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#there’s so much the movie just completely ignored that I spent years forgetting some scenes ever happened
brutal-out-here · 8 months
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In regards to my last post I’m not done talking about people who believe the show is as bad or even worse than the movies. Like yes I have minor issues with the pacing here or there, but I completely understand that they had a limited amount of time and money to make the show! They did the best they could!! But even then how could the slightly bit faster pacing cause someone to say the movies were better?? Some of the main complaints of the movies were the trio being aged up, the characters not feeling like themselves, and so much of the book not at all happening. And here we are presented with correct ages, actors who seemed to have tumbled out of the books themselves, and so much of the book being shown!! What more could you reasonably ask for??
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hyunverse · 3 years
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NUMBERS (WE ONLY HAVE 32 DAYS LEFT) ☆ FUSHIGURO MEGUMI.
CHAPTER ONE : YOU, ME AND OUR BURDENS.
gender neutral.
warnings: talk of death(s).
tags: angst, fluff, hurt/comfort.
beta readers: @milktyama , @boytual , @inusdoll .
synopsis: life isn’t easy when you’re gifted with the ability to see how much time is left for your loved ones to live. what makes matters worse is the fact that luck was and will never be on fushiguro megumi’s side.
series masterlist. | next
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Megumi didn’t ask for this at all.
He didn’t ask to see how much time was left for a person to live. Deadly digits at the top of his loved ones’ heads. He didn’t ask to see the death timer, continuously ticking as a body gets old, waiting for its expiration date. A constant reminder of death.
“Don’t fall for me, Fushiguro,” you joked one time. He was sitting beside you by a lake one evening as the sun sets.
“I would never,” he replied.
How he wished that was the case. Day by day he was captivated by your personality. He spent every waking day finding out new things about you that he couldn’t help but admire. Megumi truly didn’t see it coming at all. After all, he had vowed to keep his distance from people. He thought he was doing a good job at keeping his vow. He will never forget that time he was acquainted with two people his same age, named Kugisaki Nobara and Itadori Yuuji. It started with the trio being in the same college course, becoming friends over the times. Megumi thought it’d be okay. He thought it wouldn't hurt to see the pair die, in case it actually happened.
Until it did.
Megumi still remembers that day very clearly. He had anticipated the 15th of February for months. He told both Nobara and Itadori to stay in their shared home all day in hopes of changing their fates. They followed what he advised despite the obvious paranoia in Megumi’s tone. Itadori told Megumi to calm down on call, reassured Megumi that Nobara and he were safe in their house—happily eating sushi and binging movies. Megumi thought it would be okay. What could possibly happen to a pair of best friends staying in the privacy of their apartment?
They died in a house fire.
The raven head couldn’t sleep for days. All his college assignments were left overdue, red-inked digits filling up his report card. Megumi didn’t care. The Zenin clan was flooded with money anyway. Starting from that day Fushiguro vowed to not get close to anybody. The numbers only appear once he feels affection towards the person. He’ll be fine if he just kept his distance. Spending the rest of his life all alone. He wouldn’t mind that at all. Fewer problems.
What Fushiguro Megumi failed to remember was the heart wants what it wants. He could completely ignore his feelings but it wouldn’t stop his heart to feel. What Fushiguro Megumi forgot was the fact that he was human, and being human meant feeling things.
A looming wall was set between him and other people. A hard, cemented wall—Megumi was positive nobody would get through and touch his vulnerability. You had the toughness of steel. You completely ignored how disinterested he seemed. Constantly teasing and caring for him—it was only a matter of time until his wall crumbled.
You also had the tenderness of silk. Soft fingers combing his hair as the two of you laid on his roof. There were no stars in the sky, but you insisted on laying amidst the darkness of night.
“Megumi,” you whispered, turning to look at the man, “you’re so hard to get through yet so easy to read.”
Fushiguro could already feel the sturdy wall he built shattering like the thinnest glass.
“You’re talking nonsense.”
He was avoiding the question, which was exactly the reaction you expected from him.
You chuckled, “you do know it’s okay to open up and set yourself free, right?”
Free.
Before you could think of anything else to say, tears slipped down Megumi’s cheeks. His vision and thoughts blurred together until all he could think and feel was how much his heart ached. He began to wonder if he had always felt that way. If he had been ignoring his heart’s screams all this time.
You carefully inched closer to your co-worker, painfully aware of all his reactions. God knows what possessed you to do what you did, but you gently cradled his face in your hands. The feeling of your thumb pads rubbing against his skin managed to soothe him. Seeing no negative reaction, you brought yourself to move closer towards his trembling body. You held him in your arms.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,“ you whispered. Your lips ghosted over the shell of his ear, and he could feel the heat of your body.
He nodded between his cries and let you cradle him like nobody else was watching. He let you whisper sweet nothings into his ear. Fushiguro Megumi allowed himself to believe in your sweet words, he allowed himself to feel as if everything was fine.
A tingling feeling appeared in Megumi’s stomach. He clutched his heart. It was happening again. The numbers appeared again. He gathered his courage to look up, at the top of your head.
His heart dropped.
70 years, 2 months, 12 days.
For the first time since he learned about his ability, after outliving both his parents, his sister and his best friends-- Megumi wasn’t going to outlive another loved one.
The gush of relief Megumi was feeling caused him to cry even more. Under the half moon, he sobbed into your chest ‘till his tears were dry.
“Megs, look,” you tilted his head upwards to look at you. You shot him a reassuring smile and rubbed his shoulders.
You pretended to pick something up from Fushiguro’s shoulder and placed the nothingness on your own shoulders. Megumi sniffled and furrowed his eyebrows. You did it over and over again, your patience was starting to wear off.
“This, what is this you’re carrying on your shoulder?” you asked, continuing the action again, but slowly.
“Air?”
“No! Try again,” you acted the scene out slower. Rub his shoulders, pretend to pick something up then place them on your shoulders. “What are you carrying on your shoulders, Megumi?”
The 24-year-old man’s face contorted into confusion, “um-- shoulder ache?”
You grunted, “no! Ugh… burdens, Megumi! Burdens!”
His face grew even more confused, to the point where he was tilting his head, eyeing you curiously.
“Your burdens,” you picked the non-existent materials from Megumi’s shoulders, placing them on top of your own shoulders, “I picked some of your burdens and placed them on me. So, it becomes our burdens. Not just yours. We carry them together.”
Fushiguro Megumi was astounded.
“Our burdens?” he repeated, his hands trailing their way up to your arms, lightly squeezing them.
“Our burdens, Megumi.”
He looked down and mumbled the words quietly. Repeatedly. Like a teenager continuously reciting their formulas to register and implant them in their head. The more he said the words, the more he felt like bursting into tears for the third time that night.
Finally, he took a deep breath, nodding to himself before looking back up to you;
“Our burdens.”
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rogermeddowsx · 3 years
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office parties suck - part 8
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word count : 4k
contains : bad language, smut, angst, mentions of death / alcoholism. ben and reader have some secret fun while their friends are around. they go to office party no.2. reader breaks down but starts to find herself after a long time.
authors note : hi,, hope all my uk readers are doing ok in this HEAT, i feel like i'm melting!! this part contains my first attempt at smut, which i'm not sure about lol. let me know what you think x
please don’t forget to like and reblog and share with your friends :)
The spring months flew by, February crisp and spent mostly inside, cuddling up to Ben in front of the fireplace, March brought flowers and lambs and all things new, April rained and rained which you had no problem with. With May right around the corner, you enjoyed what you hoped would be the last of the rainy weeks this year. You adored the rain but Winter was still your favourite - Christmas, snow, watching movies with Miles and Grace, using your fireplace as much as you can because there was no excuse to use it in the warmer months. But there was something so calming about the rain, like a natural sedative to the mind that could block out any other background sounds. As your bedroom window was quite big, you and Ben had spent many weekends, wrapped in each other's arms, watching as the raindrops raced against the glass panes.
These past months had left you without any arguments between the two of you and you were finally starting to find yourselves at a steady pace. You’d made up with Grace as well, apologising for the scene in the cafe in January. It made you feel more at ease now knowing that your best friend was on board with your relationship, finally. Miles had gone to France, off since he’d called you that day with Ben’s family. You knew why, but Ben was none the wiser.
Right now, you were sitting with Grace and Joe at your kitchen island, drinking cups of tea as you always did.
“How’s Miles?” Grace approached the situation cautiously.
“He’s OK, considering.” You respond.
“Why aren’t you with him right now, hun?” Grace reaches out to you, her hand now on yours.
“Wait, why? Have I missed something?” Joe asks, looking between the two of you, completely confused.
“Miles’ dad died, Joe.” Grace turns back to you, “I know he was basically your Dad too. You should be there.”
“Oh my God. Love, I’m so, so sorry.” Joe says, places his hand on your shoulder sympathetically.
You shrug. The real reason you weren’t in France right now is because Miles had told you not to come, despite your leaving Ben’s family early for it.
-
milesy<3 : would you answer your fucking phone
Once in Ben’s car and halfway down his road, you call Miles back via bluetooth. He doesn’t answer, causing you to go into a panic.
“Fuck, fuck. Miles, answer the goddamn phone.”
It goes straight to voicemail, so you leave one.
“Miles, what’s going on? Call me back.”
You realise that you don’t even know where you’re going, but you assume back home. The M3 is bleak, and the windshield wipers work hard to give you vision on the road. Only the sound of the battering rain can be heard as you soar down the motorway. In just over 2 hours, you’re home having heard nothing from Miles and too much from Ben.
20 missed calls from Benny ;)
You’d ignored them all though, and rushed up the steps and into your home.
“Miles?!” You call out, your head snapping side to side, searching for him in the dark house. The curtains were pulled and all lights were off, showing no signs of life. There’s no answer.
You start to panic more and more until you poke your head around your own bedroom door, to find him. Miles, curled up on top of your covers on your bed, rocking slightly. His face is blank and he stares straight at the wall ahead. You hurry over, cradling him in your arms.
“Are you ok? What’s wrong Milo?”
When he doesn’t answer, you take his head in your hands, forcing him to look at you. Still, his eyes stare ahead, looking almost spaced out.
You jolt him a bit, hoping to get something out of him. Instead a single tear runs down his cheek, pooling where your skin meets his.
“C’est Père, il est mort.” [It’s Dad, he’s dead.]
The colour drains from your face completely. You immediately drop your hands from Miles’ face and shake your head in disbelief. Then you start to sob. Only now does Miles look at you, his eyebrows furrowing in sympathy.
“No, no, no.” You repeat, whispering.
The two of you sit on your bed, in silence, until the odd snuffle or sniff from the two of you crying.
A few hours pass, and you feel dry. Empty.
“When are we leaving?” You croak, breaking the silence. Your voice is hoarse from the crying.
“We’re not. I’m going first thing.”
You look at him, entirely confused. As you didn’t see your own family, Miles’ had become one to you. In the 5 years since you and Miles had met, you’d spent every Christmas and summer with them. Including video calling them for birthdays and Mother’s/Father’s day. In a way, they were as much your family and they were Miles’. And yet, here you were, being told you couldn’t see them, in a time when you really, really needed to.
“I don’t understan-”
“You wouldn’t.” Miles cut you off, “Because you’re always with Ben now. You weren’t here when I needed you most.”
“I’m here now.” You reach out, but Miles snatches his hand away.
“It’s not good enough. I’m going alone, I’m sorry.”
He gets up and storms away to his room, where you hear what you can only assume as his suitcase being flung onto his bed.
You lie back, deciding to give him space. You couldn’t even think about how unfair it was for Miles to treat you like this, especially when you’d left Ben’s family without saying a word, because you knew, hell, Miles knew, you’d drop anything for him. Instead of dwelling on it, you curl up, holding your knees up to your chin and you cry. You just… cry.
--
“I didn’t think it’d be fair on Ben.” You lie.
“What a cop out!”
Caught.
“Honey, Ben would understand. You should be with Miles and Jessica.”
Jess was Miles’ sister. Your sister. She was older than you and Miles but she treated you just the same. You adored her, looked up to her.
“It’s fine, guys. I think I’d rather be with Ben right now anyway.” Another lie.
Obviously you’d rather be with your family. Miles’ dad meant so much to you. He always gave you boy advice, and it was good advice too. But he also gave you life advice. Helped you and Miles with the finances for the house you were living in, always looked over your insurance and bills. You called him almost weekly, even just for a gossip, to complain about how annoying Miles was. You loved him. But Miles didn’t want you there. And as much as you couldn’t comprehend why, you had to respect him. You always would.
“Ok, if that’s how you really feel.” Grace offered you a smile.
It wasn’t how you really felt. But to stop yourself from crying in front of Grace and Joe, you went with your lie.
“How’s Ben?” Joe asks, changing the subject.
“He’s ok. He doesn’t know about Dad though.”
“You haven’t told him?!” The couple say in unison.
You grimace at the two of them.
“Oops?”
Joe rolls his eyes at you. “I don’t know how I deal with you two sometimes.”
Grace hits him playfully on the arm, “Hey! She’s worse!” She points at you.
You hold your hands up in fake defence and laugh. It felt good to have your friends back.
--
As the day rolls into evening, Ben walks in holding two boxes of pizza, having let himself in with the key you’d given him last month.
It was a big step in your relationship, especially since neither of you had said the ‘L’ word yet. This was your first big relationship, having only really slept around a bit at uni. There was this one guy, Reece, who was your first love. You’d met him at 15 at school and he had all your firsts. It was the type of love where you had genuinely believed you would be together forever. Fat load of shit that was though, because the second he turned 18, he went on a lads holiday and shagged who you could only assume was the first girl he came across.
“Benjamin, darling!” Joe called out at the sight of Ben.
Anyone would’ve been mistaken for them being in love at the smile on Ben’s face when he noticed his best friend at the island.
“Joseph!” Ben went straight to Joe, not even bothering to put the pizza’s down as he wrapped his free arm around Joe. You watched as Ben’s arm flexed as he held onto the two boxes with one hard. You clenched your thighs at the sight but kept your cool. The boys unwrapped themselves from each other and Ben opened up the box of pizza.
“Glad my girlfriend is such a pig and I have to get two boxes because I didn’t know we had company.” He chuckled, using his godly laugh.
“Um, excuse me. You didn’t even say ‘hi’ and now you’re being mean?” You pouted up at your boyfriend who hadn’t yet sat down. His hand was on the top of your chair, allowing you to smell his musky aftershave. He smelt amazing. The scent only got stronger as he leaned in and placed his lips gently on yours before pressing against you, your lips fitting perfectly between his. As you feel yourself wanting to press into him harder, you become aware of the fact that you have company and much to your dismay, you pull away.
“Hi.” You say smiling at him, his face only centimetres from his.
“Hi.” He repeats back to you, before turning back to the pizza. “Well tuck in.”
--
The four of you had since moved to the sofas, stuffed from dinner, watching an American soap. Joe and Grace were on one sofa, the moss green one, opposite ends but feet meeting in the middle, intertwined together. They were deeply engrossed in the TV, Joe commenting on a character now and then. You and Ben were on the other sofa under a blanket, you between his legs and neither of you really interested in the programme. Your fingers played against his. You spoke casually to each other in hushed tones, Ben’s lips brushing against your ear as he whispered to you. It makes your hairs prick up in excitement. His hot breath travels down your neck, making you flinch. He laughs at you, then brings his hand to your thigh, his thumb rubbing circles against your skin. You clench your legs together, capturing his fingers between them. This only causes him to spread his hand out to give himself some more space. The closer his fingers get to the top of your thighs, the more excited you feel. You reach behind you to grab onto Ben’s hair, trying to make it look natural and not give any hints to your friends who were sitting only a few metres away. They took no notice, both sets of eyes locked on the TV. Your other hand grips at the hem of Ben’s shorts, he shudders as your fingernails brush against his skin. Egged on by his reaction, you slide your hand closer in between his legs, gently rubbing against him. You shuffle back slightly so that you’re leaning against him. Your hips roll as he moves. Your eyes roll back as Ben continues his work with his fingers and you almost let out a moan. Ben, seemingly knowing the way your body reacts after countless times of working it, catches you just in time, placing his other hand over your mouth. Yours and Ben’s eyes both shot towards your friends who, luckily, had seemed to have fallen asleep.
“Shh, baby.” He mutters into your ear, so quiet you could barely hear. But you could, because your body was on absolute fire, all your senses heightened. You tuck your hand underneath Ben’s shorts, unable to work properly in the awkward position you were in. As Ben’s fingers move faster so does your hand and you both breathe heavily and quickly until finally, you both reach a moment of bliss. The hand Ben had against your mouth tightened as you squirm underneath him. He watches as your chest starts to rise and fall as your breathing regulates. Neither of you say anything as Ben removes his hand from your legs and places a finger in his mouth. You turn to look at him, still feeling weak. He smirks smugly and removes his finger, then wipes it on the hem of his shorts.
“Nice work.” He whispers in your ear, wrapping both of his arms around you and pulling you into his lap. His lips meet your ear lobe and you shudder under his touch as he takes your skin between his teeth. You release a breathless laugh, your arms wrapping around his, keeping them tight against you. Ben begins to gently kiss just under your ear, leaving a trail as he makes his way down to your neck, where he then blows against your skin, causing you to squirm and wriggle as it tickles. He jabs his fingers into your ribs, reeling in the sound of your angelic laughter. Trying as hard as you could to stop his assault, you push at him, laughing, but his strength is no match against yours.
The laughter causes Joe to awaken in a jolt. Dazed, he looks around, catching sight of the two of you sitting close. His eyebrows furrow as you and Ben act as if you’d been watching the screen the entire time.
Ben casually looks over at his friend, “‘S funny.” He says pointing at the TV.
Joe just smiles lazily and closes his eyes, his head lulling back against the sofa cushion and falls back to sleep. You and Ben just giggle to each other, grateful you weren’t caught.
--
Soon after he’d fallen back to sleep, Joe and Grace woke up and went home, leaving you and Ben alone.
Finally.
“Oh Benny, I forgot to tell you.” You begin as Ben passes you a plate from the dishwasher. “I have another office party next Friday.”
He hums in interest, allowing you to continue.
“And I’d like you to come.” After drying the plate, you place it on the side with the others.
“You want to take me to an office party? I thought you loved me?” Ben grabs his chest dramatically which makes you laugh and push him gently. He staggers back, clutching tightly, pretending to choke.
“I feel betrayed.” He continues.
You rolled your eyes, the ‘L’ word completely flying over your head. You groan in fake annoyance, whining his name, dragging it out.
“Beeeeennnnnnn. Be serious, c’mon.”
He grabs you, two hands resting on your waist. He looks down at you, his beautiful green orbs flitting between yours. His face twists into a serious look, lips pouted, eyebrows crinkled. Sarcastic.
“Of course I’ll come with you, darling.” He leans down to place his lips on yours. “Anything for my girl.”
--
Office parties sucked. You’d worked at your office for just over a year and they had one every 3 months to ‘keep up company morale,’ yeah right. In your opinion, there was nothing worse than having to spend time outside of work, when you hardly liked spending your paid time with them. This month's party was being held in a botanical garden 20 minutes from your house. As you and Ben arrive hand in hand, you take in the magical setting. Taking place between boxed hedges and trees, every guest was dressed immaculately; fancy fascinators, hats and gloves. You look down at your own attire; a floor length, layered floral dress and golden strappy heels. Your dress had a square neckline which you paired with a white gold floral necklace, the sleeves of the dress came down to your elbows and were wide and floaty. Deciding to keep the focus on the dress, you wore your hair in loose ringlets, having pinned up the front layers. Ben sported a pastel pink suit paired with a classic white tee and black chelsea boots. Covering his eyes were a pair of black shades. You walk hand in hand, fitting right in with the caliber of guests. In Ben’s other hand, he juggled a bottle of water, his phone and entry lanyard. You couldn’t help but stare at the veins running up the dorsal side of his hand. At the end of the lawn was a big marquee with a temporary wooden floor for dancing. Under the white marquee were tables lining the back, topped with foods of all sorts; cucumber sandwiches, cream teas, victoria sponges, you name the English Tea Party foods and they were there.
“Hey, you made it!”
A tall man approaches you in a grey suit jacket, white button up shirt, navy dress trousers and loafers. Like Ben, he wore black shades. His smile stayed as he made his way up to you.
“Gwil, hey.” You say, smiling up at him. “This is my boyfriend, Ben.”
“Ben, nice to meet you. I’m Gwilym.” Gwil sticks his hand out towards Ben, who awkwardly holds out his full hand. Both men laughed.
“I don’t blame you mate, I wouldn’t want to let go of her either.” Gwil chuckles, nodding towards yours and Ben’s entwined hands. Ben let go of your hand, and shook Gwil’s.
“Y’alright mate?”
“Ben, uh, Gwil is a friend from the office.” You latch onto Ben’s arm, holding onto him. “Makes all those boring contracts a bit less… well boring.”
You laugh and any feelings of jealousy instantly vanish from Ben’s mind. You were his, reminded by your hand around his bicep. Ben looks Gwil up and down, scouting for any weaknesses in his new found competition.
“Glad to finally meet you mate, I’ve heard only good things,” says Gwil, still smiling.
Ben reels in knowing that you talk about him, relaxing only slightly with this information.
“I’ll let you get on guys,” Gwil starts to walk away, placing a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “Heard about your Dad by the way, hope you’re alright.”
Shit.
Gwilym walks away, having no idea of the amount of confusion he’s left Ben in. You feel Ben about to question you and immediately say,
“Ben, look! They’ve got Pimms.”
And you drag him over to the table, purely coincidentally the one with alcohol.
--
“What was Gwilym talking about earlier? About your Dad?”
The second you got home you started being interrogated by your boyfriend. With one hand balancing on the wall and the other unclipping the buckle of your heels, you look up at him, wobbling slightly.
“Doesn’t matter.” You say, placing both heels neatly in the shoe cabinet by the door.
Ben groans loudly, kicking his shoes off haphazardly and throwing his pink suit jacket over the bannisters of the stairs. He makes his way over to the fridge and gets out a beer bottle. Once having taken a sip, during which he stared at you from over the bottle, he sighs.
“Love, please, please, don’t start this again.” He leans on the kitchen island with both hands, the bottle clinking as it makes contact with the marble. At this point, you’ve made your way over to the counter, and started to pour yourself a big glass of wine. You knew where this was going and you needed help getting through it.
“Don’t keep things from me, what happened?” Ben presses.
“Miles’ dad died, Ben. My dad died.”
You stare at the counter, trying as hard as you could not to look up at Ben, because you knew you’d start crying. Ben is quick to put down his beer and make his way over to you, taking you by the shoulders and making you look at him. Neither of you say anything as he takes you in his arms. The gentle sound of his heartbeat against your ear gives you the sudden urge to cry. So you do. Big, ugly sobs into his t-shirt. His grip around you tightens, causing you to cry even harder, your hands now clutching at the material at his sides. With his hand now stroking your hair gently, he rests his head on top of yours. Ben continues to hold you as your body shakes from the overwhelming sobs. You’d finally broken down. Since crying when you’d found out about your Dad you had pushed your feelings down, not wanting anyone to know how truly distraught you were that your Dad was no longer here. Or that you now couldn’t be with your family because Miles was pushing you away.
You pull away from Ben to be met with his cheeks wet from his own tears. Holding you, seeing you in that state, he never wanted to see you that hurt again. You use your thumbs to wipe away the tears under his eyes, and he catches your hands in his, keeping them resting on his cheeks.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He whispers.
“I didn’t know how.”
He sighs and takes you back into his arms. Your cheek now smushed against the wet material of his shirt where you cried before. You stand there, in the middle of the kitchen, for a few moments more before Ben pulls away.
“Start telling me things, hm?”
You nod and reach out for him again.
This hug lasts longer, and you really don’t mind.
--
“The summer before you
I thought love was Shakespearean
More or less a painful experience
Only ever real if you're delirious…”
Your voice carried gently through the room. Sat in front of your small keyboard, your fingers nimbly played the chords. Back in bed, Ben slept soundly, completely unaware of you at the other end of the room. The morning light spilled through the thin curtains, the rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky bringing the soft sounds of birdsong with it. Mixed into all the goodness of spring mornings, was the sound of your voice. You sang softly, quietly so as not to wake your boyfriend. But there was something different this morning. Purpose peaked through in your voice, in the way your fingers were gliding against the black and white keys. Unbeknownst to you, Ben had long opened his eyes, awoken not by your voice but the feeling of the empty space in bed where you were once laying. He says nothing, not wanting to interrupt you and to simply listen. You never sang properly in front of him. He’d heard you, sure, how could he not have when you sang that loudly in the shower. But there was something so intimate about watching you play, unaware of his presence. You weren’t putting on a show, just plainly playing for your own amusement.
“But little did I know
You would be the one I confide in
Learn how to try with
Little did I know
It was you before I ever decided …
Oh-ooh, just look at you, can you blame me?”
You trail off. The first song you had written in a year. Since genuinely believing that love was a tragedy, a silent soul killer amongst people. You had vowed to never fall in love after feeling so distraught with Miles, but somehow a muscular blonde boy had made you change everything. Someone who loved you for you. Took all of your flaws and imperfections and picked them up after you dropped them on him. Someone who held you almost every night, and long into the mornings.
You turn around on the small stool in front of the keyboard, to be faced with your green eyed boyfriend, watching you from under his sleepy eyelids. He gives you a guilty smile.
