#floor 8 is the stranger ofc

[chai-en-kaadhale]

normal guy elevator hitch is just michael crew

the falling ending on the 9th floor? uh yeah, someone didn't read the ex-altiora and we all know who

[sakuraryomen01]

Can u pls do like a playboy gojou falls in love with the nerdy ready n takes her v card?

A/n: Waaa!! OFC I CAN DO THIS ONE!! Honestly been dying for some gojo things to write and this was a nice idea. Srry it took so damn long, I was feeling off so I didn't want to write this half-hearted. I hope you enjoy your drabble! ♥ ♥ ♥

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Infatuated: Playboy! Gojo Satoru /Playboy! Gojo x Nerd! reader/

warnings: virgin!reader, f!reader, player! gojo, popping that cherry, body worship, caring! gojo, top!gojo, bottom!reader, mentions of masturbation (male), chubby reader, grinding through clothing, oral (female receiving), gentle fingering, brief nipple sucking, unprotected sex [stay safe out there], gojo's a tease ><

au:: light strangers-to-lovers??

reader: f!chubby!reader

plot: requested drabble . soft smut

a/n:: This was a good time to pause on Lost Lamb and finish this. I loved the idea and wanted to do a chubby reader since I don't see many Gojo x chubby readers on here. I hope you liked this and it was worth the wait!!

words: 3.371k

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Thank you for reading this bit! Enjoy! ♥

Gojo, being Gojo, had the ability that every guy wanted: could pull a bitch.

He had his own little pool of pussy that he could call for a quick fuck if he wanted to. Some girls that he couldn't even remember asking for their name or number had him in their contacts. Personally, he thought he was a god with this kind of thing. A master of the craft.

That was until he met you.

He wasn't even planning on walking into that little coffee shop, he was just walking by and found it interesting. Upon walking into the cafe, he was hit with the smells of breakfast food and coffee that had a 70's style theme to it.

It was rather peaceful in the small cafe, the sudden urge to eat something taking over as he walked over to the cash register.

"Hello, welcome to the Dainty Diner," The cute little worker smiled, looking up at Gojo and stopping short. "Uhm.. t-table for one?"

"Yes, thank you." Gojo responded, seeing the flustered look on her face as she punched in a few numbers on the register and turned to lead him to a spot.

"I'll be back with a menu." She said, her eyes practically glued to the floor as she walked away.

Gojo ordered a meal after she had brought his drink, a diet Coke, and waited. Looking around and enjoying the view outside before his eyes landed on you. Your figure was beyond him, seeing your hair pulled up in a loose bun as you read whatever you were reading.

He was in a trance, looking over your body out of pure boredom but with a fascination that he couldn't understand. The coal-grey turtleneck and the tight navy blue ripped jeans with some black heeled sandals was a cute outfit to say the least. Gojo didn't know why, but he wanted to talk to you. Maybe get your number and chat for a while?

After a few minutes though, Gojo got his meal and began to eat. Pancakes and bacon, with eggs and sausages links on the side. Rather childish order, but it gave him a wave of nostalgia.

As he ate, he couldn't help but find his eyes trailing back over to you.

He had noticed that you ordered a simple black coffee that probably had a spot or two of sugar and some cream. This sudden interest in you was so new and exciting that Gojo couldn't help himself.

After that day, he had found out that you worked at this little library nearby and came in every morning at 8 o'clock for a cup of coffee and some time to breathe. Gojo wasn't surprised after a few weeks of coming by, making up excuses with his younger co-worker Nanami Kento and his best friend Getou Suguru.

"Just talk to her," Suguru had said, pointing his tea spoon over at your figure, which was now dressed in a small white summer dress in matching color sandals.

"You've been practically stalking her for weeks, Sato. Just go talk to her already, it's really boring watching you now."

"I'm not stalking," Gojo retorted, a flash of annoyance in his baby blue eyes. "I've been simply observing! Seeing that she works at a library is normal, now isn't it?"

"Not to me.." Nanami muttered, munching on an omurice plate he had ordered for lunch.

Scoffing, Gojo turned and resting his head on his palm, enjoying the sight of you just drinking coffee like normal. It wasn't until another few weeks later, almost a month later now, that Gojo decided to actually speak to you. It was nerve-wracking for the first time in forever for him to speak to a girl.

Then again, he was normally a little tipsy when he started talking to a girl..

"Uh, h-hello?"

Your eyes met his quickly, making Satoru flinch for a moment, a small pink blush tinting his cheeks. They were so pretty to look at..

"Yes?" You questioned, fixing your reading glasses for a moment. The black, half crescent moon glasses sat on the bridge of your nose and a few freckles that Gojo noticed also decorated your cheeks.

You were fucking gorgeous..

"Can I.. help you?"

"Right, uhm-!" Satoru took a few breaths, nodding towards the seat in front of you and smiling weakly. "May I sit with you?"

You took a moment, your pretty lashes fluttering for a moment before you turned up and returned the smile. "Go ahead."

"Thank you," He said quickly, sitting down and licking his pink lips.

Wow, being nervous over a girl is new..

After a few minutes of speaking, you and Gojo started sharing small stories and laughing and smiling at jokes that you'd each crack on occasion. He couldn't tell if the small talk was just that nice, or if he really just wanted to get laid, but he had a great time.

Day after day, you and Gojo would meet and talk to each other. Growing closer and closer every time you meet up at 8 o'clock on the dot. Hell, you even let Gojo come to the library when he had some time off to take you to the cafe for lunch sometimes.

He offered to take you out on a date after almost a few months, seeing as you grew so close in such a short amount of time.

"Oh, no, I can't." You said, blinking a few times before quickly grabbing your book and putting it into your shoulder bag. Your glasses joined them after you put them in their case and stood, asking for the bill.

"What, why not?" Gojo chuckled, standing with you and walking you over to the register. "Was it too forward?"

"No, it wasn't I just can't." You said, reaching into your bag once you got to the register and paid for the meal you both shared.

"I don't want to end up hurt, okay?"

This took Gojo by surprise when he felt hurt. He was only trying to get in your pants for so long until he realized he liked you.

Love wasn't a strong enough word at this time to him, as he still didn't understand the meaning of it.

"..That makes sense.." Gojo started, following you out the diner door and standing next to you on the curb.

"But, can you just take one chance? For me?"

Denied.

Two months later: denied.

You didn't budge once. Scared of commitment and having your heart torn to pieces. Nothing in your life hurt more than rejection to you and you didn't want it to happen with Satoru.

He was a player. You already knew after talking for a few weeks.

The way he carried himself like a childish fling that was good for a vacation getaway that'd never call you again once he managed to bust a nut inside you was a huge red flag.

Even when he begged in front of you and your coworkers you said no. Even after they told you that it was worth the risk, you shook your head and said no.

Nothing could change you mind.

Nothing, and yet you never regretted that one day.

The one day you'd say yes to a date and let a man take you. Gojo had come over, wine in hand, and knocked on your apartment door.

He had wanted to apologize for his previous actions and thought a night as friends would be good enough for him.

The air around you both was comfortable as you sat on your couch. Watching Gojo pop open the wine cork and pour small glasses for each of you. While you played a movie for background noise, you and Gojo talked.

His pretty white lashes were constantly fluttering with glee when you made a comment about the gorey movie you had picked. Gojo couldn't help but wish you'd say yes that whole time.

He was so ready to let you be his first girlfriend that he would've gotten on his hands and knees for you.

But, despite it all, he was okay with your decision.

He was alright.

Until that wine bottle got closer and closer to being empty. And when you and Satoru got closer and closer did he regret giving up.

He shouldn't have given up on such a wonderful woman. A hard worker with so many different passions that excited him into going out with you more. He couldn't help it when he pressed his pink lips against yours.

And feeling your small hands coursing through his white locks was such a turn on. It was so hard to resist you. To not touch you all over and make you feel amazing.

Picking you up and carrying you to your room was only the tip of the iceberg for him. Gojo was ready to make you his. And he could feel that thumping in your chest when he laid you out bare on your bed.

You wanted this too.

You wanted it just as bad and were willing to risk it all, just scared it hurt.

And Gojo wasn't going to go away. Not anytime soon. He loved you like nothing else.

Parties and drinking weren't something he fancied anymore. He wanted you. You and all your plush curves. All the warm hugs and kisses that those plump and beautiful lips and arms had to offer. He wanted to suck, bite, nibble, and lick your lips until they bled. Only for him to suck up the crimson liquid and make it better.

And now, as he pressed his aching front against your warm mound, Gojo could tell that tonight would be a little more than mind numbing. It'd make his head spin and his cock twitch. Hell, he wouldn't be the littlest bit surprised if you made his balls fill only to empty inside you and paint your warmth white.

But, the nervous little twitches you made were concerning.

Did it hurt? Did you want him to stop? What was wrong?

"Y/n, what's the matter?" He asked, feeling his cock bulge through his sweats. Twitching with want when the sensitive head felt the outline of your vulva. "I'm not too heavy for you, am I?"

"N-No, it's not that.." Your soft mewling against the crook of his shoulder was enough fuel to make him cream his pants. "I just.."

"Yeah?"

Your blushing cheeks made Gojo want to bite them, but your quivering lips caught his attention. "I'm a.. virgin."

"Virgin?" Gojo echoed the word, a fluttering in his heart as you gave him a nod in confirmation. Virgin? You?

"Don't worry, baby. I'll take care of you and make it better."

Warm fingers traced down your hips, rubbing circles and squeezing your waist as if to claim you. Pulling at your clothing while Gojo's lips traced your lower ones. His pearly white teeth nipped and tugged at it until you let out a soft whimper, blushing more and more at Gojo's actions.

It was so new, but you already wanted more. How in the world could Gojo make you want this?

So much was going on yet you couldn't help but accept it. His long fingers barely making their way into your shorts and playing with your senses until you couldn't breathe.

What was that feeling deep in your gut? The one that seemed like a ball that wanted to burst. It was getting bigger and bigger, making you want to erupt.

"Baby, you keep twitching down here," Gojo mumbled in your ear, a cool breath fanning your ear. "Do you like this? You're comfortable, right?"

"Y-Yes, I'm.. ooh.. I'm fine," Your soft sighs, your small voice.. You looked so intoxicating in Gojo's arms.

Gojo's hands gripped your hips, pushing and pulling them. Rubbing your slowly dampening warmth against his aching boner. It was so hard to resist just corrupting your soft walls and ruining them without hesitation, but Gojo had to wait.

He had to make you feel good. He wanted you to remember this. Remember your first. With him and only him. Gojo was the type of man to make you think about nothing, but he wanted you to stay focused on him.

On his blue eyes, his pale skin. Anything that you could think of, Gojo wanted you to pay attention to him, always.

"Mmm... Gojo, you feel good."

Gojo gave a low groan, kissing and sucking on your neck. Rubbing his length against you, even if it was through clothing that he didn't want there. And being an impatient bastard, Gojo gently pulled off your lower garments, quickly removing his and lifting your shirt in the small time span of a few minutes.

"Oh, fuck.." He muttered, his large palms cupping your breasts. Rubbing the pads of his thumbs against your erect nipples, leaning his head down and letting his tongue lap over them as a mewl escaped you.

"You got the cutest little tits I've ever seen, girlie. God, even these nipples make me drool."

Hearing you moan out in pure bliss as Gojo's finger began tracing your clit. The soppy wetness made the male almost choke, wondering how you could hide such a good surprise for him. And as he lowered his head to let his eyes finally be graced with the sight of you, he let out a low growl before ripping your shirt off of you.

"Are you okay?" You asked, looking down at the horny man and seeing his eyes glazed over.

"Yes, I am," Gojo answered, licking his pink and subtle lips until they were glossy with spit. "I want a taste of you. Please. May I?"

Even if you didn't nod, Gojo would've licked a stripe up your shivering pussy. Feeling out the soft and plump grooves of your clit and entrance. Breathing in that soft slick that smelled almost like candy to him. And as he began suckling on your engorged clit, listening to the symphony of moans coming from you, he was in heaven.

Gojo's mind in cloud nine as he swirled his tongue around the soft pleasure button.

"G-Gojo! Mmnn..! It feels.. strange.. but good!" You shuddered, reaching up your little fingers and pinching your nipple. A mewl eliciting from your throat as your back arched into Gojo's lips.

His long fingers dipped into your cunny with ease, working around your plush walls and feeling around the warm and tight hole that would become his little sleeve later. Gojo wanted nothing but to be inside you, to feel you throbbing inside squeezing him and pumping you full.

"I-Inside.. I want you inside.." You pant, looking down through lidded eyes and seeing Gojo's shining ones. "I want you inside me, Gojo.."

"Hey, call me Satoru," Gojo said, his voice was low as he continued to scissor and pump his fingers deep inside you. "It's better that you call me by that seeing as you'll be mine soon."

You couldn't help that small smile, a tease laced in your words. "I think I've always been yours, Satoru.."

"Fuck, you'll make me cum quick if you say that," Gojo smiled, kissing you once again as he pulled his slick fingers from your cunt. The lewd slurping and locking of tongues was such a large distraction, Gojo almost forgot to get into position.

Leveling himself between your thighs and stripping away his shirt, he let his heavy tip slap against your plump tummy. Your hot skin gets sticky with Gojo's pre-cum as he grinds and whimpers into your mouth. Letting your tongue push into his throat and suckle on his.

How could he let you go? You were the perfect person in his arms.

"Y/n.." He moaned, lifting your thighs up to his hips, feeling your hands squeeze at his shoulders at the sudden action. A gasp leaving you the moment you felt that sticky tip rubbing against your clitoris.

"Wh-What about a condom?" You asked, feeling your face light up with warmth when Gojo's became blank.

"..I don't have any, but I won't finish inside," He said, smiling and cooing to calm you. Kissing your forehead and rubbing your cheek. "It'll hurt for a moment, but hold my hands and I'll make that pain go away quickly."

His fingers, still sticky with your slick, entangled with yours. Resting your hands beside your head as Gojo's other gripped himself by the base, pumping a few times before pressing the dripping tip against your heat.

"Just breath, you'll feel good soon," He said, peppering your neck in soft kisses until there was a small pressure between your thighs.

"Ah..!" You whimpered, squeezing Gojo's hand tightly like your pussy was doing to his tip. Massaging and squeezing down as his cock began pushing inside and splitting you open.

Making you feel fully vulnerable as you were taken, Gojo's own voice is low and soothing as he helps you through that little shiver of pain. Coxing your body and kissing at your shoulder, distracting you from the shooting aches up your spine.

There was so much Gojo had. It was so big and long and it was going inside. Making you feel full and stuffed for the first time in a lewd and wanting way. And when Gojo began to move in and out, a slow and methodical pace being set for you as you adjusted to the new stretch, your moans and whimpers were nothing short of sweet.

"Mm, baby.." Gojo cooed, a low moan leaving him as he rocked his hips into you gently. Hearing the quiet squelching of your pussy taking him in deeply, slicking up his raw cock as he pushed it in and out.

"So warm and gooey inside.. I didn't think you'd feel so good when I fapped to you a few times but.. I'm not fucking complaining, goddamn."

The sudden confession made you blush, listening to his soft moans and the low growls. You felt so good, so warm, so connected to Gojo that it was Earth shattering. Feeling that warm knot grow ever more inside you as Gojo began to press you more into your bed as it creaked and groaned loudly under your shared, shaking weight.

So much inside and on you. You and Gojo both sweating and panting as your orgasm neared, threatening every moment to force you to squeeze Gojo like a vice grip and milk him of all his worth. He wouldn't mind though, it's what he wanted. The threat of being impregnated by his an added thrill even though it wasn't going to happen today.

Maybe someday..

"S-Sato— Cum, gonna— Cum!" You mewled, feeling that mind breaking climax near. Your hand tightly locked with Gojo's as he pummeled and destroyed your insides.

"Me too, baby!" Gojo sighed, eyes shut tight and sweat collected at his brow. You felt so close, and seeing Gojo's cum face was probably going to be the icing on the cake.

"Waited so long.. s-so long to be with you.. inside and out. Together, baby. Let's cum together!"

Just barely pulling out of your warmth, Gojo released his hot and healthy semen onto your plump belly. The white fluid cascading down the sides of his shaft and down your sides. Dripping onto the sheets and staining them, thought neither of you cared. Kissing and letting your lips slide and lock like puzzle pieces fitting together.

That warm feeling in Gojo's chest peaked when he felt your hand in his hair again. Working his white locks with your fingers and tugging every few moments. It was so hot and alluring, Gojo couldn't help but moan quietly into your mouth.

After he had cleaned you up— once you both let each other go, of course— Gojo curled up behind you and held you close. Letting you listen to the beating of his heart, letting you closer than anyone's ever been to him before. Wanting you to dig your nails deep into his flesh and to leave a mark as you explored him as a man.

There was so much in your shared future— so much to learn together and to figure out. Gojo was excited to start this next chapter in his life..

..with you.

. . .

a/n:: Thank you for being patient with me! >< I hope you enjoyed this and liked the soft ending I did. It was honestly hard to finish since I kept losing inspiration and gaining it only for it to last an hour. I didn't mean for it to take so long, but I hope you enjoyed!

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published:: August 4, 2022 Do NOT steal, copy, or repost onto any other platforms!

. . .

[foundtherightwords]

The Road Forgotten - Chapter 9

Pairing: Arthur Havisham (Dickensian) x OFC

A/N: I made Arthur bisexual and paired him with a female character in this. I know some writers have gotten flack for pairing Arthur with a female character (or reader), so if it's not your cup of tea, please walk away.

This is mostly based on the events of "Dickensian", but I've also incorporated some elements and characters from "Great Expectations". Most notably, Satis House is in Kent (as in the book) instead of in London.

Summary: A few years after his plan to swindle his sister ended in tragedy, Arthur Havisham is a shadow of a man, living in guilt and fear. When Elsie Bradford, a young woman also wronged by Compeyson, enlists Arthur's help to hunt down his former partner-in-crime, Arthur must face his demons and other strange, new feelings, to redeem himself.

Warnings: slow burn, angst, guilt, revenge, psychological trauma, mention of prostitution, mention of suicide/suicide ideations, some violence, a bit of smut (in this chapter)

Chapter word count: 2.9k

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Elsie had come back to St. Giles almost immediately, but she'd only stopped in the room long enough to grab the pistol and make sure the powder was dry, before retreating to the street corner to wait. She wasn't sure what she would do if Cyclops and the Chimney had captured Arthur and forced the address out of him. She trusted Arthur, but she had also seen what the thugs could do, how they could break men much stronger than Arthur. Or they could have simply followed him. She could take them by surprise, but there were two of them and only one of her, and the pistol would take time to load.  

By the time Arthur returned, she had destroyed her mitts with her fidgeting. The moment she saw him limping up the stairs, it had taken all of her self-control not to run to him immediately. He was hurt, badly by the looks of it, and it was all her fault. Her heart was screaming for her to go after him, to check on him. Eventually, she could no longer take it. If the two thugs had followed Arthur, she would just have to risk it.

She had to choke back a cry of alarm at the sight of Arthur collapsed in bed. He looked dead, with his hair limp around his blood-covered face, his clothes torn, and his skin so pale she could almost see through it. She saw her knife dropped on the floor, splattered with blood. She hoped it wasn't his blood. Only when she drew closer and saw his chest rise and fall in a shallow breath that Elsie let out her own breath of relief. He wasn't dead. He wasn't even unconscious—he was writhing and moaning, a clear sign of his usual nightmare. Then, still asleep, he reached for her hand, trying to hold it against his cheek. She heard him mumble her name, and, as she turned him over to wake him, she saw exactly why he was squirming. And it wasn't because of a nightmare.

She pulled her hand from his grasp and jumped up from the bed, her entire torso scorched by a deep flush. She was no stranger to such a view, yet for some reason, the fact that it was Arthur, and that she might be the one causing it, flustered her a great deal. Suddenly Arthur's behavior in the last few days became clear—his refusal to share the bed with her, his hostility toward Markham, his drunken outburst, the way he tried to protect her. Even Lady Staverley had seen it. And, Elsie had to admit, if she had let herself, she would have seen it too. She didn't need his arousal to tell her that he wanted her. For it hadn't just started in the last few days. Looking back, she could remember other signs, lingering looks and brief touches that seemed to mean more than she'd thought at the time, a sense of comfort and closeness. And now, desire as well.

But she hadn't let herself see it, because intimacy was the last thing on her mind while she was on the trail of the man who destroyed her world. She had already allowed herself to become much closer to Arthur than she'd intended. She didn't need this. She didn't want this. And yet... and yet... she couldn't deny there was a fluttering in her heart whenever she thought of him. There was also something else, something stronger than companionship or mere lust. Perhaps it was hope. She had lived in the past for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like to hope, but now, for the first time, she could think of the future, and it didn't look as bleak as it used to.  

A whimper from Arthur reminded her that their present was quite bleak still. Hope would not get her closer to Compeyson, or free her from Mrs. Hill's pursuit. It was no time to act all maidenly. She waited until the flush had receded from her face, then turned back to wake him up.

***

Once the water was heated, Elsie poured it into a basin and put it on the table, along with the ointment, the alcohol, and some towels. She then knelt down in front of Arthur, who was sitting up in bed. Slowly, methodically, keeping her eyes only on his injuries, she cleaned the blood off him with the hot water, then dabbed some alcohol on the cut on his cheek. He sucked in a breath.

"You were lucky," she said. "I've seen Cyclops gut a man with that blade."

"Would they kill you, if they caught you?" he asked.

"Oh, no." She knew exactly what they would do, she'd seen it. "They would probably kill you. And Marianne, if they could find her. And make me watch." She returned Arthur's horrified stare with a calm look. "And once my spirit was completely broken, Mrs. Hill would put me back to work. She never kills a perfectly good whore. That would be a waste."

Arthur winced, but not from his wounds. "Don't say that word. You're not—"

"Not what, a whore? But I used to be one. And I'm not ashamed of it." 

He gazed at her, his lips parting, perhaps to apologize, or to say something that he couldn't quite articulate. Trying her best to ignore that beseeching look, she reached for his shirt.

"What are you doing?" he said, shrinking from her.

"Taking off your shirt to put some camphor ointment on those bruises," she said matter-of-factly. She had to stay practical. She couldn't afford the distraction.

"I can do it myself," he said. But it soon became clear that he could barely lift his arms above his head. Elsie tut-tutted impatiently and yanked the shirt off.

"Ow," Arthur mumbled in protest, his head buried in the linen folds.

"Sorry." She lifted the shirt up more gently. Bruises had already started to form all over his torso. She dipped her fingers into the ointment and carefully rubbed it on the angry purple splotches, still avoiding his eyes. If she looked into his eyes, she would break down, and that would be of no help to anyone. "Tell me if it hurts."

He nodded, but though he grimaced once or twice, he never made a sound. Silence fell while Elsie slowly worked her way from his shoulders to his collarbone and down to his ribs. If it wasn't for the sharp smell of camphor in the air, this could almost be one of their usual easy nights in. She could almost imagine the two of them in some cozy cottage like Wemmick's castle, just sitting together. There would be no Compeyson, no revenge, no painful past. They could simply enjoy each other's company without having to say or do anything. Well, perhaps not quite without doing anything...

"Can you turn around?" she asked, to stop herself from thinking the unthinkable.

Arthur complied. Elsie's hand, about to dip back into the jar of ointment, froze. Spreading across his back, underneath the bruises, was a crisscross of faded white scars.

"Where did these come from?" she asked.

"... It was Compeyson."

"What?!"

"I—I did something foolish to anger him, so he beat me," Arthur said, his voice muted with shame. "With a belt."

Elsie recognized the pattern now—she had seen similar scars on one of the girls at Mrs. Hill's, Lillian, who had been lashed by a former employer. Mrs. Hills, who had bought Lillian for her other qualities despite her scars, never beat her charges, not wanting to mark them up and reduce their value. She preferred to terrorize them by inflicting emotional fears instead.

The idea of Compeyson lashing Arthur sent chills up Elsie's spine. Cruel, black-hearted beast!

"The gallows are too good for him!" she hissed.

"Do they look very bad?" Arthur asked.

"No, no," she quickly said. "They're fine."

Without really knowing why, perhaps to show him that the scars did not revolt her one bit, she lightly brushed her fingers across one of them. His breath caught. Slowly, she moved down and across his back, kissing each and every one of the scars with her fingertips, wishing she could brush them all away.

Arthur's back trembled, and he buried his face in his hands. Elsie paused. At the sight of his pain, her determination to stay rational vanished. She leaned down and gingerly put her arms around his torso, avoiding the worst of his bruises, and held him until his breathing evened out again. They sat like that for what seemed like a long time, her chest curved against his back, her head fitted into the hollow between his neck and shoulder, his hands on hers, their hearts beating as one.

After a while, Arthur spoke. "Elsie?"

"Yes?"

"May I... kiss you?"

Her heart skipped a beat, then calmed again. "Yes," she said.

He took one of her hands from his chest. Elsie thought he was freeing himself from her embrace so he could turn to face her, but he only lifted the hand to his lips and kissed her palm. The cheeky tease... But his lips were soft on her old calluses, calluses that had formed during the year she'd worked as a maid and never really went away, and his touch was sending warm tingles all through her body, so she couldn't complain.

Which was why she was taken completely by surprise when he spun around and clasped his mouth to hers.

So she hadn't imagined it. He had kissed her, and he was kissing her now, with a hand in her hair and the other on the small of her back, drinking her in, clinging to her as if afraid that she might slip from his grasp at any moment. And she was kissing him too, luxuriating in the soft caress of his mouth, the grip of his hand, and the scent of beeswax and lemon verbena from his hair... Was that hers? Or had they spent so much time together that her scent was rubbing off on him?

Soon, too soon, Arthur broke off the kiss. He buried his face in her neck, whispering, "I'm sorry."

"Why?" she asked, running her hands up his back, his neck, pressing him to her.

"I... I want you to feel safe with me."

"Why do you think I wouldn't?"

Arthur looked at her, his eyes wide and pleading. "Because—because I... I'm not who you think..."

"Because I thought you preferred the company of men?" Before he could answer, she cupped his cheeks, lifted his face, and put her forehead to his. "Arthur, I don't judge people by their private proclivity. And I do feel safe with you. Besides," she looked down at his lap and couldn't stop a naughty grin, "you like my company now, do you?"

He blushed crimson. "I do."

Their lips met again. Then his mouth left hers to travel down her neck, her shoulder, to the soft swells of her breasts, while his hands tugged impatiently at the hooks of her bodice. She reached down to help him. Once the gown was in a heap on the floor, they worked at her corset, her petticoats, her stockings, their hands frantic, fumbling, in a frenzy to get all of those layers off, until only her chemise was left. Then Arthur suddenly stood still, staring at her. He'd had the same look when he first saw her in the evening gown, a look Elsie knew now was of awe, wonder, and desire. She was struck by unexpected shyness. She had comfortably shared the bed with him many times wearing little more than this, yet now, faced with something new and exciting and unknown, she couldn't bring herself to undress in front of him. She had received plenty of looks of lust before, but never one mixed with such adoration, and it made her want to cry.

But she didn't cry. She peeled the chemise off her arms, first one, then another. Arthur tugged it off her shoulders, and the chemise dropped to the floor next to the gown. Her shyness forgotten now, Elsie stepped forward to help him out of his trousers. He took her into his arms and stumbled on to the bed, pinning her underneath him. There was a moment's confusion as they tried to arrange themselves amidst much creaking of the bedframe and tangling of bedclothes and nervous giggling, then Elsie took Arthur's hand to guide him to her, and all was quiet again.

The silence was broken as he slid inside her. Both let out a gasp, but it wasn't a gasp of pleasure as Elsie had anticipated. She winced a little and saw her reaction mirrored on Arthur's face.

