#i have way too many bottles at home already though and red wine is a migraine trigger :/ | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

seospicybin · 2 years ago

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TOO HOT TO HANDLE.

PART II

Felix x reader. (s)

Too Hot To Handle Masterlist

Synopsis: You and Felix become contestants in a reality dating show, Too Hot To Handle. (9,7k words)

Author's note: I'm sorry guys but I have to leave you with another cliffhanger. The last part will be posted this weekend, feel free to vent in my inbox and enjoy x

Content warning: This is entirely a work of fiction and not affiliated with real Too Hot To Handle show.

FELIX: I'm just your uh... normal guy. [smiles] Just trying to be a nice guy and do something my mum would be proud of at the end of the day. [snickers] I don't really have any lines, I don't have, like, a strategy to attract girls. Basically, I just walk into a bar and they heard my voice and accent, sorted. I wouldn't say how many girls I've been with [chuckles] uhm... people only focus on the numbers and a gentleman doesn't say. [laughs]

Felix has been staring at the surface of the pool long enough that it starts to calm him down. He was nervous a minute ago, waiting for you in anticipation even though he should be relaxed knowing that you said yes to having a date with him.

The date is set in the pool of the villa with a fruit platter and a bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket of ice served at the side of the pool. It's not the first time he's going on a date but his pattern of dating is casually meeting someone someplace and taking them home for a hook-up, that's it.

It's going to be hard to change that pattern, especially when he's been trapped in it long enough that it's comfortable. Going on a date and try not to do any physical touches? Felix already has a hard time imagining it.

"Hi, hello!"

Felix's head snaps in your direction and he almost chokes on air seeing you walking toward him in a crimson-red bikini.

"Have you been waiting long?" You ask.

Felix quickly offers his hand to help you get into the pool, slowly engulfing both of your bodies in the lukewarm water from the chest down. The lights from the bottom of the pool casts a bluish glow on your face and with this proximity, he can see your face up close and observes every facial feature you have.

Felix slightly shakes his head in disbelief. You're so perfect from head to toe that he's having a hard time wrapping his head around it and you're right in front of him.

FELIX: She's lush! In that red bikini looking like a forbidden apple and I just want to take a bite.

"Aren't you going to pour me a drink?" You're eyeing the two empty champagne flutes.

It's obvious he's too busy lusting over your body that he forgot to be a gentleman. You hold the glass as Felix filled them with bubby wine and pours himself a glass after.

"It's so nice!" You compliment.

Again, Felix has to force his brain to cooperate and actively stop himself from looking at your body, "Huh?"

"The date," you say, picking a grape from the plate and shoving it into your mouth, "I've never been on a date this nice before."

Felix gulps his wine to fuel his guts, "me too," he says, reaching for the grape but you get ahead of him.

"Here," you say, bringing a grape close to his mouth and feeding it to him.

He's more than eager to eat it right from your hand and grins as he chews on it while you refill both of your glasses with more wine.

"Thank you for picking me for the date by the way," you tell him with a smile.

Felix clinks his glass with yours, "thank you for saying yes," he thanked you back.

After taking a sip, you put the wine away and focus on him instead, making him nervous as you tilt your head low and look at him through your lashes. It's the classic trick in the book of seduction but you do it effortlessly with a hundred percent rate of success, making him feel like a special man, the only man in the world.

"I was surprised when Lana told me you asked me for a date," you explain.

The water is still enough that Felix can see you scoot closer to him that your knees bumps with him and it takes everything in him not to put his hand on your thigh, "May I know why you chose me?"

Felix has to force his brain to work extra tonight and rakes his hair to the back as if it would help, "I have my eyes on you on the first day," he admits.

Your lips curl into a smile and it's a familiar one that tells you're not buying his words, "yeah?"

Good thing Felix has just the proof of it, "I'm the one who kissed you at the blindfold game," he confidently spills the truth.

You hold a gaze for a moment then look away to get your wine glass, "I know."

If you know, then why you didn't react the way Felix expected to? You hold your wine glass close to your mouth but not drinking it, "What I want to know is why you didn't make a move on me until now?"

Felix finishes his wine before answering, "I have my reasons," he answers.

Your hand reaches for the fruit platter next to his shoulder and picks a slice of strawberry, "is it because I'm your second choice?"

"No!" Felix immediately denies it.

"The boys talked about which girls they were going for. You are Alex and Jamie's choice, then Jamie partnered up with you so I–I uh..." he stammers as he watches you eat the strawberry, then wash it down with the wine.

FELIX: Sitting this close and not able to kiss her? Impossible. She's irresistible, my gosh... [sucks air through teeth]

When Felix talked to you in the firepit that night, you have your guard up because he knows you were with Jamie but now, look at you! Your head is slightly tilted and flutter your eyelashes at him. You got game and Felix likes having all of your attention just for him. He's more than eager to give you all of his attention, that wouldn't be hard, you're the only one he's seeing.

Felix licks his lips as his throat got dry from watching you and quickly recovers by splashing some water into the back of his neck, "I think compared to them, I don't think I'd have a shot with you," he furtherly explains.

You stare into his eyes and locked them in an intense gaze, "why? I think you're attractive," you tell him.

He unconsciously reaches for his ear as he gets flustered by your compliment.

"I think you know by now that three of the girls are chasing after you. Shouldn't you be happy?" You share the news Felix already knew. He wants to know something else, something more important, "depends," he says, "If one of the three is you then yes, I'd be happy."

A laugh burst out of you and Felix is elated to know that he's the one who made you laugh like that. There's something else as important he needs to know, "so what's your type?"

You fix the strap of your bikini and Felix reflexively looks at your cleavage, glancing at the soft mounds inside your bikini top, then quickly shifts his eyes back to your face.

"On the paper, no, you're not," you honestly answer.

Felix's smile fades a little but he keeps his disappointment to himself by sipping his drink.

"But I'm attracted to you," you add.

He swallows his drink at once and almost choked on it, the scintillating smile returns to his face.

"The fact that you're not my type but I'm attracted to you... I think that says something," you tell him with a sly smile. You hold his gaze before looking away and it's cute that you can be bold then shy the next minute.

He sees that you're eyeing the fruit platter next to him, "want something?"

You lowly chuckle and shyly say, "I was looking at your biceps actually but yes, okay, I'd like a strawberry, please?"

You always seem to know what to say and how to make his heart flutter, he can't help but softly laugh, flustered. You hold his hand by the wrist and steady his hand as you eat the strawberry right from between his fingers.

Felix briefly feels how your mouth and lips feel like. It's not technically a rule break and he was playing it safe until you did that. He clears his throat to steer his mind back on track, "Uhm... is that what you like about me? My biceps?"

You lick the juice escaping the corner of your mouth with your tongue, "you have a great body but what I like is the freckles," you share.

Felix unconsciously reaches for his face, "Yeah?"

You pull your hand out of the water and touch his chest, "I didn't know that you also have freckles on your chest."

Is it the beads of water slowly trickling down his chest or it's your fingertips that are lightly touching him that make him tingle inside? Felix feels the need to do the same with you. He reaches for the stray hair escaping your messy bun and tucks it behind your ear.

Instead of retracting his hand, he keeps it there, holding the side of your face.

FELIX: [Hisses] I want to kiss her so badly.

Felix may as well take his chance, leaning in close but doing it carefully as he seeks permission from you. He leans in closer to whisper in your ear with his hand still holding one side of your head, "Should we kiss?"

You put your hand on his thigh underwater and seductively chuckle, hinting that you probably think it's not a bad idea after all.

"I just got out of this thing," you avoid mentioning Jamie in the sentence, then you smile as you say, "I don't want to rush things."

Felix nods in understanding, "That's fair."

However, the hand resting on his thigh tells him otherwise.

FELIX: The chemistry we have is electric. I get the feeling that he can't resist me for long.

The date ends since it's about to be curfew soon. You and Felix exchange a hug, a long one that he gets to feel your body against him.

"That was a nice date," you mutter with a hand around his neck.

Felix uses the opportunity to draw you closer until your breasts squashed between your chests, "Yeah, indeed."

Being the gentleman he is, he gets out of the swimming pool first, then immediately offers his hand to help you. You take it without complaining, letting him hold you until you got out of the water.

Felix watches as the streams of water trickle down your body and your bikini stick to your skin, leaving so little to his imagination. He grabs a towel from a stack prepared on the lounger and put it around your shoulder.

"Thank you," you thank him, then he grabs one for himself and walks back into the house together.

FELIX: She refused to kiss but I’m confident to say the date went well.

The date may have ended but the night continues.

You both go straight to the bathroom with water dripping down your bodies and it's empty since everyone else is tucked in for bedtime. The spacious shower stall gives Felix an idea crossed but he's afraid of crossing the line to ask you.

"You can go in first," he offers.

You drop the wet towel and put it on the edge of the bathtub, "how about we shower together?"

Are you reading his mind? Because that's exactly the idea he had in mind. Felix suddenly doesn't know what to do with himself, aimlessly pacing around the bathroom.

"You can use my nice-smelling shampoo," you offer with a playful laugh.

"I can't say no to that," he replies.

Felix has to calm himself as you enter the shower after him, turning your back to him to help you untie the straps of your bikini. He puts all of your hair away and carefully works the knot open, you take it off yourself after. He watches as you hook your fingers around the sides of your bikini bottom and slide it down your legs, putting the bikini aside with your feet.

It's when you turn around to face him that he starts malfunctioning. There's nothing left to imagine now he sees all of you, that beautiful body of yours that he wants to explore if it wasn't for the stupid rules. You step under the shower and tilt your head up to let the water rain down your chest.

Felix has never been this jealous of the water for being able to be all over you.

"Want me to wash your hair?" You ask, taking the shampoo out of your toiletry bag.

Unable to verbally answers, he stifled a nod.

FELIX: I don't know how I'm still alive after seeing her phenomenal body [whistles]

It's the way you stare up at him with your hands slowly massaging his scalp and standing so close to him that it alarms him that he's rather in danger.

"Is it good?"

He's not sure what you're asking, the way you shampoo his hair or how your body makes him feel. He chooses to compliment you instead, "You're good at this."

"Yeah?" You ask with a grin.

"Mmh, yeah," he tries to distract himself by talking but not long after, he found his eyes looking at your breasts, hung so beautifully on your chest, merely inches away from his chest.

"Time to wash it," you inform, pulling him under the shower and washing all the suds away from his hair while brushing it clean with your fingers.

As you intently clean his hair, Felix braves himself to put his hands on each side of your waist and reminds himself to not go lower than that.

"It smells nice," he comments, opening his eyes from closing it for too long.

You drop your hands on his shoulders then clasped your hands together on the back of his head. With his proximity, your hardening nipples are lightly grazing his chest, raising the goosebumps on his arms.

"You're lucky I let you use it," you say with a sweet smile on your face and your eyes staring back at him.

This is it. Felix has hit his limits. He can't resist it anymore.

FELIX: Oh fuck, I'm in trouble.

"I'm glad we didn't kiss on the date," Felix says.

You chuckle right at his face, "Huh? Why?"

Getting bolder, Felix wraps his hands around you and pulls you even closer, "Because now is the right time to do it."

Your teeth faintly biting your lower lip and he can see the lust in your eyes. Once you close your eyes, Felix knows that he just got your permission. The sweet smell of your breath welcomes him as he kisses your slightly parted mouth. You kiss him back with the same eagerness with a broken moan slips out of you between kisses.

Felix expected sparks but what he gets are far greater, fireworks getting off inside his chest.

FELIX: The kiss is such a long time coming and I just don't care about the rules at that moment. It feels so right.

You pull away first with a gasp and an open mouth, keeping your hands looped around his neck

"Wow. We made that kiss worth the six grands."

Felix grins in agreement with you, except that for him, the kiss is worth more than that. He'd pay with his own money if he had to, it was special, one of a kind. Then another problem appears, Felix craves for it more than before. He leans in for another but you're quick to turn your face to the side, sending his lips landed on your cheek.

"We can't break another rule today," you whisper into his ear.

Defeated, Felix drops his head on your neck and holds you close.

You reach for the faucet and turn it to the side, "How about a cold shower, mmh?"

FELIX: A part of me is glad that she stopped me or else, we would have done everything by now [shamelessly laughs]

It was too late to have you sleeping with him last night.

Hopefully, later, he can fix this bed situation so he can wake up next to you and probably, sneaks a kiss or two. Seeing your face and exchanging a secretive smile is enough to gather his spirits to last the day.

Cole is going through his routine and asks everyone the question of the day, "anyone breaks any rules last night?"

He scans everyone to spot any guilty faces and Felix knows that he's safe from his suspicious eyes since Cole is his bedmate.

"You guys are looking guilty over there," Heidi points at Jamie and Mia's bed.

Fuck Jamie, he's so stupid to let you go but smart enough to leave you because you deserve better. Felix is confident that he is that 'someone better'.

Unlike everyone else, Felix can't wait for everyone to know that he kissed you and gets jealous of him.

FELIX: Another day, another chance to break the rules [winks]

Too bad that despite his excitement, Felix can't spend time with you as you are being called to the front yard for a workshop with the other girls. He has no other things to do but join Alex working out and at the same time, helping him with some lower body workouts.

"You didn't tell me about your date last night," He says as he's taking a minute of a break between sets.

Felix counts the time and at the same time answering to his question, "It went great, man."

Alex is the one who encourages him to keep trying even when you were still with Jamie.

"Told you," he says with a triumphant smirk and getting up, grabbing dumbbells in both hands.

"Did you do anything?" Alex glances at him to get any hints from Felix's expression.

Felix refuses to answer but the grin on his face gives it away.

"How much did you spend?"

He's bad at lying and it's not like he's talking to Cole, which reminds him to look around, "Just one kiss," Felix answers after steering clear that Cole is out of his earshot.

Alex laughs and puts the dumbbells down, "just get ready, bro."

Surprisingly, Felix doesn't care so much about what everyone is going to say when they know about him breaking the rules.

"As an experienced rulebreaker, do you have any tips?" Felix playfully asks.

Alex laughs again and plops down on the hot sand, "I hate to tell you but the only way is through," he says with a stupid grin.

"Thank you, Dorothy!" Felix jokingly responds.

FELIX: I missed her even though I know she's only on a different side of the villa [chuckles]

Felix can't hide his smile when he sees you back from the workshop.

Moreover, he doesn't want to be around Jamie. The fact that he left you for someone else leaves a bad taste in him. Or maybe it's just that Felix grows protective of you that makes him feel that way.

"It's so hot. I'm thinking of taking a dip," you tell him.

He glares at you, "And you're not inviting me?"

"Yes. I'm not inviting you," you tell him with a sly smile, walking to the pool while dragging him along behind you.

Seeing your wet body only reminds him of last night, except that you have not even a thread covering that beautiful body of yours. He's standing next to you inside the pool, facing the view of the beach. He should distract himself from looking at your body by starting a conversation, or anything to keep his head occupied.

"So uh... how was the workshop?" He asks.

You turn to face him when he wishes that you didn't, "basically that when we let men into us, we also absorbed everything about them," you answer.

Your hand is floating on the surface of the water and drifting close to him, "it taught us that we should be more selective of the men we let in," you finish.

Can't help himself to touch you, he places a hand on the arch of your back, "that sounds great," he comments.

You nod and prop a hand under your chin, looking at him with a soft smile.

"What's your verdict on me?" Felix asks.

You tilt your head with a questioning look on your face.

He pulls you close and allows himself to place a kiss on your bare shoulder, "will you let me in?"

You shyly chuckle while putting your hand on his shoulder, "We'll see..." you vaguely answer.

FELIX: She may have not fully recovered from the previous thing but I think we're off to a good start.

You turn him around and jump onto his back, "get me there," you order.

"To the end of the pool?"

You nod, "and back," you continue.

"I didn't know that I have to do lower body workout," he says.

You throw your arms around his neck, "Go! Go! Go!"

Felix hoists you higher on his back and slowly walks to the end of the pool, carrying you on his back.

"Am I heavy?" You lean in close.

"If you're asking of we can do the wheelbarrow position, the answer is yes," he shamelessly pulls a lewd joke.

FELIX: It's so hard to not think about sex when she's walking around being the hot temptation she is.

The firepit is your favorite place in the villa and it unconsciously becomes his favorite place too.

"We're matching!" You exclaim, spotting the navy blue shirt he's wearing and pointing at the dress you're wearing.

"We're meant to be," he coyly responds.

If only you knew that he took a peek at what you'll be wearing tonight and purposely matches his clothes with yours. You sit next to him on the long sofa, lounging with him under the moonlight with the fire keeping the night warm for both of you.

You're lying sideway facing him and resting your head on his arm, this way, he can see the curve of your body wrapped in a skin-tight dress with thin straps.

He takes this chance to ask the question he's been wanting to ask, "Will you sleep on my bed tonight?"

Your fingers are busy playing with the button on his shirt.

"For the rest of the retreat too?" He asks again.

You lowly chuckle, "No."

Felix jerks his head away, refusing to believe that you just rejected him.

You look up at him and say, "But you can sleep on my bed."

He lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding and dryly laugh, "Oh yeah, we're going to evict Heidi tonight."

FELIX: The bed situation has been sorted, there's one more thing left to do now.

Felix runs his hand up and down your arm, "it's a nice dress," he compliments.

"I borrow this from Laura," you share.

The strap accidentally got caught in Felix's bracelet and pulls it down your arm, almost spilling your breast out of your dress.

"Whoops," Felix cheekily responds. He carefully fixes it for you and slides the strap back to its place on your shoulder.

It seems wrong to be this close to you and not kiss you. Not when that's what he thought about all day, the taste and the softness of your lips. Felix tilts your head and seeks your permission with a thumb that tenderly brushes your lower lip.You close your eyes, once again, letting him get what he wants and hopefully, it's what you want too.

Felix doesn't need to worry as you return his kiss with the same eagerness. He can taste your lips with a hint of mint that he believes is coming from your lip gloss. A hand wraps around your neck to keep you still as his tongue pries open your mouth so he can deepen the kiss and tastes you wholly.

Everything else doesn't matter at that moment, it's just you and him, encased in a breathtaking kiss.

FELIX: I'm willing to pay with my own money just to kiss her again [shrugs]

"Do I have your lipstick on me?"

You nod as you wipe your smudged lipstick.

"Does it look good on me?" Felix leans in close so you can clean it for him.

"Yes," you reply, intently wiping the lipstick mark you left on his lips with your thumb.

With you still leaning close and your finger brushing his lips, Felix is tempted to kiss you again. You quickly sense his intention and look away to prevent it from happening. One kiss is enough, for now.

FELIX: I just can't stop... oh, my God! I don't want to stop.

It's only about time that Lana comes and announces the damage you both did.

Before that, you fix your dress and hair, leaving nothing that will give anyone the impression that the two of you have kissed. Felix holds your hand as you both make your way to the cabana and sit on the smaller sofa on the side of the room. He leans in close to the side of your head and softly asks, "Are you nervous?"

You take a deep breath and answer, "Yeah."

It would be a lie to say that he's not as nervous. This is his first time being on the hot seat but he knows what to do, he has his defense at the ready.

"It'll be fine," he comforts you while tucking a hair behind your ear.

The sweet smile you give him puts him at ease. Then you take his hand, clasped it together with yours, and rest it on your lap.

"Hello, everyone!" Lana greets with her computer voice.

"Hello, Lana banana!" Heidi being the loudest of us greets her back.

"There have been breaches of the rules," Lana announces.

Cole brushes his hair to the back in frustration and leans back on the sofa, "I'm so done with y'all."

Felix decides to own up to his mistakes and comes forward, "We kissed. Twice," he concisely admits.

Felix glances around and sees that Jamie is grinning, probably going to enjoy that he's not the one about to get shouted at. Instead of that, there's a moment of silence and he's not sure if it means good or bad.

"Well, if it's you guys..." Laura says, flipping her hair to the back, "I think you deserve it."

Alex nods, agreeing with her and Felix appreciates that Alex has his back like a good friend he is.

"I agree," Maeve adds with a smile shot at you.

FELIX: Whoa, what was that? That is not the reaction I was expecting we'd get [eyes widens]

"I feel like... you guys are building connections so..." Heidi gives her opinion.

Felix lets out a quiet sigh of relief and smiles at everyone, "Thank you, guys. We appreciate it," he says, shaking your clasped hand in giddiness.

He looks at you and you look back at him with a sweet smile. He feels more certain about his choices, this is right, you are right for him.

"But that's not all..." Lana drops a sudden announcement.

FELIX: Oh... fuck off, Lana!

"We have reached the middle of the retreat. However, certain individuals haven't shown the growth we wanted," Lana continues.

Felix feels your hand holding him tighter and he puts his other hand on you, rubbing his thumb on the back of your hand.

You put your head on his shoulder, "Is she sending us home?" You meekly ask him.

Considering that he has broken the rules that automatically put both of you on Lana's naughty list, his heart races in his chest. Felix doesn't want to leave yet. Now that he's with you, he wants to stay for as long as he could.

"I'll be sending home two people."

"Two? Right now?" Cole gasps in pure shock.

You nuzzle your head further into his neck, "what the hell," you softly murmur with a restless sigh.

Felix lets go of his hand to put his arm around you. He can't say much because he's not in a good position to know for certain that it's not you or him Lana going to send home.

"Oh, fuck!" Heidi sighs into her hands.

The situation turns even more bleak as everyone got hit by the realization that they can get kicked out at any moment and they should have taken the rules seriously.

FELIX: I'm absolutely shitting it.

"Come on, Lana! You can't be serious," Cole says with a nervous laugh.

"The guests leaving the treat are..."

Felix hears your panicked whine on his shoulder and reflexively pulls you closer to him, knowing that you seek comfort from him.

"Daniel and Aly."

"Oh, my God!" You mutter, slung your hand across his shoulder.

Everyone is in complete shock while a few of them kind of figured that they're the ones who have been fooling around the retreat and not taking the process seriously. Despite all of that, it'll be a loss not having them again in here. Felix cherished the time he spent with them even though he doesn't know them on a personal level.

"Since arriving at my retreat, you have ignored my rules, dismissed my teachings, and failed to grow. And pursued your own desires at the expense of those around you."

Everyone gets quiet as Lana explains the reasons why she sends them home tonight.

"Daniel and Aly, you must now leave my retreat."

FELIX: I think Daniel had a problem following the rules and always chose to be selfish.

"Love you," Aly mutters to you as she hugs you.

You sniffle and say back to her, "Love you, Al!"

Besides Maeve, Felix has seen you hang out with Aly a few times so he understands that it must feel like you're losing a friend. That only proves what a caring person you are and he's lucky to be with you.

After watching them leave, you turn to hug to seek comfort from each other.

FELIX: I hope they continue to grow outside of the retreat. I wish you all the best, Daniel and Aly! [smiles]

It's bedtime and he feels bad if he has to evict Heidi, he turns to Cole, kindly asking him to sleep with her.

"Don't let me down, okay?" Cole warns before taking his pillow with him to Heidi's bed.

He saw you're chatting with Maeve in the make-up room and that explains why it's taking you long to come to bed. He's listening to everyone else talking about Daniel and Aly leaving one bed unoccupied for the night.

When you finally appear, you're smiling as you make your way to his bed. You toss the cushion onto the floor to make some space on the bed while he's puffing your pillow for you, then puts his arm out for you to rest on.

Felix doesn't wait to kiss you on the cheek, "you smell so good," he says.

You smile and say, "I'm pretty sure it's the moisturizer."