The soft carpet dips underneath your feet as you walk towards him, lifting the cotton sheets and slipping into them next to Ben. His strong arms wrap around you, allowing you to rest your head on his chest and listen to the soft beat of his heart.
“Ben?”
He hums sleepily.
“I love you.”
authors note : some little references for this part!!
1. reader's outfit
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2. ben and gwil at the office party
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3. office party setting reference
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i hope you guys like it :) as always please like or reblog
office parties suck tag list : @cjand10
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hwrryscherry · 4 years
Text
 The one where the reader meets Harry as Jack
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characters: HARRYxREADER!FEM
blurb: Harry is filming Don't Worry Darling in Palms Springs while Y/N is moving in in her new house in the neighbourhood where the movie is being filmed. Turns out the fate wanted to cross Harry and Y/N's way as a box full of books is very intriguing to Harry and Pride and Prejudice becomes Harry's new favorite.
word count: 2.7K
author's note: Heyy guys, it has been SO LONG and honestly I don’t think this is best work yet lol but anyway, I had the worst writer’s block of my life so it was so hard for me to write a single word. Honestly, I felt kinda pressured to write. I felt like I was pressuring myself for that so I had to take advantage of this block and take this idea out of my mind. I want to say something important too; I really want to say that the only story of mine that I’ll keep the face claim is HARRYxMODELY/N, just because I like to use the photos to make instagram posts sometimes. I will no longer describe types of hair as I used to say ‘’long strands of hair’’, it will be neutral for you to imagine yourself in the story. It’s all about you guys and how you can visualize the story and the character, if you want to imagine a face claim that’s cool but if you don’t want to it’s cool too. Feel free to read and visualize, it’s all about you. Thank you for the support on my account and my writing. I’m aware that I’m not the best lol, but I also think that I have so much to learn from you just as I have to teach. I’m so grateful for everyone who reads and like my stuff. Never forget that you’re unique, you’re loved, you’re so golden and treat people with kindness always.
   "Why is it so hot in here? It's fucking December!", you'd think to yourself as you drove your new car through the streets of Palm Springs. The thing is that after you moved from Columbia to reside so many years in New York while you were studying English Language and Literature in Yale, you just got so used with the usual colder weather from NY and it's just a different vibe from California. You had such a hard time to decide what you wanted to do after graduating, though. And after a few weeks and some long conversations with your family, you decided you would go to California. Palm Springs, to be more specific. You decided that because you remembered all the times you went there when you were a kid because your grandmother lived in there before she passed. You remember spending your summer vacation with her and how cool it was. It was in the early 2000′s and there was many kids on your age that lived on her street. You remember playing with them all day and then getting back into your grandma’s house and feeling that cinnamon scent that for some one only her house had. It wasn’t a usual cinnamon scent. It had something special in it. It made you feel so warm and welcomed. You remember helping her to bake the most delicious cookies, brownies and cakes in her kitchen. You remember the kitchen had a yellow counter, but the entire kitchen was white. All very pale and then the cheerful yellow in the kitchen that colored everything. You remember going to play bingo with her and how it made her happy to having you around. You both were so close and you had such a hard time when she passed, but the most important was she taught you so many things during your time together, and you’d never forget those things and her.
    As you drove, you’d remember those streets vaguely. You’d pass through the soccer court you typically used to go with the other kids and spent hours playing in there. You were vibing with the song in the stereo as you started getting closer to your new house’s street. It was Carolina by Harry Styles; you have to admit you’re not the biggest Harry Styles fan in the world, but you were definitely a One Direction fan when you were around 16, but you couldn't be considered a directioner either. You just listened to a few songs and thought it was good. But anyway, this specific song is one that you particularly like. It may have something to do with the fact that you’re from Carolina, of course. But it’s more about the vibe and the melody that by being animated it could actually cheer anyone up and the lyrics were undeniably good though, a little sexual, but good. It’s more about the vibe and the melody that by being animated it could actually cheer anyone up and the lyrics were really good though, a little sexual, but good.
    When you turned the right way into the street of your new home, you came across much more than you expected to see on your moving day. There were, as it seemed, paparazzi. Apparently they were shooting a movie right in your street, and it had also many people with many cameras and trailers that probably were dressing rooms. Naturally, you knew that thousands of films were shot in California, that’s obvious. But you didn't expect one to be shooting exactly on your moving day and specifically in your street, let alone that the street would be this crowded since the world is experiencing a global pandemic, ironic. You observed some of the people walking down the street, or should you call it a set? You don't know, but there were many people and many cars, at least they were all wearing masks. It had many classic cars, probably in the 40s or 50s style. They were colorful; vivid colors, though. Colors like yellow, blue and lilac was really present. To resume, the whole street looked like a movie from the 50s and for sure that was the intention because you could notice some extras walking around the set dressed up as 50s people used to.
    As you carefully drive through the street, you’d notice that from what seemed like a divine miracle, there was a vacant parking spot right in front of your house and you can’t help but smile when you see it. The first time you came here to see the house. You were with your family, and that was about four months ago. You just loved the house completely as it had such a different vibe from the place you used to live in New York, and honestly, just the thought of the house made your creativity activate as it had some really cool colored walls and you bought some colored mobile as well. Anyway, you stopped the car right in front of your house finishing the engine and grabbing your mask and putting it in your face as you'd use your hand to get rid of the seat belt and your other hand to open the car door and get out of the car.
    After closing the driver's seat door, you go around the car walking to the trunk where you use the car key to open it. When you open it, you are faced with two cardboard boxes. One was full of books. Books of all kinds, books of period novels, books of suspense, books of investigation and etc. Books that piqued your curiosity and made you want to finish reading it as quickly as possible. The other box was already full of clothes, those last clothes that you would finally be taking home. Your mother has done the biggest job in the moving issue; she was the one who was bringing the furniture and your things while you finished packing the rest of your things to leave New York. You try your hardest not to pay attention to the set of recordings and the people who walked back and forth, at the same time that you tried hard not to make any noise, because if you accidentally disturbed a scene, you would feel extremely embarrassed and would probably not even show up at the gate until the end of filming, but that was not the case. You removed the two boxes from the trunk just before closing it completely. You chose, perhaps, to enter the clothes box first. You bent down taking the box in your arms and walked to the door of the house where you used the key you received from the real-estate agent to unlock it before entering. You immediately noticed that some sunbeams reflected on the living room floor due to the white linen curtain that covered the glass windows. You observed the contrast of the sofa in such a light tone with the lilac wall just behind it. You walked with the box in hand by the door extension to the room where you placed the box on the small coffee table in front of the sofa. Returning out of the house, you can see the figure of a tall man dressed in a brown suit crouched in front of the box of your books. He had brown hair and properly cut. It didn't look like he was messing with your books, but he was definitely looking at them and it seemed like he was trying to read the covers of it for some reason. You slowly got closer to the man's body without making too much noise while you analyzed him, you crossed your arms upon your chest as you noticed the book cover he was looking at: Love is a mixtape by Rob Sheffield.
— This one is amazing! — You said, surprising the man that stand up fastly with the book in his hands connecting his green gaze with yours. He was tall, really tall by the way. His suit seemed perfect, just as his hair. He had a black mask on as a protection but the 16 year old teenager inside of you could never mistake those eyes. It was Harry fricking Styles. You considerated being quiet as you, yourself were pretty surprised now, but then you took your gaze to the book in his hand and then back at his face — It's like comparing love to a popular song that we usually search to define love. Just to find out that love is like oxygen, or love is a kind of drug, or a battlefield for some... — You said referring to the book with a tender smile on your face that Harry couldn't essentially see, but talking about a book that you loved caused this on you. And as you talked you didn't notice that Harry had a smile on his face as well. Maybe it was because you completely ignored the fact that he is Harry Styles and he was messing up your books as he's on the set filming a movie, or maybe it was the fact that he loved this book just as much as you did. He'd use to say this is probably one of the books that if he had to read just one book to the rest of his life, he'd chose this one and he usually had so much to talk about this book and so much to put on an argument about it but now he was completely speechless. He was just tongue tied. He was tongue tied about your reflection of one of his favorite books and how it looked so identical to his own personal reflection. He was tongue tied for the number of great books that he always wanted to read that was on that box. He was tongue tied at the owner of those books and her beauty, her intelligence of her voice and her voice as well so he just chuckled. A nervous chuckle as he leaned his head to look at the floor for a second before looking at you and holding out the book in his hands to you that calmly took it from his hands.
— I know! It's one of my favorite books! — Harry'd ultimately manage to say it as he observed you admiring the cover and running your fingers through it as a truly book lover would do — It's very interesting the interpretation you have of it.
— Don't you agree? — You'd interrupt him rising your head to examine at his face. He seemed paralyzed by some way, little did you know that Harry was mesmerized. He enjoyed the informal way you were speaking with him, and it genuinely felt like you already knew it each for years.
— That's the intriguing part. We have the same interpretation! — He'd say serenely, and then running his hand through his hair as he frown a little because of the sun that just hit on his glowing eyes.
— Well...Maybe you're just trying to imitate me to impress me! — You'd joke, with a mocking expression on your face making Harry giggle at your words and your face. It was the sense of humor to him.
— Oh really? And what makes you think I'm trying to impress you? — Harry'd say back with the same mocking tone that you formerly used. He'd observe your face go from playful to thoughtful in just as you to come up with a response.
— I mean...you were the one looking through my stuff, mister! — You say raising your eyebrows as you utilized one of your hands to take some strands of hair out of your face.
— Right... — Harry said with a defeated voice before as he compressed his lips together and moved his suit away from his shirt a little as he places his hands on his waist — I'm sorry about it, though. There was this box hanging here and I guess I was just intrigued! — He said shyly making you start walking towards the box walking closely to him causing him to feel a hot warm from your body as you passed. You'd bend over to grab the box but was stopped by Harry taking the heavy box from your hands — Let me help you with this! — Harry said as he held the box on his arms.
— There's no need for that. It'll ruin your splendid suit! — You'd say gently to him as he was standing up in front of you carefully holding the loaded box. Legitimately, he looked hot. He properly looked like a 50s husband helping with the moving with this outfit — And if you piss off your costume designer because of me I'll die! — You'd complement receiving a loud laugh from Harry's lips that shook his head while looking at you.
— She’ll be fine! — Harry'd argue back, then get a sigh from you before nodding at him as a statement.
— My house is right there! — You'd say using your right hand to point at your house, watching Harry turn his back to you and start walking towards it. You followed him through the door that was already open. Harry looked at the house immediately. It had a good vibe, and he wouldn't deny it. The choice of colors was exceptional, but he also noticed it was not very tidy, which would probably indicate that you were moving today.
— Where do I leave it? — Harry asked, referring to the box as he went farther into the living room.
— You can just leave it on the floor — You serenely said crossing your arms together and watching as he left the box on the floor and turned around to face you, but then deflecting his gaze to the ceiling before staring at your face again.
— It's a beautiful house! — Harry said as he moved his gaze through the room. He observed everything. He likes to observe. He likes to notice things that maybe other people didn't — Just like the owner, if I might say — Harry said cheekily and charming hearing your giggle invade his ears as you started walking towards the box of books that he previously set on the floor.
— The owner says thank you — You said bending down and starting to take the books out of the box and place it on the coffee table beside you as Harry watched your movements. You shyly looked at him thinking for a second and them smiling under your mask — For both compliments! — You said getting your attention back to the books. It's not that you don't want to give him your attention. It's that you genuinely think that he's just being nice, and he's probably not even interested in anything that you say.
— So... I have to go back to the film now but maybe you can give me your number so we can talk about your interpretation of my favorite book — Harry said shyly. His words took you by surprise actually but you couldn't hold back the smirk you had under your mask as you stand up again turning to face his green eyes. You noticed that he had his phone on his hand, hoping and waiting that you'd give him your number even though both of you knew that the book excuse was nothing more than an excuse as he was truly interested in knowing you.
— Well, it depends... — you said slowly as you took a deep breath before actually saying anything — If you agree to read my favorite books too, I'll give you my number!
— I'd be honored! — Harry chuckled after letting a sigh out feeling relief that you asked for something so simple that he'd love to do if that would make you happy — What's your name? — Harry said as he unblocked his phone screen and started to save your phone number.
— Save it as Elizabeth Bennet in there! — You said fastly with a proud smile on your face as Harry giggled and did as you ask and then looked at your face as he put his phone back on his pocket.
— Only if you save my name as Mr. Darcy when I call you! — Harry said knowing that after this, Pride and Prejudice would definitely become one of his favorite books ever.
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ramblingroommate · 2 years
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Not Me rewatch ep.1 (pt.2)
*Cool details*
• White holding his breath
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This is one of the reasons this show deserves to be rewatched. This right here. First time watching? White is just under water for a couple seconds, nothing weird, it doesn’t really mean anything, just makes the voice over sound edgier. Second time watching? PAIN! ANGST! ALL THE FEELINGS! White never stopped trying to contact Black and now I’m crying. Gosh, I love this detail so damn much.
• Russian
I love that White speaks Russian while in Russia and at first with his dad! Yes he switches to Thai pretty fast but I’m so glad they decided to put it in at all + he forgets some Thai words in class (I’m unfortunately way too used to show where characters’ linguistic backgrounds are completely ignored). Round of applause for Gun too because in the behind the scenes he kept practicing to make it as fluent as possibile and he had a pretty lengthy scene with the Russian character.
• White and his dad
I specifically want to talk about the scene where White talks with his girlfriend about moving back to Thailand. I didn’t catch it the first time but his girlfriend asks him if his dad is going back with him and White tells her that he’s been gone for the past two years. I really like this detail because it leaves a lot implied. How did his girlfriend not know that? Did they just get together? It didn’t feel like a new relationship but neither of them was particularly sad about breaking up either. Does White just never talk about his family? And on the note of family, has he spent the last two years ALONE in Russia? So many questions.
•White and his dad about Black
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This scene is brief but MAN do I love it. Adul asking White to forget about Black while living in a house full of photos of them together? Sounds like a man who sees when there’s a problem but decides to ignore it for his own benefit even if other people are going to suffer because of it…. 👀
• How stiff White is
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This is something I’m probably going to talk about more in depth later on but White is SO stiff and uncomfortable in the first couple of episodes! So much so that the first time I was watching I was squirming in my own skin, I felt how out of place he was. Gun did such an amazing job portraying him they way he did I could tell he was unsatisfied with his life before they ever mentioned it, it was just so obvious.
• The make up
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Not too much to say about this, I just wanted to shout it out because it looks nasty. Which is the point so good job! I’ve rarely seen such realistic injuries on tv before (you usually need a high budget movie or otherwise settle for whatever unrealistic looking scratches they paint on the poor actors).
• Makeover montage
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So first of all I LOVE makeover montages, okay? I know a lot of people find them cheesy but I love them with all my heart and think they make every show/movie better. Is this a very unconventional makeover scene? Yes. Will I still count it as such? YES!
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4stars-uswnt · 4 years
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Home Is Wherever I’m With You [Christen Press x Reader]
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requested by anon: Hey, there just want to drop of this prompt in case you feel like writing it. Reader got home after a few months being away from CP because of the quarantine, maybe a moment of CP confronting R that she’s jealous of R’s teammate that got to lockdown together. Thanks.
A/N: after a week break (for the election and other stresses of life) (and technically i haven’t written in like three weeks bc of life and school), we’re BACK! hope y’all like this one :) and as always, feedback is more than welcome!! anyways, back to your regularly scheduled programming... 
“Hey, baby, I’m home,” you call out, as you enter the LA apartment you shared with your girlfriend, closing the door behind you, “fucking finally.” You mumble under your breath, as you drop your bags onto the floor.
“(Y/N)!” Christen runs from the bedroom upon hearing your voice, but before she can crash into you for a long-awaited hug, you put up your hands to stop her.
“Woah, Chris,” you almost falter at the sight of her pout, “I just got off a plane and came from the airport. I need to shower and get all these yucky germs off me.” You smell your shirt and make a face to exaggerate your point.
“But I missed you.” Christen pouts, and you give her a sympathetic smile.
“I missed you too, babe, but I just wanna be extra safe. Can’t have you getting sick or anything like that.” You wink, as you make your way to the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a minute.” Blowing her a kiss, you disappear down the hallway.
Christen sinks down into the couch, letting out a frustrated groan. If the forward was being honest with herself, she more than missed you; she was jealous. Although she knew that you loved her and only her and the two of you had been dating for almost two years, Christen couldn’t help the green-eyed monster from taking over when she constantly saw you on Sofia Huerta’s instagram.
The past two months, you had to quarantine in Seattle and stay in your apartment that you shared with Sofia during the season, while waiting for COVID to settle down enough for you to travel. During that time, you and Sofia spent a lot of time together, doing anything to keep you entertained.
Unfortunately for you, Sofia had often posted on her Instagram story photos and videos of your activities, whether it be a movie night or a bike around Discovery Park, leading to a very annoyed Christen Press.
It wasn’t that Christen was jealous in the sense that she thought there was something going on between you and the midfielder, more so that she was jealous that it was Sofia that got to spend time doing all that fun stuff with you rather than her.
Too caught up in her thoughts, Christen didn’t notice you plop down next to her. “You there?”
“Hmm,” she turns to face you, “yeah, yeah, just got lost in thought.”
“Well, now that I’m all clean,” you smirk, wiggling your eyebrows suggestively, as you move to straddle your girlfriend, “I thought we could make up for some lost time.”
“I like the sound of that.” Christen leans in closer to connect your lips.
—————
The next morning, after a long uneventful night, you woke up in your own bed next to your girlfriend for the first time in months. Turning over, you smile and admire the sleeping woman next to you. Wanting to do something somewhat romantic, you silently slip out of bed, careful not to wake your girlfriend, and head to the kitchen to make some breakfast.
As you were fixing up some coffee and healthy yogurt, oats, and chia seeds (or whatever healthy stuff your girlfriend puts in her breakfast), Christen was groggily waking up. Rolling over, she reaches out to the other side of the bed, expecting to find your warm body, only to be disappointed with cold sheets. Christen rubs her eyes and sits up, but before she could call out to you, you enter the bedroom, carrying a tray with two bowls and a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, sunshine.” You smile, leaning down to give your girlfriend a peck. “Brought you some breakfast in bed.”
“Thanks, babe.” Christen’s heart melted, as she looks to see what you made. “Aw, and you even made my favorite.”
“Yup.” You playfully boast and wink. “Your favorite for my favorite.”
Your girlfriend can’t help but giggle at your cheesiness. “Well, thank you. I appreciate it, love.”
Right as you go to take a bite, Christen grabs your wrist. “Wait.”
“Whatttttt?” You whine like a child.
“Lemme take a photo.” She explains gently, ignoring your antics.
You roll your eyes, as she takes a photo of your bowls and posts it to her Instagram story:
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The two of you spend the rest of the morning in bed, eating breakfast, giggling, catching up, and just enjoying each other’s much missed presence.
—————
Later that afternoon, as the two of you were doing your separate tasks, Christen preoccupied with re-inc and you with your article for the tribune, you finish typing your thought and shut your laptop. You get up from the sofa and approach your girlfriend, who’s sitting at the kitchen counter, wrapping your arms around her waist and resting your chin on her shoulder.
“You almost done?”
“Almost.” Christen hums, smiling slightly, as you kiss her shoulder and then her neck, making your way up to her cheek.
“I’m bored.”
Christen finishes writing her email and then turns around to face you. “Well, what do you wanna do?”
“You’re done?” You ask, feeling slightly guilty from pulling her away from her work, knowing she had more to do.
“I can be, if you offer up a better alternative.” Christen teases.
“Oh, I definitely have something better to offer.” You smirk and bring her in for a deep kiss. You immediately swipe your tongue on her bottom lip, asking for an entrance, which the green-eyed woman grants. Your mouths move in a perfect harmony, like a well-rehearsed dance. As you kiss down her throat, Christen lets out a sigh.
“Yeah,” she breaths, “this is definitely better.”
“Yeah?” You mumble into her neck.
“Mhmm.”
“Well then,” you pull your head out of the crook of her neck, “you’re just gonna have to wait till later because I found this Bob Ross tutorial that we’re gonna do.” You exclaim giddily, and you give Christen’s nose a quick kiss.
“Really, (Y/N)?” She calls out after you, as you go to get the supplies, slightly riled up. But when you come back, balancing canvases in one hand and paints and brushes in the other, Christen completely forgets about her frustration, as she sees your enthusiastic smile.
“C’mon, Chris.” You nod your head for her to follow you into the dining area. “And bring some wine too!”
Christen laughs, shaking her head, but grabs a bottle of rosé and two glasses.
“So what scene are we painting?”
“‘Island in the Wilderness.’” You scroll through YouTube until clicking on the video.
“Sounds hard.” Christen states hesitantly, as she pours some wine for the both of you.
“Eh, it probably is, but that’s the fun of it.” You shrug, thanking her, as she hands you your glass.
“Whatever you say, babe.”
While you’re setting up the canvases on easels and open up the necessary paints, Christen quickly pulls out her phone to take a picture of the set up, once again adding it to her story:
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“Ready?” You turn to your girlfriend, about to start the video. Christen nods and picks up one of the brushes.
About 10 minutes into the tutorial, you lean back into your chair, frustrated by the difficulty of the painting.
“Ugh! This is so hard.” You set your brush down, replacing it with your glass of wine. “How does Bob make it look so easy? Mine looks nothing like his, or even yours.” Pouting, you gesture to Christen’s piece, which unfairly looks quite similar to the video’s.
Your girlfriend just chuckles at you, giving you a quick kiss on the cheek, hoping to placate you. “(Y/N/N), yours is looking great.”
“You have to say that. You’re my girlfriend.” You huff jokingly.
Christen ignores you and continues to watch Bob paint some trees just by flicking his brush back and forth.
Having given up on your own painting, you sit back and watch your girlfriend gracefully paint. You soon become bored, Bob Ross’s soothing voice almost putting you to sleep, so you grab one of your brushes. Reaching out, you poke Christen’s cheek, dotting blue paint across the side of her face.
Her jaw drops, and she turns to face you, as you have to stifle your laughter.
“You did not just do that.” She glares at you, readying her own brush, and before you know it, you have a stripe of green paint down your nose.
You raise your eyebrows at your girlfriend and then narrow your eyes. “Oh, it is so on.” You reach out in front of you and dip your hands in paint, and you see Christen out of the corner of your eye doing the same.
Before she could prepare herself, you’re smearing paint up and down her arms.
“Hey!” Christen shouts. “That’s not fair. I wasn’t ready.”
“All is fair in love and war.” You cheekily smirk.
“Alright, if you wanna play that way…” Christen trails off, as she cups your cheeks with her painted hands, squishing them together, effectively rubbing paint all over your face. “There you go, love.”
“That’s it. You are so getting it.” You wipe your mouth, where some paint had gotten.
Christen squeals and goes to run away, causing you to chase after her. Catching up to her, which is no easy task, fortunately for you, the forward had been wearing socks, you wrap your arms around her waist and pick her up. You nuzzle your nose in the crook of her neck, effectively spreading the paint.
“(Y/N), my clothes!” Your girlfriend exclaims in between laughs.
“It’ll wash out. And if not, I’m pretty sure you have like at least ten other shirts just like that.” You set the other woman back down on the floor, and she turns to wrap her arms around your neck.
“I love you, (Y/N).” She says with a giant grin on her face.
“I love you too, Christen.” You rubs your nose against hers, snorting when you see paint end up on her nose. “You’re more beautiful than any art piece.”
Christen giggles and brings you in for a sweet kiss. Pulling away, she backs away from you, slowly turning around to head to down the hallway.
“I think I could use a shower now.” Christen reaches for the hem of her shirt and pulls it over her head. Looking over her shoulder, she throws you a wink, as she unclips her bra. “You coming?”
Your eyes widen at the sight of the smooth skin of your girlfriend’s back. Shaking your head, you knock yourself out of your stupor and eagerly follow Christen into the bathroom, almost tripping on your own two feet.
—————
About twenty minutes later, the two of you are clean, having gotten rid of nearly all the paint off your bodies. As you’re going to get dressed, you notice Christen changing into a pair of sweat shorts.
“Babe, you might wanna change into something a little warmer.”
“What? Why?” Christen furrows her eyebrows, tilting her head in confusion. “What’s wrong with my shorts?”
“You mean besides the fact that they’re mine?” You tease, earning a blush from your girlfriend. “We’re going out.” You tell her succinctly.
“What? Where?”
“It’s a surprise.” You pull on a pair of loose jeans and slip on a warm sweater.
“Well, will you at least tell me what to wear?” Christen prods.
“Wear some layers. It might get cold.” You give her a quick kiss before heading into the kitchen to prepare your surprise, leaving your girlfriend absolutely clueless and struggling to pick out some clothes.
While Christen was fussing over her outfit, you quickly put together some fruit, and some cheese and crackers into a picnic basket, along with the bottle of rosé, two glasses, and a blanket. Scanning the apartment, you quickly thought of what else you needed. You snatch two of the pillows from the couch and stuff them in another bag.
'What else? Is that everything?’ You think to yourself. ‘Flowers, definitely need some flowers!’
You grab the basket and the bag with the pillows and head to the front door. “Chris, I’m gonna go pick up the mail!” While that was only partly true, as the mail had definitely been sitting in your box all day, you were also gonna go put these bags in your car and pick some flowers on the way out.
“Okay, thanks, babe!” She yells back from the bedroom. With that, you kick the door shut behind you and head down to the garage.
