#‘normal’ or understood everyone else but they find ! safety! for the first time in their lives with each other !!!

[divinestrike]

look . the equivalence of love and safety okay . it gets to me ……

[maaarshieee]

⎯⎯ ୨ 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 ୧ ⎯⎯

➢ Mᴀᴋɪᴍᴀ x Gɴ!Rᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

➢ 1.1k ᴡᴏʀᴅs ┊ Fʟᴜғғ

➢ Mᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ

a/n - as much as i hate makima, the idea was too good to let go, so have this! thanks for reading! titled "fear me not". maybe ooc but hey, let her be whipped. have a good day/night!

↬ cw: spoilers if you haven't read the manga, slight obsession (makima)

"Do you fear me?"

It was certainly out of the blue, and a very out-of-character question for a person like Makima to ask. You, who was sipping on a cup of coffee, sat across her inside her living room, had momentarily stopped reading the book you held, incredulously raising a brow at her.

Was it something she shouldn't have asked? It wasn't uncommon for her to ask questions out of nowhere, but out of all the questions she had asked, this one, in particular, had the most unique reaction. You looked at her funny, an expression you rarely wear when acknowledging her.

Then, you let out a sigh, placed a bookmark in between the pages you previously read in your book, and closed it. You crossed your legs and continued to take a long, leisurely sip of your coffee.

How odd. This is usually a pose you do when the two of you are about to have a serious discussion. Makima replicated your seating, ignoring the multiple huskies whining on her lap for her attention.

"Would you ever hurt me?" You simply asked, heaving a hot breath that smelt like ground coffee beans and milk.

Would she? Makima opened her mouth to answer you, but then closed it again, mulling over your question more. Could she even hurt you? You were different than the rest. She was a devil. The Control Devil, to be precise. One of the most powerful devils known to man, you should be afraid.

Even being granted by the government a high position in the Public Safety Devil Hunters, high enough to know who she truly was, there wasn't a single ounce of fear in your body. Neither an inch of worship. Perhaps respect as your higher-up, but nonetheless, you tolerated her at most.

A human, a mortal, at the mercy of the Control Devil, is having a normal day with her. In her own apartment. Talking to her on equal grounds.

Were you even human at this point? Makima often wondered. You smell human, but in the period you've known each other, she's never seen fear on your face lest it wasn't directed to her.

You screamed over a cockroach that crawled over your foot, for god's sake!

Oddly enough, she was relieved. Not annoyed, or angry. Her chest felt light whenever she was with you. Because she knew she wasn't talking to a puppet, but to you. You didn't force yourself to like her or made her feel like she was a much superior being to you. You made her feel as if she was just a simple human as you are. You glare at her, scoff, and sigh, but she never felt repulsed by it. She loved it.

Makima was the first to confess. Perhaps she was disillusioned by your fearlessness. Much to her amusement, you were definitely shocked. Confused and also quite perturbed. It was also the first time she felt a laugh bubble from her chest but stopped herself from doing so.

So cute.

As expected, you rejected her. Multiple times, but she was persistent. So she tried again, and again. You never gave in, rejecting her at each confession. But in between those confessions, you've gotten to know her more. From her interest in (crude) paintings, her favorite drink, movies, her multiple dogs, food, and many many more.

Makima could tell you'd grown fond of her.

She finally understood the feeling humans often described as "butterflies in your stomach", because she felt it when you first laughed and smiled in her presence. Her heart, a part of her she was sure was dead, pounded against her chest and heat crept up to the tips of her ears.

You finally said yes.

When Makima first confessed, she thought she would find happiness with you, all because you were different than the rest. For once, outside of work, you treated her similarly to everyone else.

And she did.

From offering your own blood when she's injured even though she could handle it herself, helping her take care of her dogs, cooking for her, cleaning for her, and formulating plans with her. You smiled more often, especially when she was around. You'd huff in annoyance when one of her colleagues makes a move on her even if she reassured you for the nth time that they were just under her control.