FELIX: I'm sharing a bed with her and she smells so good [hisses air through teeth] It's not going to be easy tonight!

There is not an ounce of privacy in the villa but as time goes on, Felix has come to the point that he stops caring about it.

The lights are out and as you turn to your side, your body instantly molds against him. Felix almost lets out a lewd groan the moment your ass is rubbing against his crotch. His self-control is being put to the test tonight and he's most likely to fail at it. He plants soft kisses along your shoulder and up the column of your neck, "I'm so happy that we're sharing a bed," he whispers into your ear.

Felix hears you softly giggling and if only you knew how much he likes hearing your giggles.

You slightly turn your head to the side, "Me too."

He plants his mouth on your neck again and tries not to think about kissing your lips that are mere inches away from his.

"Mmh..." he hums as he plants his nose in your hair and the smell of your shampoo brings him back to that night he showered with you. He hums again but it comes out as a low growl with the deep voice he has.

You look over your shoulder and gently grips his chin, "let's not break any more rules," you lowly say.

He nods and hastily kisses the nape of your neck, "mmh... 'kay."

It's like his hands have their own brains, they start to roam around your body, feeling your clothed body all over. Well, he can vividly picture it in his head without looking, you're wearing a white, thin tank top with boxer shorts that barely cover your body.

"You're so beautiful," he seductively says into your ear.

Sensing that he's close to danger, you take his hands and clasped them with yours to prevent them from wandering around. Felix sighs in defeat, then breaks into laughter as you caught on to his bad intention.

You laugh along and turn to softly kiss him on the jaw, "Goodnight."

He returns it with a long kiss on your cheek, "Goodnight, babe."

FELIX: [sticks tongue out] It's clear that she has better self-control than me [laughs]

You look adorable with your hair tousled, barefaced, and disoriented like an angel who has just fallen from heaven.

"Morning," he forgot that his voice is even deeper in the morning and slightly surprised you with it.

You sleepily smile at him, "Morning."

You reach for his head and slip your hand in his hair, lazily scratching at it.

Felix is smitten, he can look at your face for hours without getting bored. If only he could kiss you while he's at it, it would be perfect. He notices that your tank top slides to the side, almost exposing your breast. He immediately helps you fix it before anyone can see it.

Cole is calling for Felix across the room, "Are we good, bro?"

He chuckles knowing that he's asking whether he broke rules or not, "Nothing happened. I promise you," he assures him.

FELIX: I had the hardest yet the best sleep I had so far in the retreat.

"How are things going, my friend?" Killian asks.

Felix leans back on the sofa and looks at the beach with its postcard-worthy view.

"We've been good if that's what you're asking," Felix playfully replies then shot a glare at Cole.

"I have no problems with you breaking rules if you like each other," Cole defends his strict policy about rulebreaking. He stares at him and with a serious face asks him, "Do you like her?"

"I do," Felix replies without a beat.

He smiles out of the blue like a fool in love he is, "I started to notice these little things about her and find them cute."

Cole and Killian break into laughter in unison but Felix is too happy to feel offended and laughs along with them.

"Oh, boy!" Cole exclaims, enjoying making fun of him too much.

FELIX: [Covers face with hands] I like her so much it's so stupid. I don't know if she likes me back, I'm sure she is but... [shrugs] no, I actually don't know.

Seeing that you're done giving your daily interview, he begins searching for you in the house.

Instead of you, he bumps into Maeve and she knows right away he's looking for her best friend.

"She's in the bathroom," she informs.

"Thank you!" He quickly mutters to her, heading to the bathroom, seeing you standing by the sink and lathering your body with sunblock. It's time that he returns the favor you've done to him once.

"Need help?"

You smile the moment you see him standing in the doorway, "yes, please!"

Felix enthusiastically takes his position behind you, placing a kiss on your bare shoulder before lathering the skin with sunblock. Not that he's no longer attracted to your body, unfortunately, he will always be but he's getting better at controlling his impulses.

Sure it's tempting to untie your bikini and with everyone out of the house, you and him could have another round in the shower. He takes a deep breath when the urge comes up and reminds himself that he shouldn't break any rules, he's aiming to form a genuine connection with you to get a green light

He slips his arms under and around you, "you're so beautiful, babe."

You giggle in response and look at his reflection in the mirror, "Thank you!"

Without warning, he lifts you and carries you out of the bathroom like a sack of potato, sending you squealing, "I'm taking you with me everywhere.”

FELIX: Things are going better between me and her. We're happy with each other.

Knowing that none of you break the rules, Felix can relax when it's time to get to the cabana. He's sitting next to you, putting his arm around you and fiddling with the strap of your bikini, twirling it around his finger.

"Hello, everyone!"

"Hello, Lana!" He half-heartedly greets her back. From the sound of her ever-the-same computer voice, Felix gets the feeling that she's going to share the good news.

"I'm about to initiate my test."

FELIX: Oh shit. I was wrong to think that it was going to be good news.

"With the help of two new arrivals."

With Daniel and Aly left, it only makes sense that Lana brought new contestants into the retreat. Felix should have seen it coming and now, he's just nervous, afraid that it's going to be what he thinks it is.

"The first new arrival is Poppy."

Everyone starts to guess what she looks like just from her name.

"The second new arrival is Josh."

Now this is what Felix fears the most: what is Lana going to do with them? Because if it would be like the last time, Felix dislikes the idea.

"Two of you will be going on private dates with the new arrivals."

FELIX: Whoever this new guy is... I don't feel threatened. At all.

This is not good.

Things are looking up for him and Lana decides to stir things up by sending new guests which he's sure, not only going to change the dynamic in the house but possibly, cause some chaos too.

"They have selected the guests they are most attracted to from the choice of those in relationships."

Did Felix accidentally manifest it into reality?

FELIX: Josh, my guy, you'd better not step on my toes.

"Josh has chosen to go on a date with..."

Felix's heart is beating out of control, it's like his body is telling him that his worst fear is about to come true. He closes his eyes and tries to be cool if it's you who gets chosen.

When Lana calls your name, his heart leaps and he closes his eyes.

"Of course!" He mutters under his breath. He didn't intend for you to hear it but he's a bit upset about being put in this situation.

FELIX: I trust her. It's this new guy that I don't trust.

Felix looks at you to see your reaction. You seem to be at a loss for words and turn rigid next to him. Unlike him, you probably didn't expect to get picked.

"You may now leave to get ready for your dates."

He pulls you into a hug and reluctantly lets you go, "See you later," he says and manages to put on a smile for you.

"Bye," you say to him.

He watches as you leave to go on a date with someone else.

FELIX: If she goes for this new guy, I'm not going to lie... [licks lips] I'll be absolutely heartbroken.

"How are you feeling, Felix?" Maeve asks from the end of the sofa, curious about his feelings about this situation as if his face didn't tell how worried he is right now.

"It's not easy," he answers, "I trust her but I can't lie, there's a little part of me that's worried."

Maeve gently pats him on the knee, "Well, Lana said it's a test so..."

She shifts on her seat to put her feet up, "it wouldn't be easy."

Felix's head is in overdrive. There are so many thoughts inside his head and most of them are not doing him good.

"Yeah..." he half-heartedly answers.

"But I know her and I'm sure she'll stay faithful to you," Maeve tells her.

Considering that it's coming from your closest friend in this retreat, Felix decides to hang on to those words. At least, after this, he'll know whether he can trust you or not.

FELIX: This guy chose her for a reason and that makes me restless [drops head into hands]

The boys agreed to wear matching black shirts tonight. Felix just picked whatever piece of clothing he has in white color and put it on, having no energy to dress up for tonight.

Killian offers him the extra black shirt he packed with him, "You can wear mine, mate!"

Cole can only laugh seeing him so restless as they're hanging out by the fire pit and talking about the new guy when that's the last thing he wants to talk about.

"Are you nervous?" Jamie asks.

Felix knows that Jamie tries to take a dig at him, "not really," he coyly answers.

If only he knew that Felix is so close to losing it.

FELIX: My head is all over the place right now... I refuse to show it. I don't want to show my weakness.

Felix tries not to think too much about it. However, when you show up linking your arm with the new guy, he slouched down on the sofa to hide himself.

"Ooh... she's smiling," Killian quietly informs him.

He tries so hard not to look no matter how much he wanted to. He doesn't want to see you're happy with someone else.

"This is not good, man!" Cole adds, putting Killian's words deeper into him.

Felix covers his eyes as if it would stop him from facing reality. Cole aggressively pats his knee and not stopping until he snaps his head his way.

"They're coming this way!" He informs.

"Oh, fuck!" Felix curses under his breath and sits straighter on the sofa.

Good thing that with the job he has as a model, he knows how to put on a good front even though he's dying inside. He takes a deep breath and put on a straight face.

"Hey, everyone," you greet them as you descend the stairs to the firepit.

"This is Josh," you introduce.

Instead of parting ways, you decide to sit next to each other on the sofa across from him.

FELIX: Fucking hell, man?!

Jamie decides to be the one breaking the awkward silence, "How was the date?"

Josh nods with a smile on his face, "it was good."

The answer doesn't quite give Jamie the satisfaction, so he turns to you for another answer.

"It was nice. I think we got on well," you answer and glance at Josh.

"I've chosen her for a reason and I enjoyed the date. I think I'm going to try, get to know her better," Josh adds after you.

It takes everything in him to not go at him or snatch you away, out of this retreat. Felix starts to heat, inside and outside.

FELIX: Josh is a nice-looking guy and I can see that he's on a mission. Well, he's going to be a big problem to me [gulps air]

"I'm sure you guys have a lot to talk about," Cole kindly put the conversation to an end.

"Josh, right? We'll introduce you to the girls," he gets up, indirectly telling everyone to come along as well so you and Felix can talk.

Once they left, you walk over and sit next to him. He takes your hand resting on the space between you and him, "it's nice to have you back," he says with a smile.

You lean on the sofa and sit facing him, "yeah?"

He swallows air before asking you the question he's been dying to know.

"How was the date? Really?" He asks and nervously gulps air, it's like no matter how much air he takes, he stays breathless.

"Well, I did tell him about you," you begin.

That's a good thing but it's too early to celebrate yet, "yeah?"

"But he said he doesn't care," you continue with an awkward laugh.

FELIX: Oh, Josh, man, I'll never let you step on my toes.

You fiddle with the end of your hair before looking him in the eyes and continue talking.

"Josh is a nice guy but..." you put all of your hair to the side, "we didn't do anything."

Felix can't help but let a smile blooms on his face hearing your words.

You playfully grab his biceps and squeeze on them, "No one was going to change my mind."

The smile grows wider on his face and he can finally breathe for the first time.

"I know we have something great going on and I don't want to throw that away," you say with a soft smile that matches the gaze.

But Felix has one more question to assure him that he's made the right choice, "Does this mean you like me?"

Your forehead wrinkles in confusion, "Of course, I like you. I wouldn't have tried if I don't."

FELIX: Tonight, I am the happiest man on this retreat. Possibly the luckiest too [grins]

Ecstatic, he throws himself at you, sending both of you toppled onto the sofa. He rests his head on your chest and lets you brush his hair like you always do, "You're sweating," you tell him.

Felix laughs his embarrassment away, "I tried to stay confident but I was struggling."

You coo at him and brush his hair to the back, "Well, I kind of want to make you sweat a little."

He puts his arms around you and nestles his head in your neck, "I'm glad to have you back, babe," he says.

He gets carried away that he leans in to kiss you to abruptly stops as he remembers Lana's rules and gasps in shock, "Oh, fuck!"

You cradle his head and kiss him on the cheek to compensate for it.

FELIX: I can't believe I'm about to thank Lana because this test only brought us closer, stronger. So thank you, Lana! [Blows a kiss to the camera]

The two new arrivals don't make a significant change except that the empty bed is now occupied.

Yeah, he's happy that Alex also stays with Laura and proves to everyone that he has a connection with her. However, Felix is too over the moon to even think about everyone else. His cheeks hurt from smiling non-stop and now he's about to spoil you with cuddles as you climb onto the bed.

Cole warns the new arrivals that he's watching even though his eyes are closed, earning a series of laughter from everyone.

The lights are out but with his heart full to the brim, Felix can't sleep. He touches you all over and places kisses on the skin he can land his lips on. He likes you so much and he always thinks that just saying it is not enough. He wants to show you with actions.

FELIX: We've been good lately so I don't see why we can't spend a little money [smirks]

Felix waits until the night got late.

When he deems that everyone is fast asleep, he begins by disrupting your sleep with slobbering kisses on your neck and face. His hand is placing fluttering touches on your body and once in a while, squeezes on the flesh.

He doesn't stop until you wake up from your slumber and when you do, he whispers into your ear, "Baby?"

You turn your head on your pillow and look at him with half-shut eyes, "why are you still awake?"

Instead of answering you, he kisses the nape of your neck, knowing that it's your sensitive spot.

"I like you so, so, so much," he whispers into your ear and emphasizes the words to you.

You lowly giggle, then tangle your hand in his hair, softly tugging at it, "I like you too, baby."

Catching you off guard, he turns your head by your chin and crashes his lips against yours.

FELIX: I'm so happy she chose me and I want to show her that [raises an eyebrow]

Felix gives you no time to stop him. He distracts you, keeping your mouth busy while he slides his hand down, swiftly sliding his hand inside your silk shorts. You whine against his lips as his hand makes contact with your sex, so soft and warm.

"Shh..." he hushed you.

Felix touches you as he would to a delicate flower, doing it so carefully and with so much tenderness. You pull the duvet to cover you and muffle any noises that may come out of you even though you have planted your mouth on his neck.

Felix hovers his head above you, watching your face in the dark as your breathless moans echo under the cover. He traces your fold, fingers lightly circling your clit and applying gentle pressures when he knows you're getting closer to coming undone, "Close?"

"Mmh," you hum in answer.

He keeps doing the same thing with more intensity and adds more speed to it. From the way your cunt pulsates under his touch, you're on the brink of your release. He kisses you whole to contain your moans and stops moving his hand once you hit your high, feeling your hand clawing at his shoulder.

As it gets suffocating staying under the cover, he retracts his hand and put the duvet away. He hovers above you and tenderly caresses your face with his knuckle.

"I'm so happy that you're with me," he tells you just in case, what he just did, did not quite deliver the message to you.

You put both hands around his neck and pull him close, sending him collapsing on top of you. You turn your head to only give him a chance to capture your lips in a rapturous kiss.

Felix doesn't even think about the money at that moment. All he thinks about is you, you, and you.

FELIX: Let's think about the money later, when it's time.

It's his bad behavior last night that makes you act super careful today. You're sitting on the far end of the sofa even though he's patting the space next to him.

"Why are you sitting so far away, babe?"

You shrug and adorably pout, "I'm setting uh... a safe space?"

He laughs at your excessive effort to not create another damage to the prize fund, "Come here!" He insists.

"I wouldn't do anything," he promises, "at least not in here."

You refrain from coming at him and remain where you are, shaking your head at him. Felix eventually comes to you and puts you on his lap.

"I didn't mean to break the rules," he explains, "I wanted to show you how much I like you."

You're poking his freckled cheek with your index finger, "we have to be good from now on."

He nods in agreement, "I agree."

You hold his chin and turn his head to face you, "I'm serious!"

"I'm serious," he convinces you.

You cover his mouth with your hand, "then stop pouting your lips at me."

He chuckles and puts your hand away, "My lips have always been like this."

You put his hand to cover his mouth this time, "From now on, you have to talk to me like this."

He refuses to obey, then puts his hand away, "No, I don't want to."

You try to get away from him but he's quick to hold you down, not letting you off his lap.

"Where are you going, mmh?" He's tickling your neck with his nose.

FELIX: Lana called us to the cabana and I am shitting it because of what we've done last night.

"Somebody better not ruin my good mood," Cole says once he's seated.

Felix shoots an uneasy glance at you and you turn his head away, avoiding looking him in the eyes. Nothing wouldn't change, he's ready to defend himself and you for what he did.

"There has been a breach of the rules."

Lana doesn't dillydally, she goes straight to business, and by business, he means putting him at a stake and about to set him on fire.

Heidi looks at everyone and coo, "Who's been bad?"

Felix remains calm despite his heart feeling like about to jump out of his chest. It's always better, to tell the truth fast than prolong the pain.

"We kissed last night," Felix blurts out.

"Again?" Laura asks with eyelids fluttering.

He takes a deep breath before coming up with his first defense, "I was so happy last night and got carried away, it felt right in the moment to do so."

Cole gives him a death glare, "Was that it? Just a kiss?"

Felix hates to disappoint him but he can't lie, he doesn't have a good poker face.

"Something else also happened last night," Felix's voice goes lower than it already is.

"Oh, no..." Killian exclaims next to him.

Lana takes control of the situation, "Last night, the two of you kissed multiple times."

Cole's eyes widen and are about to pop out of their sockets.

"But that's not all they did," Lana continues.

Here it is, Felix squeezes your clasped hand and braces himself for what's about to come.

"They're engaged in a prolonged, manual gratification."

FELIX: I'm not sorry for what I did but I admit I feel bad for letting everyone down by being selfish.

"You have cost the group a total of $33.000."

Felix turns to you, seeing you wince in both pain and disappointment. But he appreciates that you don't blame it all on him even though it wouldn't happen if he didn't lead you to it.

"I'm speechless as to how much we've lost money this fast," Heidi says with her voice heavily tinted with disappointment.

"The prize fund stands at $86.000."

Everyone gasps in shock and face-palm hearing the announcement.

Cole shakes his head and sighs, "We lost more than half of the money, fuck... sake..."

FELIX: Hearing it makes it real and I genuinely feel bad.

"Today, I asked you to respect my rules but instead of building deeper and meaningful confections, you have continued signs that you may not be here for the right reasons."

Felix's heart drops and his head goes straight thinking that he'd be sent home tonight. He holds your hand tighter because this probably would be his last to do so.

"Therefore, I'm setting you the ultimate test."

Oh? He can breathe a little knowing that it's not elimination.

"To see if you can adhere to my retreat rules under the most trying of circumstances."

You slightly shift on your seat and scoot closer to him.

"Tonight, you will spend the night alone in the private suite."

FELIX: I'm screwed. I don't trust myself, that's the problem.

It doesn't take a genius to know that everyone is too haste to pull a conclusion: that Felix will fail.

"To be honest guys, I've always been the one who initiated it but not tonight," Felix makes a promise to himself and everyone.

"I'll not break any rules," he states and hopes that no one hears how his voice is quivering at the end of the sentence.

"If you did, that would be the most disrespectful thing you do to us," Cole says.

Felix raises his hand as if he's making an oath, "I promise."

"Please make your way to the private suite!" Lana orders.

FELIX: The pressure is on but it's the only way to prove that we have a real connection.

You jump onto the bed the second you both entered the private suite.

"Oh, it's so nice," you sigh, laying on the bed with a sheer dress on and looking at him with dreamy eyes.

"Stop looking so sexy," he says, getting on the bed and lying next to you.

The bed is much softer than the ones in the shared bedroom and covered in silk sheets. He looks around and sees sex toys, condoms, and even lubricants provided at the side of the bed.

"What do you want to do first?" You ask with a sultry voice.

Felix is not sure if you're being playful or trying to seduce him. Either way, he decides to play along with you, "First, I'll take your clothes off."

"Yep."

He glides his hand down your curve, "Then I'll give you head."

"And I’ll return the favor after," you continue with a sly smile.

That gets his eyebrow raised in excitement, "And after that…"

"And after that?" You repeat his words then bite your lower lip.

This is a dangerous game but Felix wants to test his limit, sees how far he can go, "We'll do some more foreplay, use a sex toy or two," he's eyeing the selections of sex toys on the bedside table.

You delightfully hum and turn over to lay on your stomach, "And after that?"

He takes a deep breath as he can vividly imagine it in his head in real-time, "Sex, " he lowers his hand to the curve of your ass, "Lots and lots of sex," he shamelessly adds.

You locked in an intense gaze with him and purposely lower your voice as you ask him, "What are you waiting for then?"

FELIX: Lana, what makes you think it's a good idea to put me in a room with her and not do anything? [Shakes head in disbelief]

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#stray kids smut #skz smut #felix smut #felix x reader #skz x reader #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #stray kids scenarios #skz scenarios #stray kids fics #skz fics #kpop smut #kpop fics #kpop fanfics #seospicy smut #too hot to handle series

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togrowoldinv · 2 years ago

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Bright

Firefighter!Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

When Natasha takes you on a date, she asks you to take the next step with her

Warnings: 18+ please! Smut! Kissing, cursing, oral (R and N receiving), Natasha being feral for reader

Note: Hehe firefighter Nat. Enjoy!

Burning Red AU, Main Masterlist

Natasha arrives at your front door right on time. She straightens up her leather jacket and knocks twice, holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand.

Your roommate, Wanda, opens the door with a grin.

“Come on in,” Wanda says.

“Nice to see you again, Wanda,” Natasha says.

“You too, Nat. Y/n will be right out.”

Nat glances around at the room and notices way too many fire hazards.

“Do you think you could unplug a few of those devices?” Natasha asks Wanda. Wanda chuckles and gives Nat a look. She understands it’s your stuff. “Oh, I’ll tell her then.”

You emerge from your room at that moment. Natasha looks you over and smiles.

“What will you tell me?” You ask as you approach her. You drop a kiss to her cheek in greeting. She hands you the flowers she brought you.

“Fire hazards,” Wanda answers for her. She shrugs and walks to the kitchen, leaving you with Natasha.

“You look amazing,” Natasha says.

“You do too, babe. I love this jacket,” you tell her, grabbing the lapels of the leather to pull her closer.

“Mhm, I figured you would,” Nat says. “It will likely end up on your bedroom floor later.”

Natasha places her lips so close to yours that you can feel her breathing, but she doesn’t kiss you. She brushes her nose against yours and smirks.

“Are you ready to go?” She asks.

“I am,” you tell her. “Did you make reservations?”

“I did,” Nat says. She glances at her watch. “And we have to drive a little fast to keep them.”

“Safety expert Natasha Romanoff wants to drive fast?” You tease her.

“Hey, I am a fire safety expert not a road safety one,” she replies. “Let’s go, babe.”

You two walk to Natasha’s car. She opens the door for you and helps you inside. The drive to the restaurant goes quickly, partially due to Natasha’s driving.

Natasha smirks at you as she orders a bottle of wine for you two. She seems like she is up to something tonight, but you can’t figure out what.

“How has work been?” You ask her.

“Not bad. I haven’t had to pull doubles lately, so I am satisfied,” she answers. She leans over the table to be a bit closer to you. Her eyelashes flutter at you. “I would still quit to spend more time with you though.”

“Could the department survive without their best hero?” You ask her.

“You have a point.” She chuckles.

Your conversations remain light as you eat dinner. Dessert is on the way when Natasha suddenly seems nervous.

“Are you okay, Natasha?” You ask her.

“Oh yeah, I’m okay,” she replies nonconvincingly.

She reaches into her pocket and places a small silver key on the table between you. You look at it and back up to her. You can tell she’s trying to gauge your reaction.

“So, I’ve been thinking, and we’ve been together for a while now. I- um- I was hoping we’re ready to take it to the next level. My place is plenty big enough for the two of us and the future we have,” Natasha explains. “Would you want to move in with me?”

“Yes,” you say without hesitation. “I would love to.”

“Really?” She asks with a grin on her face.

“Really, Natasha,” you tell her. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” Natasha says.

