#& now youre saying that you got an offer from an old job. & you're considering it.

[gentlerainmorninghush]

coworker keeps talking about getting a different job & I'm so fuckin over it bro

[pomefioredove]

now I'm actually invested in this idea. maybe I'll write a full length fic someday idk... for now I have short hcs

parts 1 | 2 | 3 | kalim | bad ending

summary: crowley decides to "give away" yuu to the highest "donation" for financial reasons type of post: headcanons characters: all nrc students additional info: can be read as platonic or romantic, except malleus is pretty romantic, second person pov, yuu is gender neutral, maybe a little ooc I wrote this as soon as I got up

crowley has had his fair share of "what the fuck" moments from you but this was really taking the cake

he acts so... casual about it?

swaggers into ramshackle one morning and says times are tough and your personal expenses are straining the budget so he's decided to "put you in someone else's care"

"The screening process will be vigorous to make sure you end up in good hands!" like you're a cat or something "Your expenses will be covered and you'll have somewhere to go during break!"

okay great. pretty obvious you have no say in this, so you don't even argue. what's the worst that could happen?

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ace, Deuce, Jack, and Epel find you the next day to say they're pooling their money to buy you

"To what?"

Epel shrugs. "Oh, well Crowley said we need to offer a donation to prove we're capable of supporting you..."

(you think that if not for the laws of this land you would have slaughtered that old fart)

Jack goes on a really long tirade about how shady and underhanded this is, making sure to reaffirm that he believes you should be free to make your own choices

"So you'll let me go once you get me?"

"Uhhh..."

Ace thinks once they buy you you'll have no choice but to do all of his homework for him

Deuce says that's not really how it works- and even if he tried, Riddle would kill him

(they've already gone over this twice before finding you)

Epel happily volunteers to take you home with him over breaks, probably the only positive in this mess

even if he thinks the whole thing is kind of funny

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

incapable of keeping his mouth shut, Ace accidentally spills the plan to Riddle, who is understandably aghast

you can't just give away a person under your care like a toy!

of all the irresponsible things...

of course, he'll have to put up his offer, too

purely for your sake! with a nicer room and a brand new copy of the dorm rules, maybe you'll stop getting yourself into trouble

he's got some family money (doctors, naturally) and considers this a worthwhile purchase, for his sanity and yours

of course, Trey and Cater overhear and may or may not be pooling their own cash for a chance, too

going behind Riddle's back on this is a risky venture, but hey, someone's gotta be on your side, here, right?

I mean, between a bunch of sixteen year old boys, the housewarden, and them, who would you choose?

actually don't answer that

...not that it's much of a secret, anyway. Cater's already got their gofundme equivalent link in bio

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Leona initially plans to have you become a live-in lackey like Ruggie

but then he really starts thinking- and, hey, the possibilities are endless, right?

for one, you'd make a really good pillow

he might have to kick Grim out for your full attention, but you could learn to live with that

and malleus would hate it

...that's reason enough for him

plus, he's got money to burn, so why not?

either way, he sets his bid at a reasonable (maybe too confident) price and sits back to watch the chaos unfold as everyone scrambles for a piece of the pie

news travels fast around school, after all

then Ruggie finds out that you could dethrone him as Leona's #2 and is understandably a little annoyed

that's his cushy post-grad job gig, thank you! he's worked hard for that!

besides, why should Leona get to hoard you? the guy can barely take care of himself!

so, Ruggie ends up outsourcing to a few dozen classmates for the necessary funds at a steep I-owe-you price

he's gonna be eating nothing but dandelions for a while...

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

now, Azul is annoyed

once the news goes school-wide, it's all anyone can talk about

talk about good marketing...

why didn't he think of such a brilliant scam? he could have negotiated with Crowley to have a café brand deal tie-in!

of course, he's already set his bid, with Jade and Floyd offering to pitch in as necessary

it's a risky investment, sure, but a worthwhile one

Azul tells everyone that with the prefect's "obvious" popularity, having them at the café a few nights a week would drive sales through the roof

though that's really just what he says to shirk suspicion

a likely excuse coming from him, though, really, it would just be nice having you around

and if not for his own affections, Floyd's incessant begging and Jade's subtly manipulative comments about "how nice" it would be having a new face around would be enough for him to cave eventually

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

"Kalim, no," is the first thing that Jamil says

"I strongly advise against this. It's another one of Crowley's silly scams and you could end up a target bec- are you even listening?"

hint: he is not

the second Kalim found out that he could get to take in his favorite magicless student like one of his treasures, he was all over it

(AKA infinite sleepovers)

and for what? a little optional donation to prove he's got the funds? he's got cash to spare!

he's already got your new room in Scarabia set up before he even puts his bid in

right next to his of course :)

and despite what Jamil insists, he himself might be working behind the curtain just a little to ensure he's the one who ends up with you

after all, why should Kalim get everything? this might be a valuable learning opportunity for him

You don't always get what you want

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

as much as Epel tries to keep the rest of his dorm from finding out, it's inevitable

he's actually a little surprised that the news didn't get to Vil sooner

with Rook around campus, surely he must have said something...

when Vil does find out, though, he just sighs

oh, of course. what next, will everyone meet each other in the arena and fight to the death over the prefect?

of all the silly, immature things...

oh? what's that? he's bidding anyway? of course he is, silly potato. he can't have some unwashed miscreant making you sleep on polyester bedding

(really, he's the only person on campus worthy of your time)

Rook has also been mysteriously absent from the dorm lately, though his initials on a poem and a strangely large sum of money end up in the donation pile

but really, that could be anyone... Rook would never dare betray Vil again, right?

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ortho finds out directly from the other first years and sends Idia the details immediately

with a little note of encouragement, of course: "could be excellent for improving your social skills!"

Idia understandably freaks out

"WTF!!!! nooo way! this is a person, not a chatbot we're talking about here! I can barely keep virtual pets alive!!!!"

(liar)

(...but this is still different)

the conversation ends there, but semi-anonymous bid from someone named "gloomurai" gets cashapp'd directly to crowley

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

everyone in the room immediately turns to Malleus

"For the record, I think it's wrong to be bargaining over a human being," Silver says first. "But if anyone could handle it with grace, it's you."

Lilia laughs. "Oh, you're just saying that because you like the prefect so much!"

"Father, you're the one who likes the prefect so much,"

"Oh, right! carry on then. After all, I'm sure we could share,"

Sebek is the only one relatively against the idea, though Lilia luckily manages to get him to lower his voice after his third speech about how you aren't good enough for his liege

Malleus is rather quiet through the whole evening, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with any of the points made

he disappears for a short while, and when he comes back he seems a little more confident

though, of course, he goes to you first

seeing him at Ramshackle in the middle of the night is a familiar and welcoming sight after all of the chaos of your week

and he's in a great mood!

"Child of man! I've come with news," he says. "I have heard of your predicament and have come up with a solution!"

you immediately sulk. "Oh, no. You know I think this whole thing is terrible, right?"

"Yes, Silver mentioned you might not like the idea of being bought and sold like a trinket. But worry not, I do not plan on paying for you in money,"

you pause, at a loss for words, and then tentatively continue. "You're not...?"

"Of course not. What a primitive idea, I was baffled to hear it myself. My proposal will be more traditional: a modest sum of treasure, and a generous amount of livestock and the finest crop Briar Valley can offer,"

certainly he's not this naive, you think

"You really think Crowley is going to accept that over money? I'm pretty sure Kalim just bid away an entire country's worth,"

he laughs. "You speak as if this is some kind of business deal! I'm quite confident that my dowry will be best,"

huh. that was a strange way of putting it

but then again, you still didn't really understand how things work here, so you go along with it

and you allow yourself to relax. he seems confident in his offer, and he doesn't even see you as some kind of prize to win!

"Oh, well, alright. Thanks! I'm glad you're on it,"

he smiles. "Rest assured, child of man, you're in good hands. My dowry will far outshine the others, and the wedding will be even better,"

"I was honestly getting a little nervous for a momen- wait- wedding!?"

[cavegirlpoems]

A story from back when I played D&D. It might have been 3.5 or pathfinder or fantasycraft or one of that ilk. Might even have been 4e. It was like a decade ago.

So. Standard D&D. A party of bold adventurers of diverse origins and skillsets gets together to explore a perilous dungeon and stop a cartoonish baddy. The usual.

I end up building a fairly typical character for me. A goblin Rogue/Assassin. A stealth/melee build designed to get the drop on an enemy, do a bunch of rapid damage, and then fuck off.

She was lawful evil, and firmly in the team-fortress-two-sniper school of "You know who has a lot of feelings? Men what bludgeon their wives to death with a golf trophy. Professionals have standards." school of being a mercenary. I think I even did an aussie accent.

Anyway her schtick was that she'd noticed 'Adventurers' got to do as much violence as they wanted without social consequences, and she loved violence! So she was gonna do a stint as an adventurer, so once she was done she could go home with a big sack of gold to spend on booze and cake and hot girls. But right now she was on the job, so she was an extremely professional team player with a strict code of conduct. Always be honest with the team, follow the plan, don't mess things up for the team, split the loot evenly. Standards.

Verna was a horrible efficient little murder gremlin who was also proudly guild-certified. * * *

Now, another PC was a chaotic neutral gnome bard who was leaning hard on the 'gnomes are amusingly racist to goblins and kobolds and think this is funny and endearing' thing. He teased Verna a bunch about being green and ugly, which she studiously ignored because - remember - she had Professional Standards.

Anyway, there was a human NPC we met that she didn't like, saying he was a bit stupid and very annoying. Our gnome bard decided it would be very funny to use one of his enchantment spells to make Verna suddenly horny for him and watch what happened.

Verna sees the gnome who keeps fucking with her walk up, wave his hands and babble some arcane nonsense, and now she has weird funny feelings she can't explain. She does some thinking and concludes that she'll pay the human for a snog later, because right now this guy's just obviously cast a spell to mess with her mind, which was Not Okay. Of course, she had Professional Standards, so...

She walks up to our gnome friend and basically informs him: "Hi! I know you just did some magical brainwashing on me, and I am not going to tolerate this! However, because we're in a team together, and I don't want this to become a problem, I am going to very generously allow you to settle the matter with me. We will have a bout of single combat to first blood, and then whoever wins I will consider the matter settled and my honour satisfied, and you won't do that again, and we won't mention it. This is a very kind offer of mine, because I have Standards; where I come from the normal response would be to say nothing and strangle you in your sleep tonight."

And our gnome, who is a spellcaster not a combatant, looks at this and decides he doesn't want to get shown up by her, and basically tells her that if she doesn't like getting messed with she can go back to the goblin village, and laughs at her.

So. Shrug. Quickdraw as a free action. I get a surprise round. You're flat footed, so it's easy to hit and I get sneak attack damage. 3/4 of his health is gone. Initiative. He says he wants to say sorry. I respond that he can say that when it gets to his initiative count, but right now it's my action and he's still flat-footed and here's my big pile of d6s for sneak attack and oh dear I think that's him on -10 hp, so he's not going to get the chance.

* * *

Anyway this kicked off a massive shitstorm ooc about how I just kicked off PvP and murdered a PC for no reason and the game fell apart because the gnome's player genuinely didn't seem to understand that 'mind control' is a hostile action. This was in the bad old days before safety tools and I was playing in a fairly neckbeardy group, so 'a man makes a woman horny against her will to humiliate her and laughs about it' was apparently not a deal-breaker while 'the woman stabs him for it' was.

I still think I wasn't the bad guy in this scenario.

There is no point to this story I just wanted to share it.

[robin-the-enby]

Hello! I was wondering if you could do a Markus(DBH) x Reader where she is the S/O of Leo Manfred, but the relationship is definitely not a happy one. Like he insults her and pushes her around all the time.

If that is triggering please ignore this request! Hope you have a lovely day! :)

You can think that you're in love, when you're really just in pain...

Pairing: Marcus x f!reader

Warnings: use of Y/N and she/her pronouns, female reader (appearance is not discussed or mentioned), swearing, mentions of psychological and physical abuse, Leo is a gaslighter, I guess that' it

A/N: OMG, I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! Will you ever forgive me? 😭 But I took my time with this piece (and honestly might have gone a bit overboad) and while it did suck the soul out of me, I am very proud f it and hope you will like it. I made the reader female in the end, but the appearance of the reader is never mentioned, she is only reffered to with she/her pronouns, so I hope that's not a problem. If yes, I'll make sure to change it ;)

By now, you knew these streets by heart, that's how often you visited Carl Manfred. The old artist liked to joke that you were his in-law, given that you were his son's spouse. This wasn't the only reason however, because Carl also thought you were a kind and gentle soul and he really hoped that Leo saw that and tried to better himself in life, if not for himself, then for you at least.

Carl only talked well about his son, preferring to think about the god times instead of where exactly it went wrong and whose fault it might have been. But your presence was calming and very much enjoyable. He did have Marcus to run errands for him and take care of him, but you offering your helping hand gave him the feeling that he oh so lacked - his family taking care of him, now that he couldn't do it very well himself.

Even though you and Leo weren't married or even engaged, the old artist still considered you family. After all, you have been with Leo for a few years now, the thought of you leaving from his and Marcus' lives was strange and one Carl did not like to think about. Although...

Sometimes, when the house got quiet, when Marcus was fetching some paints or doing other errands in town, Carl would think. To be fair, he didn't know what you saw in Leo, even though he'd never admit that. He knew that opposites often attracted, and he really did hope your love would help Leo, whenever he'd ask you how his son was doing, no matter what mood you were in, it instantly changed. Something in your eyes...shifted. You looked tired, somehow older in those times, and he could see there was a heavy burden weighing you down. When it came to talking about Leo, you stuck to the basics. "He's doing fine." you'd say with a smile. But whenever Carl would ask hopefully "Has he found a job yet?" or "Is he...clean now?" you found that you could not answer. You didn't want to worry the old man, but it felt wrong to lie to him either. So you just hung your head low and admit quietly that no, he doesn't have a job and no...he isn't clean. You tried to lighten up the mood by saying he's looking for a job, which wasn't really a lie, at least, Leo insisted that he's looking for employment any time you'd bring that topic up, but you suspected Carl had stopped believing you at some point, although he never said so.

Today, you were once again visiting the old man and his android. It was strange to think that Marcus wasn't human. Every time you interacted with him, you almost forgot about it, enjoying his presence around you that much. Marcus was...serene. He wasn't loud, he wasn't crass and he was always kind. To everyone. Even if it created more trouble for him. Sometimes you wished you didn't have to leave. That you could stay with them. You were pretty sure Carl would be more than happy to let you stay, wishing for the company of his loved ones, even if he never said it, and Marcus...well...Marcus would be happy if Carl was happy. If you could call it happiness. It was strange to imagine that Marcus has never experienced any emotions at all. It made you a little sad. But the fact that he didn't know what emotions were and so he couldn't be aware of the fact he's missing something made you feel a little better. Although sometimes...sometimes it felt like Marcus was...different. Many a time have you seen him just...space out. You could see the, probably very much real, cogs in his head turn as he processed...something. But what that something was? You weren't sure.

Pulling your car into the driveway of the Manfred residence, you didn't even attempt to fight the stretch and the deep breath you took. It felt so freeing to be here, far away from...well, home. And the air was so clean and fresh, too! You could spend the whole afternoon sitting in the garden, just breathing. Carl sure did have taste when he picked out this place to live out the rest of his life at. It was calm, mostly quiet and smelled so, so good. Most people don't realise how amazing fresh air is until they taste it with their lungs, you thought to yourself. But even as you were here, your mind couldn't stop comparing everything to how it was at home. The yelling outside and inside. The constant sense of unease. The constant suffy air that wouldn't get out of your apartment, no matter how long you left the windows open. And you knew you had to come back. This place, as nice as it was, was just a break. A small oasis that would fill you up with strength until your next visit. But your reality was out there. In the downtown Detroit, in the tiny apartment you were renting.

Maybe if Leo admitted that he has issues and put his pride aside just once, you wouldn't have to take up so many shifts. You could actually like your job. You could do so much more than to just keep the both of you alive. Maybe you could have a bit of peace. But you doubted that. No matter how hard you tried, how much you did for the both of you, it seemed to never be enough. You took up extra shifts to treat the both of you to some nice meal? The apartment wasn't clean enough. You deep cleaned the apartment? You didn't cook dinner. You didn't have money to lend him? He didn't believe you, unless you showed him. And god forbid you asked him what he needed it for. Or if you complained.

Shaking yourself out of your thoughts, you made your way to the front door. Yes, reality wasn't...perfect, but you wouldn't let it ruin this moment for you. Or, at least, you would try. As you were about to raise your hand to ring the doorbell, a figure appeared from behind the corner, abruptly stopping at the sight of you. You whip your head around, startled a little at the stranger's sudden appearance. But, as your eyes focused on the person, you recognised Marcus. His intense eyes that never made you feel unsafe, his short hair, which you weren't even sure was real, you thought briefly, and his firm build...

"Oh, (Y/N)! I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you..." Marcus apolgised with a very sincere feeling smile. You chuckled slightly at your reaction "Oh hello, Marcus. It's alright, you just startled me, that's all." Marcus was quiet for a moment, and judging by the intensity of his gaze, you assumed he was assessing your vitals to ensure you really were alright. At first, the intensity with which he looked at you sometimes unnerved you, but when he explained it was just to make sure you were physically and mentally alright, you relaxed. It was handy to have someone that could tell you something was wrong with just one look, something you yourself might not have even noticed.

"Carl noticed your car, so he instructed me to tell you that we're in the garden." Your mouth made an "o" shape in silent understandment as you nodded and followed Marcus around the house. The short walk was silent, but comfortable. Soon you could see Carl relaxing in his wheelchair in the sun, looking as content as can be. You couldn't help the smile that bloomed on your face at seeing him. You've come to learn that this place, these people, were your safe place. You felt free here, not judged, not scrutinised. Nobody expected anything from you here and everything you did for Carl or for Marcus was met with appreciation.

Carl turned around at the sight of your footsteps on the small stone path and his face lit up "(Y/N)!" he exclaimed, opening his arms for a hug. You hugged him shortly and greeted the artist. "It's so good to see you! Come, come, sit down, let's have a chat!" he urged you as he moved towards a wooden bench overlooking the various flowers and bushes in the garden. From what you knew, Marcus not only took care of the old man, but the house, and by default the garden, as well. And if that was true, then he did an amazing job. The colours of all the petals were radiant and fresh, bees buzzing around happilly. It was a lovely sight. Sitting down, you made yourself comfortable. Carl stopped in front of you in a way that he could comfortably talk to you, but let you enjoy the sight as well. Something was telling him you needed it.

"Marcus, could you get us some drinks please?" he asked his android assistant gently. You always admired how Carl treated Marcus with such respect and care, as if he was a real person. All the time, you were met with people abusing their androids, seeing them as things to care for their every need, including receiving their master's anger. And although it felt obvious that one should treat their helpers respectfully, it was still a nice change. Another perk of spending time here. Marcus nodded with a small smile, asking Carl what he would like. "Some tea would be nice." Carl replied and Marcus turned to you. For some reason, you felt your face warm up slightly and you looked away from his enchanting eyes. Your mind ran a million miles per minute, trying to come up with something that wouldn't troube him too much. "Uhm, just some lemonade, please." you stammered after a second. Marcus nodded, never mentioning your stutter or pointing out your awkward behaviour.

When the android disappeared from view, Carl looked towards you "So, how is everything?" he asked, smiling. You never liked to answer that qestion, No answer felt right unless you went into detail, but you didn't want to burden him with all that. So you did the thing people usually do, you smiled and waved your hand dismissively "Ooh, you know. Everything is the same. Nothing interesting happening in my life." Carl nodded, but you were sure that being the perceptive person he is, he could see right through you. So he nodded without pressing the issue, and instead decided to press another one. "And how's Leo?"

It was as if that protective curtain around your happy place opened and you were exposed to the harsh light of reality. As if on autopilot, you hung your head slightly, the idea of looking into the old man's eyes suddenly uncomfortable. You chuckled awkwardly and shrugged "Yea, Leo's...Leo's good." you said, but your voice was small, void of the confidence and cheeriness it once posessed. Truth was, you haven't seen Leo in two days. He has been ignoring your calls as well as your texts. On one hand, you were worried about where he was, what he was doing and with who. But on the other...You were relieved. Your home is finally quiet, you don't wake up in the middle of the night to unexpected company coming over, because Leo invited them for a red ice party. You feel bad for feeling good when your partner is missing, but at the same time you can't help but enjoy it.

Sometimes fate has a strange way of playing with our lives. And it seems that in your case, Carl chose this day to finally choose the uncomfortable topic and interrogate you. "(Y/N), what's wrong?" the artist asked softly and you wondered when exactly has this became an intervention. "Nothing's wrong, work has just been tiring." Not a lie, but not a complete truth either. For some reason, you felt ashamed to admit to Carl how has Leo been treating you. You knew it wasn't right, but you also weren't someone who'd let others just push them around, and you knew Carl knew that. And maybe that's why you didn't want to tell him. Besides, how do you tell someone that their child is a toxic abuser?

"Cut it out (Y/N), I know something's wrong. Now, I know Leo doesn't have a job and that he's still on that...thing." Carl said the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth "But I feel like there are things you haven't been telling me." The worst thing about this conversation wasn't the fact Carl knew you were lying to him, it was the way he was so nice about it. You felt like this whole thing was wrong, for some reason you felt like he should have been mad at you, should have been asking why you were so stupid as to staying with his stupid son, who everyone knew was a scumbag. You sure felt stupid. And yet... "You know I wouldn't do that." you smiled at him while racking your brain for an exit out of this conversation. "Hey, Marcus has been gone for quite a while, huh? I'll go help him out a bit." you didn't wait for an answer, already standing up and heading to the backdoor. Carl turned around to look after you and from behind you, you could hear him call out, cheekiness masking his worry "I may be old, but I'm not senile!"

Stepping into the house was like teleporting to another world. While the garden was full of colours and bustling life, the house was quiet and the brown hues of the furniture and decorations almost made it feel sleepy. But it let a lot of light through its big windows and it didn't feel heavy or suffocating. The worst you could say about it was that it felt serious, but glancing at the life sized giraffe taxidermy in the living room disproved even that claim.