You were cute. You made her feel warm on the inside. You made her feel multiple emotions she's never felt before. You're always so eager to care for her, to give her hugs when she gives you a certain look, to kiss her oh so tenderly on her lips, to remove her coat for her when she goes home late, and many more.

You were her everything, even if she wasn't the best at showing it. Even if she was the fearsome Control Devil. You loved her, despite who or what she was.

So no, perhaps she would never hurt you. Because once you lose yourself from her control, or die from a devil's hand, perhaps she'd lose herself as well. Lose everything she cared for.

No, because it's you.

"That's my answer." You say after her prolonged silence. It was been approximately 5 minutes since you last spoke and she's been in a daze since then. Even if she hadn't spoken, she needn't either way. You could see it in her eyes, the way the corners of her lips twitched, arms that were once neatly folded on her chest now clutching the dog that rested on her lap. She didn't even notice it licking her cheek.

"Makima," You sighed, setting down your cup of coffee on the center table. Finally, her eyes focused on you, shoulders easing once she saw your face. "What's there to fear?"

With that, she found herself huffing in amusement. She pointed a finger to you, a finger gun. She could easily end your life at right this moment, with a single flick of her wrist. But all you did was scoff and roll your eyes, grabbing the forgotten book and opening it once more. "That wasn't a challenge, but go on with it."

Makima's smile widened, pulling her hand away and standing up from her seat, claiming the spot next to you instead.

Looks like you were right once more. You never fail to intrigue her. You never fail to impress her. You never fail to make her fall harder for you.

"I love you," Makima wrapped her arms around yours, laying her head against your shoulder. She had to hold back a smirk that threatened to creep up on her lips when you suddenly sputtered, face red at her confession.

Despite it all, you still get flustered at her unpredictableness. You are still human after all. Her human. Her lover.

- ̥۪͙۪˚┊❛❛ If you like this a lot, consider reblogging! I'll appreciate it very very much! Don't repost and/or translate my work anywhere. ❜❜ ┊˚ ̥۪͙۪◌

[sheepiemc]

your touch (a craving)

part 5: mouth (first | prev)

The time had come. 

All the hard work of his students and staff finally paid off as the winter festival commenced. After the opening ceremony, Diavolo toured all the booths and activities with Barbados, making sure everything ran smoothly and in perfect order. Along the way, he caught a few glimpses of you enjoying the festivities with the seven brothers, but even that was enough to make his heart swell and burst with affection, pride, and envy. 

Diavolo didn’t get to participate for himself, but that was par for the course. Everything he did was for the Devildom; the Devildom always came first - even before himself. This truth never bothered him before, he always understood the indelible responsibility that he would shoulder one day. Recently, however, something started to change, something shifted. He started to wonder if things had to be like this, and that shift could be traced all the way back to that fateful day when you fell out of the Devildom sky. 

The Winter Ball was held at The Demon Lord's Castle - Diavolo loved hosting events at the castle. All walks of life from across the Devildom got to experience the luxury he lived in every day and he got to fill the mostly empty halls with life, even if it was only for a few short hours. If it were up to him, he’d have the doors open to the public all the time but "tradition dictates", and "do you know what kind of safety risk", blah, blah, blah. It was the same speech from his butler every time so eventually, he stopped bringing it up. 

He stood now, on the landing above all the dancing revelers, dressed in his true demonic form. Seeing everyone enjoying themselves was usually enough to make the smile on Diavolo’s face feel genuine, but there was a deep ache inside of him that was getting impossible to ignore. 

He gripped the banister so tightly his knuckles turned white when you entered the ballroom, looking even more enchanting than normal, surrounded on all sides by the Avatars of Sin. You scanned the crowd, clearly looking for something, and when you couldn’t find whatever it was, the crease between your eyebrows deepened. Something called your attention to the stairs and when your eyes connected with Diavolo’s, he could swear they were filled with relief. Your smile pinned him to the spot he was standing. You waved subtly to him before your attention was dragged away to the antics of the brothers beside you. It looked like they were fighting over who would dance with you first and Mammon stole you away before a consensus was decided. 