She leans over the table and kisses you softly. She wants more, but you’re in a restaurant after all. You two finish up dinner and walk to Natasha’s car. She drives to her place.

“Welcome home,” she says as she opens the front door. The place looks the cleanest you’ve seen it. “I already have plenty of ideas of how we can make it ours. For now, why don’t we take this to the bedroom?”

Natasha practically pulls your hand to lead you to the bedroom. You can tell she’s in one of those moods. She kisses you as she backs your knees into the bed. She pushes you down less than softly onto the bed.

Natasha’s hands find your shirt hem, but you don’t let her lift it up. She groans in annoyance as she continues to kiss you. Nat’s plump lips move to your neck. She licks and sucks against you, leaving marks where she can.

“Natasha,” you moan out as she presses her knee between your leg. The pressure you feel is already causing her movements to make you need her.

“I want to fuck you,” Natasha says. “I want to fuck you so hard.”

“Yeah?” You ask her.

“Yeah, baby,” she breathes out against your neck. Her hand holds pressure against your neck just enough to make you feel hotter. “Can I fuck you?”

“You can,” you tell her. So much for thinking you might want to tease her tonight. “Please, Natasha.”

“Good girl,” Nat says.

She finally gets ahold of your shirt and lifts it over your head. Her lips attach to your nipples quickly. She never gets tired of sucking them. Her hand works to unbutton your pants. She slides them down your legs with her strong hands.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” Natasha says. She kisses between your breasts as her hands find your core.

Natasha grinds her own core against your leg as she rubs her fingers over your pussy. She gathers wetness from between them and brings them up to her lips. It’s absolutely sinful as Natasha licks her fingers while maintaining eye contact with you.

You see the hungriness in her eyes as she moves down your body. Your head falls back in pleasure as she dives into your core. Her tongue works expertly to devour you.

“Fuck, fuck,” you moan out as you feel yourself getting close. Nat reaches up and massages your breast as she continues to eat you out. “Natasha!”

She hums against you as you fall apart under her touch. Licking you clean, Natasha can’t get enough of the taste of you.

“Come here,” you say as she emerges from your legs. She kisses you deeply. You help her take her clothes off. The muscles of her body never cease to amaze you. Natasha pulls away from you and you miss her already.

She leans over the bed and grabs a strap from her dresser. The thick fake cock looks amazing attached to her. When she is about to put lube on it, you take the opportunity to lean forward and take it into your mouth.

Natasha groans at the sight of you taking the thick strap into your mouth. She loves this. Pushing her hips further into you, you choke but keep sucking on her.

“That’s it, baby,” Natasha says. “Let me fuck you until you can’t stand tomorrow.”

You release her strap and she repositions herself to slide into you. You are more than wet enough for her to slip inside of you easily. That final push presses the tip exactly where you need it. Natasha picks up the pace of her hips.

“Fuck, you look so pretty taking me like this,” Natasha says. “Will you come for me, sweetheart? So quickly. I barely even have to try.”

Her slightly degrading tone is enough to put you over the edge. You come again for her. She doesn’t stop her movements until you’re practically pushing her away.

Natasha lays next to you and catches her breath while you catch your own. She interlocks her fingers with yours by your side.

“I’m really glad you asked me to move in with you,” you say. Nat turns her head to look at you.

“Me too, sweetheart. It will be really fun to do this together,” Natasha says. “I love you.”

“I love you most,” you say, skipping the more versus most fight.

“Show me?” She asks.

“Always,” you reply.

You kiss down her body and situate yourself between her legs much like she did yours. This moving in together thing is a great idea. You can do this anytime you want.

The future with Natasha is looking bright.

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #firefighter!nat #burning red au #soft natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff fluff #natasha romanoff comfort #natasha romanoff smut #beefy!nat

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drgngutz · 1 year ago

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10 - Coast - Luffy x f!soulmate!reader

Chapter 10

Taglist: @mystic60 , @louisechec , @pinksh1t , @violetmatcha , @urbisexualfriend

Masterlist!

Sorry in advance... This part is like a whole book lol. After this chapter the rest get a lot shorter, it took FOREVER to write this one.

Enjoy <3

It's past nightfall, and the crew and I have made ourselves at home in the half-house of Mont Blanc Cricket. He had initially attacked us, thinking we were thieves coming to steal his golden treasures, before fainting suddenly from a diving disease. When he came to, after Dr. Chopper's treatment, he was entirely apologetic.

Words and motivations are exchanged, apologies are shared, and he comes to the decision that he would help us make it to sky island on something called the knock-up stream; a dangerous way of traveling to be sure, and I wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of being thrust into the sky, just to possibly fall back down and become fish food.

I had been subtly keeping an eye on Luffy throughout the ordeal, on edge after he came back from Mocktown where he, Nami and Zoro went out for information...

A dull pain spreads across my skin; spots on my face, arms and torso seem to burn without a source. It was weird, looking down at the untouched surface, but feeling like I was covered in cuts and bruises all the same.

"Luffy, Zoro!" Usopp calls, sounding extremely concerned. I look up from where we’re working on the ship; My brows furrow at the blood staining their clothes.

"W-What happened? Why are you bleeding?" Usopp prods further. They don’t give him an answer.

I scan Luffy head to toe, noting the marred skin on all the same spots where I could feel the pain resonating; that answered the question, another factor of the soulmate link I suppose, but it didn't make me any less worried. They had gone into town to find some answers about sky island, not to get into fights and cause trouble.

"Luffy, what-- Are you okay?" I met him halfway as they made their way back to the boat. My hands are itching to reach out and brush the blood from his face as we stand in front of each other, but I hold back the feeling, holding them at my sides hesitantly.

"What are you so worried about?" He laughs, and my shoulders slouch.

"I'm fine. Let's go." And he walks past without another word. At the moment, it feels like he's brushed me off. Maybe he didn't like me fretting over him?

Nami is quick to unknowingly distract me as I walk up to her and ask if she's okay; delving straight into a rant about how the two men were being 'idiotic' and how she was publicly humiliated for asking about sky island.

“They all laughed at me! And those two morons just stood there and did nothing–”

At the time, I'm too busy appeasing Nami and letting her vent her sorrows, I don’t notice the eyes zeroing in on the back of my head as he grins.

Now he was fine, of course. He never was phased by many of his wounds, from what I could tell. In fact, he was parading around with the monkey brothers, rough housing, dancing, shouting, eating-- You get the picture.

To be honest, it seemed like the events from earlier today seemed totally forgotten in general. Everyone was partying now, munching on Sanji's snacks and drinking to their hearts delight. Music plays softly in the background. I try my best to ease into the atmosphere and forget about before, too.

"Here, have some!" Nami holds the wooden tankard toward me, offering me the sickly-sweet smelling drink. Her cheeks are flushed.

"I'm good, thanks though." I smile, lifting my own cup of juice to show I already had a drink. I wasn't interested in alcohol, anyways.

"Hey, why don't you girls come sit next to me, huh?" Cricket's face is an even darker shade of red, covering his cheeks, nose, forehead, and ears as the bottle of wine sloshes in his hand. I smile at him bashfully, and lean into Nami, who giggles and leans back. Sanji is quick to cover for us, though I knew the older man didn’t mean much harm.

"Woah-- You're about a hundred years too old to be hitting on Nami; and (Y/n)'s taken, anyway." His foot is planted on the older man's face, holding him back from leaning too close to us. I'm amazed that he's able to keep holding the plates of food as he does this, expertly laying some down in front of us.

I take a bite of some sort of fish sashimi, and my spirits lift at the flavor.

"This is amazing, Sanji!" I compliment him, going for another piece.

"Oh, (Y/n)! I feel I may go to heaven when an angel like you speaks to me like that!" He spins, hearts in his eyes as he nearly whacks Luffy in the face with his foot. It looks like he's completely forgotten his own words from earlier, when emphasizing that I was taken.

"I always compliment your cooking..." I trail off with a little giggle, finally feeling the effects of the good mood begin to rub off on me.

"'The skulls right eye!'"

Cricket says in a haunting tone from across the room. How did he get there so quickly, you ask? I have no idea.

"'That's where I saw the gold.'" He quotes from 'Noland the Liars' log book, which lies in Robin's hands. Noland was Cricket's ancestor, so I wasn't surprised if he might've memorized the documents; despite his insistence on hating his predecessor.

"Those words, smeared with tears, were the last ones Noland wrote in his logbook. 'The skulls right eye, that's where I saw the gold.'" Everyone in the room stops, enraptured in the exhilaration of his words. And, frankly, so am I. To imagine the possibility of an entire city of gold, of an island in the sky; that was stuff that people could only dream of in the modern world. It was enough to make something as amazing as Time’s Square look bland.

"Noland was executed the same day." There's a heavy silence as nobody speaks, on the edge of their seat, waiting for him to continue.

"Even after coming to Jaya, I still don't know what he meant by that. Is it referring to the name of a city, or an old landmark that used to reside on the island? Was it just a poetic allusion to his own impending death? The blank pages that follow give us no clue..." Luffy has begun eating again at this point, moaning happily at the taste of the food through Cricket's storytelling.

"That's why we keep diving to the bottom of the ocean; We have a dream, and it’s on the seafloor!" The crew, Masira and Shoujou let out a 'hurrah' at the end of Cricket's speech.

Dreams. It was a topic that came up time and time again in our travels. An important topic to everyone I had met so far. The crew, Zenny, Henzo, Cricket, and I; we all had dreams that we wanted to fulfill. There were places we wanted to go, people we wanted to see, mysteries to solve, people to find...

I looked at Luffy, who was still happily chewing away, before looking back down at the food before us and finding my own snack to munch on.

I guess I had already found my own dream, right?

"'The day I arrived on Jaya. Entry for May 21st, 1122. Upon landing on the island, we heard strange bird calls and the sound of a very large bell coming from the forest. The sound of that huge golden bell resonated far and wide, almost as if showing off the prosperity of a city long past! We thought we knew everything after living for a few decades... but experiencing the transience of this civilization that flourished for a long time on the wide open sea left us speechless! The sound of the bell had us stopped in our tracks!'" Cricket ended the quote with an enigmatic roar, which the trio of monkey boys echoed just as enthusiastically.

"I just love stories with bells in them, especially gold ones!" Nami cheered, and I rolled my eyes with a laugh.

“Nami, you love anything that’s shiny and has a price tag.” She playfully slapped my shoulder, and I shied away jokingly.

Right after Nami said it, Cricket produced that exact object from a large crate in the corner of the room; three golden bells. The girl, proving my point, practically jumped on them.

"Huh... Doesn't seem too enormous to me." Usopp observed with a hand on his chin. Nami was cuddling one of the objects with Berry signs in her eyes.

"These aren't that bell. They're bell-shaped golden ingots we found on the ocean floor." Cricket responded with a close-eyed smile.

"No way. So there really is a city of gold!" Luffy cried, finally done eating.

"It's still not proof, though! You could find golden relics like that lying around in any old ruins." Shoujou yells at him, trying not to let his anticipation get too high (a futile effort with Luffy).

"Maybe so," Robin begins, and I know she's about to give us some historically-accurate-based-hope that would reinforce their belief in the mythical city; "But it does suggest that there was a civilization here sometime in the past. Ingots are made to divide gold into standardized units of weight. And that would indicate an advanced trading society."

"Exactly," Cricket affirms, "And remember that peculiar bird call he said they heard when they landed? Show it to 'em, Masira."

Masira is moving before Cricket finishes his sentence, unveiling another, much larger, artifact composed completely out of gold. The creature that it depicts looks like a morphed version of a toucan, with a large beak and small body. Everyone is awed at the way it glistens in the candlelight.

"Golden bells and birds, huh? Do you think they might be symbols of some ancient Jayan civilization?" Sanji asked, and I had to agree with the topic of the question; so far, all signs were pointing to that being the case.

"I really couldn't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure all these pieces were a part of the same casting. This creature here is called the South Bird, and they still exist on this island today." Cricket pulled it closer to himself, inspecting the golden exterior for scuffs. Luffy follows it eagerly.

"Wow, so they have a peculiar call?" The curious boy asks, still staring down at the remnant in wonder.

"Uh-huh," Cricket confirms, "Just like in the log book."

"Sailors have used South birds on ships since ancient times, so that--" Masira chokes on the words before he can finish speaking, and the two monkey brothers gasp in realization, looking at each other nervously. I furrow my brow, concerned, before hearing Cricket make the same noise.

"Oh, crap!" The three of them emit, jumping to a stand in the middle of the room, a newfound urgency in what was once a laid back stance.

"What's wrong?" The crew responds with equal importance.

"This is really bad," Cricket spits, "You guys gotta' get to the forest on the South side of the island right away!"

"Huh? Are you crazy, old guy?" Luffy looks at Cricket with a deadpan, not sure what he was talking about. I wasn’t sure what the problem was either.

"Don't waste a minute! You gotta' capture one of these birds, and quickly!" Cricket chastised his question, before continuing swiftly.

"Now, listen carefully," he didn't waste another moment, "Tomorrow you're gonna' sail for the knock up stream; it lies directly South of here. How are you going to get there?"

"We just sail the ship due South, of course." Luffy grunts, eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed as if the conversation was beginning to aggravate him.

"Have you forgotten this is The Grand Line?! You're heading for the open sea, you won't be able to get your bearings!" Cricket shouts.

"Wait, he's right. Without an island to lock onto, the log pose will be useless and there will be no way to navigate!" Nami exclaimed, looking anxious at the idea.

"Oh." I said out loud, the cause of all this commotion clicking together in my head. They all turned to look at me.

"W-Well," I started after noticing they were waiting for me to elaborate, "We need a South bird, and we need to go South... I'm just guessing, but does the South bird help us get there somehow?"

The crew all looked at me like I was crazy.

"I-I dunno,' maybe it like… migrates, or something." I finish nervously, before Cricket huffs out a puff of smoke from his cigarette.

"She's right; you can use the South bird in order to get there. Certain animals are known to have a very accurate internal sense of direction, as if they're born with a natural compass." Cricket finalizes, and Usopp pats my shoulder apologetically for not believing me. I give him a look.

"That makes Zoro dumber than an animal!" Luffy chortles.

"Yeah, right, like you're one to talk!"

"The South bird is a perfect example of this," Cricket ignores them, "their bodies always point in the same direction. Basically, if you don't get to that forest and catch one of those birds right now, you'll kiss your only chance to get to sky island goodbye!"

Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp all screech in horror at the idea, before assuming a desperate scramble to get going. The rest of the crew follows, and we begin to rush out like a bunch of clowns in a tiny car. Despite Usopp's annoyance at the ordeal, Cricket hands out a few nets to aid in the capture.

"The three of us are gonna' get started on the repairs to your broken-down ship." The monkeys are waving goodbye from behind Cricket, and I take that as our cue to leave. As soon as I turn though, I'm met with Zoro.

"I think you should stay here," He gruffs, "since you've been working on the ship with Usopp, you can tell them about all the broken parts. We'll find the bird."

I'm taken aback, speechless. I glance between his stern eyes, then at the gazes of the crew behind him, who seem to genuinely consider his statement. Sure, I wasn't the strongest in the group, but did he really think I couldn't help them find the South bird? Was I really that useless to them?

I didn't get to ask him why, before Cricket interrupted.

"Actually, yeah. That would be pretty helpful, so we don’t miss anything."

"Are... you sure?" I finally spoke up, "You don't want my help?"

"Nah!" Luffy joyfully replies, "Zoro’s right, we're good. You should help Cricket out, anyways!"

"Oh." I say softly, not even sure if they could hear me. As the group heads towards the forest, the only one who has a semblance of recognition for me getting left behind is Usopp, who begs to stay with me out of fear. Zoro gives me a nod, before following the rest of the group.

My chest hurts. I wanted to go with them.

"We'll be back, okay?" Nami calls, "See you soon!"

I stand there, holding my marked arm in my hand. Their figures disappear into the darkness, before Cricket comes over and places a hand on my shoulder. I look up at him wearily.

"Come on, there's no time to waste." I nod in response, trudging after him to the beat-up vessel.

—

I do my best to identify and list each problem that the ship has over the next hour that passes, entirely off of my memory. The past few weeks of helping Usopp with its repairs were coming in handy. Still, it’s hard to stay focused when you have a realization that your crew might not actually value you as a member yet, despite your efforts, and still only sees you as some free-loader who can't really contribute; because you’re a weakling-weirdo who came here from another world a few weeks ago, and your soulmate still doesn't really give a damn about you at all.

I wish I wasn't so useless.

"Alright, that's the mast finished. What's next, short stack?" Masira hollers, and I take a look at the sides of the ship which are a patch-work of boards. I'm doing my best to get rid of the nauseous feeling in my stomach.

"Well, the sides of the ship need work, and the hull does too... Some of the floorboards still need to be replaced, and..." I trail off, trying to organize my thoughts.

"I'm guessing you're not too familiar with this line of work, kid." Cricket observes, and I shrink.

"Sorry." I mumble, averting my eyes to The Merry's figure head. It looks back at me, silent and judging.

"Don't be sorry," the older man continued, "I was just gonna' say that might've been the reason they left you behind."

Something pinches in my chest.

"Right... yeah, probably." I deflated, before moving to grab one of the boards they were using for the repairs.

"Don't take it in a negative way, kid." He stops me in my tracks, and I turn to look at him. What positive way was there to think about this?

"You're soulmates with Luffy, right?" I nod, "Then it's probably because of your lack of experience that they left you here; it's much safer here with us than it is out in the dark, in those woods. Try not to be so down about it."

I blink, wrapping my head around the words, before slowly nodding again. He had a point, I suppose… But, why hadn’t they just said that in the first place? If they were worried about keeping me safe, they could’ve just said so.

"Hey, Old Timer!" Shoujou shouts, his green hair flowing in the wind as the two of us look up at him.

"We've got some company!" He points at a ship that's nearly ready to dock at the side of the island, not too far from where we stood in front of Cricket's home. None of us had managed to notice it until that point.

"Who is that?" Cricket asks out loud, and I shake my head, stumped.

"I dunno.'" I say quietly, before the two monkey brothers have made their way over.

The boat, a dull brown with pink and gray accents, lowers the bridge for the crew to dock. Their jolly-roger waves in the brisk wind, showcasing a stuck-out tongue and lips over crossed bones. A small crowd of twelve people begins to filter out, led by a blonde man with a pink shirt and a blue-and-gold-adorned coat over his shoulders. His sinister smile matches the one on the figure head, crossed out with a half-slash. Cricket pushes me behind him before they get too close. I lose most of my visibility.

"Mont Blanc Cricket!" He shouts from across the landscape, a wild edge to his tone.

"Rumor in town says you've fished up quite the sum of gold recently... I'd like to have it for myself!" Pirates, I think, and not the good kind.

"Now, now, little boy," Shoujou starts, voice carrying over the whipping wind, "You don't really wanna' go and make us angry, do you?"

"It's not nice to show up in the middle of the night and demand gold from someone, now get lost! We've got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it." Masira backs him up, chuckling as he cracks his knuckles.

The man from before, whom I assume is the Captain, begins to cackle in a way that reminds me of a hyena.

"You must be the bodyguards, and the old man must be the ex-pirate named Cricket... I heard the sad story of the Mont Blancs family, back at the pub. It moved me to tears." He taunted, and I could hear the teasing edge of his voice… He was mocking them.

"But stealing another man's treasure moves me even more; I'm a pirate, after all!” He grunts, and I hear the rustling of fabric as he removes his coat.

"Maybe you'd like to know what people call me before I take your whole life's work. The Hyena!" Fitting.

He chortles in a high pitch, true to his name; I can feel the tension thicken in the air, sticking uncomfortably to my skin, just as it always does right before a fight ensues. It seems they haven’t noticed me yet, and I'm thankful for Cricket allowing me to use him as a human shield.

"If you're looking for a fight, you've come to the right place!" Shoujou responds heartedly.

"You're gonna regret mockin' the Saruyama alliance!" Masira is in a fighting stance, looking ready for whatever was inevitably coming our way.

And it comes quickly. The crewmates charge with a rambunctious shout, throwing fists and words as they do it. I move back into the house as Cricket joins the skirmish, not looking to get myself involved.

"Hand over the gold, Old Man! Do it quickly, and we may even let you live!" Another man with light blue hair, donned with a fur coat, gold chain, and striped gloves shouts as Cricket dodges.

"You forgot to say 'please!'" He thrusts out his leg and kicks the guy in the chin after effectively blocking all of his punches; the blue haired man flips backward from the force of it.

The Monkey brothers are holding their own just as well, effectively slamming away four or five other crewmates that had joined in on the action.

Their captain, 'The Hyena,' stands with arms crossed and an excited smile. The sight makes my skin crawl. What the hell was he up to?

"Looks like the boys might actually need a hand…" The blonde licks his lips, eyes wide.

"Guess I'd better show 'em how it's done!"

The others are too focused on the fight to realize what's happening, but I'm not.

I watch the blonde's legs as they morph into springs. He crouches down, springs coiling; looking ready to pounce, and aiming for Masira.

There isn’t a chance to warn him of what's coming, since the captain has already shot himself across the way, straight into Masira's back.

The monkey-man groans, dropping the man in his hold as his back bends, and his eyes roll back. His body awkwardly molds into a ‘C’ shape, all due to the spring-man's punch.

Before he can recover, the blonde grabs Masira and launches himself off of the monkey's face, effectively punching Shoujou while simultaneously knocking his brother behind him.

Next, he springs for Cricket, who dodges in the nick of time; however, the blonde is quick to rebound, landing on the Going Merry and propelling off of it with enough force to snap the hull in two.

Cricket must've been too shocked to retaliate. The captain had punched him dead in the face within the next second, maintaining terrifying accuracy and speed. I watched the blood spill from the old man's lips in horror as he ragdolled onto the dirt.

"Way to go, Bellamy!" One of the women of his crew acts as a cheerleader for the massacre, overjoyed by her captains brutality.

"Cricket!" I cry out, pushing myself past the doorway and rushing to his side. He was laying so still, he looked like he was dead. I was anxious about him taking such a beating with his condition, since Chopper was so serious about it earlier. What if this pushed him past his limit?

I don't make it very far, before I'm shoved in the shoulder and to the ground by the man with light-blue hair.

"Look, Bellamy; they've got a girl!" He grins, and points his double-edged sword so that it rests under my chin. His Captain howls with laughter.

"Well, well, well! Looks like Cricket might still have that pirate's spirit in him, after all!" He uncrosses his arms, reaching for his coat on the ground.

I shiver as the cold steel brushes against my skin, not taking my eyes off the blade, even as it reflects the brightness of the moon into my eyes and blinds me.

I’m too scared to swallow or breathe wrong. Any slight movement and he could have my neck sliced wide open.

"Why don't we take you with us, huh?" The man removes the weapon from my jugular, finally, and I feel my limbs tremble.

"How about it, we can pay you real nice in return..." He suggests. I feel like I could puke at his insinuation.

"Enough!" Shouts Bellamy, "Grab her, and clean up this trash. Get the gold and take care of them."

Wordlessly, the blue-haired man reaches down and picks me up like a sack of potatoes, moving toward the massive ship.

"No--" I grunt, trying to pry his arm off of me, "Lemme' go! I don't want to--"

I kick and struggle the whole way, trying to get him to put me back down, but he doesn’t even acknowledge me. No matter how many times I punch or slap, my strikes are weak.

The rest of their crew rushes past and begins to beat whatever life is left out of the Saruyama Alliance. They smash, jab, slash; all while they're still lying on the ground, stiff and unmoving. And they still don't stop, even as their blood begins absorbing into the grass.