Following the soft clacking of mugs and the conistent hum of the kettle, you made your way to the kitchen. Marcus was standing at the counter, preparing Carl's tea, your lemonade already done on a small tray on the table. His broad shoulders moved uder his uniform and you found the movement...mesmerising. And while observing Marcus quietly was quite normal for you, as creepy as that sounds, this was the first time you felt as if your...affection, towards the android might not be as platonic as would be appropriate. You were taken for pete's sake, you couldn't be fantasising about another man like that! But, you reasoned for yourself what was the harm? It wasn't like Leo was here and even if he was, he'd probably pay little mind to you. You would be surprised if he could even stand still for more than half a minute.

"I know you're there, (Y/N)." you heard Marcus chuckle, successfully bringing you out of your thoughts. You realised that during your internal argument, you have leaned against the doorframe and probably was watching him like a creep the whole time. Great. "Heh. Somehow, that does not surprise me." you chuckle in return, hoping to brush off your inadequate behavior. Marcus' shoulders shake in silent giggles as he looked behind his shoulder at your drink "Your lemonade is done. Do you want to drink it outside with Carl?" he asks and you shake your head. "It's okay, I'll stay here for a while, but I'll join you two afterwards." you explain, hoping he doesn't push the matter. But it seemed that luck was not on your side that day.

"Did Carl's questions about Leo tire you out?" Marcus tried to joke, but he quickly realised he must've brought up a sensitive subject at your lack of a positive reaction. You just hung your head, as you were used to when talking about your boyfriend and smiled, although the expression held very little joy. "Yeah...sort of." you said quietly and sipped on your lemonade. Your brows scrunched together and you odded a little "Hy, this is some really good lemonade!" you commented, hoping to divert the conversation once more. Marcus thanked you and finished with Carl's tea. Then, he wordlessly picked up the tray and went outside to give it to the man.

He was gone for quite some time, that you almost thought that you would really be left alone, even though you didn't know whether that was what you wanted anymore. But it seemed that Marcus was more in tune with your emotions than you would've guessed for an android. He quietly sat down next to you and after a bit of silence, during which he probably ran through all the things he could've said, he finally spoke up. "Why Leo?" Yo had to say that it was the last question you expected, although, you didn't really know what you were expecting.

Sighing, you shrugged "I don't know...anymore." you added after a second, deciding that if you were to tell someone about your troubles, it would be Marcus. Would he tell Carl? If he asked, which you know he would, then the android would tell the artist everything. But hey, at least you didn't have to do it yourself. "Anymore?" Marcus asked quietly and you felt those gorgeous eyes trained on your face as if it was the only thing he could see. You nodded "Yeah...I guess- I guess he wasn't that bad at the start." you shrugged, the memories of him showering you with sweet words and gifts that weren't expensive, but that much more meaningful, almost gone from your brain. "And then I found out about the drugs and I thought-" you took a sharp breath in, already feeling the familiar pressure behind your eyes "I thought, he loves me, I'll be there for him and help him get through it. But he never got better. And when he blamed everything on the drugs, or on the withdrawals I believed him, because...Well, because I never thought I'd end up in that kind of situation, you know?" you chuckled, the noise laced with self deprecation.

You felt his hand land on your arm gently. A fleeting thought of how warm his hand was crossed your mind, before you heard him speak "It's not your fault." You quickly nodded "I know, I know, but it doesn't feel like it, you know? From a young age, we are warned of the signs of abuse in relationships, so how could I have ended up in one?" you sighed "I just feel...stupid." Your shoulders sagged and you slumped a little in your chair, as if a tremendous weight was lifted from your chest.

Even though Marcus was already lookng at you, you somehow felt his gaze sharpen "Is he..." he breathed out and it looked like he didn't know how to phrase what he wanted to say, which made a weird feeling spill throughout your gut, because it was strange, almost unsettling to see the lovely android, who is always so composed, at a loss for words. "Does he hurt you?" "No, no!" you were quick to assure him and you could see his shoulders droop as he relaxed his posture slightly. "He can be a bit rough, but-" you shook your ead again "it's no a big deal."

"What do you mean, rough?" Marcus presed on, his tone still as gentle as if you were a scared animal that could run away if he made one wrong move and yet, his eyes never left yours and when you looked at him, looked at those beautiful eyes that you were sure could count as a piece of art, there was...emotion behind them. You were sure of it. You've lived around androids for the better part of your life and you knew how they looked, even when they were assisting someone. Never ever have you seen such intensity behind synthetic eyes. And yet, you almost felt...relieved. You cleared your throat "Oh it' uh, it's ot a big deal..." you tried to reassure him once again (or maybe you were trying to convince yourself it hasn't gone that far, that hope and love haven't blinded you towards physical abuse as well) "Just sometimes when we fight, he grabs me a bit too roughly. It usually doesn't even leave a mark." you shrugged, but as you were saying it, you realised how horrible it sounded. So you stopped yourself before you'd dive into explaining how sometimes it was not just grabbing but shoves and pushes that you'd endure from Leo when you were too uncooperative for his liking.

You turn to face Marcus again and he looks a you with such sadness it almost feels like it was him who went through thaat. It wasn't just pity, the kind of look the pharmacist would shoot you every time you'd come for that one cream to help soothe your skin after a rough argument with Leo. But no, Marcus seemed...almost heartbroken, the kind of heartbroken a child is when their beloved pet dies.

"You don't have to put up with it you know?" Marcus asked gently, although it felt more like a reminder "You only have to say a word and I'm sure Carl would have nothing against-" you stopped Marcus' rant by putting a hand on his chest "I know, I know," you said nodding "but I don't want to bring Carl into this. He shouldn't have to put up with whatever mess Leo gets into, let alone my problems."

"It's ok to ask for help." he put his hand over yours that was on his chest, caressing yor skin lightly with his thumb. Your eyes were immediately drawn to his and on yours, the contact making your cheeks heat up as you mentally cursed yourself. "I know, but..." you trailed off "I just feel like...if I got into this mess, I have to get out of it. I don't want to-" you groan "I guess I don't want to give him the satisfaction of having that complete control over me. I know it sounds stupid-" you went to pull away, feeling the hot shame flow over you, making you want to cringe away from your robot friend. But Marcus only queezed your hand and tugged you closer to him. "It's not stupid. And there's no need to be embarassed." he reassured you and you shot him a quick smile, which he reciprocated, before you continued "So yeah, I guess that's why I never...said anything. Besides, he's not always like this. Sometimes he wakes up and is the textbook version of a doting boyfriend. I guess...I guess it made me hope that something could be done, that if I try hard enough, he'll see what he's doig and we can ge through it together." you chuckled sadly and this time, Marcus hugged you.

At first, you went stiff as a board, not expecting such a gesture from him, after all, Marcus has never been very touchy, since he wasn't programmed for that, but by now you were suspecting that Marcus could do more than what he was programmed to do, even if you didn't understand how that worked. Gradually, you relaxed into the hug, letting your arms gently wrap around his neck as his were wrapped around your waist. You let your head rest on Marcus' chest and as you breathed in, you caught the smell of his clean clothes. The warmth rdiating from his body was also something you couldn't complain about. You stayed like this for what must have been minutes, before you felt the android shift. Thining he was done with the hug, you went to let go of him, but his arms only tightened around you. You looked up at him only to find him already looking down at you, his eyes portraying some sort of inner conflict.

Just as he was about to voice whatever was on his mind, you registered hurried footsteps as well as rushed sentences beig exchanged, and not in a positive manner. Both you and Marcus let go of each other just in time before Leo rushed through the dooray, visibly seething, with a worried Carl on his heels.

"I told you dad, I just want to talk to her, so either you tell me where she is, or-" he stops mid sentence when he sees you and Marcus in the kitchen. He looks disheveled, his hair tussled, his clothes wrinkled, he looked sweaty and the whites of his eyes were very red, no to mention his pupils, which were way out of proportion. For a while, he just looked beween you and Marcus, his gaze jumping from one to the other, before he nodded and chuckled throwing up his hands "Well isn't this just great. I come home to no girlfriend, no car, no food and when I finally find her, she's all over a fucking robot." he sneers first at you, then at Marcus. Leo takes a few steps towards you, extending his hand as if to grab yours and you can't help but back away out of habit. Leo, of course, notices this and chuckles awkwardly "C'mon babe, we're going, the taxi won't pay itself." he says it as if he was lightheartedly joking, but the tension in his voice as well as his body gives away his real emotions.

And for some reason, something inside you...switches. You've had enough. Enough of not being appreciated, enough of being ordered and pushed around, when you deserved something, someone much better. Someone who would hold you tenderly, who would smell like fresh clothes, who would be warm and lovely, who could at least take care of himself.

"I'm not going anywhere." you said calmly, shaking your head. Leo looked at you like you just grew another head "Sorry?" And you gladly repeated yourself, adding "Maybe if I would've known where the hell you've been for the last two days, I would have waited for you. But I guess I'm not worth picking up the phone for. That is, if you even have it." you allowed yourslf to release the frutration that's been building up inside you for god knows how long now. Carl's eyes were wide, shocked fromhearing all this new information about your relationship with his son.

"Babe, you know I was busy-" Leo tried, but you were having one of it "Yeah, I see how busy you are. Couldn't you at least wait until you sobered up till you came here?" you scoffed. Leo narrowed his eyes at you and growled lowly "Listen, we can talk this through at home, no need to make a scene." And you actually laughed, catching all three men present slightly off guard "Cause a scene? You roled up here in a taxi, which you expect me to pay for, because no way you have any money on you after wherever you've been, you barged in like a hurricane and demanded to see me, and why? Just because I dared to drive somewhere? The ca is the only thing you have to your name, you live in my aparment, off of my and your dad's money, which you still send on useless shit. You don't help me out with anything, whatever I do is not enough, even though last time you actually put any effort into our relationship was years ago, so when I decide to take a break and visit a place I actually feel welcome at, it's still somehow my fault."

Maybe if it weren't for the fact that your soon to be ex boyfriend's face was getting redder with your every word, you could actully focus on the weight being lifted from your soul after that monologue. But Leo didn't look just mad, but insane. A small part of you started regretting your words, but feeling Marcus' and Carl's presence slightly calm you down. Still, when he took another step towards you,your body tensed up and you took an instinctive step towards Macus, trusting him to intervene if something went wrong. And given how your stomach squeezed uncomfortably, the situatio was more than likely heading that way.

But Leo, of course, noticed this "Bullshit." he spat out "I try, so fucking hard to please you, to be enough for you. Every day, all I think about is you. So sometimes, I need something to help me relax. But none of you," he turned around to direct his words not only to you, but his father as well "none of you get that. You all just bring me down." at this point, Leo was borderline yelling and you tried to stop your body from shaking, out of fear or adrealine, you didn't know. "I was worried, have you thought about that?" he focused on you again"I was worried where you were, what happened. So I looked for you. And when I finally found you, my fucking girlfriend, what do I see?"he turns his attention to Marcus now, both of the men staring deep into each other's eyes "I found you all over this fucking piee of plastic." he growled with disdain "I have no idea what you and dad see in these monstrosities-" he would continue, if it wasn't for Carl jumping in "Leo, that's enough!" the old man said sternly, even though you knew very well how much it pained him. As Leo was turning around to face is father, Marcus grabbed his shoulder firmly "Perhaps you should leave." he said, keeping his voice calm, although you knew that he was anything but calm. You never noticed how expressive Marcus' eyes were until today...

"Not without her I'm not!" Leo jerked away from the android's hold, turning to face you again, bringing you out of your thoughts. "I told you, I'm not going anywhere." you said, suddenly more tired than anything "I'll pay for your fucking taxi, but it's the last time I ever want to see you." you offered, just wanting him to be gone already. You knew you didn't have to do it and that it would probably be wiser to not do it, but you just wanted him out of everyone's hair. At least for today. Carl sure didn't need this day to be more stressful than it already was.

Surprisingly, Leo huffed "Fine." and you pulled some money out of your wallet and handed it to him. And with that, he turned on his heel, muttering "Fucking bitch..." as he walked out, making Carl almost scold him again, but you placed your hand on his shoulder as a sign to let him go.

After that exchange, the tension disappeared from the room, until Carl moved to the table and you sat next to him, Marcus standing by Carl's side. For a while, none of you said a word, until he old artist sighed "I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know it was that bad." he muttered apologetically and you shook your head "It's ok, you couldn't have known." and after that, you had a very long conversation with Carl about you, Leo and everything that has been going on with him. Some of it he knew, most of it he didn't. You went through many different emotions during that conversation. Frustration, anger, but mostly relief. It was finally over. When the tears started maing their way down your face, you felt Marcus' hand gently squeeze your shoulder and you grabbed it with a sniffle, intertwining your fingers to ground yourself. You felt Carl's eyes follow your every move during that interaction, but you didn't look at him.

Finally, after the tears had mostly dried, the old man sighed "I think...I think I need to lie down." he said quietly and you almost apologised. Almost. Mrcus let go of your shoulder to help him, leaving you alone. After they disappeared up the stairs, you stood up and went into the small bathroom on the ground floor, to wash your face, now sticky from all the tears you've shed, but also to get your mind together. You knew you would have to leave at one point, but you really didn't want to go to your apartment. And definitely not alone. After all, Leo still had the keys. Changing the locks would be a pain, as well as making sure he won't try to pull some other shit in the ext few weeks, maybe even months. You knew that there was a chance he would leave you alone, but something was telling you it would not be so easy. Not with Leo. You sighed and returned to the kitchen, only to find Marcus already there, waiting for you.

"Would you like a cup of tea? There's an herbal mix that should help you calm down." he asked you so gently you thought you would start crying again. Instead you just sniffled and ndded with a thsnkful smile "That would be lovely, thank you." As Marcus started preparing the tea, you found yourself sanding awkwardly a few steps away from him, leaning against the counter. It felt wrong to just sit down. You didn't even know what to do with your eyes, or what to say, but luckilly Marcus beat you to it "Carl said to tell you that you should stay here tonight. Unless you don't want to of course." he informed you as gently as before. "No, that would actually be very nice, thank you." you said, relieved "I'll nee to bring some take out for him as a thank you." you said, knowing very well the artist liked some junk food every once in a while, despite his doctor's protests, as a treat. "You don't have to do that." Macus turned to you, while carefully filling up your cup with the hot water. You shook your head and closing your eyes with a sigh "It's only right, after what happened today."

Suddenly, you feel a presence right in front of you and you open your eyes to fid Marcus right in front of you. He leans forward, resting his hands on the counter on either side of your body, looking deeply into your eyes "You may feel like it, but none of this is your fault. You didn't deserve the way he treated you and you're not stupid, or a failure for getting tangled up in that." he said quietly, but firmly enough to let you know you should better get it through your thick head sooner than later. You gulped as you got lost in his mesmerising eyes that told you how sure he was of what he has just told you. And suddenly, your hands found their way to his chest, catching the android slightly by surprise. His eyes seemed to pull you in, until you realised that your faces actually were getting closer, both of you leaning towards each other, none of you brave enough to clos the gap entirely.

You saw something in Marcus's eyes shift and he exhaled, lowering his head unti it was resing on your shoulder. You almost automatically wrapped your arms around his neck, holding him close. "I'm sorry, I..." he started, but agai, didn't quite know how to continue "This is all very new to me, but... something is telling me I- we should wait." he confesses, chosing to bluntly say what he was feeling, probaby figuring out you knew he gained the ability to feel and that he definitely felt something for you. He could feel you nod next to his head "Yeah, that's...that's probably for the best." you pulled away slightly, and he could sense that your body temperature rose slightly, especially in your face "But in the future...I would really like to try again...I think." you said bashfully and Marcus couldn't help the smile growing across his face.

Sure, you had a long journey of healing and finding yourself ahead of you. And inevitably, he would have to talk to Carl about his deviation, but as long as he could figure out his newly gained sentience alongside you and help you flourish again and find that spark that had almost been snuffed out of you, he could wait for eternity.

[sidekick-hero]

(steddie | mature | 2k | tags: established relationship, post-s4, Valentine's Day, Robin is the best, fluff | summary: Steve loves Eddie, he really, really does. He just can't say it. | @steddielovemonth prompt Love is just a four-letter word by @sal-si-puedes | AO3)

"He probably thinks I don't love him, Robin. Which is... ridiculous. I do! I really, really do. I just can't say it." Steve is pacing around the blissfully empty Family Video Store, his hands making a mess of his hair as they run through it in frustration.

"This is so stupid. I* am* so stupid, it's just four stupid letters, even a preschooler can say it," he rambles, his eyes wild as they look at Robin. "Why am I like this, Robbie?" His voice breaks, along with his heart, at the thought of Eddie doubting Steve's feelings for him for even a second.

Robin walks over to him and grips his shoulders tightly, her blue eyes boring into his as she says in her firmest you-listen-to-me-now voice. "You're not stupid. This is my best friend you're talking about, so watch it." That earns her at least a half-smile, which counts as a victory considering Steve was already pinching his nose to hold back tears.

"I know you love him, Steve. Everyone knows it. One look at you when he's in the room, or even when you're just talking about him, is enough to know you love him. And I'm sure Eddie knows it too. He has to."

Robin's words soothe some of the fear in Steve's heart, knowing that she would tell him if she really thought he had messed up. But even though it's okay now, Eddie won't wait forever for Steve to say those three little words. No one would. Steve knows that his heart couldn't take being with Eddie, loving Eddie and telling him that, only to never hear it back from him.

"I don't know. Even if you're right, I feel like I'm losing him. That something in me is broken, and one day he'll realize that too, and then he'll leave." With an even smaller voice Steve adds: "I can't lose him, Robbie".

They don't hug very often. Robin shows her affection in many ways, but most of them aren't overly physical. That's Eddie's job, clinging to Steve like a koala most days, always touching Steve in some way, even if it's just his shoulder nudging Steve's. Robin pulling him into a tight hug now means a lot to him, but it's also a testament to the gravity of the situation.

With their arms around each other between the horror and action movie sections, Steve takes a moment to just soak in the comfort she offers. What happened at Starcourt messed them both up, caused them both more trauma than any teenager should have to deal with, but on a very selfish level, Steve can't help but be grateful that it happened. A life without Robin Buckley sounds like the greater horror to him.

After a few minutes, Robin gently pulls away from Steve to look at him. He's reluctant to let her go, even though he knows this is an even longer hug than the one she gave him when Nancy told him they weren't getting back together after defeating Vecna. She wanted to go to Boston, make a career, see the world. And Steve? Steve wanted a home, a place to belong, and someone to share that home with. They wanted different things, he realizes now.

That doesn't mean it didn't open old wounds, memories of how it felt to be rejected by her, his love for her thrown in his face like it was worthless. Bullshit.

As attuned to him and his thoughts as ever, a true testament to the fact that they share a brain cell, Robin says, "I think it's understandable that you can't say it. The last time you told someone you loved them, you were hurt, badly. Your heart is probably just trying to protect itself. Like a kid who touched a hot stove and got burned wouldn't touch another stove, you know?"

Steve nods, because in a way it makes sense. It just doesn't help him to know.

"But what am I supposed to do, Robin? It's not Eddie's fault that I'm broken."

"You, Steve Harrington, are not broken. Just a little bruised. There is nothing wrong with you just because you got hurt and have the scars to show for it. Like Max, because of the injuries to her leg, she cannot walk like she used to before Vecna, so she uses her crutch. She's not broken. Is she?"

"No, of course not. If anything, she's even stronger now, I saw her hit Lucas with the crutch and tell him to hurry up on the way to the movies," Steve says, smiling at the memory.

"See!" Robin waves her hand at him in excitement, almost bouncing with it. "All you need is a crutch!"

They look at each other wide-eyed before matching smiles break out on their faces, Robin's giddy at having found a solution, Steve's reflecting the tentative hope blossoming in his chest.

His talk with Robin certainly helped, but as Valentine's Day approaches, the fears and insecurities start to creep back in. It's not even like Eddie is giving him any indication that he's not happy with Steve or their relationship. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Eddie tells him he loves him almost every time they see each other, at the most random moments. Some days he whispers it in Steve's ear to wake him up, other days it's his way of saying good night to him with his arm around Steve's waist and his hand over Steve's heart in a protective grip. He says it casually when Steve brings him breakfast in bed or lunch to the record store where he now works. Just yesterday he said it while Steve was buried deep inside him, their hands intertwined beside Eddie's head and brown eyes looking softly up at Steve.

It's not meant to make him feel bad about himself, he knows that.

He still does.

So when he opens his front door to the sight of Eddie standing on his doorstep in his nicest jeans and a forest green button-down Steve has never seen before, clearly having put some real effort into his appearance, Steve almost crumbles.

He's a shitty boyfriend, isn't he? There's this amazing guy who goes out of his way to look nice for Steve, even though he doesn't even like Valentine's Day, just because he knows it's important to Steve. And he can't even tell him he loves him.

Some of what he's feeling must be showing on his face, because Eddie's cheerful smile falls and he hurries into the house to pull Steve into his arms, slamming the door shut with his foot.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry, I told Dustin green wasn't my color, but he insisted. I look hideous, don't I?"

That makes Steve snort wetly into Eddie's neck before muttering a fond "Idiot" into it.

Eddie just hums, obviously pleased with himself for making Steve laugh. "You can tell me. You know I don't mind getting naked for you."

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you?"

Eddie grinned wolfishly at him. "I don't know, the tear in my Hellfire shirt from when you ripped it off me begs to differ."

Steve blushes at the memory, even as he laughs at Eddie's words. Instead of saying anything else, Steve pulls him back into his arms and Eddie goes willingly.

"Hi, baby," he says, his nose brushing behind Steve's ear.

"Hi." Steve breathes him in, the smell of cigarette smoke and his shampoo strong where his nose is buried in Eddie's hair.

They don't let go for a long time.

It's Eddie who pulls back first, and Steve does his best not to read into it. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

The Steve from before the Upside Down would have just shaken his head and told Eddie that everything was fine before pulling him into the bedroom to reassure them both that it was. Not talking about his feelings, fears, and needs might have worked for hookups, but he learned the hard way that it doesn't work when you want to be in a relationship.

So Steve takes Eddie's hand and leads him over to the couch where they both sit facing each other. They don't let go of each other's hands.

"I know you're probably wondering why I haven't told you... why I haven't said it yet."

Eddie's eyebrows disappear behind his fringe. "It?"

Sighing, Steve watches his fingers run over Eddie's knuckles. "You know. That I love you."

"Oh."

It's hard to place Eddie's tone, and even harder to place the silence that follows, but it makes his knee jiggle with nerves and his stomach churn. Usually it's Eddie who tends to fill the silence between them when it feels too big, too heavy, but today it's Steve.