"What is it?" he asked. "Does it hurt?"

"No, no exactly," she said. "Just... it's been some time. You?"

"It's this bruise, here."

He gestured to a darkening bloom under his skin, just above his right hip. She'd missed that. It probably hurt like the devil. She brushed her hand across the bruise, and he trembled slightly, from pleasure or pain she wasn't sure. She moved her hand lower. His trembles were definitely from pleasure now. "Perhaps you'd prefer...?"

But he shook his head slightly. "No," he said. "I mean, if you want to—but—but I wish to see you." He removed the ivy wreath that Elsie forgot she was still wearing and tugged a stray curl behind her ear. "To be with you. Not just take something from you."

Nobody had ever said that to her before. Elsie could feel affection and gratitude welling up in her chest. Slowly, she eased him onto his back, while still keeping their bodies connected, until they switched places. "Better?"

He nodded with a shaky breath. "You?"

She didn't answer, only rolled her hips a little, gently, trying it out, careful to avoid his bruises. A sound escaped him, somewhere between a moan and a sob. She paused, afraid she was hurting him, but he held on to her and said, in a desperate whisper, "Don't stop."

So she didn't. She kept moving, her body matching him naturally, perfectly, as he arched up to meet her, his head buried between her breasts, his hands kneading her back. There was no need to ask what he wanted, for somehow she knew, her body knew, and moved accordingly. She had never felt this way. She did cry then, not aloud, only with silent tears streaming down her face and heaving in her chest. Sensing rather than seeing her tears, Arthur lifted his head to look at her. "What's wrong?" he asked, grazing his fingers across her wet cheek.

"Nothing," she said and tried to smile.

How could she explain? In all the years at Mrs. Hill's, she had learned to give pleasure, but never to take it in return. It was just a mechanical, physical act, something outside of herself. She didn't realize how different it would be with someone she wanted. Someone she loved. Did she love him? She didn't know. All she knew was that when he looked at her like this, with so much tenderness and longing in those big brown eyes, her heart constricted with a pleasant ache that was almost physical, an ache that spread all through her in widening circles before gathering at her center, their center, giving strength to their touches, their kisses, their embrace. His thumb came to rest at the corner of her mouth and she parted her lips for him, tasting her tears on his skin. He moaned her name, and then that ache between them exploded, like a star shattering, blinding them with light and heat, leaving them shuddering and pulsing in its wake. 

The next thing she knew was that Arthur was lowering her on top of him, their hearts and their breaths slowing together. She shifted her weight a little so she wouldn't put too much pressure on his bruises. He tightened his arms around her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not going anywhere," she reassured him. "I just don't want to hurt you."

"You're not hurting me," he said. "Please stay. Stay like this. Keep me down."

It was the same words he'd spoken in the midst of his night terror, and she looked at him to make sure he wasn't in the grip of another attack. He wasn't, but his eyes, shining in the candlelight, pierced her heart with that ache again, more painful than pleasant now. Why did he look like that, when they had just had this? Did he realize that they were on borrowed time? Had he just remembered that there was a dark shadow between them, pulling them apart even as it drew them together? But for once she didn't want to think about any of it, not now, not when they were still glowing in each other's arms. She laid her head on his chest, let her body melt into his, and felt him relax under her. "All right, Arthur," she whispered, as she had on their first night together. "I'll keep you down."

Chapter 10

Tagging @quinnypixie!

[storiesforallfandoms]

i don’t need your help ~ jace herondale;shadowhunters

word count: 2524

request?: yes!

“Alec Lightwood or Jace Herondale (either one works) smut? If you're comfortable with writing for shadowhunters, ofc <3″

description: after a run in with a demon that almost turns bad, a fight between her and one of her fellow shadowhunters turns into something so much more

pairing: jace herondale x female!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of violence, smut

masterlist (one, two)

Izzy helped me limp into the Institute, my body feeling run down and exhausted already. She laid me down on a bed and it took me a moment to register that it was my own bed. I was aching all over, but I tried to keep a brave face. At least, I thought I was keeping a brave face. For all I knew I was sobbing like a baby.

“I’ll get my stele,” she told me. “Just...just stay awake, okay?”

I tried to respond but it came out as a pained moan instead. Izzy quickly raced from my room to her own. I could hear her in the distance furiously looking for here stele. I tried to stay awake but my eyes were starting to grow heavy and my head was lulling back against the pillow under me. The thought of drifting off into unconsciousness felt like the best idea I had ever had in that moment.

I heard someone at the door and thought it was Izzy coming back. When I looked up, I saw it was Jace standing in my doorway. His face was pale and he was staring at me in horror. I could only imagine how awful I looked.

“(Y/N),” he breathed. He quickly raced to my side and pulled his stele out. “What the hell happened to you?”

“She had a run in with a demon while she was alone,” Izzy responded, appearing at Jace’s side. “I got there just in time. Can you help me draw healing ruins? She’s going to need a few.”

“I’m way ahead of you.”

The slight burn of Jace’s stele touching my arm caused me to let out a yelp of pain. He looked at me with sympathy as he continued to draw the healing Rune. Izzy moved to my other side and started drawing a Rune there too. It hurt as they were drawing them, but I felt a numbness wash over my body as the Rune started to take effect.

Jace started to stroke my hair after drawing another ruin on me. He looked down at me, his face full of concern. “Rest while the ruins do their work, (Y/N).”

