have the heart to tell her that there are some things he can’t explain. He can try, though.

“She’s… she’s got her own demons, see? In her head. Playin’ with her feelings.” Crude analogy, but it works. “Doesn’t know what to do with them, not since she―”

“Since she was snatched outta Heaven,” Niblet says. Some of the ire’s burnt itself out. “Yeah.”

He curses himself for feeling sorry for the stupid bint in this moment. But he can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like, goin’ about day by day down here after being at peace. Knowing it was friends who tore him from his final rest, brought him back only to shove him into the same old endless fight. Doesn’t excuse her actions. Makes them easier to forgive, maybe.

Little Bit interrupts his musing. “I wish… I wish she’d deal with it, instead of taking it out on all of us. She’s not the only one suffering.”

He snorts. “Careful. Wishes in this town don’t go down well.”

Wouldn’t do to play those games out loud, what with demon girl back to her former glory―not that anyone else has figured it out. He certainly ain’t gonna dob her in. Let her get her jollies cursing Xapper; not much of a loss there, the miserable sod.

“But―she loves you,” he adds, more sincere. “You know that, right? Both of you. Not showin’ it all that well at the mo’, but she cares. Enough to risk everything to do what she thinks she has to.”

That’s what’s getting him the most about all this. It’s love. How the worst pain gets doled out, innit? For that feeling. Kill for it, die for it, destroy everything to make sure that love lasts another day. And the irony? That ruin is the very thing that turns love into hate. He knows best. He’s love’s bitch, after all.

“Doesn’t feel like love,” Bit mutters, wiping her face with her sleeve.

“No,” he agrees. “Doesn’t always.”

Like the kept man he is, he takes a while to hush his girl’s little sis, help her dry her tears and settle herself for sleep. Tucks her in good and proper, soft goodnight falling from his mouth and echoed by a frail, weary whisper. Turns off all the lights, except for the plug-in at the outlet in the kitchen to remind her that she’s not alone. He leaves her be, heads toward the bathroom. A yellow glow spills out from the crack where the door doesn’t quite meet the ground.

Spike knocks. No response.

Heat curls out like mist from a dream when he steps inside, warming his cool flesh to sweltering. The tap’s dripping again, but that’s not important. No. What’s important is the way you’re hunched over yourself in the corner by the bath, swamped in your towel as though you’ve tried to strangle yourself with it. Water makes a puddle beneath you.

“Oh, baby,” he murmurs, already moving.

He doesn’t care about the damp soaking through his shirt. Not when holding you feels like life itself. You turn into him as though gravity’s lost its meaning, seized by silent sobs, hours and days and weeks’ worth―a lifetime’s worth―of pain rushing out. It’s a pain he can’t fix with antiseptic or plasters. He can only catch you while you fall, banding arms around you so tightly that there’s bruises come morning.

“Take me away from here,” you choke out against his chest, cracked and distraught. “Please, Spike? I don’t wanna be here anymore.”

He presses his lips to your crown firm enough to leave a mark, letting your words tear at his unbeating heart. “This won’t last forever. Promise. Give it a bit.”

“I can’t, I can’t―”

He rocks you as though you’re a child, shushing you in low, soothing tones. Anything to get that manic sound out of your voice. His hand cups the back of your head, palm against soaked strands, and he lets your scent fill him, steadying his frayed edges. Every tremble in your frame hits him like an aftershock.

She’s safe, he tells himself. She’s safe. Just broken in all the softest places.

“I swear it, kitten, on the poof’s soul.” Can’t bloody well swear on his own. Nothing holy left in him anymore. But you believe him anyway. Always have. “If it’s still too much, if you still want out… I’ll take you anywhere you want.”

There’s a pause, broken only by the drip of the tap and the sound of your breath hiccupping against his chest.

“Anywhere?” The question is small, childlike, full of something he recognizes too well: hope, starved and shaking. “A place you’ve been?”

He nods against your hair, never loosening his hold. “Sure. Or it can be somewhere different. New. Just for us.”

You lean back slightly to look at him, lashes clumped with tears, cheeks blotchy and mouth trembling. But your eyes… there’s a flicker in them now. Faint as the first star after sunset, but it’s there.

“Not trying to erase the past,” you mumble, voice thick. That easy acceptance shatters him all over again. “Only create the future. With you. We can make memories of our own.”

He smiles, lips twitching. One hand lifts, brushing along your jaw, his thumb catching a droplet rolling down your cheek. “Never shagged a girl standin’ in the Eiffel Tower, you know,” he says, casual as anything.

The sound that escapes you is uneven, half-sob and half-laugh, but it’s real, and it undoes him. You shake your head, resting your forehead against his collarbone. “If you want. Anything, if it’s you.”

He holds you tighter at that, his cheek resting against your temple.

There’s silence in the flat. Not the kind that comes from peace or contentment, but the kind that settles when there’s nothing left to say. The heater ticks, spitting dust into the air, gold creeping through the curtains like it’s sneaking in on tiptoe.

Spike lights a cigarette at the open window, sun not quite high, and tries not to let the smoke drift back down the hall toward the bedroom. You’re asleep, cozied into his pillow like you’re trying to disappear inside it. Happens more and more. You sleep mornings, patrol nights, and talk to no one in between—mostly him and the Bit. Maybe Red, if she manages to catch you outside the house before you shut her down with a polite smile and a tighter grip on your keys. Demon girl too, when she comes ’round for a drink and a bitch, her friends few and far between. And Glinda, always poppin’ over. Nice bird.

Alright, so maybe it’s not no one. Just Buffy and the boy.

You’ve withdrawn from your Scooby meetings, from anywhere the pair frequent. From everything outside this little home, this late-night life you’ve carved out between the cracks. Once upon a time, you’d cram into Buffy’s living room with the rest of ’em to plan a demon hunt, always with popcorn to spare. Now, the silence between you and them feels sharp enough to cut.

Spike knows how it looks to those two. Knows what they’re surely whispering now he’s not there to hear: that he’s isolating you, keeping you locked away so he can feed off whatever pieces of you that still remain. Sometimes he wants to. Could picture it, too. Keep you safe, tucked away from the nasties and the harm your so-called friends dole out like party favours, telling themselves it’s love. Keep you for himself. But love’s gone and twisted him soft, hasn’t it? Couldn’t bear to hurt you. He doesn’t get them, how they can stand it.

He’d tell them they’ve got it all backwards, that you’re the one who stopped showing up, who stopped answering their phone calls, who stopped listening whenever they caught you out at night and called your name to beckon you over. That he’s the only one you don’t brace yourself against anymore. But there’s no point. People see what they want to, and they want him to be the villain.

Fine. He’s been worse.

There’s a muted thump as Gus, one of his winnings from last week’s poker night, drops from the top of the fridge and glares at Spike like he’s the intruder. Bloody thing’s barely bigger than a toaster, but it’s got fangs and attitude and a mean swipe. Spike bares his teeth at it and mutters under his breath.

“Oi. Kitchen’s my territory, furball.”

The whole bleedin’ place is, but that doesn’t matter to Gus—he just hisses in response, flicking his tail like a whip.

They tried playing for kittens once. Demon girl, couple nice Brachens, Clem and his buddies from Willy’s; good, safe company. Clem swore the fluffballs wouldn’t stick around. Lied. Now Spike can’t make his mug of blood with Weetabix in it without risking a bite to the ankle, so it’s back to chips and cash next time. You, of course, love the li’l bastard, named him after that old cartoon mouse from the pictures. Spoil him rotten, too. He’s got a little fish-shaped dish on the counter and a cushion by the space heater in the living room. Spike’s own cushion, mind you, not that he’s bitter about it.

The rap at the door lets him know that Glinda’s come by as she said she would. He waits for the sound of the spare key in the lock, the squeak of the hinges as she steps through. Sees her pop her head into the kitchen, eyes gentle. There’s a canvas tote slung over her shoulder and a shoebox tucked under one arm.

“Thanks, Spike,” she says, moving into the room. “For this. Didn’t have to leave it all by the door. I would’ve sort–sorted it myself.”

Spike nods. “S’fine. Least I could do. That everything?”

She hesitates, then sets the shoebox down. A few books, a candle, one of those horrid tea mugs with an inspirational quote on it. Things she’d left behind when she moved on. Her fingers reach out to stroke down the kitten’s back, and the little prick purrs all the while.

“Yeah.” Her gaze drifts to the hallway, to the closed door of the bedroom. “Is she…”

He exhales smoke through his nose. “Still knocked out.”

“I wanted to see her, but… I get it. She’s not up for it, huh?” From anyone else, it’d sound like pity, but the witch has more magic to her than spells and curses.

Spike sighs, watches the cat take a flying leap off the counter—brave for a beast so small—and dart away, stumbling over too-big paws. “Not these days, no.”

The corners of her mouth turn down, all compassion, but there’s no hiding the sparkle in her eyes, the creases in her face from a fresh spot of laughter. She looks more alive than she has in a good while. The weight she’s been carrying seems lighter now.

“You look happier,” he says, and it’s not a dig. Tired still, yeah, but the grief’s gone.

She grins. “I’m—I’m moving back. To the house.”

He arches a brow. “So that means…”

“Yeah.” She glances away, expression exposing the delight she’s trying to restrain. “Me and Willow. We’re… trying again.”

“Good for you, luv.” Stubbing out his cigarette, he offers her a grin. “Ain’t love grand, eh?”

Not much more to be said after that. Glinda thanks him again, picks up her stuff and shuffles on out, the lock clicking shut behind her. The spare key’s left on the counter, polished metal gleaming in the morning light. Spike lingers by the window, listening to the hush that follows her absence. Nothing sad. Not for her. It’s the sound of the world waking up after a storm, quietly relearning what it means to live. Somewhere in the flat, a sound shatters the stillness—Gus knocking something over, probably the remote. Bloody cat’s been on a warpath, especially where his boots are concerned.

The rustle of sheets draws his attention. He slips down the hall, cracks open the door and slips through. You’re stirring, bleary-eyed and slow-limbed, a little frown forming between your eyebrows as you push yourself up on one elbow.

“W’ssat Tara?” you mumble, yawning.

“Yeah.” He slips off the duster, hanging it on the stand in the corner. “Came for her things.”

You rub at your face, the edge of your voice still full of sleep. “She say anything?”

“Movin’ back to Revello,” he says as he crosses to the bed, drops his jeans. “Her and Red are givin’ it another go.”

Your lips part around a little oh, and then you nod again, lids fluttering closed as you sink back into the mattress. “Comin’ back to bed?”

Spike slides down beside you, starkers, tugging the covers back up over you properly. “’Course. Gotta get me beauty sleep.”

You reach for him, lips upturned. “Pretty for the vamps later?”

“Nah.” He lays close, hands sliding along your skin, feeling you warm and substantial in his grasp. “For you.”

True, more or less. Patrol is mostly just foreplay. Not even his job, but he started when the Slayer’d shuffled off the mortal coil and you insisted on steppin’ up. You work out some frustrations on the first couple beasties—like last night’s fledge, first stake you didn’t hesitate to drive home—then spend the rest of it watching on as he gets a nice spot of violence in. As far as you’ve come, you’re no heavy hitter, so you hang back with a cross and stake as ol’ Spike shows off for you, throws extra ferocity into each swing. Gets you all hot and wet, him rippin’ apart some poor demon, but you’re always good in waiting ’til he’s done, ’til the fire in his gut’s enough to make him feel truly alive. Bloodlust turns to randiness, then. He gives it to you hard, bent over a headstone or crowded up against a crypt wall, sets you squealing. Makes his head buzz for hours after.

Worth it. Double worth it if he catches a flash of goldilocks hair in the moonlight, Slayer scent all furious and embarrassed as it fades with distance.

Your fingers find his jaw, thumb stroking lightly over his cheekbone, and he kisses your palm without needing to be asked. There’s nothing urgent in it. Only small reassurances, familiar maps retraced.

“Love you,” you tell him. “Know that, right?”

Spike’s voice is a whisper, rough around the edges. “Love you more.”

Knows you need to hear it more than ever. Need his touch, his care, his protection. Ironic, yeah? He’s a million times better at the things a father gives his girl than Hank ever was. Hell, it was why he was turned in the first place: to be Dru's dark prince, her guardian. Now, yours.

The soft hum of the heater fills the space, and you nuzzle into him, breaths coming slower and slower. For a bit, he thinks you’ve fallen asleep, starts to sink into a light doze, but you interrupt the serenity.

“They think it’s because of you,” you say quietly. “That I’ve—that I’ve pulled away.”

“Yeah.” There’s no venom to it. Just fact.

A brief lull, and then: “They’re wrong. If I have to lose them to keep you… then I will.”

He doesn’t answer that. Speaks for itself, yeah?

Sometimes he thinks that you can read his mind. That you know all his darkest thoughts, his worst impulses. His fears. How else can you get him the way you do? Get what he needs to hear, even before he realises it himself? He’s never had faith in anythin’ before. Never could. Couldn’t trust anyone enough for that. If he had faith left to give, he’d put it in you.

“Go back to sleep, sweetheart,” he mutters. “I’ve got you.”

He feels your lips curl up against his chest, feels that phantom thud between his ribs again, the skipping of a heartbeat. Your body relaxes against his, all trust in him—in him—and you and he both let the world shrink down to this bed, this quiet, this warmth. From the living room, Gus yowls at nothing, or maybe something only he can see. Spike stays still, content to bask in what he has while he has it.

But it’s inevitable―the shift in the tide. Humdrum doesn’t last forever. It’s shattered by the ringing of the phone, of all things.

It’s a jarring sort of noise that doesn’t belong in the quiet of afternoon some days later, shrill and sudden, slicing through the peace. Spike jerks from sleep, clutching his chest like the shock of it might’ve jumpstarted his pulse. You stir more sedately, breath hitching as you push yourself up on an elbow.

Warm and sluggish still, you roll toward the nightstand and fumble for the receiver, blinking blearily. Your voice is thick when you answer. “Hello?”

A beat of static—then sound crashes through, tinny and high-pitched and hysterical. “She’s not—she’s not moving. What do I do?”

He recognizes the speaker, and his gut turns to stone. Not the bloodless kind, but deeper, the kind that belongs to the living. Bit’s voice, cracked and raw, stabs through his ribcage. Beside him, your body goes rigid as you bolt upright, hand white-knuckled around the phone.

“Dawnie?” you ask, sharp and scared, fumbling with the covers twisted up around your legs.

“I—I don’t know what to do—she’s just—oh god, she’s so cold—”

“Who’s cold? What’s happening?”

“Tara. She’s—she’s not moving. She’s cold.”

Spike’s already heard all he needs to hear, feels it like a coffin lid slamming shut. Death. Real death, not the kind that unearths itself days later, not the kind he came back from. He gets out of bed, tugging on a pair of jeans, already thinking of how to get to the girl without turning to ash. Hunts for his boots. One’s missing. Dragged off down the hall, likely.

When he returns, you’re asking her where she is, calm as anything. Always admired that, he has: how straight you are when the going’s tough.

“In Willow’s room,” Bit sobs. “I—I found her like that. I tried to wake her up and she just… wouldn’t. There’s blood. I think there was a gun or something? I don’t know, I don’t know—”

“Okay, Dawnie, okay.” You’re up now, tugging yesterday’s hoodie over your—his—shirt, scrambling one-handed into a pair of loose-fitting track pants. “I’m coming. Don’t move her. Just—stay where you are, okay?”

You hang up before she can respond, tossing the phone to the bed. By the time you’ve slipped into your trainers, he’s swung his duster on, running through ways to get to Revello Drive in daylight without charring his arse to cinders.

“We don’t have time to black out the windows,” you say, shuffling through the bottom drawer. You toss the fireproof blanket at him, heading out of the room. He follows you to the kitchen, watches you snag his keys out of the bowl. “I’ll drive.”

“You hate stick,” he mutters. More correct to say you can’t drive stick at all, but it’s not the time. No other option, is there?

“I’ll figure it out,” you say.

And you do—sort of. The DeSoto jerks and bucks the whole way, stalling at every red like it’s trying to fight you off, but it moves quick enough. Spike huddles low in the back, wrapped in a shroud, and says nothing. Every turn sends sunlight spilling through the cracks, stinging like a cattle prod, though he doesn’t complain. Can’t. Not when you’re gripping the wheel as if your life depends on it, eyes wide and wet, near unseeing. His stomach turns like it’s trying to crawl out of him at the sight of you, so small in the driver’s seat, so close to splintering. He’s seen you nervous, angry, devastated. But this kind of fear, this kind of panic? It’s new.

“Easy, kitten,” he lets himself murmur when you nearly clip a parked car taking a corner too hard. “Don’t need both of us a pile of ash.”

You don’t answer. S’like you can’t hear him at all. He wants to tell you to slow down, pull over, that he’ll take over once the sun dips—dead is dead, and speed won’t change a thing—but he keeps his mouth shut.

When you screech to a stop outside the Summers house, you don’t wait for him. You’re out of the car before the engine’s off, racing up the drive and through the front door, hair wild and loose, calling Bit’s name as you vanish up the stairs. Spike stays low, crouched under the blanket, and makes a break for the porch as fast as he can without combusting. Slips inside slow, careful. The air is thick with something cloying. Grief, maybe, already settling in the walls.

He hears your voice upstairs, muted and shaking. Hears a sob that doesn’t belong to you. He climbs the stairs one step at a time, blanket over his head, and turns toward Red’s room.

You’re huddled in the corner, braced against the vanity. Bit’s crumpled into you, clutching at your waist like a little kid, face streaked with tears and staring at the floor. He steps in, follows her line of sight, and on the carpet—

Glinda.

Tara.

She was the good one. The warm one. The first one before you who looked at him like he was… like he was a man. And now, her arms are splayed out like a doll dropped mid-play, a hole torn through her chest, already crusting at the edges. All bones and blood, leaking out on a carpet he’s walked a hundred times. A stain no one will ever scrub out.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Niblet’s whispering. Her hands are covered in blood, up her arms and smeared on her jeans. Not wiped away so easily. “The others aren’t here. I didn’t know who to—to call.”

“You did good.” You move then, knee-walking in front of little sis to shield the view. “Come on. You’ve got—let’s clean you up.”

Dawn lets you tug her to her feet, push her toward the bathroom. You tell her to start the shower, then crack open the door to her bedroom. Spike leans against the doorframe, cautious, waiting. You rifle through the wardrobe, grabbing a fresh top and skirt, body moving automatically. Nothing behind the eyes. It’s when you turn to face him, startled by his presence, that emotion bleeds back in.

“Who—who do I call?” you ask him, taking a trembling breath. “Never done this part before.”

He’s across the room before he even realises it, hands framing your arms as though his body knew before his mind did that you needed grounding. You look up at him with a red-rimmed gaze, cracked porcelain seconds from smashing to pieces. And you ask him—him—what to do. That lands harder than the body in the next room. You’re relying on him to be steady when everything else isn’t.

 “Ambulance, sweetheart.” That’s right, innit? He’s the one who dropped vics, not the one who stuck around to pick ’em up. But the answer seems to satisfy you; you nod, making to dart past him. He stops you. “You deal with Niblet, yeah? I’ll do the speakin’.”

Some of the tension eases at that. He feels it under his palms. It reminds him that you’re still painfully young. Too young for all this.

“Okay. Okay.” You set your shoulders, lift your chin. Always good at that—forcing resolve. You lean in briefly, press your mouth to his chest. “Thank you.”

He wants to respond, but the words clog in his throat. You’re off again by the time he boots back up again, already speaking in hushed tones to Bit. Girl’s shut down. He listens in on you narrating each step of the process, the rustle and slip and creak as you take over washing her like she’s an invalid. Anything to fill the silence.