"Stop it!" I cry desperately, voice grating as tears run down my face, "Please, stop! Cricket, Masira, Shoujou!"

"So much for your Saruyama Alliance," Bellamy chuckles, "Just an old man and a couple of overgrown apes!"

"Just take the gold and go!" I yelp, getting closer and closer to their boat.

"Haven't you done enough? Leave them alone!"

"Shut her up, Sarquiss. I've had enough of her yowling."

"Will do, Captain Bellamy." The gag is tied tightly around my head when they wrangle me onto the ship, inevitably rendering me unable to speak. They bind my hands and feet, before leaving me in the ship's corner, where I can still see the island.

As the crew begins to cast off, bag of Crickets gold in tow, I stare longingly over the rails; sobbing into the rag as I watch the limp forms of the Saruyama Alliance get farther and farther away.

Quaking in my corner, no longer being able to worry about the Saruyama Alliance, I glanced around at the horrible smirking faces of Bellamy’s crew. In my haste to help Cricket, I had forgotten about my own safety.

Where were they taking me? What if they were leaving the island?

They couldn’t just take me, could they? But, then… How would the crew ever find me again?

I hadn’t thought this through.

I closed my eyes tightly. The tears squeezed out, anyway.

---

"Hey, old guy! We caught one of those birds!" Luffy's voice echoes across the now-destroyed scene. Footsteps echo across the land, not yet seeing it, and blindly making their way through the dark.

The crew stops short, finally seeing the wreck before them; a few of them gape in horror, the others stare in shock.

Cricket, Masira, and Shoujou were laying in heaps; unresponsive. The ship was in pieces. Cricket's home was in ruins, ransacked and empty; scattered all over the grass as if it had exploded.

Luffy raced over to the old man, whose eyes were cinched over closed eyes, bleeding and in pain. His tanned knees were stained with the bloody-mud around the dilapidated figure.

"Pops, what happened?" He hunched over the man's form. Cricket still didn't respond.

"Masira!" Usopp called, and again there was nothing.

"Shoujou!" Sanji found him lying face-up in the ocean, but the monkey didn’t utter a word.

"What the... What happened here?" Nami whispered, baffled.

"I've got a better question, who did this?" voiced Sanji as he was dragging Shoujou's body through the water.

"Wait," Robin started, and for the first time, the crew could hear alarm in her usually unchanged voice:

"Where's (Y/n)?"

Nobody said a word. All of them looked at Robin in dread, realizing the weight of her words.

Immediately, everyone began to search every nook and cranny, high and low; Usopp, Nami and Chopper were calling your name, Zoro and Luffy scoured the house and its remains, Robin searched in the surrounding forest, and Sanji even dove back into the ocean in case you might've fallen in... but, you were gone.

Once they reconvened, Zoro looked uncharacteristically beside himself.

"We checked the house... she wasn't there. Cricket's gold isn't, either." His jaw was clenched with guilt.

"Where... Where could she have..." Nami choked out tearfully, Chopper looking just about ready to cry as well.

"Sorry... kid." Cricket rasped from the ground, and the reindeer was at his side in an instant. The man was looking at Luffy.

"I... I'm truly sorry, kid," He gasped before trying to sit up, despite Chopper's fussing, "We did everything we could to stop them... but it wasn't enough."

"What happened?" Luffy, who hadn't said anything during the search for his soulmate, asks in a dull tone.

It's the same dull tone that the crew doesn't hear him use very often; it was like a switch must’ve gone off.

"She's... She's gone. They took her."

Nami covered her mouth to stop any noise from coming out, while Usopp and Chopper sniffled. Zoro turned and walked silently back towards Cricket's home.

Luffy was quiet. Too quiet. He stood stock still and stared at Cricket with a look he couldn't decipher. Not one that blamed him for what happened, no. But it was a look that made his hair stand on edge, despite his seasoned age.

It was a serious look; a dangerous one.

"Hey, Luffy..." Zoro beckoned, and the boy turned slowly.

Scrawled on the boards, the ones that served as a false-overlay to Crickets home, was the familiar mark of a jolly-roger: A smiling face with a slash in the middle.

Nami recognized it, too.

"That's Bellamy's..." She trails off with a gasp, before her face morphs into a snarl and she wipes her tears away aggressively.

"I told you, didn't I?" She seethed at the two men, "I told you, you should've beat those guys to a pulp and been done with it!"

For the first time in a while, Luffy was angry; but there was no expression on his face to show it.

He turned to look at Robin, ignoring Nami’s rage. Though, Robin couldn't see his eyes beneath the rim of his hat, brimmed with shadow.

"If I follow the coast, will that take me all the way back to Mocktown?" He asked in a hushed, grave voice.

"Yes, I believe it will." She confirmed, and that's all he needed to hear before he turned in the same direction.

"We only have three hours," Sanji urged, "You better hurry and go get your soulmate, before it’s too late."

Luffy said nothing, but they could all hear the bones in his hands popping as he sprinted away.

---

It's been hours, and there was still no sign of anyone.

I was starting to lose hope, forced into being cooped up with the drunken barbarians who had just beaten the tar out of my friends. And there wasn’t an escape in sight. We only had so much time before the crew would have to leave to catch the knock up stream in order to make it to sky island... Would they leave me here? Like they did when they went hunting for the South bird?

No. Luffy would never. He might not pay much attention to me, but we were still soulmates. He wouldn't just leave me, and if not him, then Nami definitely wouldn’t...

Right?

"Those apes were hilarious!" Giggled Sarquiss from beside me, "All bloody, with tears and snot running down their faces!"

He flung an arm over my shoulder, leaning in close where I could smell the alcohol on his breath. Gagging, I squirmed away and out from under his arm, but bumped into another one of Bellamy's crew in the process. He grunted, irritated, before shoving me back to Sarquiss.

My lungs clenched desperately in my chest for air, shrinking in my seat as if it would make me invisible. It was way too crowded, surrounded by a bunch of rugged thieves and murderers, I had learned from their stories.

At least I was still on the same island.

My hands shook beneath the table.

"Oh, come on babe," He went to do it again, and I dodged, "Wasn't that the funniest thing you've ever seen?"

A chorus of agreements and whistling popped up around the table, all of them directed at me and attempting to coax me into a conversation, eyes shining in a hungry way that made my skin crawl.

I couldn’t believe that they were laughing at the fact that they had probably beaten my friends to death; and now they wanted me to join in on the ‘fun.’

Another man went to grab at my waist, and I shimmied away; finally having enough and standing up, despite the glare I received from Sarquiss.

"G-Get off of me!” I yelped apprehensively.

“I already told you, I have a soulmate!" I tried to put my foot down time-and-time again with this same statement, but none of them would bother to listen.

"Yeah, okay, babe. Heard it so many times before," The drunken random from the crew tugged me back down, gripping hard at the soulmate mark as I winced.

"And this is your ‘mark.’ Yeah, right-- Huh?" He was bewildered to have actually seen the mark on my arm for the first time that night, since nobody other than him had bothered to check if I was telling the truth. I honestly doubted that they would care, either way.

"You're soulmates with that Luffy kid?" I yanked my arm back to myself, clutching at the mark like it was my anchor in this troubling situation.

"Yes, I am.” I tried to retaliate confidently, despite the waiver in my voice, “So leave me alone already, you--"

"Bad news!" A man with a tall hat and scruffy face came barging into the room, effectively silencing everyone in the vicinity. Even the music stopped.

"This better be good..." Somebody from the table closest to me muttered.

"Those guys-- The ones that were here this afternoon, they--" He slurred, before finding the person in the room that he was looking for, then gasping.

"Bellamy! What are you still doin' here?! You... You've gotta' get outta' here, you're in terrible danger!"

"What are you talking about? How am I in danger?" Bellamy scoffed with a frown, the veins in his forehead popping out of aggravation.

"That-- That kid, from earlier, he's--" He groaned, seemingly unable to form the proper words, before decidedly fishing out a piece of paper and unfurling it to show the room.

It was a wanted poster with Luffy's smiling face plastered on it; as well as Zoro's. As soon as he showed them, a few of the crewmates stopped muttering, and a few more dropped their tankards to the floor; some of which shattered.

Everyone in the room seemed stun-locked.

I didn't understand what was so important about it; after all, I knew that Luffy had a bounty, but it was only thirty million. The crew had told me a while back that it wasn't a very high amount for a well-known pirate, so what was their deal all of a sudden?

"One hundred million?" Somebody whispered.

"Sixty million?" Others added.

Oh. I guess I missed the fact that their bounties had been raised.

"Those two together are worth one-hundred-and-sixty-million! Their bounties are higher than yours, Bellamy. Do you know what that means?" He gasped, out of air and gaping like a fish.

"You're dead meat!"

So, it was a big number; And a deserving one, since Luffy had defeated one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. He was, I assumed, a strong pirate.

But, still… After seeing Bellamy completely dismantle the ship and knock-out the trio, I was nervous. Even if Luffy had that high of a bounty now, would he be able to defeat Bellamy? How high was Bellamy’s bounty?

Now I was wondering if I even wanted him to rescue me; Not if it meant he was going to be hurt in the process. I didn’t want to see him lying on the ground like Cricket was.

This was all becoming very overwhelming very fast.

Bellamy's crew begins to panic, all squandering reasons to leave, shouting at each other in disagreement on whether or not Bellamy could take on Luffy. With their booze forgotten and chairs pushed back, I try my best to move toward the door in the commotion.

If I could leave on my own, then nobody would have to get hurt.

"Hey, hey, hey! All it takes to scare you ‘big tough guys’ are some little scraps of paper!" Bellamy cackles, and everybody shuts up.

"What, do you all have empty sockets for eyes? You saw that scrawny leader! This is nothing but a sham.” The men looked unconvinced. I kept moving.

“I'll explain it to you morons. There are pirates like these losers who fake their own wanted posters to make a name for themselves. The fakers win fights without throwing a single punch... Their enemies would take one look at their bogus bounties, turn tail, and run. Just like you sorry excuses are doing right now!" He lifts his hand up, waving it around to exaggerate certain parts of his explanation.

"B-But, Bellamy, are you sure...?" The same man holding the posters speaks up once again, and Bellamy rolls his eyes in disappointment.

"Fine. Why don't I show you how weak that brat really is?" He grunts, coming to a stand, before beginning to march over in my direction; I had made it halfway to the door at this point, but now I was frozen.

"After all," He gives me a maniacal grin, looking down at me with wide eyes as he stops in front of me, and I wonder if he can hear my heart thumping in my chest;

"We have his soulmate right here, don't we?"

His hand comes up and latches itself to the hair on my scalp, before continuing on his way to the saloon doors.

My scalp is on fire as he wrenches me along, and I let out a cry. Then, using the same hand, he jerks his arm harshly; throwing me through the doors.

A few of the crew, still inside, laugh at the sight as I roll down the stairs. Landing roughly on my stomach, I cough against the dusty ground, whining at the feeling of the bruises forming on my skin.

As I'm pushing myself to my knees, arms wobbling, I hear the doors open behind me. Bellamy's boot-clad feet are stomping ever-closer, and my pulse races.

I whip around to look at him, not wanting to be grabbed or tossed again. Instead, I see the barrel of a gun in my face.

My blood freezes in my veins.

Staring down the cylinder, my heartbeat’s in my ears, looking in the face of death.

My face must’ve gone pale. He sniggers from behind the gun.

"Let's see what he's going to do if she's in danger, huh?" He taunts, pushing the barrel right to my forehead where I flinch, and clench my eyes in terror.

The tears come then, fueled by the heightened feeling of the metal pressing harshly, combined with the sound of the pistol being cocked; reverberating through the object and into my skull. They spill down my face, and I bite my lip as it trembles.

"Awe, you're just as pathetic as that soulmate of yours, aren't you!" He roars with laughter, and I grow stiff from every movement. My eyes peek open, vision blurred, but still able to make out his finger on the trigger.

"Go on," He nods his head once, once he sees me open my eyes, "Call him."

The sob forces its way out of my throat as I close my eyes again, shaking.

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move.

"Call him." Bellamy says with less patience, tone tinged with the darkness of a man who had killed once before, and who would do it again;

"So that we can see what lover-boy will do, yeah?"

No.

I had only just got here, only just found Luffy; and now I was going to die.

Was this some sort of cruel fate?

“I’m running out of patience, you brat–”

"I'm right here."

My eyes snap open, and the gun is forgotten in an instant, left as a forethought in momentary shock.

I turn my head to look, and I think I might melt into the boards below when I see him.

The first thing I notice is his hat; it's hanging from his neck, not on his head like it always is. His hair is whipping wildly in the wind, untamed.

The second thing I notice is the look on his face. He's frowning, brows creased over a determined gaze that doesn't leave mine. It registers; I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look at me like this before.

He completely ignores the black tendrils that brush over his sight. There's an intensity in the way he's looking at me. Tiny, rapid movements of his pupils tell me he's scanning my own face, searching for something; it seems desperate, concerned.

It's relieving. It's comforting.

I bite my lip, not bothering to mask the sob that comes out of my throat as we stare at each other. He had come to save me.

“Luffy–” Bellamy hoists me up by my collar, cutting me off and pushing me into another crew member behind him, who grabs me in response. I hadn’t noticed that the others had begun to make their way outside, now.

Luffy's stare hardens into a glare when Bellamy is placed in his line of sight, all sense of care gone.

"Give 'em back," He grunts out, "My soulmate and Pop's gold. I want 'em both."

"Finally!" Bellamy jeers, crouching into a stance similar to the one I had seen during the fight from earlier, and alarm bells go off. Luffy can’t end up the same. I writhe in the man's grip, and he jostles me to stand still as I whine softly, hiccuping.

"You want 'em? Come and get 'em, kid!" Despite his words, he moves first.

"Don't worry, this won't take long," And he pounces, "Spring Sniper!"

The memory of blood bursting from Crickets lips flashes in my mind, Bellamy's fist connecting with his cheek; and I picture Luffy in his spot.

The breath leaves my chest in relief as Luffy dodges, jumping up and managing to land on the roof of a house nearby. He stumbles as he does.

Bellamy doesn't let it slide.

"You got lucky!" The older of the two grits out, before pursuing the younger a second time.

The boy dodges narrowly this time, flipping over the siding and gripping at the roof's edge. His arms stretch for a moment, naturally bobbing his body up and down due to his rubber qualities, but he looks okay.

"Does that kid actually think he has a chance here?" Sarquiss laughs from somewhere next to me. I don't care enough to look at him, eyes locked on my soulmate as he hangs precariously from a rooftop.

"If nothing else, this should be entertaining. Bellamy always puts on a good show." Another man with blonde hair and glasses states, one of Bellamy’s lackeys.

"He talked all big, but now he's just running away!"

The two are at a standstill on top of their respective buildings, now. Luffy effortlessly pulled himself back into a better position, almost like hanging from the building didn't even put a dent in his stamina. In fact, he didn't look tired at all.

Bellamy shouts something indiscernible at him, looking smug, before shooting toward him a third time.

He misses once more as Luffy scarcely avoids the attack, but this time he falls.

Watching how languidly he falls, arms flailing in the air, I wonder if maybe he actually did get hit. My chest constricts, breath caught in my throat.

"You're nothing but a little boy who still believes in dreams! You disgrace the rest of us by calling yourself a pirate. It's time to stop this foolish dreaming and grow up!" Bellamy is getting more and more frustrated, likely due to Luffy’s evasion. It's listless in his form as he comes to a crouch near the crowd.

Luffy still says nothing, he doesn't make a peep even as he keeps falling.

Was he knocked out? Was he okay?

"Now, let's end this!" Bellamy roars as he fires himself once more at Luffy, this time hitting his target.

He nails him, and Luffy lets out a surprised yelp, not expecting the attack in midair. I listen to his uneven scream as he spins his way down to the ground; aimed directly at the crowd in front of the tavern.

The onlookers flee as he collides with an explosion of dust.

His scream cuts short, and I can feel the sudden spreading of pain across my back and shoulders. I scan desperately over the rubble with piercing eyes, trying to blink away the tears so I can see better.

Just barely, beneath the cloud of dust, I can make out the bright-red of his vest. He’s not showing any signs of moving.

"Luffy!" I screech. The man from behind gives a harsh 'shut up,' clasping a hand over my mouth as Bellamy begins another speech.

"See? There's no escape!" He exclaims from the top of another building.

"I've eaten a devil fruit, so you don't stand a chance against me!"

I stop, the topic of devil fruits triggering a realization. I trace back through the entirety of the fight in my mind, just to make sure I wasn’t crazy; but I knew I was right.

But why?

This whole time, Luffy hadn't bothered to make a move on Bellamy.

In fact, he had spent the whole time dodging when he otherwise would have been fighting; just like he did with all the marines we ran into. Luffy had his devil fruit too, so why wasn't he using it?

Something was off.

"Looks like your dreams are at an end." Bellamy smiles wickedly from his lofty position.

The dust clears, showcasing Luffy's body submerged in a mess of broken-wooden-planks, crumpled and hunched. But, I’m not crying anymore. There’s something weird; whatever the feeling is, it’s assuring me that he’s fine.

Then, as soon as they stop jeering, Luffy begins to move. He pushes to his feet without much of a struggle, and I watch, unblinking, as he barely seems affected.

There isn't a hint of discomfort in his posture, standing straight and staring dead at Bellamy; unwavering, even as Bellamy mocks him from the tower in the night sky.

Luffy... wasn't hurt.

"You don't know when to quit, do you? Fine, have it your way, we're just getting to the good part!" Bellamy bends down at his knees again. But this time, as he releases the tension in his legs, he doesn't stop at one spot.

He springs from the floor, to the side of a building, to another one, and then back to the floor again. It's not a strict pattern, though. He’s mixing it up, and increasing speed as he does it.

It's a mesh of high-pitched noise as he bounces from one place to another. Soon, he becomes almost impossible to see.

If Luffy got hit by that, then he--

"So, you want your soulmate back? You think you're man enough to keep a woman happy, even though you're busy chasing dreams like a child?!" Bellamy shouts.

"And you want the gold back because the old-man's your friend? Wake up! He's nothing but a decrepit fool who spends all his time chasing after a four-hundred year old lie. But that's probably what you like about him, right?" Luffy's face begins to morph into one of aggravation, the look grows with each of Bellamy's harsh words. I can only watch in trepidation.

"You like to call yourselves pirates, but you know nothing! There's no 'city of gold,' no island in the sky; just oceans and ships and the men who sail them!"

"You asked if I know how to throw a punch." The boy with the straw hat finally speaks up, after not saying a word the entire fight.

He lifts an arm at his side, the muscles tense as he flexes his fingers. Here, in the dim night-light of the tavern reflecting off of his tanned skin, his usually-skinny arms show definition. Faintly, I hear the popping of bones, and I wonder if it's his knuckles cracking.

Bellamy's crewmates cheer and holler for him to finish the fight, for him to do away with Luffy and 'get it over with.'

All my fear dissipates.

Maybe it's the look on his face, or the confidence in his pose; or maybe it's the anger and the resolution I can feel reverberate within me, even though it's not my own...

Whatever it was, I knew he was going to win.

"So long, Straw Hat!" Bellamy chants, practically a missile that's focused straight at Luffy’s torso.

Luffy's dark eyes lock-on, his pupils dilate, and the yellow of the lamp light shines in their center; a target of his own.

With a bellowing cry of anger, Luffy slams his fist directly onto Bellamy's face.

The sound is like a gun-shot, echoing over Mocktown.

It's followed shortly after by the creak-and-snap of the wood as Bellamy's body creates a man-sized crater, his legs flailing up behind him.

The blonde captain coughs up blood, a fist imprinted on his cheek, before he lies still.

Nobody moves.

The wind brushes softly overhead.

Luffy had beaten Bellamy.

He reaches behind him for his hat, knuckles dripping with blood, before placing it on his head. I wondered if it was his blood, or if it was Bellamy’s.

"H-Hey," Sarquiss stutters, "Quit messing around Bellamy. G-Get up, already."

The Captain doesn't move. Everyone around begins to murmur, perplexed.

"S-See!" The drunk from before urges, now panicking even more, "I told you so!"

Luffy finally turns from glaring at Bellamy's unconscious form, gaze directing every ounce of its fury in my direction; and it’s targeting the man behind me, still holding me captive.

I can feel his hands tremble and loosen, an iron grip turned to feathers. With a pitiful whimper, he removes his hand from over my lips, and backs away.

I stand there like a statue, though, not sure what to think. Even as Luffy takes a step toward me, and I hear the majority of Bellamy's crew turn-tail and run, I still don't move.

There were a lot of things I still didn't know about this place. But I knew some things. I knew about The One Piece, I knew about Devil-fruits, and I knew that Luffy and the crew were strong…

But, to knock out a man in one punch? A punch with enough force to cause a crater in the ground? I never imagined it, not from somebody who was as smiley and happy as he was. Sure, he was a little rough around the edges, but...

Just how strong was Luffy?

Once he's made his way over, he stops, wordless. He’s still frowning.

“Hey.” He finally greets, softly, and I blink at him, puffy eyes feeling stiff after crying. His frown deepens.

"Did they hurt you?" The question is quiet, a stark contrast from his usual demeanor, always exuberant and excited. It's strangely reassuring, in a way, to see this side of him.

I shake my head wordlessly, knowing that whatever they might've hurt me with, he was hurt a hundred times worse. He hums, eyes catching the rope burn on my wrists, as well as the fingerprints on my arms. I move to shakily rub at the tender skin.

"C'mon," He grabs my hand in his, our palms tightly clasped together, like he doesn’t want to let go.

"I'll have Chopper fix you up when we get back."

I follow after him on shaky legs as he gently pulls us in the direction of the tavern, going to look for Cricket's gold. My heart is doing backflips in my chest, pleasant shivers running down my spine at the contact; my face is definitely pink, but I’m still sniffling down leftover tears.

It takes a bit to actually find the sack of gold that's mixed within the mess of booze bottles and food, but when we do, Luffy has helped himself to at least five of the non-empty plates on each of the tables. He's finally looking more like his usual self, grinning in triumph when we finally find what we're looking for. He only lets go of my hand for a moment as he slings the hefty weight over his shoulders, before snatching it up again and moving towards the door.

"That wasn't too hard to find!" He giggles as we leave the tavern, and turns to look at me, "Let's go back to the ship!"

"Okay." The word is soft as I nod, and I've found myself able to speak again, glancing at intertwined hands with a buzz in my head.

The shock must've worn off, but when we pass by the traces of Bellamy’s crew, I still cower and attempt to use Luffy's body as a shield; They're all huddled over his body, still in disbelief. I didn’t want to attract any more of their attention than I already had that night.

"Hey, you, come back here! We won't be beaten by some pretend pirates!" I flinch at Sarquiss's high-pitched shout, stepping closer to Luffy, who doesn't seem bothered; flicking his eyes over to my own and smiling wider.

"You hear me, you stupid runt! I'm talking to you!" Luffy continues to march along happily, and I try to look forward and do the same, despite the angry aura emanating from behind us.

"I'll show you a real punch, where are you going?!" Finally, Luffy stops, and the emotions drop from his face, so I can't tell what he's thinking.

"Where am I going?" He gruffs, raising the same blood-soaked fist as before.

There's a fleeting moment where I think he's actually going to punch the sore-loser, and Sarquiss thinks the same as he falls over in terror. Then, he points a single finger upwards.