"It's not because I don't want to, I swear. It's just," another frustrated sigh, the hand currently not held by Eddie's rubbing over his face, "I just can't say it. And I am so, so sorry, because you deserve to hear it. Every day. But I can't... I can't. So I understand if you don't want to do this anymore. You deserve better, Eddie. You really, really do."

Eddie lets Steve's words settle between them, aching and raw, but he never lets go of Steve's hand.

"You're right," he finally says, and the sound of Steve's heart breaking is deafening to his own ears. Pinching his nose, he tries to take his hand back from Eddie, but his boyfriend (if he can still call him that) won't budge. "You're right about me wondering, Steve. But that was before."

Looking up, a frown forming between his eyebrows, Steve asks, "Before?"

"Before I realized that you do tell me that you love me, every day. You say it when you tiptoe around the trailer in the morning to make breakfast without waking me. You tell me every time you pack an extra blanket or sweater when we go to the quarry because you know I always get cold. I hear it loud and clear every time you bring me lunch, even though it means you waste most of your own lunch break driving around town. It's in the way you try so hard to make Wayne like you because you know how much that means to me, and in the way you hold me after another nightmare, and in the way you kiss me sometimes like there's nothing in the world you'd rather be doing, without it having to lead anywhere, just because you like kissing me."

Eddie scooted forward and bridged the gap between them by taking Steve's face in his hands.

"Steve, you've been telling me you love me for months with everything except words. I don't really need them. It's just a four-letter word."

And, fuck, now Steve is crying. Eddie wipes away his tears with his thumbs, and when that's not enough, he kisses them away with his lips.

Steve is so in love with him that he has no idea how the feeling even fits in his body.

"Damn," he chuckles wetly, "that means I didn't even have to find a crutch?"

Now it's Eddie's turn to look at Steve in confusion, clearly worried that his boyfriend might have lost his mind. "What crutch? Is this a sex thing?"

Laughing and shaking his head fondly, Steve raises his free hand to his head, palm facing Eddie. Then he brings his thumb, index finger, and little finger up, keeping his ring and middle fingers down, before moving his hand back and forth slightly.

"Robin came up with this. She said if I couldn't say the words with my mouth, maybe I could say them in a different way. I thought of trying sign language," Steve adds sheepishly.

Before he knows what's happening, Eddie is on top of him, pressing him into the couch with his body weight and showering his face with kisses.

"You're so smart," kiss, "and beautiful," kiss, "and wonderful," kiss, "and I love you so much." The last part is accompanied by a lingering kiss on his lips and Steve melts under it.

Even though he obviously didn't have to tell Eddie this way, Steve is glad that he did.

He also thinks it won't be long before he can say those words, too. If anyone can help him walk without a crutch, it's Eddie.

[loveliestlovelygirl]

cashmere, cologne, & white sunshine | 𝟙

money is the anthem, god, you're so handsome

dilf!finnick x nanny!reader

synopsis: you arrive at the odair estate for your final interview with finnick's mother mrs. odair. when she offers you the job on the spot, you're so surprised. quickly, you learn that the children might be a challenge for you, but finnick's support and kindness is enough to cheer you on. it seems he even wants to get close to you...

w.c: 2.7k

highlights: {minors dni} extreme wealth, nepotism, children & childcare, flirting, a hint of suggestive content near the end, slow burn romance, power imbalance

table of contents | 𝟚 {coming soon}

You had never considered yourself to be the kind of person who falls for their employer. Not even coworkers. Out of the myriad jobs you picked up here and there to finance college and now grad school, never once did you develop romantic feelings in a professional setting.

But the Odair Estate... is an experience, one dreamed up by a romance novelist with its white rose greenhouse, angel water fountains, and vintage cars. And inside, gold and marble, crystal chandeliers, and winding staircases. And yet the majesty of the home could never blot out the brilliance that surrounds the man who resides here. In your gaze, a halo of light outlines his silhouette. You can’t be the only one who sees it. 

He draws you into this fantasy world. A world of sweet pleasure and romance.

Finnick Odair draws you to his arms, to his lips, to his love—all so effortlessly.

“Smith! Come here! You’re going to get jelly all over the furniture!” A handsome man half-dressed, only in a pair of khaki slacks, sprints down the stairs to chase after a small blonde boy with a smear of grape jelly across his cheeks and hands.

You couldn’t help but steal a glance, even during your interview, when you heard the low, melody of his voice. You see the urgency upon his sharpened features as he dashes after the boy, Smith, you assume, who looks to be four years old. Smith leads the chase into the parlor where you are being interviewed.

The greying woman, Mrs. Odair, across from you almost lunges from her loveseat to capture the tiny boy between her two delicate arms. She picks up the child in her arms and seats him on her lap. On the side table is a box of tissues, and she recruits several to wipe the sticky jelly off his face.

“Smith,” she scolds lovingly, “Nana is talking. You are being quite rude. Did you even say hello?”

Smith crosses his arms and pouts his lips, blowing air through them. He looks at you with these big, bright-green eyes surrounded by thick, doll-like lashes, finally acknowledging your presence.

“Hi,” Smith sighs.

“Hello,” you say back.

His nana grounds him, though holding onto his shirt as he tries to scamper away. “Be good!”

A manly laugh to your left startles you. “Smith isn’t interested, Mom.”

 You gaze over your shoulder to watch the man crouch down to his son’s level. “Come now, Smith. You have to get ready for school. I’m already late for work!”

Nana snorts. “Finnie, Daddy understands!”

He gives her, who you assume is his mother, a firm glare. Then he looks to you and smiles. You like his crooked teeth. He offers his hand, and you shake. “I’m Finnick. Thank you for coming to interview with us.” His hand is a little calloused but very warm and very strong.

“Thank you for having me,” you say back, on autopilot because ever since he stepped in, the rest of the world, including your own thoughts, have faded into the background.

He smiles again. “Of course. I typically would be a part of the process, but I’ve got to take Smith and Ruby to school now.” He waves. “Nice to meet you.”

He turns to his mother and mouths something to her with the same smile on his face. You wonder if it’s about you. And you wonder if it’s something nice. You haven’t exactly done anything to offend them... yet.

“Nice to meet you too,” you say a little too late because he’s already walking away with his back turned. You doubt he hears you.

Once Finnick and Smith are upstairs, Mrs. Odair looks back down at her clipboard and continues the interview. Your background is flawless of course. The agency cleared you. You’ve yet to have a single encounter with the law, though you speed often when you’re late to work. To Mrs. Odair, you explain why you are interested in the job, how you need to save up for graduate school for next year’s applications. She seems impressed with your academic successes and your determination to pursue higher education.

While the interview went well, you didn’t expect a job offer on the spot. As you got up to leave, you step over to shake her hand, and she says, “You are taking the job, right?”

The next day you drive back to the estate to begin. Mrs. Odair promised to show you the ropes of taking care of her two precious grandchildren Smith and Ruby the first week of your employment. And you were glad she did that first day. Smith, who you learn is five years old, is more than a handful. Ruby is eight and loves only her daddy.

You park your dated Prius—the paint has finally begun to flake off—on the stone road between the three-tiered fountain and the concrete pathway to the manor. At the door, you rang the bell once, and the butler answered.

He says, “Good day, Miss,” and he shows you to Mrs. Odair’s room.

She’s sipping tea and reading the paper. When she notices your arrival, she stands to greet you. The butler disappears without a sound. It’s impressive.

“So glad you are here. And so punctual!”

“Of course,” you say. Never would you show up late on the first day. “I studied the children’s schedules you sent over last night.”

She claps her hands twice. “Marvelous, dear! When do the children need to leave the house for school?”

Put on the spot, you shift a little. Geez, she’s testing me already.

“Seven-forty-five at the latest. But preferably seven-thirty.”

She smiles. “Good job! We should probably wake the children now. I’ll go up with you today. Wouldn’t want to scare them.”

“You did tell them that I would be here today, right?”

Caught up in her own musings, Mrs. Odair must miss your question because she starts to ramble on about the greenhouse as you leave her guest room. She tells you she’s only staying here for a while because the old nanny quit. There’s bitterness in her tone as she mentions the former employee, and you wonder what exactly happened.

On your way to the stairs, you catch a glimpse of Finnick alone at the dining table for breakfast. He’s also reading the paper like his mother did. His brow is furrowed as he reads. It’s a mystery what he finds so interesting on that paper. He’s so oddly invested.

The stairs creak on your first step, and he looks up from the paper. His smile is immediate and dazzling. “Mother!” he calls. “You didn’t tell me she was here.”

Mrs. Odair rushes into the dining room. “Darling, I didn’t want to interrupt your morning routine.”

Finnick rolls his eyes dramatically. “Ah yes.” He waits for a moment and says, “I haven’t had a routine since the moment Ruby was born, Mother.”

She shrugs. “Maybe with this beauty’s help, you’ll have one.” Mrs. Odair pats your shoulder. “Come along. The children are slow to rise.”

As she drags you along, you can’t help but look at Finnick. He’s ungodly pretty. It almost hurts to look at him. And you find it strange that he’s looking back at you with a vivid curiosity. You chide yourself for ogling him like that. One, he’s sky-high out of your league. Two, he’s employed you. Three, he might not be single. Usually, the second reason to not crush on him would be enough. But your previous bosses have never looked like Finnick.

As you ascend the stairs, the walls are covered in family photographs. They’re clearly arranged by the time they were taken. When you arrive at the second floor, the photos are black and white. Mrs. Odair moves fast for someone her age, and you’re panting as you try to keep up with her. Your vision is slightly blurry when you reach the top.

“Smith’s room is...” she pauses, staring at you, clearly expecting you to recall from the floor plan of the house she also sent you along with their schedules.

You close your eyes for a moment. “First door on the left?”

She claps for you. “Such a smart girl!”

You smile, unsure how to respond to such a compliment.

Entering Smith’s room, the thick curtains are closed, and it’s because of the seashell nightlight that you can see at all. The boy is lying on his stomach on top of all the bed sheets but his head at the wrong end.

“Smith,” his nana calls.

Easily, Smith wakes. He rubs his eyes and sits up. He stares at you for a long time.

“Who’s she?” he asks, pointing right at your face with his tiny index finger.

“This is your new nanny. Isn’t she lovely?” Mrs. Odair gushes about you. Her support is endearing. But you’d be lying if you didn’t find it disconcerting.

Smith crosses his arms. “No!”

“Isn’t she pretty!” Mrs. Odair exclaims to Smith.

“I miss Herbie. Bring him back!” Smith shrieks. “I don’t like her.”

Wrinkled hands on her hips, Mrs. Odair hangs her head in momentary defeat. “Smith, I am so disappointed. You are being very rude.”

The child crosses his arms and sticks his tongue out.

She grasps your forearm. “I’m sorry about Smith. I promise he will come around.” She moves around to his bureau. “I can show you where his uniforms are and the proper way to dress him.”

You watch the elderly woman chase Smith around the room for a minute or two without breaking a sweat. She finally snatches him up in her arms and holds him down on the bed. He restlessly wiggles, trying to get away, but she is strong. Somehow, she manages to dress Smith and she scolds him for behaving dramatically.

“Smith, Daddy will be very, very upset when he hears of your actions.” He remains unfazed, as if discipline is a foreign concept to him. “Now, go down for breakfast.”

When his nana opens the bedroom door, he sprints out like a racehorse. You blink and he is gone.

Mrs. Odair turns to you again and sighs. “He’s a handful. Just like his father.”

“It’s quite alright. He won’t be my first difficult case. I just hope he warms up to me. My last family never did.”

“That’s wonderful for us. We desperately needed a nanny!”

Promptly, she leaves with sudden, passionate intent. And you follow her anxiously.

“What happened to the last one?” you ask.

“Ruby is much easier than Smith,” she halts at a room near the end of the second-floor hallway. 

Just when you think that she didn’t hear your question, she says, “We do not speak of him.”

Stomach dropping, you step back and swallow. “Oh. Oh, please forgive me. I didn’t mean to offend.”

She scoffs. “He’s not worthy of a mention.” Mrs. Odair quickly breaks into her granddaughter’s room, as if to escape the topic.

Ruby’s room is a true girl’s room. You hardly step past the entrance before you are frozen over in wonder.

Cherry red must be Ruby’s favorite color. Everything is cherry red. The armchair by the column window is topped with cherry red velvet. There are red roses on each nightstand. Her headboard matches the armchair. The curtains match too. Her frilly duvet stands out in ivory lace embroidered with clusters of little cherries.

Ruby’s long red hair fans out over her pillows. She’s a sleeping angel. And you hate to see Mrs. Odair wake her.

Her brown eyes flutter open when her nana taps her on the shoulder. She looks up and her freckled lips smile widely.

“Good morning,” she whispers and stretches. Quickly, she notices you and sits up to talk. “What’s your name?” She has the slightest hint of an English accent.

You reply, hesitantly inching closer to the bed.

Mrs. Odair gets in the way of your conversation, picking up her granddaughter to dress her. She’s eight years old. By this time, you were responsible for dressing yourself for school.

In a few minutes, she dresses Ruby in her private school uniform. Together, you all go downstairs to fetch Smith, and then Mrs. Odair takes them outside to the car where the driver will escort them to school. Once the children leave, Mrs. Odiar pulls you aside to discuss your other duties while the children are away.

Rummaging through the cabinets is not how you planned to spend your afternoon, but you were told to treat the estate just like you would your home. It’s completely new territory to you, much like a castle with so many secrets you’ve yet to uncover. Today, you’re only trying to find the tea. A cup would do you well. Your thoughts have been a little more unorganized than usual. There’s much you must learn about Mrs. Odair’s standards for childcare. She seems to be more involved than the father, which bothers you.

“Left door. Top shelf.”

You glance over your shoulder.

There he is. Smith and Ruby’s father. You scold yourself for already having an opinion about him. You haven’t even known him for a day.

“Excuse me?”

He smiles. “The tea.”

You can’t think to respond in an intelligible way. How’d he know you were looking for the tea?

“Make me a cup while you’re at it.” He looks at you steadily. “If you don’t mind.”

Pulling the correct cabinet open, you see the boxes of tea neatly stacked on top of each other. You select a black tea and pour boiling water over the bags in porcelain mugs. They steep for four minutes.

You pick at your cuticles and glance out the window. Finnick sits at the table on his laptop, typing frantically.

Once the timer goes off, you walk over to the table to hand him his cup of tea. He doesn’t immediately register your action, but when he does, he offers you the biggest smile.

“Thank you. I do appreciate it.” He closes the lid to his laptop and pushes back the chair next to him away from the table with his foot. “Sit. I would like to get to know you.”

Shaking ever so slightly, you situate yourself beside him. He smells of luxury cologne, too expensive for your tastes. In your previous jobs with the agency, the families never were too interested in developing a personal relationship with you.

Finnick rests his chin on an open palm. “You’re really a lifesaver. Work has been a nightmare, and with Herbie gone... I’ve had to also look after Smith and Ruby more.”

For a moment, you narrow your eyes in judgement.

“Before you form opinions about me, let me say, they are my greatest joys. However, working a job that requires eighty plus hours in a week and two kids isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

You set your cup down before you. “Sounds like a lot of pressure.”

Finnick massages his brows. “That’s an understatement. Dad won’t be around forever. I’m to take over the family business. I’m planning to make a lot of changes when that happens. For Smith and Ruby’s sake. They might not want this.” Finnick quickly covers his mouth. “Pretend I didn’t say that.”

You shrug. “I think I might understand. You want them to have a choice.”

Finnick nods. “Don’t tell my mother. You’d get me in trouble.”

You laugh together.

“Snitches get stitches.”

Finnick laughs again. “And disciplined.” He hides his expression as he takes a sip of tea.

Though you don’t quite know what he means by that, you laugh at him anyway. “I don’t think Smith likes me very much.”

“He doesn’t like many people. He’s like me in that regard.” Finnick looks at you. “But I know that if you stick around his feelings will change.”

“I hope that’s true.”

He leans close to you. Your senses are suddenly overwhelmed with his fragrance and his golden warmth. “I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

You giggle. “What?”

“Smith likes anyone who will play hide-and-seek with him. That and chocolate chip cookies are the way to his heart.” Finnick pats you on the shoulder. His hands are massive. “Besides, I’m on your side. I’ll put in a good word.” He winks at you, and your heart drops in your chest.

This is... bad. You really shouldn’t be having these feelings for your employer. But his charming nature is hard to resist. He must have lots of girlfriends.

“Thanks,” you whisper, too caught up in your own worries to recognize that he’s flirting with you.

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[auroralwriting]

the master heist

con artist!bucky barnes x reader

bucky wants you to help him get his money back from an old friend.

warnings: violence, light manipulation, kind of dark bucky, based off of seb's movie sharper!

word count: 2.5k!

"What the hell do you want with me?"

You hadn't even learned the man's name yet. He picked you up off the side of the street after a very public and very loud fight and breakup with your now ex-boyfriend. He pulled up in a Mercedes, walking out, grabbing your duffel bag of personal items. He tossed it in the backset, waving you, telling you to come on in. So, you did. It wasn't like you had anywhere else to go.

"What's your favorite movie?" He asked, ignoring your previous question. He was making himself a drink, holding an empty cup to offer you some. You shook your head.

"Uh," You hesitated, "I guess maybe Jurassic Park?"

The man raised a brow, coming to sit next to you. You tensed at his presence. "Yeah, good plot. Stupid people,"

"Very," You mused softly. "Why would you even want to go to a theme park with real dinosaurs?"

"And that man who died at the beginning?" The man nodded.

You turned your body closer to him, "Yeah, it was so stupid."

"I wouldn't know, I've never seen it." The man suddenly said. Well, wasn't he just full of surprises?

The drink in the man's cup swirled as he set it down. "You've never seen it." Your words came out less of a question, and more in disbelief.

"I'm not really a movie guy," He hummed. "And that's what I'm going to teach you."

Your eyebrow dipped up in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

The man gave an annoyed sigh, "I make people believe I'm someone else to get whatever the hell I want."

"So," You paused, shaking your head in disbelief at the current situation you'd gotten yourself in. "You're a con-artist?"

"No," The man replied, "I'm like, an actor, you could say. I'm not hurting people or anything."

Well that was weird. "I never said you did," You argued back. The man rubbed his chin with a chuckle at your reply. "What? Did I say something funny?"

"You've got fire, I like that." He acknowledged. "What's your name?" You told him your name, he nodded, mouthing it like he was getting used to saying it. "I'm Bucky. Look, I need some help. I can't always get the.. customers I need. That's where you come in."

That made you wonder what kind of gig this was. "What's in it for me?"

"Free place to stay, share of money, someone to cook for you," Bucky listed. "Want me to carry on, or do you get it?" Bucky's tone wasn't condescending, nor was it full of malice.

"Why me?" You questioned. "You don't even know me. Also, how do I even know you're a safe individual? You could be, like, some murderer who wants to sell my parts on the black market."

Bucky chuckled at your words. "One, I don't murder or even consider the black market as a viable option for my work. Two, I'll give you every proof of identity I have, hell, I'll even let you run a background check." Bucky paused, giving you a smile. "But, let's be honest, where else do you have to go?"

He was right. You didn't have anywhere else to go. Bucky was your only option as of right now. Plus, you'd be making an income. "Alright," You sighed. "I'll help you."

"My name is Avalon DeClain, I was born in Mississippi, moved to Pennsylvania when I was six for my dads work." You recited. "I majored in chemistry in college, Penn State, graduated top of my class. I have a dog, Sydney, a german shepard. I'm single and my parents died when I was in high school."

Bucky smirked, "What year did you graduate?"

"Class of '16," You replied. "Graduated college early by a year in '19."

"You're doing better than I thought," Bucky smiled honestly. "Really, good job."

You smiled at his words, a small rush of heat going to your cheeks. "Thank you," It had been a month and a half since you started living with Bucky. As promised, he took care of you. He was teaching you all he knew.

"What do you say we celebrate tonight?" Bucky offered.

"Celebrate what?" You asked, your knees pulled up to your chest as Bucky stood up to grab some drinks for the two of you. "Is it your birthday or something?"

Bucky laughed, "No, not my birthday. Just," Bucky sucked in a breath, "A celebration of your wild achievements. I'd say you're graduating top of my class."

"Well, I'd sure hope so." You teased as Bucky walked back over. He handed you a glass of champagne, his own filled with a dark wine. "I am your only student, after all."

"And still my best work," Bucky clinked his glass with your own as you both took sips.

For a while, the both of you talked and drank. Somewhere in the last month, you had gotten Bucky to actually open up. He told you about how he grew up doing this life with some friends. However, he refused to speak about one in particular; Steve. Tonight, things seemed different though.

"Look, we've been doing small stuff," Bucky started, his tone becoming more serious. "You're perfect at the small stuff. But, I haven't been honest with you, doll."

"What happened with him?" You cautiously asked, ignoring the burning of your cheeks at the nickname

Bucky's eyes widened for a moment, his face then relaxing as he released a breath. "I knew you were intuitive." Bucky sighed, rubbing his face with his hand. "Steve was my best bud. We did, well, everything together. Until, well, one big job we found." You nodded, urging Bucky to go on. "It was some old guy, Richard. We both decided to become his assistants until he passed; he was old as rocks, if not older. After he passed, Steve and I said we'd split the money. It was around ten grand each. I guess the old man also had grandkids."

The look on Bucky's face almost broke your heart. "He took it all,"

"Not just that," Bucky continued. "He tried to get me fucking arrested. Damn good thing I was friends with one of the cops."

"So," You began. "How are we getting him back?"

Bucky's face was a mixture of relief, joy, and passion. "I love that fire in you," He sighed contently. "Tomorrow night, Steve's going out on his annual celebration. Something to do with his work successes?" Bucky wasn't sure. "His actual job, conning is a side for him."

"All right," You reassured. "I'm ready for this. What's our plan?"

"You're gonna flirt with him," Bucky explained. "He doesn't have a type, just pretty girls with short dresses. You're gonna explain how you need money for grad school, and of course he's gonna give it to you. He prides himself on being some social saint or whatever."

This plan felt way too easy. "That's all?" You remarked. "That feels.. too easy."

"Steve's girlfriend, Natasha," Bucky sighed, "She's gonna be up his ass all night. You gotta find a way to get her out of there."

You internally cringed. Great, that was significantly harder than before. "What's she like?"

"I really don't have a single clue," Bucky huffed out. "That's the one flaw of this, which is why I need to be sure you can do this."

Bucky looked nearly defeated. It was obvious he needed your help, he couldn't do it without you. "I promise you," You grabbed Bucky's hands. "I can get you that money."

No, you thought. I can get you even more.