Downstairs, the phone feels heavy in his hand. His voice sounds strange giving the address. Feels like a cruel trick; after centuries sending people to the grave, he’s the one left trying to explain the body. He’s used to them. Seen piles of them. But this one… this one doesn’t fit, doesn’t belong to some alley scrap or battlefield. This stuff doesn’t happen to someone he knows. Knew.

It’s only when you’re urging Little Bit down the stairs, snugging her up on the couch like bundles layers might keep the shock at bay, that he realises how much time’s passed. He won’t interfere with the pair of you. Gives you something to do, the fussing. The telly clicks on, filtered sound echoing through the house, a remnant of normality. He ventures out of the kitchen, eyes your front damp and tinged pink, hands clutching Dawn’s bloodied clothes.

“Gonna start a load,” you mumble, hugging the material. “Hopefully it’ll come out easy.”

“You should change too,” he says, extracting your quarry from you. Shouldn’t be a task for you, this. “Make yourself all neat.”

Just a suggestion, but you take it like a command: let him have Dawn’s things, strip down right there in the entry, pass your own stuff over. Lights on, no one home. You wander back upstairs, naked, and he heads down, starts the machine.

You’re in the shower when the paramedics arrive, so Spike handles it. Wants to yell at the two blokes as they move Glinda about, try to find some sign of life. There’s none. He knows. They offer meaningless condolences, use their li’l units to call in to the coroner, tell him someone’ll be by to pick her up. You’re all done by the time the next lot arrive, hair damp and stare vacant as strangers poke through your mum’s room—Red and Glinda’s room—and take their pictures. It’s all very clinical. Callous. He wonders how this detachment isn’t a sort of evil, too. Only nice thing about them is that, by the front door, they unzip the bag, let you say your last goodbyes.

Niblet weeps and hugs the body, plastic crinkling as she squeezes tight. He tugs her into the crook of his arm when she steps away, letting her cry. You stroke Glinda’s hair back, fix the flyaways. A wistful smile ghosts across your face as you lay your lips against her forehead.

“Love you, Tara,” you whisper.

His turn. Can’t say anything. He’s surprised at himself. Never got all that close. But there’d been… a quiet kind of truce between them. Respect, maybe. She saw more than she said, was warm and kind in that quiet, seeing way that made him uncomfortable. When he reaches out and brushes her shoulder, she doesn’t shy away. It’s the first time he’s ever touched her, he thinks. First, and last. Bit was right. Feels like ice under skin. He sees them load the gurney up, slam the back of the van shut, start the engine, but it’s just background to him. All he can feel is the absence of that heat, that life, long after her body’s taken away. Her soul’s probably long gone by now, but he hopes she felt it—him—somehow. Hope she knew that he was here, right ‘til the end.

Afterward, you ferry Dawn upstairs, tell her to pack a bag. The light’s faded out, giving way to a dusk that paints eerie shadows across the walls. While you’re busy, the washer downstairs beeps its little tune. Done. He sticks the clothes up on the line running under the basement stairs, just finishing up with a sock as the front door bangs open.

Voices crash in: the Slayer, sharp and frantic, calling out for Dawn. Xander’s right behind her, heavy footsteps and ragged breath like he ran the whole way here. Spike sprints, intercepts them before they can stampede up the stairs, ruin the tenuous calm you’ve created.

“She’s upstairs,” he says, tone low and measured, “gettin’ her stuff.”

Buffy halts, halfway to shoving past him. For once, she doesn’t look like she wants to dust him where he stands. Just stops, looking lost. “Where—where’s Tara?”

“Gone.”

The stairs creak behind him. He turns to see you coming down slowly, drawn and hollow, borrowed clothes hanging off you wrong. Big sis’s wardrobe suits you poorly.

“Spike called it in,” you add, knuckles cracking against the banister, speaking in that oddly flat cadence. “Coroner came.”

Buffy exhales unsteadily, eyes glistening. Unsurprised. She knew, then. So did the boy, if his lack of shock’s anything to go by. He frowns, pained-looking, gaze sweeping over you and then up, like he’s trying to will it all to be a dream. Spike’s torn by the urge to throttle the pair of ’em—who the bloody hell leaves a pair of teen girls to clean up after a corpse?—‘til he sees you sag against the newel post. He reaches for you, steadying you before your knees give out. You fall into him like it was inevitable, like you were always going to seek him out, reflexive. His arm spans your waist, hand slotting into its natural place at your hip.

“She was—Warren.” She glances down at her shoulder, at the splotch of rust-dark drying on her jacket. Swallows. “He was… aiming for me.”

Spike jerks his chin toward it. “Didn’t just miss, then.”

“You alright?” you ask softly, all worry. Instead of going to her, though, you shrink into him. The other two notice. Wants to be smug about it, but the victory feels empty right now.

“I wasn’t. For a while, I wasn’t.” Her voice catches, like it hurts to speak it aloud. “I don’t even remember falling. Just… black.”

Spike’s jaw tightens. You flinch beside him.

Buffy’s hand drifts toward the stain, brushing it lightly. “It should’ve been over. It was over. But Willow—” She swallows. “She saved me.”

A chill rolls through the room. You stiffen in Spike’s arms, breath snagging on a sharp inhale. He feels it. Your fear. Not of death, but of history, of the way it keeps repeating like a curse no one’s figured out how to lift.

“She brought you back again,” you whisper.

“Yeah,” Buffy says, quiet. “She didn’t even hesitate.”

No one speaks for a moment. Even the house feels like it’s listening.

“Using again, then?” Spike asks. Tries to keep the rattle of fear out of his voice. “Magic.”

A dumb question, but he has to hear it for himself.

Buffy nods. “Yeah. She was here. When—when it happened.”

Bleedin’ Christ.

Spike’s throat works around a tightness he can’t name. He thinks of how your body’d feel, lifeless beneath him. Thinks of the Bit when he found her with Glinda. Thinks of Red reaching past the veil without blinking, again and again, destroying little pieces of herself every time.

He’s been on the wrong end of her rituals and incantations before. Nearly got hitched to the Slayer ’cause of her. Forgot everything and thought he was a tosser named Randy Giles for a bit, too; only lucky part of that whole cockup was the li’l photo of you an’ him in your purse, no mistaking his connection to you. You might’ve ripped his bollocks off if he thought himself attached to one of the other birds. And both those times were the result of her mistakes. Accidental magic. A helluva witch, to be able to chalk up the bending of reality itself to mere misfortune. On purpose, she’s performed feats that anyone else might call impossible: re-ensoulment, enjoining, resurrection…

How much more can she take before the world breaks for good? he wonders.

Zeppo only adds to the worry. “She’s not herself,” he says, rubbing a hand down his face. “She’s after Warren.”

Spike’s no idiot. Body upstairs when he got here means Red couldn’t revive her. If Red’s back on magic—back doing stuff as powerful as patching up bullet holes in a Slayer’s shoulder after weeks without so much as floating a pencil—then what the bloody buggerin’ fuck is gonna happen next?

You’re tense beside him, probably thinking the same thing as he is. “Think she’s turned to black arts again?” you ask.

“Most likely.” Buffy all but stares you down. “I’ve never seen her like this. Not even… not even then.”

That sits out in the open for a bit. Spike lets himself consider it. He was there, wasn’t he? A favour for the Slayer when she stopped by, asked if you or he’d seen Niblet or the witch. He figured helping out with the search might force her to speak to you proper. Didn’t. Not when faced with what Red had done. The car. The demon. Her, eyes black, off her face high. Sobbing on the ground. Thought that was the lowest she could get.

“We—we’re going after her,” Buffy continues. “We have to…”

“You have to stop her.” You meet her eyes straight on. “Should we come with?”

“No!” Big sis shakes her head vehemently, hand reaching instinctively toward you. He knows where this is going. Steps back a little. Buffy flashes a look at him, acknowledgement, and takes the space he’s offered. “Take Dawn with you. Keep yourselves safe. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

That last bit, she directs at him. Message’s clear. ‘Protect them.’

He doesn’t need a request to shield you or Bit from anythin’, but he’ll accept the peace offering. Dips his head. ‘I will.’

“Okay,” you whisper.

It draws her attention back to you. She focuses in on your face, demeanour melting as her palm brushes your cheek. When you lean in, her eyes brim, her aura of strength diminishing. She’s not the Slayer right now. Just a girl. She draws you into a hug, chin settling in the crook of your neck, her frame slumping. You don’t recoil, don’t falter―you rest your head on her shoulder, hands linking around her middle. Muscle memory.

“I almost died again,” she murmurs against your temple. “And I just… God. I’m so tired of being this person.”

“I know.” Your voice is muffled. “We’ll deal with all that later.”

Time seems to halt for as long as you share the embrace, an endless instant. Spike doesn’t know how long passes―only sees the laxness in the curve of her mouth as it grazes your forehead, the scrunch of her brows like she’s savouring this final manifestation of love between siblings. Wonders if she’s expecting this fight to be her last, again. Then she’s gone, bolting up the stairs. Spike hears Little Bit’s sobs start up again, Buffy’s voice shushing her, trying to soothe.

The boy shifts forward then, arms half-raised like he’s unsure if he’s welcome. If it were up to Spike, he’d toss him out on his arse. But you’re too good for grudges. You don’t stop him, let him fold around you like he has the right to seek comfort after all he’s done. No surprise, no forgiveness. Just tired, the sort that’s bone-deep. Spike can see it in the way you slip your head under the boy’s chin like a kid clinging for warmth―that you need this, too. When Xander pulls away, he nods in Spike’s direction and trudges up the stairs after Buffy. Solidarity, or perhaps recognition. Could never be gratitude. Not from the likes of him.

And then it’s just the two of you again.

As activity ignites above―drawers opening and closing, plans being made, digits being plugged into someone’s mobile device―you turn back to Spike. Something in your expression is breaking open, giving way.

“Is this the price?” you ask, plaintive. Reminds him of little sis, the way she hangs on his words as though he’s some sort of prophet. “For loving you? Everyone else suffers?”

Sounds like something he’d think, and that’s what stings the most: watching as your light’s snuffed out time and time again by the cruel hands of fate. Like looking at you and seeing his own face―young, human, still worth something―staring back at him. His fingers itch to break something, but not you. Never you.

“Nah, baby.” He gathers you up, tucks you close. Imagines that if he’s solid enough, broad enough, he might block out the rest of it. “It’s not the price for loving me. S’only the price of livin’. Gets heavy, even hurts… but it’ll pass. Always does.”

You don’t respond. Just settle into him, pressing your face to his chest and letting your breath even out against him, accepting what little he has to give.

He should’ve bloody well known better.

Spike took you both back to the flat―two traumatised girls, barely speakin’, blank-eyed and morose. Made him uneasy. Not used to grief. Spent more years than not kickin’ about with Dru, and sure, Angelus getting a soul shoved in him and subsequently abandoning his family was a knee to the bollocks. That was more rage, though, the hurt dressed as a pressing need for vengeance against the ones who cursed him. Spike’s grandsire. He hunted down the lot of ’em, down to the last child, but didn’t change nothin’. And yeah, deep down, it still stings. The rejection. Being chucked away by the one who made him who he is. But that? Not the same as this. because at least Angelus wasn’t really gone. Not like Glinda.

He was the one fixin’ the bedding this time, settin’ Bit up on the sofa, pattin’ her goodnight on the head. He was about to turn off the light when the phone rang; not the one in the bedroom, but the cordless landline in the kitchen. Shrills loud since you dropped it in the sink the other week, stuck itself on speaker mode and won’t work otherwise. Snatching the receiver off the cradle, he barked, “What?” before it had barely rung thrice.

“Spike?”

The Slayer. Figured.

“Yeah.” Tried not to sound pissed off. Niblet had just closed her eyes, but the noise got her all wound up again, sitting up like she’d been struck by a bolt of lightning.

“You know that warlock―Rack—the one who got Willow hooked.” Buffy’s voice was tight and breathless, as though she’d been sprinting for miles before finding a payphone. “How do I find him?”

Shite. Dawn’s heartbeat picked up behind him, rabbit-quick. He was tempted to disappear down the hall, take the conversation away from prying ears, but there’d been no point. Could’ve heard it from two floors down, probably. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why―lookin’ to score?”

“Not funny,” Buffy snapped. “It’s important. Willow broke into the Magic Box. She’s―”

“Lemme guess.” He hummed, unimpressed. “Nicked all the bad mojo?”

“Absorbed it,” she corrected grimly. “All of it. Anya said the books disintegrated in her hands.”

You appeared at the bedroom door, face stricken as you ventured up the hall with light footsteps. Thought you were asleep. Must’ve been wrong.

“After,” Buffy continued, “Willow, she―she found Warren. We were too late. She…”

Spike finished the sentence for her. “Killed him.”

“Worse.” She didn’t elaborate. He was glad for it, what with present company listenin’ in. “We… we think she’s gone to Rack. He gave Warren some… some protection thing-y. Made her really mad. She has to be―stopped.”

Before he could respond, Little Bit sidled up beside him, blanket and jammies ’n all.

“Rack’s place is cloaked,” she said quietly. When he arched his brow at her, interrogative, she added, “Willow took me there. That time. There’s some kinda spell―she said only demons and people with magic could find it.”

He nodded, eyeing you as you moved toward her, took hold of her arm. She leaned into you, awkward with the height difference. Little sis towered over you.

“Try Clem, Slayer,” Spike said. “He’ll know. Won’t get you inside, but he’ll take you to the door. Tell him I sent you.”

“Okay.” Distorted whispers undercut Buffy’s voice, delaying her next words. “Spike… Thank you.”

The line clicked dead.

No worries, then. Didn’t get a chance to say it aloud. He replaced the receiver with a thunk, the only sound other than the typical sputtering pipes and humming heater being the low purr emitted by Gus on the pillow in the corner.

“You okay, Dawnie?” you asked, drawing the girl back to the makeshift bed. “Need anything?”

She was a little too quick with the reassurance, now he thinks about it. Insisted she was fine, that she just wanted to sleep. Dream the horror of the day away. He could blame you and the way you took it at face value, patting her back and fixin’ the covers over her when she asked to be alone. But really, he should’ve known better―shouldn’t have allowed you to drag him to the bedroom, coax him into lying down next to you, dressed ’n all. Shouldn’t have shut his eyes and let the thud-thud of your pulse lull him into oblivion. Should’ve known it was suspicious.

That’s probably why he’s not surprised right now. Furious? Sure. But waking up a couple hours into nightfall to utter quiet―not soundless, but instead, the kind of quiet that just doesn’t happen when you’ve got an extra human in the joint―he only feels the curdling of disappointment in his gut. Disappointment in himself. Feels blisteringly hot, or maybe that’s the urge to rip her foolhardy head off.

Still, “Niblet?” he calls. No answer.

You stir beside him, but he’s already up and at ’em, prowling about the place, tryin’ to uncover some sort of clue that’ll tell him where she went. As he moves about, you’re rolling off the bed, cracking the sleep from your limbs and shuffling after him gracelessly. You get with the program quick, confusion turning to panic as your cries of her name grow to a fever pitch. He barely registers it, too busy cataloguing the obvious: Little Bit’s ransacked backpack. Missing keys. Shoes gone.

Spike has to move the bloody cat off the kitchen counter before he finds the folded note, the familiar chicken scrawl American schools teach kids in this century:

Gone to find Willow. I have to try. Don’t be mad.

– Dawn

He crumples the note in his fist, yellow bleeding into his eyes as he lets out a snarl, turning abruptly. Gus skitters off, tail swishing angrily. “Bloody stupid, stubborn, heroic little snipe.”

You blink at him, ashen. “What? Where is she? Has Willow taken her?”

He tosses the note in your direction; you fumble as you catch it, unfurling the paper and reading its contents. What little blood’s left in your face drains and you look back up at him.

“Oh my god,” you mutter, tiny breaths coming fast. The note falls from your fingers. “Oh my god. We―we have to go, we have to find her, before―”

“No,” he snaps, cutting you off before you can reach your coat. “I’ll find her. You’re stayin’ here.”

Shoving at him’s no good. Too strong, especially compared to your human frailty. He remains unmoved, captures your wrists and brings them to his chest, holds ’em firm. After a bit of struggle, you slump, defeated.

“Glinda’s dead. Red’s gone ’round the twist. Bit’s disappeared.” Can’t help easing his grip, reaching for you good ’n proper. His hands trace a line down your back, settle at the dip in your spine. He tries not to let the desperation colour his tone. “Won’t lose you,” he murmurs. I’ll dust meself, he doesn’t say. Rather die than see you dead.

The hard line of your mouth softens, muscles relaxing in his grasp.

“Spike. Honey.” Pet name always gets him. He shudders, melts like wax against the heat of your fingers sweeping up the ridge of his cheekbone. “I understand, I swear I do. But”—your eyes become flinty—“you can either know exactly where I am, or you can spend the rest of the night wondering.”

For a second, he thinks about grabbin’ the handcuffs from the bedside drawer and shackling you to the bars on the window beside the sofa. Then he thinks about what you’d do to him when he came back and released you. If he came back. Nah. A losing game, there. He growls, torn between his fury and a grim sort of admiration, though the display of his temper doesn’t scare you. You give him no reaction. Not in that pitying way the others look him up and down when he bursts out in anger, but simply undaunted blankness—the kind of daring that comes from a lifetime of pushing past fear just to be seen and heard for who you are.

He rolls his eyes. “Fine. But you bloody well stay behind me. Got it?”

You nod, taking advantage and darting up on tiptoes to press your lips to his jaw, relief flickering across your face. You’re already pulling on your boots by the time he grabs his duster from the peg, though you let him help you button your coat over your nightwear.

“Come on then, kitten,” he says, listening to your heart thudding like a war drum. “Let’s go save the Bit’s stubborn hide.”

It’s not hard to find the place. Spike starts by stickin’ to what he remembers from talk around town, lets his nose do the rest. Should be near impossible to get to, but the air tastes wrong tonight. There’s a buzz to it, makes his gums ache like his fangs’ve torn through in the midst of a vicious kill. Magic. Thick, crackling, ripe with rot—and it’s everywhere. It coats the back of his throat.

You walk beside him, hands fisted in your pockets, the set of your shoulders stubborn. Determined. Part of him hates it. The grit in you. Not ’cause it’s ugly—never that—but ’cause it means you’re about to do something far too dangerous, all in the name of love. And he gets that; oh, he gets that. But he wishes you didn’t understand him so well that you’d pull the same suicidal stunts.

“You sure about this?” he asks you anyway, the third time since you left the car parked two blocks down the road.

You don’t answer―just shoot him a look. He can tell what it means: that you’ll be going with or without him, and that he should shut up about it already.

“Yeah, alright.” He kicks at a bit of loose gravel as you round the corner. “But if she’s found Red―if the witch is there―you run. No cleverness, no speeches. Just run.”

“I’m not leaving you,” is your response, matter-of-fact ’n subject closed. He doesn’t argue. What’s the point? Not gonna win.

Halfway down the alley, he pauses. The heat’s gone, the usual whisper brushing across the back of the neck whenever he gets near particularly dark mojo. When his eyes adjust, he can see it―the door, nestled in among the dinky back entries of shops long since closed. Blacked-out windows, sigils sprayed in grime on the glass. S’not a place he’s supposed to be able to observe with his own eyes… which means the wards are broken. And a nasty like Rack ain’t the type to bring ’em down willingly.

There’s a subtle shudder in the ground as he nears―shadow-magicks, rippling through the threshold. He grabs your wrist, yanks you close. “You hear that?”

You dip your chin once in acknowledgement, head tilted. Listening. A muffled voice, familiar, but the tone is cruel, sneering. With some focus, his enhanced senses pick up the thread of conversation.