Getting Jace’s permission to finally rest felt like a blessing, and within seconds I was passed out.

~~~~~~

I wasn’t sure how long I was out. When I woke up again, my head still felt heavy and my vision was spinning a little. I tried to lift my head to look around, but it felt like someone had poured nails into my head and shaken it. I groaned and laid back down again, raising my hand to put it on my forehead. I realized then that the pain had completely left my body, except for the headache I had, and I felt good as new again.

“How long have I been out?” I asked, turning my head to see who had stayed with me while I was unconscious. I knew either Jace or Izzy had. They weren’t going to leave me when I was in such rough condition.

Through the slight darkness of my room, I could make out the figure sitting down as Jace. I was slightly shocked to see that Jace was the one who had stayed. Despite his caring and concerned nature when Izzy had first brought me home, the two of us weren’t exactly close. We didn’t hate each other or anything, but we were constantly fighting and he irritated the hell out of me. I didn’t think his kindness would extend to staying with me while I was unconscious.

“A few hours,” he responded. “It’s 2am now, you got back around 8 or 9pm I think.”

I groaned. “I definitely feel like I’ve been out for five or six hours.”

“What were you thinking?” Jace questioned, rising from his seat. “Facing a demon alone? You were lucky that Izzy had known where you were or else you definitely wouldn’t have been feeling as good as you do now.”

“Thanks for that, Captain Obvious,” I muttered. “For your information, I didn’t go out with the intentions of facing a demon alone. I was just out and I got cornered by a demon that knew I was a Shadowhunter. I wasn’t expecting it and it got the jump on me.”

“You shouldn’t have gone out on your own at all. You know the dangers of being caught are high, especially when you can be spotted at any time by a demon.”

I braced myself as I sat up, the pounding feeling in my head intensifying for just a moment, before slowly numbing again.

“I can’t stay cooped up here forever, Jace,” I retorted. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“Obviously you’re not or else you wouldn’t have been on death’s doorstep when you got back here.”

“I was not on death’s doorstep. Izzy found me in time, but even if she hadn’t I would’ve been fine.”

“You didn’t look fine.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Listen Jace, I appreciate this...concern you have for me, but I’m fine. I don’t need this lecture, I don’t need anyone’s help, especially not yours. You’ve made it very clear that you don’t actually like me all that much, so you don’t need to continue this caring act, or the lecture. I’m fine and I can take care of myself.”

The tension hung in the air. I expected Jace to walk away and to finally leave me alone. You can imagine my shock when he approached me suddenly, putting one hand behind my head and pulling me in for a kiss.

I was shocked. I didn’t know how to respond to it. I thought for a second that Jace had gone insane, that maybe some Downworlder had scrambled his brain or something. There was no way in Hell that Jace Herondale would willingly kiss me. I was just a torn in his side, and he was one in mine.

But something just felt right about the kiss. His rough hands were gentle as one cupped the back of my neck while the other was wrapped around my waist. He pulled me forward to the edge of the bed, nudging my legs open so he could stand between them. My hands were gripping the t-shirt he was wearing, taking in every last bit of him that I could.

I felt myself laying back on my bed against, Jace’s hand still under my head. He moved with me, hovering over me as our lips moved perfectly in sync with one another. His other hand slipped under my shirt, softly trailing up my side until he reached my bra. We broke away from the kiss just long enough for Jace to pull my shirt over my head and unhook my bra in one swift motion.

He looked down at me, his beautiful different colored eyes soft but full of lust. He gently ran his fingers over my cheek before pressing his lips against mine once more, then moving to start kissing cheek, my jaw, my neck. His lips hovered a moment over the fresh Runes that he and Izzy had drawn on my skin. When he pressed a kiss against them, it almost felt like he was soothing the slight burn that was still there. He continued to gently brush his lips over the white scars left behind from other Runes that had been drawn on my skin for years.

My head fell back against the pillow underneath me as Jace’s lips continued to kiss down my chest and stomach, stopping just above the hem of my jeans. He looked up at me, waiting for permission. When I nodded, he made quick work of pulling my jeans and panties off at one time. He pressed another light kiss just above m aching core before diving in with his tongue.

I gasped at the pleasurable feeling. Of course, being a Shadowhunter doesn’t mean you never have sex. Quite the opposite, really. All four of us in the Institution were no strangers to sex. But this...this was a feeling of pleasure beyond what I had ever experienced before. I blamed the fact that I had only ever had sex with Mundane men before now.

I ran a hand through Jace’s hair and grabbed hold of it. The action caused him to moan against me, the vibrations running through my body.

He lifted his head for air, replacing his tongue with his fingers as he lightly played with my clit.

“I can’t describe how long I’ve been waiting for this,” he said, placing gentle kisses against my stomach again.

“You have a weird way of sh - oh  - owing it,” I said, trying to tease him through the pleasure he was giving me.

He smiled in response and moved his hand away. I whimpered from the lack of contact, an action I wasn’t too proud of afterwards but in the moment I could care less.

Jace kissed my lips again, the taste of my arousal on his lips and tongue. It turned me on even more and I just wanted to have him inside of me.

I pushed him down onto the bed and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. He looked impressed by my action. I ran my hands down his still clothed chest, reaching the bottom of his shirt.

“I hardly think it’s far that you’re still dressed while I’m completely naked,” I said.

“Well, we can fix that,” he responded.

I made quick work of taking his clothes off, discarding them somewhere on the floor with my own. When I pulled his boxers down, I audibly gasped at his length. He chuckled at my reaction. “Surprised?”

“Surprised that my fantasies were true,” I responded.

Jace raised an eyebrow at me. “You’ve fantasized about me?”

I took him in my hand and started to slowly stroke him. A breathy gasp escaped from his mouth as he fell completely helpless to my touch.

“It’s hard not to sometimes,” I admitted. “When you’re walking around here in your tight clothes, or with no shirt on. You’re so confident and cocky, it’s hard not to imagine what you’d be like in bed.”

“You finally have the real me here,” he said. “Why not make those fantasies a reality?”

He didn’t have to asked twice.

I spit onto the head of his dick, using my hand to spread it all over him before lining him up with my entrance. The moment his tip slipped inside of me, we both moaned in pleasure and relief. So much built up tension between us, sexual and otherwise, finally being released.

I slowly sat myself down on him, taking in every inch. His hands found their way to my hips, his fingers digging in so harshly that I was sure I’d have bruises there. Once I had adjusted to his size, he started rocking my hips against him, the friction starting to build between us.

I placed my hands on his chest, trying to steady myself as I took over rocking my hips. He looked into my eyes, his mouth partially open as moans and whimpers escaped from his lips. Even with these small movements he was hitting a spot inside of me that I had never felt before. I was almost sure I’d orgasm within seconds.

Jace sat up then, wrapping one arm around my waist while planting the other one on the bed behind him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, holding on tightly as he began to thrust up into me. The motions were rougher and faster, hitting that spot inside of me with a force I hadn’t felt before. I buried my head in Jace’s shoulder, trying to muffle my moans as I remembered there were two other people living in the Institution.

“Does that feel good?” he asked.

“Fuck Jace,” I moaned. “That feels so fucking good. I might...I might...”

“What are you gonna do, princess?”

Fuck! And a pet name, too? I was putty in his hands.

I couldn’t even finish my sentence. My climax built up quick and hit me before I was even ready for it. I moaned Jace’s name against his shoulder as I felt myself clenching around him, a warm sensation running through my body.

“Fuck,” he breathed, his thrusts becoming sloppier. “I’m gonna cum.”

“Cum in me,” I whispered. “Please, Jace.”

He threw his head back and groaned as I felt him finish inside of me. I gasped at the feeling, which was almost enough to make me orgasm again.

Jace fell backwards onto the bed, taking me with him. I giggled as I settled against his chest, still wrapped around his softening member. I could stay like that for hours if Jace wanted to.

“Maybe I should get attacked by demons more often,” I mumbled to myself.

Jace tensed under me. “I would much rather if you didn’t.”

I moved my head to look up at him, raising an eyebrow. “Relax, I was only joking. I meant what I said earlier, Jace, I can handle demons on my own.”

He relaxed again, starting to trace his fingers up and down my back. “I know you can. I shouldn’t have overreacted earlier. I’m sorry.”

Normally I’d make some quip about him apologizing, but some things were starting to add up in my head. “You were always hounding me and shit because you were worried for me.”

It wasn’t a question, but Jace responded anyways. “Yeah. I...I just never wanted you to get hurt.”

“Jace, I’m a Shadowhunter just like you. I’ve faced numerous Downworlders before, both by myself and with you guys. I can take care of myself, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“I’m well aware of that. I’ve always been impressed with your fighting skills. It’s just...I care for you in a way that I’ve never cared for someone before. I always worry when you’re out with Izzy or Alec or anyone who isn’t me because I’m afraid of the day that...maybe you don’t come back. When I saw you earlier today...I was so terrified that I was actually going to lose you.”

I propped myself up a bit to take Jace’s face in my hands. “I appreciate how much you care, but you have to have faith in me, Jace. This is the first time I’ve seriously been injured while fighting a Downworlder, and I promise you it’ll be the last time too.”

Jace nodded. I smiled a little and leaned down to kiss him again. I finally decided to untangle myself from him, although I felt empty without him inside of me. I laid down next to him, feeling sleepy from our earlier activities.

My eyes were starting to close when Jace said, “Hey (Y/N).”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe we should close the door next time we decide to have sex.”

My eyes popped open to see that my bedroom door was wide open. I hadn’t noticed that earlier, what with being...“preoccupied” and all. I groaned and buried my face in Jace’s chest as he laughed.

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Punishment

Summary: The MI6 knew who to send to find August Walker. And August Walker knew exactly what buttons he had to push to get what he wanted. At least he thought so until he woke up chained to his own bed. Naked.

Pairing: August Walker x nameless OFC (you)

Word count: 2.9k

Warnings: Fem-Dom vibes, Dom vibes, Bondage, Smut (dirty talk; unprotected sex; facesitting, oral, Anal Play, Anal), getting drugged 

A/N: I know I say this often but I think this gets on the top 3 on the filthiest things I ever wrote. Thanks to my obsessive better half @ladyreapermc​ for being the best beta ever. Love you x

Masterlist

Taglist in reblog

The way he laughed while he knew you were sitting at the bar watching him was slowly but surely driving you mad. There he sat, his tie loose, his legs spread while the women around him looked at him like he was the single most tempting specimen that walked the Earth.

You felt a tap on your naked shoulder.

You had bought a new little black dress for this little mission specifically. It didn’t leave much to the imagination but still had enough space that you could wear your gun strapped to your upper thigh.

“Is this seat taken?” You looked over your shoulder, seeing a very attractive man with bright green eyes smile at you. You caught August’s gaze as you turned fully on the seat, your attention shifting towards the stranger.

“Be my guest.” You smiled. A little distraction wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

An hour later the stranger called Jim had to leave. By now you knew he was going through a dirty divorce and just wanted to let loose, but you were here for a mission and couldn’t exactly help. Not that you wanted to.

Finishing your drink, you carefully got off your seat, taking your purse as you turned and walked towards August Walker.

“There she is. My favorite agent.” August smirked as you approached him.

You raised your eyebrow at the women in his arms who shared a look and then got up, leaving without a comment. You crossed your arms in front of your chest, noticing his eyes lingering on your cleavage before he met your gaze. His hair was longer, his signature mustache hidden under the overgrown facial hair.

“You aren’t as hard to find as you think, August.”

“Yet, it took you an entire week to actually find me.” He crooked his eyebrow.

You leaned closer, giving him a good view of your breasts as you picked his drink. His eyes remained on your body as you traced the edge of the glass with a finger before you handed it to him. He let his tongue dart out, wetting his lips before he took the glass, his fingers brushing yours before he brought the tumbler up to his lips, emptying it completely.

“I think I need to remind you of the terms of your deal,” you said, your fingers on his cheek. His eyes darkened, his hand grabbed your wrist guiding your finger into his mouth sucking on it. You breathed in deep, feeling the wetness pooling in between your legs.

“I’d like to see you try, agent.” He grinned.

You tilted your head, your hands now on both of his wide shoulders as you leaned down your lips close to his ear.

“Be in your room in 5 minutes and find out.” You winked at him as you turned around to leave the bar. Looking over your shoulder you could see him checking you out. August Walker was in for a good punishment. And if only he knew the game had already started.

When you let yourself into his room 10 minutes later, August lay passed out on his bed. Grinning to yourself, you set your purse down on the table and put the “Do not Disturb” sign on the door of his hotel room before closing and locking it behind you.

You were just putting the finishing touches to your outfit when you heard the rattle of metal followed by a groan. You turned off the lights in the bathroom and opened the door to walk back into the hotel room.

“Ah! You’re awake.” You grinned as you walked towards the bed. There he was, just how you left him. Naked, already half-hard, and chained to the bed. You did think of using rope at first when you imagined this night but quickly decided against it. A strong man like August needed something stronger. Something… colder.

“It was the drink, wasn’t it?” He asked groaning, rolling his eyes. You didn’t know if he was more furious with you or with himself for getting caught in such a basic trick.

“Of course it was.”

“Great. And what are you planning on doing with me chained to the bed?” He asked, testing the handcuffs connected to a chain.

“Tonight, August Walker, you will learn that you have to follow the rules. If not the one’s from the MI6, then at least mine.”

“Or what?” He crooked his eyebrow.

You smiled at him and opened your bathrobe to reveal what you wore underneath, which wasn’t more than a garter belt, stockings and a cord with the keys to the handcuffs around your neck.

He hissed as he took you in, his wrists fighting against the handcuffs, his muscles flexing. Slowly you let the bathrobe fall to the floor as you moved closer. You got on it, kneeling in between his legs, your hands in his crotch as you took the beauty of him in. Biting your lip of all the things you imagined doing to him, you sighed.

“Or I won’t fuck you.” You smiled sweetly at him.

“Like you could say no to my long and thick cock. Look how hard I already am for you.” He flashed you an arrogant grin..

You didn’t have to be told twice, staring down at the hard shaft throbbing right in front of you. The temptation of just sinking around him was strong but you pushed it away, sticking to the plan. You clicked your tongue at him, sitting down in between his legs spreading yours over his.

“Fuck!” He cursed in a low voice since now you wet pussy was in full display but completely out of his reach. He fought against his restraints, his breath picking up speed..

“See Mr. Walker…” You smirked, voice soft and sultry, your hands wandering over your body, ignoring him completely. You pinched your nipple, making yourself gasp, your other hand slowly running down your body letting one finger flick over your clit.

“As much as I would love for you to fuck me senseless like in the past…” You continued to play with your pussy, your hand knowing just what to do to pleasure yourself. “Tonight, you are not in charge. You are going to make me cum over and over again. And maybe if you behave well enough, you get to cum inside of me. Maybe, if you’re a really good boy, I’ll even let you fuck my ass.” You looked at him, seeing sweat form on his forehead as he watched you play with yourself. You whimpered as you pushed two fingers inside while massaging your breast with the other.

“But… I have to be sure if you’ll follow the rules in the future before you get to cum inside of me.” You bit your lip as you began to fuck yourself with your fingers, finding that spot inside of you that made you see stars.

Closing your eyes you forgot about the man in front of you, chasing your orgasm. Moans left your lips and you could hear the handcuffs rattle, his thighs shifting underneath your legs. You ignored him as you felt your orgasm wash over you, his name on your lips.

Panting, you opened your eyes, meeting his dark blue ones.

“You are going to regret this once you unchain me, kitten.” He growled and you grinned wickedly as you crawled over him to straddle his stomach. You pushed your wet fingers in his mouth hearing him moan as he tasted you.

“Who says, I am going to unchain you, August?” You grinned down at him.

“You gonna keep me here as your fuck pet?” He asked, words muffled around your fingers.

“A very nice idea. How about you earn your way to freedom, hm?”

“And how do I do that?”

“What was your record again? 6 times?” You rolled your hips on top of him, drenching his chest hair with your juices. He nodded.

“Then how about this: I’ll unchain you once you make me cum 8 times? And because I’m feeling generous, the one I just had also counts.”

You continued to roll your hips on top of him as he looked up at you.

“Deal.” He grinned with such confidence you almost faltered, but did the best to cover up with a smirk to match his.

“You sure you're up to this, August? Without your magical hands?” You teased, both of your hands on his shoulders, as you rubbed your pussy over his stomach trying to get some friction.

“I think you know my tongue is more than enough.”

“Right. I always wanted to shut you up like this.”

You grinned as you inched forward, your pussy just over his face. You almost screamed in ecstasy when he brought his head up and licked on stripe from back to front, moaning as he tasted you. With one hand on the headboard, the other hand in his curls you let him devour you.

There’s one thing August Walker doesn’t step back from and that is a challenge. After he made you cum for the third time with his tongue, your body was slick with sweat, your chest heaving and your pussy throbbing with overstimulation. All you wanted was for him to fuck you senseless. And he knew it. You got off him, letting yourself fall down beside him as you tried to catch your breath.

“Already tired?” He asked in a mocking tone, despite being slightly out of breath. You turned your head towards him, noticing his face wet with your juices, a shit-eating grin on his swollen lips.

“Just catching my breath, big boy.” You smirked back.

“You know. You could always just give up. Unchain me and I won’t punish you too hard, little kitten.” He said.

“You’re not in charge here, August. I am. Though, I do think you deserve a little reward, don't you?” You asked. He said nothing as you carefully got on your knees, your legs still feeling like jelly and knelt next to his cock.

“I don’t think…” You let one finger run up from his balls to his tip, his skin burning hot and sticky with all the precum that had leaked out. “I have ever seen you this hard.” You looked at him, noticing his clenched jaw as he breathed hard.

“Do you want me to suck your cock, August? Do you want me to gag on your big fat cock?” You asked, leaning down and just kissing the tip. You licked your lips as you straightened up, tasting his precum and moaned pornographically. You didn’t wait for his answer as you parted your lips and took him as deep as you could, hearing him curse. You looked at him as you found a rhythm, your tongue licking the prominent vein on the underside feeling it pulse.

Releasing him with a plop, you closed your fist around him, continuing your torture.

“You wanna cum inside my mouth?” You asked, earning a beast-like growl.

“Once I get free, I’m gonna fill every hole in your body.” He hissed.

“Is that a threat I hear?” You grinned and spat into your hand before you continued to jack him off.

“It’s a promise, kitten.”

You saw his victorious grin a second before you felt his hand on your nape. Alarmed, you reached for the chain around your neck, hand coming up empty as August had already taken them. You had no idea at what point he had managed that and didn’t have much time to think about it as he held your face down and forced his cock in between your lips. He thrust into your mouth, his hand pulling your hair into a ponytail and keeping your head down forcing his cock deeper and deeper making you gag.

“You think you are in charge here, little kitten?”  He tugged on your hair, making you move up his body until he could kiss you hard.

“I am in charge of you. I’m in charge of you every second of the day. Even when you’re fucking your dildo in your shower. I always know what you do.” He hissed, looking deep into your eyes.

“I knew you would be here before you even knew it, kitten. Who do you think gave the MI6 the tip of where I was.” He grinned, making you gasp.

“And now quit the bullshit and fuck my cock before I really punish you.” He kissed you again, his teeth nibbling your upper lip.

Straddling his hips, immediately you took him deep inside of you, biting your lip as he settled inside of you perfectly. Like he always did.

“Fucking made for me.” He groaned, slapping your ass hard, as he thrust up into you, watching you like a hawk as he brought his hand up and unlocked the other cuff, releasing his left hand..

“You must have been really desperate for my pussy if you dislocated your own thumb to get out of the handcuffs.” You moaned, grinding on top of him. One of his hands massaged one of your breasts, while his other was on your ass moving your body on top of him.

“I haven’t had a pussy since the last time we fucked.”

“Liar.” You moaned, crying out loud when he slapped your ass hard.

“Do not call me a liar. I never lie.” He growled. You swallowed hard, looking down at him. His beautiful eyes staring back at you. Against your better judgement, you actually believed him.

“Okay.” You whispered, leaning down and crossing your arms around his neck as you kissed him. He began to thrust into you, slow and deep both of his hands on your ass, one of his fingers teasing your asshole.

“You really want me to fuck your ass?” He asked, smirking up at you.

“I want you to cum in my ass, August.” You whispered, biting his earlobe.

“You must be really desperate for my cock, huh?” He grinned, thrusting faster, holding you close against him. Your breathing got heavier, the familiar sparks in your lower belly returning.

“I missed you, August.” You whimpered, crying out as he fucked you into your fifth orgasm.  He kissed you almost tenderly as his hands pushed your hair out of your face. He looked at you as if he was seeing you for the first time.

“I want you on all fours.” He whispered. Still breathing heavily, you followed his command and weakly got yourself in position and turned your head to watch him.

August rubbed his chafed wrists before popping his thumb back in place like it was nothing, before he set the keys on the bedside table, flashing you a quick smirk.

“I really want to chain you up sometime,” He commented as he pulled a drawer open, fishing something out.

“The last time we did this, I had to carry you to the bathtub.” He said as you watched him stroke himself with a lot of lube, before you felt something cold on your ass. His finger played with your asshole, slowly forcing it in as his other hand played with your pussy.

“I’m gonna fuck you until you pass out under me, kitten.” He chuckled darkly as he shifted behind you, one of his hands on your hip as you felt the tip of his cock.

“Ready or not…” He said before he slowly pushed inside.

Before you met August 6 years ago you weren’t into anything kinky. You were freshly recruited into the MI6 and most of all, a virgin. You fell in love with him. All of him. In all of his wicked ways.

You both groaned loudly when he was fully inside. A sensation you probably would never get used to. And you never wanted to. He played with your clit as he fucked your ass.

“Always so fucking tight and ready for me.” He moaned as he began to thrust faster. You grabbed the bedsheet, meeting his thrusts.

“I want you to come away with me.” He groaned, fucking you harder.

“I want you to leave the shitshow of the MI6 and stay with me.”

He abandoned your clit only to pump two fingers into your pussy, his other hand on your stomach, pulling you with your back against his chest. You were a sobbing mess high on pleasure as you brought one of your hands behind you to his neck, holding onto him.

“Come away with me, kitten.” He whispered against your ear. Adding a third finger as he fingerfucked your pussy. You felt his movements become harder and even faster, finding yourself close to orgasm again.

“Come away with me and help me cleanse this planet.” He moaned against your ear.

Moaning his name you nodded, your other hand finding your clit, screaming when you came hard. You were shaking in his grip, holding on to him as he pushed you down on the matress, fucking you deeper as he finally reached his own orgasm, spilling his seed as deep as possible. You whimpered as he lay on top of you, still hard inside your ass.

“I’ll go with you, August.” You said quietly, still trying to get back to breathing properly.

“I was hoping you would say that.” He kissed you shoulder, pulling out of you and getting off the bed. You heard water running and turned around to look at him coming out of the bathroom, rubbing a washcloth over his cock. Parting your legs as he got back to bed, he settled still hard on top of you. You raised your eyebrow.

“I promised to fill all your holes, didn’t I?”

[heyitsyn]

White Carnation

Ex!Iwaizumi Hajime x Reader

a/n: iwa-chan being your ex is so painful and numbing

huhuhu angst isnt my forte but this is an exception bc chi is my sista

anon request: ex-boyfriend/childhood friend iwaizumi would be super angsty but i have no idea what they’d fight about ,, now imagine if after being kitaichi’s manager/medic, reader becomes karasuno’s medic/temporary manager (until kiyoko got recruited),, then she couldn’t come to the seijoh practice match so she has no idea her team fought her ex,,, only to find out during inter-high and everyone’s like wtf??? that spiky haired ace is your ex?? meanwhile kageyama’s like “yall didn’t know?” — chi

ong this finna be painful

so

its always been the three of you

with living across the oikawas came great perks

even way before you could remember, you were always with the 2 other boys: your neighbor across your house, tooru, and his best friend who practically lived there, hajime

hajime first saw you when you were covered in dirt after you were trying to catch a butterfly for tooru at the back and oikawa pushed you out of the way into a puddle of mud when he saw a bug

iwa stared at you then immediately said ‘my name is iwaijumi hajime. i think youre really pretty’

yep thats really how it went

and poor babie didnt know how to pronounce his ‘z’s yet so it sounds like ‘j’s :(

while tooru liked you because you werent like other girls who stayed inside and played dolls instead playing outside

you played with him at his back yard with the volleyball he owned and always made him laugh and have fun

iwa liked you because you didnt shy away from bugs, instead you were braver than tooru and even helped iwa look for any beetles and caught them for him to keep as pets

they liked you because you were like them

you were like one of the bois

but that kinda hurt you in the future

as you all grew up, you started going through yanno teenager things

like you started to have crushes

specifically on your best friend, iwaizumi hajime

thankfully tooru didnt see you like that and still saw you as one of the bois and saw you as that annoying twin sister

but unfortunately, iwa did too

every time you made an effort to do something to emphasize that you were, hello, a girl, he would laugh and tease you

‘hehe i didnt think you even knew what a dress was!’

was his comment when you came over wearing a yellow sundress with flats

tooru, who you shared these secrets with, gave you a worried glance but you smiled, covering up the hurt

‘meh. my mom forgot to dry my clothes so i had to wear these old clothes’

no, they werent old

they were just bought yesterday with the intention of finally being recognized as girl and complimented

but the person it was for, couldnt even be bothered to remember that you werent just one of the boys and that you possibly wanted to be told that you were pretty or cute

your other best friend noticed your quietness and he stood up from his crouching position and placed a hand on your shoulder, making you look at him

your teary eyes made him sigh but he grinned at you

‘its really pretty, y/n-chan! you should wear it more often! pretty things deserve to be seen and complimented’

god why couldnt you have a crush on oikawa tooru instead

why did it have to be towards the boy who was too caught up with catching bugs and playing ball to ever see you differently and has never said a single praise towards you?

‘what do you think, iwa-chan? isnt she pretty?’

oikawa hinted but hajime remained his eyes on the tv as the players hit the ball, too distracted to even be bothered to look at you

‘she looks the same’

he mumbled and your nose stung and eyes watered, looking down to hide the wobbling of your lips

‘its okay, kawa-chan. can i wear your clothes for now? i dont like this dress thats why i never wore it’

oikawa tried to stop you but you were already straight up the stairs and towards his room

he angrily stomped over to iwa and slapped his arm, startling the other boy and him snarling in pain

‘what the-’

‘youre so dumb. youre so mean. i wonder where she went wrong and what she saw. seriously’

he ranted and moved to sit back on the floor but not before kicking iwaizumi, making him fall on his side

‘OI KUSOKA-’

‘so whos winning?’

your voice interrupted iwa’s mid-scream and he looked up from the floor to see you wearing an alien hoodie and a pair of basketball shorts that were a little too loose so they drooped by your knees

your originally curled and elegantly braided hair was now pulled up into a bun by a scrunchie that you left around the house from years ago

there was a bit of redness around your eyes and iwa scrambled up to check if you were okay since your face looked swollen

‘oi, did you eat something weird? your face is all red so youre probably having a reaction’

he fretted and you watched as his hands glided across your face and held you by the shoulders to take a closer look

‘yea, a reaction from a bad reaction’

thankfully iwa was too busy checking to hear oikawa snarkily whisper and you sent him a glare that made him quiet down

‘haji-kun, im fine’

you dismissed and side stepped to go sit next to oikawa, completely brushing him off

now iwa was confused

you would usually smile up at him, say ‘aw~ are you worried about me, haji-kun?’ then skip over 

not frown and act so coldly

‘oi, y/n, what-’

‘lets go to the bakery! theres a sale going on there!’

oikawa shouted which made you jolt in surprise

he knew of his best friend’s beginning interrogation but he knew you were too upset to be bothered by hajime’s questions

‘they have a buy one get one sale on milk bread! and those-those treats you like! theyre on sale too!’

omg oikawa is a real one 🥺

oikawa blinked harshly at you to go along with the act and you stuttered and nodded

‘uh-eung! yea!’

that was probably the moment that iwaizumi started noticing

except he thought it was a pining between his best friends rather than you towards him

ofc iwa was a loyal friend

he thought that you and oikawa were two people who were crushing on each other yet too afraid to say anything

tbh he shouldve seen this coming because duh you were an incredibly pretty girl and oikawa was the handsomest guy in the whole area!

it was almost,,, natural for you both to gravitate towards each other

maybe thats why,,,

he started to distance himself to give you both the space and want without him in between

maybe thats why,,,

he started to feel these feelings of,, jealousy?? like he started to feel a little scared and honestly he wasnt sure who to be jealous of bc he knew once you started dating, you’d both be too busy to hang out with him

maybe thats why,,,

he was no longer your friend 

iwaizumi hajime became a simple stranger you would just pass by in the hall

it happened around the 2nd year of middle school

you and oikawa were still close friends but you have drifted away into not being as close while you and iwaizumi became,,,, distant

basically strangers

the boy you used to dream about when you were 8 and dreamt of marrying once you were old enough

he was no longer him

before, you and iwa were actually really close without oikawa

like you would hang out when oikawa was too busy with takeru

you both would go to the arcade and play games with no fear of oikawa whining and complaining to take turns

you had a lot of fun together and yet, all of a sudden, everything stopped

because iwa knew how,,, possessive oikawa was

he thought that if he were to continue being friends with you, he would risk losing his best friend out of jealousy or misunderstandings and he didnt want that precious bond to be ruined by a girl

even if that girl,,,

was you

thats why it was so awkward when you came over to oikawa’s house after so long and seeing him there, eating breakfast in the kitchen

your best friend didnt want to tell you that iwa spent the night bc quite frankly, oikawa was already fed up with this

you think he didnt know?

you think he didnt know that iwa distanced himself due to an unknown misunderstanding?

you think he didnt know that you also distanced yourself due to being hurt as he casted you aside?

and oikawa was also worried

he didnt want to ever bring up your name with iwa bc to be honest, he didnt think iwa even liked you all that much

he thought that iwa only tolerated you for so long bc you were the only girl who wasnt in love with oikawa and knew you long enough to be comfortable w you

but babie oiks is misunderstood that :(

he didnt want to ever bring up his name with you bc he knew how sensitive it was for you and how sad and pained you were when he suddenly stopped even replying to your texts

one time when you cornered him, he looked angry and gently pushed you back and quickly walked away 

no he was scared that oikawa could see you both and misunderstand

‘just,,, stay away from me, okay? its better this way’

god you wanted to scream at him and shout at him and punch him but he kept silent and refused to answer your questions and refused to acknowledge your existence

you were so confused and you were just so hurt and eventually, you became indifferent to him and treated him the same way

anyways

you stepped into the house, not even bothering to shout your arrival and quickly wandered through the hallway before turning the corner to go to the kitchen 

but you stopped, seeing the familiar hair with olive eyes eating breakfast on the kitchen island, also stopping with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth at the sight of you

your gazes clashed and you blinked before your lips formed into a thin line, turning and going to the fridge and look for food

iwa wasnt surprised

he figured you were both getting closer to dating and you were already basically living in his house

it all makes sense

BRUH THEYVE BEEN FRIENDS SINCE THEY WERE LTR BORN LIKE BLS THEYRE JUST SIBLINGS

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE

‘h-how are you’

he mumbled, trying to fix the awkward silence while cursing inside of how long oikawa was taking to shit