"The sky." He says simply, and I feel my shoulders slouch in relief. I'd had enough fighting for today.

“How far is the–” I stumble when Luffy pulls me to his front, suddenly. Before I know what’s happening, he's bent down and looped his arms beneath my back and knees, scooped up in a bridal-carry that makes me feel weightless.

All the blood in my body rushes to my face as I clutch at his vest with a hand, my head going fuzzy.

"U-Um, uh-- Luffy, I-I can walk, you don't have to--" I squeak out, and he laughs, adjusting me for a better holding position.

"It's fine, don't wanna' lose you again anyways," He chuckles, and I look at him in disbelief.

"Why are you so worried? I like holdin' you." I pause, giving him a vacant stare as the words register. His chest bubbles with laughter, cackling at the look on my face.

I like holdin' you. It echoes in my head like a mantra.

"Oh. O-Okay." He makes it hard to argue with his fingers grazing over my skin like that; he was surprisingly gentle.

"Alright, let's go!" He shouts with glee, before racing off toward the coast line.

"We gotta' get back to the ship soon, or else we won't make it to sky island!" I nod to his delighted words, but he probably can't see me as I wrap my arms around his shoulders for stability; practically being tossed around as we traversed the rugged edge of the forest.

The sun begins to peak above the ocean as he reaches a full-on sprint.

---

About twenty minutes pass, before the excited boy begins to ramble about their adventure in the woods while they were trying to catch the bird, since I ‘missed out and he felt bad.’

"Me and Chopper were chased by all these weird bugs– and I even caught an Atlas Beetle! I can't wait to get back and add him to my collection." We leap over a few rocks and I hold on tight when he lands in a crouched position with an 'oof,’ before cackling happily, despite nearly dropping me.

I blink as I notice something flit by in the darkness, still clutching at his collar.

"Like that one?" I point at the insect as it lands on a nearby tree, and he screeches to a halt, gasping loudly.

"No way," His eyes shine, "That's a Hercules Beetle! I can't believe you found one, we gotta catch it! Right now!"

"But, what about the knock-up--"

"Don’t worry, it'll be quick!"

Next Part (11)

#luffy #luffy x reader #monkey d. luffy #one piece #one piece luffy #monkey d luffy

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nglgfics · 5 months ago

Text

Swerve - part 3

Masterlist

By now, you’d stopped pretending that Noel Gallagher showing up at your flat for dinner on Thursdays wasn’t a thing.

It had become a routine, an unspoken tradition, a ridiculous excuse to spend time with a man who was equally fascinating and infuriating.

Tonight was no different.

Except it was.

Because tonight, something was going to happen.

You both knew it.

The question was: who was going to break first?

Noel arrived fifteen minutes late, carrying a stupidly expensive bottle of wine and a ridiculously posh bakery box.

You opened the door, already prepared to mock him, only to pause when you saw what he was holding.

“…You actually brought dessert?”

Noel smirked, stepping past you. “Told you I’d bring something sweet.”

You folded your arms. “I fully expected you to show up with a packet of Jammie Dodgers and call it a day.”

He scoffed. “Give me some credit. I panic-bought this from the fanciest bakery I could find.”

You peered into the box. A massive, indulgent chocolate cake stared back at you.

You blinked. “Jesus. This could feed a family of twelve.”

“Or two people with questionable impulse control.”

You grinned. “You’re just trying to bribe your way into another free meal.”

“Obviously.”

“Unbelievable.”

“You tolerate it.”

“I endure it.”

“Same thing.”

He followed you into the kitchen, immediately making himself at home, leaning against the counter, watching you cook like it was some sort of private show.

“What’s on the menu tonight, then?”

“Rigatoni,” you said, stirring the sauce. “Proper slow-cooked sauce. A ridiculous amount of red wine in it.”

He perked up. “Yeah?”

You lifted a brow. “You’re only excited because there’s booze in it.”

Noel grinned. “You know me so well.”

Unfortunately.

Dinner played out in the usual way—smug comments, sharp comebacks, and too many lingering glances over wine glasses.

But tonight?

Tonight, something was buzzing underneath it all.

Something waiting to crack open.

And it did.

Later, after you had both demolished an obscene amount of pasta, you sliced into the stupidly extravagant cake Noel had brought.

“I’m just saying,” you teased, “this is a bold choice for someone who claims to hate pretentious food.”

Noel smirked, taking a bite. “Yeah, well. It’s mostly sugar.” He chewed thoughtfully. “Pretty fucking good, though.”

You took your own bite. “Alright. Fine. You chose well.”

He grinned. “See? I have flawless instincts.”

You snorted. “That’s a stretch.”

Noel huffed, feigning offense. “What, you think I can’t make a solid dessert decision?”

“I think your method was probably just ‘buy the most expensive thing in the shop and hope for the best.’”

He took another bite, looking comically smug. “And yet—here we are. Enjoying it.”

You rolled your eyes, focusing on your cake.

And then—

You noticed something.

Noel, casually licking a bit of chocolate from his bottom lip.

Slow. Unthinking.

And suddenly, your brain short-circuited.

Because fuck.

You’d never thought about it before. His mouth.

But now?

Now your entire world had narrowed to the curve of his lips, the way his tongue flicked out, the casual, devastating way he did it like it was nothing.

Except it wasn’t nothing.

Your stomach flipped violently.

Your whole body froze.

Unfortunately, Noel clocked it immediately.

His smirk was instant.

“Oh.” He tilted his head. “Oh, that’s interesting.”

You snapped out of it immediately.

“I—shut up.”

“You hesitated,” he said, far too entertained. “You fully stopped functioning for a second.”

“I was thinking.”

“You were malfunctioning.”

You pointed a fork at him. “I hope you choke.”

Noel laughed, delighted.

“Oh, you are so fucking gone for me.”

You threw a napkin at his face.

After you had somehow survived the cake-flirting debacle, you found yourselves on the sofa, caught somewhere between teasing and something much, much worse.

The record player hummed in the background, the air hazy and slow, your knee brushing against his every so often.

Noel stretched, resting an arm along the back of the sofa, watching you with a look you couldn’t quite place.

“So,” he said, tilting his head, “fancy me yet?”

You scoffed. “Oh, fuck off.”

He smirked. “See? That wasn’t a no.”

Your heartbeat kicked up.

It really wasn’t a no.

The air shifted.

Noel was looking at you like he already knew what you were thinking—like he was just waiting for you to break.

Your chest rose and fell, slower than before.

And then, just as you were trying to regain some sense of control, he shifted.

Not a big move.

Just leaning in slightly.

Just enough that you could feel the warmth of him, the space between you suddenly too small—

Your pulse stuttered.

And in that second, you knew.

You were going to kiss him.

You were going to kiss Noel Gallagher.

Because if you didn’t, you would lose your fucking mind.

So you did.

And Jesus Christ, it was devastating.

Slow. Deliberate.

What felt like weeks of pent-up tension snapping all at once.

Noel exhaled sharply against your lips, like he hadn’t fully believed you were going to do it.

Then he kissed you back.

And fuck, the way he kissed.

Deep. Confident. Completely, utterly unfair.

His hands slid into your hair, pulling you in like he was making up for lost time.

You melted into it—gripping his shirt, letting yourself fall fully into the moment, into him, into everything you hadn’t let yourself think about.

Noel groaned against your mouth, tilting his head, deepening the kiss, dragging his fingers down your spine, making your whole body shudder.

By the time you finally broke apart, you were breathless, your lips tingling, your whole body humming.

Noel licked his lips, watching you closely.

“Well?”

You exhaled, tried to look unbothered.

Failed completely.

“…Alright,” you said. “That was a solid nine and a half.”

Noel’s eyes flickered.

“Yeah?”

You nodded. “Almost a ten.”

His mouth twitched. “What’s the missing half-point?”

You grinned, running a hand through his hair.

“You’ll have to earn it.”

Noel’s entire expression changed.

“Oh, I will.”

And judging by the way he pulled you back in—

You were in so much fucking trouble.

Part 4

#noel gallagher #fanfic #noel gallagher fanfiction #fanfiction #noel gallagher x f!reader #noel gallagher x you #noel gallagher x reader #noel gallagher smut #noel gallagher fic #oasis #oasis smut #oasis fanfiction

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pedge-stuff · 2 years ago

Note

Hey... can I request a pedro × reader please?

They making dinner together and things get hot and heavy in the between

normal night (pedro pascal x gn/m!reader)

a/n: same vague universe as “marked,“ per usual.

thanks, as always, for everything.

obligatory warning: light smut, allusions to romance

summary: no such thing as a "normal night," apparently.

—————————————————————————

Normalcy is such a fucking privilege.

It's all you can think about, salting thin strips of eggplant over a colander in the sink. Something about bitterness, or moisture. There'd been a whole article about it in the Sunday Times a while back, and Pedro had sworn its effectiveness since.

Your excitement was almost comical. Here you were, practically vibrating in anticipation of something that most people experience nightly: a home cooked meal with your partner. Eggplant parm, a side salad, and a bottle of red wine. That's all.

It's a rarity, though. Pedro in New York while you're off work and neither of you have any meetings or appointments past 5pm. He'd had a late-afternoon coffee with an old NYU classmate, but based on FindMyFriends, he was already headed back. You'd been looking forward to it all day— the kind of normal evening that most people take for granted.

You've got the radio on, albeit playing from the speakers of your laptop. Email up, but minimized— 5pm was a strict deadline tonight. No work. Just salting eggplant and stirring the simmering pot of tomato sauce on the burner.

The jangle of keys in the lock has you grinning.

"Hey!" Pedro calls. It's a little silly, how your heart still flutters, all this time later.

Arms wrap around your middle from behind. Squeeze tight for a moment, just the way you like, ribs compressed by the strong swell of his biceps. A scruffy cheek tickles the base of your neck as he hooks his chin over your shoulder, placing a kiss over the fabric of your sweater.

"Hi baby," you hum, leaning back into the embrace. There is coffee on his breath, and traces of citrusy cologne on his collar. "Have a good afternoon?"

"Mhmm." The affirmative rumbles from his chest, against your back. "Smells good in here," he offers, kissing your cheek before pulling away. "What can I do?"

There is a light blush to his cheeks; a tad too much sun today. He refuses to wear sunscreen, claims Chilean blood and four decades in tropical climates, and often pays the price for his confidence.

"Open the wine," you instruct, replacing the lid on the sauce pot. Turning the tap on, over the colander, you make quick work of rinsing the eggplant.

You don't dance, but the way that you navigate the kitchen around each other feels choreographed. He hands you a bowl without looking, for the breadcrumbs, as you pass the bottle of wine. The music has him swinging his hips, just a little.

It didn't use to feel this comfortable. In the early weeks of your mark-match, Pedro's house felt more like a museum; you sat stiffly on the couch, afraid to so much as muss the pillows, or use the wrong water glass. Afraid any little thing would break the illusion of bliss that had enveloped you both. It is easy now, to look back and laugh.

Pedro winks at you, pulling the last of the cork from the bottle with his teeth. A new little trick. You can't help the rush of warmth that spreads through you.

"What next?" He passes you a glass, which you tap lightly against his.

A glance at the timer on the oven. At the stairs, through the back doorway to the kitchen. At the hollow of his throat, flushed with the warmth of the kitchen, unblemished. His two sweatshirts are two too many.

"I think everything's good in here," you manage, closing the distance between you. Worm a hand beneath the layers to splay across the hot skin of his stomach. "We've got some time."

— — —

Dinner does not burn, thank god, though the side salad had to be abandoned for time. The sleeves of Pedro's pajama shirt are soaked with pasta water, and your flannel bottoms have somehow caught a streak of tomato sauce, but the choice to change into comfy clothes was ultimately a win.

You settle at the table, pleasantly warm from the wine. If your jaw is a little sore from the pre-dinner palate cleanser, well, the eggplant won't be tough to chew.

Though the evening has been nothing but relaxing, something has Pedro agitated. He'd been fine, earlier, but now he can hardly sit still. There's a nervous downturn to the corner of his mouth; mustache twitching slightly while he fiddles with the silverware.

"You can say no," he starts, which is never a good sign. You can say no typically precludes +1 invitations to stuffy industry events, or equally unpleasant obligations at which he wants company. (Of course, you don't usually say no. But, still...)

The distinct lack of eye contact is making you sweat. He's staring at his plate like the eggplant owes him a grave debt.

"Pedge." You reach to still his hand, gently squeezing until he looks up. "Whatever it is, you know I'll say yes."

"I want you to mean it, though." A pause, as Pedro pulls your hand to his lips, placing a kiss to the center of your palm. "I don't want you to say yes for the sake of saying yes."

"I won't. You're scaring me a bit, though. Are we hiding a body? "

His laugh is strained. "No, no. Sorry. Sorry, this is— I didn't want it to— ugh," he shakes his head. "Can we start over?"

Before you can respond, he pushes back in his chair, rising from the table. Pats himself down, fumbles to find something in his back pocket. Takes a deep breath, and—

Oh.

Beside you, right at the kitchen table, between the dog bowls and the sink full of dirty pots and pans, Pedro drops to one knee.

"Pedro—"

"I said I was gonna prepare a whole thing," he mumbles, "but I don't think I can wait any longer. Also figured you'd kill me if it became a spectacle."

It is your turn to laugh, wetly, choked on the lump that has formed in the back of your throat.

"I know we're marked, and we live together, and have two dumb little dogs, and more or less already act like an old married couple. I just thought maybe filing joint taxes could be cool, too."

Pedro sniffs, swiping once at under his eye with the hand that also holds a small velvet pouch. "Waited a long, long time to meet you. Kinda gave up on the mark altogether. But it was worth it, all the waiting. I would very, very much like to spend the rest of my life with you. And then some."

You're on the floor before you feel yourself move, kneeling before him. Cup his face in your hands. Brush away another errant tear that's spilled from the corner of his eye. This sweet fucking man.

"I love you," Pedro says quietly. "More than I ever thought possible."

"I love you, too." His lips are dry and warm when you press a chaste kiss against them. "Thank you for waiting for me."

You move to stand up. "Come on, your knees must be killing you."

"I need to ask the question!" He pouts.

"Oops, sorry. Please continue, Mr. Pascal."

"Balmaceda Pascal, thank you."

"I don't think we can hyphenate, babe, it's gonna be too long. They'll run out of room on the certificate."

"We can't get the certificate if you don't let me ask you this damn question!"

Finally, carefully, a gold band is extracted from the velvet bag. Simple, but stunning. Two stones are pressed to the center, small, side-by-side. "They're, uh, our birthstones," he says quietly. "But we can change it if you don't like it, it's OK."

You shake your head, unable to form a coherent word around the swell of your heart, threatening to choke you.

"The parm's gonna get cold," Pedro exhales shakily, locking eyes. "So I was wondering if you would do me the honor of marrying me?"

It takes a moment for your brain to catch up with your stupid heart. But when it does, you're already moving from the kitchen, to the back doorway. Pedro, rising from the floor, looks fucking confused.

"One sec, one sec," you call, taking the stairs two at a time.

After a moment, you return, box in hand. "I've been carrying this around since May. Sit down."

Stunned, Pedro obliges.

"To answer your question," you start, lowering to replicate his kneeling position, "I have a proposition. I'll marry you if you marry me."

Inside the box, another gold ring. You remove it with a shockingly steady hand.

Pedro pauses, eyes catching on something: a familiar date, engraved on the inside of the ring. Without his cheaters, he is forced to hold the ring away from his face, squinting at the numbers.

"Is this..."

"The day I knocked."

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal imagine #pedro pascal one shot #pedro pascal rpf #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x male reader #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal fluff #the last of us #the mandolorian #din djarin x male reader #joel miller x male reader #joel miller #joel miller x reader #din djarin x reader

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change-the-rules · 1 year ago

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we have all seen this photo we all love this photo and now I present for your consideration a meredith x chessy au idea that drop kicked me through a glass wall

so picture it, nappa valley, 1998, only this time meredith 'stays home to knit' letting the James-Parker coalition roll out on the camping trip without her

chessy finds her later on in the wine cellar when she returns from her non-romantic thank you very much excursion with martin

as well as the empty bottles surrounding her

meredith invites her to toast to her painfullly short engagement as she clumsily tries to explain that while she knows nick is set to return in a few days her fiance never will

they end up making it through half a shelf of wine and fucking

and then they sober up and do it again and again only they def get caught eventually, its bad, nick is a dick even though he dumped meredith Before he caught them and throws chessy out (sorry nick parker's character but it's the 90's and i need a villian)

chessy and meredith probably don't get together for real until at least one doomed marriage and a few years but then like 20ish years down the line meredith (who's either still in PR or maybe producing films) and chessy (who oft makes a whole production of just being a total if endearing jackass about being the trophy wife now) are married and walking the red carpet for some new film

hallie became a screen writer and she's also there and is Shocked to see them bc nick told the family that chessy died

Tie-dye girl is hallie's date

so everyone ends up doing the name thing like in Shrek until chessy spots nicole and is just like tye-die girl? and then hallie still reeling from the last two decades of thinking one of her *moms* bc im sorry but chessy is that girls' mom was *dead*

realizes that not only is chessy alive and looking at her like the day she came home from the hospital 6 lbs 11oz this is how she looks at her but 20 years later chessy Remembers her first camp crush, and of course when she was 10 hallie wanted to know her birth mom and annie was speaking hallie's own words when she said they were almost teenagers and needed a mother only hallie realized p quickly after chessy disappeared that she already *had* a mom (annie never got it, martin was her best friend, a big brother, wacky uncle, type not any sort of 'dad' stand in and even then he was the butler above all that)

and hallie just collapses into chessy holding on for dear life heedless of the flashing cameras her sobs coming uncontrollably

how many nights did a babydyke hallie lie awake wondering if her parents love would be conditional how many nights did she wish she still had chessy to confide in, chessy who loved her like more than a job like her own, chessy who was the only one who immediately knew that hallie wasn't hallie even if she tried to logic it away at first, chessy who she mourned and misses whos in front of her alive and solid and-

the 4 of them end up blowing off the premiere, chessy dragging everyone home to cook out her feelings and feed her girls,

hallie is understandably shocked that chessy married 'cruella' but 20 years is a long time and she's no longer a kid

besides meredith looks at chessy the way she looks at nicole so the woman had to have some redeeming qualities

plus nick and liz's had marriage imploded again on its own with no help from blonde she devils when hallie came out, nick had softened slightly from the man who threw out chessy and lied about it but no one improves that much that quickly without impetus and their relationship to this day is strained from those scars

honestly hallie's too happy to have chessy back at the moment to open that pandora's box [the alll consuming rage and bittersweetness at her father's actions will come later and in waves]

for now she's too busy inhaling a bowl of pasta(chili tasted too much like painful memories) pressed into an adoring chessy's side watching with an understated awe as the villian from her childhood makes her first (and if the ring in her burning a hole pocket has anything to say about last) true love laugh

anyway this turned more into chessy hallie family with hallie tiedye girl feels than meredith chessy content but I don't know that ill ever actually get around to Writing the fic thus releasing this unpolished word vomit into the wild

#meredith x chessy #chessy #meredith blake #the parent trap (1998)#hallie parker #tie dye girl #tie dye girl x hallie #i just have alot of feels #okay #lisa ann walter #elaine hendrix

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legallytaemin · 29 days ago

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Full Thread Featuring: @jinxedvip & @spencerdolans Location: 4th July Firework Celebration at the lake

Tae had been saved the dilemma of who to ask to go to the 4th of July celebrations with him by the simple knowledge that Spencer usually liked to go with his family. They'd all gone together a few times, whenever the two of them had been in town around this time of year, and a quick message to check with Spencer had ensured it was still in Spencer's plans. He wanted to go with his family, spend the evening with his niece and nephew, so Tae had asked Jin.

It wasn't that Spencer or Jin were back up options. Neither of them were. If left to face the choice, Tae would likely have buried his head in the sand and simply not attended the fireworks at all, or attended alone. It was simply that Spencer's plans saved him from having the devastating internal debate. "I checked the weather app," Tae said, flashing Jin a small smile as they wandered to find somewhere to watch. "Good viewing conditions for fireworks." He'd brought a light jacket, in case it got chilly, perhaps in case Jin got chilly and he needed to be a gentleman to offer it to him instead.

"Do you want a drink?" He offered. "We can get some burgers or hot dogs from one of the food trucks?"

Jin nodded at Tae’s weather update, managing a genuine smile despite the odd restlessness that had been following him around all day. “Good to know we won’t be dodging rain clouds,” he said, glancing up at the clear evening sky. There was something comforting about Tae’s practical approach to things, checking the weather, prepared with a jacket. It was the kind of steadiness Jin found probably needed more of.

“A drink sounds perfect, actually,” he said, perhaps a bit too quickly. He could use something to help him settle into the evening, to push past the strange weight in his chest that had nothing to do with Tae and everything to do with things he’d rather not think about right now. “And food wouldn’t hurt either. I may have forgotten to eat much today.” Jin fell into step beside Tae as they headed toward the food trucks, their warm glow and the smell of grilled onions cutting through the pre-fireworks energy of the crowd. He tried to focus on the moment, on Tae’s easy presence, on the simple pleasure of wandering through the festival atmosphere.

“I have to admit,” he said, shooting Tae a slightly sheepish look, “I’m more here for the company than the fireworks. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying the full patriotic experience.”

"Mm, light thunderstorms later. But I'll try and have you home by then," Tae said with a gentle smile, giving him a small nudge. Jin could read into it, or not. Tae wasn't even sure what he meant by it, let alone how he wanted Jin to interpret it. "What would you like to drink?" he asked, already heading towards the lengthy line for the food trucks. "I'm not even American, remember?" Tae laughed. "I feel more American than Korean sometimes, though," he admitted. He'd got citizenship years ago, and he missed many things about Seoul, but this was home. "The company… is good," he offered with a small smile.

Jin managed a soft laugh at the nudge. "Good, I like watching thunderstorms from my couch anyway," he said, falling into line beside Tae. The proximity felt both comforting and somehow charged in a way that made Jin hyper-aware of the space between them. "Red wine if they have it," he said, scanning the drink options. "Though I'm guessing it's more of a beer and lemonade situation. Whatever you're having is fine." He glanced up at Tae. "You got here at sixteen, right? That definitely makes you more American than me."

"They might have some little single serving red wine bottles. I'll check when we get to the front of the line," Tae offered. He considered whether he should take Jin's hand or not. It felt different here. It shouldn't have, but it did. Even in the absence of hand-holding, though, the two of them stood close to one another, a quiet intimacy between them. "Mm, sixteen. Do you have citizenship?" he asked, then laughed at himself. "This is my idea of date night conversation. I'm curious, though. Since it's America's birthday and all. She deserves to be spoken about, too."

Jin felt a warmth spread through him at Tae's thoughtfulness about the wine, and something deeper at the way they were standing so close without quite touching. The almost-contact felt loaded with possibility, like standing at the edge of something he wasn't sure he was ready to step into. "No citizenship yet. I keep meaning to get it sorted, but I don't know." Honestly he wasn't even know if this was where he saw himself staying in the long run so maybe a citizenship was pointless. "Is that what this is?" Jin asked, the question slipping out before he could stop it. Not accusatory, just curious . "Date night conversation?" He smiled some. "But yeah, America's been good so far. I can't complain." He nudged Tae playfully. "What about Seoul? Where about are you from?"