“… the one where you lie to your friends when you’re not trying to kill them? And you wreck everyone else’s happiness just so you don't have to be so miserable alone? And insane asylums are the comfy alternative? This world? Buffy, it’s me.”

The witch. The Slayer.

Red’s still going. “I know you were better off when you were in the ground. Ah-ah, Dawnie―”

Niblet.

He doesn’t wait. One solid kick and the door splinters. His body moves on instinct, dragging you in by the arm, shielding you as the power inside the room slams into him like a train. Red’s warping space, bending reality in on itself, folding sharp corners where there shouldn’t be any. Light refracts sideways. Gravity pulses. Every cell in his body screams.

Red turns her head.

Christ. Any other time, he’d find the new look delicious: black-eyed, skin ash against tar-dark veins creeping up her neck, across her face. Hair dyed to pitch by sheer force of will. The magic she’s swiped coils around her, fogging up the air like mist in sub-zero temperatures. Unnatural. Profane. Exactly his type, once upon a time. But it’s only a mirage, a crutch she’s using to hide from her pain.

“Great,” she says, sighing. “More of you. Can’t you all just mind your own business?”

Spike doesn’t answer. Dawn’s beside her, wrist held loosely in her grip, frozen. Girl’s face is white, tears glimmering in her lashes but not falling. She’s not struggling―just staring at him, you, Buffy, something like grief in her expression.

“Bit,” he calls, free hand reaching out. “Come on. C’mere, luv. We’ll take you home.”

He hoped there’d be enough of Willow left in the witch to let her go. Instead, Red laughs, bubbling up oily and sweet and mocking. Not a sound that belongs in a human mouth.

“What’s wrong, Spikey?” she asks, pouting exaggeratedly. “Scared of a little magic?”

He wonders what she’s pulling ’til he sees the world around him begin to shift, to blur into abstract colours. Room’s vibrating hard enough to make his eyeballs itch. He’s the only one who can feel it: neither you nor your sisters are showin’ any discomfort beyond the emotional.

“I keep forgetting,” she continues airily, picking up on his uneasiness. Can’t tell if she’s just good at reading people or if she’s picked up telepathy. “Trip’s kinda rough, huh?”

Something locks into place―everything sharpens, settling into a new configuration. A new location. Familiar smells: candle wax, dust, the faint trace of incense. His ears ring as his vision levels out, taking stock of his surroundings. The Magic Box.

Red steps forward, grinning. “Well. If you’re not me, that is.”

The effects of her spell finally hit―you fall, knees buckling, and Spike barely catches you as your legs go out. Across the room, Little Bit’s collapsed, the Slayer rushing to with a cry of her name. The witch ignores it all, turning to eye the shop’s other occupants: Zeppo frozen behind the counter, the two rawboned geeks at the table, sweaty and wide-eyed. She smiles.

“Jonathan. Andrew. You boys like magic, don’t you?” Her words seem to conjure violet energy so ferocious it whips her hair into a froth, lightning crackling. She lifts her hands. “Abracadabra.”

Spike braces himself for the release, crouching over you to shelter you from the worst of it. The magic explodes forward, hurtling toward the boys―but it never reaches them. Something’s blocking it, a flickering dome flaring around them.

Red stops, darkly amused. Might be worse than frustration; means she’s still playin’. “Huh. Didn’t see that coming.”

The pair seem just as confused as she, cowering in their seats.

“Aw. You guys wanna take it slow? I can do that.” The witch’s mouth is still curved up, still light. A cat playing with its prey before going for the kill. “Ask Warren. Oh. Wait.”

Beneath the roaring of her renewed attack, Spike hears a soft stream of chanting. Sumerian, he thinks, though it’s heavily accented. American. Demon girl, hidden somewhere in the room. “Gurumē ninginme, nugul-gula, gurumē ninginme, še-me dul-dul-e. Gurumē ninginme, nugul-gula, gurumē ninginme, še-me dul-dul-e…”

Somethin’ about shields, protection from black arts. Smart bird, he thinks, but says nothing. Doesn’t want to give her away. Meanwhile, the geeks are scrambling up out of their chairs, shoving at each other.

“Let’s get out of here,” one of ’em exclaims. Can’t tell which.

They run toward the open back door, which slams shut on them.

“Come on,” Red says, strolling toward them all casual. “Stay a while. We’re just getting started.”

While she’s distracted, Spike takes his opportunity. “Let’s go, kitten,” he mutters, nudging you along. “Gotta move.”

You stumble to your feet, barely keeping up with the speed at which he pushes you to the counter, to where Xander’s hiding. Slayer’s takin’ his lead with Dawn, and you grab little sis’s hand as the pair of you converge on each other, huddle down where you can’t be seen. Buffy turns to him, locking eyes. ‘We’re fighting,’ her look says, and he lets himself nod in response. Understanding. An accord. They move into the danger zone, a buttress against the witch―who’s still yappin’, high off her own power.

“Doesn’t matter, really. I’m just curious.” Shrugging, she points to Jonathan and Andrew. “But just ’cause I can’t do magicks on you, doesn’t mean I can’t do them on myself.” She bends her head, muttering, “Da mihi vim.” Latin. Give me strength.

Spike tastes it before he sees it. The magic rolls like a storm front, thick and dirty, acrid as burnt ozone. He feels it rattling like dying breath as a pillar of swirling light surrounds her, sending him and Buffy to the ground. Gettin’ real sick of this li’l trip, he is. From the floor, he watches as the spell dissipates, as Red looks at her own hands and grins.

“Alright. Now, I’m pretty sure I’m strong enough”―she nearly glides as she heads straight for the geeks, grabbing hold of the table they’re using as a barrier and sending it flying across the room―“to beat you to death.”

The Slayer darts into the witch’s space, blocking her path before she has the chance to act.

“I don’t wanna hurt you,” she says.

Red responds not with words, but with a punch so hard it sends Buffy crashing through the candle rack. “Not a problem.”

Right, then.

He’s already moving, letting the skin of the demon ripple over his body. Knows this is gonna hurt―if not from the chip, then from the brawn she’s imbued herself with. She smirks, gaze trailin’ up and down like she’s assessed him and found him lacking. He recognises that look. Doesn’t matter who it’s aimed at. Just a blind need to destroy.

“You up next?” she asks, flexing her fists teasingly.

But he’s not payin’ mind to her. Should be, but can’t―because he sees it. You. Moving out from behind the counter, twitch in your arms and catch in your breath. Knows what you’re about to do. His stomach drops. He lurches in your direction, but it’s too late. You bolt from where he hid you, all reckless and stupid with your palms raised in surrender.

“Willow!”

Fuck.

“Willow,” you repeat, soft and pleading, sticking your fingers straight into the flame. Behind you, Xapper’s taken control, herding Little Bit and the other two toward the edge of the room. “Please,” you say. “You don’t have to do this.”

For a second, he thinks he sees a glimpse of her. The girl. Computers, books, fuzzy sweaters. Timid, human, too much heart and not enough boundaries. Only a second—then she vanishes, replaced once more by something vicious, meaner. Her sneer brims with lashed fury.

“You know what I hate about you, kitten?” she says, head tilting as she examines you. “You think you have all the answers. That you can fix everything with a few high-and-mighty words.” Her eyes glint obsidian. “But you didn’t fix Ta―fix her. So much for that superiority complex, huh?”

You stand stock still, lower lip wobbling once. Then nothing. “I know… Willow. I know you’re hurting. But this isn’t—”

“Oh, please.” Her voice drops, thick with venom. “You don’t get to pull the sweet little sister routine on me. Not when you’ve got him”—she jerks her chin toward Spike—“on your leash.”

His gaze meets yours, sees your terror before some kind of resolve pushes the weakness out. He shakes his head. “Don’t.”

A warning, a plea―but it doesn’t stop you. Your steps are cautious as you pick your way through the debris, stare sliding back to the witch. He feels the heat of you next to him. There’s defeat written in the tense jut of your shoulder-blades, the anticipation of certain doom. You meet Willow’s gaze head-on, even as everything in Spike tells him to get you out.

“This needs to stop.” You sweep your hand through the air, motioning to all the chaos surrounding you. “Do you think Tara would’ve wanted this? That she’d be happy about any of—”

“Shut up!” Any trace of laughter is gone at the utterance of that name. A curse. Red stalks forward, veins seeming to darken and spread their terrible poison, intent on exacting justice for invoking her lover’s ghost.

Spike’s in motion before he even thinks. Doesn’t matter if it fries him, doesn’t matter if she tears him limb from limb, if it means you live. He’d take it a thousand times over. He’d crawl across glass, dive into sunlight, rip himself apart to keep you breathing. And you’re in her sights, in mortal peril, and he has to move―

His instincts clamour, putting him between you and her in half a second. Shoving you back, he bares his teeth, reflex driving him onward. Not elegant, not smart, but it’s all he’s got. All that matters is shielding you, stopping Red’s wrath from touching your skin. Almost feels the pain before it hits, just waiting for one wrong move to sink its teeth in him. But he’ll do it anyway, because it’s you.

He doesn’t even feel his fist connect—only the detonation behind his eyes. Through a wall of static, he hears you scream his name.

White-hot fire cascades through his head, sizzling down his spine like the aftershocks of an explosion. Roaring, he drops, clutching his head. Something liquid drips from his nose. But it’s almost secondary to the fear―because if this chip kills him now, who’s left to protect you?

You collapse beside him, fingers scrabbling at his shoulders like you could physically hold him here, anchor him to this world by touch alone. “Spike. Spike!”

It was always going to end like this, wasn’t it? All the strength in the world, and he still can’t do the one thing that matters. Still too weak to protect you.

Red straightens slowly, rubbing her cheek and looking down at him with unholy delight.

“Oh, Spikey,” she purrs. He barely hears it. Can tell she’s gettin’ closer, though. “Still trying to play Big Bad?”

Like a wounded, snarling animal, he hisses, tries to rise. But his body won’t obey.

“You’re so pathetic,” she adds. “You think this―this―is love? You and her?”

‘Know it is,’ he’d say, if he could remember how to make words. But there’s nothing. Nothing exists outside the agony.

“You do realise she’s going to die, right? Maybe not today, but someday. You’ll outlast her. You’ll lose her. Maybe that’s what you’re really in love with: that pain. Figures.”

Your fingers clench down on the neckline of his shirt, involuntary. He can’t tell if the stab of nausea’s from her li’l speech or from the repeated zapping in his skull. Either way, he thinks he might bring up the blood he forced down earlier. Still, his body tries to rise. Through cloudy eyes, he sees the witch’s arm raise, point straight at him.

“Here,” she says, lips peeling back like flesh from bone. “Since you love pain so much―let me help you feel really loved.”

Her fist snaps closed.

For a breath, Spike’s numb―then it hits, so sharp that his senses flatline. Not a bomb, this time: an entire universe, collapsing in on itself as the sun eats each planet whole. Someone’s poured acid into his brain stem, crushed his skull to pulp. He’s been tossed in acid-soaked barbed wire, the corrosive wet of it pouring down his chin and out his ears. Can taste it, the metal. Barely hears his own scream, guttural, shorting out in staccato beats. He convulses, seizes, everything he knows blinking in and out in flashes. White, red, black.

Chip’s never felt like this before. Not just pain. It’s punishment.

There’s shouting―yours, maybe his, maybe both―but it’s underwater. Endless infinity rolls itself into seconds, millennia passing in instants. Can’t see. Can’t breathe. Can’t―can’t tell if he’s on fire or if he’s been got for good. But he knows where you are. Feels you. Smells you. The weight of you flung over him, touch on his face like a whisper through smoke. He promised. He―

“Stop! Willow, please, stop!”

Your voice streams through like water to a man dying of thirst. You’re crying. Because of him. Because he was too slow. Too old. He wants to reach for you, tell you he’s okay―but even his thoughts are unsteady, falling like teeth from a shattered jaw. His eyes roll as the next spasm takes hold. Through it, the blur of your face, pink ’n tear-stricken, streaks of pale crossing up over him as he’s grabbed at. Dragged along the ground, voices fading, fading.

Can’t die, he thinks muzzily. Not yet. Not while the witch could still…

He swore he’d protect you, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to you. But now your hands are slick on his chest and he’s going under, failing again. Would rather die than see you dead… and now it’s you watching him slip away.

Spike tries to speak, to say your name, to tell you he loves you one last time, but his mouth won’t work. And then—

It’s all gone.

He wakes to the taste of copper. Not blood, not quite. It’s watered down, dragged through a rusted pipe and sour on his tongue. His head feels like it’s been split open, stitched up with silver thread and set on fire for the fun of it. He groans.

Am I dust? he wonders. If he’s gone to ashes, then this has gotta be hell. No other place for a demon like him. But where’s the eternal suffering? The rack, the flogger, the echoes of screams in the distance? Little anticlimactic, all things considered. Blinking up at the ceiling, he’s struck by how familiar it looks. Been here before. Can’t remember, though. Can’t…

Movement beside him. Rustling fabric. The sound of slow, deep breaths. An arm draped across his ribs, heart thudding to the beat of sleep nearby. Your scent. You, curled into him, mouth parted. Alive.

Thank Christ.

Relief shudders through battered muscles, throbbing but responsive. Good. He forces his neck to arch so that his eyes can settle on you, tucked against his side on the bed, hair messy and clothes mussed. Safe. Can smell blood, but it’s not yours. Overlapping that scent is the familiar vanilla-smoke of the flat, the prickle of cat hair in his nostrils, the sting of the disinfectant you use to scrub the bathroom. Home.

Spike tries to ground himself in his own body, lets himself feel all the li’l aches and twinges that come with wakin’ up after a cosmic thrashing. Forgot what it felt like to be in control. The witch can’t have had him under for long—but pain has a way of transcending time. Could’ve been a moment, could’ve been an age. His gaze wanders, taking in the dim light from the lamp in the corner, Gus at the foot of the bed. Across the room, in the threadbare armchair by the blacked-out window—

Giles.

“Watcher,” Spike rasps, all cracked like gravel run over by a compact roller.

Man doesn’t startle; just looks at him, newspaper lowering to his lap. His face is busted up, expression unreadable. “You’re awake.”

“Yeah. What gave it away? The moaning, or all the moving around?” When the old boy doesn’t rise to the bait—instead, keeps on staring like he’s found an interestin’ specimen locked up in a zoo—Spike grunts. Didn’t come for another round of beat the vamp, then. He changes tack. “When did you show up?”

Giles’s nostrils flare. “From what I can determine, not long after you were… rendered unconscious.”

“Right.” Rendered unconscious. Nice way to put his whole being-almost-dead. “An’ Red?”

“Dealt with.” At Spike’s eyebrow raise, he clarifies. “She—briefly—attempted to bring about another apocalypse. Suffice to say, she did not succeed.”

Huh. Must’ve been a hell of a plan to talk her down from that ledge. When Spike asks, though, the bastard smiles. It’s not a happy thing.

“Xander,” he says softly, eyes misting over. “Xander got through to her, in the end.”

Spike rolls his eyes. Hell, even that hurts. “Really. Zeppo?”

“He is not so useless as you believe,” is Giles’s response. His tone’s a shade cooler this time. Figures.

“S’pose he was bound to get it right eventually,” Spike offers, reluctant.

Giles makes a vague noise of agreement.

There’s a lull after that. Spike’s not blind—throughout the conversation, he noticed the man’s stare linger a bit too pronounced on you, on the way you’ve wrapped yourself around him so obviously in your slumber. He’s clearly gearin’ up to speak his mind, seeing as he’s the only one who hasn’t weighed in on you and Spike yet. At least, not in person; he’s surely pestered you over the phone at some point, but you’ve never mentioned anything of the sort.

Spike takes the chance to observe you a little closer. You’ve shuffled around a bit what with all the noise he’s been makin’, but that’s about as far as you’ve got to being awake. He can see your face now: dark circles beneath your eyes, pallid skin, lips dry and cracked. There’s the faint tang of dried sweat, the musk of unwashed hair. Not unpleasant in itself, but for what it means—that you’ve been running yourself ragged.

“She’s scarcely moved from your side for days, now.”

He glances up to see Giles leaning forward in his seat, hands clasped. Pensive.

“There were moments when it seemed… likely that you would not survive,” he adds. “But she refused to accept it.”

Spike feels his mouth lift at the corners, throat tightening. “Stubborn girl.”

Giles nods. “Quite. She’s been feeding you. Human. She persuaded Buffy to procure it from Willy’s.”

That explains the smell, then. And the crinkling whenever he moves: blood bags strewn across the mattress, drained to emptiness, a matching crust smearing his chin.

“Didn’t think the Slayer gave a toss,” Spike murmurs.

“Oh, she doesn’t.” Giles chuckles, a short, grim sound. “But she would do anything for those she loves. It seems that is a Summers trait.”

Gotta be. Spike doesn’t know what to do with the ache in his chest—not a physical one, but the pangs of old wounds scabbing over. Strange, for someone to care enough about him to… to push their limits, to risk their peace, to do whatever it takes to keep him around. Always some ulterior motive, like the Slayer settin’ him up for your sake. But you? S’not explainable. Not in the language he understands: violence, trickery, egotism. It upends belief, to have stumbled his way into love. Real love. Wild, passionate, dangerous, yeah. Bein’ all broke in this bed’s proof enough of that. But it doesn’t hurt. Doesn’t break away bits of himself ’til there’s nothing left. Instead, it makes him whole.

“Yeah,” Spike says finally, a little choked up.

Giles sighs. “I admit I… this. It’s not what I expected.”

“No?”

“I thought it was the same as everything you’ve done previously. Manipulation. Obsession. Perhaps a ploy for leverage.”

Spike expected the jab, but it’s still a sore spot. He can’t help himself. “That’s the problem with you lot, yeah? Always expect the worst of me. Really any wonder that I feel the way I do—when she’s only ever seen the best in me?”

Rather than incense the man, it seems to make him thoughtful. A moment passes, and then he murmurs, “Indeed. You nearly died for her.”

“’Course.” Spike’s jaw clenches. “Not lettin’ anything hurt her.”

“You attacked Willow,” Giles says carefully. “A human. With your chip still active. You had to know what that meant.”

“I knew,” Spike says. “Didn’t care.”

There’s another beat of silence. Giles looks older, worn down. Less righteous, somehow.

“She loves you,” he says at last.

Spike’s eyes flicker down to you, the flash of an unwelcome voice resounding: “she’s going to—” He swallows. “I know,” he says.

“And you—”

“I’d burn the world down for her.” Simple. Not even a second’s thought. The Watcher’s clearly surprised by it. “Haven’t you figured that out?”

Giles’s lips part, then press shut again. Like he wants to argue, but the words have abandoned him.

“Demons cannot love without a soul,” he says. It’s not cruel—it’s fact. Stated like someone raised on a single version of the story.

Spike barks a laugh, dry and humourless. “Yeah? And you’d know that how? Just ’cause you spent a couple hours as a Fyarl demon a while back don’t mean you’ve got a clue what I feel.”

Giles doesn’t answer.

“You don’t get it,” Spike says. His voice lowers, something fervent bleeding into it. “It’s not some game. Not about possession, or revenge, or any other shite you lot try to lay at my feet. It’s…”

It’s quiet days in. Laughter. Watchin’ Passions ’cause he likes it, even if you don’t. Listenin’ to him ramble on about knocking off those Slayers, or the biggest beasties he’s slaughtered. Cleaning his duster, bleaching his hair for him, and getting his brew right. Beggin’ him to write you poetry, melting adoration when he reads his measly scrawls aloud between kisses, spreadin’ your thighs for him in the moonlight.

It’s you, lookin’ at him like he’s hung every star in the night sky just for you.

It’s… it’s bubbles.