“Lovely party, isn’t it?” Diavolo jumped at the cool, smooth voice that suddenly appeared beside him. Not many people could sneak up on the prince, but his butler was one of the few. 

“Yes,” Diavolo said, recovering quickly, “it certainly is. Everyone did such a fantastic job.” His line of sight reverted to the crowd, finding you instinctually. You were dancing with Satan now. A long beat of silence stretched between the two demons, standing high above the rest of the Devildom. 

“I’ve known you,” Barbados said, “for a very long time, My Lord.” 

“Yes, you have.” It wasn’t a question but Diavolo felt compelled to answer. Asmodeus took over next, with his hands very low on your waist, so unselfconscious. Diavolo could feel hairline fractures start to form in the marble banister under his vice grip. 

“You are very careful of the power that you wield. The last time I remember you doing something purely for yourself was when you asked me to be your butler. Your selflessness often makes me wonder if you truly are a demon.” He chuckled to himself as if he told the funniest joke in the world. Below, Mammon tried to steal you away for a second dance but the others caught him immediately. 

“Everyone else,” Barbados continued, “may see something like this - this festival, this ball - and think that it is a reflection of a whimsical prince who doesn’t take anything seriously.” In the commotion, you broke away from the group, coaxing Leviathan off the wall to join you on the dancefloor. You spun the red-faced demon around a few times before he retreated out of the crowd, back to the safety of the sidelines. 

“But I know that everything you do is for the good of your people. You care about them, all of them, more than any demon would expect you to. What I’m trying to get at, my lord,” he continued, turning to look at the prince, making sure he fully understood his meaning, “it’s okay for you to indulge yourself now and then, especially since you so rarely do. You are a demon and a prince. You can want things just for yourself.” 

You were currently squished between the twins, with both you and Belphegor trying to balance on Beelzebub’s feet. Diavolo tore his gaze away from your laughing face and looked Barbados in the eyes. Right now, he wasn’t speaking as a butler - someone who was paid to care for a young prince - but as a true friend and the closest thing to family that Diavolo had. 

Diavolo smiled down at him, and Barbados mirrored the emotion, his usual enigmatic smile replaced by something warm and genuine. “Brilliant, as always, Barbados.” 

He looked back to see you dancing with Lucifer now. You both looked so elegant on the dancefloor, gliding through the crowd effortlessly. He watched you and, before long, your eyes met again like magnets. You smiled at him, a silent question in your eyes. 

Mind made up, Diavolo pushed away from the banister and looked at Barbados again. They nodded at each other once before Diavolo was practically flying down the stairs. Approaching the crowd, he could feel the eyes and whispers of his subjects. A few actually approached the prince, congratulating and complimenting him on the party as he passed. He acknowledged them, sure, but he was more focused on finding you. 

“Hey.” A clear voice rose above the din and it made Diavolo turn on his heel. There you were, leaning against the wall near the outskirts of the crowd, perspiration glistening on your skin and chest heavily rising and falling with your breath. “I needed to take a break from the dancefloor for a minute. Keep me company?” 

He smiled at the easy way you spoke to him, even in front of all these people. “It would be my pleasure, MC.” 

He leaned against the wall next to you, with only a cocktail table between you. Just then, a Little D. flitted by with a serving tray of sparkling demonus and Diavolo plucked two glasses off easily. He handed one flute to you, your fingers brushing his ever so lightly, but the tingling spark shooting up his arm almost made him drop the glass. 

“Thank you,” you nodded, bringing the glass to your lips. Diavolo watched you close your eyes, as the cool, refreshing liquid made its way down the smooth column of your throat. As you finished, Diavolo pried his eyes away from you to flag down another Little D. so he could replenish you. He put it down on the table between you, not risking another shock, and took the opportunity to nurse his own flute. It was all he could do to not take a bite out of you right there. 