After having picking some flowers from the shared garden at the front of your apartment building, putting everything in the trunk, and grabbing the mail, you reenter your apartment.
“What took so long?” Christen asks with no malice in her voice.
You look up from the mail, and your breath hitches. Your girlfriend was wearing a simple outfit, a pair of light-washed jeans and a sherpa quarter zip, and her curly hair was in a half-up-half-down bun. While it may be simple, her beauty never failed to take your breath away.
“(Y/N)?” She pulls you out of your thoughts.
“Sorry,” you shake your head, “I ran into Jerry, and he wanted to know, and I quote, ‘where the hell’ I’ve been.”
Christen chuckles. “Of course he did.”
Jerry was the doorman and was very excited when he found at that Christen Press and (Y/N) (Y/L/N) would be living in the building, as he was a huge fan of women’s soccer.
“So, you ready?” You reach out to take your girlfriend’s hand.
“Yup.” She squeezes your hand. “You still not gonna tell me where we’re going?”
“Nope.” You quip. “You’ll just have to be patient, my love.”
“Fine.” Christen pouts, and you kiss her cheek, wiping the frown off her face.
—————
It was about a fifteen minute drive to the beach from your apartment, and when Christen recognized the familiar route, she piped up.
“We’re going to the beach?”
“Mhmm.” You hum. “You’re too smart for your own good, Press.”
“That’s what happens when you go to Stanford.” Christen teases, knowing your distain towards the school, you yourself having gone to Cal.
“Whatever.” You mumble under your breath, earning a small giggle from the other woman.
You park the car and race around to open Christen’s door for her. “M’lady.” You say with a fake posh British accent, as you hold your hand out for her to take.
“Why thank you.” She blushes, responding with her own accent.
As you open the trunk and pull out the things for your picnic, Christen’s eyes soften and feels her whole body flush with a warmth she could only describe as love.
“(Y/N/N),” she gasps, “what is all of this for?”
Closing the trunk, you give her a goofy grin. “What? I have to have a reason to spoil my girlfriend and take her on a romantic picnic on the beach?”
“I mean— no.” Christen’s cheeks tint pink.
“That’s what I thought.” You throw her a wink. “Now, c’mon, this food won’t eat itself!”
The two of you make your way down onto the beach, finding the perfect spot where there weren’t very many people. After you finish setting up the blanket and pillows and unpack the picnic basket, Christen snaps a photo of the serene setting, as the sun is almost setting.
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“Chris, come join me!” You wave over your girlfriend, who notices that you’re now sitting on the blanket, snacking on some grapes.
The forward slips off her shoes and takes a seat next to you, sinking her toes in the sand.
“This is amazing, (Y/N).” Christen intertwines your fingers and kisses the back of your hand. “Thank you for this, and this entire day really. I don’t know what I did to deserve it.”
“Just being you, Chris. You deserve the world.” You smile softly. “Annnddd, I figured since we’ve been apart for so long, this was the least I could do.”
“Well, thank you, again.”
You lean in to give her a sweet kiss. “Anytime, babe.” And Christen could tell by your voice, and just from knowing you, that you truly did mean any time, that you would do anything for her because she would do anything for you.
Watching the sunset, the two of you snack on the food and sip on the wine you’d brought, conversing about plans for the holidays and the upcoming Olympics.
At the break of your conversations, as you sit in silence, watching the waves crash and the last rays of sun reflect across the water, you feel your phone buzz. Checking the screen, you see it’s a text from Megan, and you chuckle in amusement but also in confusion.
“Chris, do you know why Pinoe texted me saying: ‘Thanks for making me look bad with all your romantic gestures. Now Sue is badgering me, asking why I never do stuff like that for her.’?”
“Um, I have no idea.” Christen looks down, suddenly finding the sand incredibly interesting.
“Hmm, okay.” You eye your girlfriend suspiciously, as you text your teammate back, asking her what she’s talking about. Seconds later, you get a response telling you to check Christen’s Instagram story. Opening the app, you click on your girlfriend’s posts and notice she’s documented the activities throughout your day, from breakfast in bed to painting Bob Ross to your romantic picnic.
Looking up from your phone, you turn to Christen and see she’s still fiddling with the grains of sand.
“Chris?” You gently coax. “Is this what Pinoe was talking about?”
She nods, feeling embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no,” you grab her hands, guiding her to look at you, “I’m not mad at you, baby, not at all.”
You weren’t angry or upset with her for posting those pictures, as your relationship wasn’t a secret to anybody, but you knew this wasn’t like Christen at all. You knew your girlfriend was a very private person, not one to post or flaunt your relationship on social media, and you respected her decisions and boundaries, being a somewhat conserved person as well.
“I’m just surprised, that’s all.” You continue, gently brushing a loose hair out of her face. “What brought this on?”
Christen murmurs something under her breath.
“I’m sorry? I didn’t quite catch that.”
She takes a deep breath and repeats herself. “I wanted to show everyone that you’re mine. I know it’s stupid, but I was a jealous of Sofia and how you two got to spend so much time together. And I know that you would never ever cheat on me, I know that, (Y/N), but it just sucked that I couldn’t be with you for the past two months, so I just wanted to show people that—“
You bring your girlfriend’s face closer to yours and kiss her, cutting off her rambling. Leaning your forehead against hers, you look deeply into her eyes.
“I love you, Christen. And being away from you for these past two months absolutely sucked because you’re my home, Chris, as cheesy as that sounds it’s true. I’m sorry if I did anything to make you feel like I was ignoring you by spending time with Sofia. I love you and only you.”
Christen shakes her head. “No, (Y/N), you didn’t do anything wrong, I promise. I was just frustrated by this whole pandemic and not being able to spend time with you.”
“Me too, Chris, me too.” You pepper her face with kisses, causing her to throw her head back giggling.
“And I’m sorry if me posting stuff from our day made you uncomfortable.” Christen apologizes sincerely, before nudging you with a slight smirk on her face. “I just wanted to show off my amazing romantic girlfriend to the world.”
You let out a hearty laugh. “I don’t mind being shown off, babe, not at all.”
“Good, because I plan on doing it for a long time. You’re stuck with me.” She sticks out her tongue at you, earning a fond smile.
“Lucky me.”
329 notes · View notes
wherethewordsare · 4 years
Text
Sweater Weather- Mutual Pining for Jay’s 400 Follower Bingo!!
He’d found it after a movie night, draped over the back of the couch. He held it up to confirm and yep. There was no mistaking the hood and the bulky black sleeves. It looked like it may have gone through the dryer about twelve times too many and the zipper pull was barely hanging on. He let his thumb rub against the hem of the sleeve, shaking his head. Jaskier tucked the hoodie under his arm as he pulled out his phone, smiling to himself. 
geralt
u left ur hoodie
its cold and everything how do u forget that
ur worse than ciri smh 
Just hold onto it, I’ll grab it next time. 
And I am not worse than Ciri. I’m not the one who’s left his phone in the Denny’s bathroom at 2am…. Twice…
Last month. 
shhhhh :P
Throwing his phone down, Jaskier went to his closet. He was going to just hang up the hoodie and Geralt would get it eventually. Honestly, he was going to put it away. But then he pressed his face into the shoulder and sighed.  
This was wrong. He should just hang it up and return it when they saw each other again. He wasn’t about to let this silly little infatuation with Geralt ruin a perfectly good friendship. Especially not over a stupid hoodie.
Unfortunately, Jaskier's self restraint had taken the night off. Before he could stop himself, Jaskier was sliding his arms in, zipping up the front and crawling into bed. One night of indulging wasn’t going to hurt anyone. Even if it felt like his chest was splitting open. He shifted a little under the covers, burying his nose into the collar as he drifted off to sleep. They had been through so much together since they met in high school, wasn’t Jaskier allowed this one little thing, just this once?
-o-O-o-
i still have ur hoodie
u want it back cause we could like meet up for coffee 
we could go to the nag :) 
He snapped a picture of the hoodie and a travel mug in his passenger seat, sending it off. 
Can’t today. :(
Parent teacher meetings and then Dad wants us to help him fix the roof.
I could use my hoodie today, it’s cold… 
omgl finally
thought id have to do it
Jask… no. 
:/ fine then
see if i try to be helpful again
jk jk
dont die
I dont wanna do handywork :3 
Geralt had been right. It was cold, and Jaskier had forgotten his own jacket at home. He frowned down at the hoodie and sighed. It was only because it was chilly. Nothing else. He tried to ignore how it still smelled so strongly of Geralt. He walked around the gallery wrapped in Geralt’s hoodie, the front unzipped and his hands buried in the sleeves. 
-o-O-o-
hehe crispy leaf time
the cold is coming 
Yes, Jaskier. That’s how seasons work
u know what that means~
Geralt did not in fact, know what that meant but he soon found out. He was in the middle of typing when a picture came up with the caption “stolen hoodie weather :3” with Jaskier curled up on his couch at home, snuggled up in the black zip up hoodie Geralt only remembered leaving there early last Spring. 
Something in his stomach flipped and he looked around to make sure no one was watching him. Why? Why would it matter if someone saw him? It was just Jaskier.
He frowned and started typing again. He stopped and erased it, fighting down the small smile that was starting to tilt the corners of his mouth. 
You kept it?
Way to go, Geralt. That was really fucking smooth. What was he supposed to mean by that?
unlike u :(((
abandoner of hoodies
some of us appreciate the gift of comfort geralt
Geralt felt like his brain was melting. That thing in his stomach seemed to purr with satisfaction at the idea of Jaskier wearing his hoodie. It was petty and ridiculous and oh no, Geralt couldn't take his eyes off the way the black material framed Jaskier's collarbone. 
No. No no. This way lay madness, he told himself. He would simply get the hoodie back and that was that. 
hey when do u wanna do our next movie night
its been like
7099039 years
Geralt hesitated for a moment. He had never hesitated when it came to Jaskier. They had known each other for far too long. 
Sure. My turn to pick?
not if u choose a history documentary
Spy movie?
:0 promise?
yes pls
Should I bring wine?
Wait, no that would be a very bad idea. 
:) you know it
bring the good shit
eskels secret one
i know you can find it 
It’s called “google” Jaskier. Even I know that. And I will see what I can do.
same time and place as normal right
It’s a date.
Geralt felt as though his soul had left his body when he had hit send. Had he lost his entire mind? He was in the middle of typing a follow up, trying to word the best way to dismiss his complete and total departure from sanity when the little dots popped up then disappeared then popped up again.
It’s a date. :)
Jaskier nearly slammed the door back into Geralt’s face in shock. Geralt was standing in the hall, bottle of wine in one hand, movie and carry out in the other. Then there was the shirt. Jaskier had actually helped him pick it out. The black button up, the sleeves rolled up and was his hair actually combed back? He looked good. Jaskier swallowed hard. He looked really damn good. 
But that wasn’t even the weird part. No, the weird part was the way Geralt’s eyes widened when he had opened the door. He recovered quickly though, nodding at Jaskier as he stepped in. 
“Didn’t think you’d let the apartment be cold enough you’d need to wear a hoodie.” He smirked, setting the bag down on the table before going right into the kitchen. 
“Comfort, Geralt. I’m telling you, I just don’t think you appreciate it enough.”  Jaskier followed him in. It was routine for them, the way Geralt got the wine open, Jaskier grabbed plates and silverware; the way they bickered and snarked, barely suppressing laughs through barbs. 
-o-O-o-
The coffee table was littered with cartons of orange chicken and fried noodles. Geralt set his plate down as he leaned back, slinging his arm across the back of the couch. He had to smile at the sense of deja vu that struck him. Casino Royale wasn’t just a comfort movie for them. It had been their first movie night nearly fifteen years ago. 
By now, they could practically quote the entire thing, make quips at Bond’s smugness and only just sit through that one scene without wincing. At least that’s what they told themselves. 
Now they watched as Bond and Vesper reconnect outside of that fancy English rehab center. Jaskier chorused him as they both rolled their eyes and sighed at Bond’s shitty lines about little fingers. 
“God he’s the worst.” Jaskier took a sip of wine, making a gagging sound. 
“Quantum still exists.” he chuckled. 
“Valid!” Jaskier set his wine down. 
Geralt leaned over as Bond delivered his next line, syncing his tone and dropping into a soft gravelly murmur. 
“Whatever I am, I’m yours.” It was supposed to be cheesy and ridiculous but Geralt found that it felt far too honest. There was truth to them that he couldn’t think to deny now.
Jaskier nearly choked as he looked up, his eyes going wide. Geralt watched as he leaned into his personal space. Time felt like it stuttered to a halt in that moment, Jaskier inches from him, still draped in his hoodie. Geralt wet his lips anxiously. The tension between them felt like a powerline pulled too tight; everything seemed to crackle with it. 
“Geralt-” 
Whatever he was going to say was lost the second Geralt closed the distance, pressing his mouth to Jaskier’s. It was nearly magnetic and there was no pulling away. Geralt’s hands strayed down to Jaskier’s thighs without his realizing it. There was no way he could stop himself now. He’d wanted this for far too long to just let it go. Part of him would mourn the loss of his oldest friendship, but that was Tomorrow Geralt’s problem. 
Jaskier’s arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer as Geralt tugged Jaskier into his lap clumsily. 
Geralt had to break the kiss first, pulling back gasping for air and pressing their foreheads together.
“Jask… Wait. Wait,” Geralt choked. He had to tilt his head back to get his words out as Jaskier dipped back in to start kissing him again. “Shit. Jaskier…” He already sounded wrecked to his own ears. His hands were on Jaskier’s hips, thumbs rubbing soft circles against his sides as he looked up, eyes searching. “Are you sure you want this?” 
He needed to hear it. He needed to know he was allowed to have this. It was one thing to say it would be Tomorrow Geralt’s problem, but it was another to actively throw away the best friendship he had ever had. He had spent too long pretending they could be just friends for it to fall apart like this. 
Jaskier crowded in closer and it took everything in him not to just give in to it because fuck that felt amazing. There was an easy smile across his lips that made Geralt feel like he was starving. 
“Geralt, I swear to the gods, don’t you dare start questioning this now,” as open as his face was, his voice trembled slightly. It was then that Geralt realized that Jaskier was practically vibrating under his palms. It was instinct the way he wrapped his arms around Jaskier’s middle, pulling him closer. “I’ve been wanting this for at least a solid decade.” 
Geralt blinked hard as he gaped up at Jaskier. 
“Are you really that surprised, Geralt?” Jaskier hummed, leaning back down and pressing a surprisingly chaste kiss to his cheek.
“Hmm. Maybe not.” He found himself chuckling, trying to breathe around the bubble of light that was threatening to fill his entire chest. He caught Jaskier’s mouth again, his hand coming up to slide into his hair, holding him close. 
It was hard to tell who had deepened the kiss further but the laughter died on his tongue when he felt Jaskier roll his hips down into his lap. Suddenly everything was too much and achingly not enough. The hoodie slipped down Jaskier’s shoulders and what little attention span Geralt had left zeroed into that same spot along Jaskier’s collarbone. 
Pulling Jaskier closer, he made a trail of graceless open mouthed kisses along his jaw and down the firm column of his neck, his teeth raking over the spot with careless abandon. He was rewarded with a soft keen and Jaskier squirming in his arms. Long dexterous fingers wound into his hair, cradling his head as his own found their way up the back of Jaskier’s shirt. 
“Geralt-” There was a tug in his hair and fuck shit yes. He must have made some kind of noise because he felt Jaskier chuckle fondly. “Geralt, as much as I am enjoying this,” he gasped, back arching as Geralt nipped just below his ear, “Bedroom. Now.”
There was no arguing with that tone nor could he bring himself to find anything to argue about. Geralt tilted his head back up, Jaskier’s lips crushing in against his, taking every last remaining shred of doubt away. He felt his body switch to autopilot as he scooped Jaskier up from under his thighs, pleased at the way his legs wrapped around him automatically. He carried him easily, stopping only for a moment to pin Jaskier to the wall to adjust his grip under him, long enough to flick the lights off. 
Jaskier snorted, pulling away. “So considerate.” He teased. Geralt gave him a playful swat on his thigh and the chuckling was cut off by one of those delicious keening noises. 
Geralt half stumbled, half marched to where he knew Jaskier’s bedroom to be, blindly pushing the door open with his foot. He let himself bask in the heat of Jaskier’s body pressed to his, taking his bottom lip and biting it. 
The reality of where he was came crashing down on him and time was doing that thing again, slowing down as someone else with his hands kneeled against the side of the bed, letting them both tumble back into ridiculously lavish sheets. Years of habitual teasing were only tamped down by Jaskier’s insistent fingers making quick work of the buttons on the front of Geralt’s shirt. 
“You just had to wear this one, didn’t you.” Apparently not everyone was so distracted not to tease. “Do you know how hard it was not to just pull you into my apartment and kiss that ridiculous face of yours?” 
Geralt gave a wry smile. “Do you know how hard it’s been for fifteen years, being your best friend and thinking I would never get to kiss that beautiful face of yours?” 
He had to bite the inside of his lip as Jaskier’s whole face and neck flushed brilliant pink in the low light. 
“Geralt!” he practically whined and Geralt couldn’t stop from laughing softly at that, bending back down to kiss him again. He decided he couldn’t help himself, not really. 
This was too good. If he could just bottle this moment and tuck it away for every rainy day for the rest of his life, he would.  
“I guess I’ll just have to make it up to you now.” Geralt hummed happily. He shifted, the hand under Jaskier’s thigh moving to tug his hips flush with Geralt’s as his other hand moved to cup his face. “As long as you’re okay with that.” 
Geralt was pretty sure they were too far gone to ever go back, but even now, he had to make sure.
“Geralt Roger Eric…” Jaskier groused. “If you do not come back down here and kiss-” his words were muffled by Geralt’s mouth, his tongue sliding over Jaskier’s bottom lip and swallowing whatever ridiculous threats may have been lobbed at him. 
He found that kissing Jaskier had been easier than breathing. Before he knew it, Geralt was pulling back to pull off his shirt but his hands froze. He cursed under what breath he had left because the view of Jaskier under him, lips kiss bruised and shining, the needy look in his eyes, and the way his hair was pushed in every direction nearly undid Geralt completely. 
He snapped back to work, stripping out of his shirt and pushing at his jeans, letting them slide away. 
“C'mere you gorgeous thing.” Geralt murmured softly, pulling Jaskier to him before rolling, his back pressed up against the headboard. 
Jaskier shimmied out of his own jeans before straddling Geralt’s thighs, letting his fingers trail up the planes of Geralt’s chest, a stray fingernail grazing over his nipple, making him groan. Jaskier only grinned, leaning in, and nipping at Geralt’s neck. 
All Geralt could do was groan and tilt his head back, his hands sliding over Jaskier’s back. He was just aware enough to realize when Jaskier started to work his way down his body. Looking down, he watched in complete awe as nimble fingers hooked into his boxers. 
The first touch of Jaskier’s mouth to the jut of Geralt’s hip had his blood singing and he could only drop his head back against the wall. He hadn’t realized how achingly hard he was until Jaskier was biting down gently on Geralt’s upper thigh making him jump. 
There was a low chuckle from somewhere around his groin and then there was a sharp tug on his boxers. Jaskier wasted no time getting a hand around Geralt’s cock while he still playfully nipped at Geralt’s hip and thigh and abs. This was how he was going to die, he thought absently as he let his hand move to the back of Jaskier’s head. He let his fingers tangle there, tugging gently and Jaskier seemed to get the message though he could feel the smirk against his inner thigh. 
The weight of Jaskier between his thighs, one hand sliding up Geralt’s torso as the other stroked him lightly left Geralt breathless, his eyes fluttering at every touch. But it was when Jaskier wrapped his mouth around the head of his cock that Geralt felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin. He bucked his hips instinctively into the hot slick of Jaskier’s mouth before he could stop himself. 
For long moments, all Geralt could do was hold on. Jaskier took him slowly, seeming to savor the newly found ground between them as he bobbed further and further until Geralt was nudging the back of his throat. He gasped, his back arching when Jaskier swallowed around him, his responding hum a little too self satisfied. 
Geralt tightened his grip in Jaskier’s hair only slightly, tugging him up. It was messy and Jaskier’s mouth was open and slick, his eyes glazed slightly with a need that left Geralt breathless. He looked debauched and it was honestly the most beautiful thing Geralt had ever seen. 
“Fuck,” he groaned pulling Jaskier back into his lap, his hips stuttering to grind up against Jaskier’s thigh. 
Jaskier pressed in close, panting slightly as he broke a kiss that had been more teeth than anything, leaning his forehead to Geralt’s. “Mm, fuck. We- Ah,” He chuckled as Geralt dipped in to kiss him again, dodging away gracefully. “Geralt, I need-” he licked his lips , taking a shaky breath. “Want you to-” 
Geralt was already nodding. He would agree to anything Jaskier asked for but the way his hips ground down against Geralt’s lap, it wasn’t hard to fill in the blanks. He wrapped a strong arm around Jaskier’s middle, rolling them gently until Jaskier was under him his knees still bracketed around Geralt’s thighs as he arched and keened.
“Under the notebook in the-” Jaskier breathed his hands not leaving Geralt’s skin for a moment, fingers greedily mapping out the lines of his back. 
“I know, you haven’t changed your hiding place since college,” Geralt teased. To his surprise Jaskier snorted under him, his head tilting back in the pillows as he laughed. It left the column of his neck exposed to Geralt and he couldn’t help himself but lean down and bite small marks into it. He was rewarded by more delicious noises endlessly streaming from Jaskier. 
He pulled away only for the time it would take to retrieve the lube before sliding back down into Jaskier’s arms and kissing him thoroughly. His hands traveled down Jaskier’s bare chest, his fingers brushing along the top of his boxers and he gave a low huff into Jaskier’s mouth. 
“Why are these still on?” he grumbled, smirking when Jaskier rolled his eyes at him. 
“Someone’s been slacking in getting me undressed,” Jaskier shot back. 
TheirThere next kiss was a mess of chuckles and grins. Geralt shifted them again, moving to get Jaskier’s boxers down. The laughter died in Jaskier’s throat when Geralt’s fingers brushed low down his back and grazed over the swell of his ass, he buried his face into Geralt’s neck. Geralt didn’t tease for long before pulling away. It made Jaskier groan and nip at his neck until slick fingers returned to his entrance, circling slowly. 
“Fuck!” Jaskier moaned, his hips already rocking back greedily. 
Geralt quietly cursed himself for letting so much time get away from him as he slowly worked Jaskier open, enjoying the way he shivered and babbled under him with every push of his fingers. When he slipped a third finger in, Jaskier bucked under him, his eyes slamming shut as he gave a shout. 
“Geralt! Fuck, dear heart, please, for the love of all that is good-” he pleaded, his hips rocking back onto Geralt’s fingers eagerly. “If you don’t fuck me soon I’m going to combust.” 
Geralt leaned down, muffling the rest of the curses that were probably coming with a hard kiss. Jaskier arched under him as he pulled his hands away. It was easy after that, letting their bodies slot together and letting himself slide into Jaskier’s tight warmth. It felt like a gut punch. It felt like coming home. 
Jaskier wound his legs around his waist, hands reaching up to thread into Geralt’s hair as he rolled his hips, taking Geralt deeper, causing them both to groan. 
“Jask.” Geralt pressed his face to Jaskier’s shoulder panting as he started a steady pace. Soon only the sound of their heavy breathing and Jaskier’s soft moans filled the room around them. 
Time around them seemed to hold still as Jaskier tugged gently on Geralt’s hair, prying him away from his shoulder to look him in the eyes. The look Geralt found there left the world spinning. Jaskier’s eyes were bright and his smile warm even as his cheeks flushed. He was pliant and open and completely wrecked and the sight of him tugged at Geralt’s chest. The words came tumbling out before he could stop himself, his hips slowly rolling into Jaskier as they moved. 
“I love you, Julek,” he murmured as he kissed him slowly. 
Jaskier whined under him, his fingers tightening in Geralt’s hair, pulling him impossibly closer. When they finally broke apart to gasp for air, Jaskier's eyes were searching his as he bit his lip around a low moan. He huffed a wet sounding laugh as a hand slid from Geralt’s hair to rest on his cheek, a well calloused thumb tracing along his chin. “Oh, dear heart,” he shifted, canting his hips to make Geralt move. The angle shifted and Geralt seemed to nudge right against where Jaskier needed him most as he arched from the mattress and groaned. 
Geralt pushed up to sit, pulling Jaskier up with him until he was in his lap. They rocked together, shuddering every time Geralt bottomed out. He gripped Jaskier’s hip tightly with one hand as his other slid between them, wrapping around Jaskier’s cock. Jaskier pushed up into his hand, swaying between his grip and his cock, they both seemed drunk on it. It was only a matter of time after that that Jaskier was crying out, Geralt’s name tumbling from his lips, his orgasm tearing through him like a whirlwind and Geralt could do nothing but hold onto him. 
Geralt steadied him, his hand holding Jaskier still as he thrust up into him, reveling in the small fucked out noises Jaskier whimpered into his neck before he too was shaking apart, spilling into Jaskier with a low satisfied rumble. 
They kissed again, lazy and sated, their chests a mess with Jaskier’s spend. He broke the kiss first, pulling back with that smile that always left Geralt feeling dazed.
“I love you, too. I love-” he didn’t get to finish because Geralt was pressing him down into the mattress again with a hard kiss, smiling. 