you hummed, taking a water bottle and slamming the fridge door shut, harder than necessary

‘oh, now you see me?’

you really didnt mean for it to be a snarky comment but it came out before you even realized what you said

he winced

‘listen, im-’

‘oh? youre here, y/n-chan!’

oikawa’s voice cut him off and he returned back to his bowl of rice, leaving you standing there furrowing your brows

you shrugged, already knowing that hajime was like this, so you turned to look at oikawa with a wrinkled nose at the sound of the toilet flushing

‘tooru, did you drink straight milk again? you know how it makes your stomach upset’

you chided and tooru turned red at the implication of his dookie

‘o-oi! y/n-chan! of course id know if i was lactose intolerant!’

i just think how funny it would be like the irony of his love for milk bread yet being lactose intolerant at the same time 

he huffed and you nodded but not exactly believing him

‘kay kay’

you teased and walked to the living room but oikawa caught you in a headlock and he ruffled your hair while you complained and whined to let you go

you were giggling as tooru was giving you noogies, feeling the tension leave your body

all while iwa was watching

maybe it was because he stopped hanging out with you and havent seen you like this for almost  a year

so carefree and so happy as you scored higher than him at the hoop game and he would begrudgingly let you hug him when he managed to win you a doll from the claw machine

but yea he definitely forgot your smile

he forgot how it looked like bc the last time you met gazes, you sent him a hurt glance and looked away and he knew he deserved that

god he hated it

but no, he was doing this for tooru

he was doing this because his best friend liked someone who actually deserved him

but dear god why did it hurt

iwa was starting to wonder if he made the right choice

he could easily handle you two dating

right?

maybe that was when iwa started to realize,,, he was starting to feel different towards you

the time apart definitely made him remember why he was friends with you

you weren’t like those girls he saw in tv or outside with the frilly clothes and the makeup and the fancy hair

no that wasnt you

you were different

you were too lazy to even pick out a cute outfit, opting for comfort with one of their sweatshirts and sweatpants

you preferred to chase after butterflies rather than sitting inside bc hajime’s adventurous spirit latched itself on to you too

you would usually climb the tree to get the volleyball that got stuck up in the branches bc tooru was too scared of heights and you wanted to prove your strength and capability

god you were so different

what if you liked him instead?

iwa startled himself with that thought in the middle of eating and caused him to choke on his rice

tooru noticed him coughing violently so he grabbed the water bottle from your hand and threw it straight towards the boy

iwa snapped the cap open,not caring where that water came from, and chugged it down before sighing in relief after the quite scary situation

you then realized what happened and you turned red, speedwalking into the living room

oiks totally didnt do that on purpose and he was doing the lenny face at you before switching masks and wearing a worried one for iwa

‘iwa-chan! you need to slow down!’

he chided and iwaizumi yelled at him to be quiet, completely clueless to the fact that he just shared an indirect kiss with you

but you did and lordie did you hate it

from then on,,,

iwa was just seeing you everywhere

iwa saw you from his classroom when you would go hang out with your new friends outside 

he noticed you not even being too loud, only speaking up when asked while the others opted to continue talking about nonsense you probably gave no care about with how you secretly rolled your eyes

those moments made him laugh

the next time you both ran into each other was during his morning practice

oikawa phoned you in the morning while you were getting ready, saying he accidentally left his knee pads at home and he was already at school but you werent so he wanted you to bring them to him

you knew damn well that iwaizumi hajime would be there but you didnt care because youre not even friends anymore after he just dropped you like that

YES SISTER WE DESERVE BETTER

so thats why you found yourself pushing the metal gym door open at 6 in the morning and shouting oikawa’s name

his eyes brightened at your voice and he dropped the ball to run towards you by the door

‘oh my god thank you so much, y/n-chan!’

he shouted and hugged you out of excitement while you cringed and hit him to get off of you

‘ew dont touch me trashykawa’

you mumbled and he whined, finally stepping away with a pout

iwa was watching you both from the side and he blinked, wondering if you were trying a new hairstyle

if not, then you changed something bc currently, you practically glowing to him

he watched you scold oikawa for being forgetful and him begging for forgiveness but also thanking you before he was scoldede again by the coach

but the coach was relieved that he could finally play with the proper equipment and not risk anymore injuries

oikawa was already bidding you good bye and you were about to turn to leave when you finally met the many gazes of iwaizumi hajime

your eyebrows unconsciously furrowed together and your lips turned to a frown then you sharply turned and walked through the doors

unbeknownst to him, oikawa watched as his best friend’s face turned hurt at your expression and remained staring at the door you just went out of even when you were already gone

‘iwa-chan, lets get to practice’

after that 

iwa has concluded god has decided to be mean to him

bc who was giving him these weird heart attacks and tummy aches at the simple sight of you?

literally he ignored you for a good time yet now hes noticing you again?

what kinda unfairness-

but you proved to accept his previous behavior by not even giving him a single glance anymore

that made him sad so iwa would sometimes stop doing what hes doing so he could freely stare at you laugh at something a classmate said during class

thats totally not creepy iwa lol

he doesnt even know hes doing it sometimes bc hes so absorbed on trying to figure out the answers of his questions

but the worst was when he got caught

you sat at the very front and oikawa and iwa sat at the back 

it was lunchtime and you were eating with a few girls and a guy from another class and yall were laughing and talking together

iwa had oikawa and these other guys makki and matsukawa from the class next door to eat lunch with

can i please just dream that our third year seijoh boys were actually friends since the very beginning like pls and thanks

oikawa was rambling about how some girl giving him cookies the other day when he noticed iwa not listening but staring at you while moving his chopsticks around

poor iwa-chan was confused as to how even with messy hair, you still looked beautiful?

like no matter what angle or how you turned, the light always seemed to hit you perfectly to accent out your features

how was that possible?

‘-and she just-iwa-chan? iwaizumi?’

he called out and said boy jolted, eyes widening at the confused, bored, and knowing eyes

‘hm?’

‘oh? were you looking at y/n-chan?’

oikawa teased and the gojira fanboy waved his hands around to deny that statement

but makki chuckled and leaned in

‘hm, wouldnt blame ya. shes really pretty you know? some guy in our class saw the girls ranking and shes in the top 5′

okay iwa was angry

was it because everyone else noticed how pretty you are?

was it because you were part of this list?

was it because his own friend said you were pretty?

why did he even care anyways?!

oikawa smirked at the clenched fist under the table and decided to poke fun even more

‘oh really? well, it doesnt really matter because its always the girl’s decision right? but most of the time, their choice is utter trash’

the meme duo shared a confused look

‘hah? what are you going on about, oikawa’

oikawa internally apologized to you after what hes about to do because hes so tired and exhausted of having to be so careful and walking on eggshells between you two

so he did an oikawa move

‘yanno how y/n-chan and i have been friends since we were little ducklings right? so ages ago, like ages ago, little y/n-chan had a crush on this brute bc for some reason she thought he was brave or something and apparently thats appealing to girls rather than the nice and gentlemanly type. but of course, yanno how this goes, he pooped up and now hes stuck on doing this weird stalking staring thing. right, iwa-chan~?’

okay im sorry i take it back oikawa is a bitch

iwa shook

you,,, had a what on who?!

a crush on him?!

is he the brute?!

so it wasnt oikawa?

it was to him?

then why did you act like that?

why did you both act like that?

‘what’

iwaizumi mumbled and he met oikawa’s pointed gaze

‘hmm,,,, you dont have to worry about it anymore though since theyre not even friends anymore. but listen to me and listen well, makki, mattsun, if you hurt a girl even once, theyre never going to forget it. my sister said that apparently theres this little voice in their head that tells them that theyre going to get hurt again and thats where their trust issues begin to develop and--IWA-CHAN WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!’

iwa was already out of his seat and straight walking towards you and your group before stopping beside your chair

your friends quieted down at the sight of the known boy and you blinked then turned your head to see him, your eyes instantly turning dark and looking away immediately

‘what the hell do you want’

you hissed and natsu almost choked on his rice ball if it wasnt for another girl patting his back

‘it was me, right? all along, not oikawa, but me?’

his meek voice made you look up in confusion

‘what are you talking-’

‘you chose me instead him’

then it was like a click that you realized what he said

‘how did you know’

‘i-i’

he stuttered but was cut off when the teacher finally arrived to announce the end of lunch and iwa was forced to go back to his seat

the whole class time, you would sneak glances back and iwa would be staring at his paper while oikawa would wink at you and give you smirks

OH GOD HE TOLD HIM

after class you stomped up to the brunette haired boy 

‘how could you?! why did you tell-’

‘lets talk, y/n? please?’

iwa was holding your arm and you glared at him before turning away and walking away

oikawa patted him on the shoulder in good luck and whispered,

‘get your girl’

the rooftop ledge looked really delicious right now

no words were exchanged so you were both just silent with you staring at him while he was looking off to the side

‘so what? now you know and so what do you want?’

you spoke first and iwa guiltily met your eyes

‘everything was,,, a mess. i misunderstood and i didnt communicate and i,,, messed up’

he mumbled the last part but you caught it perfectly causing you to scoff

‘damn right you did. so now you know and then youre going to do the cliche thing they do in those dramas where you magically profess your love for me and-’

‘hey y/n lets date’

you froze and looked at him shocked with wide eyes and jaw dropped

‘excuse me? who are you to say that?!’

you shrieked

‘first you think i have some big crush on tooru and this caused you to basically drop me like a damn pencil and second youre asking me to date you? iwaizumi hajime i thought you were always the smarter one. what the hell are you spouting you damn imbecile-’

iwa did the only thing he thought of

he quickly leaned forward and pecked your lips

he saw some guy do it in a telenovela that his mom watched a week ago and that was how the girl got silent so iwa thought it would be smart to shut you up that way

and it worked

bc you were so conflicted: angry, confused, sad, happy

you was the whole range of emotions in one second

‘i was stupid. and i was dumb. i wanted to give you and shittykawa space because i thought he liked you and he would be mad and misunderstand if we continued hanging out without him. but you shouldve told me you liked me, baka. maybe i wouldve come to like you back’

iwa rambled but your eyes watered and you huffed, slapping him across the face but pulled his collar to kiss him again

tbh iwa was shook bc he got 2 kisses in a row today and hes never been kissed before and its from this really pretty girl

‘how dare you kiss me and still not like me’

you seethed when you pulled away

but iwa held your hands

‘im starting to come to. give me time and i’ll accept your confession’

and give him time you did bc you finally were able to try and mend that friendship again and soon, you were already starting to fall back in love with him 

but iwa also

during the end of your 2nd year, iwa nervously tugged you to the rooftop and you smirked

‘what? you gonna profess your love for me haji-kun?’

you teased and expected him to laugh and smack you gently but he didnt

he turned red and he looked down at his shoes as he magically produced a flower out of nowhere

‘please accept me, y/n!’

he shouted while holding out the single white carnation

your eyebrows scrunched and you grabbed the flower from his hands before punching him weakly

‘stupid! stupid haji-kun! i already accepted you! since we were five! how could you not see my feelings’

you whimpered, trying to hide the blush on your face but he smothered you to a hug, making you both topple over in the process

you had the cliched term of ‘summer love’

of course you still hung out with tooru but you both would hang out other days just you both

like you and iwa liked going over to some old playground by your house and you both would watch the sky on top of the slide assembly while talking about stupid stuff and the future

‘haji-kun, do you know what you want to be when youre old?’

you asked and he turned his head to look at you but you were focused on the stars

‘gojira’

he simply replied and you giggled, reaching over to hit his chest

‘baka. you cant be gojira-san’

iwa found himself giggling with you before he reached down to softly interwine your fingers and hold them up to look at them

‘hm, i dont really know. maybe a volleyball player. or someone in the volleyball team, i dont know’

you hummed, knowing him and tooru’s shared love for the sport

‘i wanna be a doctor. i want to save lives and help people and make money too! my mothers friend offered to intern me but apparently im still too young’

you pouted

iwa listened to you but then a lightbulb rang in his head

‘oi, y/n’

he started and you looked at him

‘you can be our manager. or medic. or doctor person. that bastard is going to push himself even harder because naoki-senpai gave him that damn position and he might kill himself trying to beat that farmer dude. besides, shittykawa is going to be the captain next year and i’ll be vice so youd easily get it anyways. so you in?’

you blinked at him before breaking out to a smile

‘eung! i wanna see my baby play what he loves!’

iwa’s face contorted to disgust

‘bABy?! iM nOt a BABY! im A mAn!! mAN!!’

‘mhm, okay. my mans, haji bara arms is my mans’

your relationship is very balanced with the perfect ratio of crackhead and seriousness and understanding bc as we ALL KNOW EVERYTHING STARTED W A MISUNDERSTANDING

like if he accidentally said something that hurt your feelings like that dress incident from years ago btw you brought it up to him and told him you were practically traumatized by that and he kept on apologizing and appearing at your doorstep with a white carnation in apology you would gently tell him bc communication is K E Y and he would tell you sorry and you guys would understand and make up

you guys were so lovey dovey that ltr oikawa would fake gag and throw up to the side when he catches you guys even doing things like holding hands

like bls he sees that flesh to flesh contact and he wretches his breakfast

‘ew, its the settling down for me’

‘its the flatness of the ass for me’

you stuck your tongue out while he pouted and iwa looked so proud like oml

you guys were still at the honeymoon phase where everything was peaches and rainbows and it continued until your 3rd year

as mentioned above, iwa basically gave you the managerial position

like yall were walking to school during the first day talking about how worried yall were at passing your classes when suddenly he was all like ‘ill see you in the gym later?’

you smiled and blinked confusingly

‘hm? you want a cheerleader there, baby?’

he flushed red at the nickname and furrowed his eyebrows

‘baka, stop calling me that’

you giggled and dodged his gentle smack but he grabbed your hand and pulled you close to his chest

‘i thought we already agreed that you would be our medic slash manager? i mean, it could give you experience for the future right?’

you rested your chin on his front to look up at him and your face held a teasing smirk

‘hmmm~~~ haji-kun just admit it. you want me to be there to cheer you on~’

you teased and nuzzled your cheek on him

iwa scoffed but he couldnt help a soft smile appearing

‘i mean-yea, but its for the future so ill help you every way i can’

‘oya? the future? will you marry me in the future, haji-kun?’

‘MARRY?! HOW DID YOU GET MARRY OUT OF THAT, BRAT’

‘AAWWWWW DONT BE SUCH A TSUNTSUN HAJI-KU-ACKDKJFSLKJNOT THE HAIR!!!’

sure enough you were at the gym after school

the coaches knew you werent a fangirl of oikawa bc hes seen you since the very beginning and oikawa clears you are actually a sister to him and you were fit for the job

ofc hes captain and someone as good as oikawa was going to get what he wants

the gym was full of newbies and recruits hoping to get into the powerhouse team and your eyes scanned to find those ridiculously pretty olive eyes that belonged to your beloved-

‘HAJI-KUN~~!!!’

you waved and shouted loudly, gaining his and everyone else’s attention as well

the underclassmen cooed and awed at you bc their senpai who was famous for being really pretty was in the building

‘waaaa its l/n-senpai’

‘shes so pretty’

‘oMG shes righT iN FroNT oF me!!’

yea you get the gist

the poor ‘haji-kun’ was shrinking under the attention and was growling at oikawa’s teasing look but he begrudgingly held his arms out for you to run into them and snuggle into him

‘hmmm i missed you, haji-kun. im really sad we’re in different classes this year. but then again! i can be here with you!’

you pouted and he ruffled your hair affectionately

‘why else do you think i offered it brat’

oikawa rolled his eyes and gagged before taking your arm to the coach so he could sort you out

‘honestly! not in front of the children, okay?!’

but everything was quickly resolved and you were finally officially their manager/medic

you did managerial duties and you were the go-to when someone falls harshly or gets hurt in any way

in between homework, school, reading medical books, and practice, you and iwa havent spent a lot of time together and tbh that was quite straining your relationship??

like it was something that you saw coming and you both even had a talk about it but you still feel like you didnt prepare enough when it did come

one day, it was monday and there was no practice so you and iwa were walking home together

he squeezed your hand occassionally and you would sing and hum while walking

and omg his heart would balloon up when you would smile up at him and giggle when you would catch him staring

he honestly thought youd both hang out and just lay on the couch, snuggle, yanno the routine

but once you pulled out your textbooks, notebooks, and pens, he was confused

like he even held your hands and stopped you from pulling anything else out

‘y/n? i thought we were,, watching a movie or something?’

you blinked and shook your head

‘i need to study for a test and i still need to memorize how to treat a sprain, haji-kun. there’s more important things to do right now. maybe later?’

more important things?!

more important than showering you with love?

more important than even spending a second with him?

now, dont get him wrong, iwaizumi hajime was by no means a clingy and possessive boyfriend

he understood the boundaries and he understood the priorities

but dear god its been WEEKS since he even hung out w you since your entire schedule seemed to throw him out of loop and acted as if he didnt exist

and now, he was aggrivated and irritated and he wanted nothing but to just cuddle his girlfriend

you noticed his huff and pout but he remained silent

you quirked an eyebrow and placed your pen down

‘haji? whats wrong?’

his eyes snapped to you and you knew now he was angry

‘oh? were you able to spare a few seconds for dear old me?’

you were taken aback and you knew there was a fight brewing so you hid your growing irritation and calmly put your things aside

‘hajime, what are you on about?’

you pried and he looked shocked, almost offended

‘what am i on about? what am i on about? y/n, do you know the last time i even came over? the last time i held you and just talked?’

his voice got louder by every word and you quickly stood up 

‘dont you dare raise your voice at me, hajime. if we have a problem, we talked over it calmly. we dont yell or shout, nothing gets resolved. we talked about this’

but he scoffed

‘talked? when was that? when did we actually just talk? hm? because I sure as hell dont remember it’

youve only seen hajime angry once and it was when you lied to him to go spend time with oikawa

okay in your defense, oikawa was having a panic attack and he begged you not to tell iwa because he didnt want to be scolded by iwa even though you kept telling him that iwa wasnt like that

and theres a reason as to why its only been a one-time thing because iwa was known to have patience that was as long as the damn nile river

except for oikawa bc it seems oikawa just cuts that patience by a million

and when he finally snaps, its when he couldnt take it anymore and he finally gets loose

when iwaizumi hajime was angry,  you really done it

you didnt really know how you handled that anger so you were at a loss and you were feeling conflicted and pained at the way he looked at you

‘h-hajime,,,’

you started and he looked at you expectantly

‘well? when did we last actually talk outside the school premises y/n?’

there was that inner witty voice of yours that wanted to say ‘right now?’ but you held it in bc he was completely serious

‘hajime, please understand. i-i dont want to let anyone down! my grades! the team! i-’

‘but what about me, y/n?’

he tiredly asked

‘do those things-those people- matter more than me? and i really really dont want to ask that but im so so confused y/n’

despite sounding manipulative, you knew iwa was feeling defeated and he couldnt help but ask those questions and sound so desperate

so you scrambled to sit next to him on the couch and held him against you

‘of course you matter to me-haji you mean everything to me, you understand? god, if an adult hears me theyd think im crazy but i love you, hajime. i love you and im so sorry if i ever made you feel that way because i really didnt mean to, okay? im so sorry’

you sobbed and he turned to fully envelop you into his arms and he sighed contently, remembering how good it felt to have you right there

‘no, im sorry, doll. i was being clingy and i didnt mean to lash out, i-’

you slightly let go and cupped his face

‘nonono you were perfectly valid. what you felt was perfectly reasonable. i havent been a good girlfriend lately, huh?’

you sadly smiled but he kissed you, holding you even closer

‘youre always a good one to me. always. just with a not good schedule but we can fix that, right?’

SORRY I REALLY DONT KNOW HOW TO WRITE A FIGHTING SCENE BC ITS ANGSTY AND I DONT DO WELL WITH ANGST BC IT MAKES ME CRY 😭

tbh that was really your only big fight

even when you guys graduated middle school, you both were still quite happy and you both worked hard to make time for each other

HOWEVER

when high school arrived, you both had chosen an extremely hard decision

you chose to go to karasuno while oikawa and iwa went to seijoh

which was a,,,, hard and difficult decision

in fact, you both didnt have a fight per se, just a disagreement that ended in like 30 minutes lmao

tbh its so scary and concerning of how rarely you both have bad times and how quickly it gets resolved

BUT THEN AGAIN THIS IS AN ANGST REQUEST SO ILL OF COURSE BRING IN THE SADNESS

you were busy with karasuno and you were actually taking college courses since you wanted to have a good record if you ever wanted to get into a medical field

that meant you had a lot of homework and most of your time was spent with schoolwork or interning for that family friend mentioned earlier

and you were also a manager for the volleyball team bc karasuno is a butt and they require you to have an after school club

so that meant,,,

no time for iwa

and fate just so happens to hate you bc the days you did have off, he would be busy with volleyball and he wouldnt be able to spend time with you

even weekends were like that

eventually, you both went for 2 months with no contact, just a few text messages and calls

and that strained your former strong relationship

and you knew that iwa was getting angry again with how he even typed his responses

‘want me to bring over snacks for the team?’

‘its okay. wouldnt want you to waste time or anything’

like that type of bull

you were getting increasingly worried because you havent had a good proper time to talk to him about it and you didnt want to fight over the phone

your best friend, kiyoko, noticed your anxious ticks and she snapped you out of your current daydream

‘hey? y/n? you okay?’

she gently asked and you blinked before nodding

‘mhm. just,,, thinking’

but she didnt buy that lie because you went back to chewing your lips and eyes even watering

‘i can revise your notes for you, y/n. and the team isnt doing anything big so i can handle it. you just go see him after school bc i cant handle you being sad anymore’

kiyoko gently smiled and you almost cried bc finally! you were able to clear your schedule enough to go visit your boyfriend

at the end of the school day, you bolted out of there and you were running and huffing all the way to seijoh bc you really wanted to talk to him as soon as possible

the gym was clear in view and you smiled, looking forward to seeing your beloved boy, when you saw him and oikawa being surrounded by girls

now keep in mind, youve suffered through middle school with oikawa and you were his best friend and has known him since you were a toddler

so you know of his looks and the attraction it brought him from all the females

so that didnt really bother you 

but what bothered you was the horde of girls that stuck on to your boyfriend and he didnt even look bothered

just,,, blank

not even pushing away or feeding into their actions

just,,, standing there

‘haji?’

you called out and as if he had a built-in sensor for you, his ears twitched and he swiveled to look at you

‘y/n’

he breathed out and you smiled gently

iwa quickly moved away from the girls and he grabbed your hand so you both could go somewhere else to talk privately

the back of the gym was quiet and you leaned against the wall, iwa joining you shortly

‘how-how are you?’

you asked and he scoffed, totally surprising you

‘is this how we are y/n? asking each other questions as if we’re friends who are meeting for the first time in a while? wait--actually we are arent we?’

you grimaced and looked to the side, knowing he starts his stages of anger with being passive aggressive

‘haji,, please understand’

you pleaded and swiveled to stand in front of him

iwa didnt meet your eyes, instead shoving his hands in his pants pockets and eyes trained to his shoes as he kicked rocks

‘y/n, ive been trying,, for months ive been understanding. please dont ask me to understand anymore’

he snipped and you sniffed

‘im doing this because-because my grades are starting to matter! my future is resting on these years! i have to-’

‘dont you think i know that?!’

he cut you off harshly

your eyes were shaking at his attempt to calm himself down and his trembling hands

‘dont you think i know that you are doing this for that? because ive known you since i was five y/n and i know you would push everything-everyone- else aside to reach a damn goal of yours. no matter the cost, as long as you get it, right? well youve always been like that and somehow i still accepted that yet years later here we are’

iwa waved his arms around to accentuate his point and hurt was bubbling inside your chest at a subtle jab at your flaw

‘well im sorry mr. volleyball ace player! im not talented in any area so i have to depend on my studies to get me a future! so fck me for trying to survive and create a life for us!’

‘us?! how is this for us?! y/n we cant even last a single year being apart and youre already thinking ahead of the future?!’

‘im doing this for you! for us! just wait hajime! we will be happy-’

‘I DONT CARE IF ITS FOR THE FCKING FUTURE! I WANT TO BE HAPPY WITH YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! AND WHY DOES THE FCKING FUTURE MATTER SO DAMN MUCH WHEN WE CANT EVEN-’

‘BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND I WANT TO BE WITH YOU!’

you shrieked

‘HOW CAN YOU LOVE ME IF YOURE NOT LOVING ME?!’

he huffed and harshly wiped away tears that fell

your lips trembled, hands shakingly reaching out to grasp his arms

‘ha-hajime,, don-’

‘should we break up?’

was he asking you this right now? 

seriously?

‘what?’

you whispered and he finally looked up to let you see his pained eyes

‘y/n do you know what day it was yesterday?’

he asked and you blinked, looking everywhere as you tried to remember any important events

‘t-tuesday?’

that seemed to snap his patience 

with an angry grunt, he turned to punch the wall and crouch to hide his face in his hands

‘damn it, y/n’

he whimpered and your heart broke as you could hear his cries

then it clicked

anniversary

it was your 2nd anniversary

and you completely missed it

completely forgotten

you shrunk back and let out a cry before placing a hand over your mouth to muffle your cries

‘ha-haji-’

you sniffled and you tried to go closer to him but he wiped his eyes and stood back up

‘y/n lets break up’

iwa requested with a cracked smile

your eyes widened and you ran to his chest, wrapping your arms around him as if you let go, he would disappear

‘haji, we can talk about this! we cant-please dont do this-i can fix this-’

‘we will only hurt ourselves even more if we continue this. i dont want us to hurt anymore y/n. so please, for once, listen to me’

your heart shattering cries filled your space and he didnt think it was this hard until he finally said it

it was a decision that he has been hanging around for a while and even consulted oikawa about it

‘iwa-chan, if you love y/n so much, its best to let her go. dont make you both suffer anymore’

‘i cant-hajime youre it for me-please dont leave-’

you hiccuped and continued to sob

but iwa remained a pillar and squeezed you tightly against him

‘darling i believe we were meant to be. but we just did it all wrong. when the time is right, lets start over again’

he whispered, finally breaking down with you in his arms

-------

iwaizumi hajime became a taboo word for you

even with oikawa, he swore and vowed to never say either of your names and made sure that you would not be around the area when iwa would come over

like even when he knew iwa would just stay inside, he would be constantly on the lookout to make sure you both didnt see each other

the last time was when you both saw each other in the morning as you exited your house to walk to school

it must’ve been a few months after the breakup and even oikawa felt the raw pain hovering in the air

it was suffocating and oikawa had to motion you to walk because if you both stayed even a second, someone-or both- would start crying

you continued like that for years until you reached your third year

you continued being part of the volleyball team as the medic while kiyoko was the manager

the new recruits were causing up a storm and you were particularly fond of your kita kouhai kageyama tobio

‘kageyama? kageyama tobio?’

you asked once you caught sight of the familiar looking blueberry

he looked up and recognized you as his former manager

‘l/n-senpai!’

he shouted and you ran up to give the boy a hug

‘gosh! youre so tall now! i remembered when you were wee tall!’

you teased and ruffled his hair

‘uh-you know him, y/n?’

suga asked and you nodded

‘eung! we went to the same middle school and i was a manager there’

‘she was friends with iwa-’

ope

something flashed in your eyes 

kiyoko knew that name bc of how you were so depressed about it for 2 years and she started shouting random nonsense, scaring the 2nd and first years

‘y/n! we got new medical tape!’

she sang out and you perked up

‘finally?! we dont have to use duct tape anymore?!’

you excitedly ran over and everyone was both shook that kiyoko was loud and two, you were actually excited over medical tape

kageyama shrugged and continued on training

he kinda figured something happened so he never said anything or asked you anything in fear of upsetting you

and when it was announced that you were going to a practice match with seijoh, kiyoko actually told you she would cover it to make sure you dont see him there

‘its fine, y/n, i got you’

but ofc, you couldnt skip inter high

ltr an event when anyone in the team could get injured so you forced yourself to just ignore it and go

you did a good job of hiding whenever he was in view until the time they actually faced each other

you were walking alongside kiyoko and settling some things down at the bench when you felt his stare

you grimaced at his intense stare and the entire team mistakenly took it as him being interested in you

‘HAH?! LOOK AWAY YOU BEANSPROUT!’

noya growled

‘YEA! DONT LOOK!’

ofc hinata echoed

the 3 seijoh third years exchanged looks of unease when iwa sighed and looked away

‘oi! dont do that, boke!’

kageyama chided and hit the orange boy with a water bottle at the head

hinata whined and glared at him

‘that porcupine was looking at l/n-senpai! he wants to steal her!’

‘boke-’

‘doesnt matter anyways. we broke up ages ago’

you tried to say it jokingly but they couldnt miss the crack in your voice

‘hah?! he broke up with you?! you?! goddess l/n-san?!’

tanaka raged and noya had his own face of shock

the famous seijoh ace dated you?!

this handsome bara arms muscle buff man had the priviledge to date you and yet broke up with you?!

‘yall didnt know that?’

kageyama questioned and everyone glared at him

‘how do you know’

‘i just did. i didnt want to say anything for this same reason that you guys didnt know and she wouldnt want her business out there’

he simply replied and continued filing his nails

you looked up and smiled

‘it doesnt matter anymore. it was years ago so its fine’

‘L/N-SAN WE WILL AVENGE YOU!’

‘WE WILL! WE WILL!!’

the three stooges swore and you smiled softly, ruffling each boy’s hair

‘then go out there and make me proud’

but we know how this goes

they lost and you were so devastated for the others and you dropped your bag to go and comfort a crying hinata

‘sshh, dont cry dont cry. im right here’

you cooed and he accepted your embrace, hugging you tightly

once he finally calmed down, you were able to get him to a good enough condition to walk to the bus to go home

you went back to get your bag when you found something on top of it

a single white carnation

and a small ripped piece of paper that said,

‘my name is iwaizumi hajime. i think youre really pretty’

a/n: iknowiknowiknow i died but im not back to life and this request was lowkey difficult and i dont think i did a good job w it because angst always gets too angsty for me but i couldnt resist giving this a sad ending like bls!!! and uwu im still working on that oikawa route bc ya girl cant decide how angsty she wants it to beeee and i have like 4 different versions of the route in my drafts hehehe,,,, but i hope yall liked this and uwu ive never been in a serious relationship before so i wouldnt know what to fight about and came up with this:(

[adamarinayu]

Since I can’t draw right now (it’s like 1 AM) I decided I’d just write things down about Domestic DUno AU (I still don’t have a proper name for it!!) so here we go~

Info below the cut to spare the mobile users my ramblings~~

BACKSTORY STUFF 

-Donald first became PK as a teenager (14 or 15), pulling petty pranks and avenging perceived wrongdoings. He ended up accidentally becoming a hero after stopping a thief and unknowingly saving a young girl’s life, and he realized he could direct his temper, anger and frustration not at making other people miserable, but at protecting others. Gyro, who went to school with Donald (Donald and Della attended a private school that would accommodate their adventure schedule; Gyro, being the absolute genius he is, attended on a scholarship) was there and ended up helping, being the one to inadvertently provide PK with the weapon he fended off the criminals with. PK talked to Gyro and the two became partners in crime-fighting that way.

-After deciding to become a hero, it was small-town villains mostly that he dealt with. Thieves, and the like. He didn’t start fighting mutants and those kinds of things until he was 17 or so, and the Evronians didn’t show up until he was 18. This is when Scrooge gave him a summer job at his newly acquired tower, figuring since Donald didn’t want to go with him and Della on a three-month adventure (as Donald was needed in Duckburg, he couldn’t be gone for three months!!) then he may as well work and earn a little money. As Duckworth was still alive, Duckworth was in charge of the manor, so Donald didn’t need to worry about upkeeping the mansion.