“I really needed that,” you said after a deep, satisfied breath, swapping your empty glass for the full one, and taking one last sip from it. “Ballroom dancing can take a lot out of you. You do this every weekend?” 

That made him laugh. “If I had a party like this every weekend,” he said, “the royal coffers would be empty before my next birthday. That wouldn't be very responsible for a future King, now would it?” He looked down into his flute, watching the bubbles pop at the top. You sensed the mood shift, studying his profile as his dark eyebrows furrowed in thought. 

You put your drink down. “Well, this isn't exactly what I was picturing when I suggested a winter formal but,” you paused to admire the scenery, “it's alright.” 

Your joke settled the worry on Diavolo’s face. He looked at you, then looked around at all the people in their fanciest formalwear and intricate winter-themed decorations. 

“I mean,” you continued, “where's the watered-down punch and the terrible DJ?” 

“I may have taken some creative liberties based on the source material,” he said, putting his drink down next to yours. 

“Yeah, I wouldn't exactly call this an accurate human high school experience. But,” you said, finally giving up the bit, genuine awe in your voice, “that's honestly a good thing. This is seriously incredible, Diavolo.” 

“Well, I have to thank you, MC,” he said, holding your gaze even as heat bloomed across his face. “If it were not for your idea, we wouldn't be here now. I hope our guests from all three realms are enjoying themselves.” 

“I know I am.” With intense eye contact maintained, you picked up a glass from the table, holding it out for a toast. Diavolo did the same and clinked it with yours, his eyes never leaving your own. 

After taking a sip, you examined your drink. “Wasn't this fuller a second ago?” 

The sparkling demonus washed over his tongue. His head started swimming from the buzz of the drink taking effect at the same moment he realized you both must've reached for the wrong flute. He jerked it away from his mouth quickly before covering his lips with his hand. 

“Oh,” you gasped, “I'm so sorry, I should've paid attention to which glass I was grabbing.” 

He was all but hearing you, his mind was too fixated on the idea that his lips were touching something yours touched just a moment ago. 

You were nervous, rambling, laughing, “Do you guys call it an indirect kiss here, like we do in the human world? It's kinda silly, I mean it’s not like you’re really kissing, and it really was an accident, I promise…” 

Diavolo’s silence terrified you. He was breathing heavier and his face was completely red. Was he mad at you? Nearly panicking, you searched for an excuse to give him space (and save yourself from embarrassment). “I think I hear Lucifer calling me, so I'm just gonna-” 

You turned to leave but before you could make your escape, a strong hand snatched your wrist, desperate but not too hard. 

“MC, please,” he rasped, his voice taking on a quality you never heard before, “please don't walk away from me.”

[blair-the-juggalho]

TWDG gang reaction to the reader being scary when they’re mad

Homies I’ve fucked up reading so many times today please forgive me! My exams are leaving me brainless :p

This is for my lovely anon that request this IM SO SORRY LOVELYYY 💖💖💖

Violet

Is low key scared I mean holy shit who knew you had it in you!

She was too scared to say anything too you but like her and Louis where just like 👀👀👀

She finds it kinda entertaining though

You go from being all normal and shit then BAM when yer man your a whole new person

A scary fucking person like that

She’ll just sit and watch until you take an insult a bit too far then she’ll tell you to knock it off

Mitch

Mans hella shocked

He loves seeing this side of you though

Sometimes he annoys you just to see you all fired up and ready to kill

Also if you get into a fight mans CHANTING for you to start beating the shit out of someone!