That’s not what he says, though. Some things are meant only for you and him. Sacred. “It’s wanting, all the time: her smile, her happiness. It’s waking up thinkin’ of her. Feelin’ like… Like I don’t exist without her. Love, true as it gets. I’d tear out my fangs if she asked me to.”

Giles studies him. Reminds him a bit of how his grandsire would look him over, intense and unreadable. Usually ended in a sneer and a beating. At least this old man treats him with a scrap of respect. There’s nothing judgemental in the Watcher’s stare. It’s the look of someone who’s built his life on doctrine that doesn’t hold up. It’s as if he’s trying to reconcile something he’s never seen before. And honestly? It probably is.

“I watched Tara love Willow that way once,” he says finally. “Not with your flair for theatrics, of course. But with her whole heart. And Willow lost herself in that.” A pause. “You’ll forgive me if I fear that sort of love is something no one survives.”

Almost an acknowledgement, innit? A sign that one of the more hostile of your mates might come around. But even as that possibility makes itself known, so too does the flash that threatened before. The memory.

“You do realise she’s going to die, right? Maybe not today, but someday. You’ll outlast her. You’ll lose her.”

He’s thought it before. But the witch’s words brought it all back into the light, a raw nerve with a cattle prod plunged straight into it. All the more powerful in its cruelty.

Words stick in his throat. What can he say? No nobility in him, let’s be real. He knows he’s too selfish, too soulless to attempt to swear off you if it means you’ll be safe. There’s a hundred other routes he’d take before givin’ you up, a thousand deals with the worst scum on the planet he’d rather make than to watch you walk away from him. He won’t promise it—not even as a lie.

Giles takes pity on him, then. Sees the truth he won’t hide.

“She deserves joy,” he says. “Not tragedy. Not… all this.”

“Then I’ll make damn sure she gets it.”

The Watcher nods. “See that you do. Because if you ever hurt her—”

“You won’t get the chance.” Spike doesn’t shy from strength of Giles’s stare. “Trust that.”

The man exhales. A fragile accord settles in the room. After a moment of stillness—then two, three—he rises, joints popping. “I’ll give you both privacy.”

As he limps toward the door, Spike calls after him. “Watcher.”

Giles pauses.

“Thanks. For not stoppin’ her from loving me.”

Giles glances back, hint of a challenge in his eyes. Not threatening, though—more sardonic. Playful, even, if that were the sort of thing he shared with Spike.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t try,” he says. “But I’m not blind.”

He exits, door clicking shut. Gus starts purring as soon as it’s you three left.

Spike lets his eyes fall on you once more. Brushes a strand of hair from your cheek with shaking fingers, weak and clumsy from the way Red took him apart. That hollow buried in his ribcage swells again, the kind he’s only ever known with you. Because of you. He’s never had anyone watch over him like you’re doing. Not Dru. Not Angelus. Not even his mum, too sickly to risk her own fragile health to care for her only son. Nobody’s ever sat vigil like this. Nobody’s ever cared enough to choose him like this. And that’s love, isn’t it? Not burning or consuming. It’s choice.

You can’t hear him when you’re this deeply asleep—but that doesn’t stop him from whispering, “Still here, sweetheart. Still yours.”

The next few days pass in a blur of rest, routine and restless dread.

You barely leave him be, not that Spike’ll let you go far. He’s treated to your single-minded—almost manic—focus: your insistence on feeding him, changing the sheets after the Slayer and Zeppo lug him off to the bathroom, helpin’ him peel off his casuals as he lay prone in the tub and scarcely able to move. There’s a begrudging silence that follows whenever the rest shuffle off to obey one of your orders, not resentment but something else. Muted, lacking vitriol. And he… he’s useless. Can barely lift his own arms. It reminds him a bit of the days when the chip was brand new, him half-starved to dust and out of his mind—only this time, he’s not surrounded by idiots eager to kick him while he’s down.

It's just you.

You, wiping his chin when blood spills after his lips slacken around the straw. Filling the bath with all that scented stuff you like—an’ that he likes but’ll never admit aloud—and getting in with him, less like a nurse sponging down an invalid and more like it was before. Calming. Vanilla foam and warmth. Doing your best to imbue sensuality into the way your lathered palms slide along his skin, as if it’s heavy pettin’ and not service. You, pressing a damp cloth to his forehead as the aftershocks of Red’s spell burn him up, muttering soft apologies each time he flinches.

S'not all sweetness. He can’t escape the pain he’s in, though he never says a word about it. Doesn’t tell you when the little metal wafer in his brain sparks behind his eyes, simply clenches his jaw and takes it. Feels wrong, now. Spike’s not sure if it felt like this before—like he could sense it digging in where it doesn’t belong, a splinter lodged someplace he can’t claw it out from. A ghost, branded on the inside of his skull. It flares when he dreams, sometimes. Especially when he dreams about the witch. Of you, screaming.

But, when he wakes, it’s always to the sound of your voice; to your hands on his chest, counting the seconds between tremors. To your breath, hitching when you think he’s still out.

You’re knackered, bone deep. He can see it, hear it in the rasp of each word as they tear their way from dried lungs. The tremble in your fingers when you bring him his blood, only half-heated because you didn’t leave the bag in hot water long enough before pouring. Skin’s too pale, eyes sunken, limbs too thin. You sleep next to him, but never well, jerking awake if he so much as shivers. Makes him want to yell at you, tell you to bugger off for a while in the hopes one of your sisters might get you to lie down and have a proper kip. For a half-hour, he intends to go through with it. But then you come in clutching the mug like it’s solid gold, steps slow and careful, face—tired, haggard, beautiful—beaming with pride.

“It’s perfect this time,” you tell him, sticking one of your curly straws in and swirling the contents once. “Pinch of burba weed, heated ten minutes, and a dash of water to make it go down easy.”

You look so proud of yourself. He can’t do it. Can’t crush the genuine joy glittering in your expression, even if it’s for your own good.

“Thanks, baby,” he murmurs instead, heaving onto his side so he doesn’t risk choking like he did a few feedings back. “Just how I like it.”

And when you grin in response, all teeth and radiance splitting through fatigue, he gives up on the idea entirely.

So he lets you fuss over him, and not only for your sake—but for his own. He might make gruff comments, roll his eyes and find it hard to muster up a smile, but he never pushes you away. He drinks what you bring. He takes the meds Buffy forced on him—strong enough to knock a human out, though it only gives him the tiniest relief—and allows you to micromanage every inch of his life while he’s recovering. You joke about it only once, saying, “Don’t get used to this, or I’ll have to start charging by the hour.”

You don’t laugh, and neither does he. It’s not funny. There’s too much love in the silence to pretend.

But the flat doesn’t stay quiet for long.

Once he looks marginally less like roadkill, Little Bit drops by. She bursts in like old times—clearly coached—with arms full of snacks and DVDs she swears aren’t nicked. Thank God. He’s not up for playing moral compass. Chattering loud enough to wake the dead, she gives him a once-over, says nothing about the ruptured vessels spiderwebbing his face. Nah―she kicks off her shoes, flops next to him, starts rifling through DVDs.

“Don’t worry,” she says, flashing him a crooked smile. “All G-rated. You’re all scrambled, and she’s sleep-deprived. No emotional damage allowed.”

Spike’s lips twitch. “No flayin’? No disembowelment? Thought that was our thing.”

She snorts, fluffs his pillow. “Not this week, Brain-Burger.”

Meanwhile, Rupes stops in only twice more before catching his flight back to England, back to keep an eye on Red. She’s doin’ some magic rehab plan with some coven near Devon, last Spike heard. Watcher’s vague on the details. Too soon to put words to everything that happened, maybe. He doesn’t say much after that initial conversation, simply making small-talk and dropping off books he thinks you’d like. But, on his way out, he sets a hand on Spike’s shoulder.

“Whatever this”—he waves aimlessly at the room, but there’s no mistaking what he means—“is… it’s changed you.”

Spike meets his gaze. “For better or worse, you reckon?”

Giles smiles, brittle and strange. “We’ll see.”

Somehow, that’s not the dodgiest shift from the lot of ’em. Xapper goes from wordlessly hoisting Spike from the mattress to guiltily shuffling into the bedroom, empty-handed.

“I, uh… don’t do the whole Florence Nightingale thing,” he says, awkwardly adjusting the chair near the foot of the bed.

You’re sprawled on your belly next to Spike, dosed up to your eyeballs with the melatonin Niblet swiped from the medicine cabinet back at hers. Crushed it up in your cocoa like a proper little partner in crime, wheedled you into drinking it all up before she left for the night. Clearly works: he’s shaken you gently a couple times, but there’s no rousing you. In her defence, he was the one who asked for help getting you to stay asleep.

The boy glances at you, relief clear to read in the laxness of his mouth. “But I figured,” he continues, “that I could do moral support. Or something.”

What self-respectin’ vamp lets that stand? Pity, ’n from an idiot human, no less. Spike opens his mouth—maybe to bring up the fact that Xapper ain’t exactly a paragon of comfort or conviviality—but that’ll only start a row. He’s more interested in seeing how far he can push this weird period of indulgence. Instead, he lets the pointed arch of his brow do the talking. Xander picks up on it, huffs.

“Still alive, huh?” he asks awkwardly after twiddlin’ his thumbs a bit.

“Yep. See you are, too,” Spike replies. “Heard what you did.”

It’s as close to a compliment as he’ll ever give the boy, and Xander knows it. He nods. “Yeah. It… it put some things into perspective. Made me realise”—he shakes his head—“well, that doesn’t matter. But I guess the world’s ending a lot these days. Might be… nice, having someone around who’s a little less breakable than me.”

Perfect opportunity to toss in a dig about Spike’s laid-up state. He doesn’t take it—just leans back, sprawls himself out and gets some shut-eye, leaving Spike to his own devices. Eventually, Spike feels tired enough to slip into unconsciousness with you. Each time he wakes, tormented by the fire ricocheting in his skull, the boy’s there. Silent. Watchful. There’s a sort of security to it, knowing he’s there.

When the faint glow of gold seeps through the very top of the curtains, Xander stands, knees poppin’. Sighs, stretches. Turns. As he leaves, he pauses at the door, looking back at Spike.

“I’m not saying I like you,” he says. “But she does. And it… maybe that’s okay.”

It’s the closest thing to a truce they’ve ever had.

But the biggest surprise is Buffy. She takes the longest to come ’round, though when she does, there’s none of the awkwardness of Zeppo or Rupes. Only that rigid saintliness she wears when she thinks she’s bein’ particularly self-sacrificing.

There’s no fanfare, no incitement. She hovers in the entry like a storm cloud trying not to make rain, watching him intently as you help him hobble slowly to the couch. Took him longer than usual to get on his own feet, though it’s far accelerated compared to a human. When he’s dropped onto the sofa with a grunt of effort, she hands over the customary brown paper bag from Willy’s, mumbles something about type O and sealing lids tight. Her arms cross, as though she doesn’t trust herself to relax around him. Even then, she lingers.

It’s after you leave to go rinse out one of Spike’s mugs that she makes her move. Stays behind. For a second, he thinks she’s going to say something sharp. Tension’s there, taut across her shoulders, jaw clenched. But instead, her eyes track over him—the fading redness, the hollows of his cheeks filling out from an abundance of blood. Wavers, like she’s not sure if she should voice what she’s thinkin’.

“Y’know,” she says at last, “I used to believe you were some sorta… roach that wouldn’t die.”

Spike snorts. “How touchin’.”

She shrugs, unrepentant. “Still kinda do. You’re annoying. Evil. And so, so gross.” A pause. “But…”

He tilts his head. “But?”

“But… it wasn’t just that.” She lowers her gaze, something small and vulnerable taking the place of the woman who’d faced off against gods and won. “You… being with her. It—I thought I could pretend. That I hated it ’cuz you’re a vamp, or because you’re you. If I’m honest, though? It’s— Truth is, I guess I never thought you’d stop being there.”

Spike stares. Not so long ago, this girl tried to stake him mid-rant. Now she’s confessing her worst fear in his living room.

“Not like that!” Buffy’s quick to say. “I didn’t, like… want-want you. I just—got used to you. How you looked at me. How I could be awful, and you’d still be around. Waiting for me. It’s stupid”—she huffs, shakes her head—“but sometimes I thought you were the only one who would. Stay.”

She shifts her weight, eyes flicking to the ground, then back up. “So… yeah. It stung. That it all stopped. That you moved on, didn’t look back. Like I was a—a placeholder while you searched for something better. Story of my life, huh? Everyone leaves.”

Spike swallows. “Wasn’t like that.”

Never really had an honest chat with her before. He’s assumed a bunch, generalised based on what he knows. Sure, this li’l confession ain’t out of left field. And yet, it strikes him as strange. Startlingly mortal. He forgets that, sometimes: that there’s a person beneath all that superpowered brawn and go-getter destiny.

“I know,” she says, surprising them both. “I know. She’s it, or whatever. Your person. And you… love her. Maybe it’s not the same as what people feel, but—I get it, now. That I was being unfair. Just ’cuz Angelu—” She chokes on that last bit, unable to force the rest of the word out. He doesn’t blame her. Grandsire screwed her up good an’ proper. “But, uh… yeah. It’s real, for you. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt a little.”

There’s a long silence after that—not hostile, but heavy. Bittersweet.

Then Buffy lifts her chin, a shadow fading from her face. “I won’t stand in the way anymore. Of you, and her. If—if she wants you, and you fight for her the way you did… then I guess I’ll support that. You and her, and the whole togetherness thing.”

Spike can barely process it. He blinks, taken aback. “Slayer—”

“Don’t confuse things, though,” she interrupts snappishly. No heat to it, though. “This isn’t some—some declaration of friendship. You’re still you. But you’re… alright. For now. Just don’t hurt her.”

Last bit sounds more like a plea than a statement. It makes the sanctimony of it all a bit less grating. That, or he’s tired. He was made for the fight, yeah, but there’s no victory where he winds up winning. If he keeps you despite Buffy’s vitriol, then it means you lose her, means you’ll never be happy. And if he can’t keep you… Then it’s simple, isn’t it? Means he’ll dust himself. End it. What’s the use in anythin’ if he’s not with you?

“Don’t hurt her,” she said.

“Never,” he replies, voice hoarse. And maybe he could tell her all the things he’d rather do than ever risk your happiness, your safety, your love—but he’s done explaining. Done defending.

Buffy seems to accept that without speaking. Nods. That’s it. There’s no teary apology, no promise to be someone she’s not, no demand for the same from him. Only truth laid bare, once and for all. A sort of poetry to it, to mending fences with someone who’s hurt him as much as he’s hurt her. It ain’t forgiveness—they’re both too proud and too jaded for that—but it could be a new beginning.

For a good while after that conversation, he sits there, pretends to doze off for a bit. He hopes it’ll force you to stop hovering so much, get a chance to catch up with big sis properly. Works, somewhat. When you come back, he hears you settle in the ratty armchair, the frame creaking under the slightest weight. There’s more shuffling, then a brief lull.

“You emailed them, then?” you ask Buffy suddenly, tone light. There’s an edge, though.

She lets out an exasperated noise. “Yes! I said I would, didn’t I?”

“And?”

“They’ll do it. They’re in—” She cuts herself off. Spike feels that tingle of awareness, the sense that eyes are watching him closely. S’possible she’s caught onto his act. “I’ll just… write down the address.”

“Good. Thanks, Buff.”

“Yeah. I only… I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Buffy leaves it at that, quickly changing the subject before he can begin to figure out the context. He feels the temptation to grill you—bein’ cooped up’s made him nosy, ’n you’ve got an unwitting penchant for getting into trouble—but that means coming clean about the faking, and you get proper shirty when he listens in on stuff that ain’t his to hear. Not worth it. All he can do is heal himself up and wait for whatever you’ve got planned to reveal itself. Besides, topic’s turned to plans for a morale-boostin’ shopping trip, and that’s easy enough to tune out. If only he hadn’t trapped himself in a situation of his own making.

With nothin’ else to do, he thinks about earlier. About the Slayer’s words, turning over and over in his mind. She didn’t want him—just liked being wanted. Yeah. He understands that a bit too bloody well, if he’s honest. Stings a little, that old hurt. Never good enough, never worth the risk, a tool to be used until discarded. It’s the principle of the thing, though. Not the girl herself. No fresh wounds from it, but a faint, detached pity, the kind you feel for someone wandering blind. Must be terrible, to be so alone.

That, more ’n anything, is why he keeps up the lie. Keeps his eyes shut, drifts to the sound of voices in his ear, your pulse thrumming through his skin. Doesn’t keep track of the time. He’s only barely aware of the shift—rustling, farewells, door opening and closing.

What’s left is the low hum of the fridge, Gus’s paws scratching at the mat outside his litter box, the sound of your breathing. What’s left is relief, and the peace of finally letting go.

Usually, he’s stickin’ his head out the kitchen window and finishing off his cig at this time of day. You in bed, the light arcing over the curtain headings to dapple the ceiling. Close as he comes to seeing the sun, and it never comes low enough to burn him.

Bit different at the mo’, what with the near deep-fryin’. Can’t be bothered with the effort of it all. He might be walking alright now—mostly—but not for too long, and even now his fingers struggle with the lighter. Has to make do with getting his nicotine fix through patches or those bloody stupid inhalers. It’s not forever, though. The aches and pains are gone; his head throbs only rarely; he doesn’t get tired as quick.

For now, this is his new normal: lyin’ in bed, watching you reading or doing one of your little crosswords, thinkin’ about stuff. Today, he’s takin’ stock of all the changes to his social life—namely, the Scoobies. How they’ve stopped treating him like a ticking bomb, like he’d explode if they so much as let their guard slip.

Not all the way, of course. He’s not daft. They’re wary, but the edge has dulled, glares softening into sidelong glances and jokes lacking their usual bite. Almost… banter, ’til they realise who they’re palling around with. And that realisation doesn’t come with upset or horror, or any of the old defaults—more a shy nervousness, as if they’re worried about his reaction. As if they’re waiting for him to turn on them. As if he’s the one with the upper hand. Dawn and Anya remain more or less unchanged. Guess when you start out fond of a monster, the bar’s lower to begin with.

Annoyingly, earning the esteem of the others seems to have come with a hefty price: they’re over his all the buggerin’ time. Can barely go a minute without hearin’ someone banging cupboards, or callin’ across the place, or screwing around with his stuff.

Little Bit’ll eat all the food and put her sugary crap on the shopping list so that her supply doesn’t run out, hog the bathroom and keep leavin’ her tweeny-bopper CDs all around for him to trip over. Walking’s already hard enough at the mo’—when he yells at her, she’ll smirk and say, “Bite me, buzzkill,” and cackles when he snarls. Demon girl seems determined to open a new magic shop straight outta his kitchen if the rancid smells are anything to go by, and spends the rest of the time updating him on the latest goings-on with the locals or ranting about the couple wishes she granted while he was out. It’s oddly touching, even if it is bloody irritating. The boy takes delight in putting on his science fiction shite, content enough to sit in silence beside Spike for hours racking up the electricity bill. Angel’s cross to bear, innit? Not Spike who has to cough up the goods. In fact, that tidbit seems to put as much a smile on Xapper’s face as it does on Spike’s. And Buffy? Well, she’ll never be comfortable around him. Too much history. But the forced ease and measured civility she brings to bat whenever she’s in company is a sure step up from breaking his nose every time she sees him.

They have their little meetings here now. There’s no apocalypse to stop, no big evil to slay—only regular ol’ vamps and the kind of fledge-tier riff-raff that’s inevitable when living on the Hellmouth. Perfectly doable for the Slayer and her merry band of misfit children. And yet, there’s awkwardness in the air, though for once it ain’t because of him. No one says it aloud. But it’s obvious, innit? The empty spaces. Holes, left behind by the witches that should be here. That aren’t.