He was allowed. Everything that had happened seemed to catch up with him but instead of the sheer panic he had been expecting, the only thing that wrapped around him in that moment was the bright light that was Jaskier’s answering laugh. 
--
Everything was sore but in that pleasant kind of way after a good lay. Jaskier rolled over, pressing his nose into the pillow beside him. He smiled when he realized it still smelled like Geralt. 
Geralt. Fuck!
His hand reached out before he let himself open his eyes, wincing against the bright morning light that streamed in through his windows. The space beside him was empty.
But… Geralt had said it first? Where-? Jaskier’s heart sank, his throat tightening. He knew it was too good to be true. The moment Geralt had kissed him on the couch, he had pushed down every part of him that had screamed that he was going to end up hurt by time the sun came. 
He reached for his phone though he didn’t know who he was going to text. Essi wouldn’t even be awake yet on a Saturday. The space by his lamp was also empty. He realized he must have left his phone in the living room the night before when-
He tried not to think about how easily Geralt had lifted him up and carried him to bed. He had tried not to think about how there were now bruises on his hips that were shaped like Geralt’s hands or the trail of stinging bites that he would have to carry around his empty apartment for days. He pressed the heals of his hands to his eyes and groaned. 
“Idiot,” he berated himself. 
“Cause you left your phone in the living room and now it’s dead?” Geralt asked, pushing the door open with his foot. He was in a pair of Jaskier’s sweatpants and nothing else carrying in two cups of coffee. He looked up from where he had been concentrating, trying not to spill them. “What?”
“You’re here,” Jaskier chuckled. Something in his chest lifted and he let go of a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. 
“I… yes?” Geralt looked around. There was a lovely mark in the shape of Jaskier’s mouth on his shoulder and it made Jaskier’s toes curl. Geralt looked at the space beside Jaskier then at his face. He made a little oh with his mouth before he started to shake his head. “Oh! I see, hmm.” He set the coffee down gently on the side table and slid back into bed and into Jaskier’s arms. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” 
“So we’re…” Jaskier looked away, rubbing his palms over his covered thighs. “We’re okay?” He didn’t dare hope. Not just yet. Not in the bright light of day. 
“Well, that depends,” Geralt  chuckled, pulling him into  his lap easily. He leaned in and kissed Jaskier’s chin. “Yenn messaged. Something about brunch. I think they know. Are you okay with that?”
Jaskier snorted, leaning over to grab his coffee. “Essi. I told her it was just movie night. I tell her it’s just movie night every time and-” He realized what he was saying, the cup of coffee hovering just at his lips. He looked sideways at Geralt who was tilting his head and smirking. 
“The biggest gossip we know and that’s the one you decide to confide in?” He took the cup from Jaskier’s hands and set it down again before rolling them both to pin Jaskier under him. 
Jaskier squawked indignity, his arms wrapping around Geralt. He let himself be kissed and hummed happily when Geralt slotted easily back between his thighs. 
“We’re going to be late for brunch,” he sighed as Geralt’s hand slipped down to his thigh, fingers brushing gently over the marks from the night before. 
“Hmm, don’t care.” 
They ended up missing brunch altogether but neither seemed to mind. 
---
The weather was crisp and dry and Jaskier was bundled in the black hoodie, but now pressed against Geralt’s side as they walked into Magnolia’s. It had been easier than Geralt was expecting though he groaned as he watched several fairly large wads of cash exchange hands. 
“Pay up, Jask,” Essi grinned. 
“What?” Geralt turned, scowling. Jaskier gave a chagrined shrug as he handed over money. “So little faith?” Geralt teased. 
“You too, pretty boy!” Lambert smirked across the table. 
Jaskier gasped beside him, leaning away “So little faith, Geralt?” The sleeves of the hoodie fell over his wrists and Geralt only smiled, pulling him back against his side. 
“I don’t mind being wrong this time.” 
94 notes · View notes
stray-kids-react · 3 years
Text
Farting for the first time
Masterlist
...
Bang Chan
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° Chan was pretty tipsy after a night out with you, every single thing you did could make him burst into a long fit of giggles. While he was giggling the night away, the food you had earlier wasn't agreeing with you too well.
° You nearly vomited over Han while he helped you and Chan into the car. He noticed how sick you looked and passed you a small trashcan for emergencies. Half way home Chan was passed out and you vomited twice.
° That was the last thing you remembered before waking up with a very strong hangover, your boyfriend sound asleep in your arms. You tried to go back to sleep, not wanting to disturb Chan from his slumber.
° But he stirred awake, groaning into your chest as he began to regret that drinks last night. Chan noticed how much worse you seemed to feel, all of the color from your face leaving by each passing minute.
° He rushed to the kitchen, getting two cups of water with some pain killers. The moment he opened the door to pass you the water, he heard a small noise come from under the blankets. Chan couldn't help but giggle.
"Here's your *giggle* pain killers."
"Give me a break Chris, I feel like dog shit."
Lee Know
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(He's so fricking attractive istg)
° You were very sleep deprived, which made you very giddy and childish. Your job required a lot of work which made it hard for you to get any breaks or rest in general. This worried Minho from the start.
° Even though he found it cute when you became giddy and childish, it was bittersweet knowing why you were acting this way. He's only seen small amounts of how you act when tired, due to his schedule.
° But he had one week off to rest up for Kingdom, so he spent it at home with his precious fur babies and you. You came home at nine with dark circles under your eyes, and small giglles escaping your lips.
° Minho sighed, laying you down on his lap while petting your hair. He felt your racing heart beat slowly normalize, but you seemed to get a bit too comfortable when you let out a long slightly hushed toot.
° He would've teased you for it if it weren't for the fact that you were in a deep slumber. Minho tried to stop his laughs from waking you, but it was clearly not working by the way your body kept shifting on his lap.
"Goodnight baby."
"Goodnight, and please warn me next time."
Changbin
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° You and Changbin were best friends before you started dating, and some of your traditions made its way into your relationship. Such as the yearly prank week, where chaos would possess both of you.
° Changbin made the first move by waking you up with a police siren app, and then getting Felix to act like a cop and 'arrest' you. But you both knew you always came back at him two times harder than he did previously.
° You replaced his meditation playlist with heavy metal, and then put hot pink hair color into his hair products. Changbin rocked the hair, but was still bitter with how clever and devious you were getting with the pranks.
° When he walked out with a pissed off expression and soapy pink hair, you couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter. Which led to accidently letting out a loud fart. Making his serious tone completely fade.
° You were both on the floor laughing until it hurt, these were the moments both of you cherished the most. Where you made each other completely forget about the stresses in life by making each other smile and laugh.
"I love you prince bubblegum."
"I love you too trash ass."
Hyunjin
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° You and Hyunjin have been dating for three years, both of you became dependent of one another and are completely comfortable with each other. Which leads to many chaotic but sweet moments.
° Hyunjin had a hard few weeks and needed you, whether it be a cuddle session, make out session, movie night, or sex. Hyunjin just wanted to be in your presence for the next few days and wanted no one else around.
° Hyunjin was laying his head on your chest as he scrolled through his phone, Kkami laid on your legs making it so you didn't want to move even if you had to. But as time went by your stomach became bubbly and whined.
° You thought you could be silent, but the release of air was loud and short. It scared Kkami away leaving, Hyunjin in tears from laughing so hard. Mostly due to the fact that is made Kkami jump in surprise.
° You were a blushing mess while your boyfriend couldn't stop laughing or teasing you, so pulled up the covers to release the bomb you created. Hyunjin rolled off the bed dramatically with his nose tucked into his shirt.
"No! Don't release it you'll kill me!"
"Hyunjin it isn't a grenade or pot of acid."
Han
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° You came down with a small bug, wanting to do nothing else but stay in bed and try to get better. You notified Jisung knowing he'd be worried when you didn't show up to meet him during lunch.
° You were surprised to hear your door bell ringing rapidly, but that was just sign that Hyunjin was at your door. He was the only member who rang it that rapidly, just to surprise and startle you a bit.
° You shouted that the door was unlocked, not wanting to leave your blanket cacoon. You heard many more voices than you were expecting, eight different voices to be specific. One fo which was your boyfriend.
° Jisung joined your blanket cacoon, gently pecking your face as a soft greeting. The rest of the members worked on some lunch for everyone while the rest chatted amongst themselves on the opposite couch.
° You let our the smallest toot possible, but Jisung noticed due to the fact that you were sitting on his lap. You looked back at him as if you were implying that he was the one who did it instead, he just laughed.
"Don't even try to blame that one me."
"But it wasn't me Hannie~"
Felix
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° Felix loved how comfortable you were around him now, especially since you were so reserved and cold when he first met you. But now he could see how much of an adorable weirdo you truly were.
° You thought you could win a tickle fight with your boyfriend, seeing as you know all of his weak spots. But he over powered you after a few minutes, hovering over you as his fingers gently dug into your sides.
° You warned him to stop as tears were welling in your eyes from laughing so hard. You let out a noticeable fart, which panicked you in an instant. Your whole body heating up and your heart rate increased quickly.
° You were about to apologize when his lips melted into yours. You could feel his smile against your lips, a reassurance to your nervous thoughts. Felix chuckled softly once your lips were disconnected, eyes sparkling.
° You felt somewhat stupid for being self conscious over something everyone does. But you knew that feeling stupid would only cause a reassurance rant from your angelic boyfriend, becoming your positivity.
"I needed that kiss. May I have one more?"
"You never need to ask."
Seungmin
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° You were watching a horror movie with your boyfriend, which he has been wanting to see for quite sometime now. You didn't want to disappoint him so you sucked it up and watched the genre you can't handle.
° You hid behind your bowl of popcorn, the anticipation of the jumpscares becoming too much to handle. Seungmin was focused onto the movie, barely wincing when the jumpscare finally arrived.
° He didn't notice your shaking figure until you accidently let rip to one. It was a near silent scene which led to Seungmin's attention focusing towards you. He immediately paused the movie.
° His warm comfort brought ease to your terrified and tense body. You felt bad for not telling him how you truly felt about the movie, but it seemed that he wasn't the tiniest bit upset about the situation.
° Seungmin ignored the fact that you let one rip, instead focusing on the fact that you were petrified by the movie. He felt terrible for not noticing your scared state earlier and putting the movie on in general.
"I'm sorry I should've told you how I felt."
"Don't worry, it wasn't that good anyways."
Jeongin
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° You just woke up from a nightmare, it was early in the morning and your boyfriend was currently getting dressed beside the bed. Your breathing slowed down casually, knowing you were safe and it wasn't real.
° You didn't even realize you passed gas until Jeongin turned around giggling slightly, his eyes silently judging you in a teasing manner. Your relationship was always filled with teasing, it is a very playful relationship.
° He grabbed a can of spray on deodorant and filled the room with the scent. His hoodie covering his nose as he hurriedly slid the windows open, you couldn't help but laugh dryly at his dramatic manner.
° You threatened to pull him under the covers, but he continued to escape your grasp while you both laughed up a storm. He patted the blankets gently, trying to get the scent out of them even if there wasn't any.
° Once you both settled down and the grogginess of the morning kicked in, you pulled Jeongin in for some morning cuddles. Not wanting to get out of bed, especially when he felt extra comfy in his hoodie.
"I don't want to start the day~"
"I promise you cuddles when you get back."
145 notes · View notes
imkylotrash · 4 years
Text
I Wonder What It’s Like To Be Loved By You
Pairing: Hardin Scott x reader
Request: The reader is at a party and is more like the quiet girl and gets picked on and then is forced to play seven minutes in heaven with hardin. however hardin really likes the reader and when they play she gets really scared and starts to panic and he tries to calm her down and doesn't force her then after the party they become closer and then hardin asks her out after he sees her with her friend. Anonymous
Warnings: 
A/N Changed the request ever so slightly. Also I’ve removed some of Hardin’s more toxic traits, because they didn’t really fit with the request. 
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The first mistake you make that night is agreeing to go to the party in the first place. You should’ve stayed at home with a blanket and a good movie. But no, people had been passing out flyers for a huge party at the frat house and for once you had decided to participate because why not? You were two years into the college experience and had yet to attend a party. Tonight was the night that you finally get the real college experience. Except the party turns out to be even worse than the movies depict them. A couple of people throwing up in bushes, a couple sitting so close on the bench on the front porch with so little close that they’re likely getting it off right then and there. You notice a girl doing a keg stand and as her skirt falls towards her head, every guy peeks at her ass. Nothing is really sacred anymore. 
“Drink?” someone asks and hands you the red cup before you can say no. Not prone to trust anything that comes from an unknown frat boy, you put the cup down on a table and venture further inside. 
“Truth or dare!” someone yells gathering everyone by the couches and you somehow land on one of said couches. 
Second mistake you make that night is entering into a game of truth or dare. You are not cut out for these kind of games. A feeling that is only confirmed as you watch a girl named Molly give some boy a lap dance. But sooner or later it becomes your turn. 
“Truth,” you say not even giving any thoughts to the other option. 
“Who would you have sex with in this room?” Too quickly your eyes flicker to the tattooed boy sitting next to Molly before you look down.
“Too easy!” someone yells but frankly, the question has baffled you. Though not something you’re going to admit to a room full of strangers, the truth is you’ve never had sex.
“Fine. Pick someone to do seven minutes in heaven with,” she says clearly annoyed by the bystander who deems her not fun enough. Molly strikes you as the type of person that needs to be center of attention rather than just wanting to be. 
“I picked truth,” you say quietly keeping your eyes downward. You certainly don’t want the attention. 
“But truth is boring,” she says getting up from the couch, “so I picked for you.” She’s parading around the room like she owns it, in turn making all the boys follow her with their eyes. Except the tattooed boy. He seems determined to ignore her. 
“Hardin. The closet is right there.” For the first time he looks up and you realise that he must be Hardin. 
“Forget it, Molly. She didn’t want to do it,” he argues not even looking your way. Thank God for that, because you’re staring right at him. 
“I think she wants to,” Molly grins. 
Your third mistake that night is following Hardin into the closet. The logical part of your brain is trying to convince you that this is the right thing to do because that scene out there was getting too much for you, but now you’re in a room with Hardin and he probably expects something from you that you’re not ready to give. 
“I’m Hardin,” he says offering his hand. You inhale deeply before accepting it. 
“Y/N.” Your heart is beating so fast, you’re worried if it’ll stay in your chest. 
“Do you want to do anything,” he asks almost making you jump. You’d been so caught up in worrying about what he wanted that you’d almost forgotten he was sitting right next to you. 
“Like what? Because I’m not having sex with you!” The words come out too quickly and too loud, but you can feel yourself starting to hyperventilate. 
“Listen, whatever you’re comfortable with. I’m not about to take advantage of someone who so clearly doesn’t want me.” If only he knew how badly you wish you were confident enough to reach over and kiss him right there and then. His plumb lips looks so kissable but every defense system in your body is on high alert right now. You can hardly breathe at this point. 
“Focus on my breathing, okay. Just slowly in and out,” Hardin says and you do your best to follow his breathing. From that moment on you decide that you in fact like the tattooed boy sitting in front of you. 
“There you go. I’m not going to do anything you’re not comfortable with. And if you’re only comfortable with sitting in silence, then I’m okay with that.” So you sit in a somewhat comfortable silence until Molly opens the door. Clearly she expected to find the two of you in a compromising position but you’re sitting with inches apart not even looking at each other. 
“Well. That’s boring,” she says before walking away. A move she’s clearly spent hours perfecting. 
“I liked it,” you whisper continuing to look down at the ground. 
“Me too.” 
After that party it doesn’t take long for Hardin to get his hands on your schedule so he can walk you to class multiple times a day. It’s a slow process but slowly he creeps into the crooks of your heart. You find yourself impatiently waiting for class to be finished so you can meet Hardin. Suddenly it’s difficult to focus on the texts for the following lecture because you’re wondering what Hardin’s up to. You find yourself feeling jealous at the thought of him seeing someone else because you want to be the person he’s seeing. But he never makes a move. He doesn’t try to hold your hand or lean in for a kiss. He hardly hugs you goodbye leaving you to belief that he truly only cares for you as a friend. So imagine your surprise as you’re walking across campus with a friend from phonetics class and Hardin comes running up to you. 
“Hey,” he says slightly out of breath and completely disregarding Matt. 
“Hey. This is Matt,” you introduce not sure what’s going through Hardin’s head. 
“Can I talk to you?” he starts making it clear that he means privately. 
“I’ll catch up with you, Matt,” you smile before returning your attention to Hardin. Raising your eyebrows you wait for him to continue. 
“Well, I had an idea,” he mumbles acting shy all of a sudden, “maybe you’d like to go to the movies with me?” Is he asking you out? Is it a date? A million questions goes through your mind as you stare at him. 
“Probably a bad idea. Just for-”
“Yes.” It takes a second to register for Hardin that you’ve agreed. 
“Yes?” he repeats hopeful. When you nod, he takes you in his arms and kisses you right then and there. 
“Sorry. I got excited,” he says immediately checking to see if you’re okay. 
“Don’t apologise for that.” This time you kiss him. 
346 notes · View notes
thatasianstereotype · 4 years
Text
Shit. I Got To Deal With This Bitch (Again). 
The third installment of my Adrien x Damian AU. 
First: Fuck. I’m Gay. 
Second: Damn, You’re Looking Fine. 
Well, would you look at that? I’m not dead after all. And this took a while to put together understatement of the fucking century. The reason is because life is a busy little shit the English language will not cooperate. I’m thinking of a scene I want to write and somehow words are lost in translating that into the computer and I end up with a white blank screen in the end. 
But moving on to the fic. At first, I was going to have the whole Gabriel-being-put-in-jail and former-friends-thing put as an aftermath because I really wanted to write Marinette and Adrien meeting the Waynes. But I decided to make the aftermath a full-blown fic from @michaelshadow7779′s ideas and extend the trilogy into a four-part series. 
This part will be focused on what happened to Liar-la, Ms. Bustier’s class trying to gain back their friendship with Marinette and Adrien, and Gabriel getting a special visit from both Robin and Ladybug. 
Again, this is a crack writing where creative liberties were definitely taken. 
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Lila Rossi is a fucking bitch and everyone —Like everyone this time— knew it. 
Her reputation was now in shambles (she’s now known as that pathological liar or that lying bitch) and Ms. Bustier’s class could only stare at her with hatred and anger —feelings that were once directed at Marinette. 
No one entertained her lies anymore. No one really hung out with her anymore. She sat at the back of the class, staring daggers at both Adrien and Marinette all day (just wishing for an akuma that will never appear).
Unfortunately for her, Lila couldn’t transfer out of class and with only 2 more months of the school year left, she couldn’t transfer out of school so she was stuck dealing with the consequences of her actions: being a fucking social outcast.
Because the class was not at all happy with their supposed friend. Tensions ran high during school. Things took a turn for the worse when Ms. Bustier tried to “fix” things in her own way, mentioning how the only reason Lila lied was because of her “disease” and the girl simply wanted to make friends. 
Needless to say, the class did not appreciate their teacher making them out to be fools all this time. 
It was Alya who ripped her a new one. Césaire definitely has a set of lungs on her. And Adrien would be lying if he didn’t say how utterly satisfying it was to watch.
Karma was a bitch. 
Payback was a bitch. 
And Adrien was fucking living in the aftermath. He wondered if it was mean (probably but he didn’t care) that he wished he had popcorn right now. 
All in all, life returned back to normal. 
Well, kind of. 
.
Unfortunately, with the 2 months left in the school year, Ms. Bustier couldn’t exactly be let go because apparently Mr. Damocles didn’t want to deal with the whole paperwork, trying to find a new teacher to replace her, and dealing with the so-called Akuma class. 
That fucker. 
So essentially, he left her at the mercy of her unhappy class, saying she will be let go at the end of the school year. 
Ms. Bustier was unhappy with the arrangement. The class was unhappy with it too. Probably even more so. Since they still got to deal with Rossi’s bitch ass on a daily basis. 
The remaining 2 months of school were spent in a passive-aggressive war. Teacher vs. Students. Where technically the teacher should be respected and they should learn from her but the class was unleashing their collective pettiness. 
And Caline Bustier was fucking done with this job. She wanted to go back in time to when she thought being a teacher was a good idea and shake her past self silly. At this point, she was just counting the days until she can leave for good. 
“Kim. That’s the third time you slept in class this week. If you don’t pay attention, you won’t pass the test next week.” 
“Hold up. I got to ask the certified pathological liar where I put all the fucks I give.” 
“Ok. Don’t forget to ask Marinette if you can actually trust her answer.” 
It was glorious. 
Adrien and Marinette were definitely enjoying the show. 
.
Marinette put down her sketchbook and stared at Damian for a minute. “You’ve been here for a month and a half already. Are you still doing business for your dad?” 
Damian Wayne became a common sight around Françoise Dupont High School and can usually be seen around Adrien and Marinette. After a week of constantly seeing him hang around lunch or in after school activities/clubs, seeing a Wayne soon lost its novelty and people accepted it as the new norm.
“I’m already done with what I need to do at WE’s Paris branch.” He casually plucked flowers from the ground to make a crown for his mon amour who was happily chatting with Luka and Kagami.
“So why are you still here? Don’t you have your own education to finish?”
“My schooling is of no concern. I already earned my diploma a few months ago. It was not at all difficult when I’m already light years ahead of my peers in regards to the dismal educational system my Father forced me to attend."
She raised an unamused eyebrow. “Uh huh. And your family isn’t worried at all about you, a minor, being in a foreign country all by yourself?” 
“They know I’m here. I already informed Father that I will be extending my stay here.”
“And he just accepted it? Just like that?”
"I’m responsible enough to handle myself. I surely do not need Batman watching over me. And you don’t need to worry at all. I’ve been away from home for far longer.”
“You’re completely missing the point.”
“On the contrary, I thought I answered the question perfectly.”
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When they weren’t playing a petty war with Bustier, the class was trying to get back into Marinette and Adrien’s good graces by inviting them to everything and trying to include the pair in their lives again. They wanted to be friends with their Everyday Ladybug and Sunshine Child again. 
“Want to do homework together?”
“How about a study session?” 
“We’re having a sleepover at Juleka’s place, Marinette. We can talk about each other’s love lives like the good old times.” 
“Wanna see the new movie that came out, Adrien? I’ll even pay for your favorite snacks.”
“Come on you two. Let’s hang out in the park. We can get Andre’s ice cream too. It’ll be fun.” 
Spoiler alert: It don’t work. At all. 
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“Hey Marinette, Adrien! Why don’t you sit with us today?” Alya eagerly waved at them from where she was sitting with Nino. 
It was a part of a long list of efforts that the class is trying to include the pair in. And it would be nice if it was just to be nice and friendly, you know. Adrien wasn’t going to be outright mean to them even though they fucking deserve it after how they treated the beautiful and kind goddess that was Marinette because Mari asked him to “Play nice, kitty”. 
But the class kept trying to slide the whole Liar-la thing under the rug as if it was nothing. As if they didn’t shit all over their good name for a two-faced bitch. As if they had no part in making them feel like outcasts just weeks before. As if they didn’t called them hateful names or gave them scornful glares. 
And that’s just fucking wrong. Because it wasn’t nothing. And they weren’t good pals anymore. So stop fucking acting like it. 
Adrien was so done with his former friends/classmates. Marinette even more so. 
Because apparently, saying “Yeah, We want nothing to do with you anymore.” is not fucking clear enough that the pair wanted nothing to do with their former friends. 
Like what the actual fuck. 
Luckily, Mari can sense her kitty’s bad mood and quickly laid a hand on his arm and led them to their seats in the middle row since Liar-la took the back and they will be damned if they sit next to her. 
Alya was utterly aghast. She and the others were trying their best to have things be back to where they were before. Doesn’t Marinette and Adrien want things to be like they were before? When everyone was friends and they were making happy memories together? 
Why won’t they accept their olive branch? They’ll be friends again and everything will be okay just like it was before Lila came. 
Let it be known that Alya Césaire was not a patient person. Like at all. 
She was fuming (like you could see the smoke coming out of her ears) as she walked up to Marinette’s desk, just bursting at the seams with frustration. “I don’t get it. Why are you so cosy with Adrien instead of us? Did you forget he supported Lila too? 
“That was—” Marinette spoke up in defense of her everything-that-actually-matters brother. 
But Alya ignored her and bulldozed right over, slamming her hands down on her desk. “Yeah. He changed his mind later on but the point still stands that he was on Lila’s side just like us so why are you willing to be friends with him but not me and Nino? We were best buds.” 
“Adrien was friends with Lila unwillingly, unlike you guys. His douchebag of a father wanted him to play nice with that harlot for some reason and he had to go along with it or risk being pulled out of school.” 
Alya rolled her eyes (She literally rolled her eyes at that) before crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Please. That’s probably a pretty little excuse he gave you be on your good side again. We all know Gabriel will never actually do it.”  
“Are you perhaps referring to the man who rejected the idea of a birthday part for his own son or makes Adrien attend constant photo shoots and a crazy schedule to follow that makes it hard for him to hang out with his friends regularly. That Gabriel?” 
At that, Alya faltered a bit as she uncrossed her arms. 
“Look, Alya. I’m fine with being friendly classmates but I’m not going to be your friend again.” 
And Alya —who wanted things to just be okay again and wanted to go back to being Marinette’s best friend, who was tired of days trying to put so much effort into being Marinette’s best gal again only to be rejected every single time— just let whatever came into her mind to slip out of her mouth. She didn’t watch what she said next and in doing so burnt the last bridge she ever had to Marinette. 