-Donald met Uno after a failed attempt to fight the Evronians, and they partnered up, with Uno providing Donald with otherworldly advanced tech that Gyro... would probably understand if given the time and chance (come on, he built a time machine out of a bathtub, he could totally understand future tech). After the first battle with the Evronians that Donald eventually wins, he realized that the game had just just 10x more dangerous. Between working on his doctorate and interning for Scrooge’s science department (something the scientists working for Scrooge were salty about), Gyro didn’t have much time to work on new and improved inventions for PK so when Uno contacted Gyro about him stepping down from helping PK, Gyro agreed, acknowledging that the mysterious Uno Ducklair would probably be a better benefactor for the hero. He didn’t know PK’s identity, though, so he didn’t take the memory erasing candy. Instead he focused on his work.

-Years passed this way, with Donald and Uno working together. Of course Donald had his other adventures, such as with Jose and Panchito and Mickey and all them lovely folks, but Uno was his closest confidante and biggest supporter. He was the one he vented his frustrations with Della and Scrooge to, and the one to give him advice on how to deal with it and talk to them about it all.

-At some point during this time, Gladstone finds out Donald is PK. Of course it happens in the typical Lucky way- him finding out saved Donald’s life. Gladstone is shaken up by the knowledge that his cousin/brother is in danger every day and has almost died multiple times. Gladstone becomes a sort of third member of the whole Crime Fighting thing, yep, you heard it right, Cloverleaf is real here. He figures if he’s out in the field with Donald, then Donald will never die because of Gladstone’s supernaturally good luck. Uno, while frustrated with Gladstone’s unpredictable and illogical luck, accepts this. Donald is less keen because he doesn’t want Gladstone in danger’s path but when the gander makes up his mind it’s made up, yo.

-PK and Cloverleaf (CL from here on out) and Uno work together for 3 years before the Spear of Selene incident, where Donald is suddenly left with three eggs. Donald’s priorities now shifted, he quits being a hero and buys the houseboat so he can raise the triplets without Scrooge’s influence. Gladstone does what he can to help while trying to continue to protect Duckburg, and while watching CL on the news Donald has the sudden realization that Duckburg still needs him- new parent or not. So he (metaphorically!!) throws the eggs into their pram, rushes to Ducklair Tower, begs Lyla to watch the eggs for him and rushes off to CL’s aid. 

-After the danger is over, Donald collects the eggs, thanks Lyla for her help, then meets up with CL and Uno on the 151st floor where they have a serious conversation. Donald acknowledges that Duckburg still needs PK, but Della’s children also need him. The three eventually come to the conclusion that the kids would be raised by PK and Uno there in the Tower, where they would be safe- and they would be trained so they’re ready for anything thrown at them. (Gladstone is actually the one who is like “nah cuz you be their dad I’m not cut out for that, I’ll be the cool uncle, I don’t wanna live in the tower! No offense Uno” so it isn’t like Donald just decided to leave him out of the parenting)

-The eggs hatch and Donald names them sensible (AKA not Della’s list) names (and pronounces Llewellyn correctly dammit) and Donald and Uno have a time learning hands-on how to be parents. (“I’ve read twenty different parenting guides in the last five seconds and they’re all saying different things, Donald, WHAT DO WE DO-”) The whole “raising kids together” thing brings them even closer than before and forces them to have a chat about their feelings, too. 

-When the triplets are small and starting to run around, Uno baby proofs everything. He has a hard time keeping them from escaping their playpen (which is essentially a huge room with an amazing view of the city, he doesn’t know why they’re so intent on escaping). Then eventually the inevitable happens- both Don and Glad end up stuck on the other side of the world for nearly a whole month, and Uno realizes taking care of three toddlers is much easier when you have a body. So while they’re gone, he balances his time between advising them on their mission, taking care of the triplets and building an android body that can handle an AI as advanced as him (throw out that “an AI who is only good could never make a full person” shit cuz Uno can be petty as hell, he’s a whole ass person even without Due yo). By the time Don and Glad get back he’s testing his prototype. Donald is thrilled, of course- his boyfriend has a body now!

-The triplets gain a sister! Everett brings a child to them one day, a little Coronan girl who was for reasons I haven’t decided yet cast out of her family and Everett, with his weird Enlightened Powers shit, went and found her and brought her back to the people he knew would take care of her well (considering his own past failures...). And so the triplets have a little sister who is an alien! Yee! Yes it’s Asveya (Ve). She came to them when she was ~2 and the triplets were 3 or 4, and as she didn’t have a name Donald named her after a friend he met as a child, when he regularly adventured with Scrooge and Della, and whom he ended up meeting again as a young adult.

-Uno perfects the body over time as he learns more things about being a person (he very purposefully leaves out pain receptors, though he includes the best parts of being a physical person ofc- he wants his cake and he wants to eat it too!). Everett decides now that Uno has a body, it was time to introduce him as his son officially and hand the business over to him (stating that it’ll be good for the kids if at least one of their parents had a proper job and income, since savings don’t last forever), and as the kids get older Donald begins training them so they’ll be able to take care of/protect themselves if need be. Uno creates a training field/obstacle course that is fun and age-appropriate, and by the time they’re ten they’re like little superheroes in training. They can give Webby a run for her money. Ve is less interested in being like PK and more interested in being like Uno- AKA the techie behind the gadgets.

-The triplets are already playing with some rudimentary pieces of tech Ve made, playing like they’re superheroes (or villains, gotta have someone to fight!). Uno finds out when he reviews the Tower footage and immediately confiscates anything that can be dangerous, but lets them keep the more innocent stuff.

MODERN DAY STUFF (AKA the time the show takes place)

-As the kids got older Donald and Uno allowed them more freedom, even letting them go out on their own (with the promise of being back before dark, not telling anyone what their parents did for a living, they all stuck together and they didn’t speak to strangers beyond what was necessary). When the triplets were 10 and Ve was 8 or 9, Uno learned that a powerful artifact (not the gem) was in Atlantis and that if a villain got their hands on it, it would be... very bad. So Donald decides it’s time to put on his metaphorical adventure shoes again and go get it. By this time Gladstone got trapped in the casino (Uno has been looking for him, after not hearing from him for over a week) and Uno had a Big Business thing to attend, real important too, so they talk about getting a babysitter for the weekend they’ll be gone. The kids manage to convince them they don’t need one, as they’ll be safe in the 151st floor (“We’ll be safer there than anywhere else, right, Uncle Uno?”). Donald tried to call Lyla but she was unfortunately in the field, so he agreed to let them stay home on their own until Uno got back (Uno did the math and figured he could stay for a few hours to just make a good faith appearance, talk business with some stooges and then come home the same day).

-Of course, the kids get caught. Uno had already left out for his business thing at like 5 AM, and Donald was about to head out to Atlantis in one of the Duckmobiles. He happened to check on a whim the back of the mobile, where he found his surprised ducklings staring wide-eyed up at him. He knew then that he needed to cash in on a favour- he called Beakley and then drove the protesting children to the mansion. (“Come on, Unca’ Donald!” “It’s a mansion! We wanna go to the lost city, too!” “Come on, we’ve been doing real good in training!” “Please, dad? We promise we’ll listen!”) The excitement over meeting THE Scrooge McDuck is overshadowed by the disappointment that they can’t go on this mission.

-Besides, who cares about a mansion and a rich adventuring duck when your parents and uncle are not only rich adventurers, but they’re also superheroes???

-Donald gives them a forehead kiss goodbye and heads off, and Scrooge has Beakley put the kids in that old room. “It’ll only be a few hours” they said. “Until Uno gets back.” Unfortunately, Uno calls Louie and tells the duckling there’s been a problem and he won’t be back until later- Donald already informed him of the changed arrangements and he’s already contacted Beakley.

-The kids decide to escape the old room, putting their hero training into action, but are ultimately swept up into Webby’s trap. Webby is super excited to meet them when she realizes who they are (though she has no idea who Ve is), and she cuts them down from the net without them having to escape themselves. The kids know they’re not supposed to let anyone know about the “hero family” thing so try to act like normal kids, though it becomes apparent Webby doesn’t know how to be a normal kid either.

-Through shenanigans, the children inspire Scrooge to adventure again, and Dewey lets slip about lost cities and Scrooge has a moment of realization. Thus, he drags the kids to Atlantis with him. While there, the kids each get a chance to show off their moves (which they’re SUPPOSED TO HIDE but you know, when arrows are flying at you ain’t got no time to hide). Donald is pissed when he notices them in Atlantis, and Uno is pissed when he calls Donald and learns the kids are in Atlantis, right where they are NOT supposed to be.

-Things pretty much follow the episode, though with the triplets able to hold their own and Donald gunning for a completely different artifact. When they escape and get back to the surface with their respective artifacts, they’re met by a livid android who absolutely chews Scrooge out for dragging four ten year olds and an eight year old to a dangerous place like that.

-Donald decides that it might be okay for the kids to visit with Scrooge sometimes, to get a little real-world experience, and at precisely that moment something crashes into the 151st floor of Ducklair Tower. Uno is absolutely furious (“MY TOWER???”) cuz that’s gonna take a bit to fix- at the very least it’ll appear to take a while- and when the kids question “what now?” Scrooge offers up some rooms in the mansion. The kids are excited cuz they’ll get to live with Webby and explore a new place. Donald and Uno say “just until the tower is fixed” (Gladstone had Donald’s boat at the time he went missing so Donald doesn’t have it) which is good enough for the kids.

-Scrooge being sus of Uno for like a whole arc cuz he’d never heard of Uno Ducklair before recently and also his nephew?? got married??? 

-Gladstone finally gets a message out to Don and Uno for help, and they go immediately- but not before Scrooge makes it a family adventure. Scrooge is disparaging of Gladstone, but Donald is just worried about his cousin. They manage to save Gladstone without pseudo-sacrificing anyone. Scrooge gets a little sus when they get back to Duckburg, and days later the missing Cloverleaf has shown up again. 

-HDLV ended up spilling the truth to Webby as she got closer with them, but they swore her to secrecy. Of course Beakley found out because Webby is a terrible liar.

**So basically Donald + Uno parents, a kid that calls them her dads, good Uncle Gladstone, Brotherly Gladstone + Donald, Competent Cloverleaf, PK + Cloverleaf teamup, little-hero triplets. Gyro will end up teaming up with Gizmoduck when Fenton takes up heroing, too, just like Launchpad teams up with DW (DW’s story for this AU will be different, also, just a heads up) and basically all their combined kids become a badass team of children (Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Ve, Boyd, Gos, and of course Lena and Violet join in later...) Gyro teams up with Gizmoduck because every hero needs a tech guy (even heroes who are also scientists....) and he’s not only very capable, he’s worked with a hero before so he knows the ins and outs :D

However it is now 2 AM and I need to sleep so I’m gonna end my musings here but I am thinking of them so much right now I’m

[amerrierworld]

Lost

Ocean’s 8 fanfiction

request: can i request something angsty and fluffy for tammy x reader?☺️ feel free to involve the whole ocean's 8 gang (they all ofc ship reader & tammy)

Summary: you get lost during a mission that turns dangerous and Tammy desperately tries to find you.

Characters: Tammy x fem!reader

Word Count: 1,786

Warnings: I hope this is what you meant with angsty :D Angst! Fluff! A bit of a near-death experience... but SFW and happy ending.

You held your breath, hiding in a dark, hidden alcove of the English countryside mansion. The building was massive, and very creepy, especially at night.

Your heart thumped in your ears as you registered low, hushed and angry voices down the hall from you. 

There were many jewels secretly kept hidden inside this mansion, locked away from the public that your team had gotten intel on. It was the one night that there were very few security guards around the place, and you and Constance had slipped in quietly.

However, you weren’t alone. 

A group of local thugs had similar plans, apparently, and somehow you had both arrived at the same time. Or they had already stolen the jewels and were now hanging around. 

Normally you wouldn’t be bothered by extra obstacles in a mission, but a loud bang had startled both you and Constance until you felt like you might be sick.

They had guns, and clearly weren’t afraid to use them, since the security guard was shot dead right on the front steps.

Immediately, Debbie had yelled in your earpieces from their hidden van outside to get back to the group. No amount of jewels was worth your lives, and you were grateful for her leadership. But you had gotten separated from Constance, and your earpiece had no reception where you were due to the thick walls and maze of a house, so now you were hiding by yourself, terrified.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, you thought, breathing hard to calm your nerves. If they saw you and considered you a threat, one shot and you were done for. 

All you had was a knife, and you didn’t think that would do much against a gun from a distance.

“Did ya hear something?” one stranger’s voice said, piercing the silence.

“Nah, probably just some vermin. This place is super old. No one else knows what’s hidden here,” another replied.

They were right around the corner, carrying flashlights. If they  took one step closer, they’d see you, and you’d be fucked.

A loud crash from a window breaking made all of you jump.

“What th fuck was that?” one hissed.

“Maybe some stupid local kids thinking they’re being clever. C’mon, let’s scare them away.”

Your heart was in your throat as you listened to them hurry away from your hiding place, and you nearly sobbed with relief.

-

“Tammy, get back here!” Debbie hoarsely whispered. The blonde mom-of-two ignored her, reaching into the back to grab a black hoodie and gloves. “You’re being so stupid.”

Constance had arrived by the van, out of breath, ready to collapse, but you were no where in sight. As soon as she explained that Y/N got separated and she couldn’t find you in the dark, Tammy had sucked in a deep breath and prepped to go in herself. 

“I don’t care, Debbie,” Tammy replied, stubborn as ever, “she’s in there alone and I’m not gonna let her die because of some thugs.”

“If you go in there, you’re both going to die!” Lou shouted, the other girls shushing her immediately. 

“Look, I’ll try her earpiece again, but all we can do is sit here and wait, alright?”  Debbie said, “they have guns, Tammy! This isn’t a game anymore.”

“Then you should’ve thought of that before we got here, Deb!” Tammy retorted. “I need to get her myself, I won’t let her die in there.”

With that, and all the courage she could muster, she jumped out of the vehicle and ran off before anyone else could stop her.

The mansion was surrounded by trees and forestry stretching out in a large plot of land. Tammy could see the lights of the strangers flickering through the windows and sneaked around the other side of the house. 

“You’re an idiot, Tammy,” Debbie said into her earpiece. “But I got Y/N’s location. I just can’t get her earpiece to work. You’ll have to find her.”

“Where is she?”

“East wing, the other side of where you are now. I don’t know what floor, you’ll have to look for her yourself.”

“Fuck,” she muttered. Then, an idea. Her kids once got in trouble for breaking a neighbour’s window when playing catch. Just this time, their idiocy could help her out.

She picked up a large rock and found a window close to her. She’d have to hide immediately and get inside somehow, but this would give her time.

“Okay I’m gonna distract them, keep an eye on Y/N for me.”

“Wh-what? Tam, what are you-”

One long swing and the window shattered with a crash. The rock rolled  around inside the room where it landed, and Tammy dashed off in the other direction. 

“Fuck this fucking job,” Tammy muttered to herself as she squeezed through a different open window. Then, into her earpiece, “Debbie, I’m retiring after this okay? No more criminality for me.”

She tried to remember what Constance had said when she saw you the last time before you got separated. It was eerily quiet as she carefully walked through the hallways.

“You’re close, Tammy, she should be right around the corner,” Debbie piped up. Tammy’s heart was beating rapidly, “I think she’s frozen in fear.”

Tammy felt guilty at the thought, she should’ve gone in with you, damn it.

When she found you, you had pulled out the knife in fear, only seeing a dark figure approach her. From what Tammy could tell in the dark, you were pale beyond belief, your eyes blown wide.

“It’s me,” Tammy whispered. Your knees nearly buckled at the sight of her, and you fell into her arms as a sob almost escaped you, but you forced yourself to be quiet.

“Tammy,” you croaked, hugging her tightly. She pulled away, saw how fearful your expression was, and was overcome with emotion. She kissed you, hard on the mouth, wanting to feel all of you, real and alive.  

“We have to get out of here,” she whispered, “Debbie says fuck the jewels.”

You giggled softly and nodded, letting Tammy grip your hand and pull you along.

“I’ve got her,” she said, pressing the ear piece.

“Good, now get the fuck out of there before we have to drag your bodies out.”

You were almost back at where Tammy had climbed in through the window, before Tammy pressed you back against the wall, into the shadows, cursing mentally at the sound of footsteps.

“Did you open this window here?” one voice said.

“No, did you?”

“It’s an old house,” a third stranger’s voice said, “no doubt it was already open. Don’t be so paranoid.”

“Hey, I could swear I heard voices.”

“That’s because we’re in the dark, and you’re a wuss. I told you not to shoot that guy but you didn’t listen.”

“He could’ve shot us!”

Their bickering went on, and Tammy looked at you, your eyes wide and pleading and afraid.

“Deb,” she whispered, barely audible, breathing into the earpiece, “we need help.”

“On it. Here goes.”

Immediately, loud sirens started up from outside, and the thugs jumped in fear.

“Fuck! The fucking police, are you kidding?”

“Some local probably ratted us out after the gunshot, damn it!”

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

They practically flew themselves through the open window, breaking more glass. Tammy eyed them just around the corner, watching them run in the opposite direction of the blaring sirens.

“Come on and get back here, I can’t keep them on forever, otherwise real cops are coming to sniff this place out,” Debbie yelled into your ears. You grabbed Tammy’s hand, and ran.

As soon as your feet hit the grass outside, you ran like you’d never ran before, with Tammy close behind. 

The two of you almost missed the van, camouflaged as it was, if it weren't for Lou shoving open one of the doors, shouting over the sirens,

“Get in you sissies!”

You nearly cried with laughter and relief as she pulled the two of you inside, and the van sped away. Once you got on a real road again, Debbie turned off the sirens, and kept speeding up until you were sure the mansion was behind you.

You were in near hysterics, the relief of safety came flooding in and you collapsed in Tammy’s arms, her cheeks wet with tears.

Lou draped a blanket over your shoulders and the rest of the team scurried to the front of the van, trying to give you two as much privacy as possible.

“Alright?” Tammy asked you, and you nodded, despite the tears still spilling from your eyes. “God, Y/N, I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Me? When I saw you there in front of me, I was terrified that you were gonna get killed!” you exclaimed, voice rough from crying, “what did you think you were doing?”

“Saving you, you idiot,” she said, tightly holding your shoulders, “I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing!”

“Trust us, Y/N, we tried to make her sit and do nothing,” Lou piped up.

“Why didn’t you try harder?” you demanded, furious, “Tam, you could’ve died, and it would’ve been m-my fault,” you hiccuped with new sobs.

“You would’ve done the same for me,” Tammy retorted, eyes blazing. “Y/N, I love you. I couldn’t just sit and watch when I could do something about it.”

You shuddered, staring at her incredulously, your senses overwhelmed with fear, relief, love, worry. Instead of saying anything, you lunged forward and kissed her, hard like she’d kissed you, and Tammy sobbed into your mouth with relief.

The rest of the crew erupted into cheers and your face flushed red, burying your face in Tammy’s shoulder.

“Shut up you,” Tammy ordered them cheekily, “all that matters is we’re safe now. Fuck the jewels, right?”

“Right,” Debbie grinned.

“Wha- fuck the jewels? Really?” 

Constance stared at Debbie, mouth hanging open in sheer offence,  before tugging off her black beanie and turning it over. A handful of glittery diamonds and jewels tumbled out onto the floor. 

The group gaped at her, and she shrugged.

“I lost Y/N, and tried to find them, and then found this instead, before those thugs almost caught me. Don’t tell me ‘fuck the jewels’ when I nearly busted my ass getting these.”

“You’re a life saver,” you sighed, wrapping your arms around Tammy.

“Hey, I think it’s a win-win,” Constance put up her hands in defence, “we got our jewels, didn’t get caught, and Tammy got to save her damsel in distress.”

“Excuse me?” you said, flustered at the implication. Tammy grinned and kissed your cheek.

“All in all, a successful mission, I’d say,” Constance replied, crossing her arms and leaning back. 

Well, you couldn’t argue with that.

[katherinewilliams221b]

For A Greater Good 13/18

not my gif. just the text- Threats

Summary: Kate Williams, young healer and member of the Order, joins Durmstrang’s staff at Dumbledore’s request. Her mission? Find a   Death Eater and survive long enough to tell the story. Set in 1996.

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x ofc/mc

Masterlist

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

[Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10]

[Part 11] [Part 12]

Warnings: mentions of drug abuse

--

The first storm of May left the school in a darkness Kate never saw before. The temperature had abruptly dropped; the exams were getting closer and the Quidditch game that week had been cancelled as a result of an avalanche that had reached the castle grounds.

Ranunculus glacialis; Draba lactea; Dryas octopetala; Cicerbita alpina... she was reading the different plants stuck together with Spello-tape and correctly classified that she had hung on the walls of the classroom. The herbarium project had been successful even among the most reluctant students; so much they begged to go to the lake and expand their works of art with aquatic plants.

With a proud smile, Kate looked out the window of the herbology class, following the comings and goings of the students who passed by and lamented their lost quidditch match.

In the distance, Mer Yankelevich was coming from the lake, wearing a large hood to protect herself from the rain.

Her gaze turned to the column. Astrid Rhode and Libor Marek were talking beside it. The teacher must have felt eyes resting on him, for he scanned his surroundings. Realising that it was Kate who was watching him, he turned his attention back to Rhode, who glanced at her as well. “In my experience,” the curse-breaker from Iceland than Rhode had hired had said, “someone has tried to break a curse that does not exist.”

In another time and in another school, all eyes would have been on Kate. Now, free of that burden, she turned to see if her students had finished copying on their scrolls the Herbivicus charm used to make plants grow at high speed.

“I know that the attempt to make the umbrella flowers germinate has not turned out as we expected. They are very obstinate flowers, but we must be even more stubborn. This Friday, we will change the fertiliser we have been using for a more refined one”.

Thunder rumbled on the castle walls and some children began to get restless.

“Perhaps they don’t like this weather,” she joked before climbing onto the platform where her desk was placed. “When we get the optimal conditions for their germination, we’ll practice the spell until they come into bloom. However, and this is very important, we must not let the flowers open yet. We want to prevent them from pollinating naturally before we select them.”

Micael Angelov raised his hand. “What about the fanged geraniums?”

“I’ve been doing several tests and they germinate properly. They are easy to control and that is why we will be working on them after getting at least ten healthy umbrella flowers...”

The classroom door blasted open, revealing a hooded figure. All the sheets and scrolls in the class were scattered with the gust of wind that came in with the stranger. Thinking that it was Mer Yankelevich, she went to the door to ask for explanations, but Corentin’s face stopped her. Surprised, Kate aired her wand to close the door and stop the cold coming in.

The librarian lowered his hood and immediately apologised to the students, who began to whisper.

“I must talk to you,” he murmured.

“Can it wait until the end of the class?”

Corentin nodded and headed for the end of the classroom where he stood on a corner without looking away from the window.  He kept looking outside until the bells indicated the end of the lesson.

“Let me know if you want to go to the greenhouse before Friday and I’ll open the door for you. Jon, you must give me the list of your inventory, ah! Wait! I have your works on the mandrakes corrected, on Wednesday we will comment on it... Be careful outside!”

When the class was free of students, Kate approached Corentin, who was looking at her with a sly smile.

“You are getting more comfortable here.”

“What’s going on?”

“Last night someone went through my desk. Don’t worry, they were unsuccessful. I have the plans well in hand, but that shows that someone has the same goal as us.”

“And also that they have been spying on us.” She waited a moment and added, “This is not a good sign, Corentin.”

“I advise we continue with our... project.” With one hand, he gestured to the windows, and the curtains closed, leaving them in almost total darkness, except for the candlesticks on the ceiling.

He shook his sleeve, and from a black smoke the different scrolls that made up Nerida Vulchanova’s maps appeared.

Kate had some candles levitated, providing light and some warmth around them. From her desk, she took out seven books on magic walls, curses, portals and doors, and as every day since the discovery of Nerida’s painting, they began their study session.

After a couple of hours, Kate dropped her head on the desk with a thud.

“I have superposed all the rooms, corners and nooks of these plans, and they are all dead ends.”

“And there is nothing in these books that works... There are spells, incantations, words and words that say wonderful things and nothing at the same time. It’s like reading a blank page...”

“Did you wake up poetic today?”

“What do you think is inside?” Her voice sounded a little nasal, as she had her entire face smashed against a book, “One of the Deathly Hallows?”

“I doubt it, it’s not known if Grindelwald got any in his time at school and I don’t think, in case he had the elder wand, he came here to hide it.”

She raised her head and scanned the desk “Let me see the room behind the portrait again.”

Corentin gave her the plans,  forming the rectangle that represented the secret room.

“If you look closely, there is no passageway connecting the trophy room to this place, and I have been trying to match it to one of these, but nothing convinces me.”

“We lack information.”

“That’s obvious. But there are no other documents than the ones we have here. There is a possibility that Vulchanova destroyed them.”

“No...” she trailed off. She checked several sheets and held one that was blank. Only a triangle adorned one corner. “My grandmother was a Muggle...”

Corentin raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want you to take this as a lack of interest, but what does it have to do with this?”

“When I was a child, I was not allowed to see my grandparents. One of the conditions for allowing my parents to marry was to cut off contact with that branch of the family, and in return, the Williams offered my grandmother protection from anti-Muggle politics.”

“I’m sure this is going somewhere...”

“Of course my mother didn’t cut off contact. I was very young, but I remember the distinctive smell of...” she sniffed the parchment and a hint of a smirk appeared on her face, “lemonade.”

“I really try to follow you.”

“My mother wrote letters that, in the eyes of wizards, were empty. Muggles have a technique for making invisible ink.”

She extended her arm to one candle and held the paper so close to the flame that Corentin leaned over in his seat for fear that she would burn it.

As Kate moved the parchment, several lines appeared in a copper colour, which Kate recognised perfectly.

“Fascinating.”

Kate chuckled and left the parchment on the table. “I don’t think Vulchanova intended you to live in a controlling regime in order to decipher her map. Just that you knew a little about alchemy.” She pointed to the triangle in the lower corner. Corentin’s eyes shone with excitement.

He grabbed the missing piece of the map and spent long minutes trying to fit the lines over the fragment they already had. Meanwhile, Kate was trying out different pieces of parchment and new lines appeared on the existing maps as she drew them closer to the fire.

“Look,” said Corentin, “it can be accessed in several ways.” From where Nerida’s painting was, two paths branched out showing two tunnels leading to the room.

Kate gasped. By turning one of the sheets of paper, she made the newly discovered lines coincide with others drawn in ink.

Corentin imitated the procedure of heating the scrolls and, as if in a perfectly synchronised dance, they fitted each parchment with the previous one, forming a map of the ground floor that occupied the whole desk.

When Kate placed the last paper, a golden light emanated from one corner. The light moved through the junction between the papers, forking and coming together until it disappeared. Corentin raised a corner, noting with fascination and surprise that they now had a single plan of the castle.

“Wait! It’s disappearing!”

Corentin brought the map closer to the candles and the rooms and passages reappeared, making both of them sigh in relief. “With the Muggle trick that doesn’t happen.”

“Maybe she thought she had to give it a magic twist.”

 After tidying up the room, Corentin left Kate thinking about their more-than-suspicious meetings.. They had to be more careful from that moment on; if someone was watching them, they could get into trouble.

The storm had subsided, and instead of the sky it was Kate’s stomach that was roaring.

Corentin had taken her students’ books back to the library, so she exhaled happily that she could go directly to the dining hall. As she opened the curtains, she came face to face with Libor Marek, sitting on the outside stone wall.

“Good afternoon,” she greeted as she closed the door behind her.

“I thought you’d never get out.”

“Have you... been waiting for me?”

“No. There are rumours that Karkarov has returned to the grounds... I’m here on Rhode’s orders. When the students are eating, the guards reinforce the doors and this area is left empty...”

“I don’t see you too worried.”

Marek huffed and began a thorough inspection of his wand. “I will not hunt down the man who gave me a job.”

“Igor Karkarov...?”

“Yes.” He did not look up. Kate waited for him to say something else, but concluded that she would have to force him.

“Who else did he hire?”

“And how would I know that? I was the last to arrive. Well, Hodges came later, but that was Rhode’s doing.” He shook his head and put his wand up his sleeve before looking around. “I’m going to eat.”

“Didn’t she tell you to stand guard?”

Marek walked up to her and in a raspy voice said, “I would stop whatever it is that you’re doing .”

The difference in height gave Kate some security, but she chose not to adjust her stance to one of defiance; the last thing she wanted was to duel that man again. “Watch your back.”

Marek squinted and left her standing in the cold, wondering if he was referring to himself or someone else.

The rest of the week proved uneventful. After the discovery of Nerida’s complete map, Kate avoided the library as part of an unspoken agreement with Corentin. The librarian, for his part, did not contact her until Thursday afternoon when they enjoyed each other’s company with some tea and biscuits.

Only one sentence was exchanged about their research and that was Corentin commenting nothing out of the ordinary had happened and that only Sheyi Mawut approached the library to borrow a book on batting techniques.

Friday’s class in the greenhouse was fruitful; Kate’s students managed to germinate seven umbrella flowers with the new fertiliser, eight according to the children, who took the flower grew in such a way that it shot up into the air, opening a gap in the greenhouse roof, as a success.

Kate proposed a prize for whoever found the flower when it fell.

The path to her room after the class was full of obstacles; the students, motivated by the proximity of the competition, practiced their spells and incantations in the corridor or moved in groups to see the lists of participants.

Amidst robes and hats, Kate spotted Leron Angelov’s head in the distance. She had no intention of worrying about him until she saw him stagger down the hall. He rested both hands on a door and dropped his head forward.

There were students everywhere, but Kate could perfectly see Cassandra Steiner make her way through to Leron. She opened the door and pushed him into the room.

With firm steps she advanced to the classroom at the end of the corridor and without waiting a second more, she muttered Alohomora, and burst inside.

Like a niffler caught in the middle of a robbery, Cassandra looked up with big eyes. Her expression hardened instantly. She waved her wand to where Kate was and she heard the click of the door closing.

Without her eyes off Leron Angelov, she moved closer to get a better look.

He seemed to be standing in a strange position. His eyelids were not fully closed, his arms hung like two dead weights on either side of his torso and his legs... his legs did not touch the ground.

He floated in the air, without a broom, without a spell. His posture was grotesque, and Kate looked at him in horror because even though she saw no rope, he seemed to be hanging.

“Is... is he dead?” she asked with a trembling voice. She sought the healer’s gaze, but she was busy airing out the desks in the centre to create a larger table. “Steiner, is he dead?”

“No. Shut up. Help me with him.”

Both healers grabbed Angelov’s body and turned it in the air until it was in a horizontal position.

“Hold him against the table.” Kate obeyed and put her hands on Leron’s chest. She had to use a lot of strength as the body insisted on levitating.

Meanwhile, Cassandra moved around the makeshift table, uttering a spell repeatedly. Angelov’s hands and ankles were quickly anchored to the wood.

“You can let go.” She informed, before heading for the windows and starting to close the curtains.

Kate watched his eyes move behind the eyelids, and small wrinkles appeared on his forehead from time to time. As a good healer, she followed the inspection, looking for symptoms that could explain the teacher’s unusual situation.

The buttons on his left sleeve were open, revealing a red and bruised arm.  By removing the sleeve completely, she discovered what Leron Angelov had been hiding.

Puncture marks covered the inside of his elbow, made so fiercely that a wound had begun to form.