Spike hasn’t asked, not once. At first, it was just survival, everything else on shut-down mode while he fought to stick around. Then, it was ’cause he couldn’t face the memory of it—the call. The house. Glinda. Blood everywhere, Niblet sobbing. You. Almost tempted to let the silence continue, let time deaden the sorrow like it always does.

That’s not who he is anymore, though.

He clears his throat, waits for you to shut your book and set it down on the bedside table. “What… what happened? With Glinda?” he asks.

The look on your face—it’s not shock, or anguish. More a quiet, resigned sadness, a waiting that’s come to fruition. Your breath hitches, brows furrowing as you seem to search for the right words. The lull stretches on, too long for comfort.

“Do anything?” he asks, tryin’ to help you out. “For—to send her off?”

You hesitate, then shake your head.

“We, um. Buried her. Said goodbye. You were—Clem sat with you for a bit.” He grabs your hand, squeezes. You get worked up thinkin’ about those first few days. “But,” you continue, “there hasn’t been anything detailed. Felt wrong without Willow.”

“When she’s back, then?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

He knows you’re nervous about that, ’bout Red returning. The rest of ’em are already planning on how to manage her when she gets home: supervision, restrictions, therapy. But you? You think he’s chomping at the bit to get his own back after she tried to turn him into sludge. Explained it before, but there’s some things that language can’t express right. He’s done worse himself, hasn’t he? Gone dark, let love curdle into something ugly. Difference is, she came back from it. Just like he’s trying to. And violence doesn’t stick to demons the way it does to humans, ’specially when it’s among allies. Nothing to do with keeping score. It’s hierarchy. Power. Red had it, he didn’t, and she showed ’em all that fact. Sure, he’s brassed off by her arrogance and her choice to put you in danger, but seems like she’s learned her lesson if the snippets he’s caught are anything to go by. Sick with guilt an’ nearly took herself out when she realised what she’d done.

Not the point. The point is that he doesn’t care a whit about the witch comin’ back, provided she’s screwed the lid tight on her megalomania. Not interested in having a repeat of all this.

Beside him, you turn the lamp off and shuffle under the covers properly. His arm doesn’t hurt anymore, so he relishes in folding it around you, letting you burrow into his chest with a sigh. His chin settles to the top of your head, the scent of vanilla shampoo wafting pleasantly.

“The others are grateful, you know,” you murmur, cutting through the quiet. “For what you did for Tara. Means a lot to them.”

He says nothing in return, kissing your crown.

Doesn’t have it in him to complain after that, though ponderin’ on it too long makes his pride wilt. Bloody mother hen, isn’t he? Adopting all these sad li’l orphan chicks. Lettin’ them run all through his coop like they own the place. If the big bads could see him now, they’d laugh so hard they pissed blood.

And yet—

It’s far more than he ever thought he’d get, this unsettled acceptance. They’re not his friends—never will be, not properly—but the war’s over. And that’s something.

Healing’s always been odd business as a demon. Wounds don’t last long, so it doesn’t hurt much, either. Broken bones right themselves in a matter of days, the occasional scrape or swelling even less. And the more blood drunk, the quicker the whole thing goes.

Spike’s more familiar with it than most—get beat on, drain a vic, sleep it off and Bob’s your uncle. No aches or pains when you wake. Mightn’t be fully up to form, but at least it ain’t lyin’ around for weeks and waiting. Only real difference is if the hiding’s less one-on-one and more a mob deal, or if magic’s involved. Got plenty of history with the former, with Dru after that mess in Prague. Now, thanks to Red, he’s got experience with the latter, too.

Different, innit? Less passive. It’s like he can feel the damage she did, feel the grey matter reforming from mush into something resembling brain again. Whole body copped it, too, what with the seizing. There’s an awareness there he’s never had before, as though he’s actively paying witness to the knitting together of what was undone. More or less finished now, though a phantom flashing remains. A memory of what it was to be brought low, turned into a hunk of char-grilled meat.

But with recovery comes clarity, comes noticin’ stuff he hadn’t before. Or maybe things he was too wrapped up―in you, in the newness of attachment, in excitement envisioning some kind of future where you’re always there―to see.

Like how easily you trip on thin air or drop things, always coming away with some new cut or bruise in your attempt to catch them. The underlying scent of infection coursing through your blood when you forget to apply mercurochrome to open wounds. The wince you think he doesn’t catch when you move from one side of the room to the other, the slight limp from that old track injury of yours. So fragile. So breakable. So temporary.

Red could’ve done away with you with next to no effort. Any creature worth its salt could take you out quick. And that ain’t even countin’ all the regular human ways to go: slippin’ on the stairs at Revello Drive, gettin’ hit by a car crossing the street, drownin’ in the tub. Droppin’ dead for no reason at all, just because. Happens, doesn’t it? Humans stop, sometimes.

In the blink of an eye, you’ll be gone. A name in a county record, words on a headstone. All that stubborn, brilliant fight that makes you so bloody glorious―gone. But Spike? He’s forever.

Never had to deal with it before. Dru’s the same as him, and he didn’t really get enough of a shot with the Slayer to worry about it. But it’s more and more clear as the days go by that, eventually, the difference between you and him’ll catch up.

His first impulse is to go for the immediate fix. He can’t be human again, but you could be like him. For a second, he imagines it: your eyes glowing yellow, ridged brows and razor-sharp fangs, fast and strong and safe. That idea’s tossed away almost immediately after, though. Knows all too well that turning’s a gamble. Might not get the same girl back at the end of the road, and that defeats the whole point. S’you he wants to keep, not your body.

If only there was…

Catching sight of you, he immediately loses his train of thought.

You’re standin’ in front of the mirror, midway through stripping off for your shower. Started it as a tease months back―undressin’ in the bedroom instead of right before hopping under the stream, gives you the chance to strut starkers up the hall ’n give him a good show―but now you do it out of habit. He lets himself ogle: smooth skin, the flare of your hips, the dip above your arse. The good bits are covered, hidden from view by your practical, full-coverage underthings. Pale, girlish pink. Not one for fuss and frills, you are. Makes him feel as barmy as his sire, all that cotton innocence. Cute. Wreckable.

“Think I’m all better,” he says from his place on the bed, sprawled out with a cocky little smirk that hasn’t made a proper appearance in ages. His stare sharpens, blatant, when you turn to face him, eyes lingering on your exposed body. No mistakin’ his meaning. “Mm. Much better.”

Your nostrils flare in amusement, though you arch a brow at him. “You still flinch when the cat jumps on you.”

“Bastard’s got needles for claws,” he mutters, transfixed by the spill of your tits as they’re released from your bra. “You get your bollocks shredded by that furry li’l demon, see how casual you are.”

That makes you giggle. “Sure”―the humour fades into something more sober―“but you nearly died. It’s not a good idea to risk it. Set you back.”

“Bit o’ rough-and-tumble won’t knock me flat, kitten.” He might be erring into begging territory, but that’s no knock on him. Doesn’t take much convincing on his part to get you to cave on most things, ’specially if he’s clear he’s desperate for it. “’Sides,” he adds, “I’m a vampire. Near-dust experiences come with the package.”

“Not when it’s because you tried to fist-fight a witch hopped up on dark magic.”

“That counts,” he insists.

“You had seizures.”

“Yeah.” He pushes himself up onto his elbows, playfulness vanishing from his voice. “But I didn’t lose my bloody mind. And―most importantly―I didn’t lose you. Worth it all, for that.”

You soften slightly at his words. He pounces on it.

“Tell you what,” he says, eyes gleaming as he settles back, folds his arms behind his head. “If it’s too soon for a good, proper shag―how ’bout a lazy one? You on top, I don’t have to move a thing.”

You shake your head. “You’re impossible.”

Sure, he’ll cop to that―but he’s noticed that you haven’t moved to the open drawer yet. Haven’t picked out your night wear, or shuffled out the door. He grins. “Not what you were saying last time you were ridin’ me like I owed you money.”

“Jesus Christ, Spike,” you hiss, blushing furiously.

Easy to read between the lines, though: that bolt of shocked pleasure whenever he reminds you how hot you get for it, how deep you throw yourself into the feeling of your body under his, him inside you. Still got a smidge of that prissy shamefulness. Used to get all tangled up in guilt over spreadin’ out for him, ’til he started reminding you that the best girls are always ready to go for their bloke. Ramps up the overachiever in you like nothin’ else.

“C’mon, baby. Just a little ride. You set the pace.” He spreads his legs a bit, lets the line of his prick straining against his sleep pants emphasise his intent. “I’ll even let you finish first.”

Sighing, you slip your knickers down, kick them off onto the floor. Padding toward the bed, you say, “S’pose I should thank you, huh? For saving me.”

“Mm. Thought you might say that.” He drops a hand to his waistband, lazily palms himself through the thin fabric. “Deserve some gratitude, I do.”

You kneel between his legs, slow and deliberate, fingers ghosting up the inside of his thighs before tugging down his sweats. His cock springs free, hard and already weeping, ruddy from his earlier meal. It’s been too long since you last touched him, since he’s felt you wrapped ’round him. Hell, he misses it. Misses you.

You take him in hand, leaning forward.

“Oh, I’ll give you gratitude,” you say with a grin. “But if you start seizing mid-thrust, I’m taking your wallet and leaving town.”

He chuckles low in his throat. “Deal.”

Your grip is confident, the right side of too-much as you gather spit in your mouth and part your lips, letting saliva trickle onto him. He curses under his breath as he watches you coat him in it, slick him up, lickin’ ’round the head like Lolita with her lollipops. Right sight more sinful, too. You open wider, sinking down. Warmth surrounds him, pressure, and wet, velvet suction. Your tongue flattens against the underside, lashes fluttering as you take him in bit by bit. Gotten better at this―so much better―but he still brushes the back of your throat too fast, and you gag. Your eyes water, hand tightening around the base as you draw back with a gasp.

“Not perfect yet,” you rasp, stifling a cough. “You’re too big.”

It’s said almost accusingly, like it rankles you to be anything less than immaculate. He doesn’t have the words to tell you how that’s the whole point, the part that makes it so bloody superb. Instead, he groans, all shaky pride.

“Beautiful,” he croons, sincerity couched in lewdness. Reaches down, curls his fingers through soft strands. “Li’l human mouth wasn’t made for it, yeah? But you try anyway. Look so gorgeous when you choke.”

You glare up at him―cheeks flushed, no real ire to it―then go back in. Slower, less force in the pull of your cheeks. Sucking and swirling, your tongue teases the slit, fist working what you can’t take. Spike sinks into the mattress like he’s been shot. It’s too much: you, your mouth, the way you moan around him like you’re the one getting off. He hisses, fangs brushing his lower lip. Wouldn’t take much to let himself go, but he doesn’t want that. Wants more.

“Up.” He tugs you off his prick with the hand in your hair. “C’mon now. Get that cunt on me.”

“You’re lucky I’m into you,” you say, mouth red and swollen, climbing up to straddle him. You brace yourself, rub your slick folds against his shaft, grinding slow and rhythmic. A tease, but not much of one―your arousal’s written all over you, soaking him, making him twitch beneath you.

“Christ,” he grits out. “So wet I could slip right in. Don’t need prep at all, do you?”

A lie, that last bit, but one that’s fun to tell. You knot straight back up if he’s not gotten inside you for more than a day, and it’s been a fair while longer than that. Makes you huff, though, bite your lip like you’re not sure if you should melt into him or tell him off. He jumps his hips once to catch at your entrance, just enough to let you feel the breadth of him there. Like he thought, you’re sealed up like a vault, barely givin’ ground.

“Not too fast.” He slides his palms up your thighs. “Been a while.”

Nodding, you reach down, angling him in one-handed. A pop of pure heat surrounds his tip, forcing him to curl his toes hard to keep from grabbing at you too tight, keep from taking over. You wiggle onto him, sinking an inch, two inches—then you stop, panting.

“Too much?” he asks, voice low and careful.

“Hurts a little,” you whisper, wincing. “But—I like it.”

That gets him: his control fractures, his nails digging into your flesh, and he can’t tell if his head’s pingin’ from the chip or if it’s the phantom twinge that’s hit periodically since waking up. Nerves misfiring. Either way, he’s too distracted to worry ’bout it. Too focused on the iron band of your inner muscles squeezin’ on him as you work your way to the base, the way your brows furrow and your lip catches between your teeth each time you pause. He might blow just from this.

“God, baby.” He stifles the bestial noise threatening to rumble from deep in his gut. “So tight ’n hot. Gonna tear you apart on me.”

“Yeah.” You’re trembling as you rock in increments, easing him in. “I want that. Break me, lemme feel it—”

“Then take it,” he says, thumb pressing circles against your clit. “All the way. Show me how bad you want it.”

When you finally settle with a sharp cry, it’s with some measure of his cock left to go, no room to fit. Should’ve licked you open, maybe. Got you off. Would’ve relaxed you, made sure you could take him whole. S’no matter, though—you’ll open up. As it is, he can barely think. You’re a bloody vice around him, wound as far as you can be, insides fightin’ his presence with everything they have. Rippling, wringing. It’s torture.

He groans your name as you brace your hands on his chest, dragging up and dropping down leisurely, gettin’ yourself used to the stretch. You don’t lift high―just enough to push a little noise from your throat each time you fall back. Best part of this position is watchin’ you move: hips winding, tits bouncing, head tippin’ back like you’re seconds from passing out from the pleasure-pain of it. Tremors run through your thighs as you work yourself, sweat coating you in shine. You lean forward a bit, and on your next downward plunge, you swallow up his remaining length with a low whine.

“Good girl,” he says, grunting when the praise makes you flex ’round him. Always loved that: how hot you get for his approval. “So sweet, jus’ look at you.”

You moan, deep, as if it’s come straight from your cunt. The flush is spreading down your neck, painting you bright, and the corners of your eyes glisten, overwhelmed. He's right in to your cervix. Can feel the little bump of it right at the head of his prick, threatenin’ an early finish each time it rubs up against him. Shooting zaps fizzle in his brain every time you bottom out, but the ache ain’t stoppin’ you; if anything, it’s fuellin’ you, making you ramp up. Your pace is gettin’ a little clumsy, less steady and more lurching, like you need it more than you can bear it.

Beautiful. Beautiful, perfect girl.

“Got the best li’l snatch, baby.” His hands are unable to settle on any one place, trailin’ down your spine, cuppin’ your arse, grippin’ your thighs. He wishes he had more of ’em, could touch you all over ’n leave no place uncovered. “Feelin’ nice, yeah? Hurtin’ good?”

“Yeah, yeah,” you say, mindless, arms shaking with each stroke. Your legs are quivering too hard to hold your weight for long. “Please, Spike―”

On the next thrust, you lose your balance, pitching straight toward him and just barely bracing beside his head with an elbow.

“There we go,” Spike purrs, voice honey-thick and wolfish as he catches you. He bends his knees, plants his feet against the mattress to roll up into you, teeth bared in a smile. “That’s it. Can’t even hold yourself up, can you?”

One arm around your waist, other palm at your arse, he pulls you up higher ’til your tits are in his face, nipples within reach. He wraps his lips ’round the nearest, sucking slow, almost sweet. Makes you keen, back arching to push yourself into the pressure of it. Takes a couple deep pulls, tongue swirling around the hard tip―then bites, hard enough to make the saltwater spill from your eyes, get you pulsin’ around him.

“Oh―oh, god,” you call out, warbling, hips moving wildly now. “I―’m gonna―”

He doesn’t stop, keeps hummin’ round your nipple, worryin’ it between his teeth and letting his hand drift between your legs to stroke where you’re swollen and sensitive. You shudder in his grip, heartbeat racing and breath coming in short little bursts, whole body starting to tense up.

All it takes is one firm pinch to your clit, and you break.

You grind down onto him as your cunt spasms, drawing him in even further. A flood of wet soaks him, burning hot and coating the air in richness. You crumple fully, slick and wrecked, wracked with convulsions.

Spike snarls. “That’s my girl.”

He flips you, your limbs pliant and uncontrollable, and your lips fall on a gasp as you hit the mattress. You barely have time to blink before he’s buried in you again, pressing your thighs to your chest as he drives into you hard and fast, his pelvis all but crashing against yours. The sound is filthy: skin slapping, lush squelching as your cunt continues to throb around him, your cries comin’ thick and loud. He can feel the demon showin’, his fangs digging into his lower lip as his face twists with pure, animal hunger.

“You like that?” he asks, hips snapping into yours. “Daddy’s cock makin’ you feel all messed up? Nice ’n deep?”

Regrets it for a mo’―remembers how unsure you’ve been when that name’s slipped out during past romps, the way you cried for days after Hank’s visit ’n avoid bringing it up since―but you either haven’t heard him or you don’t care anymore. You nod frantically, incoherent with sensation, fully weepin’ now. His cute li’l crybaby. “Yeah, yeah, I love it, love it loveitloveit…”

He grits his teeth, pounding at you even harder. The bedframe slams against the wall with every motion, threatening to crack the drywall. He feels the chip spark in warning, but he pushes through it. Doesn’t stop. Won’t. Not when you’re squealin’ and beggin’ like this, nails scratching into his shoulders and ankles digging into his back like you can hold him here just with that.

“Gonna wreck you,” he pants, hammering in ’til he hears it punch the air from your lungs. “So bloody sweet for me, takin’ it all even when it hurts.”

Tears streak your cheeks and he licks them away, growling against your jaw. “Such a good girl, lettin’ Daddy have you like this, all stretched out and sobbin’ for me―”

Your cunt flutters at that, and his control finally shatters.

It hits him like a bat to the bollocks, blinding and all-consuming, every nerve firing up as he comes. With a guttural groan, he thrusts one last time and holds, grinding in as he spills inside you. The pleasure is too much, too big for his barely-healed body, and he nearly howls with the force of it. Still buried to the hilt, he slumps into you, chest heaving despite the fact that he doesn’t need oxygen. This close to you, the thud of your heart feels like it’s his own.

For a long moment, he doesn’t move―just breathes you in, all salt and sweat and tears and heat, quiverin’ beneath him. Then, finally, he reaches up to cradle your cheek, soft to counter all the roughness. His nose nudges yours, staring into your half-lidded eyes, lingering there before leaning in to kiss you. It’s not hurried, not greedy like the rest of him’s been. It’s slow, careful, his tongue gliding past your lips to taste the tiny sounds you’re trying to catch your breath around. There’s a hint of him, too, bitter beneath the sweetness of those lollies you’ve been swiping from little sis’s stash all day. Your fingers twine into his curls as he licks into you, drawing him closer, and he lets a sound from low in his throat loose.

When he finally breaks off, he lets himself brush his lips along your cheekbone, press firm against the corner of your eye, your temple. All that earlier boldness has melted. You’re soft now, quiet in that way you get sometimes, like you’ve been undone to your foundations and all that’s left is the barest version of you: fragile, small, safe.

“You did so good,” he murmurs. “So brave.”

You hum, a little dazed. “S’nice. Full.”

His chest swells. “Know you like it when I make you feel like that.”

Nodding, you say, “I like bein’ yours.”

Gently, he folds you back out, massages your legs to get the blood flowin’ properly after being pinned up over his shoulders. Doesn’t pull out, though―not when you’re like this. Makes you sad ’n pouty like a little girl. But he rolls you back on top of him, arranging you all proper so you’re comfy. You sigh, wriggling about until your contours fit his perfectly. He wraps his arms around you, holds you tight, listens to your pulse return to a leisurely rhythm.

You go silent for a long stretch. He thinks maybe you’ve nodded off.

And then you sniffle loudly.

“Hey, now,” Spike says, instantly alert. He cups the back of your neck. “What’s all this?”