“Maybe Lila was actually right for once when she said the only reason you’re close to Adrien was to use him to get ahead in the fashion industry.” 
Oh shit. 
She really done did it now. 
It was at this point that Marinette’s infinite patience and kindness snapped. Adrien scooted his chair back a bit to get out of the crossfire. He’s a dumbass kitty but he still has self-preservation. 
The grip on her pencil tightened as her eyes narrowed and grew darker, her voice ice cold.  
“You were the one who decided we were done being friends, Césaire.” 
Alya was taken aback, frozen at the biting harshness Marinette directed at her. Whatever comeback she had died in her throat. 
Mari let out a deep breath and her voice was back to neutral. “Look. Maybe someday in the future we can be friends again. But not right now. Please respect my decision.”
And that was the end of that. 
Well kind of. 
Because the ice queen treatment didn’t deter her at all. Alya still persistently tried to get Marinette to be friends with her again until Nino pulled her away and forced her to stop it with her ridiculous antics which aren’t working. 
The rest of their former friends now classmates got the message and left the pair alone. They were friendly and cordial with each other as common courtesy dictate but they had no interaction beyond that. They were nowhere near as close as they once were before Liar-la happened. 
Anyway, school went back to normal. Well as normal as it could be with all the recent changes.
Nothing was as it was before. 
And Marinette and Adrien were fine with that. 
.
Mari was hanging out with Aurore and Mireille for the afternoon so Damian and Adrien had Mari’s room all to themselves. They were currently playing video games. 
And although the Wayne boy was the perfect gentleman who doesn’t let his hormones rule over common courtesy and a proper courtship, Plagg was there to supervise the lovebirds (with a boatload of cheese to keep him company of course). 
He likes to think of himself as laid back and chill who cares deeply about his kittens. And Adrien is a pure innocent little bean. 
Don’t get him wrong. He does like Wayne as a person. The kid’s attitude and personality is a fun riot to witness. But the major plus is how it is beyond obvious Wayne adores and cares greatly about Adrien. He is a good boyfriend to his chaotic gay sunshine baby. 
But after all the shit and drama that went down with his scumbag of a dad, Plagg was just feeling a tad protective of his kitty. 
Just a tad. 
.
They have been dating for close to a month now. He wonders if they are going to do a one-month anniversary. Is that excessive? Or was that normal? But Adrien still can’t get over how he landed such a hot and amazing guy as a beau. 
If only he could go back in time to visit his insecure and confused little self and reassure him that they had game all along. 
“Fuck. I lost.” 
Dami smirked. “That makes it 7 to 5 in my favor.” 
“I don’t care if you’re drop dead gorgeous. I’ll beat your pretty face in the next round.” 
Hot-And-Sexy had an amused grin on his face. “I love you too, babe.” 
.
Marinete and Damian are finally making a plan to get Hawk Moth to answer for his crimes. Needless to say, they have their differences on how to handle Gabriel Agreste.
“I vote to have Hawk Moth taste my blade.”
“We’re not killing Adrien’s dad no matter how much he deserves it.”
“I can get away with it.”
“So can I. But murder is still illegal.”
Naturally, discussing how to confront Gabriel and coming with a good solid plan that satisfies both teenagers took some time.
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Adrien entered Mari’s room, humming a bit as he carried a tray filled with homemade snacks. He perked up seeing his two favorite people in the world getting along so well.
“Hey guys! What are you up to?”
Damian and Marinette glanced at each other for a split second. They didn’t want their Chaton to worry about Hawk Moth so they didn’t share any specifics.
It was Dami who spoke up. “We are discussing the legalities of assassination.”
Mari facepalmed.
Luckily, Adrien was a pure oblivious child. “That’s nice, babe.”
.
With all the strange things he’s seen (namely, the Miraculous and getting powers from tiny little talking animals), Gabriel will like to say he shouldn’t be surprised. 
But he was. 
Luckily, he had enough self-control to not show his surprise in an obvious way, just a raised eyebrow towards the two superheroes standing in the middle of his office. 
“To what do I owe the pleasure, Mademoiselle Ladybug and Monsieur Robin?” Pleasant and neutral. 
Ladybug he can kind of understand her presence. He is a supervillain after all. Wait. Maybe ex-supervillain now. Because he hasn’t been doing villain things for a while now since he misplaced Nooroo’s brooch and couldn’t find it no matter how many boxes of unsold Miraculous replicas he went through. And he went through a lot (that is not an understatement). Amazing how much free time he has when he isn’t stalking on the watch for negative feelings. 
But what was Robin doing here? He wasn’t aware the Gotham sidekick was in Paris in the first place. 
“We are aware of your alter ego, Hawk Moth.” 
He sighed internally. This wasn’t going to end well. But he hasn’t gotten this far by bowing down easily. 
“Just because I am a genius recluse does not mean I have supervillain tendencies.” 
Ladybug was unimpressed as she crossed her arms and stare at him with a deadpan look. “But you do have supervillain tendencies. I have yours and Nathalie’s miraculous who told us all about your plans.” 
Huh, no wonder he couldn’t find them. 
But anyway, the gig was up. Nooroo and Duusu were very emotional blabbermouths. The main reason why he couldn’t let them out of his sight —besides needing them to transform into bad guys of course. 
“Then you know I had a good reason why I became Hawk Moth.” 
“To bring your wife back. Yes, I am aware of your ‘master’ plan.” 
Maybe he can appeal to their sympathy. After all, heroes got to have empathy, right? “It was for Adrien’s sake to have his family back together.”
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. 
Because next thing he knew he had a razor sharp sword against his neck. He didn’t even see Robin move. 
“Do not speak of his name, you traitor scum.” The Gotham hero growled. “How dare you preach about your son’s happiness when you are the one who have been neglecting him for the past years. Do not say you care for the boy when you never once showed an ounce of love towards him.” 
Why is Robin so protective towards Adrien? Do they know each other well? 
But Gabriel’s questions were immediately banished to the back of his mind. Because right now, he was righteously fearing for his life. Prison sounded better than death. He glanced towards Ladybug. He knew she, at least, wouldn’t let him die. She was the picture perfect hero after all. 
Who was facepalming at the situation. “For the last time, we are not killing Agreste.” 
Unfortunately, Robin did not remove the sword. “And as I keep saying, no one will have to know.” 
“I will. I am literally standing right here as a witness.” 
“You may look away if you are squeamish.”
“...That’s not the problem.” It was time for Ladybug to pull out the big guns. “And if you go through with this, you will make your boyfriend cry and he will no longer want to date you.” 
It took a few seconds but Robin eventually lowered the sword and addressed Gabriel. “Do not presume that because you have no received death today that you do not deserve it. The only reason why your guts have not decorated this room is because I do not wish to make my mon amour shed tears for such a despicable man.” 
Ladybug spoke up next. “We are going to report you to the authorities. Robin and I have enough evidence to put you away for life.” 
To live for another day, Gabriel makes the smart choice of quickly surrendering right then and there. 
.
“Mon amour, I come bearing both good and bad news.” 
Adrien looked at Dami confused. “Okay? What’s the bad news?”
“Your sister have unfortunately stopped my attempt to slay your wicked father.” 
Aww. 
Adrien’s squishy little heart filled with endearing fondness at how much Hot-And-Sexy cared about him. 
“Killing my father isn’t worth going to jail, Dami. I’m sure you can pull off orange but Mari will probably bar me from ever visiting you to teach you a lesson.”  
He considered that for a moment. “That is true. Marinette is a frightening terror.” 
“She’s the greatest thing to happen to me.”Adrien swooned at his goddess before remembering his boyfriend was with him. “You’re a very close second.” 
But Dami was smiling fondly. “I know. I knew what I was getting into when I asked you out. I will never get in the way between your sibling bond.” 
Aww. 
He could feel his squishy little heart almost explode from all this sugary cuteness from his vain and egotistical Adonis.  
“You’re adorable. So what’s the good news you have for me?” 
“Marinette and I have finally dealt with your father. He will answer for his crimes in front of the Parisian authorities and you will not deal with the repercussions of being related to someone as vile as he.” 
“Does this mean I don’t have to legally change my name to Dupain-Cheng after all?” 
“You’re already one. Not sharing their name does not make you any less of one.” 
Adrien beamed, smiling brighter than any sun. He loved being part of the Dupain-Cheng family and it was nice to be acknowledged as one of them. 
“Of course. Being a Wayne is an honor too.” Damian said casually as if he was simply talking about the weather. Only the twitch of his fingers belied his nervousness. 
Adrien interlocked their fingers together. “You have to buy me a pretty ring first, Mr. Hot-And-Sexy.” 
.
The next week was kind of crazy to say the least. 
Gabriel Agreste was outed as Hawk Moth and Natalie as Mayura to the public. They were promptly put in jail. 
For all their contingency plans, Marinette and Damian had nothing to worry about after all. Adrien being a literal sunshine and Paris’ darling model was what saved him from being a pariah and outcast. The public knew that Adrien was the victim here and not part of Hawk Moth’s plans at all (Be serious. Can you imagine Sunshine child actually having an evil streak in him? No? That’s right. Because it is impossible). People were more sympathetic about Adrien having such a douchebag as a father than the possibility that he was evil like said douchebag. 
After that whole drama mess, Ladybug and Chat Noir announced their retirement to Paris’ dismay. But eh. Without akumas running around, they can leave Paris’ future to the police (since it’s you know, their job to keep the peace and not teenagers who is still winging it as they kick ass). 
Marinette and Adrien just wanted to focus on their future without any other crazy shenanigans.
He already said it before. But it still bears repeating.
Lila Rossi is a bitch.
The only thing Gabriel did right was throw her under the bus when he was caught. He told the police and superheroes how Lila helped him cause akumas with her lies and manipulation. Who knew her destroyed reputation could plummet even further? Understandably, her mother was not at all pleased with her daughter’s antics.
For being a terrorist and an indecent person, Lila was immediately arrested and deported to Italy (and that’s the last they ever heard of her thank everything Mari thinks is holy). 
.
With the whole Hawkmoth thing out of the way and he didn’t have to worry about his shitty dad ever again, Adrien can now focus on his biggest challenge yet. 
School will be over in a few days and summer will be here. Which means: It’s time to finally meet the Waynes. 
Oh fuck. He was going to meet the Batfam. 
And even though Dami assured him that his family will like him, he was still nervous. 
Fuck that. He was absolutely 100% freaking out!
Thank goodness Mari was coming along for the ride. 
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whitexwingedxdoves · 3 years
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the other side     part 2   [request]
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Pairing: Negan x Reader Pronouns: She/Her Warnings: Language, Death Summary: A new life seemed far too good to be true when Rick promised it to you and despite your doubts that’s exactly what you got or atleast you thought.  A/N: Requested by @jinxeee​ - I HOPE YOU LOVE IT! Im working on the last part right now and it should be out TOMORROW <3  Tags: @aubageddon91​  Part One Here. | Next Chapter
 It felt like you were in that box room for years. The only human interaction you would ever get was when someone passed one of those rancid sandwiches through. You never saw Negan though and at some point, you gave up hope and came to terms with the fact he just didn’t care or loved you the way you thought he did. You lost track of the days and nights a long time ago, the blood had peeled from your skin now but it seemed to stain, or it was shadows…. or your mind just playing tricks on you.
 It had been a while since the door opened, no dog food sandwiches, no water. Nothing. You thought perhaps they were just going to let you die in there in the worst way possible. Your mind was left to fight the dehydration and hallucinations that came with it, the women you murdered seemed to jump out at you from each corner of the room when you’d least expect it… you were living your very own horror movie. Today you laid in the foetus position, trying to stop the ghosts from getting to you when you heard the door crack open, you wanted to look so badly but you were scared it was your brain playing some evil trick on you.  You finally gained the courage to turn towards the light, wincing at the headache that attacked you almost immediately but it was a sign that this was real.  Standing in the doorway was a tall slender man, a gun pointed in your direction, you held your hands up as you attempted to sit up straight. You watched as he lowered his gun and shouted for someone to help him. As you backed yourself into the corner, you watched as a much stockier man came running to his side, the skinner man made his way towards you but with caution.
“We’re gonna get you out of here” he spoke softly, holding out a hand for you to hold. “I'm Rick, Rick Grimes” a small gasp escaped your lips at the revelation of who was in front of you now. You had heard about him from the other saviours, you knew he was the leader for another community that was causing trouble for Negan but with your primary job at the sanctuary being to look after the sanctuary while the rest of the saviours were gone, you had never had to come face to face with the infamous Rick Grimes.
 You took his hand as he led you out of the room, watching to see if you were hurt anywhere. When you passed the door frame, you couldn’t help but let your tears stream, finally being free from that hell. Your hand squeezing Rick’s a little as you try to compose yourself. You turned to him not daring to make any eye contact, biting down on your bottom lip. “Thank you” you whispered, not having enough energy to say it any louder. You felt someone hit your side softly, your eyes now panning to the object, the other man holding out a canteen for you which you hungrily took from him and downed the entire thing. You allowed a small moan to pass your lips as the dust in your throat regained its moisture. You heard the unnamed man telling you to take it easy but how could you, you had been without water for days, you passed him the empty canteen and wiped your bottom lip. “Thank you –“ finally now your voice was able to hit a higher octave.
“Daryl”
-
The men took you back to where they called home, Alexandria and it was beautiful, it was nothing like the sanctuary, it took you a few days to fully settle in – even longer to convince people that you weren’t a threat. Rick though, Rick didn’t need convincing, he’d keep you around him most of the time, teaching you new things like how to garden – that was your favourite job, He introduced you to his Daughter, Judith who seemed to take to you very well, constantly asking you to play with her whenever she saw you. He told you stories about his son Carl and the vision he had for Alexandria and you couldn’t help but tear up every time he mentioned he thought Carl would have loved you… like Judith does. The more you proved yourself the more people started to warm up to you, Michonne was the first to warm up to you, she couldn’t ignore how good you were with her daughter, nor could she ignore her daughter boasting about you at dinner every night. Daryl was a little harder to break, he recognised you as one of the saviours still but slowly he started to let his guard down around you – it was little things like bring you back your very own rabbit after a hunt or letting you watch him as he worked on his bike, it wasn’t much but you appreciated it.
 You’d stay in Alexandria for the most part, taking care of the children while the rest went off to work on the fallen bridge. You avoid the cell where Negan was kept like it was the plague, never offering to take food in despite some of the residents begging you too. You were happy again, finally. Rick had shown you what it was like to be a part of a family and now you did everything you could to show your utmost respect for the Sheriff, he was like a brother you never had and you wouldn’t let Negan ruin that for you.
 Today was a little different, you were asked to stay at Alexandria to watch Judith once again as the rest attempted to lure a horde of walkers away from the communities. You put Judith to bed but you couldn’t settle, you paced the living room floor awaiting Michonne or Rick to come through the door with good news but they never did. Instead you saw one of the residents knocking on the door, when you opened the door you couldn’t ignore the expression on his face, it was bad news. You looked past him to see a few familiar faces all seemingly upset, some had been crying. “What happened?” there was a crack in your voice, not really wanting an answer to your question and you didn’t get one. Instead you spotted Daryl just a little away from the crowd, deep in thought. You ran to him, hoping he could provide you with the answer. When you finally reached him, his eyes met with yours and instantly started to water, your chest started to heave thinking that the worst might have happened. Your eyes panned around the crowd taking in everyone that was there. You turned back to Daryl and swallowed the lump in your throat. “Where’s Rick?” your eyes started to tear up when he didn’t respond but you shook your head growing more impatient. “Where’s Rick!” you now screamed at the man, his tears now falling down his face as he shook his head, you had never seen Daryl like this before and that alone was enough to break you, you could feel your hands shaking uncontrollably as you attempted to make sense of the situation. “No- No…. No this is- No!” you cried, your legs finally buckling from under you, only to be caught by Daryl as you fell.
-
Since that day, you and Daryl became pretty much inseparable, constantly out checking new places to see if there was any sign of the man but after a couple of years had gone by you had run out of places to check. You set your sights on helping Michonne with RJ and Judith, hunting for them and watching them whenever she needed you too and much to your surprise, Daryl was right there with you. You had been sure that he would have continued to look for Rick without your help and well, he did but he was never gone for more than half a day. He swore it had nothing to do with you or the kids but you knew different, you could read him like a book now. He was your best friend, and you were his.
You walked around the gardens with Daryl checking in on everyone for the day before sending him on his way. He’d make a few jokes about how life seemed far too domesticated for his liking and you’d tease him a little, claiming he would make the perfect stay at home dad one day which would only make him push you ever so slightly. You spent most of your time there giggling away with Daryl pretty much ignoring everyone around you, you couldn’t help but feel lucky to be able to see such a soft side of the archer and you soaked up every opportunity you could. The laughter died down as Daryl spotted Negan being escorted out to the fields, trying to distract you a little so you didn’t notice. He had completely forgotten to warn you that Gabriel had decided to put Negan to work, you shot him a confused look as he stepped closer to you, blocking your view with his broad shoulders. “What are you doing?” you laughed slightly, slapping his shoulder but when he didn’t move your tone took a more serious turn. “Daryl?” The southerner sighed while rubbing the back of his neck, avoiding your eyes.
“They’re lettin’ that bastard work on the garden” he finally admitted, moving ever so slightly so you could see the scene unfold. You saw Negan bent down near the strawberries, pulling at weeds, you couldn’t bare the sight of him any longer and your eyes flickered away swallowing the lump in your throat you sent Daryl a faux smile, nodding your head.
“Good.” You whispered before linking your arm with his and continued to walk away. Your heart was racing after seeing him, you didn’t dare visit him while he was stuck in the cell, you were too scared. You almost forgot what he looked like after all these years but your heart couldn’t forget how easily he broke you.
As he picked away at weeds with his bare hands, Negan’s eyes started to wander around the garden, his heart seemed to stop when he laid eyes on you the way you wrapped yourself around Daryl’s arm laughing. He always imagined that the first time he’d see you after he locked you in that room, you’d be on your knee’s begging to be loved by him. He could feel the jealousy rise in his body, his face turning a slight red colour as he pulled a little too hard on one of the weeds. That night in his cell, all he could think about was you and how happy you looked with Daryl, his mind wandering to what you’d get up to with the archer when people weren’t watching which only angered him more. Despite all the anger, he was left more confused than anything as he sat on the edge of his bed, why did he only see you in this light now? Why did he care so much? Instead of dwelling, Negan tried to shut his eyes to fall asleep, hoping that the next day would treat him a little better.
It didn’t of course as he tended to the garden he was once again met with your laughter, his eyes narrowed at the sight of you touching Daryl’s arms before you both chased RJ around the garden. He had never seen you so happy before, so radiant it made him smile just for a moment until he saw Daryl touch you back, his hand rested tenderly on the small of your back. He couldn’t look away despite wanting to.
“If you’re not gonna work you can go back to your cell” Brandon spoke, pulling Negan's attention away from you.
“I wanna talk to Eugene” he grunted as he stood up from the flower bed.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to be making those requests” the man teased, Negan only shooting him a look before the boy nodded. “I’ll see what I can do”
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tarteausuga · 4 years
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Home for Christmas
CW: just pure fluff, really. As fluffy and as soft as snow but not as cold. Idol! Mark Lee x reader. Johnny's there too but just as support.
WC: 3.3K
Summary: in which you're alone for Christmas and Mark tries to give you a gift to make you feel less sad.
A/N: Merry Christmas, everyone. Happy holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas. I hope you're all happy, healthy and safe. I'll also be taking a break from TBTC next week and posting something for New year's ✌️
Long distance relationships were hard but they had their good sides as well as bad. One good thing is that you had a lot of time for yourself but on the bad side, you often felt lonely whenever you're out and see people with their significant others. You never really had to spend money on dates but conversely, you never had a chance to go out and show off your boyfriend in public. The time difference often made it hard for you to talk but neither of you ever missed out on your calls.
Mark would call you first thing in the morning when you woke up. It would be midnight to him but luckily, he was a night owl and didn't mind keeping you company while you got ready for your day. Then, you would go about your day before calling him at 5pm, 9am his time, to do the same for him. He often spent his mornings at home before heading to the studio for practice or to write so it was ample time to catch up and just talk about random things. He liked to watch you cook and he often would watch something in Netflix with you. Sometimes you were lucky enough to have him talk you to sleep, or sing you a song he's been working on to send you off into your dream world.
It sounds perfect in a way. You're both able to focus on your lives during the day because the other is safely asleep but you craved the physical aspects. You wanted to be held, you wanted to hold his hand, hell you just wanted to eat a meal with him sitting across from you at the table instead of on a little screen.
The past year and a half has been spent like this. You were childhood friends, growing up together before he moved overseas. You often spent recess running around together and sharing snacks. He wasn't necessarily your best friend, but he was one of the few friends you had growing up and even to this day. It's not that you weren't social but you just preferred being by yourself a lot. You kept in touch with the few friends you did have and that was all you really needed.
It was a surprise to run into him given the circumstances on both ends. He was an incredibly talented and relatively famous Idol in another country; and you moved across the country for school but ended up staying there after landing a good job. You were aware that he would be performing with his group but it wasn't your scene. And you couldn't get tickets anyway since they sold out almost instantly.
Out on your lunch break, you were grabbing a midday iced coffee. But you were trying to juggle setting up meetings and calls with a few important people so you weren't really paying attention when you went to grab the coffee, thinking it was yours.
"Oh I'm sorry." Both you and the owner of that drink said.
Finally, you looked up from your phone at the man and for some reason, you had a feeling of familiarity with him. After squinting your eyes and trying to go through your roledex of people you've encountered in your life, your brain finally figured it out. "Mark?" You say with bewilderment.
"Oh my god! It is you!" He pulled you into an extremely tight hug. "I saw you but I couldn't really tell and I didn't want to go up to a random stranger." He laughed and you couldn't help but do the same. Mark always had that effect on people, he would laugh or smile and no matter who he was with, they would do the same.
"What are you doing here?" You ask, somehow completely forgetting that he was due to perform the next day, which he reminded you of. "Oh! That's really exciting." If you were honest, you were distracted by how he's grown up. He used to be this cute boy that you would trade your fruit snacks for cookies with. But now he was incredibly handsome but still had those captivating eyes that could make you melt.
"This is amazing, I can't believe we ran into each other like this." He pulled you into another hug that brought a blush across your face. You were in a daze as he introduced you to the 2 other guys with him but you didn't really catch their names. You just noticed that they were also incredibly handsome. "But hey, if you're free tonight, we should catch up!" You agreed, thankfully.
And you could say the rest was history but beyond that one fateful day/night, you haven't seen Mark. A full year and a half later, you were entering your second Christmas without him but unfortunately, you weren't able to go home to your family to distract yourself from the boy you wanted to be with during the holidays. Not usually the type to be into overly romantic gestures, you uncharacteristically were craving the experiences that couples usually had in the movies. Your sisters told you countless times to stop watching Hallmark Christmas movies but you really couldn't help it when there was nothing else to watch on TV.
December 23rd. You were staring at your miniature Christmas tree that you had bought for your small apartment. The rest of your apartment was fully decorated in an effort to fill the emptiness you felt but it didn't seem to help much beyond wishing that Mark were there to experience it with you.
It was a perfect Christmas, the snow was falling outside and you reminisced about that rare snow day you had in your West coast town. That day was incredible. It was Christmas Eve and the whole city shut down due to the influx of white that they rarely had to deal with. Mark had banged on your door and begged your parents to let you go out and play despite it being Christmas Eve. That day was spent building snowmen, having snowball fights and everything before everyone went home and passed out to wake up to a white Christmas.
Mark had expressed to you that he missed that the most. Those snow days where everything shut down and you could just go out and be free to run around and have fun. You wished to be able to send some snow to him. But instead, you called him.
"Hi baby, how are you?" He said in a gravely voice as he had just woken up.
"I'm okay, just miss you a lot." You pouted and he copied your expression. "But look!" You showed him the view outside your window, including the snow capped trees and pillows of white on any surface it could cling on.
"Oh my god, that's beautiful." He sighed. "I wish I could be there to see it with you. I hate that you're alone this year for Christmas."
"It's okay." You flash a weak smile. "My coworker is going to drop off some food for me from her parents. I'll just have a Harry Potter marathon."
"Okay. I'll join you for that." He smiles. "My present for you should be showing up soon. I hope it gets there before the 25th."
"Hard to say. Doesn't matter if it does or not, I'm just happy to get something from you." You ease him of his worries. He often got worked up over the smallest things and you found it cute the way he would furrow his eyebrows in frustration only to breathe a sigh of relief when you told him to do so. You were his comfort and he was yours. Even if you were thousands of miles apart.
"I have to get going, love. I'll talk to you later okay?" He says and you are confused as he usually never has nice to do before noon. But you shrugged it off and assumed he just had some year end things to work on.
"Yeah I'll talk to you later. I love you." You blew him a kiss and he did the same before hanging up.
To be honest with yourself, you were starting to hate saying goodbye. Your heart would feel so heavy whenever a call ended and recently, that feeling got worse and worse with every call. Things were starting to feel like they were all for nothing. You trusted Mark and knew him well enough to know you were the only one that would be on his mind but that physical aspect was something you were craving. The simplest things like just being in the same room while you were both quietly working on your own things, exchanging loving glances every so often.