Bucky had no way of checking in on you to see how things were going. He left his full trust in you to not fuck this up. You could see it in him all day; he was stressed. His hand kept running through his hair, he couldn't stop tapping his feet against the wood floor.

You walked into the bar, a smooth, tight, black dress on, red heels to match. You looked around for a moment, seeing if you could spot Steve.

It really wasn't hard to find him, bright blonde hair, a boisterous laugh that was actually really cute. That was definitely the man you were looking for.

Bucky gave you a script to follow. Steve once knew a guy, Howard, back from high school. The two had zero connection now, but good old Howard was your way in.

"Excuse me," You asked, walking up behind Steve. He and Natasha both turned around. "Are you Steve Rogers?

Steve gave a smile, "Yeah, that's me. You are?"

"Oh, I'm Avalon." You reached out your hand to Steve which he shook. You followed the same action with Natasha. "I'm good friends with Howard."

Steve slapped the counter with joy, "Howard! I remember that son of a bitch. How is he?"

"Great," You smiled. Natasha scooted over a seat, letting you sit between the two. "He's got a wife, good job."

"That's great. I always liked that guy, such a good man. He deserves a great life." Steve gushed as you awkwardly smiled in return. You ordered a drink as Steve rambled.

You shyly began to comb your fingers through your hair as Steve subtly checked you out. "He was actually the one to tell me about you. He thought, well, maybe you could give me a hand."

The bartender slid you the drink, one you failed to catch as it spilled all over the front of you. Both Steve and Natasha gasped. "Oh my god! Oh, that'll never come out." Natasha gasped.

Steve quickly grabbed napkins to help you try and sop some of it up. "Are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine, just a ruined dress. I just bought it, too." You whined. In reality, this was all a part of your perfectly made plan to get Natasha out of there.

"Sweets, I'm gonna run home and grab her a new dress. We only live fifteen away and there is no way I'm letting her spend the rest of the night in a ruined dress." Natasha fell for the bait. This was perfect.

You quickly feigned guilt, "Oh, no. Please, it's really okay."

"No, I insist." Natasha said as she stood up, grabbing her belongings. "I'll be back as soon as I can, Stevie." Natasha left a small kiss on his cheek and rushed out of the building.

"I'm so sorry about your dress," Steve said, eyeing places it did not spill.

"It's fine, really." You said.

Steve was not subtle with checking you out anymore. "So, what was that favor Howard said I could help with?"

"Well," You bit your lip in a fake shame. Steve was quick to use his thumb to remove it from your teeth. "I have a pretty lousy job. I have this shitty apartment and a dog to take care of. I'm still paying off student loans, and I need to get my masters to get a decent paying job," You falsely admitted to Steve, batting your eyes at him as you sighed deeply. "I just.. can't afford to live. I'm eating a meal a day to afford dog food and groceries. Howard said that maybe you could help me out?"

You'd never seen a man nod quicker than Steve in that moment. "I'll do you one better. I'll help you pay off those student loans and get yo you paid off for grad school."

A gasp left your lips. To Steve, it was shock of his kindness. In reality, it was shock your plan worked. "Oh, God no. I couldn't ask for all of that. I was just gonna see if you wanted my dog-"

"Anything for a friend of Howard." Steve shook his head. "How do you want the money? Actually, no. Let me give it to you cash. You don't need to pay more taxes from that." You didn't even notice Steve had a briefcase with him. He opened it, leaving you in shock. You'd never seen so many hundred dollar bills stacked together before.

Steve counted out some stacks, making a pile. "I'm just gonna spit this half with you. Should be, ah, about maybe twenty grand?"

Your eyes almost popped out of your head. "Steve, I really couldn't-"

"Please," Steve scoffed. "I could make this money back in a day. I insist, you deserve a beautiful life for a beautiful woman." Steve's hand rested on your cheek as he thumbed it over softly. For some reason, his touch made you uncomfortable. All you really wanted was Bucky.

"I appreciate this more than you know." You sighed, leaning into his touch. "Thank you, Steve."

"It's no problem, sweetheart. Here, use this to carry all that in. We don't need you getting robbed." Steve handed over a large pouch from the case, shoving the money in it. "Get home safe, and give me a call sometime."

You nodded with a smile, but deep down you felt disgusted. You couldn't wait to show Bucky what you got.

"Bucky?" You called as you walked in. You walked in the living room to see Bucky jumping up from his seat.

"You look scared shitless, doll. What happened?" Bucky immediately rushed to your side. You hadn't even noticed how anxious you were, but it was a good anxious. "Did he touch you? I swear I will fuck him up if-"

Cutting off Bucky, you opened the bag to reveal the money. "He did some light touching, but I made it work to get you a little something extra."

"Ho-ly shit," Bucky breathed out, his eyes gleaming with disbelief. "Doll, how much is this?:

"Steve said twenty grand," You answered. "I thought I would play it up to get some more out of this."

Bucky looked to you, alarmed. "Did you let him-"

"No!" You cut him off again. "God, no. I just let him eye-fuck me and touch my cheek. That was enough for him. You're right, he is some social saint."

Bucky quickly scooped you up, hugging you tightly in his arms. "Fuck, doll! You're a fucking genius. You're actually fucking insane!" Bucky yelled as you laughed. "Why'd you do that? Put yourself through that for this?"

"It was for you, Bucky." You shyly admitted. "You gave me a second chance, so I wanted to give you what you deserved."

Bucky's hands came to rest at your hips as he drew you in closer. "Did you like the way he looked at you?"

"I only like the way you look at me," You breathed out, his face getting much closer to yours. "I just wanted you to be the one to touch me."

"Doll," Bucky muttered, his lips so close to your own you could almost feel them. "You're a fucking dream." Bucky pushed his lips against your own as you wrapped your arms around his neck. You sighed contently into the kiss. "Your dress is also fucking sopping the floors."

You gave a smirk to Bucky, "So take it off, then." He smirked wildly at you as he grabbed your hand, leading you to his room.

"Maybe I will,"

[echantedtoon]

A Lovers' Circle (Poly Haishira x Reader) Ch6 Date Weekend: Saturday

(Warning for some nudity mentioned in the boys part but absolutely nothing rude or nsfw!! Also it's cannon Hinatsuru and Makio can cook like really good in Kimetsu Gauken and Mitsuri.knows ballet from what we saw in s4 with flexibility training. My own headcannons are being slapped into here! AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!)

Taglist: @shadyd3ar @jcrml @tengensangel

@miniverse-zen

Remember if you want to be added to the taglist lemme know

The colorful assortment of delightful sweets filled the eyes with childlike wonder. Cream and icing. Glaze and powdered sugar. Milky chocolate and sweet vanilla. All of which melted in the mouth and shook the senses with sweet dreams of sugary delight.

In in Mitsuri's case starting to stock up on food.

You sat down at the table with the other girls after the fun game of push ups. Taking your time to look around at the big but nice looking kitchen. Kyojuro must've had a good paying job if he could afford this. The nicely furnished space had pretty much a top of the line appliance set up complete with a nicely polished giant cherry wood table. Of which was stuffed to the brim with food. Three boxes of extra large pizzas took up the far left right corner, next to it was a box of hot wings, and a few six packs of different sodas and what was left of the canned coffee after Sanemi ravished through Obinai's gift. Two pink boxes filled up with day old sweets like donuts and mini cakes, what was left of the ohagi you made, and a few burgers Giyuu picked up. And a small pot of something you couldn't make out but it smelt like beef broth. Maybe a beef soup or hot pot?

It certainly was a lot of food but considering how many people there and how big Gyomei and Tengen were.

"Let me get you some food," Hinatsuru offered gesturing to the boxes of pizza stacked on the table. "We have pizza, burgers, cake- What would you like?"

A hand held up to her. "Oh no. It's ok. I can get it myself."

"Nonsense. You're our guest so I'll get it for you."

"Well alright then. Some pizza please."

"Sure! Pepperoni, sausage and mushroom, or meatlovers?" Hinatsuru was already shuffling towards the boxes Mitsuri was already rummaging through. 

"Pepperoni is fine. Thank you!'

You only smiled politely as the others say down or most of them grabbed ahold of whatever food was available for them, but you noticed only one of them had a tray instead of a plate. Mitsuri had taken out a large tray, the kind you'd use to carry breakfast in bed to someone, and just started piling on food after food item onto it. There must've been at least two or three slices of every kind of pizza they had, three small cakes you could make out including a fourth one just added to it, a few burgers peeking out from just under the pizza, and right now her main target was the pot.

The smells of beef filled the air with a snack of her lips looking inside excitedly. Producing a bowl from no where she proceeded to just scoop out boiled eggs, mushrooms, chunks of beef- Oh. So someone did bring a hot pot. But she wasn't done yet. She practically pulled two bottles of the soda to herself as a can of coffee got caught up also in her grasp and your poor ohagi was her next victims. Three ending up on top of their fallen pizza brethren. She plopped down right across from you as you continued to stare wide eyed. You didn't even notice Hinatsuru placing down a plate and cup of more soda in front of you.

"Here you go!" She smiled at you but slowly blinked noticing your wide eyed surprised look. "Miss Y/n?" Her face followed your direction and froze as she and everyone else saw the massive pile of food Mitsuri had in front of her and the fact that she was already shoveling a whole mini strawberry shortcake into her mouth. "M-Mitsuri!"

"Hm?" 

She happily looked up at the half horrified half worried faces around her, cheeks puffed up like a chipmunks. Huh? What was with those looks? She made sure not to take everything this time. It was only when green orbs caught the state of the girl in front of her. It was then that the before mentioned talk about everyone being on their best behavior and ensuring that they made a good first impression for Gyomei punched her brain in the memory bank. She sat there quietly and wide eyed, cheeks puffed up, and some strawberry syrup on her chin. Somewhere to the far right Makio groaned and facepalmed loud enough to a smack sound to be heard.

You blinked and that motion seemed to spur Mitsuri's panic as she quickly swallowed and held up her hands. "Um- Uh- ...HEY! No one touch this food!" She nervously laughed before pushing the tray away from her nervously smiling self to the middle of the table, a few boxes getting pushed aside as she did so. "Y-You know that I-..Uh! I-I always make sure there's a nice healthy serving out aside for the guys! Haha! Hmm!" She tapped her chin in thought glaring at the stacked up tray in pretend scrutiny. "Yep! Th-This will definitely be enough for all of them! Haha!"

She froze as a couple hot wings wobbled and fell lower on the pile of food she had created. Someone mumbled a 'nice save' somewhere as your eyes slowly looked away from her and down at the pile of food in front of everyone... before your face scrunched up into a funny looking face before you opened your mouth and-..

Started to laugh??

A series of giggles enveloped from her mouth and a hand reached out to cover those giggles to no avail as everyone stared at her.

"....Ok. Did we already break her or is she making fun of us?"

Your head shook as a hand waved. "N-No. It's just that-..Well, It's nice you're all going through all this effort to make me comfortable but Gyomei's already mentioned about this." To her surprise the tray was slid back over in front of Mitsuri who looked widely at you. "As I said before I want you all to be yourselves around me since I genuinely want to meet Gyomei's friends, so please don't hesitate to eat."

Mitsuri stared stunned by your smile, looking you up and down.... before just smiling back to her food and a second later she literally bit a burger clean in half as she hummed contently. Her happy face and bloated cheeks made more giggles escape her mouth. 

"That's quite the appetite you have there," you pointed out without being rude, "Do you like sweet, savoury, or spicy things better?"

She swallowed what was left of her first burger quickly before answering. "SWEETS! But I don't mind others things either! Bitter and sour things are good too if you make them right!" As if to hammer home her point, she practically devoured an entire hot sauce covered chicken leg minus the bone. The hotness didn't even seem to bother her because a slice of blueberry cheesecake was next. "Shoo yummy!~" She gushed between snacking.

Despite it you still smiled at her completely unfazed. Her eating was fast and not normal by any normal person's standards but unlike Jake's she wasn't rude about it at all. She wasn't chewing loudly or open mouthed, she didn't try to hog everything, and she DEFINITELY wasn't trying to get anyone's else's foods or getting food anywhere. ..Well except for the traces of said food on her mouth which you handed over a couple napkins she thanked you for. The others seemed completely unfazed by her appetite so this was probably a usual occurrence for them.

"So you aren't like grossed out or anything by..?" Makio gestured towards the pink haired girl like it was obvious.

"Not really. Why would I be?" You shrugged before picking up a piece of your own pizza. "She's not being rude about it so why should I care? Although I am a bit surprised at how much she eats. When Gyomei told she she had a big appetite I wasn't expecting it to be so literally. Not that it's a bad thing of course!"

Surprised looks land silence was what everyone gave you minus Mitsuri still eating the quickly shrinking pile of food. Eventually Shinobu broke the silence with her brows raised high. 

"Holy shit...Gyomei found a dam unicorn!"

"Shinobu!"

"He did.' shinobu rolled her eyes at her sister's scowl. "She said to be ourselves around her right? How is she supposed to know us if we aren't?'

"But the cussing? Really? First Nemi and now you."

"I really don't mind," you smiled at her. "I'm not offended at all. Really."

Kanae blinked but frowned at Shinobu's wide smile. 

"Subject change!" The blue eyed girl, Suma if you remembered right, shot up a hand and waved around her full arm. "This entire thing was to get to know her better! So let's do that instead!"

"Good idea, Suma!" She quickly changed the entire subject probably to avoid any awkwardness. "So. Y/n, how did you meet Gyomei? He told us briefly but I don't think he explained the entire thing." 

You paused a moment staring off into nothing. You smile had turned to a thin line and you turned to her so slowly that she thought she might've said something to offend you. "....Have you ever had a really bad date?"

Her pink eyes blinked. "I-...Well, it did rain once when I was on a double date with Kyo and Makio. We didn't get to do anything we planned."

"Oh. Well trust me. You haven't heard nothing yet. Let me tell you EXACTLY how I met the most kindest man of my life...after meeting the worst most vile human. It all started when this rat's parents paid my Auntie to set him up on a date. She's a REALLY good matchmaker you know and that's why they paid her and she needed the extra money because her car broke down, so she asked me to go out with him. I figured it was just a free dinner so what did I have to lose? BOY was I surprised!"

You told them the entire story. Starting from the very beginning from before you even met Jake the Snake to how he late he was to how Gyomei.actually noticed you first to how he acted and on and on. Most looked on in pity or disgust but Shinobu never lost that small smile. You nearly lost your appetite again remembering that night but the memory of Gyomei's smiling helpful being brightened up your entire outlook. 

"So one thing led to another and we ended up going on a coffee date." You shrugged drinking a little bit of the soda Hinatsuru was nice enough to get you. 

"That's so mean! How could a man be so cruel and rude?!," Mitsuri loudly protested. 

You shrugged again. "Spoiled too much by his parents I guess. But that's all in the past now." You smiled Brightly. "Gyomei is much more better than most of the men I've dated. Tonight is our third date actually."

"AW!! THAT'S SO SWEET! IT'S LIKE YOU BOTH MET OUTTA A FAIRYTALE!!" 

"How did you guys meet anyways?" You were curious about how these people met and got together especially when they were all polyamourus. You've never heard of twelve people in a relationship before but you guessed there was a first time for everything.

"Most of us are actually childhood friends and we met way back in elementary school!," Suma piped up and bit down into a pizza slice. 

"Yeah..most of them. A few of us didn't meet until like nearly graduated from highschool..." Makio shrugged. "But it is what it is."

"That reminds me. How did you three end up marrying Mr. Uzui? I've heard of having more than one partner but this is the first time I've ever seen someone be married to three people at once before. Um..no offense."

"None taken." Makio waved you off with a bored look to her face. "It was arranged between our parents a long time ago, I don't think Tengen's old man was too happy at the idea of him dating Kyo back in highschool and decided to give him a few beautiful ladies to change his mind."

"Oh that's awful." A hand covered your mouth. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It all worked out in the end."

"Really? He just agreed to it?"

"Yeah. He figured just going through with it would be easier, and we all got married right out of highschool..." Her gaze looked far away from the table as if gazing of into nothing. "..You know he offered all of us to divorce the day after? Said he wasn't going to force any of us to stay if we didn't want to."

Your brow rose at her. "But..you didn't?"

"No. I could've though. I could've divorced him and then left. Maybe I'd be somewhere studying something like cooking or maybe I'd be married again to a really, really handsome rich guy who's a renowned millionaire complete with little kids and a nice big dog. ...I could've had that, or I could stay with a guy who's 'flamboyant' butt cried when I said I loved him for the first time."

"Aw!" She was lightly surprised when you gushed. "Did he really cry?"

"Oh yes. I remember that." Hinatsuru finally got a cheeky look on her face looking at her other wives. "You two remember that right? He was so worried that Kyo would be mad at him for falling for us and he was so scared that we hated him from the start that he cried for a whole hour."

"I REMEMBER THAT!! HE'S SO CUTE!!"

"Yeah. Besides, where else are we gonna get a free portrait?"

Her joke wasn't lost on you either and a giggle escaped you. So they all grew up together? That's a cute love story! Well you guessed minus Tengan's wives who everyone met in highschool technically but you still were curious about one thing in particular.

"I do hope you don't mind me asking this but I'm curious about something," you slowly spoke catching most everyone's attention other than Mitsuri who was almost done with her giant tray. "If you don't want to answer it's fine, but how did you all.. Y'know. Well-.." You were trying to try to find a way to word it without sounding rude. So you made a half circle motion around the table gesturing to everyone.

"Find out we were all poly?," Kanae asked answering you.

"YYYes. I'm sorry if that's a sensitive topic."

She shook her head, pretty hair swaying. "Not at all. You've been nothing but respectful this entire time and honestly you're one of the few people who didn't make it weird." She shrugged her shoulders holding up her hands. "To be perfectly honest with you, it just sort of happened. Mitsuri used to date my sister back in middle school but they broke up and then she started dating Sanemi-" She gestured to Mitsuri. "-and she dated Obanai for a little bit before we all just shifted to who we wanted to have our main love be!"

"Oh..I see. So how did the whole main partner thing was figured out?"

"Simple. While I love all my partners, Sanemi is the only one I want to officially marry and start a family with." Her head tilted at you with a worried brow. "Do you think that's strange?"

A him escaped her throat as her eyes glanced over in thought. "...Well I can't say no because I guess to someone like me who isn't in a relationship like yours it would be weird. But-" orbs looked directly back to her pink ones. "I can't really judge you. Mostly because your relationship isn't any of my business so I shouldn't stick my nose where it doesn't belong, but also because it's really incredible."

"Hm?" Pink eyes blinked confused. "Incredible how so?"

"You guys have the healthiest relationship I've ever seen!" 

Kanae. Blinked. "What?"

You nodded. "I mean I've seen arguments but if-.. Sanemi, I think was his name, really wanted to punish Tengen I think he would've punched him square in the face. But it just looked like one big couples fight to me..Not the really bad kind but I don't think-" You stopped seeing everyone stared at you again. "Um..Was it something I said?"

"I told you. A dam unicorn."

Kanae shot her sister another glare before sighing. "Well to answer your question, we really just sorta melded together once we realized that there was more than mutual feelings. It took some time for everyone to come to terms with it especially Nemi and Obi but it works out for us."

"And your families?"

Clink-

You blinked as Hinatsuru suddenly placed her fork down and went quiet, a sad look suddenly found on her face making you blink and then noticed that everyone else had similar looks either looking away uncomfortable or sad. Mitsuri's eating had also ceased leaving her holding up an empty burger wrapper. Eventually Shinobu sighed.

"Some of our families have...Not been very nice hearing about it let's just say. My folks for example were pretty shocked but now they're the most supportive people on the planet. However... People like Tengen's dad or Obinai's family.." A grimace and 'yeesh' sound escaped her. "You'd think a guy who's entire family was mostly women wouldn't care if he dated girls-'

"I think I get the picture." You politely held up your hand and looked around feeling suddenly guilty about the mood dropping. "...You guys said you're studying to become teachers right?" You perked back up and changing the subject to a lighter tone. "What kind of subject do you want to teach, Mitsuri?" You asked the most cheerful person hopefully her bright happy attitude would help the situation.

Like you hoped she immediately lit up in a smile. "DANCE! Specifically ballet!"

"I didn't know you knew ballet!"

She nodded. "Mm hm! I love it!"

"And what about you two?"

"I'm focusing on biology and Shinobu is taking classes for becoming a health teacher," Kanae answered with a new smile. 

"Hina n' I are working through the thought of culinary schooling."

"OH! OH! I WANNA BE A PRESCHOOL TEACHER!!'

"You'd certainly fit right in."

"Makio! Don't be so mean to me!"

"Guys please."

You couldn't help but giggle at the lot of them in the end and went back to eating your pizza and waiting for Gyomei's return. 

"Hey. We're all going to the beach tomorrow!" You paused mid bite of your pizza before looking at Mitsuri who smiled widely and hopefully at you. "It's one of the few times we can go before it gets too cold. Why don't you come with us?"

"Oh. I'd really like to..but I can't." Your hand was held up. "I have a project to take care of before I can turn it in Monday and I have to clean. But I appreciate the offer. Are you guys going out the entire weekend together?"

"Oh absolutely! Tonight's just a big sleepover with a movie!" Mitsuri started quickly motioning with her hands with excitement. "Then tomorrow we're going to spend all day on the beach together and then Sunday it's just gonna be the boys hanging out with each other and we're all going SHOPPING!~" She sang out that last part throwing up her hands. "And then we're gonna go to the spa and get massages, and have our nails done and a whole bunch of stuff between those things! Then we're all going to meet up with the boys for a sauna and public hot springs!" She then gasped hands smacking her cheeks. "OH MY GOSH!! YOU SHOULD TOTALLY COME WITH US!!"

You blinked leaning back a little bit. "What?"

"ARE YOU BUSY SUNDAY?! IT'S PERFECT!! YOU CAN COME WITH US AND WE ALL CAN HAVE FUN TOGETHER!"

"I don't want to intrude on your guys' date and besides as much as I would like to, I'd only be a third wheel for the entire thing. On top of that I don't have much money for me to spend."

"Uh.. Didn't Gyomei literally win you three hundred fifty dollars?" 

You paused staring at them blinking.

"THAT'S RIGHT! You can totally still come with us then! Please say you will! You really didn't get a chance to really meet the guys yet and I promise it'll be so much fun!"

"Well I -.." You let out a light sigh. "Well I guess so. It might be fun."

"Oh this is going to be so much fun! I can't wait for you to see my favorite cat cafe! I'm sure the guys are just as excited!"

"You think so?"

"Absolutely! Why I bet they're thinking of fun things to do together right now!"