- "Isn't it?" he asked with a small smile. The two had been pretty open about the fact they had been flirting, which made Tae feel good. It was nice, to feel desired again, to have attention. He was so often ignored or dismissed for his quiet and polite nature. People quickly tired of him, found him boring, never stuck around to see what was underneath. Except for Spencer. Spencer, who was somewhere here with his family. "Gangnam-gu," he said. "My father is involved in business and politics, cut-throat in ways I'm not. He wasn't very proud to have me as his son, I don't think. He couldn't wait to send me to school here."

- Jin felt something shift in his chest at Tae's quiet admission, the casual way he mentioned his father's disappointment hitting harder than it should have. His own father definitely hadn't been that bad. But whether or not his father was proud of him was something he honestly couldn't tell. Maybe if he took the time to actually talk to his parents he'd find out. There was a vulnerability in Tae's voice that made Jin want to reach out, to close the small distance between them entirely. "His loss," Jin said softly, the words carrying more weight than he'd intended. "Gangnam-gu…" Jin looked up at Tae again, really watching him. The more he said, the more familiar he seemed. The area, the cut-throat strict family… "What school did you go to?"

- Tae could feel the tenderness in Jin, and he appreciated it. He made Tae feel comfortable in ways few people did. Knowing he was also from Seoul and also queer, that he understood the social implications of such a thing, it made Tae feel seen and heard. It wasn't that Spencer didn't understand family rejection. Spencer had always been as kind and understanding as possible, given what Tae put him through, but there were certain cultural expectations that would always be lost on him. "Thank you," he said gently. "Whimoon High School." He hesitated a moment. "Why…?"

- Jin's eyes widened, and he felt the world tilt slightly, the noise of the festival faded slightly into background static. "Whimoon," he repeated as his eyes searched Tae's face with new intensity. Suddenly the reason things felt so familiar with Tae was because it was. "Lee Taemin. We hung out as kids, and then you were gone." He said quietly. "We… kissed, and then…" He realised the irony of this situation and his own with Kai. His breath caught as the parallel hit him, how he'd been the one to disappear from Kai's life, leaving questions and hurt in his wake. Now here was Tae, the boy who'd vanished from his own past, standing close enough to touch. "So… that's why you never called, huh?" He said in a weak attempt at a joke.

- The whole world seemed to stop, and Tae's heart pounded all the more quickly, face growing hit even under the cool evening air. "Jin? Kang Hyun-Jin, from Whimoon boys' school?" The tips of his ears were surely glowing just as intensely as the fireworks that were about to light up the night sky. "I… Oh my god. The same Kang Hyun-Jin?" It had been almost twenty years. Their names were common in South Korea. Until now, Tae had no reason to assume the man in front of him was the same boy he had kissed in the pool that day, a kiss that had changed the entire trajectory of his life. Now that he heard it, though, he could see the same features in the man's face, the same eyes Tae had once looked into with a confidence that belied the nerves he'd been feeling. "My father saw the kiss on his security camera, and he made me leave the next day. I never thought--" His words failed him, throat turning dry. "Oh. Wow."

"Tae? And…Jin?" Spencer's voice called out, oblivious to the scene that was unfolding between the two men in front of him. He had convinced himself that it was too soon to re-introduce Tae to the family, so even though Beck wouldn't be in attendance, he still wanted to celebrate the Fourth of July with his aunt and uncle, Rachel, and the kids. It was tradition at this point. Still, he knew that Tae was coming, so it couldn't hurt to go find him and chat for a bit, right?

He made the excuse that he was getting food, but Rachel had this knowing look on her face. "Promise to catch me up later?" she had asked, and Spencer agreed, only because he was never able to deny his cousin anything for as long as he knew her. He was forever in debt with the Tatum's.

He pretended to be interested in the food trucks while he was on the lookout for Tae, hastily greeting friends and regulars of the bookstore. Fortunately, it didn't take long for him to spot the familiar figure, and he couldn't stop the smile from forming on his lips, this giddy feeling taking over him. However, as he approached, he realized that Tae wasn't alone. And they seemed to be standing…awfully close to each other. His skin was suddenly crawling, his chest becoming tight.

Now he was here, standing awkwardly by them but trying not to seem like he was cutting in line. Still, he put on a charming smile, pretending like everything was fine. "Hey, uh. I didn't know you guys knew each other," he said. "Small world, huh?"

Jin's head was still reeling form the revelation about Tae when Spencer's voice cut through the moment. He turned his head, and his expression turned to a mix of confusion and something approaching dread as he took in what could only be a forced smile on Spencer's face. "Spencer," he said, his voice carefully neutral even as his mind raced. The timing couldn't hae been worse. Or maybe it was a good thing they'd been cut off? He took a step back from Tae and ran his hand through his own hair, suddenly feeling clammy and nervous about all of this. Over the span of two days, so many things had come crashing down, he didn't know how to handle it all. "Uh, yeah, from… from back in the day apparently." He offered. "How do you know each other?" He looked between Tae and Spencer.

Tae had barely recovered from the realization that had just struck him about Jin. All the memories came rushing back, the nostalgia of youth, something you might call a first love, or at the very least, a first real crush. When Tae had been sent to the US and connected with Spencer that summer, he'd been embraced by a love that was allowed to blossom. Now he couldn't help but feel saddened that what might have been possible with Jin was so cruelly cut short.

Spencer's words pulled him from his thoughts. As his eyes fell on his ex-husband, he felt like someone had just rear-ended him. "Spence! I thought you were with your family." Why did he feel like he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar? It wasn't as if they were doing anything wrong. "Whaa… you two know each other as well?" Jin cleared his throat, eyes drifting between both these men, the almost-lovers, almost-husbands, almost-boyfriends. "The world is a lot smaller than we realize. Spencer and I, well…" He chewed the inside of his lip. "Well, we used to be married." It wasn't an adequate explanation, wasn't even an explanation at all, but it was the best he could manage just now.

Spencer’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two, as if he had just caught them doing something they weren’t supposed to. He didn’t know what to make of that. What the hell was even happening? “I am with my family,” he said, hands in the pockets of his jacket. “I uh, just figured you’d be here so I wanted to…say hi.” He tilted his head slightly at Jin. “Back in the day? Wow, must’ve been before we met, right, Tae?” He was still smiling, but there was a dark cloud hanging over him. “Oh, Jin’s just a friend,” he said, as if it was no big deal. Sure, there were…moments between them, and it wasn’t like they were dating or anything, but it still stung a little.

Before he was able to answer Jin, Tae beat him to the punch. He sighed. The cat was out of the bag now. “Yeah, what he said,” he muttered. “We’ve been divorced for 6 years, though.”

Jin felt something cold settle in his chest at Spencer's casual dismissal. Just a friend. Right. He forced his expression into something netural, professional, even the same mask he'd perfected over years of navigating complicated situations. "Right" he said, his voice taking a cooler edge despite his attempt to sound unaffected. "Just friends." The words tasted bitter, but he delivered them with a shrug that suggested it didn't really matter either way. He looked between Spencer and Tae, processing the information about their marriage. Six years divorced. That… felt weird. "Well," He said, taking another step back, creating more distance between himself and the two of them. He slipped his hands into his pocket to try to keep them still. "Seems like everyone knows everyone here. Small world indeed." His smile was polite but distant, the warmth that had been there moments before with tae now carefully locked away. "I should… get that drink… let you two catch up.

"You don't have to..." Tae argued, but he could tell the situation was more tense than any of the three of them would have liked. Jin seemed like he could use a break, so Tae simply nodded. It wasn't in his nature to be pushy or to outwardly, most of the time. Not over the small things. "Okay, will you hold our place in line? It seems like it's moving pretty slow. Then we can get you that wine." He had a feeling they'd be needing it at this rate.

Tae gave Jin the most reassuring nod he could, giving him a ghost of a smile as he stepped away. He didn't know what the two of them were supposed to say to one another, but he had to say something. "I wasn't trying to hide anything from you, you know," Tae said. Although he knew he hadn't been entirely open, either. "There just wasn't anything to say. We've hung out a few times."

There was a moment when Spencer’s expression softened when he noticed the change in Jin’s demeanor. Dammit. He was fucking this up, just like how he fucked everything up. “Jin, I didn’t mean—“ The words immediately died in his throat, knowing it was no use to try to explain. He knew, logically, that he had no right to be upset that Tae was here with someone—with Jin, of all people. The dots were connecting, and he was realizing that he maybe just crashed their date.

He felt like his insides were on fire. Stepping away with Tae, he tried to avoid making eye contact, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Hung out a few times, sure,” he repeated, almost condescendingly, kicking at the loose gravel under his feet. “He was always coming by the bookstore,” he said. “We’d laugh and flirt and we’d recommend each other books. I thought there was something…there.” He paused. “He said you knew each other back in the day? What does that mean?”

Tae couldn't help but feel guilty. He could tell Jin's feelings were hurt. His own feelings were the least of his concerns right now. All he could think about was the two men around him. He knew he cared about Spencer, knew he loved him. That had never been a secret. What surprised him in the moment was how deeply he cared about Jin's feelings, too. "You flirted?" Tae sighed, shaking his head. It wasn't his place to be upset, either. "I… might have also flirted." At least he could be honest about it.

"Spence," Tae sighed. "I ran into him at a bar. We've gone out a couple of times, but I never realized--" He stopped, still trying to make sense of the situation for himself before he could even begin to explain it properly to Spencer. "He's the boy. The boy that got me kicked out of my family home. The boy I kissed the day before my father put me on a plane."

Spencer wanted to be petty. He wanted to slap Tae and walk away. But he couldn’t, he wouldn’t. He was never that type of person. Instead, he covered his face in his hands as he groaned out of frustration. “This is so fucked!” He wanted to cry, to get on knees and beg Tae to choose me choose me choose me. He finally looked up and met Tae’s eyes. “So…what, did you mean it when you said you still love me? Or am I some sort of backup plan if things didn’t work out between you two?”

He’s the boy. Oh. The boy. Of course Spencer knew about it. Tae told him everything once they’d gotten to know each other all those years ago. Which was why his heart plummeted. “Oh…” If he wasn’t so upset, he probably would’ve laughed manically about the whole thing. What were the odds that he’d end up with a little crush on his ex-husband’s first kiss? What was hell was his life? “So I guess…is this it?” His voice trembled, but he refused to break down in front of the man who broke his heart over and over again.

Tae wanted to disappear in the ground. He wished he hadn't even come, that he had just stayed at home and watched Independence Day or a firework display on TV, gone over his legal files, turned on a lamp and read a good book. There were any number of things that would have been better than this particular scenario. "I do love you," Tae answered. "Why are you upset with me? You're doing the same thing. You can't blame me for not knowing where we stand, and getting to know someone else, too." But he couldn't help but feel a bit snaky about it, too. It wasn't what he wanted.

Spencer's question shattered him. It felt like a physical blow, and Tae's dark eyes never left the other man's, sadness lingering in them. It was even more prominent now than the potential embarrassment of having such a public emotional moment. "I don't want this to be it."

Spencer’s heart was pounding hard against his chest, knowing that Tae was right. He shouldn’t be mad, but he was. But the truth was that he was mostly mad at himself. “I’m holding myself back because I don’t want to be hurt again, Tae,” he admitted. “Everyone’s telling me to be careful and not to get hurt, so I just…I thought if you proved yourself to me, or whatever, I could let you back in. Completely.”

He huffed, his eyes definitely tearing up now. “I don’t either,” he confessed. “So what the hell do we do?”

It killed Tae that he'd hurt Spencer like this already. He'd met Jin before he'd run into Spencer again, even if it was only by a matter of days. "I don't want you to feel like you need to be careful with me, Spence. I didn't even know if you wanted me like that again." This wasn't the setting for this particular conversation. Tae was easily embarrassed at the best of times, but right now, Tae knew Spencer was more important than anything else. In this moment, all he wanted to do was keep him close. "It's not fair to either of you. To put one above the other. It's not like that. I just… I was enjoying getting to know him. I was enjoying being around you. I didn't know he was the same guy until… until just now."

God, this was such a ridiculous turn of events. He covered his face with his hands, expelling a deep sigh. "I'm an idiot, okay. Can we just… " Tae swallowed, stomach clenching as if someone had put it through a blender. "Do you like him too?"

Spencer had grimaced at that, mentally adding to the list of things he fucked up. “Well, you made me dinner!” he argued. “You’ve been flirty and super romantic, how was I not gonna want you like that again?” He was sure that others were overhearing their conversation, but he didn’t care. Half the town didn’t even know that he was married at one point. Another reason why he shouldn’t be so emotional about this. He glanced down to the floor again. “I was enjoying those things too,” he mumbled, deflating a bit.

The question surprised him, making him look up again. His eyes slowly went over to where Jin was, and his heart ached. Just like it ached for Tae for some reason. He needed to apologize to him, to tell him how pretty he looked under the glow of fireworks. Glancing back at Tae, he gave a nod. “Yeah. I do,” he said quietly, the tiniest of smiles on his face.

Tae was still terrified, scared of pushing Spencer away, of pushing Jin away. It shouldn't have been this way. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Tae hadn't intended to catch feelings for a new person at the same time he reconnected with the man who was, after everything, the love of his life. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to any of them. But Spencer's smile softened him. It soothed him. And he didn't even know why.

"Well, I like making you dinner. I like being flirty and romantic with you." He reached out to squeeze Spencer's fingers for a moment, looking over at where Jin stood in-line. It was moving, and they were almost at the front. "You should go and talk to him, too. He seems upset."

Just like that, Spencer had started to deflate, the anger and frustration from earlier slowly melting away as he returned the squeeze. Tae always had this way of calming him down, even if they were both angry. He was always just patient. Spencer still wasn’t sure what this meant for the two of them, for all of three of them. Jin was now involved, and Spencer truly felt awful for putting him in the middle. “Okay,” he said with a small pout, walking over to Jin.

“Jin…?” He wanted nothing more than to reach out and wrap his arms around the other man, but he didn’t. “I’m really, really sorry about that. I-I don’t know what came over me, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. Or Tae. And, uhm, I need you to know…” He dared to gently grab Jin’s arm. “You mean a lot to me. I know we’ve only known each other a few months, but getting to see you at work and joking with you and arguing with you about the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek are truly the best. So…yeah.”

Jin snapped out of his train of thought, and tensed at the touch on his arm. His first instinct was to pull away, but he didn't. He waited a moment before turning to face Spencer. The apology caught him off guard, he'd been prepared for more casual dismissal. He could see the sincerity in Spencer's eyes. "I get it, that was… a lot. For all of us." He ran a hand through his hair again, a nervous habit he couldn't seem to shake today. "You don't owe me an explanation. I was just, I don't know… caught off guard, I think." He admitted. He snorted at the mention of the Star Trek VS Star Wars thing they had going. Jin knew nothing about either of them, but had learned that getting them mixed up did get a reaction out of Spencer. That was all he needed to know. His expression softened. "You mean a lot to me too." That was kind of the problem, wasn't it? "Even if you have questionable taste in romance tropes." He added playfully. "Would you like a drink too?"

Tae rejoined both of them in line. "Don't tell him your favorite character is Jar Jar Binks," Tae whispered, managing a small smile. He could still feel countless eyes on them, people who had become intrigued by whatever telenovella interaction they had going on. He lightly rested a hand against Jin's elbow for a moment. "I'm sorry," he added. "I'm sorry, too. This was awkward." He wasn't sure if he was jealous of Spencer flirting with Jin, or Jin flirting with Spencer. He wasn't sure if he was jealous of neither. "I think we all need a drink after that."

Jin felt the light touch on his elbow and found himself caught between Spencer and Tae, literally and figuratively. The warmth in Tae's voice, the gentle teasing, made something in his chest flutter despite everything that had just happened. He was still quite tense, and guarded, though. "Which one is Jar Jar binks?" He asked, looking between the other two. "Is he the one with the weird ears?" The moment felt surreal, standing here with his childhood crush and… just a friend, making jokes about characters he had no real clue about, while also trying to navigate whatever tornado of feelings was breaing inside him. "Yeah, might go big and get two while we're at it. The queue is longer than it needs to be right now." He mumbled softly, his hands slipping into the pockets of his jacket again.

“Yeah, you can say that again,” Spencer said with a sigh, scratching the back of his neck. He probably wasn’t completely forgiven, but he’d do anything to make it up to Jin. That much he deserved. “I’m sorry I never mentioned I was married.”

His heart gave a flutter at Jin’s admission, and he actually let out a small chuckle.

When Tae chided in, he groaned. “No, we are not talking about that unnecessary abomination of a character,” he said, but there was no real hear behind his words. It almost felt good to be teasing like this with the two other men for some reason, but Spencer could tell that some tension was still hanging in the air. His eyes caught the way Tae had his hand on Jin, but he didn’t feel upset. Maybe he was a little possessive, but he couldn’t tell you if he wanted to be clingy with one or the other. That was…probably something he needed to unpack eventually. “Um, you know what? My aunt and uncle are going to start worrying about me, so I should get back to them,” he said lamely. He didn’t want to intrude anymore than he already had. “I’ll see you later, alright?” He wasn’t sure if he was speaking to Tae or Jin directly, but he gave them both a small wave as he started walking away.

"See?" Tae said with a half-smile, adrenaline still pumping through his veins from the awkwardness of the encounter. "Don't get him started." He didn't know who he was supposed to be protecting in this scenario. Something had shifted in Jin, and while Spencer had his whole family, Jin had come here alone at Tae's invitation. He wanted to make sure he at least had some semblance of a good time, or at least not a bad one. "Yeah, of course," Tae said with a nod. He was sure to get an earful over text or phone call later.

Once Spencer had walked away, Tae leaned more closely into Jin, stomach in knots as he made the decision to attempt to slip a gentle arm around his shoulder, hoping the other man wouldn't pull away. "I'm sorry, and I'm sorry I keep saying sorry." He exhaled gently. "Are you okay?"

“See you later,” Jin said as Spencer walked away. He watched him go for a moment before turning back to Tae. When Tae’s arm slipped around his shoulder, Jin felt himself tense despite the gentleness of the gesture. He carefully stepped to the side, not pulling away harshly but creating distance all the same. “I’m fine,” he said automatically, the lie coming easily after years of practice. He glanced toward the front of the line, grateful they were almost there. “We should probably order quickly, looks like we’re next.” His voice was steady but there was something brittle underneath it, he was definitely holding himself together through sheer force of will. Jin ran a hand through his hair again, avoiding Tae’s concerned gaze. “Actually, I think… I think I might head home after we get these drinks. It’s been a long day and I have an early morning tomorrow.” Another lie, but easier than explaining that he felt like he was drowning, that between Kai showing up, this revelation about their past, and Spencer’s just friends comment, he was barely keeping his head above water.

“You said a thunderstorm’s supposed to start soon anyway, right?” he added, grasping for any excuse that would get him out of here and back to the safety of his own space.

Every time Tae hoped things weren't ruined, he felt the wrecking ball again. He didn't have to know Jin intimately to tell he was upset. Still, he lowered his arm, respecting Jin's space. "Right." Forgoing the food, Tae ordered a soda for himself, and a glass of wine for Jin, one that they put into a small plastic cup instead. He handed it over, having difficulty maintaining the other man's gaze. "Here. Let's just take a bit of a walk around and watch the fire works while you drink, and then I'll take you home, okay?" He offered, tone remaining gentle.

Jin accepted the wine with a quiet “thank you,” his fingers brushing against Tae’s briefly as he took the cup. The gesture of still getting him that drink was sweet, and it made his chest tighten in a way that felt both warm and painful. He knew he was being difficult and unnecessarily stand-offish. Dealing with feelings was definitely not his strong suit. “A walk sounds good,” he said softly, already taking a sip of the wine hoping it would help steady his nerves. It took everything in him not to down it right away. “I’m sorry.” He said after a while, not really looking to elaborate on it. But he did feel like he had ruined Tae’s 4th of July celebration.

"Why are you sorry?" Tae asked, his tone soft and sincere. He knew he probably should have been more upset. Maybe he would later, when it all sank in, that he liked two people, that he and Spencer liked the same person, that poor Jin was caught in the middle of it and seemed to be in the process of being dragged through the ringer. Right now though, any need for taking care of himself had been overridden by the need to make sure Jin was okay. "This was a lot. I didn't mean to put you in this position." A pause lingered in the air as Tae wondered whether his words would do more harm than good. "I really like you, Jin. I really liked you when we were kids, and I really like you now."

"I don't know… just… I'm sorry." Jin said quietly, his voice probably made him sound as exhausted as he felt. He wasn't sure how to articulate that he felt like he'd somehow ruined everything - the evening, the mood, whatever fragile thing had been building between them before the world tilted sideways. It was easier to just apologise for existing in this messy, complicated space. When Tae's confession hung in the air between them, Jin felt his chest tighten again. Without thinking, he downed the rest of his wine in one go, shuddering a little at the bitter taste of the cheap red wine. "I…" He started, thens topped, running his free hand through his hair. "I liked you too. Back then, and… and now." The admission honestly felt like stepping off a cliff. "I just… there's a lot I need to figure out right now." He finally looked up at Tae. "And I'm not very good at this."

"You don't need to be sorry," Tae said. If anything, he felt like he should be the one to apologize. He should have been more forthcoming, but he truly hadn't known where any of them had stood with one another and whether there had been anything to say. "Thank God you added 'and now' or my ego might have taken a fatal blow," Tae chuckled quietly, but it wasn't true laughter. Jin didn't need to say exactly how complicated it was. It was obvious. "I don't think I'm good at it either, but I'm here for you, okay? Let's take another lap around the lake, and I'll drive you back."

Jin felt something in his chest loosen slightly at Tae's gentle humour. He nodded with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The offer of support, simple and without expectation, was more than he felt he deserved right now. "Okay, thank you." he said, his voice steadier than it had been all evening. He tossed the empty plastic cup in a bin when passing, then glanced toward the lake where other couples and families were beginning to gather for the fireworks. "Another lap sounds good." He agreed, falling back into step with Tae.

#paras #opp: spencer dolan #opp: jin kang #no triggers its just long !

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namig42 · 1 year ago

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After sitting on this for almost a week, I finally bring you another chapter of my Wyllstarion modern AU. Please enjoy!

Just One Yesterday (Ch. 8)

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Read it on Ao3

Summary: This is a modern AU where Wyll is a police officer and Astarion is a sex worker. Despite a problematic start, the two manage to find a connection and have it build in time into something more while also dealing with their demons.

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Though Mizora chastised Wyll for his incompetence from the previous night, she left him be without any severe punishment. She couldn’t believe that Wyll had let himself be attacked by a whore of all people and, even worse, failed to capture them, but there was nothing to be done about it now. She was sure to not let him live that incident down, much to Wyll’s chagrin.

It seemed at least that Zariel was pleased with Wyll’s progress so far, but there was still much left to be done in her eyes. Streetwalkers were catching onto their coworkers and competition going missing and getting arrested over the past two weeks, but they weren’t scared enough to stay away from their work entirely. Wyll stood there as Mizora gave him the update report from Zariel, but his mind wasn’t present. He was somewhere else entirely, thinking about tonight. It was Saturday, and the Elfsong was where he desperately wanted to be right now. Thinking about who he’d get to see tonight made the wretched woman in front of him more bearable to listen to at the very least. Eventually, Mizora dismissed Wyll, telling him that he was to continue his independent job as usual, and make sure he made an arrest tonight to compensate for yesterday’s mishap. He left Mizora’s office exhausted, and went to carry on with his regular work, counting down the minutes until his shift ended.