You dozed off watching The Nightmare Before Christmas and was woken up on Christmas Eve by the blinding white of the snow capped exteriors. Confused, you searched for your phone to check the time: 9:27. Mark has never failed to call you at 8AM every single day. It was your routine. It was your ritual. You send him a message but his phone doesn't even receive it. Is his phone off? You ask yourself. He did sound a bit off yesterday… Or was he just tired and groggy? Maybe he's having a late night in the studio. He said he didn't have anything scheduled for a few days though. In an effort to mitigate your panic, you throw your phone to the other side of your bed.
Forcing yourself to roll out of bed and make some coffee to try to dull some of the panic you were feeling. He wouldn't just ice me out on Christmas Eve. He's probably just tired and fell asleep before he could call, you convinced yourself.
It was nearing lunch time and you still didn't hear from your boyfriend. You had spent the morning curled up on the couch watching Disney Channel Original Christmas Movies, trying to distract yourself but every time something romantic happened, you sighed and wished for Mark. His phone still wasn't receiving your messages. Had his phone died?
In desperation, you text the only other person you knew who was close with him: Johnny. You had met Johnny that day that you ran into Mark but never processed it until you began watching their performances on YouTube. Mark had given you Johnny's number so you could apologize for ignoring him but you would occasionally ask him for favours. Usually asking him to get something for Mark from you. He often said, "I only do this because I love Mark and you love Mark."
You [11:34AM]: Hey Johnny? Are you awake?
You [11:34AM]: Merry Christmas, by the way!
It was almost 4AM so you would be surprised if he was still awake but he often stayed up late with Haechan so you figured it was worth a shot.
Johnny [11:39AM]: what's up?
Johnny [11:38AM]: Merry Christmas to you too :)
You [11:40AM]: is Mark okay? I haven't heard from him since last night. I'm getting worried.
You watched as Johnny's message bubble appeared and disappeared a few times. He was hesitating…
Johnny [11:42AM]: he's fine. You'll probably hear from him soon ;)
You [11:42AM]: ?? What's that supposed to mean?
Johnny simply replied with a shrug emoji and you wished you could send a punch through a text message. But you sighed and continued sipping on your hot apple cider as you pressed play on another movie. Johnny doesn't lie so I'll believe him for now.
You had somehow fallen asleep and you only realized when you felt your phone buzzing next to you. Without even checking the caller ID, you press the green answer button and put it on speaker as you tried to pull yourself out of the afternoon nap haze.
"Hello?" You say, barely above a whisper.
"Hey baby, sorry I've missed your messages. Johnny said you were worried about me?" Mark's voice shook you awake. You scrambled to sit up before picking up your phone and taking it off speaker to hear him more clearly.
"Mark? Are you okay?"
He simply laughed, "I'm okay babe. I'm sorry for worrying you." He apologized again.
"No, it's okay. I was just worrying over nothing. What were you doing?"
"I was at the airport." He said and you could tell there was something up by the tone of his voice. Mark could never lie to you even if he tried.
"And?"
"And I need you to come pick me up." He teased and you became even more confused which made you a bit upset as you didn't like being led on.
"Mark I can't, you're in another country." You roll your eyes even though he can't see.
"Baby, I'm not. I'm here." And it finally clicked in your head.
"Wait! You're here? Like here? Like in the same city?" You try not to scream.
"Yes, exactly. I wanted to surprise you better but the snow delayed things…"
"It's okay I'll come now!" You practically yell into the phone.
"Drive carefully!" He warned you before hanging up.
Like a tornado, you tried to clean up your apartment so your boyfriend didn't think you were a complete slob. At the same time, you were trying to pick out a cute outfit and do your hair in an effort to make yourself look somewhat presentable.
With your best effort, you shrugged when you checked yourself in the mirror before pulling on your parka and heading out the door. As your car warmed up, you reminded yourself that Mark had seen you at your literal worst. From the late night mental breakdowns to a hungover morning from having a few too many drinks with your coworkers, Mark had seen it all and always assured you that you looked amazing. Maybe he was lying a few times during those moments but he never made you feel like you were anything less than perfect for him.
You did your best to drive calmly to the airport. There wasn't much of a choice as the other cars on the road were also trying to get to their destinations safely so traffic was moving at a slower pace. After what seemed like the longest car ride you've ever taken, you pulled into a parking stall at the airport and checked your phone to see that Mark had sent you the gate he was at, waiting for his luggage. You practically sprinted across the parking lot and road, having a few close calls with other pedestrians and a few cars. But you couldn't help yourself. You were finally getting to see him.
Arriving at his gate, you tried to catch your breath as you scanned the crowd around the baggage carousel looking for Mark. When the two of you finally made eye contact, you burst through the crowd and jumped into his arms. You thought you would tackle him down but he was surprisingly strong and not only caught you but picked you up, allowing your legs to wrap around him like a koala baby. People aw'd and some even clapped while others pulled out their phones to candidly capture your reunion.
"You're here." You choked back tears, breathing in his scent and making sure you locked it up in your memory for future use.
"I'm here." He breathed into your ear which triggered the tears to start falling. He placed you back on your feet but steadied you in the warmth and safety of his arms. He chuckled while he wiped your tears away, "why are you crying?"
"I don't know, I just missed you so much." You sniffled while looking up at him with wet eyes. It's been so long that you had forgotten that he was taller than you by more than a few centimeters. So when he leaned down to kiss you, you were surprised but also extremely comforted as a wave of warmth filled up the emptiness in your heart.
"My little crybaby." He placed another kiss on your forehead.
You clung on to each other until his suitcase dropped down from the chute. Hand-in-hand, you led him to your car. Amazingly, you navigated the whole way there while beaming up at Mark the whole time. He reciprocated but occasionally pulled you to the side to avoid running into someone else.
The car ride back to your apartment was just full of you two talking about anything and everything. From when he planned all of this and how he managed to get out of his activities to Johnny almost ruining the surprise when he struggled to say something that would both ease your worries but not let you in on the secret. The whole time, Mark's hand was on your thigh as you needed both hands to properly manoeuvre your car through the snow. You sometimes caught Mark looking outside with pure wonder and amazement as he took in the image of the city blanketed by the snow. The smile on your face never left as you tried to process every moment with him to keep in your memories.
"So how long are you staying?" You say as you take the elevator up to your apartment. His arm was wrapped around your shoulders and you had a feeling that your boyfriend who was usually uncomfortable with physical attraction, wouldn't keep a hand off of you the whole time he was there.
"I have to leave the day after Christmas." He says quietly.
Trying not to be upset by the short time together, you reminded yourself that it was better than nothing. "We'll make it work." You say simply to him while learning up to plant a kiss on his cheek.
Mark felt overwhelmed by your apartment. The moment he stepped in, he was greeted by the sweet scent of vanilla and oranges. He tried to take as many mental notes as he could while walking around and taking in every single detail of your place. This was your home and he felt like every little knick-knack strategically placed by you was a piece of you.
"Here." You handed him a cup of apple cider to warm up.
"Thank you." He added a kiss to your temple. Suddenly remembering something, he let out a little gasp before placing his cup down on the coffee table and going to his backpack. He pulled out a box wrapped in red paper and a golden bow that was slightly flattened from its journey to the other side of the world to you.
"What's this?" You ask when he places it in your hands, taking a seat next to you.
"Just open it." He smiles. The excitement was practically bursting from him as he anticipated you opening the box.
"Your gift is probably on the doorstep of your mom's place right now." You sighed.
"It's okay baby, I can't wait to open it but just open yours now." He said.
The lid lifted to reveal a necklace with a delicate golden chain and a little purple gem dangling from it. "Mark…" you coo, your eyes welling up with tears again.
"Are you going to cry again?" He laughs and you playfully poke his side. "I know purple is your favourite colour… It's not much but I thought you'd like it." He said softly while he fixed it around your neck. You smiled up at him before you situated yourself in his lap, straddling his thighs.
"It's perfect." You kiss him, "what else did you get me?" You pull back when he tries to deepen the kiss.
"What do you mean?" He stared blankly at you.
"You said it's not much so where's the rest of my present?" You say mischievously.
"You said it's perfect but you want more?" He cocks an eyebrow up.
"Well… I haven't seen you in a year and a half, there has to be more." You tease.
"I'm your present aren't I?" He smirks, grabbing the bow from the box and sticking it onto his head.
"I guess…" you laugh while leaning in to kiss him again. "You're lucky you're cute." You say as he stands up, making sure to wrap your legs around him before turning towards your bedroom.
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canariie · 4 years
Text
“Do you want to have ramen?”
Rating: T for Rangiku’s implications ;)
Synopsis: Toushiro invites Momo over to his place for ramen, not quite understanding the full social implications he has brought upon himself.
Word Count: 2276 words
Setting: College AU
Prompts: Hitsuhina Week 2020 - Day 2 Reveal / AU
Author’s Note: My first submission for @hitsuhina-week ever! I always love writing AUs since Hitsuhina mainly suffer in canon :’( 
This was inspired by the ramen scene in the K-drama Crash Landing Onto You! Also, I have been thinking about a College AU for Hitsuhina recently so this would be one scene of it! I hope you enjoy!
— 
Toushiro looked at the clock again for what seemed like the fifth time. Where is she? He busied himself his apartment, fiddling with the sparse furniture, but everything was already orderly and in place. Toushiro had already spent all day cleaning up to have his childhood friend, Momo, over. The two had just finished their first-year final exams yesterday and had not had the time to properly catch up yet.
He had offered to have her over for dinner—just instant ramen, Toushiro by no means was a chef. He also knew that since he lived alone they could have more freedom than if they hung out than at her 2-bedroom apartment with Momo’s roommate around. Not that they were going to be loud or rowdy—unlike Toushiro’s neighbor, Rangiku Matsumoto.
Earlier that evening. the second year had brought it upon herself earlier to loudly knock on his door, demanding to borrow a broom for herself.
“Oh, someone’s cleaning up?” Rangiku smiled cheekily. “Are you having anyone over?”
“It’s just Hinamori.” He thrusted the broom into her hands and responded curtly, “Now take this and go before she gets here.”
“Really? I want to see Hinamori-chan too!” The blonde girl stepped inside. “Maybe I should stay too!”
“No!” The word left Hitsugaya’s mouth before he could stop himself and he could feel his ears go hot. He was eager to see Momo but didn’t want his neighbor to know that. “We’re just eating ramen, so there won’t be enough…” he said as he attempted to compose himself.
Rangiku smiled knowingly, “Relax Captain, I wasn’t planning on it…especially if you’re going to have ramen. There’s no room for more than 2 people in that,” she replied cheekily, her voice dripping with implications.
Toushiro narrowed his eyes in skepticism, not liking the tone of her voice. “What are you talking about Matsumoto?”
Her blue eyes filled mirth, happy to see the confusion on his face. “Do you not know what ‘having ramen’ means Captain? And I thought you were a genius!”
Toushiro scowled at the comment, clearly not happy to be ignorant—even if it was something Rangiku knew. “What do you mean?”
And so, she explained, laughing as the white-haired boys face turn redder and redder. All this new information left Toushiro flustered and he hastily pushed Matsumoto out of the apartment, still undeterred in her laughter at his embarrassment.
Since then, Toushiro had occupied himself with cleaning up the living room and setting up the kotatsu as a way to firmly forget that conversation. It annoyed him that he had no idea of such a concept—and if he didn’t know, Momo definitely didn’t know.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have feelings for his childhood friend—he had realized for several years how he felt about the sweet brown eyed girl. But Momo didn’t know and he valued their friendship too much to jeopardize it by letting her know. Toushiro knew how much Momo relied on his presence in her life, especially after what happened to her in high school, and he couldn’t risk being anything more the friend that she needed.
A knock erupted his thoughts (though much softer) and Toushiro opened the door to a pair of arms and paper bag in his face. “Ahh Hitsugaya-kun!” came the muffled voice of his childhood friend, “it’s going to fall!” He quickly grabbed the bag right as it tipped into forward towards him. “Hinamori! Did you buy the whole grocery store?” He inspected its contents and saw she had brought vegetables, meat, and tofu—basically everything but the ramen noodles which he had offered.
Momo laughed as she took off her shoes. “Well, we just finished finals and I know you wouldn’t have much groceries inside so I decided to stop by and pick up some ingredients as well as,” she held up a plastic bag that was hanging on the crook of her elbow, “some celebratory drinks!”
Toushiro raised his eyebrow. “Isn’t this a bit much Hinamori? I thought we were just eating ramen?”
He followed her into his kitchenette and set down the ingredients as she scrummaged through the drawers for a bottle opener. “Hitsugaya-kun, we just finished our exams of our first semester of college! We must celebrate it fully!” For further emphasis, she poured two shots and held one out to him. Toushiro took it with a skeptical glance at his childhood friend. “Hinamori, you don’t even drink that much…” Her tolerance was abysmally low and any full drink would knock her out completely.
“I know, I know! But I wanted to really celebrate tonight!” She leaned herself against the kitchen counter. “I also wanted to thank you for helping me study for my exam, even when you had your own exams to study for.” Momo looked at him through her eyelashes, her brown eyes gleaming. “Thank you, Hitsugaya-kun. I really appreciated it.”
Toushiro could feel his ears go red and he looked away. “It was no problem.” He could never turn away that look of her hers: her soft smile and warm eyes. For years, though she may know it or not, whenever Momo gazed at him like that, Toushiro could feel his will breaking.
That’s how he helped her study: with her knocking on his door with a pleading look in her eyes and her textbooks clutched to her chest, there was no way he could say no. Not that he would have; Hinamori had helped him in countless ways, though she may have not realized it, just by simply being her cheerful self. She was selfless, kind and always put others, like him, above herself—a trait he initially found annoying but later on an endearing quality that made him want to protect her more.  
That’s why he took the shot still extended out towards him, though hesitant he could see the anticipated gleam in her eyes. “To the end of finals…” Toushiro said weakly though it didn’t stop Momo from cheering loudly before taking her own. He eyed her as he drank his, albeit not as quick since he was fully aware of his tolerance to alcohol, not as low as Hinamori but definitely not high.
Momo let out a sigh of content. “Let’s get started shall we!”
---
Though the two were tired from just finishing a week of finals, all the fatigue seemed to wear away as they moved around the kitchen. Toushiro was by far not a great cook and only ate what required the minimal cooking. He could only shrug his shoulders as Momo threw a disapproving look over her shoulder at his empty fridge before placing some of the ingredients inside. She moved around with an ease, taking out the pots and pans to prepare the ingredients for ramen without hesitation—almost as if she lived there, which Toushiro rather liked.
They fell in a comfortable rhythm of light conversation in between the chops of vegetable and the pan sizzle of meat. From plans for the holiday to news about classmates, all the conversation fell neatly in between light jokes and the appetizing aroma of a long-awaited home cooked meal. Toushiro made sure to keep an eye on Momo as she was intermittently taking shots in while adding the chopped cabbage and beef to the pot. He debated moving the knives away as she started to accidently spill things, almost knocking the whole bottle of soy sauce into the pan. While Momo wasn’t looking, he moved the sake bottle out of her sight, hoping she’d think she had misplaced it.
“Ahh it looks so delicious!” Momo squealed as Toushiro cracked the last ingredients of eggs to the pot. “I can’t wait to eat it!” She moved closer to catch a whiff, almost moving in front of the pot but Toushiro caught her shoulders and pulled her back. “Be careful Hinamori! It’s still boiling!”
She furrowed her eyebrows and craned her neck up at him, “Hitsugaya-kun, I wasn’t going to actually put my face in. You know I am older than you, right?”
Toushiro didn’t want to take chances as he could see the glazed look starting to form over her brown eyes. “Yes, I know Hinamori,” he acquiesced, “and as the older one you can go set up the table to eat. I’ll bring the food over.” He could hear her mumbling to himself “now he’s kicking me out” but she obliged anyway, taking the plates and turning on the TV to a random late-night movie.
Toushiro brought out the pot of instant ramen—though it could hardly just be called instant anymore. The childhood friends had elevated it to a new level, at Momo’s insistence, with semi-boiled eggs, spinach, rice cakes, beef slices and thinly shredded green onions. Though Toushiro was displeased to see that Momo had found the sake bottle and had generously poured herself some more shots for two of them, he was happy to see her taking in a whole serving of food into her bowl.
The two fell quiet as they ate with gusto, now realizing how hungry they were. With the warmth of the kotatsu table, the white light of the TV and the filtered moonlight through the blinds, the tranquility of the moment allowed them to truly relish their food..
“Thank you for having me over, Hitsugaya-kun,” Momo said as she put her chopsticks over bowl. “I really enjoyed cooking with you today.” She smiled appreciatively, though Toushiro could still see a hint of fatigue in her face.  
“I should thank you for going shopping for more ingredients. I was only planning to follow the instructions on the back of the packet.” He took a drink from his glass of water but stopped as he remembered. “Which by the way, let me know how much the bill was so I can pay you back for half.”
Momo waved her hand dismissively as she took another sip of the sake. “Don’t worry about that! You do so much for be, it’s the least I can do.”
He held her gaze. “Well, at least next time we do this, let me pay for the ingredients. It’s the least I can do since you cooked most of it.”
Momo laughed. “Shiro-chan, you really don’t give yourself enough credit. But, if you insist, then it’s fine.” She rested her chin on her hand as she yawned sleepily. “Guys just don’t think about this stuff normally. Like when I had ramen with Abarai-kun and Kira-kun—they didn’t even think about buying eggs!” she giggled.
At the back of Toushiro’s mind, he could hear Rangiku’s words from earlier on, and he felt a twinge of envy.
He cleared his throat. “Hinamori...you should be careful not to ask anyone else to have ramen with you.”
Momo’s bottom lip stuck out as she pouted in confusion, “But why Shiro-chan?”
Toushiro ignored the nickname, not wanting to derail from the point he was trying to make. “Because it has implications..”
“What kind of implications?”
Toushiro could feel his ears heat up. “Of more than just eating ramen.”
The brunette tilted her head in confusion. “I don’t understand…what else does ‘eating ramen’ mean besides eating ramen?”
He sighed in exasperation. “It’s more of the activity that follows after…”
“Like what?” Honestly, this girl was too clueless for her own good.
“When one finishes the ramen…they usually stay the night…” He left out the last part hoping she would understand.
“And sleep?”
Toushiro wanted to bang his head on the table. Now, he wished Rangiku was hear to explain. “But not of the sleeping kind.”
There was a pregnant pause before Momo erupted in sleepy giggles. “Shiro-chan, I don’t think that’s always the case. Friends can have ramen together! I think Rangiku-san has been giving you too many ideas.”
He made a sound of protest, almost knocking over his bowl of ramen. “She does not give me ideas!”
“Like you and I! Aren’t we just friends having ramen?” A few moments ticked by where they stared at each other until her voice turned somber. “Unless, is there something else going on, Shiro-chan?”
At that point he didn’t know what to do. The TV noise fell to a background static and thoughts raced through his mind. He didn’t want her to have any ramen with anyone else, well, because he wanted her.
“Hinamori I—”
Her head fell against the side of the couch, eyes already closed in sleep. Toushiro almost had to stop himself from slamming his head on the table and settled in heaving a huge sigh of disbelief. Of all the times she had to pass out. After gathering his wits together, he cleared the table and turned down the volume of the TV, not wanting to disturb her. Toushiro quietly stood up and moved over to Hinamori’s side, placing one arm behind her back and another under knees. Her head lolled to one side against his shoulder and he could feel soft puffs of air against his neck, sending heat up the back of his neck.
Toushiro carefully moved to his bedroom and placed her down, making sure to prop her head up on the pillow and cover her with a blanket. Knowing Momo, she was going to be knocked out the rest of the night and in no shape to go home; Toushiro just hoped that she would sleep through and forget the last part of their conversation.
For now, he’ll blame Matsumoto for putting these ideas in his head and hope that in the meantime, Momo wouldn’t have ramen with anyone else but him.
—–
Authors Note: I did a little research and it seems the “having someone over for ramen” is prevalent in South Korean culture. However! When I watched Naruto: The Last, the girls would always giggle whenever Naruto would ask Hinata over for ramen so I assume in Japanese culture, there is probably similar implications! If anyone knows, please let me know! I mainly enjoy putting Toushiro in a difficult position as secretly-in-love-with-their-childhood-friend and never able to do anything about it haha
Hope you enjoyed! :)
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flightsoffandom · 4 years
Text
Co-Conspirators Part 4
Pairs: Aaron Hotchner x Reader
Words: 7558
Summary: Strauss forces you and Hotch to talk to an UnSub that you would be much happier to forget existed. Even with Hotch’s protests Strauss orders you both to go. Once there things don't go exactly how either of you expected.
Warnings: Canon Criminal Minds level violence, Stalker-ish and creepy UnSub, vague mention of non-depression related self harm, and cussing.
Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Was a good chunk of this chapter inspired by Season 3 Episode 14, ‘Damaged’, the scene where Hotch is ready to fist fight an UnSub to protect himself and Reid? Yes, yes it was. Took me a minute to write this because I wanted to do certain feelings in this chapter justice, hopefully it all came through and makes sense. Feel free to tell me if it didn't turn out as good as I intended it to be.
Continuation of Co-Conspirators – Part 1–Part 2–Part 3–Part 4*–Part 5–Part 6
After Aaron and Jack spent the night, your relationship progressed further. Not much changed, considering how busy you both were. But any extra time you both had was spent with each other. You knew that your feelings for him had grown, approaching the realm of love. You weren’t going to express those emotions, though. At least not first since you weren’t sure exactly what Aaron’s feelings were. While you knew Aaron was serious about this relationship, you wanted to wait for him to take the emotional confession lead. After all he had been through Aaron deserved to take things at whatever pace he needed too.  It was a good thing you and Aaron had going. Even with having to keep the relationship a secret, it just worked between you two. You started staying at Aaron’s apartment more and more. Jack really seemed to enjoy having you around more often. You relished spending more time with Jack as well. Seeing him and Aaron interacting together and being able to spend time with them both was enough to make you forget about whatever horrible thing you had seen while on a case. Between hotel stays, while traveling for work and staying with Aaron, you barely made it back to your apartment anymore. You didn’t find yourself missing your place all that much. You did manage to get Aaron and Jack to stay the night at your place again once or twice, but it felt more like a vacation home of sorts than your own. Staying at Aaron's had become your happy little normal over a handful of months that helped relieve the burdens of work.
You were currently sitting in Hotch’s office with the door closed. Usually, this could have a chance at being a fun time, but considering Strauss was closed in here with the both of you. It was far from a good time. Hotch was irritated and couldn't completely hide it from his voice, “We won't be going.” You bounced your leg nervously, just listening instead of interrupting the conversation. Both Strauss and Hotch were staring each other down as he continued speaking, “The team has another case. We are needed there.” Strauss still hasn't sat down yet, a power move on her part, “You both have been specifically requested. He refuses to talk to anyone else.” Hotch tenses up and is about to argue. Strauss cuts him off. She starts walking out, “That’s an order.” Strauss opens the door and stops, looking back at both of you, “For BOTH of you.” The door slams closed behind her, leaving both you and Hotch sitting together in silence. Your leg had not stopped bouncing even after Strauss left. Which Hotch easily noticed even as he closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. Hotch sighs, “You don't have to-” You stop him, “Yes, I do. WE both do.” You weren't happy about this. You were extremely anxious. With anger right behind it, trying to fight to be your dominant emotion. Hotch looks up at you. His face had softened since Strauss left. However, his brow was still furrowed, and he looked beyond annoyed. Hotch watched you, “We don't have to give him the satisfaction…” You stand up, “I don't plan on letting him scare me into not being able to do my job. Let’s go pay Ben Monte a visit and see what the asshole has to tell us.”
Ben Monte. Ben was a particular sore spot with you. He was an unsub from a year or so ago. Ben had killed eighteen people before the BAU got called in. He was tricky because he didn’t care about race, age, or sex. Ben enjoyed cutting people up while they were still alive and toying with their organs while they could feel it. He chose victims seemingly at random. Only later to find out that Ben liked taking people with strong and stubborn personalities. Unfortunately, that means Ben set his sights on you after you and Hotch pulled him in for an interrogation but didn't have any evidence to hold him on. Luckily for you, though, by the time Ben tried to make his move to get you, the team was ready to arrest him. You willingly agreed to go as bait to lure Ben out, and he fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. But Ben Monte shot you moments before the team could grab him. Ben had never used a gun before, so you hadn’t been wearing a vest. You spent a few days in the hospital but were able to recover without too many issues. There were some nightmares, but you had put the whole thing behind you. That was until Ben Monte claimed he had other unfound victims and refused to speak to anyone but the team who originally interrogated him. Meaning you and Hotch. You weren't thrilled about it, but if Ben was telling the truth and you could get the information out of him. Then you would suck it up and talk to the monster again.
After the first in-prison interview of sorts, that's when you learned just how much Ben Monte ‘liked’ you. Ben was disgustingly infatuated with you. Since he had only gotten a chance to shoot you and watch you bleed, Ben clung to a fantasy of making you suffer more like he did with all his other victims. Which Ben loved describing in vivid detail to you in between answering the questions you asked him. Ben was so descriptive at times that you could picture the plans he had for you, and it made your stomach churn. You had enough self-control to keep yourself composed during that horrible conversation, but it took a toll afterward. Those scenarios Ben described to you had burrowed their way into your head. Hotch had witnessed you live through this before. Hotch had even seen the aftermath of that interview when you became so tired from the nightmares stopping you from sleeping. Seen the agitation that followed that had caused you to start more than a few fights when anyone questioned you. It took some mandatory therapy to get through it. So you could understand why he was so upset for you. While you appreciate him being so protective of you, you weren't going to let something like this stop you from bringing closure to the families of the victims.