SMACK-

"OW! WHAT THE HELL, SANEMI?!"

Warmth spread off the tiles lining up the walls and floors. Most rising to coat their bodies like fog which was probably a good thing considering that most of them were completely in the nu- A loud smack loud disturbed the peaceful sounds of running shower heads and scents of men's brand soap and shampoo. The snack itself stopped Obanai from helping Gyomei get his back and the blind man tilt his head-

Buuuutt the very girly sounding squeal that left Tengen's throat had caused the rest of them to peer over. A stinging sensation throbbed from the side of Tengen's behind from where he was struck by something fast, and instinctively his hand clutched onto the now reddened skin. Magenta eyes narrowed with a snap of his neck and immediately found the culprit with a wet wring up towel in his hands. 

"OW! WHAT THE HELL, SANEMI?!", Tengen's voice angrily echoed off the walls.

The smaller white haired man gave Tengen one of those evil grins he always gave when annoyed and his fists squeezed around the towel harder making it creak in her hands. "Consider it payback for the stunt you pulled! I would've won if you hadn't distracted me!"

"Oh please. I would've won if you hadn't twisted the rules and tricked my wife." Tengen hissed rubbing at his bottom. "Fuck that hurt. Y'know if you wanted to smack my butt that badly-"

"SHUT UP YOU SHINY MEATBALL!!"

"Are those two still going on about that? I thought we all agreed Gyomei won fair and square."

Gyomei only sighed at Giyuu's words deciding not to engage with the argument other than shaking his head and sinking further down into the tub of comforting warm water. Those two would normally fight like cats and dogs if it wasn't with Obinai. He knew the routine of these fights. They'd be angry anywhere between a few hours to a day and then either forget about it or make up somehow. Even if the current cussing at one another over 'distracting him and making him lose' or 'sanemi didn't have to attack him with a towel' was starting to give him a bit of anxiety. He sure hoped they weren't loud enough for the girls to hear them.

"YOU WANT TO KISS ME SO BAD IT MAKES YOU LOOK STUPID!!"

"STOP BEING SO FUCKING PRETTY!!..PETTY!! I MEANT PETTY!!"

"Uh huh. Sure.~"

"RRRRRRAAHH!! FUCKING STOP IT!!"

"THEN MAKE ME, SHINAZUGAWA!!"

There was a small silence other than the sounds of the others ignoring their friends' usually arguments and continuing to finish up and then sounds of running water...but after a moment of nothing his head did turn in question towards the nearest person.

"Are they quite finished?"

"Yep. They're hate kissing again."

Even though he couldn't see Obinai, he knew the man was rolling his eyes. "I see. Well at least perhaps now they'll stop clawing at one another's throats." Water rippled in his wake as he moved to stand back up. "And I have to be seeing off Y/n soon. It's very impolite to keep her waiting for me on a date twice on a date."

"Relax, Mei. You brought her here for the sole purpose of meeting us. Let her get to know them. I'm sure Mitsuri's already talking about her cats or Suma's talking her head off. She'll be fine."

"Well..I should at least make sure it's going well."

"*sigh* If you say so. And will you two get a room?!"

Sanemi's answer was to chuck the clean but wet towel he had been holding and expertly nailing Obanai in the face without even looking up from where he was gripping Tengen's head to make him lean down enough to kiss. A loud smack sound again echoed beside him and a moment later Obanai fell into the tub with a splash. ...Gyomei only groaned rubbing his face. 

[angxlwritez]

Dues

➳♡゛-PAIRING: Landlord!Toji x Tenant!Reader

➳♡゛-SUMMARY: Short on rent, again. You find a way to pay off your debt owed.

➳♡゛-WARNINGS: Smut (MDNI), P in V, Handcuffs, Facial, Begging, Toji Calls Reader Princess, Oral (F & M) Receiving.

➳♡゛-A/N: My entry for @nymphoheretic xxxhub collab!

“One thousand fifty, one thousand one hundred, one thousand two hundred...” The woman mumbled to herself as she continued counting the money she’d just received from the end of her shift.

"You've got to be kidding me. I'm still short!" Y/N huffed as she shook her head in disbelief.

After getting fired from her old job she had no choice but to apply for the shitty diner down the street. It didn’t help that they paid the bare minimum and the customers barely tipped.

As she walked back to her apartment, Y/N couldn't help but feel defeated. How was she ever going to pay her rent? School was already wearing her down but she promised that she’d pay him for the last couple months and this month. But Toji was growing increasingly impatient and she knew she couldn't keep dodging him forever.

At the front door to her apartment, Y/N rummaged through her bag in search of her keys. Completely unaware to her  that the raven haired man was watching her from a distance, figuring out how he could demand for the unpaid rent.

He hated making such demands, especially since Y/N was a struggling college student. But he had a family to feed and bills to pay, and her debt was putting a considerable dent in his own finances.

As Y/N finally found her keys, she entered her apartment, completely unaware of the shadow that followed her inside. She tossed her bag on the couch and kicked off her shoes, letting out a sigh of relief that she was home.

Her relief was short-lived as she turned around to find Toji standing behind her with a stern look on his face.

"Hey Toji," Y/N said, trying to play it cool. "What brings you here?"

"You know why I'm here," Toji replied coldly. "You haven't paid your rent in two months, and I can't afford to keep letting you live here for free."

"I know, I've been trying to find the money," Y/N said, her eyes darting around the room, looking for a way out of the situation.

"Well, I've come to collect it," Toji said, stepping closer to her. "And if you don't have the money, I'm going to have to evict you as it’s long overdue."

Y/N’s heart pounded against her chest as he towered over her. She could feel his eyes darting around the room again, searching for something to seize as collateral if she couldn’t pay the rent off soon but with no luck she saw nothing.

"Look, I want to pay you, I really do," she said, trying to sound sincere. "But I just don't have the money right now..."

Toji scoffed. "Then how do you propose we settle this?"

Y/N bit her lip, trying to think of something, anything to offer him. "How about me?" she blurted out her words faster then her brain could comprehend.

Toji raised an eyebrow, surprised at Y/N's sudden proposal. "Excuse me?"

Y/N took a deep breath, bracing herself for what she was about to say. "I know it's not ideal and maybe it's crazy, but what if I paid off my debt in a different way?"

Y/N fidgeted nervously but held his gaze. "I could offer myself as payment. Just for one night. To make up for the rent I owe you."

Toji's eyes widened as he studied Y/N for a long moment. He had been eyeing the young woman for a while now, watching as she walked in and out of her apartment, imagining her beneath him. He had almost given up on his fantasy when she stopped paying her rent. But now, it seemed like fate had intervened.

Toji's eyes darted to the floor, considering Y/N's offer. He knew she was desperate, but there was no denying the lust he felt towards her deep within him. The thought of having her beneath him, submitting to his every whim, made him feel alive in a way he hadn't in years.

"You're offering yourself as payment?" Toji asked incredulously, his fingers tracing her jawline.

Y/N nodded, her cheeks heating up from embarrassment.

Toji's lips curved into a wicked smile as he leaned in, his breath sending shivers down Y/N's spine. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner?" he whispered, his lips hovering dangerously close to hers.

Y/N's heart raced as she felt Toji's hand slide down her neck and wrap around her waist, pulling her in closer. She could feel his hard body pressed against hers, and she couldn't deny the feeling that was beginning to course through her veins.

She would be lying if she said this was what she had originally intended when proposing to pay off her debt in a different way but she didn’t mind. She’d always find him to be an attractive man.

"So, is it a deal?" Y/N asked breathlessly, her eyes searching his for an answer.

Toji let out a deep chuckle, the tension evaporating instantly. "It's a deal," he murmured, pressing his lips against hers.

Y/N closed her eyes, the sensation of his lips on hers sending electrifying sparks throughout her body. She felt his hands wander down her back, exploring every inch of her body with an animalistic hunger. His kiss was passionate and fiery, and she felt her body melt into his.

Toji then guided Y/N to the bedroom, his hands gripping her hips as he pressed her back against the wall. Y/N could feel every muscle in his body flexing and his heart pounding against his chest.

As his hands moved to her shirt, quickly unbuttoning it and pushing it off of her body. She could feel the goosebumps rise on her skin as he trailed kisses down her neck and exposing her body to the cool rooms air.

Y/N felt her heart continue to race as Toji moved away from her to look in her drawer for a condom, instead his eyes wandered to the pair of handcuffs laying inside of it from a nearby drawer, the thought of his intended plan long gone. As he dangled them in front of her eyes, his expression became stern and serious.

"Now that we have this settled, I think you owe me an experience that you and I won't forget," he said, eyes glinting with a spark of excitement.

Y/N swallowed hard, unable to meet his gaze as she slowly nodded her head, her pulse racing with anticipation and a sudden need for something new and exciting.

She felt her heart race as he snapped the handcuffs around her wrists to the headboard, the cold metal sending a shiver up her spine.

Leaning in, his arms wrapping around her holding her tightly as he kissed her deeply. Y/N moaned as she felt Toji's tongue explore her lips and the sensation of his body pressed against hers. His hands moving to pull down her skirt, the sound of slipping fabric echoing through the room.

Y/N's heart beat faster as she felt Toji's hands exploring the expanse of her body, there was something about the way his hands moved across her skin that seemed to ignite a burning inside of her. She felt herself growing wetter as her hands began to tug against the handcuffs.

When she finally found the voice to speak, her voice was hoarse and breathless. "Toji, I want to touch you." she said, her voice pleading.

Toji pulled back, looking at her with a smirk. "Not yet," he replied, his fingers trailing down her body, stopping at the edge of the elastic of her panties.

"But-" Y/N began to protest.

"I said not yet," Toji interrupted her, his voice stern as he pulled away from her.

Her eyes fixed on Toji, as there was a fierce look in his eye, a commanding look that was both frightening and exciting.

Toji pulled the rest of her clothing off, his lips trailing kisses along her body, down her stomach, to her thighs and legs. He could smell her arousal and he wanted his taste of it.

Reaching down he began to part the outer lips of her pussy with his fingers, his eyes studying the delicate flesh as he opened her up for his eyes.

She could feel herself begin to shake roughly, the sensation of his fingers against her growing more and more intense, the throbbing inside of her only growing stronger.

Toji pressed his lips against her clit, kissing her softly, his tongue darting out to caress her, exploring her and tasting her.

Y/N's body shuddering as she let out a soft moan as his tongue explored her, his hands holding her hips tight against him, his grip strong and firm.

"You taste good," he murmured, his voice low and husky as he began to lick her more forcefully, his tongue darting in and out of her.

As Toji continued to pleasure her with his mouth. She could feel her body begin to shake and her legs grow weak as he continued.

She could feel her muscles tense as the orgasm began to build inside of her, the feeling of his tongue against her growing stronger.

"Toji, I'm going to–" she gasped, her climax growing closer, the feeling of pleasure more intense and strong than she had ever felt. Her hands tugged and pulled against the cuffs, her legs shaking as every touch Toji inflicted upon her sent electricity through her veins.

When he finally stood up, she could see the bulge in his pants, his erection straining against the fabric. Her eyes darted down to his waist, waiting for him to free himself.

Toji chuckled as he took a step back from her, her eyes burning into his. "Do you want to touch me?" he asked, his voice deep.

Y/N nodded, her lips parting to answer him, but he cut her off.

"Tell me. Say it," he demanded.

She couldn't hold back her arousal any longer, as she needed to feel him inside of her.  "I want to touch you," her voice a mere whisper.

Toji smirked as he began to fumble with his belt, pulling it open and pulling his pants down, revealing his erection. His lips curved up into a wicked smile as he felt Y/N's eyes on him.

"You want this?" he asked, grabbing a hold of his cock, tracing his fingers around the head it.

Y/N nodded, her eyes filled with lust and desire as she slowly nodded her head, her body yearning for his touch.

She could feel her heart racing as Toji's eyes moved from her to his hand, following his every movement as he began to stroke himself.

"You want this?" he repeated, his voice thick as he let out a moan.

"Yes," she replied, her voice sounding desperate, her eyes pleading.

"Beg me," he ordered, his voice strong and stern.

Y/N could feel her wetness pooling between her legs, dripping onto the sheets beneath her.  As she tried rubbing her legs together to get some type of release.

The sound of her own sighs and moans echoing throughout the room.

"I want you," her voice breathless.

"How do you want it?" he asked, his strokes growing heavier and more intense.

She could feel her heart beat faster and faster, her body growing more tense with every stroke he made. "I want you…I need you to fuck me," she replied, her voice a mere whisper.

Toji's eyes flashed with lust, his cock throbbing in his hand as he slowly walked closer to her.

His eyes wandered to the handcuffs still fastened to her wrists as he let out a low chuckle, his grin growing even wider as he stepped out of his pants and reached for them.

Y/N felt her heart beat loudly as she felt the hard metal against her wrists, loosen. A shiver running up her spine as he pulled her closer to him, her back pressed against his chest.

She could feel his breath hot against her neck as he leaned in, his hands roaming across her skin once more, his lips kissing her neck softly as he pulled away from her.

When the handcuffs finally fell to the ground, her body moved into his, her body arching as she felt the thick head of his cock pressing against the entrance of her pussy.

"I want you," he whispered into her ear, his voice a husky whisper.

She could feel every muscle in her body tense as she felt his cock sliding into her, pushing past the tightness of her entrance as he moved inside of her. The feeling of her walls gripping around him more intense than she could have imagined.

She let out a low moan as she felt him fill her completely, her hips arching against him as his cock slid deep inside of her.

"Fuck me," she pleaded, desperate for him to move inside of her.

He began to thrust into her, feeling her walls tighten around him, his cock growing harder with every movement.

His hands moved to her hips, holding her tight against him as he plunged deep inside of her, the head of his cock rubbing against her g-spot.

She could feel the muscles in her legs begin to shake, her body growing weak again as the pleasure deep inside of her continued to grow.

Toji could feel her begin to tremble, as he continued to drive his cock into her hard and fast.

She could feel the ripples of pleasure running through her body with every movement. As her body begin to tingle, muscles growing weaker as he moved inside of her.

"Toji," she moaned, her voice breathless, her body growing weaker and weaker as the orgasm continued to build up.

"Cum for me," he muttered.

He could feel her body begin to shake, her heart racing as he continued.

She felt her body tense, her muscles contracting as the orgasm finally reached her.

Her legs began to shake as her body began to tense up, the pleasure inside of her almost too much to handle.

Her moans growing louder as she felt herself begin to cum.

"On your knees Princess!" He commanded, his voice demanding.

Y/N complied, as she lowered herself to the ground.

Toji moved closer to her, his eyes growing darker as he watched her kneel before him. His hands moved to her face, cupping it firmly as he pushed himself against her lips.

He could feel the warmth of her mouth surrounding his cock as she started to move against him, using the suction from her mouth to drive him wild. Her tongue running circles around him as he felt himself beginning to cum within seconds.

He pulled away from her lips just in time for his cum to explode over her face and neck, coating them with a white slick substance that made Y/N gasp at the sensation.

As Toji pulled away from Y/N, he couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful she looked with his cum still clinging to her lips and cheeks.

Taking his finger he swiped some off her face, “Open your mouth princess.”

Doing as she was told she wrapped her mouth around his fingers sucking them gently.

He smiled at her, a satisfied grin appearing on his face as he looked down upon her.

"Cut!" Yelled the director from behind them, as Y/N could feel a wave of relief wash over her. She quickly got to her feet, still trying to catch her breath from the intense session they had  just moments before.

As they had given the two some towels and robes, the crew began to move around them, resetting the scene for their next take.

"Come on," he said softly, his voice low and gentle as his hand moved to the small of her back. "I'm not done with you yet. Let's practice the next scene in private."

With that being said he led her back to his dressing room.

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angxlwritez©2023. Do not modify, claim, translate, or copy my work without my permission. Thank you!♡

[nynxhaswritersblockk]

Just a little something I was thinking of while looking through my old Wattpad account and the library I had on there 🙂

TW: Guns, italian Mafia, threatening, kidnapping, yk the drill :3

You always made fun of those cringy Y/N fanfics, "I put my hair in a messy bun and didn't put on any makeup" - It made you laugh. "Sold to Harry Styles, "Sold to one direction", etc. Ofcourse as a teen you read them, typical stuff that a middle, or even Highschooler during your time would do. You remember sitting in your bed when you were 13, it was 2012 at the time, you were reading those "Creepy pasta/ Jeff the Killer x Y/N" stories; Thinking back on it it was a good time, you were young and practically innocent, if not a little dirty minded due to the smut you read, but does it really matter now? Your favorite genre had always been something else though, not being sold to Harry styles or running away from home and joining the creepy pasta; a phase you got over just a few years ago, no it was something else, "Being sold to the mafia." Thinking back it's more cringe than the rest, considering that no mafia boss is a good looking, tall and muscular italian man that would buy you off your parents and call you "Amore", no, the mafia is cruel and if they were to own you, you'd just be a toy to their old, grumpy, ugly and overlooked by wrinkles boss.

You're twenty-four now, wow big age, huh? You have a loving partner and a stable job, engaged even, planning the wedding and all. Currently your husband is on a work trip, it's November third 2023 (remember this date very well), your birthday was just a few days ago and sadly you had to celebrate without your loving fiancé. The couch has become your comfort space, the chocolate lab you own laying next to you, snorting in his sleep. "Lil trashcan" is what you call him, though his actual name is "lucky"; The nickname came from him eating everything, not eating, more like inhaling.

"Lucky," You whistled after, making sure to get his full attention as you turned the TV off. He looked at you with his big brown eyes, blinking stupidly. "wanna go to bed, big guy?" You ask sweetly, scratching that specific spot on his back, the one that make his leg twitch slightly and tail wag faster than usually. You get up and pull his blanket away, he gets up, stretching on the floor and yawning, a loud high whine. You blink a few times, confused as to why your dog was always exaggerating everything.

A quick stop in the kitchen to grab your phone from it's charging station, stupid to put in the kitchen you may think, but useful when your phone is on 5% and you need a Recipe to cook something. You check it, three missed calls from "Mom", one missed call from "Dad" and four missed calls from "Liam", your brother. "Jesus" You mutter out and dial your mom's number, as she is the most calmest when you miss her calls.

"Sweetie?" Her voice calls out over the phone, slightly shaky, you're concerned now. "Hey mom, is everything alright?" She is still for a moment and you can hear your brother say something from behind her. Liam is your older brother, he's twenty-seven and even though you got the usual younger sibling treatment from him, you love him to death. "Mom?" You call out again, snapping her back to the call, "Yes, sorry, sweetie!" She quickly says and begins speaking before you could, "How fast can you be over at our house? We have something to discuss with you" She says, sounding concerned and nervous. You look at the time, it's 1am, why is she still awake? "Uhm.. I can be there in ten?" You offer and she sighs in relief, weird. "Good, see you then, sweetie!" She doesn't say anything, instead hangs up and leaves you just as confused as you had been before.

"Guess we're not going to sleep, huh? Wanna visit granny?" You say to your dog, smiling a bit as you pat his head. You put his leash on him, put on your shoes, grab your coat and pocket your phone, then you head out. After a good five minutes of trying to get your dog in the car, finally managing it, you sit in the drivers seat and start driving. A calm drive in the rainy night, a million thoughts raced your mind though. What could be stressing your mother out so much that she asks you to come over at one in the morning?

When you arrive at her house you spot a black car with a strange License plate on it, it's not an US one, neither is it from any other countries on the continent called America. You shrug, thinking it probably belongs to your mom's neighbour. You get lucky out of the car and head for your mom's door, before you can ring the doorbell it opens and you're met with a man in a black suit, he looks to be in his late thirties, early forties, maybe even older.

"Uhm Hi? Is my mom he-" *He pulls you in the house, your dog being pulled in with you as he shuts the door loudly, grabbing the leash from you and pulling the dog with him. "Living room." He says harshly and pushes you forward. Goosebumps make it's way on your skin, a lump in your throat and the hairs at the back of your neck standing up. Heavy steps lead you to the living room, your brother is sitting on the couch, a gun held to his head by a similarly old looking man, his pointer on the trigger and ready to press it at any moment. Your parents, old and frail people that devoted their life to raising you properly, stand across your brother, looking stressed out. Tears pricked at your eyes at the sight. "M-Mom?" You mumbled out, looking at her nervously. You hear the gun at your brother's head cock and your gaze snaps to the sound. "What is going on?" You whisper quietly, seeking eye contact with your brother, but he avoids it. "My my, what a sweet young woman, mh" A voice says from behind you, you turn around, your breath caught in your throat. He looks old; wrinkles around his dark brown eyes, a strong jawline, bushy eyebrows, prominent cheekbones and full lips; A creepy smile on his face. "To answer your question, your brother here has given us a slight bit of trouble," His italian accent is thick, not something you would enjoy though, "and I'm giving you a choice now, either you come back with us to our beautiful, sunny italy and I'll marry you to my son, because he's looking for a wife or your brother gets his brains blown out right infront of you and your parents." Time stops around you, you feel dizzy, a weird feeling in your gut that makes you want to throw up. Then everything is gone, the last thing you feel is your head hitting the floor and your mom's shriek as you faint.

A few hours pass by, atleast you think so, then you wake up. Duck tape over your mouth, eyes covered with a blindfold, ankles and hands tied together with rope. Where ever you're sitting is a moving vehicle, your best guess is the car you saw outside your parents's house. You want to cry, tears pricking at your eyes as you breathe heavily, the tape over your mouth restricting your breathing and stressing you out; you feel like fainting once again.

[nymph-ette111]

Hello again! Its me the one who requested the proxies with a forest ranger S/o

I sawed your post and kinda went 😮 when I found out forest rangers and fire looksouts aren’t the same thing too ngl. I originally got the idea when I watched/played ‘Fears to fathom: Ironbark lookout’. I actually looked it up and I guess the correct term would be “Park ranger” (I still don’t know bro I could be wrong) but I originally got the idea from the fears to fathom so I guess you could kinda base it off that (minus the cult) but I just thought it would be a cool idea. Like for example on the fire watch aspect, Tim is chronic Smoker and Toby is canonically a pyromaniac (idk about brain in this situation) so like Tim could be smoking or toby could be setting something on fire and you would be side eyeing tf out of them. OR, You could just be trying to peacefully sleep in your watch tower (assuming there is one) and One of them would be knocking at your damn door/window in the dead ass of the night and your just there either terrified, confused, or annoyed (its up to your interpretation).