You bury your face into him, shaking your head, but you’re trembling, and this time it ain’t in a fun way. He shifts you up a bit so he can see your expression, see what’s botherin’ you so much. His palm strokes your spine.

“Sweetheart. Talk to me,” he says.

Your voice is tiny when it comes. “I… I thought I lost you.”

His breath catches.

“I―I didn’t say it. Didn’t let myself think it, but… you weren’t waking up, and I didn’t know what to do, and I was so―so scared, Spike.” You hiccup on a sob. “You were shaking and bleeding and you looked dead-dead, and I had to keep pretending it’d be okay so no one else would panic. But I thought―I thought you were gone.”

“Oh, baby.” He hugs you closer. Your fingers clench against his shoulder like he’s a lifeboat on stormy waters. “I’m here now. I’m alright. Don’t have to hold it in anymore.”

“I did, though,” you whisper, voice thick. “I didn’t cry. Not once. Not with Tara, not with you. I just… kept going. Couldn’t fall apart.”

“You were brilliant,” he tells you, kissing your forehead. “Strongest girl I’ve ever seen.”

“I didn’t want to be strong,” you whimper. “I wanted you.”

Christ, that stings. He pets your hair, soft as he can manage. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

You pull back enough to look at him, eyes glossy and red-rimmed. “Thought you were gonna leave me. Like everyone else.”

His throat aches. His heart―whatever’s left of it―twists violently.

“Never,” he says. “Not me.”

Red was never gonna stop him from being at your side, but he can’t put into words how far he’d have been willing to go to make sure of that. Wherever vamps end up after they’re dust, he’d have crawled limbless out of there just to get back to you. Nothing to hold him back: not death, not pain, certainly not a bit of metal or a witch.

You blink hard, and then it comes. A weak, uncertain whisper.

“Daddy…”

It’s the first time you’ve used it yourself. Never thought you would, and he was fine with that. Can’t help what you can’t help, and it’s not your fault that Dru’s obsession with Angelus―with her daddy―warped him irreparably. A need to be someone else’s everything, the way Spike’s grandsire was her everything.

But here you are. Callin’ Spike Daddy. Accepting everythin’ he’s been dyin’ to give.

Something in him shatters.

His voice catches at the end as he murmurs, “Daddy’s here, princess. So proud of you. Not goin’ anywhere.”

That’s a promise he’s willing to swear by everything he is. Blood and guts and filth and rot. Vampire, man, killer, poet. It’s all yours.

Your cheek is wet where you nestle into his neck, damp lashes tickling. Your breath is still shaky, puffing hotly against his flesh. “Gonna be with me forever?” you ask.

He squeezes his eyes shut, thinks of crystal pools and sun-warmed hotel beds and train rides down the coast. Thinks of demons and spells and impossible wishes. Thinks of your hands in his hair, smile direct at him and the way you always choose him, even when you shouldn’t.

Forever. Somehow, he’ll find a way to make it true.

“Yeah, sweetheart,” he says, letting his chin alight atop your head. “We’re forever.”

You nod, cling tighter. And Spike? He lies there, wrapped around you, anchoring you to him like a prayer―because that’s what you are. An invocation of all his most desperate desires. Hope made flesh. You’re his future.

Eventually, your tears subside, and you drift into slumber. He stays awake for a while longer, staring at the ceiling, trying to imagine a future that doesn’t end.

The first thing Spike notices is the stillness.

You’re asleep beside him, curled into a loose sprawl that hasn’t shifted in ages. One arm’s nestled under the pillow, the other draped across the bed like you’d reached for him and forgotten to pull back. Breathing’s even, heavy. No crease between your brows, no twitch in your fingers. Purely rest.

That’s new.

He watches you for a long while―longer than he should, probably―but he can’t help himself. You look softer, lighter, like something inside you’s been unhooked. There’s no hovering or fretting, no rattling off questions about whether or not he’s finished his blood or reminding him to nap. Been annoying, yeah, but he realises now that you’d never really stopped moving. Not once. And it wasn’t simply about taking care of him. It was armour, wasn’t it? The only thing keeping you from unravelling. Gotta keep going, stay useful, stay in control.

Should’ve known. How many hits have you taken already? Lived a fraction of the time he has, and yet you’ve faced so much loss, so much pain. Bloody hell. You’re just a baby.

The bedsprings creak as he eases out from under the covers, tugging on yesterday’s jeans and heading barefoot to the kitchen. Floor’s cold, early evening givin’ him the barest hint of light to see without switching the overhead globe on. Gus is sunnin’ himself on the windowsill, soaking up the last dregs of heat before night comes; little prick stares at him for a second before apparently deciding he ain’t worth the fuss, immediately closing his eyes again and noddin’ off.

He opens the fridge, grumbling a bit when he sees there’s only one egg left. Still takes it out, though. Bread’s nearly gone, too, so he chucks the last two slices in the toaster, fishes ’round the cupboard for a saucepan. Cracks the egg and scrambles it with a pinch of salt and a splash o’ milk, bit of pepper over it like he’s seen you do a hundred times.

While he’s waiting, he examines the list on the little notepad you keep stuck to the fridge door.

Tea (English breakfast) Soap (vanilla) Blood―go to Willy’s Chocolate Plasters Crushed garlic

Unclipping the pen from the top of the pad, he crosses out the last one with a mutter of, “Oi,” and then writes underneath:

Eggs Milk (cow’s, not oat) Bread Juice

Satisfied, he returns to his task. He gets out the crockery right after turning off the burner. Butters the toast, piles on the egg, pours the rest of the orange juice. He carries the plate into the bedroom and sets it down gently on the nightstand, glass next to it.

The smell rouses you―you make a little sound, eyes opening a smidge. Hair’s wild, face all scrunched like a sleepy kitten.

“Time s’it?” you ask.

“Half-past too early,” Spike says. “Made you breakfast, so you’re not allowed to complain.”

You blink at him, then smile. A real one. He notices the difference: how it doesn’t waver at the edges, doesn’t look like it’s trying too hard to seem put-together. It’s the first proper smile from you he’s seen in ages.

“You cooked?” you ask, sitting up and rubbing your eyes. No mention of what happened before you went to sleep. Probably for the best.

“Don’t sound so surprised. I’m a kept man now.” He settles back on the mattress beside you, nudging his thigh against yours. “Got responsibilities. Grocery lists. Toast mastery.”

You giggle, craning your neck to reach his lips. He brings himself down to you, tucks a finger beneath your chin, presses his mouth against yours. No need to deepen it―not about lust. It’s unhurried, drawn-out, a silent declaration of love. When you pull away, you say, “Thank you, kept man.”

More loaded than it needs to be. That’s how he knows you don’t just mean for breakfast―but for last morning, too. For all of it, maybe. Stayin’. So he gives you a smile of his own and looks on as you reach for the plate, tuck in to the grub he’s made you. Sees how the last few shadows drain from your face, nothin’ left but light and laughter, the way it should be. You don’t even notice when he brushes your hair out of your face while you guzzle from the glass, heavy-lidded. Just sigh a bit when his mouth brushes your temple, contented.

“Eat the rest, princess,” he says. “Can’t have my girl wastin’ away.”

Your lips curl up at the edges, drowsy and grateful, and you mumble a thank-you. Don’t comment on how natural it sounds, how gentle his bossiness is. It’s just fact. He remembers what the Watcher said: joy, not tragedy. This? This is joy, innit? The kind you do whatever it takes to keep. The cavity in his ribcage feels weighted, like there’s a balloon expanding past bone and muscle. Not painful, but full.

He doesn’t tell you ’bout the thoughts in his head. The ideas, half-baked, gathering like mothballs. The rumours passed from other continents that promise the unattainable. His wish, turning and turning itself over, tryin’ to figure out a way to become real. Immortality, no drawbacks, no complications. Just you, and him, and whatever stretches beyond the end of the world. But none of that’s for you to hear, not yet.

 “After breakfast―wanna talk about that holiday?” he asks instead. He’s already planning it. Not in the way you think, though.

You nod, all happy and golden. Clueless.

And Spike—self-proclaimed monster, eternal outsider—grins like a man who’s finally found a cause worth fighting for.

Read on AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64531855/chapters/165726460

[sundrop-writes]

Eager Little Puppy

Isaac Lahey x Gender Neutral Reader

Summary:

You offer to help Isaac relax. He agrees, thinking that you have something entirely different in mind. But when he finds out what you have planned, he really can't bring himself to mind.

(Or - you fuck Isaac's brains out to help him relax.)

Isaac Lahey x GN!Reader. Friends with Benefits. Smut/PWP.

Word Count: 2,700

Teen Wolf Masterlist | AO3 Link

Full list of warnings and author's notes below the cut.

Warnings: this is primarily a smut fic; the reader character is completely gender neutral - there is no mention of the reader's genitals and no description of what kind of genitals the reader has, and the only pronouns used to refer to the reader are you/yours; use of Y/N; most of the fic focuses on Isaac and acts the reader performs on him; there is dom/sub dynamics - the reader is more dominant and Isaac is more submissive; there is a slight passing mention of Isaac's abusive past (and how it makes him stressed out, so he is eager to use sex and submission as a way to relax and ease his mind); marking kink (the reader giving Isaac love bites and hickies); anal fingering - Isaac receiving (mention of Isaac being an anal virgin before this); oral - Isaac receiving; praise kink (reader praises Isaac and he loves it) - the reader calls Isaac 'good boy', 'pretty', and 'puppy'; lots of dirty talk; use of a dildo on Isaac (anally); passing mention of blood (the reader licks Isaac so hard that he bleeds and then licks it); Reader swallows Isaac's cum - I think that's it?

A/N: Just another random fic I wrote while on hiatus because I can't get enough of my baby Isaac, and I feel like he would love being called by the nickname Puppy (and that is now forever what I refer to him as in my head). He just looks like such a puppy lmao. He has big puppy dog eyes, he's constantly looking to others (like Scott, Erica, and Derek) for guidance and validation, he's eager to follow even though he's strong and could be a leader. He is an eager little puppy lapdog and I love him so fucking much. I just wanna pet his hair like a sweet little puppy and praise him and also fuck his brains out. Hence, this fic. Anyway, if you're a fellow Isaac lover, I hope you enjoy this fic!!

...

When you had suggested ‘relaxing’, Isaac thought you meant taking a bubble bath, some candles, aromatherapy.

Perhaps reading a book curled up in bed with some gentle music playing in the background. You seemed like the type of person to enjoy those things. He had no clue what relaxation even was - it’s not like he had a lot of time to relax, going straight from his father’s house of horrors to Pack life with Derek, nearly being killed every other week. 

Of course, that was exactly why you had suggested this. 

You and Isaac had been friends for a while, flirting back and forth for even longer, and fooling around for only a few short weeks. He knew that you cared about him a lot, and he was grateful that you actually thought about these things. That you actually considered the toll that stress took on him. 

He just had no clue what he was getting himself into when he agreed to a ‘relaxing’ evening with you. 

He certainly hadn’t been expecting this. 

Being laid out on your bed, completely naked while you were still mostly clothed, the lights delightfully soothing and dim, the covers so soft against his skin while you took him on the ride of his life. His body was covered in your spit and teeth marks, sharp suction spots where you had latched on and made him moan. Unfortunately the marks were already healing, making you regretful and even more determined to make him remember you by the distinction of your touch alone. 

Still, you dug your teeth in, providing the perfect little bite of pain to go with the pleasure, especially now as your fingers well-lubed fucked up inside of him - making your impression in his previously untouched hole for the first time. You pushed your fingers deep inside of him, fucking him with precise, certain movements while your mouth worked on his cock. 

He felt like his mind was slowly melting between his ears, every single known thought escaping him - but he had a distinct feeling that’s exactly what you had wanted. Because now he couldn’t worry, he couldn’t stress, he couldn’t even spend a single moment thinking about anything that had been plaguing his mind for the past few months. He couldn’t even be insecure about the whorish moans he was letting out or the way he was angling his hips toward you, silently begging for more. 

This was entirely relaxing. 

You moaned around his dick, encouraging him - causing him to let out another loud moan. 

It made you smile internally, feeling that in the way his body gave in to you, the way his needy hole flexed around your fingers, opening up to you but clenching slightly - telling you how badly he wanted more, needed more, even without words. 

You pulled off his cock with a wet pop, causing him to let out a shuddering moan of disappointment as the now spit-slick sensitive organ was exposed to the cool air. His dick fell against his stomach, smearing precum against the smooth, porcelain skin there while you eased another finger into his greedy hole. Now, fucking three of your fingers in and out of him, something that made Isaac part his thighs and wiggle his hips down into your touch, of course - desperate for more, even unconsciously. 

“That’s it - such a good boy for me.” You purred, grinning down at him. 

He was so pretty like this. 

His face dropped back against the fluffiness of your pillow, his eyes fluttering closed and his mouth gaped open as he let out the prettiest soft sounds. His lips were swollen and spit-glossed from where you had kissed him, something that made him breathless and wrecked. His nipples were puffy and swollen from where you had bitten and worked them, making him so frenzied and frantic, his stomach heaving with little breaths, desperate to get air into his lungs as you continually punched it out of him by fucking your fingers up into him. 

His long, thick cock gently bobbed against his stomach, leading down to a nest of blond hair that covered his heavy balls, smeared wet with the lube that you were fucking him with. 

Somehow - even in such a sinful state, he looked so damn angelic. 

He was severely enjoying the thickness and the rhythm of your three fingers, you could only imagine how much he would like what you had for him next. 

“Such a pretty thing, aren’t you?” You couldn’t contain the praise, not when he was this good, not when you felt the affection swelling up inside of you. He let out a loud, rattling moan at this, and you knew that you had struck gold. “Such a pretty boy. You like it when I remind you how fucking good you are, huh?” 

“Please,” Isaac choked out, his throat clearly dry and strangled from all the moaning he had been doing. “Please - more.” 

You locked eyes with him, and saw nothing but glassy, empty headed pleasure swimming there. And while his needy body flexed tightly around your fingers, you knew exactly what he was begging for - like a fish on dry land gulping desperately, you knew exactly what he was struggling for. 

More of your praise. Something he likely didn’t even know he had wanted before this, now lighting his body on fire. Now something he was desperate for more of - something he would likely need to survive from now on. 

“You want more, pretty boy?” 

You teased him, gently skimming your thumb along the underside of his cock, tracing a thick vein that made his muscles jolt. He nodded his head frantically, breathing thickly again, his eyes falling shut as his head fell back once again, eagerly waiting for you to comply. 

“Yeah? You’re gonna get everything you want. Cause you’re such a pretty boy - you deserve it all. Such a good boy, such an eager little puppy-” 

The nickname was something you had teased him with before. When you had found out that Derek had turned him, you insisted that if Derek and Scott were well-trained, full-blown wolves, then Erica, Boyd, and Isaac were just ‘puppies’. Newbies. It was something meant to taunt him, belittle him. But you had always seen the spark in his eyes when you said it. 

And now, feeling the way his hole clenched around your touch, feeling his hips fuck down against you, seeing the little pulse that shifted his cock as a bit of precum leaked out - you had known that you were right. 

Isaac was just an eager puppy waiting to be fucked. 

“Please, please!” He gasped out, whipping his eyes open and looking down the length of his body at you. “Hnng, I need it!” 

He wasn’t even entirely sure what he was begging for - it was pure static between his ears, a senseless TV signal that only became slightly clear when your voice cut through the snow. 

“Hey, shhh, it’s okay, puppy.” You said, smoothing your free hand across his stomach, purposefully avoiding any contact with his cock. “I’ve got you.” 

He reached out and grabbed your wrist, and your chest swelled with just how sweet he was - how loving and affectionate, even when he was clearly desperate to be fucked. 

“Such a sweet boy,” You continued to praise him, petting that hand across his torso, reaching to gently flick his nipple, exhausting more moans from him as you did this. “Such a sweet little puppy, aren’t you? Just an eager little thing desperate to be fucked, huh?” 

Isaac’s moan in response turned into a little howl of disappointment as you pulled your fingers out of him completely. You were almost hurt by the way his lip quivered and his brows furrowed - you would have been more upset if you didn’t know that you had something better in store for him. 

“Y/N-” He began to argue, his voice absolutely sour, but you cut him off. 

“I’ve got you.” You told him firmly, leaning in and kissing across his chest, ending this by laying a kiss on his mouth, causing your clothed body to roughly brush against his cock for a moment - which made him whine. “I’m gonna take good care of you, puppy.” 

He let out another guttural moan at these words, and watched with wide, curious eyes as you reached to your nightstand. His eyes widened when your hand came back with a cock - a six inch, bright blue, veined dildo. He felt a slight twist of anxious intimidation in his stomach at the thought of taking the object inside of him, but it was quickly washed out by pure need when his hole clenched around nothing and he realized how terribly empty he felt now that your fingers were gone. 

“Do you trust me?” You asked, reaching for the lube that you had dropped on the bed beside him earlier, slicking up the cock with more than a healthy amount. 

“Yes.” Isaac told you honestly. 

“Good.” You grinned at him. “Cause this is gonna be so good for you, baby.” 

You then put it between his thighs, using one hand to tease the tip of the lubed up dildo along his slightly gaped hole while you reached your other hand, still very wet with lube, to his cock. You took a good grip on him and began slowly jerking him off while you eased the first few inches of the cock into him. 

Isaac let out a loud moan, tossing his head back, his thighs tensing as he was already overwhelmed with pleasure. It was just a hint of what was to come, but it was so good to be stretched open around something so thick, something that filled him up so well. 

It was just a slight burn in his muscles as his body ached to accommodate something thicker and wider than your fingers - but there was a feeling, something deep in his stomach that was aching and curious for more. His cock was slowly warming up with pleasure as you touched him, turning his brain into even more of a soup as he gripped at the sheets beneath him and prayed that this feeling would never have to stop. 

“More!” He cried out, angling his hips further into your touch. 

“Such a greedy puppy, aren’t you?” You cooed, your voice edging on mocking as you sped up the pace of your hand on his cock, easing more of the dildo into him, indulging in the beautiful sounds he let out. “Just can’t have your pretty hole filled fast enough, can you?”��

Isaac let out a moan in agreement, and you pushed forward until the last of the cock was finally inside of him, leaving him furled around the base and gripping it tightly, echoing out a pretty gasp as he was fully filled. 

The six inch dildo wasn’t huge, but it was the biggest (and only) cock he had ever taken inside of him, so it made him feel absolutely full. It made him feel like he was being split open in the best way possible. It made his mind melt right down to liquid butter, made his cock pulse with pleasure in your hand. Isaac felt a sense of bitter cruelty when you closed your grip around the base, making his dick throb harder and ache. 

“Good?” You asked, clearly meaning to check on his well being.  

Isaac wanted to voice a complaint about you not making him cum fast enough, but he knew that wasn’t what you were asking about. 

“S-so good.” He choked out, trying to angle his hips back and fuck himself on the cock. 

“Good.” You replied, a wicked grin forming across your lips. “Now you’re gonna get exactly what you need. You’re gonna get your dumb little puppy brains fucked out,” 

Isaac didn’t even have a moment to question these words before you were pulling the dildo out of him slightly and fucking it back into him as hard as you could muster. This started a brutal, rough pace of hammering the toy between his thighs, not even giving him a moment to feel empty before he was full again - something that would have been painful if not for his incredible healing abilities and the pain tolerance that came with it. No, this wasn’t painful - this was just bliss. 

Pure, mindless bliss at your hands, having his hole fucked at such an intense pace - something he always needed but never knew to ask for. 

And then, your mouth was on his cock again. 