Hotch went to tell the team where you both were going. You went right down to the van, getting into the passenger seat. Normally you wouldn't mind driving, but you didn't think it was a good idea at the moment. Trying not to think about it too much, you try forcing yourself to think about anything else. Aaron gets into the car, takes one look at you, and decides not to start the vehicle. He looks at you, “Do you want to talk about it?” You make a curious humming noise, trying to feign ignorance, “Talk about what?” Aaron scowls at you, “The reason you're holding your side and who we are about to go talk to?” You look down, and indeed your hand had gravitated to your side. You were pressing right on the scar Ben gave you. Consciously realizing what you were doing makes the dull pain in your side come to the front of your senses. You let out a long sigh, “I don't want to talk about it right now…” You frown and look out the window as you finish speaking, “After this little… interview… I’ll probably still not want to talk about it, but I will need to.” You feel Aaron’s hand wrap around the one covering your long healed wound. Your breath catches in your throat, and you tighten your hand around his. Your emotional composure wavered a bit. You knew you couldn't bury your feelings inside forever. You wanted to make it through this accursed trip. Knowing it will at least turn into temporary anger, which would work to your benefit while talking to Ben Monte.
Aaron left his hand in yours even as he started driving. It was silent for a while. Since it was going to be kind of a long drive, you didn't want it to stay quiet. That would give you too much of a chance of getting lost in your thoughts. So you turned back to Hotch, “Let’s talk about something.” Aaron quickly glances at you with an eyebrow raised, “What’s strategy should we go in with?” You laughed when Aaron went right into talking about work, “Nope, we aren't going to talk about work. Not right now.” Aaron flatly states, “We are on the clock.” You roll your eyes, “We've never needed a strategy while interrogating together before.” You lean your head back, “Plus, what kind of work are we supposed to do in a car for like three hours?” Hotch glares over at you. You respond with a whine, “Please just indulge me… the person you happen to be dating by the way…” Aaron’s face softens even as he rolls his eyes, “Resorting to emotional blackmail?” You nod and give him a smug smile, “Anything to get my way.”
Aaron chuckles, shaking his head, “What would you like to talk about then?” You let out a pleased hum, “We should go see a movie soon, take Jack with us and completely turn our phones off. Maybe even leave them at home or in the car, so we don't get called in…” You let yourself trail off. Aaron’s hand tightens around yours, showing some concern. You look out the window, watching the scenery as you add, “Maybe we could take a vacation… somewhere fun…” You can feel his eyes watching you, so you turn to look at him, “What?” Aaron tries to study your face while still driving safely. After a moment, he finally speaks up, “Coming from the person who was so intent on going back to work after being shot that the hospital practically begged me to get you out of there? I think you can understand my cause for concern.” You sigh and nod, “Well, I’m a work-a-holic…” You smile, “But… Since being in a relationship with you, I find it a lot easier to push work aside so I can be with you and Jack.” A smile spreads across Aaron’s face. You playfully roll your eyes, “Don’t let it go to your head. I still enjoy catching bad guys, and I don’t see that drastically changing anytime soon.” Aaron brings your hand up to his face to place a kiss on the back of your hand, “I wouldn't have it any other way.” You smile as you and Aaron start talking about mundane potential plans.
Whatever pleasant conversion you were having with Hotch abruptly stopped when you saw the sign on the side of the road, stating that the prison was only a few miles away. Even if you wanted to continue talking, you couldn't have. Considering your mind went completely blank about what you had just been discussing. Your whole body tenses up, feeling the meeting looming over your head. Your leg starts to bounce. Letting your anxiety out now so you can focus when you get inside the prison. When Hotch parks, your hand separates from his. You practically leap out of the car. Taking a deep breath of fresh air in order to calm yourself. Hotch walks over and waits, letting you take your time. You close your eyes. Pushing all your emotions down and bringing your professional demeanor to the surface. Once you feel as prepared as you’ll ever be, you head up to the prison's main door. You can't help but comment, “I don't understand Ben Monte’s obsession with us.” Hotch follows behind and scoffs, “Unfortunately, he just has an obsession with you. He tolerates me because he knows I won't let you talk to him alone.” You sigh, knowing Hotch was right. Once through the door, you are the one who takes the lead on the introductions, “SSA’s [Y/L/N] and Hotchner.” The guards look over the sheet checking for your names. You start pulling the gun off your belt before they even ask, knowing the drill. Hotch does the same, even taking his second gun out and handing it over.
You felt a bit exposed and vulnerable, but you didn't let yourself dwell on it. Hotch already looked more tense than usual, which was saying something. The guards guided you through the signals to get in and out of the room you would be interviewing Ben Monte in. Once that was understood, both you and Hotch were led into the room. As soon as you saw Ben’s face, you internally started panicking, but you knew how to control every expression and your demeanor. So you kept yourself in check. The door closed behind you both, locking the three of you into a room together.
Instantly Ben Monte lurched towards you, his chains getting caught on the table, “My, My. Look at you. My favorite little canvas.” You stare Ben down, showing only indifference at his statement. You pull the chair at the table out and sit down, “I’m not here to play games… You said you had information for us. If you're wasting my time, then I will leave.” Hotch was standing behind you, glaring down at Ben. Ben looked from Hotch to you, “Ohh… I have so much information for you, but I’ve missed you so much. I’ve only had crime articles you were featured in to sustain me. They don’t take enough pictures of you. I’ve only been able to collect maybe a handful. I like to keep you close to me.” Ben reaches towards you, trying to touch you. You firmly respond, “No.” Ben freezes before pulling back, “You’re such a tease. Only showing me a little blood and then throwing me in here.” You continue your blank stare, “Information or I walk.” Ben grumbles, shifting about in his chair, “You are no fun.” When Ben starts giving you usable information, Hotch sits next to you and takes notes.
Ben stays mostly on topic until he starts talking about what he did to the victim. Ben looks you dead in the eyes, “With that little work of art, I worked too fast. Wasn't as fun.” Ben grins at you, showing all his teeth menacingly, “I learned after that. Taking my time. Like I am with you.” Every part of you wants to tense up and hit Ben in the face, but you control yourself. Ben keeps talking, “I have so many plans for you. Peeling your skin away nice and slow. Maybe even giving it time to grow back. Scars can be exciting things…” Ben lets himself trail off, staring right where he shot you. Hotch tenses up, staring daggers at the serial killer in front of you. You sigh, “This is tedious Ben, if you really called us out here to just play with us, then I will make sure you aren't allowed visitors for the rest of your life.” Ben glares at you this time, “I like the mouth on you, but it only goes so far. Do you think you could still bitch this much if I cut your tongue out?” Hotch speaks up for the first time during the interview, “You will watch how you speak to my agent. We are here as a courtesy to the families of your victims. Not to be part of whatever sick fantasies you have.” Hotch’s voice was loud and stern, intimidating enough to get Ben to comply again. Ben begrudgingly gives you more details about a few other murders he committed.
After giving you some more useful information, Ben slowly gets off topic again, “I've never been one for guns. You're the only work of art I’ve ever shot.” You glare at Ben, “I’m not a work of art, and neither were your victims. You don't own or control anyone.” Ben starts laughing, “Are you sure about that? Maybe I don't own my other playthings… but you… I think me and you share a special connection.” You scoff, rolling your eyes, “We don’t have a connection. You're not the first person who has shot me, and I am sure you won't be the last.” Ben laughs louder, utterly pleased with himself, “I am sure that's true, but me and you share a mark.” Ben doesn’t elaborate further but instead goes into talking about other things, “After you locked me into this place, I’ve had loads of time to think about what I would do to you when I get out of here.” This actually pulls a laugh out of you, “You’re not getting out of here… ever.” You cross your arms, smirking, “I made sure the court gave you life without parole.” Ben doesn’t look overly pleased about your attitude, but that doesn’t stop him from continuing, “I was thinking about cutting you open and poking around inside you.” You show no expression, trying not to think about what Ben says, “Are you done telling me about your other victims then?” Ben doesn't answer. He just continues his psychopathic rambling, “Think you would feel it if I pulled some of your insides to the outside?” Ben went into further detail, being graphically descriptive as he kept going. You felt your stomach churn even as you stared Ben down like you weren’t affected.
Hotch, however, was finished with the games, “That's enough. We are done here.” Hotch stands up quickly, pushing himself away from the table and going to the door. You make no additional acknowledgment to Ben. You just casually raise from your seat and walk to the door. Hotch presses the button to get out. The tone plays, and you wait. Nothing happens. Ben starts laughing again, clapping as he does, “It’s lunchtime. The guard who is supposed to be out there has a real problem of being a chatty Cathy after he gets his food. So you're both stuck with me a while longer.” Hotch tenses up again but turns around ever so slowly, “Is that supposed to scare us? We have dealt with much worse than you.” Ben shrugs, “It should at least unnerve you both. Since I get to keep talking about what I want to do with our favorite little agent.” You turn around, ready to speak up, but then you notice Hotch’s behavior. Hotch went from tense to calm, which wasn't a great sign.
Hotch confidently takes his suit jacket off, before pulling off his necktie in one solid motion. He stands on the outskirts of the room, watching protectively. Hotch stares down Ben the whole time. You couldn't lie to yourself, Hotch’s overly aggressive behavior did make you feel better. Aaron would have never let anything happen to you before when you were just co-workers and friends, but now that you were more than that, there was no way in hell Aaron was going to sit by and watch someone treat you like this. Ben was still smirking and didn't even bother looking at Hotch. Ben just kept looking right at you, “Do you remember when I shot you?” You look at Ben and shrug at him, “It wasn't really that memorable. I’ve been shot before, so you shooting me isn't anything special.” Ben menacingly chuckles, “I remember every second of it. You bleed so well.” Hotch steps closer to him, ready to restrain Ben if need be. He tilts his head, gazing right through your shirt to the spot of the scar he gave you, “I only wish I could have watched for longer…” Ben looks back up at you, “It was hard to manage in prison, but I was able to give myself a little souvenir…” Ben stands up. Hotch, in one quick motion, pins Ben to the wall. Hotch had Ben held to the wall with his forearm on Ben’s throat. Hotch practically growls as he speaks, “I’ve had enough of you threatening my agent.” Ben seemed to enjoy Hotch’s reaction causing him to laugh.
Ben’s laugh was a spine chilling sound. It didn't help that it echoed in the concrete interrogation room. Hotch kept Ben in place, but that didn't stop Ben’s hands from moving. You quickly stood up, ready to help restrain the monster if he tried anything. Ben, however, had another plan in mind. A huge toothy grin spreads over Ben’s face as he lifts the fabric for his prisoner uniform shirt. Revealing practically a mirror image of your own scar on Ben’s body. Your blood turned to ice, and you couldn’t control the fact that your eyes widened. Ben reminisced and traced his fingers over his scar, “It took a lot of effort to get a gun from one of the guards and shoot myself. It was worth it, though…” Ben looks up with his eyes meeting yours, “Now we are connected…” Your so far maintained composure started to shatter. Hotch pushed his arm harder against Ben’s throat. You dug your fingernails into the palms of your hand, hoping it will help keep you grounded as you spoke, “We are not connected. Clearly, you put a lot of thought into wasting your time.”
The best you could do was temporarily dissociate with what was happening, so you didn't give Ben the satisfaction of your emotional response. You stare blankly at the prisoner pinned to the wall, “Prison hasn't been good for your memory… That’s not even where you shot me.” It was a bold-faced lie, but it had the desired effect. Ben’s grin falls off his face, and he glares at you, “Prove it.” You stick your hands into your pockets, scoffing, “I don’t have to prove anything to the likes of you… I already proved you were guilty in a court of law. That's good enough for me.” You are able to force a smile onto your face. This causes Ben to get belligerent, starting to fight against Hotch’s hold. Hotch doesn't flinch and keeps Ben in place. Ben keeps struggling, “Show me then! Prove it!” You didn't know how much longer you could keep the act up, so you decided to give the exit door another shot. You press the buzzer and hear the sound, waiting a moment.
By some miracle, the guard had come back. The guard looked more than confused, “What the hell happened?” You moved out the door without saying another word. You hear Hotch drop Ben to the ground. Immediately Ben starts screaming, and the guard has to restrain Ben. Hearing Ben’s chains yank against the table, “SHOW ME! PROVE IT!” Ben Monte kept repeating this. Even after the room door closed, you could still hear his voice through the walls. Hotch stays behind for a moment, and you overhear him yelling at someone, “Get your damn employees in line. When two agents… fuck when anyone is in a room with a prisoner, you NEVER leave that room unsupervised!” You stopped at a gated checkpoint to wait for Hotch while listening to what was going on. There was a short pause which could only be for the person making an excuse. Because Hotch went right back to yelling, “Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?” There was another pause before Hotch spat out, “Good.” Then you heard him walking down the hall. While you were waiting, that’s when you first noticed it, the dull pain in your side. You press the heel of your hand into your scar in hopes of stopping the pain somehow. You look back when you hear Hotch walking up to you. Hotch still looked stiff, with his suit jacket and tie thrown over one of his arms. The crumpling pad of paper in his hand showed that Hotch was beyond pissed, but when he saw you were looking at him, he automatically softened up.
While waiting for the guard on the other side of the gate to let you through, Aaron looked down at you, “Are you okay?” You stared at him for a moment, “I don’t know how to answer that right now.” It came out in a much flatter and distant tone then you had planned. You felt a bit numb like you hadn’t fully processed what you just experienced. So you didn’t know how you felt. The only thing you knew for sure was that no matter how much pressure you put on your scar, the pain was getting worse. Aaron further furrowed his brows, and he tried to gauge your overall well being. The automatic door swung open and you walked through it before Aaron had too much of a chance to study you.
The rest of the walkout was silent until you reached the last checkpoint where you could collect your guns before leaving. While the guard was giving you back your items, Aaron stopped before collecting his, “I need to go talk to the warden.” Even feeling as weird as you did, you knew Aaron shouldn’t need to talk to the warden. It didn’t take long for you to figure out Aaron was trying to protect you from further dealings with Ben Monte. Aaron was about to order the warden to ignore any future requests from Ben Monte to speak with you. So you look over and question him, “Why?” Instead of answering, Aaron tries to hand you the car keys. You don’t take them. You narrow your eyes at Aaron, but he doesn’t say anything. So you begrudgingly take the keys. When Aaron walks down the hallway, you wait for a minute before following him. You stay outside the warden’s office door. It could be considered eavesdropping, but it pertains to you and your job, so you didn’t see it as a bad thing.
You could hear the conversation through the walls. Hotch spoke first, “Starting today, you will be restricting Ben Monte’s media access. No more crime articles. Certainly, no information about the BAU. He said he has pictures of Agent [Y/L/N]. Find them. Make sure he is never able to get ahold of anything like that ever again.” You were glad about that part. Knowing Ben had pictures of you made your skin crawl. The warden responds, taken aback, “I… I’ll get that taken care of right away. Were you able to get any useful information out of him?” The pain in your side ramps up, causing you to wince. Hotch responds, “Maybe. We will have to look into it.” There is a short pause, “I will no longer let the BAU answer any requests to speak with Ben Monte. His obsession with my agent has been out of hand for long enough. Ben sees it as a reward of some kind. Strauss will be informed of the situation. Don’t even think about trying to go over my head again.” The warden stumbles over an apology of some kind before they can say anything else Hotch leaves. Hotch sees you and sighs, “You were supposed to go to the car.” You scoff and roll your eyes, “It involved my career, so I was going to listen in. Also, you know I’m a stubborn ass and have issues doing what I’m told.” This was able to pull the slightest smile out of Aaron. It doesn’t last long as he quickly spotted both your hand holding your side and the slight wince still on your face. The worried look falls back onto Aarons’s face.
Despite your surroundings, Aaron gently grabs the back of your neck. He leans down and pulls you closer to him, planting a kiss on your forehead. Surprisingly he holds you there for a second. You close your eyes, allowing yourself to relax a little bit. Some of the previous emotional numbness starts to leave you. Your body lets you become more emotionally vulnerable since you felt safe with Aaron. Feeling yourself go into the early stages of crying, you gently pull away. Aaron lets you go. Blinking rapidly, you were able to stop yourself from crying for the moment. The grimace that covered Aaron’s face was a giveaway that he saw the emotions on your face, not that you were doing particularly well at hiding them. Aaron gives you a gentle nudge so you can both finally leave this horrible place. You head out to the car while Aaron gets his firearms back from the guards.
Your subconscious mind seemed to know that prisons were a work area, so you had to control your emotions, but outside was a whole other story. As soon as you step outside the threshold, a new wave of emotions hit you. Your subconscious completely shuts down the emotional barrier that was letting you stay professional. The first feeling that hit you was nausea. You quickly get away from the prison before moving around the corner of a building so you could have a sliver of privacy. You were able to keep the nausea at bay. That was until you remembered the fact that you now had a brand linking you to Ben Monte. That’s when you lost it. You could handle a lot of the job. You had handled so much, but this made you feel violated. You got sick right then, bracing yourself on the wall. It took a few minutes for your body to stop. When your body ceases shaking, you stand there for a moment to regain your baring and catch your breath. Looking yourself over, you were lucky enough not to have gotten anything on you. You spit a few times to try to get the taste out of your mouth. You wanted out of here. You wanted to shower for more reasons than one. You turned the corner and saw Aaron automatically watching you as he stood by the car. You were catching the tail end of a conversation Aaron was having on the phone.
Aaron’s eyes followed you, “It was worse than I anticipated.” There was a pause, and you walked around to one of the car's back doors, opening it. Crossing your fingers that you had your go-bag in the vehicle. Aaron let out a sigh, “If you guys have the case handled, I don’t think I’ll be bringing them into work today. They need some time off.” You peaked up and glared at Aaron. He was still monitoring you through the car windows. You roll your eyes and finally find your bag, pulling it to you to dig through it. Aaron gives a slight nod as he responds, “Of course, I’ll stay with them to make sure they are alright.” You find what you were searching for, your bag of toiletries. You pull out your travel toothbrush and toothpaste and start brushing the awful acidy taste out of your mouth. Aaron keeps talking on the phone for a moment. You finish up by using your travel-sized bottle of mouthwash to rinse out your mouth. Spitting it out when you’re finished. You get into the passenger seat. Aaron was still on the phone and kept watching you. You glared at him as he did, but Aaron was utterly unfazed by it. When he finished talking, he got right into the car.
You immediately argued with him, “Aaron, I am not going to sit at my house while you and the team go and do work.” You sigh, “I will go stir crazy.” Aaron looked very unamused, “You need to take some time off. At least a day. I would prefer you to take more off.” You glare at him, “I am fine to go back to work. It wasn’t that bad. I don’t need any time off.” You were already more agitated than usual, and you knew it. But sitting at home by yourself with only your thoughts sounded like pure torture. Aaron stares you down, the stern face he normally wears at work showing, “You are taking today off.” You grumble, “Is that an order?” Hotch nods, “Yes.” He answers in a very stern tone, not leaving a whole lot of room for argument. You knew you were being entirely unreasonable, but that didn’t stop you, “As my boss or as my boyfriend?” Hotch closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, “Both.” Aaron sighs before looking at you with soft eyes, “Please.” You had more fight in you, but seeing Aaron’s face made you readily concede. You nod and huff, “Fine.” Moving in your seat and looking out the window. Silence filled the air as Aaron turned on the car and started driving.
Aaron didn’t let it stay silent for too long. Knowing you well enough that you would retreat into your head if it was quiet for too long. So Aaron was the first to speak up, “You know, I never said I was taking you to your place.” You had zoned out. His voice had pulled you back into reality. Not catching his whole sentence, you look over at Aaron and ask, “What?” Aaron looks at you, the ghost of a smile on his face, “I didn’t plan on taking you back at your apartment.” You make a confused face, which turns to annoyance. You immediately get belligerent again, “Ohh, yes, because sitting alone at your apartment would be so much better than sitting alone at my apartment.” Aaron glared at you, his annoyance starting to show again. You wish you could have said this was the first time you two talked to each other like this. It was admittedly one of the reasons you both got along so well. A pair of hard-headed assholes who could yell at each other without too many hard feelings. You glared right back at Aaron, “I appreciate the thought, I suppose, but I might as well just be at my place if I’m going to be all alone anyway.” Aaron’s glare intensifies, “Like I would leave you to your own devices even if I wanted to right now.” You narrow your eyes at him, trying to figure out what he means, “Isn't that what you were just saying?” Aaron’s voice became more stern, even raising his voice, “Would you just listen to me?” You let out a defiant huff but stay quiet. Aaron keeps the stern tone but lowers the volume, “You will be coming to stay at my apartment, AND I’ll be there with you.” Now you were a bit surprised, “You would ditch work just to babysit me?” Aaron’s face softens, “I wouldn’t call it babysitting. Offering emotional support, maybe?” You frown, “You’re not worried about someone on the team connecting the dots?” Aaron shrugs, “Actually Rossi brought up the idea first when I told him about the situation.” You whine and sigh, “How much did you tell Rossi?” Aaron glances over at you, “Enough.” You let out another whine and sink into your seat. Aaron watches you for a moment, “The team is worried about you. They care about you.” Being immature became one of your defaults when you were emotionally drained. So you made a fake disgusted noise, “Gross, feelings.” Aaron lets out a slight chuckle, “I care about you too.” You let a small smile slide onto your face, “That’s less gross.” Aaron adjusts his hands so he can drive with one hand on the steering wheel while his other hand reached over to you.
You took Aaron’s hand in yours. He gave it a comforting squeeze before getting serious again, “I’m going to have to write a report about what happened.” You groan, “Break the rules just this once? Pretend it never happened?” You knew Aaron would never, but you wanted to playfully give it a shot at least. Aaron shakes his head, “Unfortunately not. Especially since I am going to have to convince Strauss never to send us to see Ben Monte again.” At the mention of his name, you tense up. It wasn’t hard for Aaron to notice, your hand had tightened around his. Aaron gives you a worried look, “We should talk about what happened.” You groan, not wanting to but also knowing you need to. You give in, wanting to get this over with, “Will I be telling this to my boyfriend or my boss?” Aaron looks down at you for a moment, “Your boyfriend.” Aaron gives your hand another squeeze, “I’ll keep anything you tell me out of the report.” Aaron lets out a sigh before adding, “Unless it's something that could compromise your safety or others while you’re on the job.” You nod. Understanding that Aaron couldn’t bend the rules that much just for you and you were completely fine with that. You look out the window, “I know I shouldn’t be this affected by him, he only shot me. I feel like I have dealt with a lot worse. I feel stupid for letting him affect me this much.” Aaron starts running his thumb over the back of your hand, “You’re not stupid. He is overly obsessed with you. That can be very alarming.” Aaron lets out a long sigh, causing you to look over at him. Aaron had a sad look on his face, “Even before Foyet broke into my apartment and…” Aaron let it trail off, letting out another sigh. He skipped over whatever he was about to say to continue with the rest of it, “I was anticipating him making a move at any time. Knowing that someone like that is so fixated on you is not easy to handle mentally.” Aaron glances down at you, your eyes meeting for a moment, “I didn’t admit it to anyone even myself at the time, but it sure as hell affected me. I was only able to keep so much of it under control.” This time you give Aaron’s hand a squeeze returning the gesture he gave you earlier. Emotions were neither you nor Aaron’s strong suits, but you did find it much easier to be open around him. You’d like to think he felt the same way about talking to you as well.
Talking about Ben Monte made your old wound hurt. You just brushed it off as a subconscious correlation. Aaron seemed more worried about it, “You should get it checked out by a doctor.” You make a face, “It’s fine. I know it's just a mental reaction.” Aaron shook his head, “I think it's much more than a subconscious reaction, it had been hurting you since before we got to the prison.” You wave your hand at Aaron, ignoring him. You change the subject, “What I need is a shower and a change of clothes.” Aaron lets out a slightly annoyed sigh but lets you avoid the matter, “We will be home shortly.” You give Aarons hand another squeeze, “Good.” You let it stay quiet for a minute, “When you pick Jack up from school, let's do something fun.” Aaron glances over at you, “What are you thinking?” You shrug, “Anything to forget about today…” You think for a minute, “What about dessert for dinner and a lazy movie night?” Aaron narrows his eyes at you, “Dessert as the main meal?” You could tell he was going to shoot it down, so you decided to take the low road. You pout, “Please? It's been a really tough day. And imagine how cute Jack’s face will be when we tell him.” Aaron glares at you, “Really?” You stick your bottom lip out to pout more. Aaron shakes his head, a smirk on his face, “Fine. But…” You narrow your eyes at him suspiciously. Aaron adds, “Only if make an appointment with your doctor.” You grumble but accept it, “That seems about fair.” You smile at Aaron before falling into ideal chit-chat for the rest of the drive.
The car had to be dropped back off at the Bureau, but Aaron was kind enough to drop you off at his apartment first so you could shower. The time you spent alone was only twenty minutes, but it was enough time for the dark thoughts you had been suppressing to come back to the surface. It didn’t help that your scar practically taunted you the whole time you were showering. The healed skin was a mirror of what Ben had done to himself, creating a twisted connection with you. Sure, you had lied to Ben and taken away his satisfaction of being connected to you, but you knew the truth. You took a long shower, trying to wash away the sickening feeling that lingered over you. It only helped a little but not enough to lift the weight you felt in your chest. You got out of the shower and lazily dried off. You were more than ready to get dressed. Then you caught a glimpse of your scar in the mirror. It completely stopped you. You got stuck staring at your old injury, running your fingers over it as you tried to figure out what to do. You didn’t want it to look the same. You wanted to change it.