But anyway sorry for the ramble and confusion, As always I appreciate you and hope you have a wonderful day (remember to drink water) buh/bye now <3

(♡) Authors note; in my old author's note I literally said it was inspired byironbark lookout but then I hesitated bcs I thought it wasn't what you're looking for. good thing I didn't delete the previous work :3 SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT I DIDN'T HAVE ANY MOTIVATION TO WRITE ANYTHING :(

HOODIE;

-before the relationship between you two, he knew about your job as a park ranger/ fire lookout.

-actually, he knew about everything. From the tasks you usually handle to your working schedule.

-the reason he didn't kill you off was because part of your job is keeping campers away from the unregistered camp grounds which was quite convenient on his part. (Perhaps convenient for all of them)

-that way he wouldn't risk getting caught on the way/back from a mission, even though he usually drives to his destinations with a beaten up old truck. He knows how nosey some people are and would definitely pull a curiosity move and possibly find his resort.

-but he also couldn't let you run around freely around the forest either, he just kept an eye on you for a while in case you were too close to finding out about his...'business'

-i can see him stalking you slowly seeping into his routine. could be out of curiosity or genuine interest.

-during your relationship, he'd drop by from time to time in the watch tower even though it's against the rules. He'll be careful, he says.

-he's still an asshole very much like his friends, would probably disregard his mudded hiking boots by the entrance and just throw himself on your bed. Not caring if whatever substance he was covered in (blood) stains your bedsheets or something.

-to make up for it he cooks you food with whatever ingredients you have to offer :3 I like to think he's a good cook, staying out in the forest for long periods of time gained him that skill.

-if he isn't too busy, you two would watch the scenery together :) a little nice bonding moment.

MASKY;

-sigh... This motherfucker would NOT be good company for you at all.

-you could be sleeping peacefully just to wake up and find him standing at the foot of your bed just...staring.

-he's making sure they don't get you lol

-who the fuck is "they" (...does anyone get the reference)

-steals any lighters he finds in the shack just to light up his cigarettes.

-yes, when he puts out his cigarettes he just throws them on the ground. not caring if it's against the rules to litter the forest. at this point they're all trying to get you in trouble whether it's intentionally or not.

-unlike Toby, he doesn't help around that much with your tasks.

-if you manage to convince him to bring up some firewood from the shack so you can light up the fire, just praise him. it's enough to boost his already humongous ego and he might consider helping every now and then just so you could call him your strong, manly boyfrie–

TOBY;

-This stupid fucker would send you disturbing messages on his old ass flip phone at night whenever you still have the planks up.

-some shit like 'i c yu :-)'

-... yeah he never likes typing his sentences properly because he still uses those number keyboards (I don't know what they're called)

-it gives you a heart attack everytime untill you look out the window and see that it's Toby being a weirdo again.

-like anon said, he always sets random stuff on fire which always gets him in trouble, you end up reminding him that you aren't the only fire lookout in the forest and that another worker will report it.

-he doesn't listen.

-he definitely scares off any campers in areas they aren't supposed to be. Hey, at least he isn't completely useless!

-the opposite of Brian/Hoodie, instead of cooking for you he absolutely ravishes anything you have in the fridge.

-no, he isn't sorry.

-other than the things that he does to piss you off he actually does help from time to time like helping you fill in the service reporting— using the anemometer, checking the thermometer...etc

-he thinks the devices look neat :)

[phoward89]

Based on this ask

Coriolanus Snow x Professor!Reader

University!Coriolanus Snow x Professor!Reader

WARNING ⚠️ Coriolanus Snow is a warning in and of itself. Obsession, cussing, rejection, angst, no happy endings, making out, kissing

You're 25 years old, live in Capitol City, Panem and work at the University as a professor. It wasn't your dream job, but yet again you never really even figured out what your dream job was.

But at least you're successful. Well, to a point considering you're single while all of your friends are married with children. But that's not your fault.

Really, it's not.

Your ex, Odysseus Odair, was a bit of a beach bum. His father owns a luxury cruise line based out of District 4, so the bronze haired Adonis prefers the sun, sand, ocean, and chilled out vibes of the fishing district over the glitz, glamor, and sophistication of the Capitol.

Couldn't pay you to leave the Capitol. Hell, you won't even leave to go visit your brother at the district base he lives on as an Officer in the Peacekeepers.

So that's why things didn't work out with you and Odysseus. He wanted to relocate to District 4 and live in a beach house, but you didn't want that. You have a good job and a nice apartment that you're not giving up to trapeze to a place where your children can be reaped for a death royale battle that's televised across the nation as a form of fucked up punishment for the war; the Dark Days.

But, as you understand from the grapevine, Odysseus is doing fine. He met somebody and they're having a baby.

If only you'd meet somebody.

It seems like all the eligible bachelor's your age are complete assholes.

Lucky you…

Maybe your soulmate got run over by a bus? What? You haven't met Mr. Right yet, so…

Coriolanus Snow’s favorite class at the University was yours and it wasn't because of the subject matter either. No, it's his favorite class because of you. Yes, he has a little crush on you.

Okay, that's a lie. Coriolanus is obsessed with you. So much so that he decides to approach you one day after class to see if you'll make good on an offer you extended in the beginning of the semester.

“Professor Halvir, I was wondering if you could perhaps tutor me.” Coriolanus told you, nearly scaring the shit out of you while you cleaned your blackboard- since you assumed all your students had left.

Jumping slightly and turning around, clutching the eraser in your dominant hand, you give Coriolanus a line of a smile. “Of course I'll tutor you, Mr. Snow. I did say that I can tutor any student that feels they need it.”

“That's very good to hear, Professor Halvir.” The platinum blonde smiles wide, all his teeth on display as his icy eyes twinkle- looking a bit unnatural, like a maniac serial killer or something.

“I have an open slot on Thursday afternoon at 4, does that work for you?” You ask your student, hoping that he wouldn't have another engagement during that time.

“That's perfect, Professor. I'll see you then.” Coriolanus smiles, showing off too many of his pearly white teeth to be considered polite, and walks out of your class with a bounce in his step.

Thursday afternoon at 4pm, right on the dot, Coriolanus Snow showed up at your office for his private tutoring session. He was polite and knocked on the door, to which you opened it and greeted him with a professional smile and told him to come in and have a seat. Which in turn resulted in the two of you sitting at your desk, books and notebooks open, as you discuss the course material. Material that Coriolanus didn't truly need help with, since he's highly intelligent and understands it completely.

The platinum blonde’s icy eyes wander down the v-neck of your shirt, checking out your cleavage. His tongue barely juts out and he subtly licks his lower lip. Oh, how Coriolanus loves titties; he just can't help, but want to see yours. He can tell by your cleavage that you must have beautiful tits.

Oh, and how he wants to see them right now.

Goddamnit, right now!

Coriolanus’ brain is nearly fried with thoughts of you as he scoots his chair closer to yours. He hooks his foot around your ankle, running it teasingly along your ankle bone, while slinging an arm around the back of your chair; essentially caging you in with his body. Coriolanus leans close to your ear, only to pur, “Professor, I think I'd rather have you tutor me in the art of lovemaking than in military political theory.”

“What?” You ask, taken aback by his smooth line.

Coriolanus’ hand began to caress your thigh as his breath tickled your ear. “You’re a very beautiful and intelligent woman; you've captured my attention and I’d like nothing more than to be with you.” His lips softly pressed against the sweet spot below your ear.

“Mr. Snow-” You begin to say, only for the platinum blonde to interrupt you with the request of, “Please, call me Coriolanus or Coryo.”

“Coriolanus, I'm your professor. It's not ethical for us to sleep together.” You told your student, struggling to get the words out of your mouth as his lush lips danced poetically up and down your neck.

“We're both consenting adults.” Coriolanus protests your rebuttal, his lips ghosting your skin. “There's nothing wrong with us giving into our desires.” He whispers against the hollow of your neck before nipping and biting at your collarbone.

“Coriolanus, we can't do this. I'd be jeopardizing my job.” You tell him around a wispy moan as Coriolanus’ hands start to massage and grope your breasts as he peppers kisses along your jawline.

Coriolanus’ head back and his icy eyes, blown black by lust, locked onto your gaze. “I'd never do anything to jeopardize your career, darling. I swear, I won't tell anyone about us; it'll stay a secret.”

Coriolanus was a very handsome man, a pretty boy with the looks of the ancient gods of the old myths, so it was hard to turn down such an Adonis throwing himself at you. But, you had to turn him down. It didn't matter that his kisses and touches were lighting a fire inside of you, it was too risky to do anything with him.

Shaking your head, you sigh, “I'm sorry, Coryo, but as long as you're my student we can't be together.”

Coriolanus was gutted at your rejection. He was so sure that you'd swoon over him. Girls always fell at his feet now that he was the heir to the Plinth fortune and had a very classic, sophisticated style that oozed old money. But you pushed him away in fear that an affair would ruin your career.

Fine, if your career's more important to you than he is then he'll let you have it. And he'll show you just what you're missing by turning down his proposition.

“Well, it looks like I don't need your tutoring after all, Professor Halvir.” Coriolanus coldly told you while untangling himself from you. “I'll leave you alone, darling, but mark my words you'll regret rejecting me.” He said before standing up and storming out of your office.

You felt horrible for rejecting him. And if things were different, you would've had no qualms with hooking up with him. But you can't risk your job; your reputation.

You can't help, but dread having to see Coriolanus during your next class. You're never going to be able to look at him the same way ever again after the way his kisses made you feel.

But the look in his baby blues when you rejected him will haunt your dreams. The platinum blonde man looked so broken, so betrayed by you pushing him away. You only hope that he doesn't dwell on the rejection; that it doesn't hinder his grades.

But unknown to you, the hots he has for you won't simply go away. And one day, many years down the road, you'll find yourself at a political fundraiser dinner party being thrown for Coriolanus as he embarks on a Senatorial campaign. But when he makes his next move, he'll make sure that his heart’s well locked away behind a brick wall.

Snow lands on top and one day he's sure he'll land on top of you. But right now you're the professor that he's obsessed with, but can't have.

Tags: @kuroosbby001 @purriteen @poppyflower-22 @meetmeatyourworst @whipwhoops @bxtchopolis @readingthingsonhere @savagenctzen @ryswritingrecord @erikasurfer @tulips2715 @universal-s1ut @thesmutconnoisseur @squidscottjeans @sudek4l @wearemadeofstardust0 @mashiromochi @gracieroxzy @belcalis9503 @shari-berri @aoi-targaryen @whiteoakoak @spear-bearing-bi-witch @gisellesprettylies @loverandqueenofdragons @qoopeeya @mfnqueen1 @permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88 @v-love @swiftieblyth @joyfulyouthlover @princess-harvey @chxrrybomb22 @marvel-hiddles-stark @xjinnix @devils-blackrose @zombicupcake3 @jacesvelaryons @tempt-ress

[darlingofdots]

Formal vs Informal Address in German Temeraire Translations: a report

So I have picked up my German copies of the Temeraire books for the first time in over a decade for reasons unrelated to this post but I immediately got distracted by the matter of formal address in German and how translators have to make a very specific and important choice when translating from English. German (like French and many other languages) has two forms of direct address in the 2nd person, an informal one for friends, family, children etc., and a formal address for strangers, teachers, colleagues, professional contacts. It is famously a Whole Thing when you switch from formal to informal with somebody: usually the person with a 'higher' position in the relationship has to explicitly offer it and it can be a big deal! A common instance might be when you've worked at a new job for a while and your colleagues tell you to use informal to indicate they consider you Part Of The Team, or your girlfriend's parents do it when you've been dating a while and they signal that you're part of the family now. In translation, this can be a really tricky choice! For instance, I have not watched Elementary in German but I would say Sherlock and Joan would absolutely start out addressing each other formally (Sherlock calls her "Watson" most of the time), but by the end of the show there is no way they would not have switched. Obviously English-language media does not have an explicit conversation about this and the closest analogue would be switching to first names when they've only ever used last names before, but you can't rely on that and translators end up having to make choices about characterisation and relationships based on like, vibes. With all that said!

In the Temeraire series, there's a lot of formal address around, such as among officers; I knew Laurence would be addressing his cadets formally because even though they are like, 9 years old, they are his officers and deserve to be treated with that respect. I only have books 1-5 in German but I'd be willing to bet that this doesn't change even Emily's been with him for nigh on ten years, and the same goes for Temeraire. Also Laurence uses formal address with both his parents, in case you were wondering.

What I was not sure about was a) how other people address dragons and how dragons address each other and b) the finer interpersonal relationships among aviators. Jane addresses Iskierka formally but Temeraire informally; the dragons of the formation are formal with each other but Temeraire, Lily, and Maximus are not, and Temeraire quite happily scolds Iskierka like a misbehaving child. I would LOVE to find a bit of, say, Laurence talking to Lily or Berkley to Temeraire!

Among the aviators, Laurence and Jane are informal with each other once they've slept together, but I just saw that Laurence is also informal with Harcourt but not with Chenery, which is interesting but I suppose makes sense if you go by the dragons' relationships too. What really fascinates me is that at the end of Victory of Eagles, Laurence and Granby are still formal, which makes sense because until five minutes ago Laurence was his superior officer, but if I were the translator for this series I'd have them switch to informal with the beginning of book six but unfortunately I do not have that on hand so I can't check.

Now for the main event: Tharkay uses formal address with Laurence when he leaves to fetch more ferals at the beginning of book 4, and I thought he switched for the infamous "Laurence, what are you doing" which would have been exactly the right moment if you'd asked me, but in fact there is one random informal when they're out rescuing Granby in London (loose quotation: "that is [Woolvey's] problem and for those who would weep for him, even if they are close to your [informal] heart")? And then he goes right back to formal all the way to "Laurence, what are you [informal] doing" and finally switches properly, at which point Laurence follows his example. At first I thought that was weird and I am not sure if it was done on purpose, but on second thought I kind of like that he tries it out first when speaking of something personal (Laurence's concern for Edith) but isn't sure of it yet and retreats back to familiar territory until he realises that he needs to shock Laurence out of his war crime depression.

It's interesting to me that Tharkay was the one to take that step. Traditionally, like I said, it would be on the person in a position of authority to offer or, like with Granby, Laurence could have just switched once Granby was confirmed in rank to indicate that he wants to be friends now that he doesn't give orders anymore. Of course it makes perfect sense that Tharkay would not care one bit about rank, and he's not really an officer anyway and he certainly does not consider Laurence to have authority over him. I love that the translator (Marianne Schmidt) recognised that moment on campaign for what I think it is: not so much a turning point in their relationship but one that cements a degree of intimacy that Laurence doesn't have with anyone else. They would not have had access to book 6, I think, when they were working on book 5, so it very much is a deliberate choice based on their interactions up to this point. I made a list recently about people that Will Laurence calls by their first name (former first lieutenants, Catherine Harcourt, 1 FWB, and Tharkay) and now I feel like I need to make another list of people German!Will Laurence uses informal address with!

[standardfriends]

boy (I need you) 🦋

Word Count: 5.3k|| Kanemoto Yoshinori x Fem. Reader || Tags: Fluff, Slight Angst, Smut, Dilf!Yoshi, Son!Jeongwoo, Best Friend!Doyoung, Slight Age Gap (4 years), Petnames, Abandonment, Vanilla, Plot Heavy

"Damn, this house is really nice." Whose house, you may ask? Hopefully, your future employer's. You recently started college and have been looking for a pretty lenient job, and that's how you got here. A man, not much older than you, named Yoshinori needed a house-sitter. So here you were, about to enter for an interview. "You got this, y/n. You'll be fine." You press the doorbell. "One second! Sorry~" A sweet melodic voice tweets from behind the door. "Hello, come on in!" Appearing is one of the most gorgeous faces you've ever seen in your life. Long brown hair, shiny soft eyes, high strong nose bridge, a bright smile, and a pretty mole underneath his mouth to pair with it.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" "Just water is fine, thank you." He leads you to sit down on the couch in his living room, which is quite cozy, with a light brown sectional, a wooden and glass coffee table positioned in front of a flat-screen TV and front window. He comes back quickly with a glass of ice water with a cute curly straw. "Sorry, how rude of me. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Kanemoto Yoshinori, and you?" "Y/n, nice to meet you, Mr. Kanemoto." "Oh, please just call me Yoshi…" He chuckles nervously and rubs his neck. "Alright, nice to meet you, Yoshi."

You soon find out that he's looking for a house-sitter because he frequently works long hours throughout the week. "I just need you to do basic tasks like making sure all the plants are watered, the fish are fed enough, and that dust doesn't collect." Simple enough, it pays really well, considering those are your only major tasks. "Also, you would get weekends off. That's when I'm at home. My son Jeongwoo comes to visit me, he lives with his grandparents during the week." SON!? You had to refrain from letting your jaw drop, but you can't help but be shocked, as Yoshi only looked at most 4 years older than you. "Oh ok, well if that's all, I'd be happy to house sit for you, Yoshi!" "REALLY? Oh, I mean—ahem—really? Thank you so much!" You can't believe this man has a child; he acts so innocently. You swear you saw stars in his eyes when you accepted his offer. "Let's discuss more in-depth about payment and schedule, hmm?" "Sounds perfect to me."

You ended up spending two hours with him, chatting not only about your new job but each other's personal lives as well. You learned he's a music producer for a very big entertainment company, he has to be there for long hours due to the number of songs he has to make for many different artists. You learned he went to the same university you're currently attending and he graduated just last year. He gave you pointers on all the best spots to make friends and eat. You told him about how you plan to major in Linguistics and he was ecstatic, being a polyglot himself.

The most notable thing is that of his son, a 3-year-old named Jeongwoo, he says he's very timid but well-mannered and caring. Although there was no mention of Jeongwoo's mother and it seemed like he was purposefully so, you decided not to pry. "What an intriguing man…" It was Saturday, you had two days before you start this job. "Why do I already want to start now?" Laying down, looking at your ceiling, you can't help but let your mind wander. Checking the time, you realize if you want to get everything together by Sunday night, you have to head to bed now. "Goodnight, Yoshi. Please take care of me in the future."

"Daddy, how come I have to eat my salad if you haven't touched any of yours?" "Huh—" Yoshi looks down to realize he's barely eaten. "Oh, you're right, bud. It's not fair. Sorry, daddy will finish all his salad." He stuffs a bite into his mouth. "See, mmm yummy, now you have to as well, ok?" "Ok, daddy!" "Good boy." He couldn't stop thinking about earlier today. A pretty young girl like you wanted to get paid to do boring tasks around his house and just make sure nobody breaks in. You didn't even question too much about him and his son and seemed to be open-minded about it. This was something he surely wasn't used to. He couldn't place what, but it felt like you had bewitched him, all his thoughts were filled with you. It's a little weird because he just met you and you're just some 19-year-old looking to make some easy money. "I really should've gotten out more in college, not like I had much of a choice…" Creak "Daddy, you look sleepy, can we sleep together tonight?" As much as he feels he's missed out, he loves his kid so much. "Sure, buddy, let's clean up dinner first." "Ok!" He watches the little boy scurry with all the plates into the kitchen excitedly. "Be careful, slow down!"

"How come I never get to visit mommy?" Jeongwoo asks his father. Yoshi is a little taken aback. How could he tell his little boy that his mommy left them? "Well, you see, mommy lives very far, and it's not easy for you to visit her." "How far? Does she live all the way across the ocean?" "Yes, all the way across the ocean." "Can't we just take a plane?" "Planes are expensive, bud." "Can we do it once, when I have a holiday?" He adores his son so much, his persistence and curiosity is one of his favorite parts of being a parent. He can't believe that anyone could just leave such an amazing kid behind. "I'll see what we can do, buddy, but I don't know if mommy is going to be willing."

"Why?" His heart pains, he asks himself the same thing, why? He thought they were perfect together and that everything was going to be perfect just the three of them, but she left. "Mommy needs time. She's been through a lot." "Ok…" He can tell his son is no longer as bright as before, and it hurts just as much as he thought. "Hey, don't frown, daddy doesn't like when you frown. How about I sing you a lullaby tonight, hm?" The little boy eagerly nods his head in agreement. Before Yoshi can even finish the song, the little one is off to sleep, and he rests a peck on his forehead.

Your first day of house-sitting was a breath of fresh air after a hard day at school. You had a project in your semantics class. You were partnered up with a boy in your class named Doyoung. He's cool and all, but he talks a LOT, and consequently, not a lot of work got done. The house, thankfully for you, seemed to be in good shape. You went about your duties with care, watering the plants, feeding the fish, and dusting the surfaces. "Well, that was easy. Maybe I should look around the house, and maybe find a bathroom while I'm at it." While exploring, you came across a child's bedroom. There was a tiny kid's doctor's kit, music sheets along with a kid's recorder, and a drawing of the house, a man who you assumed was Yoshi, and a tiny kid you could only assume was Jeongwoo. It brought a little bit of warmth to your heart. You thought it would be nice to tidy up the room a bit, so you put everything in its designated spot and close the door. You could tell Jeongwoo was just as nice as Yoshi had described, and you could tell he cares for his son a lot.

There's another bedroom directly opposite the one you recently exited. It was most definitely Yoshi's. You could smell the subtle scent of a nice clean cologne emanating from the room. You decided it would be best not to enter there without permission. You eventually found the bathroom as well, but afterward, your stomach made an incomprehensible rumble. You ventured into Yoshi's kitchen, finding some basic ingredients for an omelet and toast. After a bit of whisking, chopping, frying, and toasting, you had a simple, wholesome meal ready. You took a bite and started to get out your computer when you suddenly hear the front door unlock.

"Ahhhh, where is it? I swear I left it right here. Oh—" You are confronted with a very disheveled Yoshi. Even then, he still looked as gorgeous as before. His eyes were like the ocean. "Hi, Y/N. Sorry to startle you." "It's fine. It is your house, after all." He has a look of surprise on his face mirrored by your own. "I had forgotten some lyrics I was working on last night." He chuckles, and the vibrations send a tingling feeling throughout your body.

"You didn't happen to see them lying around, did you?" "Uhhh, I don't think so. I'm sorry." "No, no, it's totally okay. I'll find them." A little less frazzled, he finally smells the food you made. "Oh, I made an omelet and toast from some food you had in the fridge. I hope that's okay." "Yeah, that's fine. I'm sorry for interrupting you. You can go back to eating if you want." You can tell he may need some help, but you appreciate him trying to be considerate. "Let me help you out. I finished pretty much all the tasks you gave me, so I can put off eating for a little longer. What did you say those lyrics looked like?" "It’s just a filing folder with lined pieces of paper. They should still be somewhere here in the living room," Yoshi explains, gratefully accepting your offer.