Kate let go of a slow breath and reached into the pockets of his tunic.

“You won’t find anything,” announced Cassandra, “I’ve already taken care of it.”

“What is it that makes him be like this?”

“Something called Billywig.” Kate exhaled at the news. She should have deduced that before. She watched as Cassandra opened a small chest, containing several rows of vials, and grabbed one. “Although you already knew…”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t try to fool me. Didn’t Rhode ask you to spy on him? To catch him in the act?”

“I’m pretty sure that Rhode doesn’t know about this.” Steiner stared at her.

“Does he sting himself in the greenhouse?”

“Not since you started using it. Thanks for that, by the way, since you started playing teacher, it has been impossible for us to keep track of him.”

Kate frowned. “Us? Who is ‘us’?”

“You’d better get out of here, things are going to get ugly.” As if on cue, Angelov’s body moved. He opened his eyes, injected with blood, and tried to get rid of his bonds with a force that did not seem like his body.

Cassandra forced the contents of a vial into his mouth until it was empty. In a few moments, Leron fell asleep.

“Calming draught?”

“Do me a favour and stop meddling in matters that don’t concern you.” Kate ignored Cassandra’s attempts to keep her in the dark.

“Steiner, who else knows about this?” she asked with a solemnity unbecoming of the situation. “I need you to trust me.”

She wasn’t entirely convinced, but gave her an answer, anyway.

 “Jorgensen. No one else can know about this, understood? If you tell anyone, I will make sure you never set foot in this school again.”

“I wasn’t planning to do that anyway...” she replied, referring to the part about revealing his secret, but also valid for the latter statement. “May I ask... why do you keep the vials... locked up?”

“Because these potions are not part of the school’s inventory. When Igor Karkarov was here, there was no problem; Rhode implemented a budget for ingredients that Jorgensen has to meet.”

“Don’t you grow your own ingredients?”

“I thought you’d noticed that you’re the first person to use the greenhouse in a decade. Kent sometimes picks some herbs from the forest, but it’s not usual.”

“But why do you have them at the hospital wing?”

“Kent and I buy what we need for the potions, he brews them, and we used to keep them in my room until Rhode started bringing in people from the British ministry, guards, inspectors... so we moved them to a place where they wouldn’t ask questions.”

Kate looked at Leron, who was becoming agitated again. “Kent hasn’t found a formula that won’t make us waste so many potions. For now, this is what we can do.”

“Beats his son, you know?” Kate accused.

“When he’s under the influence of the Billywig liquid, he’s not aware of his actions. Giving him so much calming draught doesn’t help his memory either. Micael went into his room. I hadn’t had time to tie him up and his hand slipped out. He went after him for a while, to make sure he said nothing. Most of the time he doesn’t even go near him.”

“That doesn’t speak in his favour either.”

“I didn’t say he was going to win an award for being father of the year.”

“Why are you doing this? Isn’t it better that he’s in a hospital and not teaching?”

“Look where we are, Williams. Many of us have known each other forever. We take care of each other here.”

“And Micael? Do you take care of him too?”

“Of course we do.”

“What about the sticky box that was with the bottles?” Cassandra rolled her eyes, irritated by the interrogation.

“I pick up the billywigs that Leron leaves all over the place and give them to Jorgensen. What’s left of them is useful in some potions.”

Leron awoke with a start, and the mediwizard came to his aid immediately. When he saw Kate, he gripped Cassandra’s wrist.

“Don’t worry. She knows.” Cassandra got rid of the magical bonds and he stood up slowly. He groped the ground and after a while managed to stand up without floating. He eyed Kate as she aired her wand at the tables, making them return to their original place. She felt his mind on her, and she purposely avoided his stare.

“My wife passed away some years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She still didn’t look at him.

“I have the feeling that you’re not” at that she raised her head.

“Why is that?”

“Because of the way you looked at me at the staff meeting. With utter...disgust. You have a very expressive face, even when you think you are concealing it.”

“Your perception of me is based on your own experiences.”

“No. No, I know when a person doesn’t like me. And I could say the same thing to you.” A heavy silence fell over them. Kate watched as Cassandra organised her things.

“My son has good grades in Herbology. I didn’t think that could happen.”

“I am not giving him special treatment just because he’s a professor’s son.”

“I meant nothing of the sort. Just implying that you are.... You know how to connect with children. You... talk with them. Right?”

“Yeah, that’s...how you often interact.”

“I’m not sure if you have a wicked sense of humour or you just really despise me.”

“Everyone, at one time or another, loses a loved one. Sometimes prematurely. That doesn’t give us the right to compromise the safety of those who are still alive.”

“Who are you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You appeared out of nowhere. In the middle of the school year, and in a few months you became a teacher and the talk of the town. I hear your name everywhere, from everyone’s lips. And every time I turn around, you are there. One might think... you are up to something.”

“What exactly are you accusing me of?”

“Just an observation. But let me give you a piece of advice...”

“No. I won’t tell anyone about your condition if that’s what you’re worried about. But If you hit Micael again I swear....”

“You shouldn’t be threatening me.”

Kate found herself positively conflicted. She meant it when she said she didn’t want to betray their trust, and as a healer she wanted to help him in any way she could. However, the need to protect the boy was competing with her compassion for his father.

Abstracted by her own thoughts, Cassandra’s voice went unnoticed and only caught the last few sentences.

“We’ll get out first. Rhode will be coming to give the Dark Arts lesson now. Don’t tell her about this.” With one last look, they disappeared out the door, leaving Kate alone with her conscience.

She took a few steps towards the wall and exhaled as she let herself fall back slightly. She rested her head on the stone and closed her eyes, seeking the only thing that could comfort her at that moment.

Charlie.

Perhaps if she concentrated enough, she could connect with his mind as she had done the night they spoke through the flu net. She visualised his freckles when the sun hit them, the movement of his fingers when he drew. She tried to remember his laughter...

Kate?

She opened her eyes suddenly. Astrid Rhode looked at her with concern.

“Williams, are you all right?”

No, she hadn’t said her name before. A little upset at her cowardice preventing her from talking to Charlie in a way she would never have imagined. She peeled off the wall and nodded fervently.

“Yes! Yes... “

“Is there anything you should tell me?”

“Nothing at the moment, no. Although... I wanted to ask you: why did you send Professor Marek to stand guard at the back of the castle?”

Rhode raised her eyebrows. “I have done no such thing. Why would I?”

--

[Part 14]

Tag List: @eldritchscreech @meteora-fc @cazreadsstuff @the-navistar-carol

@am-i-space​

[iplaymatchmaker]

Wahhh your prompt matchups are such a cute idea! May I please request one for Ikevamp, with the prompts 5 (this sounds so interesting! Can I perhaps get Cinderella—balls make me soft) and 8 (i don’t drink, so my suitor would be the drunk one)? Take your time with this please, and take care!

Pronouns, MBTI, and Hogwarts House: I go by she/her, and I’m an ENTP-T Gryffindor (if I had the choice, I’d choose Slytherin tho).

Hobbies & Passion: I love English Literature (and general history), and I’m working to gain a PhD in the field as I’d love to talk with likeminded people about literary works. I also enjoy various sports, especially dancing, and baking, and writing... it’s hard to narrow down since I get distracted by other activities easily (Entp tingz)

Likes/Dislikes: I value honesty in relationships, even if the statements might be negative. Also, I like people that won’t disregard my physical boundaries—it takes me some time to accept physical affection from someone, but once I do open up, I can be vvv snuggly (if the other person is comfortable with it ofc). Beyond that, I believe you can work around lots of traits in a relationship if they aren’t too earth-shattering.

Attitude towards other people: Towards my loved ones, I’m very playful and loud, and I enjoy teasing the shit out of someone. While I’m blunt, I try to be softer around the people I love. I care a lot, so I can easily appear overbearing and annoying, I’m sure.

Towards strangers/acquaintances, however, I’m extremely critical, stubborn (except when someone actually brings a good argument), and argumentative (and it depends on my respect for them how harsh I will be). Mostly quiet, serious, and quick-witted. If my friends are around me tho, strangers will catch a glimpse of how loud and playful I can be.

Thank you so much for this in advance 💜💜💜

I match you with

Sebastian!

 Thank you so much for requesting! I’m sorry it took so long! I got a little carried away with the prompts, but I hope you like them. If I ever write a cinderella AU for Sebby, we will all know the origin story.  I based the second prompt off of the first one, which has a meet cute vibe to it. I know you didn’t request that, but it sort of happened as I was writing 😅. Anyways, thanks again, I really hope you enjoy this!❤❤❤

To be honest, after reading your ask, the beautiful token human butler was my only option. While many of the residents could probably match your wit, Sebby is the one who would actively challenge you.

When you first met, you two wouldn’t stop bickering. Comte considered splitting the housework so you two would have to work together as little as possible, but neither of you are about to give up on your daily arguments. There are still points to be made.

Despite how your relationship looks like from an outsider’s perspective, you both do enjoy each other’s company, even if you have convinced the rest of the mansion of the opposite. Sebastian enjoys having someone around who will question him, helping him improve in the process, even if he won’t admit to that.

It doesn’t take long for you to come across his obsession love of history. You may come across a certain notebook, but neither of you shall ever speak of that again.

After that fateful day your conversations shift towards the topic of history. After living in a mansion full of geniuses for so long, with only a notebook to share his fangirling admiration with, he is very excited to have someone to share his discoveries with. You two can often be heard comparing historical figures, trying to conclude who was more impactful in the long run, while somehow managing to cook for the entire mansion in the process.

When you two grow closer, you get more comfortable, allowing him to witness another side to you. And so the teasing begins. You can’t help yourself. Despite how put together he looks, he is not immune to you. His reaction is especially picture worthy when you flick him for the first time. His eyes wide with shock, gloved hand rubbing his forehead. It’s impossible not to laugh. Even Comte, who happens to be present, can be heard chuckling/

 Prompt 5: Fairytale AU:

When you entered the ballroom, all eyes turned to look at you. You hoped the eye catching dress would work in your favor later. You sighed before descending down the stairs, eyes scanning the room for the prince. This was the chance you had been waiting for. The chance to get away from your stepmother. All you needed to do was convince the prince you were special, special enough to consider marrying. Being an option would be enough to earn you a fresh start.

When your eyes fell on the young man, you discreetly made your way towards him, waiting for the right moment to strike conversation. When the music started playing, you saw him looking around for a partner. You moved swiftly, before more ambitious women noticed.

“Care to dance?” you looked him in the eye, determined to achieve your goal. He smiled before putting his hands around your waist, guiding you to the dance floor. Everyone’s attention was on you. You were worried one of your step sisters would notice you, despite you best attempts to disguise yourself. You needed to get him away quickly.

“I was surprised to see a prince look so lonely in a room full of people.” He didn’t seem to hear you, his gaze seemingly somewhere far away.

“Um, sir?” he didn’t reply. When the song changed he pulled away, head dipping once before walking away in a hurry. You stood there, alone, discarded by a prince himself. He hadn’t even batted an eyelash.  Frustration welled up inside you as you watched him walk away. So much time built up to this. Another loss.

“Would you mind giving me this dance?” a young man appeared in front of you, his hair a mixed shade between black and grey, depending on the angle you looked at it from. He seemed anxious.

“Sure.” You couldn’t hide the disappointment from your voice as he took your hand, the two of you falling back in line with the rest of the pairs.

“I am sorry I’m not the partner you hoped for. The prince is… not motivated to find a partner tonight.” His words were meant to be comforting, but in that moment you didn’t care about what the prince wanted. He was your ticket out and he had barely even looked at you.

“He could try to be more considerate. Some of us aren’t so privileged we can play hard to get.” You knew it was probably reckless to speak of the future king that way, but you didn’t care. It was over now.

“He is… complicated. But he did care enough to send me lighten your mood. Not sure how much of an apology that is.” The man almost sounded sad. You looked him over for the first time that night. He wasn’t dressed like the other nobles. Something about his face was familiar.

“Aren’t you the prince’s assistant?” when the realization hit you, you wanted to kick yourself in the foot.

“Yes. You don’t have to look so worried. I can’t blame you for your frustration.”  You couldn’t let yourself relax, knowing you had just insulted the prince in front of his right hand man.

“I apologize for my disrespect. I just…” your voice trailed off.

“Just?” you hesitated, unsure of whether or not you could trust him. That was when the song ended. You expected the man to walk away, but he led you to a less crowded corner of the room, not speaking up until you had some privacy.

“His majesty never agreed with this ball. It was his father who insisted. The pressure of an heir weighs heavy on his shoulders.” You had figured that much. A ball that gets organized with the purpose of finding a wife isn’t the most romantic start to a love story.

“We all have to make sacrifices. Marriage is more often than not, based on interest, not love.”

“So I can presume you didn’t come here today because of your feelings for the prince?” you nodded, knowing there wasn’t much you could do after all you heard.

“I needed an escape. The prince could have given it to me.” You were both silent for a few minutes. You almost thought the conversation was over until he spoke up again.

“Can I show you something?” he was offering you his hand. This was the first time you were meeting this man, you weren’t sure if you could trust him, but something about the way he looked at you compelled you to put your hand on his, allowing him to lead you away from the crowded room.

You ended up on a balcony, the entire city laid down before you. The noise of the party was completely drowned out, only your breathing interrupting the silence.

“It’s beautiful” in that moment you forgot about your step mother, the prince, the party. It was only you and the world before you.

“It’s a vast world out there. You don’t need the prince to show you your way.” Everything felt so simple. The stars were bright that night, lighting the city bellow, stretching for miles, as far as the eye could see. You felt you opened your eyes after a long time.

“What’s your name?’

“Sebastian.”

 Prompt 8: Drunk

It had been a few months since you met Sebastian. After that first encounter the two of you grew closer, arranging outings when you were free. But today was the first time you were meeting after you managed to leave your step mother, your own house and work finally secured.

“This would have happened way sooner if you had let me help you know.” He had offered his help countless time, but you refused to take an easy way out.

“Absolute show-off. You know, offering so much help to someone usually looks a certain way, especially to an outsider.” You leaned closer to him, batting your eyelashes to get the full effect. His face quickly turned beet red. You couldn’t help but laugh as he coughed, trying to regain his composure.

“You are the one making it look that way you know.” He took a gulp of his drink, avoiding looking you in the eye.

After some time filled with similar interactions, Sebastian was slowly getting considerably drunker.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink so much.” You looked back on the time you’ve known him, realizing you had never actually seen him drink before.

“I-It’s a celebration. T-That’s what pe-ople do.” His words were interrupted by a heavy amount of hiccupping.

“I think that’s enough alcohol for you.” You pulled the cup from his hand with ease, considering his limbs were practically jelly. “I wouldn’t have been offended if you didn’t empty the entire bottle.” You laughed watching him struggle to look you in the eye.

“I- I got it specifically f-or this occasion. It would be r-ude to let it g-o to waste.” You burst out laughing, unable to contain yourself as he fumbled with his words. Even drunk he was a gentleman.

“You should go to bed. Come one, up you go.” You tried to pull him to his feet, but his weight was just a little too much for you. “Come on, you can stay here for the night, but I’m not letting you sleep out on the balcony.” You looked at the view in front of you, feeling once again grateful you had found a house with one. It reminded you of your first meeting with him.

“Come on Sebby, don’t make me drag you there.” At the sound of the nickname, his body shot up.

“I’ve said not to call me that, it makes me feel like a child.” It didn’t shock you that this was the only thing he had said without completely losing to flow of his speech.

“You kind of remind of a child right now. So I think Sebby is quite fitting.” He looked at you for a good minute before the words registered. You watched as he pushed himself up on unsteady feet, his hand reaching up to catch your cheek. Despite his drunken state, his gaze was almost focused as he looked into your eyes. You couldn’t help but stare back, getting momentarily lost in the grey.

“I remind you of a child?” in that moment you thought of him as everything but a child, but you weren’t about to admit it.

“I think it’s time we both go to bed.” You tried to ignore the beating of your heart as you helped him inside, towards the sofa. You tried to let him down as gently as possible, helping him get a little more comfortable before draping a blanket over him. His eyes closed quickly, the alcohol finally getting the best of him.

“Goodnight, Sebastian.”

[samthemarvelfan]

Goodbyes: Chapter Eight

Summary: Ella Monroe is the Avengers newest recruit, handpicked by Steve Rogers himself. Indebted to him for reasons unknown, Cap pairs her up with Bucky Barnes. He is tasked with training her to relearn and hone the skills that have long since rusted. Bucky is cold and distant, and Ella can’t seem to break through the wall he’s built up for decades. He sees something in her though, and it scares him to death. Has the fate of these two strangers been sealed? …or will they always be longing…

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC, feat Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark

Warnings: ANGST, Bucky is a dick, mutual pining, self sabotage, slow burn, alcohol, flirting, swearing. I think that’s it!  Def not following a specific MCU canon or timeline.

A/N: I legit can’t believe the love from you all! Gosh my lil heart might burst! Please stick with me after this chapter and please don’t hate me! Patience is a virtue after all. Thank you for every comment, like, message and reblog. Love you endlessly. <3

Taglist: @iheartsebastianstan @jjlizz @stuckysbabe @sk493494 @lefoutoir @nickangel13 @marvelismysafezone @lilulo-12 @warmvanillafeels @heartofagamotto @ravenesque @pinknerdpanda (strikethrough means the tag didn’t work! I’m sorry!)  (strikethrough means the tag didn’t work! I’m sorry! Tags are OPEN!)

Three fucking weeks.

At this point, you were almost positive you were losing your mind.

Everyone was still in Romania, and you hadn’t had any actual contact with the team. Sam occasionally gave you the smallest of updates, usual in the form of a message that said “we’re alive.”

Gotta love that detail.

Wanda had checked on you too, making sure you were eating, as you had a tendency to forget to when you were stressed.

What drove you mad more than anything was that you hadn’t heard from Bucky. Was it really all in your head? The two of you connecting finally, and then he just vanished without a word?

Sure, maybe you were being irrational and needy. He was working; risking his life for the greater good after all. That doesn’t make it hurt any less, though.

“Miss Monroe, you’re receiving a call.” FRIDAY’s voice announced.

You jumped off the couch and ran to comm beacon in the middle of the table.

“Hello?” You ask, hopeful.

“Hey, Punchline! Miss me?” Sam’s humorous tone asked.

You couldn’t even speak, the only sound escaping your lips was an almost sob of relief.

You hear Steve chuckle in the background. “I’ll take that as a yes, meet us on the roof in 5?”

“You bet.” You reply quickly.

You pull your gray, half-zip hoodie over your head as you jog to the elevator. “Flight deck.” You announce as you enter.

The doors close and you hear and feel the rumble of the Quinjet docking. “Finally.” You whisper to yourself.

You get to the roof and see the bay doors opening as the ramp drops. Steve is the first one out, followed swiftly by Sam.

“You guys look the shit.” You jest, running at Steve with open arms.

He wraps you in the tightest hug, “Missed you too, Ella.” He laughs.

“How ‘bout me?” Sam asks. You turn to him with a smile, and he embraced you too.

“Is everyone alright? Did you...did you guys...is it done?” You couldn’t really formulate a thought, your mind still wondering how the hell they survived.

Steve nodded. “Every ounce of data we could extract, we did. That base wasn’t even close to inactive. In fact, it was the hub for HYDRA’s new order.”

Your mouth dropped, “What?”

Sam spoke, “Don’t worry, there’s a debriefing tomorrow, we’ll let you know everything we know.”

Your eyes glance behind Steve and Sam. You see Wanda and Vision exit the plane, relieved that they’re okay. You were chewing on your bottom lip, feeling the impatience take hold of you.

Where the hell is he? You thought.

“Hey Ella, listen—“ Sam said, but you tuned him out, hearing more footsteps on the ramp.

There he was, Bucky, safe and—what?

He was holding someone. A woman. Carrying her like a parent does their child after they’ve fallen asleep in the car.

She was stunning. Milky skin with gorgeous red locks. You knew who this was without a doubt, recalling her photo from the file you’d read months ago. Natasha, the Black Widow.

She was smiling. He was smiling. A real, genuine, happy look graced his face as he walked towards you all.

“Barnes, you can put me down now.” She laughed.

He shook his head, “Not a chance, Kitten. Can’t have you runnin’ off on me again can we?”

She pushed some hair out of his face, “I’m not going anywhere this time. I found what I was looking for, and I don’t intend on letting it go.” She smirked her perfect lips at him, causing him to blush.

Bucky places her gently on her feet before looking at you. His eyes looked panicked as he took in the expression on your face.

“You must be Ella! Nice to meet you, I’m Nat. Steve’s told me so much about you.” She smiled, pulling you in for a hug.

Why didn’t Bucky tell you about me? You think begrudgingly.

A smile graced your face nonetheless as you return the hug. “Its an honor, you’re a legend.” You say in an attempt to control your tone. It was true, too. Natasha Romanoff was infamous in your line of work.

“Don’t boost her ego, Kid.” Tony says walking by you.

You smiled politely, eager to escape to your room. “Well you guys must be exhausted, I’ll let you—“

“Hell no. I need a drink and I need one now.” Sam said as he walked towards the door leading back inside.

“You think you get to drink alone, Wilson? I don’t believe that’s how this relationship works.” Tony said as he completed his retinal scan by the keypad.

“We’re gonna have a ‘hey look at that, none of us died’ dinner tonight. Pizza, beer, booze, music. 8 o’clock in the lounge.” Tony said disappearing inside.

You turned around to see Bucky whispering in Natasha’s ear, both laughing like giddy fucking schoolgirls.

Are they...does he...is she... you’re brain tried to think, but it couldn’t seem to complete a thought.

You wanted to punch him in that smug face of his. He didn’t even have the balls to say goodbye to you when he left, and now that he’s back he has the audacity to not say two words to you?

“I’m always down for pizza, how ‘bout you Ella?” Steve asked, swinging an arm around your shoulder and leading you back inside.

Bucky eyed Steve with a curious look, but you couldn’t help smiling at your friend, “Is that even a question, Steve? Pizza is a main food group in my opinion, you know that.”

He and Nat were swiftly on you heels. “You sure about that Els? You look exhausted, have you been sleeping?” Bucky asks from behind you.

You stop suddenly and turn on your heel. Is he serious? The first thing he says to you is basically ‘you look like shit’ and ‘please don’t come to this party’.

“Now that you mention it, Sergeant, I haven’t been sleeping. I was worried about my friends. Wondering when and if I’d see them again, I’d hate to leave thing left unsaid,”

You grab Steve’s and Sam’s hand in each of yours and lift them, “But it looks like everyone I care about made it back on one piece.”

You turn back around and head into the elevator with everyone.

You stood in your room, fuming.

Is this really who you’ve become? This pathetic teenager pining after someone who will never be hers?

It sure seems that way.

Your stomach churns at the image of he and Nat...together.

An excessive groan leaves your lips as you flop on the bed, ready to let yourself wallow.

Your plans, however, are interrupted by a knock on your door. “What?!” You scream.

The door opens slowly, “I thought you’d have missed me?” Wanda says.

You shoot up, and smile like an idiot. “Of course I missed you, Wan. I’m so glad you’re back!” You embrace her.

The two of you had become quite close recently, and it was so nice to have a girl friend around again.

“Then why do I get the feeling I interrupted a wallowing session, hm?” She said slyly.

You raise an eyebrow at her, “Wan...” You scold.

“I know, I know—stay outta your head. But Ella, your thoughts are so loud I can barely hear my own!” She laughed.

You sigh and sit on the edge of your bed, Wanda joining you.

“I’m just mad. I’m mad at myself for acting like a love struck teenager, I’m mad at him for yoyo-ing me all the damn time. I’m just...”

“In love.” She finished your sentence.

You laugh aloud, “Wan, you have to know someone to love them. That big oaf of a man is too damn stubborn to let anyone in! Besides, I don’t think it’s me he wants.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” She asked.

You stand heading to your closet, looking through clothes to wear for tonight.

“Nothing. Forget I mentioned it.”

Wanda’s footsteps followed you, “I know you say Bucky’s stubborn, but so are you, Ella.” She smiled softly, her nimble fingers landing on a black velvet dress.

“This one.” She says. The long sleeved, deep v dress was your absolute favorite, and also very fancy.

“Isn’t that a bit much?” You ask.

She raised her eyebrows at you. “Uh, have you met Tony? He says ‘pizza and beer’ but he means a gala... with less people.”

“Fine, but I swear to God if you don’t dress up too then I’m coming back here and putting on pajamas.” You hold your pinky out to her.

She hooks it with a smile, “Deal.”

8 o’clock comes far too fast in your opinion.

You’d spent the last two hours in your bathroom doing your makeup and hair, and you look damn good.

The dress rested a bit below mid-thigh, and fit you perfectly. You make a mental not to thank Wanda later for forcing you into it.

“Breathe, Ella.” You say to yourself as the elevator carries you to the lounge floor.

Your black heels click through the corridor, the sound softening as your ears fill with classic rock from the end of the hall.

You slowly push the wooden door open, and spot everyone mingling. Maria Hill was there, as was Rhodey, and another man you’d never met before.

“Oh shoot! I didn’t know we had a supermodel living with us!” Sam shouts.

You laugh, “Oh shut up, you’ve clearly already been drinking.”

He shook his head, “So what? I still got eyes, don’t I?”

“You look beautiful.” Steve says cutting Sam off, placing a kiss on your cheek.

You blush, “Thank you, Steve. You boys clean up pretty nice too. I don’t think we’ve ever seen each other like this.”

Steve shakes his head, “Not exactly the suit I’m most comfortable in.” He took a sip of what you assume is scotch. “What are you drinkin’, sweetheart?” He asks.

“Honestly? Anything with vodka. Then I’ll have a shot or two.” You say, taking a seat at the high top table next to him.

“Coming right up, Sam why don’t you come with me fore you dig a deeper hole for yourself?”

You hear Sam grumbling as Steve drags him away, and you suddenly feel yourself being watched.

You scan the room, and spot him almost instantly. He’s standing with Nat, her back to you, leaning on the bar.

Bucky’s eyes, though glassy from the booze no doubt, had never been more focused.

His gaze roamed your body from your feet to your face. He licked his lips slowly, before capturing his bottom one in his teeth.

Shaking your head, you look away from him. “Don’t even think about it, buddy.” You mutter to yourself. You glance at him quickly one final time and see Nat waving her hand in front of his face.

Bucky’s trance seems to get broken and he falls back into conversation with her with ease.

“Moscow Mule? I think that’s what the bartender called it.” Steve says approaching you.

A light bulb suddenly goes off in your head.

“Steve? Can I ask for a favor?” You say, squeezing the lime into your drink

He nods, “Anything, what’s on your mind?”

You let out a large breath. “Okay, please don’t think I’m immature but I’ve been thoroughly pissed at your best pal over there,” you gesture with a nod of your head.

“and I’d really like to get him back for all the shit he’s put me through.”

Steve sips his drink again, as Sam places 3 shot of Jameson on the table. “What did you have in mind?”

Bucky’s breathing stopped the moment he saw her. He didn’t think she could get anymore beautiful.

Turns out he was incredibly, outstandingly wrong.

He felt his heat racing and his blood pumping, drowning out whatever Nat was telling him about her plans for the evening.

Ella’s eyes were everything to him. They bared her soul and showed him her heart at the same time. He’d never been able to see a future for himself, until she fell into his life.

He worried about her constantly. Not being able to see her or talk to her or hear her voice for nearly 3 weeks drove him crazy. Then seeing her in the state she was in, so obviously sleep deprived and stressed. He hated himself for making her worry so much, and it was clear she wasn’t too happy with him when he got back this morning.

“Hello, Earth to Barnes? Did you hear me?” Nat said, waving her hand.

Bucky shook his head, “No sorry, what was that?”

Nat smiled slyly. “Mhm, your girls got you in a tizzy, that’s for sure.” She said, sipping her martini.

Bucky smiled shyly. “She’s not my girl, no matter how much I wish she was.”

Nat slapped his lapel, “So what the fuck are you doing fuck standing here with me?!”

“Ow! Okay, okay! Christ, shouldn’t you be fucking Banner in a utility closet or something?” He laughed stepping away from her.

“All in good time, Barnes. Now go get your girl.” She said spinning away from him.

Bucky’s eyes traveled to where she was standing, but she wasn’t there. Sam was in her spot, downing a shot Bucky was sure he’d regret in the morning.

He maneuvered around the groups of people, searching for her. The soft rock music playing poignantly through the speakers, he sees a few couples dancing.

He scoots around them and spots Steve.

Good for him. He thought happily to himself.

When Steve sways around with his partner, he sees its not a random guest he’s dancing with. Steve is dancing with a beautiful girl, a woman, Bucky’s girl.

Bucky wants to throw up and kick his ass all at once.

But then he sees Ella.

She’s smiling, and comfortable. She’s happy as she rests her head on Steve’s chest, and sways to the rhythm of the song.

The alcohol in his system doesn’t make these feelings any easier to handle. His vibranium fist clenching and unclenching.

A whirring sound get both Steve and your attention. That’s when you see Bucky standing about 10 feet away from the two of you as he watches dance.

“Hey Buck, wh—“

“Shut the fuck up, Steve.” Bucky slurs.

Your eyes widen at the words he says to his friend. Bucky is visibly shaking, and obviously drunk—probably more so than you, and that’s saying something since Sam kept the shots coming.

“Bucky, stop.” You say before your mind can stop you.

He lets out a sarcastic laugh, “Not fucking him, huh?” He spat in anger as he pushed by you, leaving the lounge all together.

Steve looked to the door, then to you. Your eyes brimming with tears as you swallowed a sob.

He looks at you with a sad smile, and nods his head toward the door. “Go get him.”

Chapter Nine: Seen

[dindjarindiaries]

Ok but imagine this: you don't really know the mandalorian that well but he ends up getting seriously injured and you tell him you need to take his helmet off in order to save him (basically an EP 8 situation) and he frantically explains that no one can see him without a helmet unless they are married. So you marry him right then and there so you can save his life, and you end up joining him in his adventures then ofc falling in love after getting to know him better

You could immediately tell the Mandalorian wasn’t in good shape when he made it back to the ship.

He’d practically dragged himself up the ramp before falling onto his knees in the hull, the sound shocking you and the child you’d been watching as he eased himself to the floor. Though you’re just a mechanic, hired on this planet to do work on the Crest and looking after the child in your spare time, you immediately hurried over to him and helped him lay back more comfortably, closing the hatch and searching for his medpac.

But once he’s explained what happened—an explosion that blindsided him completely on his hunt—you realize the damage is beneath his helmet, and if there’s any chance at saving him, it must come off.

“You... You can’t,” the Mandalorian insists with a heavy wheeze. “No one can.”

“Someone must be able to,” you say, panicking even more now. You can’t let a man die in front of you. You barely know him, it’s true, but you’d seen the way he acted with his child before he left—and you know he’s much different than he might try to let on.

“My clan,” he tries to explain, though it’s getting harder and harder for him to talk.

“How can I join your clan, then?” You’re desperate to keep him alive.

The Mandalorian doesn’t respond for a long moment, and you fear he may already be gone. But then, he speaks, his voice a low and nearly inaudible rasp as he answers. “Marriage.”

You hold in a breath. Could you pledge yourself to this stranger to save his life? Could you leave behind whatever work you’ve been doing here to follow through with that promise? You begin to think... yes. You could. “Then, I’ll marry you.”

You can tell the Mandalorian is shocked. But, though he won’t admit it, he’s just as desperate to live as you are to save him. So, he uses all the energy he has left to tell you the vows in the tongue of his people, and you repeat them after him as he’s instructed you to. Once you’ve said them all, you quickly take off his helmet, meeting amazed and afraid dark eyes that melt easily into your own. You make your work quick, effective, trying not to think too much about what you’ve just pledged yourself to.

But as soon as you finish helping him, he asks if you’ll stay, and you assure him that you were planning on it. It doesn’t take long for you to start becoming close and growing into your feelings for each other, creating a bond that began the moment you sacrificed whatever life you had for his.

[irene-sadler]

Sir Reynard and the Red Knight

notes: 1. here's a (relatively) short n' interesting discussion of the history of the St. Bartholomew Day Fair in London, which was held roughly annually from sometime in the 12th century to sometime in the 19th century. I casually yanked some ideas (ull find this thing about rabbits casually mentioned with no explanation in the source) from events that took place at this specific festival to apply to my much much smaller Winter Solstice Fair held in Rivia.