He let out a purely inhuman sound, a deep growl that dissolved into a whine like the puppy you accused him of being when you took him down to the base all in one go, smothering his cock in the impossible sauna wet heat of your mouth in seconds. 

You only relented your pace of fucking the fake cock into him for a moment to concentrate on not gagging on his impressive seven inch thickness, giving a few hard gulps around the tip of his cock as it settled in the back of your throat. Something that drove him absolutely insane between the pressure of your throat on his dick, smothering him in wet heat, and the feeling of the fake cock fucking into his asshole, filling him up so good, wetness smearing between his thighs, making him feel so perfectly raw as you continually fucked him. 

You pulled off his cock and replaced your mouth with your hand, kissing along his hip, digging your teeth in and leaving another harsh bite that would heal too soon for his liking. Isaac had a passing thought about getting a tattoo of your teeth marks on his skin, but it was drowned out by you licking up the bit of blood that sprouted there before you began talking again, your voice a bit more rough than before from having his cock nestled so tightly in your throat. 

“You like getting fucked and filled, puppy?” 

You purred against his skin, your voice full of spit, so perfectly syrupy. Isaac didn’t have a moment to even contemplate answering, not with the barrage of sensations overwhelming him, quickly drawing him closer to his orgasm. 

“You like having your pretty cock sucked while your needy little hole is filled up? Hmm? Are you gonna cum like this? Are you gonna cum from being fucked like the needy little puppy that you are?” 

One of these days, that nickname was going to kill him. 

“Please, Y/N, please!” He chanted out, his breath barely making it back into his lungs every time the force of you fucking the dildo into him forced a sharp moan out from between his lips. “Please, ‘m gonna cum, please lemme cum, please-!” 

Him asking for permission to cum was the thing that truly drove you insane. 

“Cum for me, puppy.” You told him, reaching to sweep the tip of his cock back into your mouth, eager to taste him. 

You continued to fuck him hard through it, creating a beautifully sloppy sound in the room as the thick plastic toy destroyed him, fucking into his needy hole utterly relentlessly. It was only a moment later that he came, his shaking thighs stiffening and his back arching off the bed. 

You were barely able to hold him down as he shoved more of his cock into your mouth, shooting thick spurts of cum across your tongue and down your throat, so perfectly driven mad by all the sensations you had delivered to him. You sucked him through it, not stopping until you were satisfied that you had every single last drop of his release. 

When it was over, you popped off his cock, and he was still panting, desperate to catch his breath when you eased the dildo out of him - causing a gentle moan from him - now slightly disappointed at the feeling of being empty and wondering if he would ever be the same again without that fullness inside of him. You put it aside to be taken care of later and crawled up Isaac’s body, draping yourself over him to capture his mouth - causing an odd delight to him as he tasted himself on your tongue. 

“Well,” Isaac sighed against your lips. “That is one hell of a way to relax.” 

You couldn’t help but to laugh at this.

...

A/N: Please keep in mind, this is a oneshot, and there will not be a follow up or a 'Part 2'. So if you are going to comment, please comment about the body of the material that has been written.

I would love to write more about Isaac in the future, and I do have another smut fic for him in my drafts, so if you're an Isaac lover, definitely follow me and look out for that. And go to my Teen Wolf masterlist for more non-smutty stuff about him that is currently there. But for now, this is a singular, closed off story and there will not be a follow up to it. I hope you have enjoyed it if you have read this far, and thank you so much for reading!

[wildernessuntothemselves]

Every time I think I am free of the hybrid brain rot he pulls me in again 😭

Warnings: fem!reader, dog hybrid!gyu, cat hybrid!reader mean dom!reader, desperate horny gyu, ?unrequited love, dry humping, somnophilia, handjob, cumming in pants

Kitty!you (ofc) lives with rambunctious but very fluffy big dog hybrid gyu who you try to avoid most of the time because he just doesn’t seem to get how big he is, still thinking he is a lapdog and ends up smothering you everytime he tries to cuddle or groom you. He is always hurt when you reject him and his trembling wet eyes give you pause but not enough to let him come near you

Until your poor owner runs into financial trouble and can't afford to keep the heating on as much as usual and you find yourself regularly getting too cold to sleep. Beomgyu seems mostly unaffected. In fact he seems to like the cold, his large normally overheated body welcoming the change as usually your owner will have the heat cranked up very high just for your sake, leaving poor gyu forced to splay out on the floor, limbs spread in all directions and touching the cool ceramic floor (the only cool surface in the house) with his tongue lolling out as he pants the heat away

You always turned up your nose at him, feeling like it's inappropriate for him to lay out like that, shirtless and with his privates barely covered by his thin shorts but when you had complained to your owner, they sweetly but firmly reminded you that he's only like that because the heat has been turned up for you and that if you want to keep your eyes from being assaulted by the sight, you can always put the heat down.

Of course you didn't. Instead you scoffed and muttered something mean about the digusting view, hurting the big pup even more but you didn't care.

Well now the tables have turned, and you're left freezing even under all your blankets while he is happily sleeping in his bed with just a thin sheet covering him up. Bastard. You can practically feel the heat radiating off him and you yearn for it so badly you might actually make yourself suffer through the inconvenience of being near him just to get to it

You try to hold off as much as you can but between your shattering teeth and numb hands and feet, you can't help yourself. You stalk towards his bed with your blankets, not bothering to ask his permission before you curl up into his side and cover your bodies with the blankets.

"Huh?" Beomgyu wakes up confused, a bit of drool seeping at the corner of his mouth from deep sleep. Ugh.

"I'm cold. You're warm." Is all the explanation you give him and beomgyu does not ask for more. He doesn't want to mess this up, just happy you're finally accepting his touch even if begrudgingly.

You groan as he wraps his arms around you and pulls you tighter against him, burying his face in your neck to take a big whiff before letting out a satisfied sigh.

"It's okay. I'll keep you warm, kitty." You ignore the way his deep, husky voice right against your ear and the way his large hands wrapped around your frame makes you feel. This all doesn't mean anything. You're just cold and he is basically a free heater.

You try to ignore the noises he makes in his sleep--his little whimpers, his garbled moans, even the little urgent whispers of what sounds an awful lot like your name.

You ignore the feeling of something hard pressing against you at night, you even ignore the sometimes small, sometimes harsh rocking motions of his hips against you as he cried and whines about something in his dreams, pathetic voice calling out for someone to "please, please, i'll be good"

You ignore the way that makes your body tingle and your underwear get sticky. This is all just to keep warm.

But what you can't ignore is the startled way he wakes up almost every night and rushes to the toilet, spending 15 to 30 minutes at a time in there and leaving you to freeze again. No, this simply won't do. This defeats the whole purpose of your new sleeping arrangement. What good is it to get all warmed up in his embrace, wrapped in his large arms, feeling his heated breath panted against your neck, if he will rip it away from you and leave you for the cruel elements to ravage and reclaim your body in the middle of the night?

So when he starts crying in his sleep again and his hips begin to rut against you, you move your hand between your bodies to take a hold of his hard member that has been poking you for countless nights.

It takes a few seconds of coaxing before he realizes what's going on, a few seconds of his moans almost reaching a fever pitch at the sudden unexpected stimulation, before he wakes up with a gasp, his already big eyes massive with shock at finding you with your hand down his pants and jerking him off.

"Kitty, w-what--" you cut off his slurring words with a twist of your wrist that leaves him keening.

"You think you're so slick? You think I can't feel you humping my ass every night? You think I don't know that you run to the bathroom to jerk this stupid cock off so i don't wake up covered in your dirty cum?"

"I'm sorry. Can't help it. You smell so good." He cries out pathetically, his hips moving to meet your tight fist as you jerk him off. "Please don't be mad at me. Please don't stop sleeping with me. I can be good, I promise. I'll do better. I think I'm going into heat. I'll tell master to take me to a heat center so I can get it out of my system and be a good dog again. I promise I am not a perv. I know this is bad. I know I shouldn't do this. I'm sorry--"

"God, do you ever shut the fuck up." You growl, bringing his face to your and kissing him roughly, and despite all his emphatic proclamations, he immediately opens his mouth and lets you push your tongue in, moaning and sucking on it like the perv he claims he is not. He chases after your lips over and over again, all while his hips never stop fucking your fist, until you push his face away to catch your breath, strings of saliva joining you wet lips.

"You wanna go to heat center and fuck a pretty little bitch? You think any bitch would let a sick mutt like you who lusts after kitties near any of their holes? That's disgusting." You don't know why you’re so mean to him but you know that the thought of him breeding a random bitch at a pay to fuck facility makes your blood boil.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm bad. Just don't want you to be mad at me." He cries, real tears dripping down his long lashes. "I'll do whatever you want. I'll use my heat toys every night before we sleep so I can get it out of my system and be good for you. Would that be better? Please?"

"No need." You tell him, acting nonchalant but burning inside at his desperate need to please you, thriving off of it. Fuck this is so wrong but it feels so good and you can't stop. "I'll deal with your problem myself. You can't help it that you're a sick little mutt. I'll take care of you but you have to keep this between us. Master can't know or he'll take me away from you to protect me."

He whimpers at the last part and shakes his head, fucking desperately into your hand as if it will be taken away any second. "I won't. Just between us. I'm not a bad dog, not dangerous, just... just..."

He trails off in a whine, looking at you in frustration, his eyes trying to convey something to you that you're not sure you want to know so you pretend you don't see it.

"Just needy. Right?" You tell him sharply and he gasps, nodding, his fluffy puppy ears pressed down to his skull anxiously. "Yes. So needy."

"I know. Let me take care of you. Let go for kitty. I know you want to. I can feel you drenching my hand like a bitch in heat." You chuckle, rubbing your thumb quickly over his leaking head, making his breathing pause and shudder. "Well, i suppose you are. So come on, cum for me, my little bitch. But keep it down, we can't let master see you like this."

"Yes. Yes, pretty. Anything for you." He whines, and you ignore most of it, just focusing on the way he bites down on his lip so hard it breaks the skin just so he can keep his slutty cries at bay as he cums, shooting long ropes of warm cum into your hand and his pants, soaking both in his release that goes on and on until all that is left of his is a slumped, sweaty, drooling mess in your arms.

"Fuck, what a mess." You scrunch your nose, bringing you hand up to show him just some of his milky cum covering your hand.

"I'm sorry." He slurs, barely conscious. "I'll clean up."

He tries to get up but you hold him down firmly. You're not going to let go of your free heater after all you've just done to stay warm.

"Just clean up in the morning." You tell him, wiping your dirty hand on his pants.

"But I'm all sticky and gross."

"Good. I want you to sleep in your cum so you remember how nice I am to a disgusting perv like you."

[narcissistshandler]

not a request and please don't feel pressured to respond, but I need to talk to someone about levi with a sub!reader and I think you're just the right person (I love your works)

I can't help but think that levi is naturally inclined towards power and that the idea of submission might be strange and perhaps even disgusting to him, so he might feel that his relationship with reader would be complicated and unbalanced (the reader being physically taller and intimidating than levi). So what a good surprise it would be for him to discover that despite the impressions, reader simply accepts Levi's imposition and, as if this had been expected from the beginning, naturally falls into the position of submission.

Just levi with his short stature and sharp tongue parading reader around as if they were an obedient guard dog for their owner. He is amused by the reader's absolute submission. Just imagine if the reader was so passionate and submissive, willing to do anything to serve and please and be useful that as soon as Levi commands (not at all seriously) that you instead of talking use your tongue to clean his boots; you obey, without hesitation. Levi would be caught off guard, of course, but the sight of your tongue licking wet stripes on his dark boots, your eyes sparkling, and the little sounds of delight you make is enough for him to smile and relax, ready to test exactly how far your willingness to please go.

what a magnificent mind you have, anon. Sorry for disappearing, life is crazy and honestly, I've been too lazy and tired to write anything. (tw: sub!reader, dom!levi, gender neutral but reader is taller and stronger than levi, boot licking, enthusiastic consent, cock warming, implicit rimming (levi receiving), light breath play, foot worship, footjob, humiliation, pet play (?))

He immediately slumps against the chair, dark eyes watching as you diligently work to carry out the order. The initial disgust that hits him disappears under the excitement of your obedience, the leather glistening under your wet tongue, your knees on the dirty floor. His breathing quickens and when you look up and say you're done cleaning, there's a noticeable tent between the captain's slender legs. The air grows thick between the two of you. What else could Levi make you do?

Levi will certainly take advantage of your disposition. It ranges from basic everyday things, '[name] clean the table', 'eat this', 'I think you've had enough, no more spending money on nonsense', 'iron the clothes again. I can still see the wrinkles from here' (he says for the third time while watching you work), 'go to sleep, it's late' — he says, looking exasperated and exhausted after you spent the entire day trailing after him like a lost puppy. He commands you with a tone that leaves no room for questioning, not that you would do anyway: the Captain's orders are absolute.

And it goes beyond that. He expects you to fall on your knees at his feet as soon as he sits down in the chair behind the desk, ready to start working or on the couch, after finishing. He doesn't speak out loud, just expects you to know that this is what he wants from you. Levi loves the intoxication of power that is having you on your knees for him, your tall, muscular body so much bigger than him, your hands that were big enough to completely wrap around his waist. You could use the height difference to impose yourself over him, fight him, but you didn't, you just naturally accepted your position at his feet, serving him.

And Levi is very happy about it.

You become his pet, his guard dog, docile behind closed doors. The Captain's lapdog.

He uses your mouth for hours on end, letting his cock rest on your tongue, pushing down your tight throat. Sometimes compliant, Levi doesn't punish you when he ends up with his cock and pants drenched in your saliva, though he does make you lick him clean after. He sits on your face and makes an attempt to smother you with his small body, sweaty balls over your face, your hot breath hitting his thighs and ass. Your murmurs are silenced, there is no struggle in your body. He likes to push your limits. Levi immediately gets hard when he sees the lack of resistance in your body, even with the muscles, the huge hands, the training that wasn't useful just for killing titans.

And he allows you to kiss his bare feet, lick his toes and use the friction of his soles to pleasure yourself — you whimpering and begging, asking for permission to come only with the painful pressure of the boot heels digging into your throbbing member. Even when he says you are disgusting there is a smile on Levi's lips.

And when he finishes and showers you with the compliments, and a lot of 'you did well', 'good job, soldier' and 'now tell me what you need', makes it all even more worth it. But even without the rewards that followed, you were still willing to worship him completely and let him use you to the point of exhaustion. He could break you, humiliate you, use you however he wanted.

Such a good little puppy you were to your captain.

[literallypyro]

that civet shapeshifter ask was really nice and got me thinking-

What about mercs x reader that can shapeshift into a larger animal like a lion/tiger or bear? (I would personally choose tiger lol i love them) and so reader can really do some damage on the battlefield in their animal form, or be able to do some full-body cuddling cuz their so big (like a dog that tires to be a lapdog even though theyre completely sitting on their owner lol)

I love it, this sounds fun! I'm going with tiger for this one. I'm sorry it took longer to post than I said before. I hope you can forgive me 😖

Hope you enjoy!

Edit: it has come to my attention that this post may be glitched, so if anything is missing for you, message me and I'll send you a screenshot of whatever part it is!

Welcome to the jungle

Scout:

-Are you kidding? This is the coolest thing ever!

-Uses you as a pillow at every possible moment. If you're laying on your side, he's there using your belly like how people set up their pillows as a makeshift chair on their bed

-The first time he sees you tear someone apart, he's just in awe. He's somewhere between falling deeper in love and entirely disturbed

-Literally just standing over here like "why did I like that so much ಠ_ಠ"

-Pretends to be asleep on the couch so you'll carry him to bed

Soldier:

-Please wrestle with him in your tiger form

-Definitely brags about you, let's be so honest

-The feeling of your fur actually comforts him. If he's having a bad day or feels the team is looking down on him, he just asks to put your tiger form

-This also means he'd snuggle into your fur at bed time. He's not really sure what it is about your fur, it's just nice to him

-If he's being too loud, literally all you have to do is lay on top of him like a weighted blanket, and he's zen

Pyro:

-They just see you as a big cat, to be honest. Doesn't really care about the distinction

-Even though they can't feel your fur through, they like to pet your tiger form. Especially when you try laying on them like you aren't a roughly 300 pound murder cat

-Loves the cuffing noise you make when you're happy

-Out of everyone, they would have the easiest time communicating with you while you're a tiger. Do I even need to explain?

-Gets a little tiger plushie to keep on them when you're not around

Demoman

-He was strangely chill about the whole thing. He genuinely doesn't treat you much different in your tiger form

-He does have a couple questions, like if you can eat raw meat and other stuff like that

-Kinda likes when you lay on him when he's doing nothing. Low-key giving those photos of guys with Great Danes that didn't know it was a Great Dane so they let it sit in their lap as a puppy and never kicked the habit

-Please let this poor guy breathe, he's not gonna tell you to move

Heavy

-Arguably the best to cuddle with

-He's a big dude, your tiger form is a bulky cat to him at best, not even a beast of the jungle

-If you start causing trouble, he just throws you over his shoulder and walks away, acting like the claws don't bother him

-Would probably enjoy fighting by your side the most, and would laugh as he recounts your kills with you from least to most brutal

Engineer

-He would ask if he can create a type of sentry he could strap to your back. Just imagine! Mobile sentries would be revolutionary!

-Completely okay with it if you act like a guard dog, both on and off the battlefield

-Probably one of the mercs who would most enjoy cuddling with your tiger form as he falls asleep. He works hard, he carries around countless heavy machinery every single day. He deserves a giant, fluffy, breathing pillow to cling onto

Medic

-Absolutely ecstatic to see what happens when he ubers a literal tiger

-Would stop whatever he's doing to watch you tear someone limb from limb

-Mans is nearly always working on some fucked up medical experiment, so most of the time, cuddles would look like you laying at his feet while he writes in his medical journals or something

-Would honestly ask to run tests on you, but wouldn't push any boundaries for several reasons

Sniper

-Are you kidding? Do whatever you want. Lay on top of him while he sleeps. Who needs air, anyway?

-Stg, he would supply you with raw meat if you eat it in your tiger form

-Lowkey caters to your tiger form

-Would have you guard him in his sniper tower. With your sense of smell, he's basically invincible to spies

-Onther than Pyro, probably the happiest to have a shapeshifting partner

Spy

-Please don't try to sit on him. He wears expensive suits he doesn't want fur on, and he smokes, so you'll be suffocating him

-Would have you create distractions during battle so he could go on a backstabbing spree

-Let's be so honest right now, he would give you a cloaking device so you could use it for psychological warfare against the enemy team. They probably wouldn't expect an invisible tiger

-With enough time, he would eventually give in and let you on the bed in your tiger form. But seriously, please let him breathe

[thethronezone]

hrrrngghhhh imagine high consort taking care of their husband- (could be sfw or nsfw)

It's been five years since you last saw your husband. Not the longest the two of you had been apart by far but still, it had been a while. Nikandreos, bless his hearts, had even suggested that you missed your other half. Hah! He could be so cute sometimes. Had he forgotten how you had told him about the time you had not seen your man for over two hundred years? Not a single word from him, not even a hair to be seen. Nearing the end of that time, you were almost convinced that the fool had somehow managed to die, despite his immortal soul.

Of course, he showed back up in the end, acting like no time at all had passed. You hadn't spoken to him for a decade after that.

But that was all in the past and you had not gotten this far by lingering on past hurts. Now, your husband had finally returned after his latest excursion. His arrival on Terra is immediately noticeable. Nobles and high officials momentarily ease up their pestering on you to turn their attention towards hi, to clamor for his attention and support. Good riddance, you think. Less ridiculousness for you to deal with.