Together, you start searching by the coffee table, flipping through various magazines and yesterday's mail, to no avail. Yoshi checks the nearby shelves and cabinets, his brows furrowing in concentration. You can't help but steal glances at him, the way his hair frames his face, the smell of his perfume hitting your senses every time he slightly passes by. The moment is intimate but not uncomfortable. You both continue to work diligently to find his paper, and for some reason, you have a sense of responsibility for making sure the papers return to their rightful owner.

After about 30 mins of non-stop scouring, Yoshi lets out a small sigh of frustration, running a hand through his hair. "I could've sworn I left them here." You glance around the living room one last time when your eyes land on a small stack of papers slid underneath the couch. You reach for them, pulling them out. "Are these the ones you're looking for?" Yoshi turns to look at you, a sparkle flickers in his sweet eyes. He quickly moves over, taking the papers from your hands and flips through them, "Yes, these are it! Thank you, Y/N." “I'm glad I could help, Yoshi." You felt almost like you were more relieved than he was. But it didn’t matter all that mattered has the smile radiating from his face. He chuckles, shaking his head. "No, seriously. If you weren’t here who knows how long it would’ve took. My boss isn’t the most patient to say the least." “Oh trust me I know how that feels.” At that, you both laugh, the tension from before completely dissipated. It's a nice moment, one that makes you look forward to continuing to house sit for Yoshi.

Yoshi, having found the missing lyrics, quickly gathered his things, thanking you once again before hurrying out the door. Left alone in the quiet house, you turned back to your half-eaten omelet, the cool air making it lukewarm. It wasn’t too bad thought so you finished your meal, finding comfort in the cozy home. After cleaning up your mess you pulled out your laptop and opened up the project you had been working on with Doyoung. Working through the project was a challenge, primarily due to the fact you had to work through what pieces of information he told you were actually relevant. You check through the little notes you guys actually got down and come up with an actually solid thesis.

After a few texts back and forth you and Doyoung managed to make significant progress, feeling a sense of accomplishment as she you finally closed your laptop. In that moment the sun was starting to set, you did one last look around the house, making sure that everything looked just as intended. As you locked the front door behind you, you found yourself looking back on the day of house-sitting. Anticipating what the week would look like. The walk back was refreshing albeit a little lonesome, you didn’t know why, but you suspect it was because of him.

The first week of the job was full of getting accustomed to the new environment. The house, despite its larger size, had a warm feeling that made you easily unwind. You found yourself settling into a comfortable routine, taking care of the house and its inhabitants (fish included) with vigor. Yoshi, despite being absorbed with his work, made sure to check in with you throughout the week. He’d call or text asking if you needed anything and if you were feeling comfortable.

One day, when you mentioned that you had forgotten to bring lunch, he knew the fridge was empty so he surprised you by dropping of some food from the grocery store right quick. “Oh Yoshi you didn’t have too, I could’ve gotten something delivered right quick.” “It’s ok I was on my lunch break as well anyways.” It was a small act, but it spoke volumes about his thoughtful nature. There were other little gestures throughout the week as well. But the most memorable was when you came in on Friday with a note left on the fridge, 'Thank you for everything Y/N, have a nice weekend ;)' written in Yoshi's neat handwriting. The small gestures also made your heart flutter, you found that you had to remind yourself that he is probably this nice to everyone. That didn’t stop your mind from being filled with constant thought of him.

“I mean you never know until you shoot your shot.”, Doyoung brazenly comments. "You play too much Dobby. He's just being nice, plus he's my boss," you get really defensive, however you’re not able to hide the blush creeping up to your cheeks. "And besides, he has a kid! I don’t know if he’s looking for that all, especially not from me." "Hey, all I'm saying is that the option is clearly available. And you can’t assume his feelings, positive or negative.” He smirks before taking another sip of his boba and continuing to work on your shared project. "Whatever Doyoung..." You roll your eyes at him, your voice trailing off.

Despite what you said, you can't help but acknowledge some truth in his words. Could there be a chance that your feelings for Yoshi weren't unrequited? You haven’t known him long but your thoughts were consumed by the image of him, even when you weren't at his house. His smile, his voice, his scent - they were all you hand on your mind these past few days. You shake your head, trying to clear those thoughts for now. "Doyoung, let's just focus on our project." He raises his brow at the comment but nods, turning his attention back to the work at hand. You try to do the same, but your mind keeps wandering back to Yoshi and the strange, yet warm, feelings that have started to bloom in your heart.

Every corner of Yoshi's house seems to leave an imprint of him. His music sheets scattered scross the coffee table, the doodles of him and Jeongwoo with little captions left on the fridge, the sandwiches left in the fridge for you in case you got hungry. You've gotten adjusted to his routine as well. You know when he gets off for lunch, what days he gets off early, his favorite snacks, and even his favorite songs and TV shows. He's your employer, but he treats you more as a friend, throughout the past few weeks you’ve been working for him you can’t help but feel like you’re relationship is a little more special than that of employer and employee. You can't help but wonder if this is how it always is for him, or if there's something more behind it. “Hey Y/N I have a favor to ask.” “Yeah sure Yoshi what is it?” It’s been about a month now you’ve started to eat dinner with Yoshi when he gets off early, tonight you decided on some chicken katsu, Yoshi was feeling a little homesick. “I was wondering if you’d like to meet Jeongwoo and if that goes well baby sit him this weekend? You’d get paid extra of course…”

Your eyes light up, “Really? I’d love to meet Jeongwoo!” He laughs, that laugh you have come to adore, “Yeah, my parents wanted to go on a day trip but I’m still going to have work that day so I’d need you to watch him till I get home.” “Sounds great to me!” You guys decided on which day this weekend you were going to plan to have you and Jeongwoo meet as well as what would be expected when you watch him the day Yoshi’s gone of course. You couldn’t believe it that Yoshi felt like he could trust you with something as important as this. Jeongwoo was his everything you could tell just from the way he spoke about his little one.

“Dude if you don’t ask him out already,” Doyoung wastes no time. After that project at the beginning of the semester the two of you quickly became best friends. “Oh my god bruh, shut up. Although…” “See I told you, you need to just start openly flirting and see how he reacts at this point because I don’t know anyone else who regularly eats dinner with their boss who also now wants them to meet his kid.” Doyoung has gotten more persistent in telling you to ask Yoshi out. “I just don’t know Dobby what if he doesn’t see me that way. Ugh, I don’t think I could handle that right now.” You were never this bad with rejection in the past but with Yoshi it’s different he’s perfect, he’s your shooting star. “If you wanna keep suffering from one-sided love that’s on you, I’ve already told you what I think. Now can we please finish looking over this textbook section I’m not tryna bomb this test tomorrow.” You sigh and agree, even when your friend ends up falling asleep on call you circle back on his advice. He’s right you’ll never know unless you try, and you decide you’re goal is after baby sitting Jeongwoo to ask him out.

You were back to the beginning standing on Yoshi’s doorstep prepping yourself to push the doorbell, this time you heart raced with more anticipation than before. Having spent the past month and a half house-sitting for Yoshi was nothing when you consider that you were meeti g your boss’, you have a crush on, kid. “Hi Y/n, Jeongwoo is in the living room right now playing come on in!”As you walk into the familiar room you find Jeongwoo playing with his toys just as Yoshi said he was, he had a big toothy grin on his face and innocence in his eyes. “Hey buddy I got someone I want you to meet.” His gaze drawn to his fathers voice. He gets up hiding behind his dads leg as he studies your expression. “Jeongwoo this is Y/N she’s daddy’s friend. Introduce yourself.” He’s reluctant, “Hello Y/n I’m Jeongwoo.” you chuckled softly, he was so cute and resembled his father a lot. "Nice to meet you Jeongwoo. Is it ok if I play with you?” Jeongwoo looks to his dad for approval, once Yoshi gives an affirming nod, his smile slowly started to return, “Ok!” And you follow the little boy to sit down and play with the doctors kit you had put away many times before.

As Yoshi observed your interactions with Jeongwoo, he felt a storm of emotions. Watching you playing with his precious little one, seeing the genuine care and warmth in you had for him, Yoshi felt his heart twist and turn. Yoshi found himself lost in thought, reflecting on thesmall time you had spent together but noting just how comfortable and natural it felt. "Dad, look at this!" Jeongwoo's excited voice brought Yoshi back to the present, to show him a drawing you had help him make. “This is lovely bud, I’m gonna hang up right here ok?” “Ok, and Y/n helped so you should thank her too.” The look in his eyes being filled with sincerity, ”Thank you Y/N””Anytime Yoshi.” In that moment it became abundantly clear to Yoshi that his feelings for you were stronger than friendship or gratitude. He was in love with you.

Your first meeting with Jeongwoo was successful and you were set to babysit him this Thursday. And with Yoshi’s realization he was growing even more anxious. The last time he let someone into his life, the last time he loved someone, they left. Without a traces Jeongwoo’s mom left him, with only a note saying, “I’m sorry Yoshi. This is goodbye, take care of Jeongwoo for me. -XXX” What if you did the same, Jeongwoo wasn’t old enough to be affected when his mom lleft but if you left now… He hoped you wouldn’t, you were the best thing that’s happened to him a long a time. And Jeongwoo already loves you just as much as he did. “Please don’t leave me…” Is the last thing he mumbles softly, before drifting off to sleep.

Today is the long awaited day, arriving at Yoshi’s house around your usual time you enter. Before the boys get home you decided to clean up a bit, not neglecting the duties you were originally hired for, and as you finish up you hear a tiny footsteps from the front door. “Jeongwoo take of your shoes please before you—” “Y/N!” Before you have time to react the tiny boy has already jumped into your arms. “Jeongwoo~, ahh you’ve gotten so big since I last saw you.” “REALLY?” You try to respond right away but he sounded exactly like his dad on that first day you teo met and it instantly melted your heart. “Yes bubba! Now lets go take off your shoes and get ready to say bye-bye to your dad ok?” While directing him back to the front door you and Yoshi exchange a glance.

It was a glance of passion, of admiration, of love? You didn’t have to much time to think about it before Yoshi had to get going, ‘I should be back by around 7, have fun you two.” “Ok we will, Jeongwoo say bye.” “Bye Daddy~” They exchanged a embrace with kiss on the cheek and before you knew it he was gone. You and Jeongwoo started off with homework (which in pre k is addition, abc’s, and maybe some coloring sheets) which you knocked out quickly. After that you guys play for a while, you pretended to be his patient, “Oh no Dr. Jeongwoo will I be ok?” “Yes, it’s just a broken leg you’ll feel better soon. Your medicine is a cast and a nice big hug!” “Thank you so much Doctor.” Before you knew it it was dinnertime, hanging out with Jeongwoo has been so much fun that you didn’t even realize it was almost 7:30.

“Hey bubba I don’t know why your dad is late but I think it’s time to get ready for bed.” “Awww…” He gives you the cutest little pout just like Yoshi when you tell him you have to go. “I know but we can play more tomorrow if you really want to ok?” He nods. You then get him ready for bed and he goes to sleep without issues, but not it’s almost 8 and you’re really worried about Yoshi. Why is he late, did he get stuck in traffic, is he safe, did something happen at work? Until the front door opens in coming a very tired Yoshi. “Sorry I’m late there was a really bad accident on the freeway. How did everything go.” You didn’t care if it seemed inappropriate in that moment you were overcome with relief.

You hugged him a tight one at that, “I was so worried.” He doesn’t know how to react, you were worried about him? He accepts the hug, “I’m Sorry, next time I’ll tell you when something like that happens, I promise.” You step back allowing yourself to get a good view of his face and him of yours. Something is different tonight you can feel it. “Hey, do you wanna drink a beer with me? I’m assuming you put Jeongwoo to bed and are a little tired?” You chuckle at his suggestion as his cheeks turn slightly rosy. After cracking open the case of beers you guys sit and talk, Yoshi brings up that Jeongwoo likes you. “He couldn’t stop talking about you—” “Oh really?” “Yeah… and neither could I.” This time when your eyes meet you both see each other feelings very clearly now. “I can’t stop thinking about you, I need you, I wan’t you, shit I think…I love you.”

In seconds your lips are crashed together, his hands navigating towards your waist as you both sink into the couch, “I need you so badly.” “Me too,” you gasp during the fight between your tongues. Your lips swollen mouth going numb from the intensity, “Are you sure you want this?” Yoshi asks breaking the two of you apart, “I’ve never wanted anything more than I want you right now Yoshi.” A low groan echoed from his lips, he quickly removes his shirt and helps you rid of yours. After, immediately reconnecting your wet lips together, teeth and lips and tongues clashing against one another as the space between you continued to decrease. He starts to trail down your neck, leaving small kisses scattered across your plush skin. “You’re so gorgeous,” he murmured against your chest, nipping lightly at your skin and leaving fluttering kisses across your torso. “So, beautiful baby.”

You are startled when his skillful hands undo the clasp of your bra, hastily tossing it to the side. His touch on your skin felt like burning bruises. You were melting at his touch and his scent overwhelmed your senses. “Yoshi,” you whimpered, clinging to him like he was going to ruin away, “I need you…now.” “Yeah?” He started to unbutton your pants, sliding them down your legs and throwing them with the rest of your clothes. His followed soon after. He teased you pulling at the hem of your underwear. “Love, do you really want this?”, he asks a final time before continuing. You nod, “As cute as your facial expressions are, I need words babe.” It’s a little late to be embarrassed now isn’t it, “Yes. Yoshinori please make love to me.” He smirked at you, that’s all he needed to hear. He quickly dealt with your underwear and proceeded to settle in between your legs. Letting them fall naturally over his shoulders. “I think that’s something I can definitely do.”

He kissed up your thighs, biting gently and leaving faint marks over the bare skin. You shuddered with every pressed kiss. The one on your clit giving you an instant of pleasure and relief where you needed him most. “You ready baby?” That melodic voice and glowing eyes you fell in love with looking for your approval once again yet this this time filled with lust. You were tired of holding back. You nod giving him the go ahead and he waste no time burying his face between your legs, licking a slow stripe over your entrance, “You smell and taste so good baby. You’re so perfect love.”

You could only hum in response, the way his tongue and his lips felt against your body had your mind running laps. Threading your fingers through his hair and pushed his face harder against you, he couldn’t help but letting his groans reverberate off you. Your orgasm was climbing up faster than you anticipated. You hadn’t had sex in a while so you knew it was gonna feel good but not this good. “Wait, Yo-Yoshi,” you managed to moan out, pushing his face away from you. He looked up at you, your arousal dripping from his chin. Did he do something wrong? Did you change your mind? “I need you inside…I wanna cum with you…”

He chuckles with a grin forming on his face once again leaning in to give you another passionate sloppy kiss. “Let me see…” He goes over checking in the TV stand for some condoms to no avail. “Shit…Love i’m sorry I—” You grab his arm and face him towards you, shutting him up with a kiss before speaking again, “Im clean and on the pill. I wanted you raw anyways baby.” Hearing how badly you wanted him as much as he wanted you put him at ease. He finally releases his dick from his boxers painfully hard and covered in pre cum. “Are you ready?” He asked softly lining up with your entrance, caressing your hair out of your faces gently. That look of care as if you were going to break with his touch. “I’m so ready.”

You squeezed his shoulders and gasped softly, trying not to make too much noise as he slowly bottomed out. It’s unlikely you’ll wake Jeongwoo considering he’s all the way upstairs but it’s better to be safe than sorry. He lets out a disheveled moan into your ears, hands gripping your hips hard enough to leave bruises in the morning. “Fuck, you’re so tight.” Yoshi groaned quietly, his breathing heavy as he let’s you adjust to his size. “Move. Please…” you finally whimper, “Please… I need you.” His pace was slow to start, thrusting fully in and out of you making sure to feel every inch of you. Your lips locked together as to hide the lewd noises that threatened to escape at any moment. God you were so beautiful all he could do was whisper sweet nothings to you.

“I really love you, Y/N,” he moaned, “I don’t know the last time I loved someone as much as you.” “I love you too. So much,” you whined out, coming closer to your climax your vision became less and less focused, “Yoshi—Baby—I’m so close right there—mmm” Watching how good you felt and feeling how well you were milking him all he could do was agree. “Me too, baby, cum with me.” You nodded quickly, whines escape your lips from the overwhelming passion in your core. His pace started to stagger, “Fuck, I’m coming, baby.” Circling your clit the two of you came together. He held you closer to him as he released into you. You’re both out of breath, “Y/n…” suddenly his eyes are back to the Yoshi you know. “Yeah baby?”, looking at him you can’t help but fall in love all over again. “Please don’t leave me…I don’t know what I would do, what Jeongwoo would do if you left us now. Just stay with me ok, not just tonight but every night please?” “Oh Yoshi, how could I ever leave you.” You give him a quick peck on his sweaty forehead before reassuring him that you love him.

You end up laying there for a while before you both get up to do aftercare and cuddle in bed. You weren’t sure how things turned out this way exactly, or how you would explain it in the future but that didn’t matter to you right now. All you needed in that moment was each other and that was enough.

all works belong to @standardfriends - copyright © 2024

[jpmarvel90]

Don't let me down - part 2

Masterlist Scarlett Masterlist

Part 1

Relationship: MamaScarlett x 16 yr old Reader

Summary: Will Y/n decide to be fostered by Scarlett and Colin?

Word count: 5339

Y/n's POV:

"Scarlett, I don't know." I admit, dropping my head. This is all too much right now. In the last three hours everything in my life has turned completely upside down. I've met my biological mom, the truth behind the abuse we've suffered at the hands of Mr Woodstock has come out, and now we're all being moving to new homes. In my case, my biological mother's home.

"We met less than three hours ago. We were meant to be getting to know each other first. Now I'm meant to just move in with you and your family." I say, trying to keep my breathing calm, but not succeeding. Scarlett carefully steps forward and places a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, look at me. Can you take a couple of deep breaths for me?" She asks quietly. She takes exaggerated breaths herself and I try to match her, which is difficult when I can see the stare of Colin and Danny on me.

"There you go. You're doing such a good job." She compliments me when I manage to get my breathing back under control. She gives me a small smile and steps back slightly to give me space again, something that I'm grateful for. "I know this is all a lot to take in right now. But we can still get to know each other. We won't rush anything. But I meant what I said.  We would like to adopt you. I'm aware that I can't make up for the decision I made 16 years ago, especially considering the impact it's had on your life. But I'd like to try and make up for it now and make sure that you are safe and happy." She explains to me. I look at her face, trying to see if there is a lie in there, but when I can't find one, I let out a sigh.

My mind is torn. On one side, I  don't know what I want when it comes to my relationship with Scarlett. We were supposed to get time to do this the right way. Spend some time together, know more about the other. This is all so rushed and what if she spends time with me and doesn't like me? I'll be back to where I am now, waiting for my next home.

But on the other hand, I don't know what would happen to me if I'm moved to another group home this evening. Would I stay there, would it just be temporary. What if they're no better than Mr Woodstock? At least with Scarlett I'd be safe right? Almost as if he can sense my turmoil, Danny steps forward now and gains my attention.

I like Danny, for some reason I feel completely safe around him. He has kind eyes and I get the idea that he's a person that spends his time helping others. "Your placement with Scarlett is just for a couple days until we can get their foster status assessed by a judge on Monday. I know that's not long to establish a relationship between you both, but I can see you're a smart girl. You've spent your life having to act older than you are. You'll know in that time if it's somewhere you feel safe and if you want to continue living there if they get their foster status approved." He explains calmly, though I can see Scarlett glaring daggers at him for even suggesting it. Which makes me fight to hide a giggle.

"She's glaring at me, isn't she?" He asks at a whisper, a smirk on his face. I nod, laughing, which takes Scarlett by surprise. "You've got my number, if you ever feel uncomfortable, you call me, and I'll be there." He offers, returning back to the serious discussion. "Ok, we'll see how things go this weekend." I say, sighing as my brain isn't sure if this is the right decision. But by the looks on Scarlett's face she couldn't be happier.

"Why don't we go and collect your things from your room. Then you can head off." Danny suggests, pointing towards the house. I nod and lead them on the way. As we're climbing the stairs, I can see that Scarlett and Colin are looking around. It's not the nicest of places. It's run down and there are too many kids that are living here for the space there is.

I direct them to the room that I share with 4 other girls. "I don't have much." I mumble as I point to my bed. "That's ok, do you have any bags?" Scarlett asks, her eyes glossy as they look over the room. "Uh, everything I have is in that box and I have some clothes in the wardrobe which I can fit in my duffle." I explain. "Ok, well, you point out what you want to take, and we can pack it up. Colin, can you take the box?" Scarlett directs, taking control.

I grab the couple of things from my bedside table and go to put them in my box. "Who's that?" Colin asks when he spots a photo in my hand. A smile grows on my face. "That's Laura. She's my best friend." I reply. I love this photo. We're in our soccer kit and she's on my back cheering as we had just won the match. (A/n: I just have to say how hard it is writing soccer when I'm English! Please understand the pain lol!)

I notice Colin smirk and I raise an eyebrow at him, but she shrugs and goes back to making sure everything in the box is secure. "You play soccer?" Scarlett asks me with a smile. "Yeah, I joined at the start of last year. I love it." I share, a smile now appearing on my own face. "Rose is going to love you. She's just started playing. She'll love being able to play with you." Scarlett shares as if it's the most natural thing. But for me, it's a reminder to me that she has a ready made family. That thought makes my smile disappear in an instance.

With everything packed up, we head downstairs. It's sad that everything I own in life fits in a box and a duffle bag. But I try not to dwell on that. Life isn't determined by what we own. "Ok, well I've spoken with the social worker. They're happy for you to leave. I'll be in contact tomorrow when I have a confirmed appointment with the judge." Danny says, returning to us. "Thanks Danny." Scarlett says, pulling him in to a hug.

Colin shakes his hand and then he turns his attention to me. "Remember what I said kid. I'm at the end of the phone if you need me." Danny says places a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Thank you. For helping us. You saved a lot of kids today." I point out to him, but he shakes his head. "No Y/n. Your bravery saved those kids" He corrects, making my gaze drop. Maybe if I had talked to someone sooner, I could have stopped them having to go through the same pain.

Scarlett brings me from my thoughts and guides me towards their car. Colin puts my things in the trunk whilst Scarlett holds the door open for me. I climb in and see the child seat next to me. "Are the kids at home?" I ask, realising that I might be having to meet them this evening. "No, I've asked my mom to have them for a couple of days until we know more about the situation. I don't want to overwhelm you." She responds, as Colin pulls away.