translating any irl medieval holiday/fair/feast into a fantasy setting is a lil tricky b/c 95 percent of what happens and what makes them so interesting (to me anyway) is tied up in and totally inseperable from medieval Christian religious expression. however, when a lot of my source material was written (usually several hundred years ago bc public domain ebooks) there were still some weird obviously pre-Christian traditions in common use in parts of England. more on this next chapter b/c some of them are fuckin bizarre and so ofc I ganked them.

----

8.

The next day dawned cold, but the blue cast to the sky promised clear weather. The Queen had long since collected a list of names from a page, and sat scribbling figures and notes in the margins as she considered the best way to arrange forty contestants into equitable matches. Isbel proved unsurprisingly unhelpful; the Baroness, however, offered advice on the matter in a slightly imperious tone:

    “There’s no way to match these names up, by perceived skill, and if you try there will be hurt feelings. Random selection won’t answer, either; my suggestion is to choose from whoever is standing around when we arrive and let them sort themselves out as best they can after.”

    Meve shuffled the papers a moment, admitted to herself that she had no better ideas, and nodded grudgingly.

    “Yes, you’re probably right. First come, first served it is, then. Here, look after these,” she said, handing the papers over to the older woman, “I have to go; the Mayor will be wanting something from me within the hour and I’ve other matters to attend to, first.”

    She left the Baroness and Isbel eyeing each other suspiciously over their breakfasts and strode rapidly away to the stables. Reynard’s horse, dozing alone in his stall, greeted her with polite disinterest; she spotted a light flickering from inside a little storage room nearby, where she found his owner carefully examining his armor under Pug and Gaspar’s vacant stares. Reynard smiled tightly at her, Gaspar glowered from under his unkempt hair, and Pug sketched a lazy gesture resembling a salute.

    “Anything to report?” she asked them all, in a slightly falsely cheerful tone. Reynard glanced at Gaspar, who eyed Pug, who squinted up at the Queen through her single eye.

    “Well, someone came in after midnight rung, but we put an end t’ his fucking skulking, quick,” she explained, then pointed at a few dark spots on the dirt floor. “And you can see the blood right there.”

    “So you can,” Meve said, not at all displeased. “Don’t suppose you managed to get a look at the culprit?”

    Pug shook her head, then, considering a moment, noted, “A tall bastard, whoever. Gaspar got ‘im right in th’ ankle from the shadows.”

    “Tall, with a limp,” the Queen considered.

    Gaspar hesitated, and brushed his hand against his own pox-scarred face, glancing at Pug.

    “Might’ve had a beard, also,” she translated.  “Hard t’ say anything else.”

    “Better than nothing at all to go on. Where’s Gascon?”

    Reynard shook his head. Gaspar glanced at Pug again; she chewed her right thumbnail and shrugged idly.

    “Don’t know,” she said, cooly studying the dried blood on the floor; a breathless page then hustled in, bowed to all present - Pug croaked a laugh at him - and announced that the Mayor requested the Queen’s presence, urgently.

    “What, already?” she asked. “All right; tell him I’ll be along shortly. You two can go as well,” she added, to the brigands, “Thank you for your assistance, and tell the Duke to report to me the moment you next see him.”

    “As for you,” she added quickly to Reynard, as soon as the room cleared out, “In case I don’t see you later - “

    He put his helm down wordlessly, stepped across the few feet between them, and kissed her; she took her time pulling away, despite the city government’s looming crisis, and said, “Good luck, not that you need it; I look forward to your victory.”

    “Yes, thank you,” he said, somewhat embarrassed, “I’ll do my best.”

      An hour later, the event was already underway. The brilliant sun pulled a faint fog from the frozen ground, and flashed on the armor of the first two contestants as they met with a resounding crash.

    “Coll, and Bohault,” Giselle reported; they had put her in charge of keeping track of the course of the jousts, and she accordingly drew a bold check in red ink beside Bohault. The Queen nodded her congratulations to the man, who returned her notice with an answering, professional jerk of his head. The next contestants were familiar, as well, and the third set strangers, not unexpectedly; twenty rounds had to be got through, and some of the names on the list had a distinctly foreign flavor. One such man, called Devyn, provided the judges’ first opportunity to deliberate, as he and John Kimborne knocked each other down in the same moment.

    “Sir Kimborne’s a proper knight, which ought to count for something,” Meve said, “And that sweep with the lance on his opponent’s part was, I believe, not quite legal, which is no doubt why he was unseated.”

    “It’s hardly Devyn’s fault that he’s from Novigrad, which doubtless is why he didn’t know not to do that,” Giselle said, smiling encouragingly at the young man. “Also, I think he is well, you know, handsome, for a foreigner.”

    “Yes, I’m sure you do,” the Baroness said, rolling her eyes. By unspoken consent, she reigned as their chief; accordingly, when she pointed impatiently at the knight, her decision was accepted without further comment and the contest carried on. They made good time under her able command, assisted by the timely appearance of mulled wine and sandwiches at midmorning. The names and men rolled by, ticked off in red; they made it past the unpronounceably named Sicg Sicgurdssen, a group of brothers whose names all began with with same letters, Ethan, who put the third and final of the brothers down and received a brilliant smile from Giselle in reward, and as, the Baroness and Queen grew bored and were chatting idly about the relative merits of different styles of tilting helms, Sir Holt, who won his match easily. The Queen eyed him darkly and then abruptly lost interest in side conversation as Reynard appeared, defeated a man named Hall in a few passes, and departed again. The Baroness accepted the sudden silence with faint amusement.

    “Nolda,” Giselle read, next, “And Sir Eres. That’s the knight, there. Who is Nolda?”

    Meve cracked a surprised, but pleased, smile, pointed across the field, where a lanky woman in well-used armor stood apart from the other contestants and said, pleased, “That is Nolda; she was an Aedirnian defector, fought for us in Angren. I hadn’t known she was still here in Rivia; I thought she’d have gone back home.” The Baroness squinted at the woman, with a thoughtful air. Sir Eres scowled at his opponent, glanced hopefully toward the judges, found no leniency in their stony stares, shut his visor and rode to his place. The match lasted all of ten seconds: Nolda held her lance left-handed, at an odd diagonal angle, and then at the last moment straightened it, smacked her opponent’s spear aside with a sweep of her shield, and knocked him away. The Baroness hummed thoughtfully under her breath.      

    “Unusual tactic, but not, I as far as I know, illegal,” Meve commented. Giselle shrugged and crossed out Sir Eres’ name, as the knight picked himself up and stalked angrily toward the judges.

    “It may not answer a second time, but it certainly took him by surprise,” the Baroness said, agreeably, and added, to the clearly disgruntled man, “What’s the problem?”

    The problem was that Sir Eres was a sore loser, Giselle supposed; Meve privately suspected it had as much to do with Nolda herself than it did with his defeat at her hands, but if he was hoping for sympathy he found none. The Baroness turned him away with a few blunt phrases and the contest continued.

    By noon, they had only three names left. Giselle read them off in a doubtful voice: Brossard, Gaheris, Saban. They sent a page to find out where the absentees had got to, and took a break. Giselle hurried off into the crowd with a promise to return in due time, and Meve and the Baroness settled into a debate of the various methods of arranging the second round and soon arrived at a prospective bracket. The page returned, indicated a short, bearded warrior on a sturdy horse, said, “The dwarf, there, is Saban; as for the Duke, nobody seems to know where he might be found, and the squire Gaheris is injured and can’t fight.”

    “I suppose, under the circumstances, that we could simply advance Saban to the second round,” the Queen remarked, frowning at the news of Gascon’s absence, as Giselle came running, slightly flustered. “You’re late,” she added, to the younger woman. Giselle flushed and looked apologetic.

    “Someone had let a bunch of rabbits out into the street, and a crowd of boys was chasing ‘em,” she explained, and then, spotting something on the field, abandoned the tale and gasped, “Look!”

    Meve turned and smiled as she was finally proved right: a man in black armor, mounted on a black horse, sat at the farther end of the barriers. He slowly pointed his lance at Saban, who turned to stare at the judges, baffled. Meve shrugged at him, which he seemed to take for permission; he pulled his helmet on briskly and kicked his horse toward the appointed starting position without delay.

    Saban rode well, but it was obvious that he was an amateur; the black knight unseated him in their first pass without apparent effort. He stood, collected his lost helmet from the ground, picked a clod of dirt out of the visor, and shrugged pragmatically. Meve squinted at the departing black knight’s back, and said, “Well, that was - quite interesting. On to the next round, I suppose. Who is it, Giselle?”

    It was Bohault and the unfortunate Ethan, who stood no chance against the veteran; he received another, slightly less congratulatory smile from Giselle, who then drew a second mark beside the soldier’s name.

    “So,” Meve said to the Baroness, conversationally, watching the next combat with a fine appearance of attention, “Care to make a prediction on the winner, yet?”

    “Of this match? Sir Brewes,” the older woman replied promptly; the knight in question was unseated by his opponent a half minute later. Meve smiled smugly at the winner.

    “Nolda seems to be doing well for herself, doesn’t she? - but I meant overall, in general.”

    “Ah. Well, Sir Odo, Sir Kimborne, perhaps Sir Holt if should he get lucky with his matchups -”

    “What about that black knight?”

    “Oh, him? Well, it’s hard to say, for sure.”

    The conversation paused again as Count Odo made his second appearance, against Sicg, the knight from Skellige. The Count won his second match far more quickly than he had his first. Meve, knowing from long experience that he had been studying the competition for most of the last round, to prepare himself, was unsurprised.

    “Although,” the Baroness continued thoughtfully, as he rode away, “I have seen a black knight fight at a recent tourney, I can’t say as it’s the same one who’s here today. Armor can be changed, but this one doesn’t seem to have the same style, at all. However, he does seem familiar, but they all do after near thirty-five years of watching them in tournaments. Almost all, at least.”

    Meve was growing used to the older woman’s subtle hints, and therefore was sure she’d caught a significant note in her comments. She thought back to the tournament, suddenly recalled the Baroness’s parting behavior with a frown, and re-evaluated her previous assumption: perhaps, after all, there was no confusion about herself and Gascon, and - she realized with mild annoyance - the Baroness had figured out the true reason for her absences, one way or another, but said nothing about it at the time. The same gleam of a secret joke was in the other woman’s eye when she looked away from the field, where Sir Holt was riding away from yet another victory. Meve stared at her, momentarily at a loss. The Baroness smiled slightly and looked back to the lists.

    “So,” the Queen asked, deciding it was best to not to inquire further, “Who do you think it could be, this time?”

    “I’m not sure; I’ll need more time to consider the matter,” the Baroness said, as the black knight returned, last of the pack again, and lined up against Sir Orlac, who had been lingering about as if waiting for him.

    “They’ve fought before,” Meve said, remembering suddenly. “Sir Orlac received an unexpected cold bath, as I recall.”

    Sir Orlac took his second defeat and stood up, swearing loudly at the black knight’s back.

    “At least he didn’t get wet, this time,” she added.

    “What a fall,” Giselle said, “Do you think he’s hurt?”

    The knight was limping slightly, but Meve shrugged dismissively and said, “Oh, no. He’ll be fine. Anyway, who do we have left?”

    Giselle held up the list; the Queen glanced at the six names remaining, nodded, and signaled to the herald.

      “This is going well,” she reflected, after watching Nolda defeat Bohault, to acclaim from the growing audience. “Perhaps I should do it again, next year, but with fewer participants, so it doesn’t take all day.”

    “Hm,” the Baroness said noncommittally, and then, during the next fight, “I do believe I like Sir Kimborne’s chances to win out; what do you think, young lady?”

    Giselle considered.

    “Well, the black knight’s very mysterious; it would be interesting if he won, like a ballad.”

    Nobody bothered to ask Meve for her opinion, but she took no notice, as she was closely watching the knight in question and Sir Holt ride onto the field. The black knight sat dead still on the nearer side, but the red knight passed him and approached the judges, scowling. The Baroness addressed him, in a tone that rivaled Meve’s for arrogance:

    “What’s th’ issue, sir?”

    “I don’t want to fight this - this fellow,” he said, sulkily. “It ain’t proper.”

    “What do you mean?”

    “Well, for one, he might not even be a knight; it could be anyone under all that armor - any man at all, or a woman, even, for that matter.”

    “Heard this sort o’ thing before, a hundred time,” Giselle said quietly to Meve, “He’s chicken.”

    “I heard that,” the knight growled. Giselle blinked innocently at him.

    “Well, your other option is Sir Kimborne,” the Baroness said, growing slightly annoyed. Sir Holt opened his mouth, then closed it with an uneasy frown, obviously unsatisfied by the alternative offer.

    “Didn’t this same knight defeat you, a month or two ago? I would think you’d want to avenge your loss,” the Queen noted, idly. He scowled at the reminder, clearly inclined to argue further. The Baroness turned a hostile glare on him; he thought better of it and rode away, muttering, to take his place by the barricade.

    “What an ass,” Meve said.

    The knights completed a pass, to no avail on either side.

    “Didn’t your man Odo duel him, lately?” the Baroness said. “Can’t say I blame him, now, though I thought his behavior uncharacteristically impulsive at the time. Watch and see if the red knight don’t overcommit on this next run.”

    He did, badly; instead of his usual hesitation, he drove in a rush. Meve suspected he had lost his temper. The black knight took the attack on his shield and turned it away.

    “Yes, well, next time I’ll leave you to deal with him instead,” Meve remarked. “It seems to be more effective.”

    Sir Holt took his third run far more cautiously; his usual hesitation returned, and Meve glanced downward to hide a malicious smile as the black knight took advantage, aimed true, and knocked his opponent down hard.

    “I have five sons,” the Baroness replied, flatly. “Th’ egos of these fool knights can’t compare.”

    Gaheris limped heavily onto the field and collected Sir Holt; Meve looked from him to the black knight, who appeared to be watching the squire closely, a slight frown crossing her face. Giselle, meanwhile, made a bold red mark through the loser’s name and said, “It’s Sir Odo and Sir Kimborne, now.”

    It was a fight that the Baroness watched approvingly, making comments to Giselle, as Meve was, again, distinctly uninterested in conversation. The Count finally wore his opponent down from sheer weariness after half a dozen passes, drawing a pleased smile from the Queen. They then broke off for ten minutes, reckoning it was only fair to let their last three knights have a rest before the end. The judges spent the time in conference, deciding how to arrange their semi-finals; the no-shows had ruined their early arrangements, leaving them with an odd number of contestants. The Baroness eventually ruled that Sir Odo, being the senior knight, should be given a free round, and Nolda and the stranger would go against each other, as a result. Meve squinted at her.

    “Have you really not figured the black knight out, yet?”

    “Oh,” she said, mysteriously, “I think that by the time we’re done, we’ll know who he is, one way or another.”

      The black knight, however, did not appear when summoned along with the other two, leaving Nolda sitting alone at the barricades. Reynard, after a while, offered to go against her, on the chance that the third contestant would turn up very late to fight the last match; Nolda agreed, somewhat reluctantly. The Baroness overruled them, claiming that there was no knowing whether their third party would actually appear. The contestants therefore settled in to wait, Reynard with a distant frown and Nolda looking moderately suspicious of the sudden delay. The crowd chattered in the background, bored and uncertain of the future prospects for its entertainment.

    “How long are we going to wait?” Giselle asked, five minutes later; the black knight had failed to show.

    “Damn him,” Meve snarled quietly, “I planned this blasted event to flush him out, and he still somehow slipped away through my fingers. What now?”

    Giselle stared at her; the Baroness sighed and said, “Well, th’ only thing we can do is declare the match forfeit; Nolda will just have to fight Sir Odo, gods help her.”

    The contestants were summoned and the plan explained to them. Nolda did not seem overly relieved at being spared the black knight, probably due to being confronted with the Count as a result. He himself appeared mildly perturbed by the unusual situation, glanced at Meve’s tense smile, and said nothing.

    “I don’t know as it’s necessary that the Count should go against me now,” Nolda said doubtfully, “To tell the truth, I’m only here because Captain Bohault - he’s my husband - said could do better than me at this game, which I’ve proved he can’t.”

    “That you have,” the Queen said, mildly amused despite herself, “But the contest has to be won by someone. If you’re intending to spare Sir Reynard a fall on account of his age, I assure you there’s no need.”

    Nolda, who appeared to be roughly the same age as the knight, frowned, apparently unsure whether the Queen was joking. Sir Reynard’s expression turned mildly pained, but he did not roll his eyes at her.

    “I have no objections,” he said, stiffly. Nolda shrugged and said, “Well, I’m game, then.”

    “Good,” the Baroness said, “We’ll start in twenty minutes.”

    The combatants rode down to opposite sides of the field, where Reynard sat on his horse, exchanging a few words with his squire. Nolda stood at her horse’s head, deep in conversation with Bohault; the occasional audible phrase and the cavalryman’s complicated hand gestures suggested a strategy session was underway. Meve struggled to appear neutral, if she couldn’t manage anything else, despite her continued irritation at the black knight’s disappearance. The effort became supremely more difficult as, from behind and under the stands, a familiar voice whispered, “Meve! I mean, Your Majesty! I need t’ talk to you.”

    She turned, slowly, forced a casual tone, and said, “Ah, Duke Brossard. I’m glad you’ve decided to join us at last.”

[blognotfound]

@mytalkingraccoon nominated me for this shit ugh

1. think of the last person who said i love you, do you think they meant it? he did, unfortunately i didn’t.  2. would you date an 18yr old at the age you are now? i mean i’m 18 so  3. when was the last you were aggravated and happy at the same time? like a month ago during s 4. would you ever smile at a stranger? yeah and i do cuz i’m a nice fucking person 5. is there someone mad bc you’re dating or talking to the person you are? not currently no 6. have you heard a song that reminds you of someone today? yeah and i’ll link it 7. what exactly are you wearing right now? an old volleyball shirt and that’s literally it  8. how often do you listen to music? practically every waking moment 9. do you wear jeans or sweats more? jeans fo sho 10. do you think your life will change dramatically before 2014? i mean 11. are you a social or antisocial person? i’m a hybrid 12. have you ever kissed someone who’s name begins with the letter a? yeah and that was def a mistake 13. what about the letter r? no i don’t think so 14. can you drive a stick shift? yes but will i crash it? also yes 15. do you care if people talk badly about you? not really, just have the balls to say it to my face if you do 16. are you going out of town soon? no i don’t think so 17. when was the last time you cried? months ago 18. have you ever told someone you loved them? mhm 19. if you could change your eye color, would you? yeah maybe like a greenish color 20. is there a boy who you would absolutely everything for? my dad ig? maybe my guy bsf? 21. name something you dislike about the say you’re having. my skin is dry but that’s it 22. is it cute when guys kiss you on the forehead? i guess 23. are you dating the last person you talked to? nope thank god 24. what are you sitting on rn? the floor lmao 25. does anybody regularly tell you they love you? nope  26. have you ever wanted someone you couldn’t have? who hasn’t 27. who was the last person you talked to before you went to bed last night? my f*ckbuddy 28. do you get a lot of colds? no i have an immune system like the fucking navy seals 29. where is the shirt you’re wearing from? from my high school 30. does anyone hate you? probably? 31. do you have empty alcohol bottles hidden in your room? no i throw them away cuz i’m not a pussy 32. do you like watching scary movies? yeah sometimes 33. do you wanna get your tongue pierced? god no 34. if you had to delete one year of your life completely, which would it be? i mean they all suck but sophomore year of high school ig 35. did you have a dream last night? yes it was a weird ass dream with bucky the winter soldier and ben hardy archangel ok 36. when was the last time you told someone you love them? two days ago 37. do you think you’ll be married in 5 years? god i hope not marriage is for the weak im sorry 38. do you think someone has feelings for you? yeah. feelings of hatred 39. do you think someone is thinking of you rn? yeah probably  40. did you have a good day yesterday? yeah it was decent 41. think back 2 months ago.  were you in a relationship? no 42. in the next 48hrs, will you hang out with a girl? yeah my sister lmao 43. has anyone told you they don’t ever wanna lose you? yeah but i don’t think they meant it 44. what’s the best part about school? LEAVING lmaooooo 45. do you have any pictures on your facebook? pft who has facebook anymore 46. do you ever pass notes to your friends in school? no i just text them lmao 47. do you replay things that happen in your head? yes constantly it’s a problem 48. were you single last summer? nope  49. is anything in your life like it was 2 years ago? god no everything is different 50. what are you supposed to be doing rn? nothing?? i don’t think?? 51. do you hate the last guy you had a conversation with? no i don’t have daddy issues 52. are you nice to everyone hahahhahahahahhaha 53. have you ever liked someone you didn’t expect to? unfortunately 54. did you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months and not cheat? yeah? what kinda question 55. are you good at hiding your feelings? sometimes 56. do you think you like someone? i do not 57. have you ever kissed someone who’s name starts with j? no i’m pretty sure i haven’t? 58. do you prefer to be friends with girls or boys? boys, girls are too sensitive and too gossipy and too 59. has anyone of your friends ever seen you cry? LMAO YES AND THIS IS A FUNNY STORY BUT 60. do you hate anyone? no, i got no room in my life for h8 ;) 61. how’s your heart? i mean i got low blood pressure it could be beating a lil harder  62. is there something that happened in your past that you hate talking about? several things  63. have you ever cried over a guy? yes and i’m not ashamed 64. who is probably talking a load of crap about you rn? one of my exes maybe 65. are your toenails painted pink? no. oddly specific question  66. will your next kiss be a mistake? possibly? 67. do girls love it when their bfs cry? no?!?!?! what the hell 68. have your pants ever fallen down in public? no geez 69. who was the last person you were on the phone with? my dad 70. how do you look rn? fresh asf you already know 71. do you have someone you can be your complete self around? yes idgaf i’m myself around everyone 72. can you commit to one person? yeah 73. do you have someone of the opposite sex you can tell everything to? yes and these questions are getting kinda repetitive 74. have you ever felt replaced? several times 75. did you wake up cranky? no 76. are you a jealous person? generally no 77. are relationships ever worth it? yeah and if you don’t think so your relationships have been toxic sry 78. anyone you’re giving up on? not rn 79. currently wanting to see anyone? yes, literally anyone. i’d like to see another human being 80. name something you have to do tomorrow. hydrate lmao 81. last person you cried in front of? oh geez it was  82. is there someone you’ll never forget? yeah i have a good memory 83. do you think the person you have feelings for is protective of you? i ain’t got feelings  84. if the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing rn? chillin& stuff 85. are you over your past? is anyone? 86. have you ever liked one of your best friends of the opposite sex? yeeeet yeah 87. is there anyone you can tell EVERYTHING to? mhm 88. if your fist true love knocked on your door with an apology and presents would you accept? AAHAHAHAHHAHA hellll nah 89. so the last person you kissed just happens to arrive at your door at 3am, do you let them in? yeah they’re just coming over to f*ck again 90. have you ever liked someone who your friends hates? yeah 91. will you be in a relationship in 2 months? hope not 92. is there anyone you know with the name michael? probably shout out to micheal 93. have you ever kissed a matthew? ugh no but i’ve been tempted to 94. were you in a relationship in january? how was it going? yes& great! 95. were you happy with the person you liked in march? no i was not 96. is the last person you texted attractive? eh  97. who do you have texts from? my mom, my guy bsf, and my f*ckbuddy 98. if the person you like says they like someone else, what would you say? “oh, cool!” (and also move on lmao) 99. have you ever kissed someone older than you? mm yeah 100. who’s in your pfp with you? no one??? 101. ever kissed under fireworks? yes i have ;) 102. has anybody ever given you butterflies? ofc lmao

tagging - the person reading this muahahahahahaha

[cross-poison]

CLARITAS. Din Djarin/OFC (Part 2)

CLARITAS. Part 2

WORDS: 1.4k || WARNINGS: Nudity; Implied sexual content between minor characters toward the end of the chapter.

The next morning arrived sooner than Elliott would have liked. The light of Cietovus 8 pierced through her windows, bathing her room in the early light of dawn. Elliotte quietly picked herself out of bed and threw on casual morning clothes as she went about her morning routine in the washroom, brushing her hair and picking out any petals from the flowers that could have gotten stuck last night. 

Then, she quietly stepped out onto her balcony, rubbing sleep from her eyes and hoping to get a glimpse of the sunrise before Cietovus 8 became too blinding to look at during the heat of the midday. As she neared the railing and folded her arms across the polished metal, she caught a glimpse of movement down below.

It was odd to see--her balcony overlooked the marketplace, but it was still far too early for the merchants to be opening shop. When Elliotte leaned over the railing to get a better view, she was taken aback by the source of the movement.

It was a man.

Made of metal.

Or at least… heavily clad in it. He wandered the empty street silently, a rather intimidating presence even from this far away. He certainly didn’t seem confused, but definitely a bit out of place.

Elliotte tipped her head to the side, watching curiously as he lifted one of the merchant’s tarps as if looking for something specific. The rays of sunlight reflecting off of his silver armor normally would’ve been enough to give Ell a headache, but she was far too curious to miss even a moment of a sight like this. She’d never seen anything like it--anything like him. His head was guarded by an impressively shaped helmet--probably hand carved. A t-shaped black-tinted visor obscured the man’s eyes from view, and a long cape billowed around his shoulders. 

Before she could stop herself, she decided to call out to him. “Sir? The market doesn’t open until--”

The man of metal whipped around with enviable speed, already pointing a blaster at her head from below. 

Elliotte could only muster a surprised squeak as she ducked down, taking cover behind the railing. “Sorry! I’m sorry! You just seemed a bit lost, is all!”

There was an excruciating pause, but Elliotte didn’t dare risk a peak back down below her balcony. Her heart was pounding so hard, she thought it might leap out of her throat.

“I’m not… lost.”

So he could speak? The man’s voice was muffled by the helmet and vaguely distorted by some sort of modulator. 

“Apologies, sir, I didn’t mean to presume… you just seemed to be interested in the merchant stalls, and, well… seeing as they don’t open for another few hours…” Elliotte tried her luck and carefully peered over the banister, relieved to find that although the strange metal man was still looking at her, he no longer pointed a weapon in her direction.

“Where can I find fuel?” said he, ignoring that she’d ever spoken.

Elliotte gave a weak scoff of a laugh, once again folding her arms over the railing of her balcony. “Hell if I know. There’s a horrible shortage at the moment… about a two-month waiting list if you’re going through the government.”

“I don’t have two months,” said the stranger sternly, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Elliotte simply shrugged. “And I don’t have fuel. Looks like we’re both losers.”

She could hear his sigh from a floor above him and watched as he raised a glove hand to his helmet to further punctuate his annoyance with his current predicament. Elliotte had seen the same expression on countless visitors prior as they left to find lodging for their unexpected stay.

“Do you need a place to stay? I have a friend who--”

“I’m fine. Thank you,” said the man curtly, turning away from her to begin his walk out of the marketplace.

Elliotte watched him for a moment, unable to shake the feeling that she should be doing something more. Her visit with Rhythimi the previous night was still fresh on her mind. “If… there’s anything else you need, please let me know. I’d be happy to help.”

Unsurprisingly, the man didn’t offer a response. 

Elliotte pulled away from the railing finally, and returned to the comfort of her bedroom after pulling the balcony door shut and flipping the lock. As interesting as the stranger was, he was clearly in no mood to talk or answer her questions so she thought it best to let it die. In the meantime, she readied herself for another full day of work.

She swiftly changed into proper attire--a simple but elegant gray dress adorned with patterns of glittering silver beads. It mimicked the style of the nobles enough to warrant her presence in the palace without drawing too many scornful looks, and yet was distinct enough to set her apart from them to those she passed on the street. 

She was a worker, like them. They didn’t have to hide their possessions and avert their eyes anxiously as she passed them by, instrument folded beneath her arm tightly. By the time she arrived at the steps leading up to the grand pillars of the palace, Cietovus 8 had risen far enough above the treetops that life began to stir in the nearby streets. The marketplace would be opening any time now.

Elliotte made her way into the palace, dipping her head to the two guards keeping watch over the outside. Once she was within the grand halls, she retrieved a small sheet of paper from her sleeve. She had only four clients today, regrettably. Rhythimi would not be pleased with the haul tonight. Heaving a quiet sigh, the musician tucked her sheet away and continued her route throughout the palace hallways. Each hall was lined with the lavish rooms belonging to the nobility who worked directly under the King. Each time Elliotte found herself inside one of them, it never failed to surprise her just how large their living quarters were; Elliotte herself was fortunate enough to own a house near the city center, but a single noble’s room was just as large as her dwelling---and far more luxurious.

Elliotte stopped outside the room of her first client for the day. This was the room of Lord Miryus, potentially one of Ell’s least favorites to work with. All of the nobles were clueless to some extent, but Miryus was as insufferable as they come. Nevertheless, credits were credits, and she was in no place to deny service to any one of the royal court.

Elliotte steeled her nerves and lifted her hand to knock on the door. It was almost a full thirty seconds before there came an answer in the form of Lord Miryus, naked save for a towel wrapped around his waist, pulling the door open with a gruff greeting. Miryus was balding, with wiry gray hairs that couldn’t be flattened perfectly to his head no matter how often he attempted it. His face was rounded out, and his eyes had a rather dull look to them these days, a recurring pattern in those nobles who worked so closely with the brainless antics of the King. Behind him, a much younger woman dove out of sight, covering her exposed breasts. 

Elliotte cleared her throat softly to maintain some form of professionalism. “Good morning, Lord.”

He grumbled in response and pushed the door open for Elliotte to make her way inside, then turned to call out to the prostitute covering herself with the bedsheets, “It’s alright, Amarissa, baby! It’s just the musician,” he cooed, reaching for her.

Elliotte fought every urge to roll her eyes while she opened her instrument, setting it to its full height and taking a seat beside it while she gave a few testing tugs against the strings. The Lord and his company were far too caught up in their own business exchange to pay much mind to the harpist as she performed, the soft notes bouncing off the walls with enviable acoustics. Truly a pity her performance was wasted on such a man as this. Elliotte felt worse for the poor prostitute---how many hours had she spent with the stingiest man in the court, hoping for a fair bit of compensation?

Elliotte figured it wasn’t her place to question. Instead, she focused all of her attention on the instrument between her hands as if it were her lifeline, her island in a sea of unrelenting waves---her steady rock, and the one thing that could offer her peace in a world that only knew turmoil.

--

AO3 Link : HERE

[txladyj-blog]

Chapter 8 - This Time Around

a Daryl Dixon x OFC collaboration written by @xmistressmistrustx​

Rating: Explicit

Relationship: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character

Tags: Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Awkwardness, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Crush, Fluff and Humor, Angst and Humor, Mild Smut, Strong Language, Eventual Sex, Eventual Romance, Slow Burn, Canon Divergence, Some Canon Scenes and Dialogue

Chapters 23/?

Human nature. With all its complexities and flaws, was now the one thing that presided over a land filled with the dead. True human nature, in its most naked, exposed and unapologetic form was now both the best and worst of the world. Jess had seen the best and worst of it from her spot in the city and had managed to live, unnoticed by any survivors passing through. She’d witnessed grown men put themselves in harms way, sacrificing themselves to save children too slow and small to keep up the running pace of the adults in their group as she’d watched from her perch on the corner of the roof. In contrast, she’d stared in horror as another group simply tossed a woman out of a truck like last night’s burger wrapper, onto the street in order to slow down a small herd. She’d been bitten before Jess could grab her bow and race down the stairs. In an act of mercy that allowed her to prove to herself that she was still on the good side of human nature, she’d shot the woman in the head from the roof with a well-placed arrow and spent all night replaying the look of pure terror etched onto the stranger’s face.