At five pm on the dot, Wyll rushed out of the office and made his way home to change. He had a date that he wouldn’t miss for the world tonight. A quick change into a more appropriate outfit of a clean gray button down shirt and some nice black pants, then Wyll rushed out the door just as fast as he had come in and made his way across town to the Elfsong. As he drove, Wyll couldn’t stop the fantasies from swarming his head. What would happen tonight? Would it be similar to last week, or something entirely new? Would he get to share in another kiss? All sorts of scenarios played in the romantic man’s head, and he couldn’t help but indulge in them with a hesitant smile.

When he arrived downtown, it was already after dusk. People were already pacing the streets, heading to their first stops for the evening. They were all still dressed neatly in their party attire. No makeup was smudged and no outfits destroyed from dancing or drinking too much yet. Wyll quickly parked along the main street amongst the many other cars and walked quickly through the crowd and down the narrow alley leading to the Elfsong, thinking about maybe ordering a bottle of wine for him and Astarion to share tonight after the hellish week they’ve endured. Gods know Wyll needed one just for himself after yesterday’s incident.

When he arrived, there was a decent crowd in the Elfsong already. Most of the long tables had parties that already claimed them, and there seemed to be more people already dancing on the floor compared to last week at this hour. Wyll looked to the bar expectantly, but didn’t find who he was looking for. He deflated a bit, then decided to take a seat at the end of the bar at the same spot he sat in last weekend and search for Astarion from there. Who knows? Hopefully the mystery man would find Wyll first and sneak up on him with that roguish charm of his.

“Something to drink?” The bartender asked as Wyll took a seat.

“A bottle of red wine please, and two glasses.”

The bartender nodded and walked off to grab Wyll’s order. Wyll sat and began to examine the room more thoroughly. The dance floor seemed surprisingly busy for the early hour of the evening. There was a DJ tonight rather than a band, so the music started earlier in the evening it seemed. Wyll didn’t see any silver hair poking out of the crowd though. He watched for a moment, but was sure that the man he was looking for wasn’t dancing with anyone. It made him feel a bit relieved.

The bartender brought Wyll his wine and the two glasses. He gladly took one of the glasses, poured himself a generous portion, and in one gulp, most of the glass had already disappeared. Perhaps Wyll would set a new personal record tonight, but honestly, it still seemed like it wouldn’t be enough. Not with the thoughts that plagued him every moment when he wasn’t focused on a task that could distract him or his romantic daydreams. Between his regular work, his special task from Mizora, and the thoughts of Cazador and the awful things that man has likely done to those around him, especially Astarion, Wyll’s mind was never at peace these days.

The only thoughts that didn’t make him want to shrivel in on himself were the ones that fantasized about seeing Astarion here tonight and having another evening like the last. To spend time in good company, have a few bottles to drink, maybe share in another kiss at the end of the evening… Those hopeful ideas and fantasies were what got Wyll through his dread and guilt every other day leading to tonight. The pain didn’t disappear, but it was obscured through Wyll’s rose colored glasses.

The bartender saw Wyll’s glass nearly empty already and offered to pour him another. Wyll nodded with a thankful smile, then turned his attention to the tables. There were so many people standing around and laughing that it made it difficult to see past the first row. Wyll was about to turn back towards the bar when he caught a familiar sight of soft white curls.

It was Astarion, but he wasn’t alone.

Wyll had spotted him when a small window opened in the crowd and allowed him to peek through to the tables centered in the middle of the room. There he was, as lovely as ever. That bruise under his eye was gone now, leaving that perfect face Wyll had first seen on a full moon night. He only wore a white t-shirt and tight black pants, and Wyll couldn’t help but smile.

Then he noticed the woman Astarion was leaning towards. She was stunning, with a small, slender figure and long, flowing blonde hair that was all tied up, leaving her face to be displayed in all its lovely, feminine glory. The woman was leaning into Astarion with eyes full of lust. There were cocktails on the table that were mostly empty in between the two, and their hands were grazing one another on the table, like two young, enamored lovers. Astarion mirrored her well, but Wyll noticed a distance in his eyes.

He was performing again. Wyll could see it.

Wyll turned back to the bar and downed another glass. His face flushed at what he had just seen. It made him feel a bit naive, thinking that this would automatically be a special night for the two of them. That was the hopeless romantic in him, wishing for a fairytale in the midst of reality. He was a fool to think that when Astarion said he spent his evenings here, those nights were just for him to indulge. Wyll wasn’t sure if this woman was work or pleasure for him, but there was a part of his heart that selfishly wanted it to be work. It must be, Wyll thought to himself. That look in his eyes, that’s not the look of someone in love. Maybe it was his naivety, but he felt like that was a different look than the one Astarion looked at him with.

He couldn’t help but look over again, and now Astarion had a hand on the woman’s leg, gently stroking the top of her thigh and moving further up slowly. Wyll got a chill, remembering the times someone touched him like that and how uncomfortable he had been every time. The woman’s smile grew as she bit her lower lip, her hand moving to gently trace down Astarion’s arm. The two of them moved even closer to one another, and the tension between them seemed to increase even more. Their faces slowly moved towards each other, speaking in what Wyll could only assume to be quiet voices, whispering sweet nothings that were clearly leading to something more… promiscuous. Then, the woman leaned away and reached for her glass, waggling it in front of Astarion. Her mouth moved, though Wyll could make out no words over the music and conversation from all the surrounding tables. He could only assume she wanted another drink and thought that Astarion was enough of a gentleman to treat her before taking her home. Little did she know that she was likely to be a prize tonight, though not for Astarion.

Wyll turned back to the bar again, poured himself another glass, and began to take a large sip. He needed to look away. It was too much, watching Astarion work like that. The streets had been one thing, but somewhere where he could sit with his clients and flirt that way, it left a cold, dreadful feeling in Wyll’s stomach. He nearly choked on his wine when a familiar voice rang next to him. “Excuse me, another cosmo please.”

Wyll’s head shot to the right, and there was Astarion, leaning on the bar counter and waggling that woman’s glass. His face looked tired.

Astarion turned to look at the surprised man, and though he didn’t seem surprised to see Wyll there, he did seem shocked at the massive scratch that went all the way down Wyll’s face. His brow furrowed at the sight, but nothing was said.

In his surprise, Wyll hadn’t realized he had been gawking at the man he had been so excited to be in the presence of. He turned away and stared down his glass, feeling his cheeks burn dark and intensely at his presumption that they were going to have time together tonight. Astarion looked like he wanted to reach out and press his hand to Wyll’s scratches, but resisted. Instead, he turned to look back towards his mark. It seemed at least she was preoccupied, smiling into her phone while she waited for him.

Astarion turned back to the bar. He didn’t seem to want to sit or face Wyll directly, lest his target notice and think he was losing interest in her. He did notice the extra glass and sighed, though said nothing of it either.

“Can I ask what happened?” That was all Astarion could seem to say in the midst of their heavy, awkward silence.

“I got into a fight last night.” “Did the other guy come out worse?” Astarion tried to say with a coy smirk.

Wyll couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. He took a sip of wine and turned to look at Astarion, giving him a better look at his battle scar. Though Astarion’s body was faced away from Wyll, there was a clarity in his red eyes that Wyll saw. That was the real Astarion. The one with the woman over there was a character. The eyes looking at Wyll now were the eyes of the actual Astarion, the one with soul, charm, and wit. They were the eyes of the Astarion that was so tired, so beaten because of his circumstances, and yet still had a fire to live despite it all.

It made Wyll’s heart warm to see those eyes again, even if they looked drained. “Unfortunately not.” Wyll finally answered. “I’m afraid I lost that round.”

“A humble hero, how charming~,” he said with a playful lilt and a soft smile. The bartender brought Astarion the cosmo he ordered as he spoke, but he didn’t look pleased to see the drink arrive. He looked back at the empty wine glass next to Wyll’s full drink. “I’m sorry love, but I’m afraid I won’t have time tonight for us.” “Is it work related?” Wyll asked, glancing over at the woman. She was watching Astarion with a devious smile on her face.

Astarion didn’t turn to look at her. “Yes, unfortunately.” Though Wyll felt a bit guilty, there was a small part of him that was relieved to hear that. Their evening might’ve been ruined, but Astarion seemed just as disappointed as him about the fact. It gave Wyll a small sense of hope to know that Astarion had been looking forward to seeing him too.

Astarion pulled out his wallet to pay for the lady’s drink. Wyll caught a glance and noticed there was little in the way of cash and only one black credit card in the other man’s black leather wallet. Astarion handed the bartender his card, glad to see the bartender walk to the other end of the bar to ring up his charge.

“I need you to not come back here.”

“What?” Wyll asked in surprise, quickly turning. He looked at Astarion and saw a look of resigned contempt on his face, but Astarion wouldn’t look him in the eye. With a soft patience, Wyll asked, “can you at least tell me why?”

Astarion took a long pause. Whether he couldn’t find the words or simply didn’t have the heart to speak them, Wyll couldn’t say. Finally, he spoke. “I don’t want to see you anymore.” He still couldn’t seem to bring his eyes to look at Wyll.

“Is that what you really want…?” Wyll asked, his heart sinking at the words, even if he didn’t believe them. “Or is that what Cazador wants?”

It was a risky shot, a stupid, loaded question, but the shock and terror that reflected off of Astarion’s pale complexion told Wyll that he was right. It was Cazador Szarr. He was the ringleader that held Astarion captive. He was the monster that needed to be slain.

“Don’t ever speak that name!” Astarion spat at Wyll as he finally managed to look at the young officer. Astarion bared his teeth, almost as if he was going to take a bite out of Wyll just for what he said. His pupils had narrowed like a cat’s before it pounces, and his hand had moved to grab at Wyll’s shirt. Wyll had been so sure in his theory, but this frantic look of Astarion’s made him wish he didn’t bother to confirm it. He had already had his answer from Aurelia, but he so desperately wanted to be sure. He needed to fuel his reasoning to continue on with this quest, especially if he was going to go against Mizora’s orders by pursuing someone like the Szarrs.

Astarion quickly regained his composure, letting Wyll go and smoothing out his shirt. “It doesn’t matter,” he sighed, smoothing out the last of the wrinkles on Wyll’s button up. “Just don’t come back here again.” He took his card back from the frightened bartender and turned to walk away with the drink. Before he left, he finally met Wyll’s gaze, this time with softness rather than ferociousness. “Please.”

With that, Astarion walked back towards his date who seemed to be very interested in the scuffle that just took place at the bar. Astarion must’ve played it off well, because she seemed even more enamored with him. She grabbed his face with both her hands and pulled him in for a deep, sensual kiss. She leaned back as she did, pulling Astarion nearly on top of her and forcing him to wrap an arm around her torso. It wasn’t long before she finished her drink and the two of them were making their way out of the bar for the evening, her hands roaming Astarion’s backside as they walked away.

Wyll watched them leave and wanted to be sick. Gods, had it been worth saying Cazador’s name? Wyll got his answer, but at what cost? To see Astarion so angry, almost feral… it didn’t feel like the answer was worth what it did to him, but what’s done is done.

He finished his glass and went to pour another, then realized the bottle was practically empty. As much as he wanted a second bottle to wash away his sorrows, he remembered Mizora’s command from this morning: bring back a target tonight to make up for yesterday’s folly.

With a sigh, Wyll stood from the bar, left his payment in cash, and made his way out of the bar. It was time for his own hunt.

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Thank you for reading! Please follow for more updates!

#bg3 #wyllstarion #bloodpact #wyll ravengard #astarion #fanfic #writing #mine #long post #modern au #cazador szarr

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wipcreamontop · 1 year ago

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Danger Notes Challenge 8/?

Enjoy as I challenge myself to stretch my writing muscles by writing for at least five minutes nonstop under threat of starting the fic over

Fic 8: The latest Matchablossom au living in my brain

M/M Sk8 the infinity 1570 words

As the sun went down, Kojiro went to grab a bottle of wine and two glasses. Sia la Luce was closing for the night, and nobody else would be visiting. At least, Kojiro knew who he was waiting for probably wouldn’t come. But he couldn’t let go - he made a promise, after all.

This is your home, no matter what happens. Fight your ass off, and come back.

After setting the wine on ice, he retreated to the kitchen to finish closing. It was only thanks to the automatic doorbell that he installed was he able to focus in closing every night. His employees could confirm how distracted he used to be, after he left. Hiromi had practically forced him to buy the doorbell. Kojiro couldn’t help it. He wouldn’t believe Kaoru was dead until he saw the corpse himself, though it was entirely possible he’d never see it even if Kaoru did die.

Vivid in his memory was the last week the two had been living together. Kaoru was jumping out of his own skin, and that raised some serious red flags for Kojiro. The man was stubborn about elaborating what was bothering him. It took a complete mental breakdown to finally let the secret out. Turns out, Kaoru has been forced to join a crime organization to survive as a young adult, whose parents cut him off after graduating high school. It was just one little incident, and he was sucked in to the spiral. Luck had gotten him out, and Okinawa had served as a safe blind spot for him to recoup and rebuild some semblance of a life.

But Kojiro could tell something had gone very wrong for the other man at some point in life pretty quickly after the two of them had met at S. It was in the way he never showed any ambitions for the future, never talked about his likes and dislikes. He never even guaranteed he would come every week. Getting answers took ages, and the more answers he got, the more he fell for the other man. Hearing how his parents treated him, disapproving of essentially every life decision Kaoru made, trying to force him to take over the family business so the family could maintain its wealth, it made Kojiro’s blood boil. The worst part was he didn’t even know he was missing the biggest part of the story until long into their relationship, until it was too late. Kojiro didn’t even get to make a proper proposal, just enough to briefly exchange rings and promise to do it properly one day.

Keep this ring safe for me, and give it to me again, when this is over. They can’t know.

Kojiro himself was doing just fine. Sia la Luce was doing well, and he had a small crew of wonderful employees that he adored, including some rowdy teens he met at S who insisted they wanted to help. By all accounts, things were going how he had hoped. Many had said he should just move on with life already, and stop banking on a lost cause. After all, he had everything else going for him, why not find someone new?

But it never worked. As lovely as all the people he met and went on dates with, he couldn’t see himself being with any of them. None of them were Kaoru, and Kojiro couldn’t put anyone through dating him when he clearly still had feelings he couldn’t resolve. He may have done his fair share of dabbling with other people, but he wasn’t about to fake it and hurt someone. Hiromi shed tears when Kojiro came to that conclusion. The big softie was a romantic, after all.

Thus, life seemed to move on, unchanging. Sure, he still went to S, his family still checked in on the family business, he had no shortage of things happening around him, but at the end of the day, he could only imagine telling Kaoru about all of it. That he would set those wine glasses down, and Kaoru would be there, demanding to be served. They’d both yell at Reki and Langa to go home. The two of them would bicker, as they always did, until the bottle was empty. Until Kaoru finally relaxed, and Kojiro could truly take in how beautiful he was. He would give anything to see his face, to hold him, just one more time. Just to make sure Kaoru knew how much he loved him, even now.

But all he could do was set out those wine glasses and hope.

He didn’t know what was worse, living like this forever, or finally learning of his death, and being forced to move on. The clink of dishes was not enough to distract him. Seeing himself reflected in the plate, he paused. The light in his eyes was dim. He dunked the plate back in the soapy water, in denial of his reality. His knuckles quickly went raw from the excess force he used to scrub. The pain was a welcome distraction.

A stack of plates was still left to send through the dishwasher when Kojiro thought he heard the doorbell. The dishwasher had been loud enough that he wasn’t sure he actually heard it. He kept washing dishes, not wanting his hopes to get too high. And then he heard it again. And again. Slowly, he left the kitchen, attempting to keep his heart from pounding too hard. He could hear the bell more clearly as he headed towards the entrance.

It has to be Hiromi. Nobody else would come here at this hour. It can’t be him, it won’t be him.

His heart strained against his brain, trying to take control as he called a response. Every step seemed to shake his whole body. The floorboards complained as he crossed the dining room. Steadying himself, he opened the front door.

“I’m sorry, but we’re closed-“

“About damn time you let me in, it’s freezing out here!”

Kojiro looked up and froze. Lit by the moonlight in front of him was Kaoru. A battered, scarred, deeply exhausted Kaoru. His Kaoru. Who had to push him out of the way so he could come in and close the door behind them.

“Kaoru,” he could feel his voice waver as Kaoru turned to face him.

“It’s done. They’re gone,”

Kojiro noticed how empty his right sleeve was. “Your arm,”

“I’m lucky that’s all it cost me,”

“Guess you’ll have to learn to do calligraphy with your left hand,”

Kaoru shrugged. “I’ll have time,”

A lump came up his throat. He slowly reached out and felt Kaoru’s cheek. “You’re really back,”

Kaoru piled his own hands on too, tears in his eyes. “I am,”

All the tears from the past few years released all at once. Kojiro embraced Kaoru as tight as he possibly could. They were home, safe, together. Neither could stop the tears or the shaking, and they ended up on their knees together, weak from emotions. He soaked in Kaoru’s smell once more. It was different than it used to be, but it was still undeniably him. He finally released Kaoru, wiping the man’s tears as he did.

“Welcome home,”

Kaoru nodded, using his own sleeve to wipe any remaining tears. It was then the Kojiro remembered the lump he always had in his pockets somewhere. When Kaoru finally rid his face of tears, he was faced with a ring being presented to him.

“Kaoru, it’s time I gave this back to you. I’ll ask properly this time: I’d be honored if you would marry me and be my husband. Will you?”

“You really waited, like you promised,”

“Hiromi did make me try a few dates, but it never felt right. I knew deep in my heart that I wouldn’t ever be able to love anyone how I love you, and I hope you know how much I mean that,”

Words failed Kaoru, as he nodded and offered his hand. Kojiro quickly grabbed his matching ring from the box, allowing Kaoru to put it on his hand. They exchanged salty kisses, starved for the taste of one another. Neither could tell how long they stayed together on that floor. All they knew was that they would never leave each other’s side again.

They were the rudely interrupted by Kaoru’s stomach.

Kojiro laughed. “Come on, princess, I’ll make some carbonara for you,”

“I hope you’ve improved your recipe,” Kaoru took the hand offered to him.

“My carbonara has always been perfect, I don’t know what you’re talking about, your highness,”

Kaoru took a seat and helped himself to the wine as Kojiro disappeared into the kitchen. The smell of Sia la Luce calmed him, and he felt alive again. He was finally where he belonged.

Kojiro emerged with two plates of carbonara only to find Kaoru fast asleep at the bar, a look of peace on his face. Everything must have caught up with him at once. Setting the plates down, he stole a quick picture with his phone. They had plenty of tomorrows ahead of them, and Kojiro would treasure every one of them

#danger notes challenge #sk8 #skate the infinity #sk8 the infinity #matchablossom #sakurayashiki kaoru #sk8 cherry #cherry sk8 #joe sk8 #sk8 joe #nanjo kojiro #sk8 fanfic #fanfic

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stories-of-the-strange · 2 years ago

Text

Afterparty

Story submitted by Felix Caudillo on November 13th, 2004.

I work as a bartender in Los Lunas. It used to be a nice job. Stressful at times, yes, but it´s a small village so the occasions where I had six or more orders placed at a time are exceedingly rare, and it pays well, once you factor in the tips. If I worked elsewhere it might be different, but I am at least half-familiar with everyone who comes in, so tips are good and reliable.

I had been working there on-and-off for a bit over 3 years by the time it happened, and for longer than most people would call exactly legal, but my dad knew the manager, so I got in and nobody really cared. You may be a bit disturbed with letting an underage guy handle alcohol for a living, but it actually helped me get some part time jobs. Besides it´s not like I am some raging alcoholic now. And this was the only time I had gotten seriously hurt.

Some people call me lucky for that, you know? But what even is „lucky“? It´s all relative, I think. I suppose I am lucky to have survived it, compared to those that didn´t. But I sure didn´t feel very lucky sapping my family´s money, sitting at home with a broken foot. But again, I was lucky to even have a family for that, unlike many others. I´m sorry, I´m rambling. So yeah, I was working at the Black Rose on July 25th, 2003. If you are from nearby you may already know what I am going to be talking about. Yes, I was there when it happened. No, I didn´t do it unlike some like to claim. But I suppose if you believe that, there´s not much I can do to convince you otherwise.

I was working the evening shift that day, and there was a surprising lack of people for a friday night. A welcome surprise, don´t get me wrong. There were only seven people present when things started to go… wrong. Me, our waitress Sophia Morris, our security guy Michael Austin, Lionel Jackson, Sam Phillips and Jeremy Lawson, all regulars. If you heard about what happened that night, you know these names. Who you might not know, however, is the woman who spent several hours smoking alone, making phonecalls and occasionally ordering a margarita. We never caught her name either, but Sophia said that she was polite enough, though something in her tone of voice made every order sound like a command of some sort. She said it gave her the creeps.

And then… he came in. He wasn´t an impressive figure. Not by a long shot. He was short, young, with a strangely old-fashioned haircut and a suit that looked to be equal parts expensive and worn. He walked up to the bar, sat down right next to Lionel and Sam and almost before I could finish the question, he said he would like some red wine. I obliged him and got back to making small talk with Sophia.

It was only when I heard the word „dismemberment“ from behind me that I realized he had been saying something. Not talking to anyone, mind you… or at least not anyone you or I could see. Just talking, murmuring to himself.

I turned around and noticed he hadn´t even opened the bottle I had handed him. He was just staring at it. Talking about „the cult of Dionysus.“ I interrupted him and asked him what he meant by all of it, and this seemed to get the attention of the others´ as well. He politely, if quickly, apologized to us, grabbed my hand and shook it with a force I wouldn´t have believed him capable of given his slim frame, almost slamming my elbow against the bar. He introduced himself as Daniel, and shook the hand of everyone else at the bar, who didn´t seem to expect his strenght either.

As he did this, the foreign woman who seemed way too rich to be drinking in a place like this walked up next to him, paid for her drinks, thanked us for the service, and gave him a knowing smile. He turned to her and gave one back before she shook her head in amusement and left. He once again apologized for being so anti-social, and ordered a bottle of wine for Lionel and Sam. I passed it to them, and any potential grievances were forgotten between them.

He reached into his pocket and put 40 dollars down on the bar. 40 dollars. That was the most handsome tip of the night by far, I said so, told our regulars to try and keep up, which was met with some grumbled excuse or another, and thanked him. He said it was no big deal, and that this was a fine establishment.

I asked him how he would know, told him I hadn´t seen him before. He just smiled and told me that he „had more experience with alcohol than it would seem.“ He smiled but I could tell he was hiding something. I assumed that he just had an alcoholic parent as a kid, and didn´t press the issue further. He didn´t seem too offended however, as he snapped back into his excited, hand-shaking self.

He said that he found wine fascinating. He asked me if I knew about the cult of wine. I, of course, did not. Between long swigs from his bottle, he told me that in the ancient world, people worshipped wine for almost as long as wine existed. They believed it to have magical properties, and allowed spirits to possess someone´s body, freeing them from the constraints of polite society, and returning them into a more free and natural state of mind.

I asked him how that connected to dismemberment, and he said that in several myths, the Greek cult of Dionysus would rip apart unbelievers in their god´s name. I said I found it all interesting, though I am not sure how true of a statement that was. By now, both Lionel and Sam had started drinking from their bottle with gusto, and drank over half the bottle while me and Daniel talked.

Me and Daniel made some small-talk from which I couldn´t glean anything interesting, unsurprisingly, before he said he had to go, shook my hand with the same force as before, and left.