You don't go to welcome your husband back, even if some appear to think that is your 'duty' as high consort. If the Emperor wanted someone to eagerly greet him every time he returned home then he would have gotten a lapdog, one of those tiny little things that the nobles love to show off. But you are no dog and as much as people seem to assume that you are subservient to the Emperor, you would rather be eaten alive by bugs for a millennia rather than lower yourself like that.

No, if the Emperor wants your attention, then he needs to approach first.

It takes him merely an hour to make his way from the ship and to your shared chambers, an impressive feat considering the fact that a baseline would have to walk hours to cross that same distance. He's still in armor when he arrives, all golden and splendent like the god he proclaims not to be. Hypocrite.

The smile that graces his face when he sees you does, admittedly, make your heart melt, just a tiny bit. Stupid man and his stupid, handsome face, daring to use it against you when you ought to be mad for him barely sending word while he was away. But never let it be said that you are a cruel spouse as instead of turning away, you rise from your seat and approach him.

His big, armored hand cups the side of your face when you get within reach, the ceramite cold against your skin. "My star," he calls you, expression softening in a way that it only does in your presence, "it is good to once more be in your presence."

You can't help the smile that tugs on your lips. "It's not even been a decade, dear. Don't tell me you are growing soft with old age."

The way he kisses your forehead is nothing but tender. His next words are whispered against your ear. "Why? Is it so wrong to miss my dear spouse?" Ah, damn him and damn your sentimental heart. When he's like this, it's near impossible to get mad at him, even when you want to. He's learned to play your heart like a fiddle and you can't help but dance to his tune. Besides, you've learned to treasure these moments of playfulness.

"Hmm, charmer." You lean into his touch for a moment longer before taking a half-step back, leading him towards a plush couch by his hand. "Come, tell me about your journey. I heard the system was particularly stubborn this time."

The Emperor sighs and as he starts talking, you both take a seat. "Stubborn is one word. I prefer the term 'foolish'. Did you know they worshipped a mountain? I had to actually convince them that a slab of rock did not affect their crops." You hum as you start removing part of his armor, starting with his gauntlets.

"Sounds exhausting. Did you blow it up?"

Again, the Emperor sighs, though this time it sounds more amused than exhausted. "I wish, it would have been deeply satisfying to see the expressions on their faces. But no, I simply removed the most vehement believers of the faith and replaced their church with an actual government."

His pauldrons come off next, along with the rest of his upper armor. The custodes, ever present and ready to serve, whisk it away without making a single sound. It would be more efficient and faster to simply let the serfs and tech priests remove the armor for him but you know he likes this little tradition the two of you have, even if he has never said it. It's why he comes straight to you, each time he returns from his travels.

Slowly, you glide your hands down his forearms to his wrists and finally to his palm where you rub small circles with your thumbs. "You work so hard, my dear" you tut softly at him. "Why don't you rest for a while? Let Malcador and I take care of everything while you regain your spirit."

"Tempting," the Emperor concedes, "but sadly, impossible. The Mechanicum has already requested a meeting and you know that the longer I leave them waiting, the greater their demands."

You can't help but chuckle. "Ah, so that was it was all about. I was starting to wonder why that delegation from Mars would not leave, even after the meeting I had with them. They must not have been very happy with my response."

"Hah!" The bark of laughter that escapes your husband makes you preen with pride. "Unhappy? More like terrified. I could smell the coming from the magos when he mentioned you. There's a reason why they avoid asking for things when I'm not here. You have a reputation, you know?"

The snort that escapes you is completely undignified. "Good. The less I have to hear their incessant chanting the better. I swear, they get worse every year. Pretty soon they will start performing a ritual every time they turn on a damn light."

The conversation continues like that, light and slightly teasing. It's nice. It reminds you of old times, way back before humanity had yet to traverse the stars and Terra still had its oceans. You were both so young back then in comparison, so carefree and, well, quite frankly stupid. But you had been happy, just the two of you. No Imperium, no armies, no ancients threats looming in the horizon.

You miss those days. You miss the him that was, before he threw away his name and took on the title as Emperor. But like this, when he's acting so playful and tender, you can almost pretend that you are back where you both started, in that little hut made out of mud-brick that sat right by the riverbank. But your love had always known that one day, life would lead you both right here. That's why he had painted those white walls with symbols and figures that once had looked so strange to you but now were so familiar.

Once he's out of his armor and dressed in something more comfortable, robes that cascade of his powerful body like waterfalls, he nestles you to his side, one arm flung around your body and the other intertwining its fingers with yours. Even outside of armor, and with you shifted to be closer to him in height, he's still so much larger than you. Yet another thing you know he likes even though he hasn't told you. It's not about power, you would never have stayed with him if it was, but a sense of comfort. Of feeling your smaller body fit so wonderfully next to his, like a puzzle piece.

The two of you will stay like this for a while, talking and laughing, just enjoying each others company. Treasure this little moment of simplicity. The Imperium and your duties already beckons you, urges you to action but for now, you allow yourselves to only exist in the moment.

[xmads-omensx]

No thoughts except for imagining lounging on the couch with Noah’s head on your lap as he falls asleep to the way you run your fingers through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck to lull him into relaxation after a hard day of working 🥲

Pairing: Noah Sebastian X Reader

CW: none

Tags: @shayeanna-ashlie @alwaysfightforwhoyouare @supersquirrel1996 @tosoundlessdarkistare @bloody-spades @klutzy-kay24 @heyyoplayer @lacy1986  @dominuslunae @collidewiththesav @kenjipepsi1 @follow-me-down-to-wonderland @chey-h @thisbicc @fadingangelwisp @overmydeadbodysblog @illmakeyousaywow @dsireland86 @missduffsblog  @littlebear423 @blade-dressed-in-red @rumoured-whispers @dontwantthemoney @eclipseeetop @xxkittenkissesxx @theanarchymuse95 @blackveilomens @lilgarbitch @lil-garbitch @concretejunglefm @museonfilm @death-ofpeace-ofmind @xxkatsatwatwafflexx @kissestomyomens @flowery-mess @athenexe

Noah is basically an oversized lapdog.

Like those mountain dogs who don’t realise how big they are (one of my retrievers thinks he’s a small dog… or a cat we aren’t sure).

The first time he did this, however, was unusual.

He was very shy about it, shuffling closer towards you on the sofa until you just pulled him into your lap, running your fingers through his soft hair.

Now, he practically dives onto your lap, ready for you to play with his hair until his eyes flutter shut and his soft snores fill the room.

When you both first started doing this, he was very shy when telling other people, especially the guys, that this was his amazing evening plans.

Now, however, he practically sprinted to the car park before speeding home.

There was just something so safe about this intimate moment that the two of you shared.

It made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

[leaentries]

For the shot game maybe one shot and nico hischier? 💕

anything for you, darling! + translated german, so it may not be completely accurate!

p.s: nico lapdog agenda is real

habe ich dir das jemals gesagt? (have i ever told you that?)

du bist mein lieblingsmensch, baby. (you’re my favorite person in the world, baby.)

shots

-

the movie played softly in the background as you waited for your boyfriend to return home. he had been gone all day, taking a much needed “guy’s day” with some of his fellow swiss. your eyes grew droopy as the warmth of your blanket lulled you to sleep. you tried your best to fight off the temptation, but eventually your eyes fell closed, breath slowing as sleep overtook your mind.

you were awoken by a warm hand smoothing your hair back from your face. peeling open an eye, you were met with a very drunk-looking nico. his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were glazed over. you felt a smile wash over you because even in his drunk state, he still managed to take care of you.

“hello, schatzi!” he giggled, “you look so pretty when you sleep! habe ich dir das jemals gesagt?“

the switch between english and german was a familiarity when nico got drunk. his hazy mind struggling to keep up with the different languages. it was endearing the way he’d talk to you in german, yet not realize he’s doing it. you reached a hand out to cradle his reddened cheek, the skin warm to the touch. his slight stubbles scratched against your palm as he nuzzled against you.

you cooed at him, “do you feel okay, neeks?”

he nodded, half-lidded eyes meeting yours, “never better schatzi. i’m always okay when i’m with you. du bist mein lieblingsmensch, baby”

you chuckled to yourself, “oh, sweetheart! you’re so drunk, aren’t you?”

nico didn’t respond, simply just attempting to crawl on to the couch with you. only, drunk-nico doesn’t understand how large he is and that the part of the couch you were laying on, was not made for two people. you huffed as he maneuvered his way behind you, limbs flying all over the place and knees knocking together. you even had to brace yourself to keep from falling off of the couch all together.

“nico…baby-” you tried to explain, but he wasn’t having any of your protests. it reminded you of a large dog that thinks its a lap dog, but doesn’t truly comprehend how big it is. eventually, you managed to find a tolerable position, nico making sure to wrap every part of his body he could around you.

“comfortable?” you mumbled, face smushed into his chest.

a content “mhm,” left his lips, burying his face into the top of your head. you just rolled your eyes, a loving smile growing on your face. you could never truly be annoyed with him.

[pomefioredove]

Do you have any advice for writing Rook's character? I'm always worried I'll write the twst boys too ooc

mmm let me think

my absolute least favorite interpretation of his character is the loyal lapdog. I hate it with such passion that I won't engage with anything that makes him that. rook is eccentric and excitable and passionate about his interests, and none of that makes him "pathetic". reducing him to that dumbs him down, imo. he has also repeatedly shown that while he admires vil, he isn't bound by that admiration, and will disobey if he sees fit. he says he doesn't feel particularly committed to anyone in his suitor suit lines. he follows his heart, but he's aloof just the same

there's also nothing, to me, that tells me his interests are romantic in nature. if anything, what he says/shows tells me he's explicitly not romantically interested in anyone, whether that be vil, neige, or yuu. when I write rook, I don't lean on that crutch, because it doesn't exist to me. I don't read rook as a flirt, or a romantic. so I don't write him that way, either. rook admiring someone's beauty doesn't equal flirting. he's just autistic

so what I choose to focus on is understanding. rook is an intrinsically lonely character. he's very private, and guarded, and keeps himself at a distance from everyone. he's expressed that he doesn't get to talk about his interests much because people find that weird/annoying, and I think, as shameless as he seems, he carries a lot of shame with him. his friendship with vil feels unnatural, in a way, because he knows everything about vil (or, he thinks he does, at least, but this is also arguably not true), and vil knows almost nothing about him. rook enjoys supporting people, but is never supported in return. sure, he's extroverted, and eccentric, and surrounded by friends, but he never feels as if he can be his true self with any of them. supportive, but not supported. he's got that chronically lonely autism, which is something that has always really spoken to me about him

so, I don't want to write him as "the flirt" or "pathetically devoted loyal dog" because he isn't either of these things to me. rook is weird. he's also insanely withdrawn and lonely and sad, in a way that he doesn't really show. he isn't bound to anyone. he does his own thing. so I think his connection to yuu comes from a place of understanding. rook knows what it's like to feel lonely and isolated and like you don't quite belong where you are. he knows how it feels to always support others, but never be supported in return. he knows how it feels to have a mind that doesn't think like everyone else's, to be intrinsically "different" without even trying

rook is sympathetic. he's deeply caring. he's observant and a little mischievous, sometimes, but he's a good person. he wants to help. he struggles with being vulnerable because of how he's been rejected in the past. he's eccentric and extroverted but also emotionally sensitive. he can be difficult to understand, but he really is a good person

tldr um, I don't know, he's just got a lot of emotional depth people don't really write him with. and autism I guess is the big takeaway but that's hardly helpful. it makes sense to me. this is long and terrible sorry lol

[nekomuraaoi02]

I had this concept for a while, so i'm just going to yap abt it under the cut but... these three as wacky magical girls-

So, basically it's a Looney Tunes Magical Girl show starring Lola Bunny, Melissa Duck, and Petunia Pig. It would be a fun mix of classic slapstick, meta-humor, and magical girl tropes, where they're not their animal selves but anime girls with animal motifs. It's like a parody animated in japan, like PPGZ.

Looney tunes: Magical Mayhem

Lola, Melissa, and Petunia are just regular high school students in a futuristic city like in "rocket squad", one day they get called to be heroes by mistical mentor tweety bird, now they must protect their town all while dealing with their ridiculous daily lives. The problem? They are absolutely terrible at being magical girls.

Their Dynamics:

Lola Bunny (The Overenthusiastic Leader) -

bubbly, hyper, over-the-top, energetic, and way too into the magical girl aesthetic. She thinks she’s the perfect protagonist, but in reality, she’s an absolute disaster—reckless, overly dramatic, and easily distracted. Somehow, she also got classic bugs wits and "toon force" to defeat the villain.

Melissa Duck (The Snarky Rival) -

The "cool" one—or at least she tries to be. She insists she’s the "lone wolf anti-hero," but she’s just as chaotic as the others. She complains a lot, is a bit grumpy and acts above it all, but deep down, she cares about the team.

Petunia Pig (The Reluctant One) -

The shy, sweet one who just wants a quiet life but keeps getting dragged into magical nonsense. She loves sweets and tries to follow the "responsible hero" role but constantly gets overwhelmed by the other two’s nonsense.

Supporting Cast & Villains

Tweety Bird (The Sassy Mentor)

A tiny, floating, magical guide but super passive-aggressive and constantly roasts them for their mistakes.

Love Interests:

Bugs Bunny (Mysterious & Unbothered) - "Cool Guy in the Shadows"

Similar to tuxedo mask. Shows up occasionally, but refuses to join in on their nonsense. Might secretly know more about the magical world than he lets on. Often trolls them by pretending to be a villain.

Daffy Duck (Wannabe Villain?)

At first, he tries to be a magical boy rival, but fails spectacularly and ends up their biggest headache instead. Might actually a real villain by accident.

Porky Pig ( Dependable Gentleman)

Porky is a senpai petunia has a crush on, he is a sweetie but is completely oblivious to petunia's affections. So, that'd be a cute comedic romantic subplot.

Villains:

Elmer Fudd (The Clueless Big Bad)

a Mojo Jojo-style villain means he can have long-winded monologues, overcomplicated evil plans, and constant frustration when the magical girls (intentionally or not) ruin everything. He could even have a group of incompetent alien minions who constantly mess things up for him.

He just wants to catch a "mythical magical creature" but Keeps getting defeated in the most embarrassing ways possible.

And some aliens appear to be villains too, like in "space jam" and "duck dogers".

Having both the Martians and Elmer’s alien allies as villains will allow for a mix of recurring antagonists and one-off alien threats, keeping the story fresh and chaotic.

Marvin the Martian – The Straight-Laced Commander

Marvin is a soft-spoken but highly dangerous alien who always tries to destroy Earth with advanced weapons. Marvin could be the primary Martian leader, taking himself very seriously despite constantly being outmatched by the chaotic magical girls. He’d be the "straight man" to their slapstick antics, reacting with deadpan frustration while his minions fail him.

K-9 – Marvin’s Loyal Alien Dog

A big green dog-like creature who is extremely loyal to Marvin, though not particularly bright. He could be a giant, overpowered alien beast that Marvin treats like a cute little lapdog.

K-9 could secretly love the girls, constantly trying to befriend them even when Marvin commands him to attack.

The Martian Queen Tyr’ahnee – The Elegant & Dangerous Ruler

She’s the ruler of the Martians, regal and poised but with a sharp temper. She could be a major antagonist or a rival to Elmer, trying to conquer the Earth before he does.

Instead of being an outright villain, she might have her own mysterious agenda, sometimes helping the girls when it benefits her but remaining an unpredictable force. She might mock the girls for their childish antics while secretly enjoying their chaos and shenanigans.

The Martian Army (Generic Soldiers / Minions)

Small green Martians in Roman-style armor, extremely loyal to Marvin and the Martian Queen.

Martian X-2 – Marvin’s Rival

He’s a Martian general who competes with Marvin for recognition. He could be another villain faction, making things even worse for Marvin and Elmer by interfering with their plans.

Marvin & his Martians are a serious sci-fi empire, while Elmer is more of a goofy villain who constantly gets in their way.

Anyway, i might actually seriously draw this AU later. But i'd be over the moon if someone actually enjoys this idea and makes their interpretation/fanart for it, so.. feel free to and tag me so i can see it! ^^ and if you want to yap together send me an ask abt it!

[sugar-crash]

🪲👑CYBUG King Candy (Wreck-It Ralph) x (gn) Reader🍭🕷️

(Toothy Kisses Edition)

(Picture’s not mine!)

(Ask here! Honestly at this point I think I should just make a playlist for all the songs I have for these headcanons, lemme know what you guys think.)

- As much as I think he truly loses who he is, including not only Turbo but King Candy as well— I do believe that in some alternate universe he either succeeds in becoming the most powerful virus in all of the arcade or is in this form for a longer period before perishing to the Diet Cola volcano alongside his sugary mutated kin I do think he retains some of those habits from his previous aliases.

- Flipping from absolute bloodthirsty mania and that would make emperor Belos jealous to…. Basically a cat with a laser pointer, playful, definitely the type to pounce on you at times.

- The kissing thing I believe he would still do, but I also do see it turning from a kiss to a lick or bite, just to gross you out, cackling at your disgust.

- As I’ve stated previously, he does use his new form to its fullest advantage, makes that ego of his REALLY pop out even more than it used to… Which is saying something cause… It’s already there and it’s already well-known by not only you.

- Pompous bastard, so so soooo pompous, the type to expect you to not only reciprocate his affections but hang on his every word. He’s self-appointed the head honcho after all, special among the other cybug clones.

- I do think he’d rather prefer you as normal, claims he wants you weak and him strong to establish that power dynamic, and yeah that’s a good portion of it, but he also kinda sees you as one of the only things left of his previous lives and as much as he just loves his new body— He likes to hold onto things.

- Whether it be racing, winning, grudges, he clutches them close and NEVER wants to let go. Just like how he’ll never let you go. Stringing you along just like he used to, albeit less hush-hush and more relaxed, I mean— You can’t exactly leave him! You’re nothing without him in his eyes, and you surely don’t want one of those cybugs to get to you!

- He’ll protect you, he’ll keep you safe, he has all the means to and all the power in the palm of his clawed hands. Every game that comes into contact with him and little friends gets torn apart and unceremoniously eaten to bits, so destructive.. Poor Litwak.

- I do believe he’d rather prefer uses his affection and his control as a bargaining chip to get you to stay with him, that sugary sweetness he adapted from his role as King Candy being useful to him once more.

- I think he gets some weird version of cuteness aggression over you, smothering your face and hands with kisses, interrupting himself to crazily giggle to himself.

- His controlling tendencies are even more pronounced, it just all ties to all of his worst traits being only amplified in that big ass mutated body of his.

- He lingers around you when he's bored of destroying games and such, teasing you both verbally and physically, he always has to either have a hand or an eye on you, violently hissing at any other cybug that tries to get fresh with you. He only gets to do that. >:(

- Talks your ear off, something that’s only been natural with him, but now it’s more erratic and rambly— Tugging at your accessories or hair as he speaks.

- I like to think of him as kinda of a big dog that has the personality of a lapdog, but very aware of the change he went through and almost always using it to get power over you.

- Enjoys flying very much— it’s like driving but he doesn’t need to pop into a kart to do it AND it’s in the sky, not restrained by a track.

- He gets used to it fairly quickly as we see in the movie and flys around whenever he can, making you hold onto him, insisting on having you with him even if you don’t like it.

- Some things never change, and his delight in having your attention is surprisingly more voiced, nothing to be ashamed for, grabbing you suddenly whenever he feels like it to get his daily fix of it before going on his way to be a self-conceited little troglodyte.

- Again very inconsistent, hot and cold. But hey, he’s always kind of been like that hasn’t he?

(I’m super sorry I made you wait for this, I’ve be waterlogged with other things— Inching closer and closer to graduating from high school!)

Tagged!: @hostess-of-horror (thank you so much for your support and kindness! <3)