Yes, human nature was complicated and destructive, inspiring and devastating. A double-edged sword. Jess was better off on her own, that much was true, but she did miss the conversation, the debate, the ideas swapping over hot chocolates and the late-night hilarity that came from a few glasses of beer and games of pool in a bar. Those days were gone and now all she had in the way of company was a reanimated dead body at the bottom of the elevator shaft and a huge stuffed bear wearing an army jacket that now took up it’s place opposite her on the roof, a stale birthday cake waited to be devoured between them on an upturned, wooden box.

“Well, Sgt Pepper. Looks like it’s just you and I celebrating another trip around the sun.” she commented as she held her glass aloft.

Merle had finished off all the whiskey and she knew better than to go scrounging for more. It wasn’t a necessity and she wasn’t about to get herself killed for a bout of nausea and a fuzzy head the next day.

The bear was tatty, threads pulled from his ears and his jacket splattered with dried blood. Jess found him in the next apartment block where he’d been positioned proudly on the pillow of a perfectly made bed in a room decorated for that of a young adult. On the floor were three bodies, two adults and a girl around 13 years old. Jess carefully nudged each one with her foot as she passed. The bullet holes in their heads told her that they hadn’t turned and like many of the people that chose to remain in the city, they thought suicide to be a better prospect than the exhausting slog to survive day by day. It hurt Jess’s heart to think that some souls felt there was no other way, but it wasn’t an option she could say she hadn’t considered at least once while she resided in her fortress of loneliness.

It was a no brainer to her. She had to leave with that bear. He reminded her so much of her own childhood companion, jacket and all. Her father had gifted it to her and during every tour and every training exercise, she found comfort in the military bear that she had dubbed ‘Sgt Pepper’. Aware that if any other survivors were passing through and saw her, she would look positively ridiculous, scurrying across the rooftops with a huge stuffed animal under her arm. But just as before the turn, she wasn’t going to change who she was to suit anyone else. Especially not in the apocalypse.

“You say it's your birthday” She sang at the bears pinned and permanent smile. She sipped the soda in the glass and slapped her other hand on her thigh to create a beat. “It's my birthday too, yeah”. She paused, looking up at Sgt Pepper as if his plastic eyes would change their expression and for a fleeting second, she was disappointed when they remained exactly the same. She raised the glass to him for a second time. “They say it's your birthday, we’re gonna have a good time” She thudded the glass on the box and began to pluck at imaginary guitar strings, closing her eyes and leaning to one side. “I'm glad it's your birthday, Happy birthday to you!” The Beatles were her favourite band ever since she was a child and that was not something that was going to change just because they and their audience weren't around anymore. Jess was still there and as long as she was, so was her love of their music. She'd found headphones while scavenging, even and old portable CD player, but her rule of keeping a clear head and always being aware of her surroundings meant that the headphones went untouched and she was reduced to singing to herself to stave off the boredom and silence. It wasn't a problem to her, she knew all of the lyrics anyway and there was no one but Ben and Sgt Pepper to complain about it.

Her eyes lowered to the dried birthday cake. Three, colored, marzipan Balloons floated across the top and the rim was adorned with cracked and discolored frosting. The chances of a strong bout of stomach cramps after consuming it were high, but it was her birthday and she was going to have a damn cake if she wanted to. A single candle flame flickered in the center of the off-white frosting and as she blew it out, she wished that she would survive long enough to see mother nature take back the earth. To reclaim what was hers and what was destroyed by the arrogance of human nature. She wanted to see vines and branches seep into the cracks of buildings, pulling them apart and turning them into a ghostly mirage of what once was. But through it all, she wanted to be around, content and safe and able to live into her old age while still being the survivor she had realized she really was.

She also wished for something else; that one day, Daryl would know how much he inspired her. If nothing else, she wanted that for him. Without his guidance, his training and his words, she was certain she would be dead. He may have broken her heart, but at one point, somewhere in between all the angst and anger, he believed in her. She regretted not writing it in the note she left pinned to the tree but time was of the essence and she had to think quickly. Now, when she thought back to the good times spent tracking and hunting in the woods, putting Walkers down and making fun of one another, it made her smile. A smile that was not through genuine happiness. Far from it. It was a smile of sadness for times that she desperately missed. But they were times of blissful ignorance of how he really felt, times based on a lie. She pressed her eyes shut and quickly shook the thoughts from her head. She watched the thin, sliver of smoke drift up from the wick. Picking up a plastic fork, she stabbed the cake and shoveled a large piece of the sponge into her mouth. Wincing at the dryness, she chewed and swallowed hard. It was like eating sand.

“Happy fuckin’ birthday to me.” She sighed.

She had resorted to guessing the time of day by using a sundial or her hands against the horizon from the roof. Her knowledge of such historical practices had proved to be invaluable and she now appreciated her interests much more than she ever did before the turn. The night was creeping in, dulling the view from the roof and creating a cold sting in the air. There was just enough time for some target practice.

The streets below the apartment were far from clear. Walkers milled in and our of side streets and alleys, some amassed in the middle of the road and if it wasn’t for Jess’s diversion tactics from time to time, she was sure the street she lived on would be clogged with festering corpses by now. Fireworks were usually the best, she’d found. They seemed to like fireworks. The dreamer in her liked to think that maybe the noise and the colors stirred something deep inside their mainly inoperative brains, some kind of distant memory of 4th July firework shows or new year celebrations. But the realist side of her knew differently. Now, they were even lower than most animals, driven to move by sounds but completely devoid of thought or any type of feeling. Just shells.

She picked up her bow and slid on her bracers as she approached the small wall that lined the edge of the roof. The faint murmur of the odd, swaying Walker was the only sound that rose from the scene below. Taking a peek over the edge, she nodded in approval at the numbers.

“That’ll do.” She said to herself before picking up a small, children’s chalkboard that rested against the inside of the wall. Her eyes flickered over the names on the list, selecting the first one and shuffling forwards to get into position.

“OK, Madonna. Are you out tonight?”

With one foot placed in front of the other, her body turned and her stance strong, she raised the bow and nocked an arrow. She smiled when she noticed her. A blonde woman with wavy, hair wearing what appeared to be a thin, satin nightgown. She wasn’t as designer clad as the real thing, but she would suffice as a target. She drew the bow string back and exhaled slowly as she took aim. The Arrow embedded in the side of the Walkers head as if it was nothing but a bag of sand and she hit the floor, causing the others around her to start shuffling towards her.

“Oof!” She exclaimed with a fist pumped in the air. “That one was a ten pointer. Sorry, Madonna.” She marked her score on the chalkboard next to the name and checked her next target.

Sarah.

It was now a habit, each time she re-filled the board with names, Sarah and Jodie’s would always be mixed in somewhere. Jess was never one to remain bitter or hold grudges, too many so-called friends had come and gone over the years to make sure she’d got used to it. But she was also never one to not make an exception for some things. When she was feeling low and having a bad day, the list of names on the board changed and she wondered at one point if she should indulge in an ‘abhorrent people target practice day’ once a week, where Sarah and Jodie’s names could mingle with the likes of Hitler, Robert Mugabe and Vlad the Impaler. But it was yet to happen because she wasn’t bitter. Not at all. Or, so she told herself as she chose a doppelganger of Sarah and took aim.  

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Ben was hanging on the bars of the elevator gate when she descended the stairs, his arms were loosely draped through the gaps and his face was pushed against the cold metal. She lifted a hand in acknowledgement before sitting down on the bottom step in front of him and seeing him try to reach out to her. She held her hand out, gently tickling his grasping, blackened fingertips in what could have been seen as a gesture of affection.

“Hey dude. So, my birthday cake tasted like feet but it was one hell of a pity party you missed.”

The sound of her voice was like fuel for Ben. He instantly began to clamber up from his spot, hanging through the gate and started to snarl at her, his mouth hanging open and his teeth bared.

“Not that I know what feet taste like.” She added, her eyes locking on his now cloudy, pale and blinded orbs. “I guess you might though. Depending on how long you’ve been locked in there.”

Stepping back, Ben’s arms dropped from the grate and he stumbled backwards, his body hitting the back of the elevator and causing it to shake. A slight jingle caught her attention and she froze, straining her ears. As he moved back towards her, his pocket gave off a tinkling sound and Jess quickly put the pieces of the puzzle together. Many a week had passed when she’d been sitting on that same step engrossed in a one-way conversation with the dead man trapped inside his cell. Sometimes she even contemplated if he really would try to hurt her if she managed to somehow release him from the confined space he occupied. But then she reminded herself of her own naivety and how that kind of thinking could get her killed. Ben was a Walker. A mindless, stinking, lump of useless flesh but still a predator in his own right.  

“You have the goddamn keys to the elevator in your pocket, don’t you?” She asked him.

He stilled and her eyebrows raised. She knew better than to think he could understand her, but it was strange nonetheless. The keys would change everything. She could get him out of there and actually make use of him. She sprang up from her spot.

“I have an idea. Wait here.” She told him. After striding up two steps she rolled her eyes and sighed at her own stupidity.

Like he’s going to go anywhere.

When she returned, she placed her supplies in front of her; a cylindrical block of wood with a dish cloth tightly wound around it, attached at either end to a string of thick, rubber bands, a hockey mask and a length of rope tied into a slipknot. Another one of her skills acquired from the thousands of books she had now amassed in her apartment. She paced back and forth for a few moments, observing how Ben followed her every move from behind the barrier like a magnet. Although she was almost certain he was blind, he was completely obsessed with her and she huffed with amusement when she figured that he was only guy that had ever been obsessed with her…and he was dead.

She picked up the block of wood and tilted her head to the side, it would fit through the gaps perfectly but her task was not going to be easy. Her left arm was covered with three, thick layers of tape, strapped over a Kevlar sleeve and glove in case Ben fancied a snack halfway through his rescue mission. She was now glad of her forethought. She threaded her arm through the grid, silently and without rattling the metal. Ben, who could detect no sound whatsoever, merely peered around through his useless eyes as she used her armor covered hand to quickly grasp the back of his head. He jolted and began to gnash at her, the sounds bubbling up from his throat as his lips parted provoking a rush of bile from her own stomach. She couldn’t have prepared for the smell or the sound of liquidated, rotting human organs no matter how much she knew about Walkers. She snapped his head back as he grabbed a hold of her police issue vest and dragged her forwards, slamming her body against the gate. With her other hand, she managed to wedge the piece of wood so far between his jaws that they became locked in position. She quickly stretched the string of bands over his head, creating a most macabre and brutal gag but an effective one regardless.

He thrashed and growled, throwing himself at the gate over and over until Jess was able to shove a hand into his pocket and pulled out the biggest bunch of keys she had ever seen. Her heart dropped as she stepped back and sat down, the racket of Ben desperately trying to get to her now drowned out by just how many keys she had to contend with.

“Guys got the keys to every lock in the city on here.” She mumbled.

She began sorting through them, checking the branding on the lock and looking for a match. She must have gone through at least twenty keys before she stopped and pinched one particular one between her fingers. She looked up at the lock again.

“Nova” She whispered.

The key boasted the exact same branding. She stood up, moved closer to the lock and slid the key into the chamber. Holding onto the gate as tightly as she could, she gently and quietly turned the key, a subtle click made her smile. She’d found it. The whole time he’d been locked inside, Ben possessed the key to his freedom all along. At first, she didn’t know if someone else had thrown him in there but now it was evident; he’d been bitten and locked himself in.

“That was noble of you. But this is my apartment complex now and you’re going to earn your keep.” She quipped, swiping up the hockey mask and rope from the floor. She shoved the mask under her arm and released the lock, slowly sliding the gate back. The rattling noise sent Ben into a frenzy and he collided with the gap she’d created in the gate with such force that she doubted her ability to follow through with her plan for a moment. She took a deep breath, reached into the gap and snapped the mask over his gagged face. Next, she threw the rope around his neck and pulled it tight before throwing the gate open.

He threw himself at her, knocking the mask against the side of her face while she tried to tighten her grip on the rope enough to keep his head away from hers.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m pleased to see you too buddy.” She remarked.

Ben couldn’t have been more than 30 years old when he was alive and Jess gathered that even thought he was now deceased and extremely dangerous, he was once a good-looking guy. She felt a pang of sympathy for such a wasted life. But what else was left to hang around for? The experience of wresting the undead from elevators and up the stairs to a roof wasn’t one she’d wish on anyone else. By the time she’d maneuvered him to the top of the steps and shoved open the heavy, metal door to the roof, he’d quieted considerably. Jess knew Walkers didn’t get tired; they no longer possessed the brain capacity to register fatigue. Nor were they able to come to the conclusion that something wasn’t worth the trouble. She didn’t know why he became more compliant, but she certainly wasn’t about to complain.

Tying him to a pipe inside a ramshackle, wooden shed. She stood back and looked him over, pleased with her efforts and feeling triumphant at the result. She now had a moving target, a sparring partner and little did Ben know; he was about to become her Sensei.

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She’d lost track of time. It had been months, she knew that to be a fact, but just how many had escaped her. Her need to journal would have helped keep tabs on just how long she’d been housed in the apartment block in the city, but she had Sgt Pepper and Ben and she chattered away to them without a care in the world, dispelling her darkest fears and her inner most private thoughts. There wasn’t a need to write everything down anymore, not in a world where no one and everyone was listening all at once. If she tried to guess, she looked at her crops which filled the balcony and most of the rooftop, they were huge, prospering in the summertime and struggling during the winter. But they still existed she thought it had maybe been close to a year that she’d lived alone.

People below had come and gone. Rarely was it that anyone would try her apartment. If they did, they found it to be locked up tighter than a secret military camp and soon moved on when they realized the noise and time it would take to enter such a building while surrounded by Walkers just wasn’t worth it. In so many months she had uttered hardly a word to anyone but Merle, who’s absence was felt much greater than she ever would have expected or would care to admit.

Training with Ben was one of life’s perks, she enjoyed experiencing the change in not only her body, but her mind as she jabbed and kicked her way into a full, self-defense skill set using a dead guy as her fake attacker. She goaded him, riled him up until he would lunge at her and swipe with his arms and kick out with his legs. His hands constantly grabbed for her, the need to taste human flesh far too great for him to ignore. But Ben could only go as far as his leash allowed and his hockey mask was eventually replaced each evening before he was led back to his shack.

Gunfire interrupted one sparring session during a hot, summers evening and Jess’s head snapped around while the rest of her body completely froze. Ben also stilled and started to jolt and snarl at the source of the bangs. It was close, much too close for comfort. She wiped the sweat from her brow and eyes and crept to the edge of the roof, her heart almost stopped at the view below.

Is that a…a TANK?!

Driving towards her corner apartment block with a speed that couldn’t be easily stopped, was an M1 Abrams Tank. Jess had seen them many times before, a sight that Army brats tended to get used to. It was flanked by a dozen, heavily armed men with their weapons pointed at the door to her block. Her chest constricted when she heard them start to jeer and her eyes clocked another vehicle turn a corner at the top of the street. A large, black truck that was equipped with an animal cage on the flatbed. Inside the cage, was a screaming woman. She scanned each face as quickly as she could. Blackened teeth. Then, she observed their hands and movements. Tremors. Poor coordination. She’d read about the depths some humans would reach on the moral scale in a post-apocalyptic situation. Fear raged through her body and she stumbled back when the tank collided with the door on the ground floor.

I have to get out of here.

The building shook and she whirled around, her mind racing and her heart hammering. Adrenaline began to surge through her veins, urging her to remove herself from the threat. She grabbed Ben’s rope and sprinted to the roof door. Dragging him down the steps, sweat trickled into her eyes and she cursed the timing of the attack above all things.

Could have waited until training was over. Jesus.

Crashing through the door to her apartment, she fastened Ben’s rope to the radiator and he thrashed and clawed at her as she dashed around the living space, filling her bag with handguns and supplies. She quickly slipped on anything Kevlar or armored she could find and collected what seemed like millions of arrows from almost every room. Now, there was shouting ringing out from the floors below.

“Place is cleared. Someone lives here, keep searching!” ordered a man’s voice that she could just about make out as a muffled sound through the floorboards. They were on the floor below. She had to be fast. Now wasn’t the time for sentiment, now, she had to be practical, smart and stealthy. She threw the backpack she’d lifted from yet another dead policeman onto her back, the barrels of the guns inside poked at her back but she paid it no mind as she collected her primary weapon, her bow from the hook on the back of the front door. A machete nudged against her leg as she walked, pinned there by the loop on its handle around the belt loop on her pants. She quickly freed it, clutching it in her hand as she adjusted her backpack. She stopped and looked at Ben.

He was glaring at her with his white eyes in the middle of the room, his rope was pulled taut and his neck tendons protruded. His hands were locked out in front of him with his fingers fanned out. She could hear the men clearly now, they were on the other side of the door and with every harsh bang of the wood in the frame, her heart jumped. She closed the gap between her and the corpse. Taking hold of one of his hands but not allowing him to pull her any closer. She gradually shifted his position in the room and gently squeezed his fingers.

“Don’t let me down” She whispered.

She raised the machete, sliced through his rope and ripped the wooden gag from his mouth. Then, she turned on her heels, taking hold of the window frame and diving through the gap. Outside, she slammed the window shut and watched as Ben’s hands slapped against the glass.

“Slow ‘em down, buddy. Thanks for the lessons.” She smiled.

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Daryl chewed his bottom lip as he adjusted his position on the rickety, prison mattress. His back was pressed against the wall and no matter how hard he tried, she couldn’t shake the thought that of all the places the group could have ended up, a prison had to be one of them. He hated being forced to sleep in a cage and live behind heavy, clanking doors. Even the sound of Rick’s keys irritated him. Rick, the leader. Rick the prison guard.

He wasn’t a regular at the Georgia Department of Corrections like his brother. But he’d been on the wrong side of the law just enough to know what staring at the same four walls, sitting at the same metal table and taking a dump in the same room that you sleep in was like. Charges for drug possession and fighting were hardly the kind of things he wanted to share with the rest of the group and so, he kept himself to himself, merely stating that he’d rather sleep outside of the cells. That was when he slept at all.

In his hands, he held a newly carved bolt for his crossbow. His ability to make them had improved some over the months and it was now second nature to him to create as many as possible while sat around, babysitting his brother who was locked in the cell opposite him.

Merle hadn’t managed to track Daryl down since leaving the city. Instead, he’d come across another group of survivors led by a callous psychopath and had slotted perfectly into his role as the main foot soldier. Everything had been fine and dandy for Merle at first, he was given a metal prosthetic arm with a removable bayonet attachment which meant he was never short of a weapon against the undead. He had a roof over his head, food in his belly and medicine at his disposal. Above all else, he had a purpose, a job that he did well and with gusto. That was, until Daryl appeared in front of him. The Atlanta groups run in with the Governor and his community has resulted in a lot of pain, injuries, fear and grudges, some of it at the hands of Merle, who was at the center of it all, but he was Daryl’s blood and he had made it clear that now they were together again, he would not be parted from Merle again. Initially, the two of them left the group and headed into the woods, but things were not as they used to be. Daryl had changed and with it, Merle felt outcast, even from the lifelong bond the two of them had shared since Daryl had entered the world as a sensitive and observant child. Merle quickly realized that Daryl had a code that he stuck by no matter what. A code that meant others were put before himself which infuriated and baffled Merle. A fight in the woods revealed a childhood trauma that they both shared, much to Merle’s surprise. He was aware that Daryl was a witness to violence in their household, but the extent of which was only evident upon a scuffle in which Daryl’s shirt was ripped, revealing deep, scarred lacerations to his skin. Then, everything changed.

Daryl made it clear that he was going back to the prison. Back to the group he belonged with and Merle had the choice to either walk away or try to make nice with the others. Being parted from his little brother for a second time was the less favorable option and so, Merle decided to tag along with Daryl. Upon their arrival at the fences, they found the place under attack from Walkers and although Merle helped to save lives, he was still bundled into a cell and scowled at by every other member of the group. No one had forgotten the things he had done and no one was about to forgive and forget.

“The hell were ya doin, running with that psycho?” Daryl asked.

Merle was leaning on the bars, his good hand smoothing a thumb around the edging of his prosthetic stump. His hooded, weathered eyes fixed on his brother. He found it difficult to believe that someone could change as much as Daryl had. He saw him, carrying out orders for Rick, going out on runs alone, doing as he was told. It was unlike the Daryl he’d grown up with, yet he’d always known that his baby brother was more emotionally driven than he had ever been.

“Everybody’s a psycho now, little brother. Everybody’s got a gun, a kill number and a big ol’ chip on their shoulder. Hell, I’d be more worried if some sommbitch walked up to me with his mitts in his pockets.” He reasoned with a small shrug.

Daryl shook his head in disbelief at his brother’s casual attitude to his actions. Merle was never one to take responsibility for anything, least of all his misgivings. Apparently, the end of the world hadn’t changed that in him.

“They ain’t never gonna trust ya, ya know that, right?” Daryl confirmed.

“Yeah, I know.” Merle agreed with a hint of exasperation in his voice. Daryl went back to carving his bolts, slicing through thin pieces of wood with his sharp hunting knife. “I don’t know why I do the things I do. I’m a damn mystery to me.” Merle added.

Daryl scoffed and glanced up from his task.

“You’re a dumb ass, man.” He mumbled.

They both huffed in amusement and Merle couldn’t help but revisit the last few months and how he’d come to be locked up in a cell, even after everyone died and started eating one another. Was this really where he was meant to be? Maybe he was bad through and through, just like their daddy used to say. Maybe he didn’t deserve any more chances after the one he’d been given in the city. Then, he remembered her. Jess.  

“Remember the little, fat chick from the quarry?” He asked.

Daryl's body tensed and his eyes slowly worked back up from his bolt. He remembered her. Of course, he did. He thought about her every single day, especially when he closed his eyes at night. He wished he could wake up one day and she’d just be there, having never ran away. He remembered her because she was the only person he’d managed to connect with in his entire, sorry life.

“What ‘bout her?” he rasped.

“I seen her” Merle stated, his expression becoming smug as he straightened up and tilted his head back, looking down his nose at Daryl.

“She’s alive?!” Daryl exclaimed as he sat up to gain a better view of his brother’s expression. It was not lost on him that this could all be a lie to get him out of the cell.

“Was a few months back, mind. But yeah, all in one piece.” Merle told him.

Daryl stood up, dropping his knife and bolt and slowly approaching the cell door.

“Where is she?” he wanted to know.

Merle grunted and rubbed his face as he watched Daryl’s entire demeanor change. He was becoming irritated at the lack of information and it was apparent to Merle that Jess meant something to him, after all.

“Asked me to keep my mouth shut about that part.”

With his teeth locked together and his breathing increasing, Daryl began to stalk back and forth in front of the cell door, his boots scuffing on the smooth surface of the floor. He no longer thought it was a lie. He knew well enough that Jess would have made herself known if she wanted to, especially by then. After all, he found a note to prove it.

“She don’t wanna be found, kid. Let it go.” Merle added.

He stopped his pacing and let out a loud sigh. This kind of discussion was rare for the Dixons, it involved a degree of emotion and honestly which was something Merle didn’t seem to possess and Daryl managed to hide extremely well. Until the mention of her name.

“She doin OK?” He questioned “Least tell me that much. Please”

“She’s good. She’s real smart.” Merle nodded.

Picking up a pile of previously carved arrows from a table, Daryl began to sift through them with his fingertips. It looked to Merle like he was counting them, but he knew Daryl better than he knew himself. He was using them as a distraction. Merle didn’t even flinch when Daryl angrily threw the handful of wood onto the floor, the sound was like a million pencils falling from a table and rolling across the ground.

“Just tell me where she is!” Daryl raged.

Merle couldn’t help it when the corners of his mouth lifted into a small smile.

“Ooof! You got it bad, huh, boy?”

“Shut up.” Daryl hissed, turning his back and trying to calm himself. His shoulders heaved as he breathed. “I’m your fuckin’ brother” He muttered, hearing a rasped growl from behind him. A glance over his shoulder told him that Merle did really want to tell him as he witnessed him lean his head on the bars and close his eyes.

“I owe her, OK? She did right by me. Mans only as good as his word.” Merle explained.

Daryl spun around, his face now enraged and reddening fast, his eyes were filled with the kind of anger that Merle had usually only seen when the two of them fought and it was never the same kind of rage that presented itself in a fight with anyone else. It was different. It was real.

“Word?! WORD?! You can’t be fuckin’ serious! Your word counts for shit, Merle! You tortured Glenn and Maggie so don’t start pretendin’ you’re some good guy, ya ain’t!” Daryl yelled.

“I ain’t no good guy but I got a code. Just like you.” Merle retorted.

Stooping down to collect his arrows, Daryl knew he had to remove himself from the building or he would end up strangling the truth out of his own brother. With all of the arrows gripped in his hand, he pointed them at Merle and narrowed his gaze.

“If they wanna starve ya, I’mma let ‘em. If they wanna torture ya, I’mma walk away. I ain’t doin’ nothin’ for ya until ya tell me where Jess is. They can keep ya in that damn cage for all I care.”

Before he could think of an answer, Merle was left alone in the room with nothing but the fading echo of the door slamming for company.

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Jess was running for so long that her feet were starting to burn and her knees were seizing up. She needed to stop somewhere and rest but being snared by the group of men with the black teeth and the woman in the cage was a thought that struck pure terror into her soul. She was sure she’d rather be eaten by Walkers than trapped with such a group. She’d stayed away from any roads, trekking through woodland and climbing over fences to remain undetected. Her clothing had helped keep her under the radar; a tight, black Kevlar top covered with her police vest and a black, hooded jacket. Dark camouflage cargo pants, black hand gun holsters and a mask that covered her mouth with a plastic outer shell that she had found on a dead biker as she fled the city.

Her bag was starting to feel heavier with every step as she approached a small town filled with abandoned cars. It looked as though people may have tried to settle there after the outbreak and the vehicles were left in a panic. She surged forwards, trying each car, looking for keys and gas. If she could just find one with enough to get her further away from the city, she could take some time to rest up. Darkness enveloped the town and birds and crickets sang a chorus as she wound her way through the cars, pleading with whatever deity would listen to just give her a break.

Then, her prayers were answered. A station wagon filled with boxes of clothes roared to life and to Jess’s delight, the tank was almost full. She set to work removing all the boxes, lightening the load so the gas wouldn’t be consumed as quickly and settled in the front seat. She pulled the door closed and drove off. Her destination was unknown but as far away from the city as she could get would be a start.

It was days before the truck ran out of gas and Jess had managed to put many, many miles in between her and the group that had almost captured her. On her journey, she’d swept through houses and collected anything she could carry on foot. She slept in buildings where they could be secured and had more than one exit, consumed any food she found in strict intervals, ensuring it lasted as long as possible and continued in the same direction she’d been travelling in for two weeks. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for in a settlement, just that it had to be safe, away from other people and walkers and with the capacity to be self-sustainable. Then, she found the boat.

Situated in the middle of a lake, accessible only by a large, fortified gate at the end of a dirt track that was well hidden from any passersby, Jess thought it might have been an old quarry due to its similarities to the old camp. The top of the gate was covered with razor wire and she narrowly avoided being sliced to ribbons when she caught her backpack on the barbs. But a rigorous wiggle and some quick thinking had literally saved her skin. The boat was so far away from the shoreline that Jess accepted that she had to use a canoe that was moored by a jetty. The water appeared to be untouched and there wasn’t a walker in sight. But chances weren’t to be taken when the dead roam the earth and she had to be sure. A collection of rocks of all sizes ended up in the lake, she threw them out as far as she could, trying to cause a stir and encourage any swimming walkers to rise to the surface. But nothing came to pass. By the evening, she’d hunted a rabbit and cooked it over a small fire on the beach. Using the skin attached to a tree branch, she dangled it in the water as the sun was going down and pondered how relaxing the place seemed.

“Huh. Walker fishing.” She mumbled to herself.

When nothing happened and the rabbit skin floated off the branch and out into the body of water, she decided to risk rowing out to the boat. Much to her surprise, the water was crystal clear and she spotted fish swimming below. Her stomach growled, the stringy, fatty meat of a rabbit hardly sufficing when such plump, and apparently disease-free fish were swimming all around her.

I need a fishing rod.

Climbing aboard, it was clear that she was not stood on a regular boat. This was luxurious, spacious and well looked after. The deck was starting to show signs of disrepair but it was a far cry from the dilapidated state of some of the houses she’d stayed in. She crept inside, sweeping the rooms one by one and eventually finding the inhabitants of the vessel. A middle-aged couple on the double bed in the largest bedroom of three. Both wrapped in an embrace in the middle of a mass of bottles of pills. She moved into the room, draping a sheet over them and resting her hand on the man’s arm.

“I hope you’re at peace. The world sure isn’t”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Merle stared at the dangerous, powerful and very angry black woman in the passenger seat of his car. She was not one to be messed with and that explained why he needed to knock her out before bundling her into the car and driving her to the Governor. It was all the man wanted. Michonne was responsible for his life changing injury after taking one of his eyes out with her samurai sword. Now, he wanted revenge and Merle was more than aware that if the Governor didn’t get what he wanted; he would obliterate the entire group. The group his brother was a part of.

“So, he takes you in, cleans you up and feeds you a load of bullshit. Why would you kill someone else for him?” She asked.

Merle didn’t answer, his eyes were on the road but his attention was elsewhere, with the safety of his brother back at the prison. He didn’t want to be there, handing Michonne over to the man that would ultimately torture and kill her was most definitely not something he wanted to do. But there were little options that he could see. Only he knew the true wrath of the Governor.

“We could go back. You and me. We could just go back.” She suggested.

“Ain’t gonna happen.” He commented.

“Why?”

Her eyes were bearing into his soul and wished he could put into words the things that were circulating in his mind. He had killed sixteen people since he’d been with the governor. Before that, he’d killed none. It dawned on him that Michonne was right, why would he kill any more people when he did have another way out? The alternative was less appealing and altogether more permanent. But it was an alternative nevertheless. He stopped the car and raised his prosthetic hand, the bayonet was fixed to the end. Michonne leaned back slightly in her seat, wondering if he might slit her throat there and then and cut out all the talking. Instead, Merle hooked the blade through her wire handcuffs and cut her free.

“You go back. I got somethin’ I gotta do on my own.” He told her, nodding towards the door. “But you’re gonna tell my brother somethin’ for me.”

NEXT CHAPTER