To preface what happened next… Lionel was a bit of a gangster type. Not someone you wanted to be on the wrong side of. But he didn´t have a temper, and nobody in the bar could be considered to be on the wrong side of him. What I want you to understand is that he wouldn´t do what he did. Even if it was physically possible in the first place.

I saw Lionel take the empty wine bottle by the bottom and jam it down Sam´s throat. It was so fast if I had blinked I wouldn´t have seen it. But I didn´t blink. I saw Sam´s eyes roll back in their sockets, and I saw the pain in them as Lionel hit him in the jaw, shattering the glass inside his mouth. It was so fast yet I remember it so clearly. Lionel grabbing the bottle´s remains. Sam falling backwards off his stool. Mike rushing over to help.

And then me and Sophia both ducked, screaming, behind the bar. Sophia didn´t see what happened next. She had just rolled into a ball and clutched her head. But I was somehow transfixed by the brutality unveiling behind me. The bar had a large mirror behind it, so I could see the ensuing carnage. I had to see. No matter how I tried to look away, I felt the need to watch it all unfold in every morbid, bloody detail.

Lionel slammed the remains of the bottle down on Sam, and though I couldn´t see it, I could hear the bottle break against human flesh and bone, and Sam choking on a mix of his own blood and vomit, combined with glass shrapnel and the tattered remains of his throat. I could still hear that noise when I left the bar. But soon enough I saw Mike point his handgun at Lionel, telling him to stand down.

Lionel lunged at him and despite me hearing six shots and seeing six muzzle flashes while Mike desperately tried to keep Lionel´s blood-stained hands away from his face, Mike emptied his pistol, point-blank into him but it didn´t seem to do anything. Mike was forced to slowly back down from Lionel´s relentless onslaught while fighting back, punching, shoving and hitting him with his pistol but Lionel never slowed down, until suddenly leaping back from Mike when he had him cornered, and making me almost jump out screaming for Mike like he was my favourite football team about to break a tie.

Then Lionel extended one hand towards Mike´s head and the other against a coat-stand, and rammed one of the pegs through Mike´s mouth, and out of the other side, showering the wall behind him with a crimson spray of gore. Not in one move mind you. He drove Mike´s head against it several times before finally piercing through. I saw Mike desperately trying to push the stand away from his head but Lionel always overpowered him. I heard bones cracking with every slam. I heard Lionel trying to gag up until the final slam.

Then, Jeremy exited the bathroom in a panic. Poor, naive Jeremy. Even through the bar´s dim lighting I could see the scale of terror and shock in his eyes. He was about to say something when Lionel charged at him like a wild animal and tackled him against the wall, leaving a large hole in the drywall after pulling Sam down to the ground. As Sam hit the wall behind him, Sophia made a run for it. I tried to tell her something, to hold her back, but she quickly squirmed free, got up and made a break for the door.

I had finally broken this horrible, hypnotised trance I had been in and ran after her, hoping that at least one of us would make it out alive. We were almost at the door when she noticed Mike´s lifeless, still body in our path. She flinched in terror. Even I, knowing exactly what happened to him, was taken aback by seeing the body of what had once been a good friend laying there, it´s head lifted up by the peg still embedded through it to face us.

It couldn´t have been a second. But that was still too long. It had slowed us down. Just as I realized we had slowed down, I heard Sophia gasp in shock and pain as Lionel grabbed her by the neck and started to squeeze. I was about to fall into that same, horrified trance but I managed to shake myself free just in time to run to the bar and grab a bottle.

I ran back as fast as I possibly could, seeing Sophia desperately flailing about, gasping for air and trying to remove his hands from her windpipe. I summoned all the strenght and adrenaline I could muster and swung my improvised weapon for his face like a baseball bat. He staggered back and let go.

His face was a red ruin, blood mixing with wine, flowing between cuts and pieces of embedded shrapnel. I knew mine was little better. Even through the adrenaline I felt the gashes in my cheeks. He growled something at me, I´m not sure whether he had been trying to speak or it was just some primal grunt of aggression.

I thought I had been too late. Sophia was laying on the ground behind me, motionless. I had no time to check before Lionel ran at me and I had to jump over the coat-stand to get to the door. Lionel didn´t, and tripped right before catching up to me. I knew he would get up soon however so I wasted no time and kept on running, pushing the door wide open and continuing through the parking lot.

I could hear his ragged breath and footsteps close behind me, and he quickly caught up, grabbed me by the legs and pulled me down.

I had just accepted my fate, seeing him standing over me, when a bright light from around the corner illuminated both of us and the ear-splitting noise of a car horn drowned out my own thoughts.

The black jeep didn´t stop in time, and ran both Lionel, and my left foot over. The only things I can remember about the driver are that he was a man, Japanese or Chinese, I think. Asian of some sort, that I am sure of, and the most random detail: His right hand. He wore a black glove over it, and though this is almost certainly just my adrenaline-clouded memory failing me, I remember it sort of… squirming, whenever he touched me with it. Like he held a small animal under that glove and it was trying to get out.

He kept me concious and not mangling my foot any further until the emergency services arrived, and from then on it was in the media.

Lionel was ruled to have died of severe blunt force trauma, though no mention was made of the severe facial lacerations or six god-damn bullets in his chest and guts. Sam died during transport to the hospital of asphyxiation, though not before „assaulting a police officer.“ Michael was found dead of „severe blunt force trauma to the head.“ Which to me is a downright insulting understatement, and Jeremy died in the hospital of internal hemorrhaging.

And Sophia… Sophia didn´t die of asphyxiation. That´s what the offical sources say, but the coroner personally told me that he had found a tiny, thin piece of glass that had punctured her windpipe. He said he believed my story, at least for the most part, and that he didn´t think I deserved to be punished for it. To this day I am not sure I agree with him. Completely absent from any court proceedings or news reports, however, was the man who had called the emergency services there in the first place.

The business recovered well enough, despite everything the damage to the property was minimal. Some people have started calling it „the Morgue.“ For my part I think that is horribly irreverent of the dead and the tragedy. But those people aren´t the ones coming in, anyways.

While healing I did some research, trying to understand what happened. That´s how I found this site, actually. I also looked into the cult of Dionysus some more. Dionysus wasn´t exactly a god of wine. He was the god that the cult of wine used to make themselves more acceptable within society. It was an old cult, possibly as old as wine itself. Older than the god they claimed to worship. They would sacrifice goats and bulls to their god, and they would shed the restraints of civilisation in drunken frenzy, and walk as nature intended them to. As half-men, half-beasts. Before being adopted by the cult of wine, Dionyus was a much more primal god. One of death and rebirth, and raised by nature. The Bacchae speaks of Dionysus coming as a stranger-god, wearing a human form, coming from a faraway land, with a throng of maddened followers close behind. Bringing death, ruin and madness to those who would doubt him. Dionysus is a god of wine, madness and frenzy. Call me crazy if you will, but I believe I met him. And I have no intent to end up like the unbelievers.

#horror #original fiction #short fiction #short stories #short story #stories of the strange #urban fantasy #urban horror

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lolasimms · 2 years ago

Note

Hiii Lola how you've been? Hope you're alright, sweetie, sending love to ya! ♡

I was thinking the other day about modern!abby being outside doing some stuff and immediately sees like a plushie or something that she knows reader would love so she buys it and she is like "I thought about you when I saw this so I bought it, you like it?" Looking at reader with her pretty eyes and a tiny pout on her lips but when reader almost scream of joy she smiles and looks at her all full of love! 💌🧸

– saia ୨୧

Strawberry Shortcake - Abby x reader

Hey Saia, I’m sorry it took so long for me to get to your ask. Thank you for it though <3

Throughout your relationship both you and Abby made it a habit to spontaneously gift each other. It started off when you’d both confessed that one of your many love languages was gift giving, so when you realised she would like your gifting and she vice versa, you both went ham. Though Abby always felt self conscious in the things she’d choose to buy, partly due to her partners in the past always finding her gifts “too considerate” or “too practical.”

You however always loved that whenever Abby bought you something it was straight from the heart. She was never one to buy an item for you simply because of the brand name or the price, she prided herself on knowing you, knowing what you liked. Abby was always considerate, that was evident in all she did for you.

Today like any other, Abby had finished up a few classes and then headed to the store to run some errands. The store cart was filled with vegetables, fruit, a selection of yoghurts, your favourite spreads, rustic loaves and a little bottle of wine. Once she was satisfied, she’d crossed out the items she’d already gotten before heading to the hygiene isle to get the last items on her list. She was a very precise shopper, the kind who had a list and always made sure to stick to it. Unless of-course, she saw something that you might like.

So when she mistakenly took the wrong turn into the toys and plushies isle, her attention was immediately diverted when she spotted a strawberry shortcake plushie that just screamed you. All thoughts of going off the list were thrown out the window when she imagined the look on your face when you see the plushie of your favourite cartoon character. The one that you’d told her so much about. She even remembers the time you’d excitedly made her watch a few episodes when you found out it had gone to streaming.

She grabbed the soft plushie taking in its bright red hair, rosy cheeks, scattered freckles. She was cute and sweet, just like you her little strawberry. Once she’d gotten home she felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness bubbling within her stomach. She was sure you’d love it, but she always had the tendency to second guess herself.

“I’m back!” She calls out, placing the crotchet grocery bag you’d made for the house, on the kitchen island before moving into the living area to find you.

“Hey baby.” You smile, lying on the couch with your laptop across your legs. You shut it, before making your way over to her. Her arms are suspiciously folded behind her back, but you ignore that and wrap your arms around her neck.

“I might’ve gotten you something.” She gives you that cute shy smile she always does when she’s done something sweet.

“Abby, you know you don’t have to always get me stuff whenever you leave the house!” You squeak, pinching her reddening cheeks and then kissing them.

“I know, but I wanted to. I really think you’ll like it.” She removes her hands from behind her back to reveal the plush and immediately you let out an ear piercing squeal.

“Abby!!!! It’s…”

“Strawberry Shortcake.” “STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.” You both say in unison, yours coming out as more of a scream compared to her calm tone. She’s looking at your face as you take in the plush, just admiring it and she’s so fucking happy that you love it.

“She’s my favourite, I love it sooo much baby!” You’re holding the plush to your chest, jumping up and down and she’s just admiring how sweet and cute you are. Her little strawberry.

C’est inspiré par mon préféré dessin animé Charlotte aux fraise <333333

#abby anderson x reader #abby x reader #reader x abby anderson #abby anderson x you #abby anderson fluff #abby anderson x female reader

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gretavangroupie · 3 years ago

Text

Bloom

18+ ONLY. MINORS DNI!!

Warnings: None for now ;)

Chapter One

“She blooms wild and burns bright” - Butterflies Rising

Chapter Two

It had officially been three weeks since you moved to Nashville. Your best friend Amelia had finally convinced you to move in and be her roommate after many months of trying.

You visited her quite a bit as it was and figured you are still young and since you work remotely you had nothing to lose. It was the first time you had lived away from your family and that scared you, but in good way. You would have to learn to rely only on yourself knowing that there was no one coming to your rescue. Well other than Amelia.

Amelia had been your best friend since the 3rd grade. She was the fun and free spirit to your quiet, homebody. She was the sun to your moon. Vastly different but bonded through life.

Amelia not only had a different personality than you did, she was also more attractive than you, or so you and every boy in high school always thought. She was the one with the gorgeous boyfriends while you were always the one in the background. You didn’t mind though. You learned from her. Mistakes and successes, and knew what to look out for.

Amelia had spent much of this past year single, enjoying her new life in Nashville. You wished you could contain even an ounce of her carefree and outgoing spirit. Part of you thinks that it’s why you finally decided to move to Nashville.

She had always called you “penny girl” because in third grade you found a penny on the playground and gave it to her. From then on you became best friends. She called you Pen so often that sometimes you weren’t even sure if she remembered your actual name.

You hear the apartment door unlock, and realize she is home from work. It’s around 5:40, and you know she gets off right at 5:00 but Nashville traffic can be rough to say the least.

“Pen? Are you here?” Amelia said almost yelling.

“Hey! Im in here, as usual…” you replied trying to match her tone.

You spent a lot of time in the third bedroom which you had both decided to turn into a home office for you. Working from home was really nice, but you also felt a bit isolated. It was hard for you to make friends this way, but you figured Amelia’s friends would just become yours too.

A few seconds later she flitters into the room.

“Hey Penny girl how was your day? Traffic was a nightmare.” She said running her two sentences together, almost incoherently.

“Same as usual, too much work, not enough day.” You replied dully.

“Well, what do you say we make something good for dinner and then play on Raya all night?” She asks.

“Raya?” You reply.

“Uh, yeah? The dating app? It’s the one for creatives and influencers. You kind of have to have a big following to be invited to use it. I only have it because of my work social media account. It’s invite only so it kind of weeds out the weirdos. It’s so much fun to look through all the gorgeous men around us.” she says smiling questionably.

Nashville is definitely a hotspot as far as single, beautiful men go.

“Are you looking for a boyfriend? I thought you were enjoying the single life!” you said with air quotes.

“Ugh pen don’t be a party pooper” she said with an eye roll.

“Okay, okay, I’m not. Let’s do it.”

“Yay! I am so excited! Maybe we will even find you a man!” She said excitedly.

“Oh! No, Amelia, I just moved here, I need to settle in still!” You replied, frowning at her.

“We’ll see” she said with a smirk.

It was just past 9 o’clock, we made a delicious dinner and had polished off a bottle of red wine that she had bought for me when I moved in, to celebrate our new adult lives in Nashville.

We were perched on the couch sitting right next to each other. She had her phone in her hands, holding it right between us, and we were swiping left and right on Raya.”

Of course, half of the men she swiped right on were a match already. You both laughed out loud every single time she had a match and made up imaginary scenarios on how the guy would inevitably say or do something that would make you wish you had never swiped right in the first place.

You of course knew a gorgeous man when you saw one, but you weren’t into the overtly masculine types that she was into. After reading a few of the profiles out you realized that a majority of these men were aspiring musicians trying to make a name for themselves in Nashville.

She saw the look on your face when you made the realization.

“They are all like that babe. Every one of them. My advice? Stay away. They are all trouble.” She warned.

“Oh, they aren’t really my type. I don’t think I could ever date someone like that, you know?” You say, looking at her.

She turns up the corner of her mouth, “you never know Pen… you need to make yourself a profile! Oh! Can we, can we please?!” She exclaimed.

“I don’t know Amelia…I don’t have a big following or an invite..” you say with eyes begging her to drop it.

“I can send 1 invite a year! I pick now, and once you swipe through a few guys it will show you more people like what you’re interested in!” She says hopefully.

“Okay, I guess if you’re sure you want to use your invite on me, but it’s not serious and Im definitely not going on any dates.” you say sternly.

About 30 minutes later Amelia loudly exclaimed “It’s perfect!” A cue that your profile was done. She had taken it upon herself to fill out your details, and hand selected what she thought were your best photos. She had always been good at things like this, where it would take you ages to decide. After looking over her selections and making a few minor “about me” changes, you decided that it was good enough. This was just for fun anyways.

The main profile picture was a photo of you from back home, standing in a lush field of over grown weeds and wildflowers. You are smiling but not looking at the camera, just past it. You had on your favorite dress of that summer, a white bohemian Free People number that you paid way too much for. You look happy and carefree, two things you weren’t sure you actually were.

The second photo was a photo of you with Amelia at a concert a few months ago. You had driven down to see her and she roped you in to going to a show. Your hair was down and wavy and you had very minimal makeup on. You hardly wore make up as it is. You aren’t the best at it, so the more simple the better.

The final photo was a photo of you visiting Sedona, Arizona. You were standing on the peak of a mountain, what was arguably the most beautiful view you had ever seen in your life. Decked out in hiking gear and a large backpack, you looked happy and at peace.

Your “About Me” section read:

“Nashville Transplant”, 25, Artist, and a few of your interests and hobbies.

You both laugh a little and swipe through a few guys, none catching your interest just yet.

“Oh, well. Thanks Amelia, I think I am going to head to bed, that wine hit me harder than I thought. I am exhausted.”

“Night pen!”she said.

You do your night time routine, shower, brush your teeth, do your extensively long skin care routine that Amelia has forced you to start doing, you put your pajamas on and climb into your perfect fluffy bed.

You can’t help this nagging feeling that you should just swipe through a few more profiles before you fall asleep.

You reach over and grab your phone off of the nightstand and open Raya. Again you’re met with countless men who just aren’t your type, buff, chiseled and stunningly hot no doubt, just not for you. You didn’t feel like you belonged with someone who looked like that.

After about 10 minutes you find a handful of cute guys and swipe right nervously.

The first, a tall average build guy named Kyle, with blonde shaggy hair, blue eyes and works as a web developer.

The next an average height, moderately fit brunette baseball player with green eyes named Davis.

The last guy is named Josh. He seems on the shorter side, something that has never bothered you. He has brown eyes, curly brown hair and a stunning smile, however it says he is a musician. You take what Amelia had told you into account, but you realize that in Nashville everyone calls themselves a musician.

You bite the bullet and see what happens. You probably won’t even match with these guys to begin with. After a few more minutes of swiping and a few more cute ones swiped right on, you decide to go to bed.

You shoot up suddenly when you hear an alert on your phone. You glance at your alarm clock. 2:27AM.

You look at the offending message on your phone.

~ Congratulations! You Have A New Match! ~

You groan, damn Amelia making you get that app. You silence your phone and fall back asleep.

Next thing you know your alarm clock is going off, 7:00AM comes early. You lie in bed checking twitter for the latest news for a few minutes before you get up.

You slowly make your way to the kitchen to make coffee for Amelia and yourself. She’s already been up for an hour getting ready for work. She does the whole nine yards. Hair, make up, perfect outfit and doing it all before coffee. You wonder how she does it.

You deliver her cup to her in her bathroom and say your good mornings before walking back to your room.

About 20 minutes later Amelia is leaving for work and you are almost done getting ready for the day.

You spend most of the day completely over whelmed with work. You work as a virtual assistant and spend most of your time calling to confirm appointments, schedule meetings or order whatever item your boss needs that day. It’s a very fulfilling job that only someone extremely organized could handle.

Around 3 o’clock you hear your phone ding from the other side of your desk.

~You Have A New Message on Raya!~

You had completely forgot about your 2 in the morning match. You quickly open the app to see who you matched with. Josh. You click on the picture of his face, and it opens the message which reads:

Josh: I am so glad that we matched, you seem lovely! Was that photo of you taken in Sedona by chance?

You take a minute and scroll through the rest of his photos, you hadn’t looked at them before, just his profile photo. As you scroll you see a photo of him standing with what looks to be his friends all huddled up together. One of the guys in the photo could easily pass at his twin and you figure they must be related.

The next photo is of him but it looks to be a professionally shot photo, and you tell your self it must be related to the “musician” detail of his profile. In every photo he is wearing a smile that is one of the most genuine you’ve ever seen. You can tell he has a kind soul.

You think for a minute what you want to say back to him.

You: Hi! I am also glad we matched, I didn’t think I would get any matches to be honest. My friend made me sign up with her one invite. Yes it is in Sedona, good eye. Have you been?

A message jumps back within a minute, almost as if he was waiting for your reply.

Josh: Well I, for one, am I am very glad that she made you. Of course you are going to get matches, you are beautiful. I have been to Sedona once or twice. Do you get to travel much?

You blush a deep pink, and your chest heats up. You weren’t sure you could still do that. It had been a very long time since you had received a compliment from someone who wasn’t a friend or family.

You: That is really sweet of you. Thank You. I travel a normal amount, not as much as I wish I could though. How about you?

You try to keep the banter as light as possible, not revealing too much about yourself too soon.

Josh: I would say that I am afforded the luxury of traveling more than the average person. While I do love traveling, usually for work, and sometimes there is no greater feeling than sleeping in the peace of your own home. Speaking of home, what brought you to Nashville?

At this point you have completely forgotten about the work that you are supposed to be doing. After reading his message you decide that you will answer him back after you finish your work tasks for the day.

Those last two hours went by extraordinarily slow for a Friday, and you couldn’t help it that your mind kept wandering back to this mystery guy, Josh. You kick yourself for letting this happen since you promised yourself this was just for fun and that you weren’t going to take it seriously.

You decide to message him back and explain how your best friend convinced you to move in with her and how the rest is history. You and Josh message back and forth for quite a while exchanging questions and getting to know each other a little better.

Your last message to him was sent 6:17PM, and he usually replied to you fairly quickly since you began chatting this afternoon. You asked about his family and what brought him to Nashville. Two or three hours pass and you continually check your phone but, there is nothing there. You and Amelia finish up dinner and you suggest that you watch a movie to take your mind off of it. Throwing your phone onto your bed, you walk back to the living room and watch the entirety of ‘Legally Blonde’, Amelia’s suggestion of course.

After the movie had ended you both decide to turn in for the night. You walk back to your room, pretending that you’re not dying to check your phone to see if you have any new messages from Josh. You pick it up and turn it over. You have three messages from Josh.

Josh: My brothers and I recently moved here from Michigan. We all live pretty much walking distance from each other so it is really nice.

Josh: I am so sorry to leave you hanging earlier, my phone died right as I got to the studio, and I think one of my brothers must have taken my charger out of my car, the one time I need it of course.

Josh: I know this seems forward but would you like to exchange numbers?

His last message was sent well over 45 minutes from the previous two and an hour had passed since this last message. You thought about how you wanted to respond. Of course you wanted to give him your number, but you didn’t want to seem too eager either. Begrudgingly, you decided that you needed to ask Amelia. You slowly walked to her door and knocked quietly.

“Come In!” She said.

“Hey, I have a… question for you, but please don’t laugh at me.” You said embarrassingly.

“Oh my god what?!” She exclaimed.

“So I matched with someone on Raya and…”

“I KNEW IT!” She interrupted. “You were checking your phone all night! I knew something was up. Oh my gosh tell me, what’s going on? Who is it! Show me!” She bursted out.

“No way, I am not showing you anything yet. I just need your advice on how to respond to this message” you say sternly.

You explain the situation and read out his last few messages, hoping that she would know what to do. After all she does this all the time.

“You need to message him back like, right now! Give him your number! It’s obvious you kinda like him Pen, and he is clearly feeling you right back! What is the worst thing that could happen, I mean you can always block him if you need to” she says. She puts her hand on your shoulder to reassure you that it’s not as big of a deal as it feels. You thank her, say goodnight, and gather up your courage to type a response back to him. Its nearly midnight at this point so you’re sure he won’t see it until the morning.

You: Siblings, gotta love em I guess. Don’t worry about it, I had a movie night tonight anyways. Sure we can exchange numbers!

You type in your number and hit send, heart beating out of your chest. Why do you feel this way?

You set your phone down and do your usual night time routine. It is late so you try to hurry so that you can still try to get 6 or 7 hours. After you finish up you get in bed and turn off your lamp. 15 minutes is your new record. Just as you begin to get drowsy you hear your phone vibrate on your nightstand.

Your heart begins to beat rapidly at the realization that it’s probably him since your friends and family know not to text you this late. You pick up your phone and on the screen is a message from an unknown contact.

Unknown: Hey pretty girl, I’m sorry, I know its late but I just wanted you to have my number too. Rest well.

You could have died right then and there. Pretty girl?! You’re fairly positive that no one in your life has called you such a cute name before. You quickly text back.

You: Thank you, you too. With a smiley emoji.

You set your phone back on the nightstand and doze off dreaming of what could be.

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