You got more absorbed into that train of thought then you would care to admit because you didn’t hear Aaron get back home or even hear him open the bathroom door. Aaron’s voice pulled you out of your own head, “Please don’t.” You startle for a moment before glaring over at him, “Don’t what?” You wrap your towel around yourself again and push past him. Aaron gives you a bit of space even as he keeps an eye on you, “I know what you’re thinking.” You were still on edge, so you just scoffed and started getting dressed. Aaron continues, “I can’t stop you. At least don’t do it yourself.” You huff and tug on your pajama pants, “Don’t do what myself? I wasn’t thinking about anything.” Aaron sighs and crosses his arms, “You were thinking about ‘correcting’ the look of the scar yourself.” He was dead on which shouldn’t have surprised you, but it still stopped you for a second. You shook your head before starting to pull your shirt over your head. In an attempt to ignore the fact he was right, you stayed quiet and turned away. It doesn’t take long for Aaron to walk up behind you and wrap his arms around you. He pulls you into him, “I don’t want you to cause any more damage to yourself.” You sigh and lean back into him. Closing your eyes tight to hold in your emotions as you nod. Aaron kisses the top of your head, “Let’s go relax and forget about this for the moment.” You offer another nod. Aaron gently lets go of you, and you wipe away wherever tears were forming in your eyes. Aaron starts changing, and you take this opportunity to pour both of you a drink. By the time you got back out to the living room, Aaron was already sitting on the couch, watching something on tv. You set his drink down for him. Then you proceed to drape yourself over him pathetically. Straddling his lap as you sat down, leaning into his chest. Aaron just wrapped his arms around you and let you stay there as you lazily sipped at your drink. You stayed like that for a few hours until it was time for Jack to get off school. You kissed him before peeling yourself off of Aaron. Flopping back onto the couch so Aaron could grab his son. You lazily watched tv finally feeling more relaxed after spending some time with Aaron. When you heard the front door unlocking, you immediately perked up.
As soon as Jack ran into the house and saw you, all the events of the day seemed like a distant memory. Jack tackled you with a hug, excited that you were here. You found yourself smiling again as you and Aaron talked with the little boy about how his day was and what he learned. You broke the surprise to Jack about dessert for dinner. Jack was practically bouncing with excitement at the news. After dishing out healthy bowls of ice cream for all three of you, it was time to sit on the couch. It was such a lovely time as the three of you enjoyed each other’s company. Typically Jack always curled up with his father when he got tired, but as the night wound down this time, Jack came over to you. Jack climbed onto you and cuddled up with you. You looked down at him and held him close, rubbing his back as he started to drift off. For the first time today, you felt yourself getting emotional for a good reason. You slowly moved, so you were resting against Aaron. Aaron wrapped an arm protectively over the two of you, and you felt an overwhelming feeling of comfort and safety. The three of you sat like this for a few more hours until it was officially late enough to go to bed. You gently woke up Jack and helped him get ready for bed. Once Aaron had tucked Jack into bed, both you and Aaron went to lay down yourselves. You laid down, and Aaron wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in close to him again. Feeling safe and secure, you were able to fall asleep with much more ease then you thought.
Continuation of Co-Conspirators – Part 1–Part 2–Part 3–Part 4*–Part 5–Part 6
@dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25 @winterparkers
@thosesteelblueeyesaremysafeplace
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chelsfic · 4 years
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I Fell into Fantasy - Nandor x Guillermo One-Shot
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Summary: Guillermo admits to a secret desire. Nandor tries to fulfill it without compromising his aloofness. 
A/N: The title of this fic comes from a song called “Days of the Phoenix” by AFI. I was inspired to write this fic by the scene in the movie where Viago talks about how he likes to make things “nice” for his victims during their final moments.
Warnings: Blood drinking, a bit of smut, frottage, pining, angst
---
Guillermo really should know better.
How many nights has he spent digging up the garden to dispose of the mangled corpses left behind after the vampires’ feasting? How many bruised, torn throats has he seen? Cracked collar bones and broken limbs? Lifeless, staring eyes? 
He knows the victims are in pain before they die. He knows the vampires sometimes like to play with their food, chasing tearful virgins through the house, giving them a taste of escape before tucking into their meal. He knows it hurts. He knows it isn’t sexy.
Really. He knows.
He’s still jealous. He’s jealous when he shows up to yet another sad familiar mixer to find that nearly every other human in attendance has faded puncture wounds and he has to hide his smooth, pristine throat with a turtleneck sweater. He’s jealous when he’s forced to stand in the corner and listen to his master’s obscene, tantalizing moans as he drinks from some random human who isn’t him. He’s jealous when Nandor remarks on how tasty a victim is, licking his lips before discarding their lifeless forms like so much garbage.
He knows it’s wrong. But he gave up caring about right and wrong a long time ago, around the time he dug his first clandestine grave.
He’s wanted to be bitten ever since he was 13-years-old and he first watched Lestat turn Louis on the 18-inch TV in his bedroom. He’d paused the movie, rewinding and frantically beating off as the blood poured onto Brad Pitt’s lips.  He wants to know what his master’s lips would feel like on the tender hollow of his throat. He wants to feel the scratch of his beard as he closes his mouth over Guillermo’s sensitive skin. He wants Nandor to hold him close. He wants to feel those sensual moans rumble through the vampire’s chest as he takes his fill.
He wants so much.
Whenever he feels jealousy, lust, longing... he reminds himself that he should feel grateful, proud even, that Nandor has never fed from him. Nandor sees him as more than a meal. He’s a trusty companion, a person, a...friend? This is what Guillermo tells himself. He knows it’s not a matter of taste. How many times has Nandor scolded him for looking too tempting when he blushes? Or warned him to be careful with his sword collection because he didn’t want him bleeding all over the place and testing his self-control? 
Whatever his reasoning--respect, boundaries, taboo--Nandor doesn’t feed on his familiar. But Guillermo often wonders if things would be different if his master knew how badly he wanted it.
---
“Guillermo, you’re very serious tonight. Are you having to take a human shit? I can wait until after for you to do the tucking in…” 
Nandor stands by his open coffin with an uncomfortable smile on his face that’s akin to a grimace. Guillermo has already helped him remove his outer layers and brushed out his flowing, dark hair. All that remains is for the familiar to hold his hand while he steps up into his coffin.
“No, master, I--I don’t have to take a shit. I’m fine,” Guillermo murmurs with sadness practically oozing out of his pores.
Nandor bristles, his eyes darting all over the room as he wars with himself over whether to press further or simply to ignore Guillermo’s stupid human moods and hope they go away.
The vampire sighs dramatically, “I think you better tell me what is the matter, Guillermo. I don’t want this affecting your work performance. You do a very poor job dusting the paintings and the window dresses when you’re sad. Now what is it? Laszlo and Nadja? Are they giving the guff to you?”
Guillermo is quiet for a long moment, looking up into his master’s fathomless brown eyes as he decides how to respond. Nandor’s whole body is tense as if he’s awaiting the guillotine blade. Maybe he should just get it out of his system and finally admit--well, certainly not everything he feels for his beloved master, but at least about his deep desire to be bitten. 
He blushes, lowering his gaze as he finally answers, “I guess...I’m just a little jealous. Of...of the people you feed from.”
Nandor’s face drops into blank befuddlement before his dark brows lift upward and his lips curl in a poorly concealed smile.
“You’re jealous of my victims? I kill those people! You want me to murder you? Is this some kind of death wish thing? Because I find that really annoying!” Nandor sputters, half amused and half serious.
Guillermo’s face is burning with humiliation now and he rushes to clarify, “No! No, I don’t want to die, master. It’s just...I’ve always wanted to know what it felt like to be bitten by a vampire...”
His voice fades to nothingness but Nandor clearly understands him and his face grows pensive as he contemplates his words.
“Are you bullshitting me?” Nandor questions and his tone is just close enough to irritation to cause Guillermo to shrink in on himself as he answers.
“No, master.”
“Well…” Nandor sighs and affects a look of disinterest. “It’s alright to say that sort of thing to me, Guillermo, because you’re my familiar. But you want to be careful out there with the other vampires. You could get eaten up! And then where would I be? Having to make another ad on the Greg’s List!”
“...Craigslist…”
“As I said!” Nandor snaps, holding out his hand expectantly as he moves to get into his coffin. “Now, that’s enough of this crazy talking. Alright?”
“Alright, master,” Guillermo murmurs subserviently, reaching up to release the lid and slowly lowering it, sealing his master inside. 
“Goodnight, Guillermo!” Nandor’s muffled voice calls as the familiar moves around the room, blowing out candles.
“Night, master!”
Sealed in the claustrophobic darkness of his coffin, Nandor’s mind races as he tries to process this new information about his familiar. Guillermo--his little Guillermo!--would let him bite him and drink his delicious blood? No, he wants him to do it. Yearns for it. He is jealous of the people he kills just because they get to feel the sting of his fangs and the touch of his lips. Nandor palms himself through his trousers. He’s harder than he’s been in a century just thinking of it.
---
He tries, he really does. Guillermo tries to forget about his shameful admission and go back to normal. Nandor certainly seems unmoved, doing nothing to even hint that he remembers having the conversation. So, Guillermo goes through the motions, dutifully completing his chores, searching for fresh sources of virgin blood, and standing by while Nandor sates his bloodlust with perfect strangers. But now that he’s revealed his secret--part of his secret, let’s be honest--and faced his master’s outright rejection, he just can’t seem to let go of the hollow ache in his chest.
He feels inadequate, pathetic, unattractive. And sad. Mostly sad.
Guillermo might think that Nandor has forgotten all about their little chat, but the vampire dwells on it just as much as the human does in the days that follow. And it’s impossible to ignore the scent of “sad human” that’s begun to permeate the household. Nandor spends several days battling with himself over what to do. He considers killing Guillermo and starting over with a new familiar… Guillermo gets his wish, Nandor doesn’t have to confront his shameful attraction to his servant… everybody wins! But the thought of Guillermo’s sweet little face gone still and lifeless sends a foreign stab of emotion into his chest that is really unpleasant.
He could ignore the situation and hope for it to go away on its own. But now that he knows his familiar is secretly lusting after his bite, he can’t get it out of his mind. He’d avoided feeding from Guillermo for years. At first it was a matter of preserving a valuable asset. Guillermo is a good familiar, why risk slipping up and accidentally draining him? After a while, when Nandor started to fixate on his familiar’s adorable smiles, fantasizing about how his soft, little body would feel against his...then it became a matter of self-control and rejecting his disgusting, unnatural feelings for a... servant!
So, that leaves him with one option. He must feed from Guillermo...carefully. So, so carefully so as not to be overcome and either kill or ravish the poor fellow. And if he is going to bite his Guillermo, then he must make it a pleasant experience for his familiar. He can’t stomach the idea of simply ripping into his human and hearing him scream and cry with the pain of it. No, it has to be...special.
---
Guillermo is barely in the door, laden down with shopping bags, when his master’s voice calls to him.
“Guillermo! Is that you?”
“Yes, master! I’m back from the store. I got you some more of those bath bombs you like,” Guillermo answers, wrestling with the bags as he edges towards his room. “Is there something--?”
Nandor appears at his side and interrupts, “The one with the lavender? Very good, Guillermo. Ehm--why don’t you put down those satchels and come with me to my room for a moment. I have a surprise for you.”
Guillermo’s face lights up with a warm smile and he drops the bags on the floor by his closet-room, “A surprise? For me, master?”
“Just for you, Guillermo! Come!” Nandor practically skips at his side as they walk back to his room, his eyes lit with anticipation.
Nandor closes and locks the door behind them, watching his familiar take in the arrangements he’s made. He borrowed Laszlo’s gramophone and set it up in the corner. It’s playing a soft, quiet melody that floats gently on the incense-infused air. A vase of vivid red roses sits on an end table next to his fancy couch, which he’s covered in a layer of bath towels. 
“What...what is all this, master?” Guillermo breathes, walking up to the flowers and burying his nose in the fragrant blooms with a smile on his lips. 
“Do you like it, Guillermo? I wanted it to be--” he pulls a face but manages to get the word out “--nice for you.”
“But, why?”
Nandor steps up beside his familiar, towering over the smaller man. “I’m going to feed from you. If... if that is still something you are wanting.”
“Oh,” the word comes out on a shaky exhale and Guillermo feels his knees go weak. “I--yes, I still want...that. Thank you, master.”
Nandor smiles, baring his fangs and crinkling his eyes. Guillermo feels his heart do a flip in his chest and wonders, distractedly, if Nandor can hear his heartbeat. They’re standing so close. Guillermo could lean forward just a bit and they’d be touching. He looks up into Nandor’s eyes and finds them melted with warmth. His master has never gone through such an effort for him before. Guillermo feels like his heart could burst.
“You want to take a seat?” Nandor gestures to the towel covered couch and Guillermo snaps out of his daze.
He sinks down onto the cushions, running his hands appreciatively over the terry cloth, “This was clever, master.”
Nandor takes a seat beside him, close enough that their thighs brush together and Guillermo gulps. He’s brushed his master’s hair, helped him dress, helped him bathe for goodness sake, but he’s never felt as close to him as he does now.
“Are you comfort-a-ble, Guillermo?” Nandor asks, staring at his face with a hungry intensity. 
Guillermo locks eyes with him and he sees his master’s pupils dilate, his lips part to bare elongated fangs. He gasps out a quivering breath as he fights the waves of exhilaration, lust and fear in order to answer.
“Yes, it’s...very comfy, master. Very nice, thank you.”
“Good,” Nandor responds, his eyes flicking down to Guillermo’s collar. “Why don’t you remove your woolen garment and open your collar. I don’t want to spoil your nice clothes.”
Guillermo feels like he’s in a dream. Nandor is never this...considerate. His mind flashes back to every time he’s watched his master strike out at a victim unannounced, with fierce aggression and even cruelty. It’s pathetic that his standards are so low, but the fact that Nandor isn’t treating him like just another victim to be used and discarded sends a rush of affection and hope flowing through him. He hastily grabs the bottom of his sweater, pulling it up over his head and tossing it aside. Next, he reaches for the collar of his shirt, but Nandor is there first. His long, thick fingers pluck at the buttons, releasing each one until Guillermo’s chest is visible. He pulls the collar aside, revealing the smooth, unblemished curve of Guillermo’s neck and shoulder.
“Are you ready?” Nandor asks with a hiss as he eyes his familiar’s naked skin. He’s never seen so much of the man before and he feels his cock stir with interest inside his trousers. 
“Yes,” Guillermo breathes needily, tilting his head to bare his neck even further. 
Nandor brings his hand up to cradle Guillermo’s head, letting his fingers sink into his soft curls and cupping his warm cheek in his palm. The pulse point at Guillermo’s throat is practically visible, his heart is beating so fast. Nandor feels his mouth flood with saliva as the rushing flow of Guillermo’s blood reaches his ears. 
He wraps his other arm around his familiar, drawing him onto his lap and finally leaning in to bury his face into the warm, inviting crook of his neck. Nandor breathes in the intoxicating aroma that even the human-things-for-smelling and his incense cannot obscure. He moans loudly. He might be embarrassed if he were less overcome with the sensory feast of his familiar’s soft body in his arms and the promise of his warm, thick blood.
Guillermo mewls at the touch of his master’s mouth on his bare throat. His beard is scratchy and rough but his lips are impossibly soft and gentle. It’s like a kiss, he thinks, his heart rushing with affection and joy. Nandor’s arm around him is firm and strong. He knows that he could never hope to escape if Nandor truly wished to restrain him and drink him dry. Putting this level of trust in his master makes him feel like a tiny, frail rabbit in the jaws of a hungry wolf. A delicious shiver runs down his spine at the image. And then Nandor’s lips pull back and he feels the sharp points of his fangs graze over tender skin.
“Oh!” Guillermo cries out. 
Nandor growls low in his throat but pulls back just slightly to check, “Is this still alright?”
Guillermo nods quickly, bringing up his hands to run them through Nandor’s soft hair reassuringly, “Yes! Yes! Please, master!”
He feels Nandor’s chest rumble with suppressed laughter and then there’s just the blinding, burning flash of pain that blooms as Nandor finally strikes, burying his fangs into his familiar’s soft, warm throat. Guillermo’s mouth falls open and his hands fist in Nandor’s hair as the first wave takes him. 
“Shhh,” Nandor murmurs wetly against his neck, lapping the spilled blood with long strokes of his tongue. “Shhh, you’re safe.”
“Nnghh!” a pleasured groan strangles from the familiar’s throat at the touch of his master’s tongue. Guillermo squirms, his cock filling even as blood drains away from his body. 
Nandor tightens his arms around his little Guillermo, pulling him flush against his broad chest and biting down once more as he begins to drink in earnest. He moans wantonly as the sweet blood fills his mouth. He’s as hard as he’s ever been and he rolls his hips against his familiar’s generous backside. He drinks and he drinks.
The pain ebbs enough for Guillermo to lose himself in the delicious feeling of connection with his master. His hands, his lips, his tongue, his teeth are all on him, inside of him, part of him. Nandor’s touch unlocks a secret room inside of Guillermo where he keeps his most tender feelings. For once he allows himself to truly feel the devotion, the affection... the love that he has for his master. It’s wonderful and dizzying. Tears slip from his eyes as he reaches his arms around Nandor’s broad shoulders, hugging him closer for as long as he’ll allow.
Too soon he feels his head start to spin and his grip on Nandor’s shoulders loosens. The vampire senses it immediately and draws back with a feral growl. Guillermo is limp and breathless in his master’s arms. He looks up with heavy-lidded eyes and watches Nandor lick blood from his lurid, stained lips.
“Thank you, master,” Guillermo whispers, snuggling into Nandor’s chest with a contented sigh. His arousal is flagging and he hopes that his master hasn’t noticed. He’d felt Nandor’s rigid erection grinding against him while the vampire drank his blood, but he has no way of knowing if that’s just something that happens every time he feeds. Whatever the case, he’s far too weak and drunk with happiness to do anything but drift along and hope that Nandor keeps holding him.
Nandor’s dead heart squeezes in his chest at the sight of his sleepy familiar burrowing his face into his chest. His plan seems to have failed. He’d wanted to give Guillermo his fantasy while remaining aloof, but instead he’s feeling an annoying rush of warm affection. Worse, he’s shamed himself by...rutting against the human like a street dog. He should push him away, or give him an order to remind him of the boundaries that are still in place. But as he looks down at the sweet smile on his familiar’s lips he can’t find it in him to spoil the moment for him so soon. Tomorrow. Tomorrow night he’d remind Guillermo of how things still stand between them.
“Will you keep holding me, master?” Guillermo mumbles, his eyes drifting shut. The human has read his thoughts!
“Yes,” Nandor replies, leaning down and tracing a barely there kiss onto Guillermo’s forehead. “For a little while.”
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blackwomanwriter · 4 years
Text
“I Don’t Think You’re Ready”
First of all, I hope everyone is staying safe and able to quarantine themselves at this time. I know so much is happening around us, and it can feel overwhelming and frightening. Thus, I hope that this takes your mind off the craziness of the world, even just for a second. I know it definitely helped me!
This was inspired by so many things - my love for angst, Jake Gyllenhaal’s latest photo shoot, and this tweet by Nichole of Thirst Aid Kit Pod. However, after watching this scene from Nocturnal Animals, I finally figured this piece out. Enjoy!
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“I don’t want to hide anymore,” he whispered.
Your eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the harsh morning light. It was too early to have this argument. The dreaded never-ending argument that he recently kept bringing up. You didn’t want to have this fight either – you didn’t have the energy.
“Babe,” you groaned, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. You surprised him last night by showing up in LA to support his latest project. Dressed in a trench coat with nothing underneath, you were the first thing he saw when he walked in the house. He teared up at the sight of you, a reminder of how long you’d spent apart, and how much he’d missed you. Lately, the video calls and texts just weren’t enough. Seconds later, you dropped the coat and revealed his other surprise, which he was more than eager to touch. He ravished you, kissing every inch of skin, until purple bruising showed on your dark skin.
You hoped that your presence would dead his request to go public. But nothing deterred him, so you were now waking up to the same argument that you kept repeating on the phone. Only this time, there were no barriers to hide how you felt. It wasn’t that you didn’t love him or were embarrassed by him – you just had a better understanding of the aftermath of this announcement. The things they would say about him, the things they would say about you. Not to mention the impact it would have on his career. A committed Jake Gyllenhaal ruined the fantasy of every women planning their future with him. Then there was the reaction to you - the opposite of every woman he’d ever dated or admitted to crushing on. Publicly, you didn’t fit into his world, no matter how progressive society appeared to be, you knew the truth – you lived it. The slew of hate comments that would await every social platform you visited. Now, that Jake was on Instagram, it was bound to get worse.  
It was easier keeping things the way they were, with only a few friends, family, and close associates knowing about your relationship. Besides, he always kept his relationships private, which is why his request sounded so odd.
It took a bit of adjusting, but you both found a way to make this relationship work. Yet, you noticed the little things that started chipping at him – his frustration when you let go of his hand in public settings - but it wasn’t enough to warrant concern. You still touched him in every way; you just learned to curtail any pda in case of prying eyes or cameras. Yet, he frowned every time you did it, and pushed for more affection.
“I don’t want to hide you anymore.” Jake trailed kisses down your neck, tracing the curve of your waist. He knew your body well, remembered it well, and treated it well. Memories of last night replayed in your mind as he continued to tease. The phone sex was good, but nothing beat the real thing. It’d been too long since you had it. You leaned into his touch, letting him guide the pace. Arms draped around his neck, you’d completely forgotten the argument. Although, in this position, you’d damn near forget your name. He shifted his weight, allowing your legs to instinctively wrap around his torso. The hunger in his eyes matched yours as you stared each other down. You were ready to rekindle what you both were missing these last couple of months. Closing your eyes, you tilted your face, ready for his kiss, but nothing happened. You opened your eyes in a haze of confusion. “Walk the carpet with me,” he insisted. “You have the dress, you already know how these things work, and I’ll only do four interviews max.” Jake kissed your nose, before kissing your lips. His eyes pleaded with you, waiting for your response. It was much harder to say no, when you were doing it in person, and couldn’t avoid his blue eyes. “I’ll be with you the entire time, and we don’t even have to stay for the whole movie.”  
There was this part of you that wanted to say yes, and give in, just to see the joy on his face. Yet, it wasn’t that simple. This was about you as much as it was about him, and you needed to protect him, protect your relationship, and most importantly, protect yourself. Of course, you wanted to jump up and down, and scream from the mountain tops that you were dating. You were gorgeously happy, and madly in love with a man whose last name you’d gladly take in a heartbeat. Some days, you wondered why you put yourself through the secrecy and hiding, but then you remembered that this wasn’t a fairy tale, this was life. There were consequences to your perfect ending.
“It’s a small theatre. Private screening. Less people.” Jake argued, leaning in to kiss you again. A sigh escaped your lips, you knew where this was headed. You discussed this before, argued over it, laughed about it, then argued over it again.
“I don’t think we are ready.”
“Three years, and we aren’t ready? Bullshit.”
You freed your legs from his torso, realizing that you weren’t going to get any this morning, and that this argument was far from over. “Have you spoken to Hanna,” you hoped that mentioning his publicist would remind him that he couldn’t just spring you into his world.
“She thinks it’s time. Plus, it will generate buzz about the film.” He brought your hands to his lips, kissing the palms, before intertwining them with his hands. “The whole team thinks it’s time. I can’t be a bachelor forever.”
“George Clooney did it,” you quipped.
He smiled before turning serious again. “And, he is also married with two kids. C’mon, walk the carpet with me.”
You closed your eyes, letting out a heavy breath. It was too early to have this conversation, and you didn’t have the proper words to explain your hesitation. You sat up, and turned towards him with a smile, “What do you want for breakfast?”
Jake stared at you in complete disbelief, but you ignored it. Rising out of bed, you put on his shirt and started fluffing the pillows.
“What,” he asked, as he sat up.
You continued making the bed, ignoring his quizzical stare, “Pancakes sound nice.”
“I don’t have to answer any questions. I can be with you the whole time. Five minutes tops.”
“I don’t think we are ready.”
You fussed around, tidying up for no reason, awaiting his response, but he was silent. You looked over and found him staring at the light shining through from the windows.
“Babe – “
“We aren’t ready, or you aren’t ready,” he asked.
“Jake – “
“I love you. I want to spend my life with you, and I have no problem admitting that to the world.”
“I love you too – “
He didn’t wait for you to finish, before cutting in again. “You love me, but not enough to tell anyone about it.”
“That’s not true. I – “
“Are you happy…with me, with us,” he asked.
“Of course, I’m happy – “
“Paparazzi? Press? Cameras? The scrutiny? The comments? –“
“Jake, - “
“The backlash? The outrage? The stares? What is it?”
“Jake – “
“Okay, if not now, then when? Three years is a fucking long time to be hiding.”
“I don’t think you’re ready,” you blurted.
He went silent. The surprise coloring his face and taking away his breath.
“Fuck,” you sighed. This wasn’t the way you wanted to have this conversation.
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Thank you so much for reading! Should I continue? I have a taglist somewhere (updating it), so let me know if you are interested. Thanks! 
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