It's quite a long drive as we go through the city to the Upper East Side. I don't think I've ever been to this part of the city. I mean I've never had a reason too. I've certainly never known anyone who is rich enough to live here. They pull into a private under ground garage of a big townhouse.

I follow behind Scarlett and Colin and they enter the house. "Please make yourself at home. We'll show you to your room and then give you a tour around the house." Scarlett smiles at me. She seems more relaxed now we're in her home. But I've gone the other way. This is somewhere new and alien to me and my nerves have picked up.

After two flights of stairs, we stop at a door. "This will be your room." Scarlett informs me pushing the door open. "It's pretty boring, but you're welcome to decorate it how you like. We can go shopping next weekend perhaps to get some more personal things and some new clothes." She starts to excitedly ramble until Colin places a hand on her shoulder and raises an eyebrow at her. "Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. If you decide you want to stay, that is something you may wish to do." She corrects herself, her shoulders deflating.

Colin has placed my things on the bed and Scarlett is showing me the ensuite. "Colin and I's room is upstairs with the nursery that Cosmo is in. Rose's room is opposite yours." Scarlett notifies me, pointing towards a door with the letter R on it. "Let's show you around so you can make yourself comfortable." Colin jumps in sensing my change in demeanour.

We spend the next half an hour going around the house. It's incredible. I've never been in anything like it. But what surprises me is how homely it all feels. I can tell that it's lived in and made for living in. It's not some statement home. That makes me feel slightly more comfortable at least. "How about we order in for dinner. Do you like Chinese?" Colin asks and I nod. "Yeah, I'll eat anything. You don't get to be picky in a care home." I reply with a chuckle, but they don't see the humour in it, their faces dropping.

"Can I shower?" I ask and they both nod quickly. "Of course, there are toiletries in the bathroom along with towels. But let me know if you need anything. Otherwise, I'll come and get you when food is here." Scarlett smiles. I thank them and head back upstairs to my room. That sounds strange. I take a moment and sit on the bed. Letting the events of today sink in.

When I look up, I catch a glimpse of my black eye. Scarlett and Danny were pretty shocked when they saw that. If only they had seen what else he had done to me. I push up off the bed and make my way into the bathroom and turn the shower on to get to temperature.

I then slip out of my clothes and observe the bruises to my body. He really didn't like that a lawyer saw him drunk. Each kick or punch had a specific reason behind it. He got a bit carried away when he struck me in the face. He normally keeps to the body to hide the evidence.

Not wanting to look at myself anymore, I slip into the shower, allowing the hot water to stream over my body. Hoping that it might wash away some of the trauma from today. But it doesn't. Instead, my thoughts grow. I feel like I'm intruding on their family. There are pictures all over this house of them as a happy family. They were fine without me. Why do they need me now? Scarlett could have waited two years and I'd be an adult and she needn't worry anymore.

My mind spirals as I wonder if Scarlett really wants me to be part of her life. I know she said she did, but she wouldn't be the first adult to lie to me. But then when I looked at her, she seemed genuine. I'm second guessing myself and I hate it. I can't take the loudness of the voices in my head, so I finish up and wrap myself in a towel. I'm shocked by the fluffiness of it. I never knew a towel could be comforting. I'm used to a coarse worn towel.

Once dry, I slip into my sweatpants and hoody, letting it engulf my body. Thankfully, most of my clothes are clean, not that I have a lot. It was something Mr Woodstock was sure we kept on top of. Not because he wanted us comfortable, but a smelly foster kid would bring unwanted attention.

I sit on the bed with my back against the headboard, taking my phone and calling the one person I need right now. Laura. I fill her in on everything that has happened and it's safe to say that she's shocked. Considering just a few days ago, she was excited about my mother being THE Black Widow. She now has a strong distrust for Scarlett and wants to make sure that I'm ok.

I've liked Laura for a while. She is the only person that can make me smile on my darkest day. She is so kind and caring and I love every minute that I spend with her. I don't know if she feels the same way, but I don't care. I'm just grateful to have her in my life.

I knew I liked girls from a young age. I talked to my mom about it, but she wasn't happy and told me that it was just a phase and that I wasn't allowed to like girls. It earned me a beating for admitting it. I tried so hard to like boys instead, but it didn't work. So, I just hid how I felt. It wasn't really a problem at the start as I didn't have any friends, let alone anyone I liked. But once Laura came into my life, that all changed. But that is something to deal with later. I don't think I could add on rejection to everything else that has been happening.

Whilst we're talking, there's a knock at the door. "Come in." I say and Scarlett's head pokes around the door. "Dinner is here sweetheart." She smiles. "Ok, I'll be right down." I say, and it's then she notices my phone in my hand. "No rush. Take your time." She says and closes the door behind her.

I finish up my call with Laura and she promises that she'll meet me at cuppa Joe's tomorrow morning so I can talk to her before we have to see the judge. I just hope that Scarlett will let me go.

I hang up the phone and slowly make my way downstairs, pulling at the sleeves of my hoody nervously when I see them sitting in the dining room, a place set up for me. "Hi Y/n. Come and help yourself." Colin greets me, standing up and pulling my chair out for me. "Thank you." I respond, looking over the food on the table. "We didn't know what you'd like so we got a few different things." He explains the reason for the vast amount of food on the table.

Whilst they tuck in, I just sit waiting. Not really sure how to act. "Y/n, like Colin said, please help yourself. Eat as much as you like." Scarlett tells me with a warm smile. I hesitantly reach out for the sweet and sour chicken. I put a little bit on my dish and then grab a pork rib. "You're welcome to have more. As much as you like." Scarlett encourages me when she sees that I stop with a small amount on my plate.

Knowing that I'm safe here, or rather praying that I am, I take a few more spoonful's of food to try the different dishes. I notice that both Scarlett and Colin smile at the act and then start to eat their own food.

It's a bit awkward as we eat. No one really knows what to say. I'm still overwhelmed by everything and not even sure if I'll be staying here for long. Do I want to stay here more than a few days? How ungrateful do I sound. Any one of the kids in that home would kill to be in a place like this and here I am wondering if I do.

"I spoke with Danny, and he managed to get us in with a judge tomorrow afternoon at 4pm. There is nothing to worry about. They're reviewing our foster request and might ask you some questions on if you want to stay with us or not." Scarlett starts to explain, and I'm actually grateful that she's being open about this. "Of course, you don't have to feel like you have to stay here. Both Colin and I would love that. But we understand if you'd rather go to an alternative foster home." She follows up, but I can see the pain in her eyes as she suggests that. "Ok, thank you." Is all I can say. My mind is conflicted and I'm sure it'll be keeping me up tonight, so I'll have plenty of time to think things through.

After we've finished eating, I sit back in the chair. "Thank you for dinner. It was lovely." I tell them with a genuine smile. "You're welcome sweetie. I'm glad that you liked it." Scarlett returns. She seems to naturally use terms of endearment for me when talking and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. But if I'm honest with myself, it only makes me uneasy because I know deep down, I like it.

"Today has been a long day. Please don't feel like you have to stay up with us. You're more than welcome to head up to bed. But you're also welcome to join Colin and I in the living room. We'll probably just be watching some TV to unwind before bed." She informs me. I think for a moment, and I do feel tired. Although I know sleep won't come easily, I don't think I could cope with sitting with them at the moment.

"I think I'll head to bed and try and sleep if that's ok?" I ask and she nods. "Of course." She smiles. "Uh Scarlett?" I call her as I start to walk away from the table. "I uh. I was w-wondering. If I might uh. If I might be able to meet Laura at the café tomorrow morning?" I ask through a stutter. I have no idea how she's going to react to my request, and I can feel my palms getting sweaty.

"Oh Y/n. Please don't be nervous to ask anything like that. Of course, you can meet her. In fact, I can drop you off if you like? It would make me more comfortable to know you're safe, rather than you getting the subway." She responds and I let out a sigh of relief. "I uh. Thank you. That would be great." I respond. "No problem. Just let me know when you need to go." She tells me. I go to walk away again but stop as a question pops in my head. "Don't you have work tomorrow?" I ask her. She had mentioned that she is working on a project right now, which is why she was late on Friday.

"No. Colin and I have taken the week off so we can make sure you're settled." She replies and that seems to make me happy. No one's ever done anything like that for me before. "Ah ok. Right, well. I'm going to head to bed." I say, nodding my head towards the stairs. "Ok. Goodnight sweetheart." "Goodnight, Y/n." They both say at the same time.

I climb up the stairs and get changed into my pyjamas. I've never slept in a double bed before, and I feel a little lost in it. Though the duvet is so comfortable. I feel like I'm being engulfed in a good way.

I spend the night thinking through the pros and cons of staying with Scarlett. In the end, I decided that maybe it is best to stay. We can get to know each other whilst living together, right? I'm not sure that I could cope moving to another foster home and try to navigate a whole load of new people.

The only thought that is left niggling at the back of my mind is if things don't go well with Scarlett. What if I decide I don't want to stay, or she doesn't want me here? What if I don't fit into their family dynamic? Do I even want to be a part of that? Ok so I lied, I have more than one thought left niggling in my head. Besides, I may have no control if they're not approved for an emergency fostering certificate tomorrow.

By about 6am, I decide that I can't lie in bed anymore, as comfortable as it is, and TikTok is no longer able to entertain me. I decide that I'll change and head outside to the garden. It'll be nice to get some fresh air.

After brushing my teeth and finishing up the minimal parts to my morning routine, I move back into the bedroom to get dressed. I slip my top off and stand in the closet trying to figure what I want to wear to meet Laura later. My clothes look a little pathetic in this huge closet. I really don't have much to offer, but I decide on a loose band T and ripped jeans.

Before I have a chance to put the shirt on, I hear a gasp from behind me and a pair of cold hands on my side. I instantly flinch, cowering back into the closest away from the surprise touch.

Scarlett's POV:

It was strange having Y/n in the house. A good strange, but still strange none the less. The whole time we were with her, I could see her thoughts whizzing around her head at a million miles an hour. I wish I could do something to help reassure her that Colin and I are all in for this.

I know it's not ideal with her moving in with us like this. Don't get me wrong, I want nothing more than for her to be back with us. But I thought it would be after we built up a relationship after getting to know each other. Then on the other hand, I wouldn't want her anywhere else after what has happened to her.

Whilst Colin and I are watching TV, we discuss what we want to do over the next week, assuming we get to keep Y/n. We end up deciding on doing some simple things, not wanting to overwhelm her. From things like coffee shop visits or walks around the park. Time out of the house so we can talk, and I can learn more about what she likes. I'm desperate to learn more about what her interests are. I also can't wait to go and watch a soccer game of hers and meet Laura properly.

I have a feeling that she doesn't like me, and I can understand why. I'm glad that Y/n has someone that is so protective of her. It seems like she hasn't had many of those through her life, so I want to make a good impression on the one that has, and hopefully prove to her that I want the same.

I don't really sleep much. Even when I drift off, I dream of Y/n. Sometimes us living the perfect life together as a family. Other times it's nightmares where I just see her being hurt by her so-called parents and her foster carer. I give up and head downstairs to make some coffee.

Today is going to be a long and emotional day, so I'm sure this cup is not going to be the last of the morning. Whilst I'm cutting up some fruit for Y/n when she wakes, I hear the floorboards creek. I wonder if she's already awake. I'm sure she didn't have the easiest night herself.

I decide to go and check on her. I knock on the door but don't get a response. I try again, a little louder this time. Maybe I misheard earlier. So carefully, I open the door, just to check that she's ok and she hasn't run away in the night. But the sight that meets my eyes breaks my heart.

Before I can even control my actions, I'm rushing towards her, gasping as I see the extent of the bruising on her body. My hands touch her skin, and it causes her to violently flinch away from me. That breaks my heart that she instantly thinks a touch is to cause her pain.

"Y/n. Sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I would never hurt you." I try to reassure her as her eyes dart around the room. "I knocked but you didn't answer. I assumed you were still asleep." I explain my sudden appearance, hoping she didn't think I was intruding on her privacy.

When I don't get a response, I kneel down in front of her, my eyes glancing at the bruises, but I try to focus on her eyes. "Hey, can you look at me. I'm so sorry." I tell her, gently reaching out and taking her hand. That touch gets her attention, and she finally looks at me. I can feel the tears building in my own eyes to see her in a state like this. "S-Sorry." She apologises and goes to stand up.

"You have nothing to apologise for Y/n. Here." I reassure her, holding the t-shirt that was on the floor out to her so she can put it on. I'm sure she's not comfortable being without a shirt on in front of me. She nods gratefully and slips it over her head. "Here, come and sit on the bed." I direct to her, taking a step back so I'm not encroaching on her personal space.

She pushes herself up and moves slowly to the bed, her head hanging low. I sit next to her, but ensure I put some distance between us. I don't want to make her uncomfortable. "Did he do that to you?" I ask her carefully but getting straight to the point.

I watch as she fiddles with her fingers, waiting for a response. I notice a couple of tears drop to her wrists and I just want to engulf her into a hug. Then she nods and it breaks my heart. I knew it was him that caused that, but having it confirmed by her hurts more than I can imagine. "Would you mind if I take a proper look to make sure you're ok? I noticed some cuts and I don't want them to get infected." I explain to her, and I see her body tense.

"I won't do anything to make you uncomfortable, I just need to know you're ok." I reiterate, trying to hide the pleading nature to it. "Ok." She agrees at a whisper. "O-ok." I respond, surprised that she agreed. "I'm going to grab the first aid kit and I'll be back." I tell her, resting my hand over hers and giving it a squeeze, hoping she gets some comfort from it.

Colin is awake as I rush into our bathroom and grab the first aid box. He notices my red eyes and worry washes over him. "I'm ok. It's Y/n. Uh, he hurt her more than we thought." I tell him, knowing that it's unfair to rush out on him without an explanation. "Oh Scar. Go. We can talk about this after." He sighs sympathetically, placing a kiss to my head.

I rush back to Y/n's room, but take a moment before going in. I don't want to scare her again. I knock and wait for her mumbled response before pushing the door open. She's still on the bed, but she looks up to me, her eyes puffy, probably matching my own. "Shall we go into the bathroom?" I suggest, watching as she stands up and moves into the ensuite.

"I know this is awkward, but I'll be as quick and as careful as I can." I comfort her. "Are you ok to take off your shirt?" I ask. She hesitates, but then her hands move to the hem of her shirt. She lifts it over her head, and I fight to stop more tears when I get a proper view of the damage done. "Does it hurt when you breathe?" I ask her first, wanting to determine if she might have broken ribs.

She shakes her head. "They're not broken. I've had that before and it doesn't hurt as much." She explains, avoiding any eye contact. That admission continues to break my heart. She never should have had to experience any of this, let alone enough to know the difference by pain level. "Ok, well I'm going to clean these few cuts first and then put some antiseptic on. They don't look deep enough for stitches, so I'll place some Band-Aids over them." I explain what I'm going to do before doing it so she's not taken by surprise.

I place the first aid kit on the counter and grab out what I need. I talk her through each thing that I'm using and what I'm doing. When she hisses in pain at the antiseptic, I apologise and give her a moment to adjust. "There, all done my sweet girl." I tell her as I finish applying the last of the arnica cream to her bruises. "Do you want some Advil or anything?" I ask her, making sure she knows that she doesn't need to suffer in pain. "Yes please." She replies quietly.

That takes me by surprise. She seems like she can be stubborn. Something she would have definitely gotten from me. I thought she would have tried to push through the pain. But I'm so glad that she's comfortable to admit she's in pain and wants to do something about it. I grab two pills and fill up the glass passing it to her. She quickly takes them, and I hand her, her shirt back. She puts it back over her head, her eyes finally meeting mine as her head pops out the top. "Thank you. And sorry for not telling you." She smiles at me.

"You're welcome. You don't need to apologise. I understand why you didn't. But please know that you can always come to me about stuff like this. I want to make sure that you're ok." I reply and she nods. "Do we have to talk about it?" She asks and I sigh. "I would like to, but I won't push you. Colin and I want what is best for you and knowing everything will help us do that to the best of our ability. But we won't ever push and make you uncomfortable. You come first." I express honestly and I can tell it takes her by surprise.

"How about I give you a moment. I'll get some pancakes on the go and we can talk over breakfast. It can be about this, or it can be about the weather. Whatever you're comfortable with." I suggest and I see her smile. "Ok, yeah. Thank you." She agrees. I smile in return and nod, fighting the urge to hug her. "Take your time. We'll be downstairs when you're ready." I tell her before leaving her to it.

When I reach my bedroom, I let out a small sob, the emotions overwhelming me. I'm so ashamed of myself. I could have prevented this if I put her before my career. I need to do everything in my power to make sure she spends the rest of her life happy. And I know part of that might mean letting her go if it's what she really wants. I won't be selfish this time. It's what she needs that is most important.

Part 3

[3l91]

bkak detective au.

PI bokuto koutarou and his roommate akaashi keiji..

more thoughts (first meeting) belo w..

pplease take my pathetic attempt at narrative as i try to beam my vision to you in my brain 😊,,,

--- --- --- ---

Akaashi's legs are tired from walking.

"Do you need to sit down for a second?"

"No, I'm alright."

Despite this, he still refuses to stop moving, following at a brisk pace beside his old classmate, Konoha Akinari, who'd been living in the capital for some time now.

It was clear by the way he walked and maneuvered his way through the bustling streets that Konoha had grown accustomed to the crowds and the noise, things that only made Akaashi grit his teeth in silent displeasure as they continued their way through the city.

It hadn't started off that way, of course. Lunch had been pleasant. The atmosphere of the restaurant was different from what Akaashi was used to, but it was a good kind of different. In fact, he'd even found himself dazzled by the sights and the people.

It wasn't until they started walking towards Konoha's old housing complex that the charm of the city started to settle down on him in an unpleasant way. There were too many people, too many streets, too many noises. He isn't used to this feeling of excess, and his head is swimming by the time Konoha says, Just around this corner.

Akaashi figures he's done a great job at masking his discomfort, as the two of them don't stop for a minute until they reach the door of a single apartment building, the city's presence receding ever so slightly into the background as Konoha rounds on Akaashi, hands on his hips.

"I already warned you, my ex-roommate's a bit of a weird guy. Nice, but weird. I'm already sort of wondering why I thought this would be an okay idea..."

Akaashi blinks, nods. Idly adjusting his glasses with an index finger, he clears his throat before responding.

"I just need a place to stay for a few days while I sort out permanent housing. It's very nice of your ex-roommate to have offered the space."

"Well, I don't know about nice..."

Akaashi would only find out later that this mysterious ex-roommate was having trouble with rent.

"Shall we let him know we're here? We're already a few minutes late."

"...Right."

As Konoha takes his time knocking on the door, Akaashi's mind clears enough to recall Konoha's previous testimony regarding this ex roommate of his.

First of all, he'd told Akaashi, I'm only telling you about this place because you're in immediate need of lodging. But just so you can't say I didn't warn you, the guy is a little eccentric.

That was how Konoha had framed his warning, and while many of the things he'd stated afterwards about this roommate (that he was messy, that he was loud, that he snored like crazy, got into strange moods where he wouldn't speak to Konoha for days -- "I won't lie, those weren't bad times." -- only to shake him awake to talk about some incomprehensible subject) would have normally dissuaded Akaashi from even considering sharing a living space with the man, there was one thing that Konoha mentioned about his ex-roommate that piqued Akaashi's interest.

"HEY, HEY, HEY! If it isn't Konoha!"

With a burst of energy as loud as the bang! that accompanied the thrown-open door, comes a presence as bombastic as Akaashi had been warned to anticipate.

"And how's the great detective been doing lately?"

Konoha looks as tired as Akaashi feels the second his ex-roommate makes his appearance, giving him a wry smile and a half wave.

The man in front of them is too much to take in all at once, but it isn't his stature that Akaashi latches on to first, nor is i the shock of white hair upon his head.

It's the way the other man beams at the title that was most assuredly stated sarcastically, the one piece of information that made Akaashi's trek through the city worth it, that little tidbit that caught his eye during Konoha's 30 minute public advisory warning given several days before, that simple turn of phrase -- great detective.

"Busy! I'm busy all the time! But, hey, is this the guy you were telling me about? Akashi something or othe -"

"Akaashi. Akaashi Keiji," he says. "It's nice to meet you."

There's a small moment of silence as Bokuto looks Akaashi up and down. He isn't subtle about it at all, the way he gives Akaashi a once over from head to toe. Through it all, Bokuto's smile never once falters, and Akaashi's cool expression never once breaks. The only one who seems to have any sort of change in demeanor is Konoha, whose face is morphing into something close to panic the longer the silence continues.

This was a terrible idea, wasn't it? To allow someone like Akaashi - always composed, proper, quiet - anywhere near a loudmouthed character like Bokuto who would almost certainly drive him up the wall. Why had Konoha thought it would be okay, even though Akaashi had -- strangely -- agreed to meet with his ex-roommate, who had him out the door in a measly one and a half months?!

And yet-

"Soon as you wanna."

The question is asked too quickly and answered too quickly for Konoha's liking, because he's immediately putting up his hands and yelling, "Wait, wait, wait!!"

First, to Akaashi.

"You remember what I said about this guy, right? He keeps an irregular schedule, and he'll pop in to your room unannounced whenever he pleases, and he's not the neatest person to share a space with and-"

Then, to Bokuto, with an accusatory finger.

"You should at least let him know what he's getting into if he stays here. All the clients and the late nights and the bl-"

"Of course, of course," Bokuto says with a smile, unbothered by the picture that Konoha is painting of himself to a complete stranger. He gestures towards the interior of the apartment. "Come on in! We shouldn't talk about things like this outside. Besides-"

His eyes meet Akaashi's once again before he heads into his abode.

"- Akaashi's real tired from walking."

--- --- ---

something like that... ssomething like that!!!!!!! more notes um..

i'm not set on time period but i do like the idea of 20s-30s.. golden age.. ??? they could work in a modern setting too though-

akaashi is from outside of tokyo, but moved in order to be closer to work (udai met him while he was out on a research trip and brought akaashi on as a temp editor. after accepting a fulltime position working with udai, he makes his move to tokyo)

bokuto and konoha were college roommates but it was kind of short lived because konoha could NOT keep up with the antics and wound up living w/ sarukui .. boy best friends

bokuto would have done boxing in college :]c (i think boxing suits him well as an individual sport.. + holmes reference..)

i like the image of kenma being an informant who sends kuroo to bokuto's place to relay info (because he doesn't have the energy to talk to bokuto for long HERJSDF-)

okay thats my delulu if you read all of that hiiii 😋