He loves how intimidating you can be when your so pissed

He knows your a force not to be reckoned with…but he can’t help himself cheeky man

Louis

First time this man sees you get man, this man has his arms in the air and is slowly walking backwards

He always tries to calm you down or help diffuse the situation if your fighting with someone

But omg you scare this man

Especially if your normally chill

Mans scared to fuck up and make you mad lmao

I get the feeling however there’s a part of him that’s living for the drama

Marlon

Was taken back a lot

He up and froze for a second!

Holy shit wtf mad you so pissed

As the leader he has to get involved, even if he doesn’t want too lmao

He tries to keep everyone calm and would try and get you to have a moment to your self too cool down

He’s just scared you’ll have a go at him next

Tenn

Every time you where mad, he tried to quietly sneak out of the room

He didn’t want to be caught up/ witness whatever shit was about to go down

Man was scared but if you ever talked to him afterwards about it he’d be very scared at first but would admit to you how scary that situation was even if he understood where your anger came from

Little dude just wants everyone to get along :(

Willy

When he first saw you get so mad you looked like you where gonna go mental at someone his reaction was to hide behind Mitch

He just CLUNG to him for dear life

Afterwards if you talked to him he would openly ask you about it and would show his dissatisfaction

But this man gets its :( I mean we’ve seem little dude punch assim when he got pissed

Aasim

He was totally shocked he had no idea you could get that mad

His first instinct is to calm you down! He just wanted everyone to calm down for once

He’d only use words and values talking instead of arguing so he’d try his best to get you alone and help calm you down

He’s just a wee bit worried about your Safety and everyone elses

Omar

Was just silently observing with fear

Holy shit

He’d make sure to never piss you off

Idk what else to say other than this man will do everything to make sure he wasn’t a bother!

Ruby

Would be so upset

She’d understand why you got so mad but to see you be this… scary is worrying!

She’d try to talk to you and get rid of the thing that was upsetting you but I think she’d need a moment to get out of the situation

You’d probably make her a bit mad if you ever took your anger out on others and she would have a go at you :(

Brody

You haunt this girls dreams/hj

Nah but fr the first time she saw you get mad she SCADADLED

oh my lord she’d never seen anyone be that mad! And she lives with ruby and Mitch!

She was so confused because you weren’t always like this

But when yer mad? Holy shit it’s a totally different person

She will stay out of your way trust me

[hughiecampbelle]

No One Knows The Violence It Took To Become This Gentle (Connor Roy Oneshot)

Character/s: Connor

Word Count: 1,262

Tag: @locke-writes

A/N: First of all when I read the quote I used in the title I absolutely sobbed I want it tattooed on my body. Being at home brings mixed feelings. Ya gurl is a big baby and has already cried once. I've never written anything for Connor and I thought he deserved some love. I'm sorry his first fic is for therapy. I don't know how relatable it will be, it just helps to get it out. Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜💜

When there is an angry man in your house, it is said that there will always be an angry man in your house. In your house, in your life, in your heart. Against all odds, you have vowed that if there was another angry man in your house, in your home, that only one of you would be left standing. You have made it your mission not to have an angry man at your side, in your bed, sitting at your kitchen table. Not to be trapped in anger disguised in love. In broken promises. In slammed doors and broken glass. In everything wrong with all the love you’ve been shown in your life. You swore off dating, off relationships, off anything and anyone that would get close enough to see the fear in your eyes. You distanced yourself from them, the world, from friends in relationships wanting to set you up with someone. From siblings and cousins, all of them with partners, significant others, husbands and wives and life partners, all of them insisting you’re missing something in your life. You smile, you shrug, you assure them you’ve got everything you want and at the end of the day, you crawl into bed alone. It gets lonely. Of course it does, but you’d rather not risk it. You have finally found freedom. You have finally found safety. You have finally found solace. 

You can’t go back to that angry man, to that house. You just can’t. And yet, you do. 

The floors creaked, and the door whined, but not because the house was old. It was falling apart. This was not your childhood home. That's been long gone, made over, the memories you have dead and buried. This house is home to bad things. Bad things that have happened, that you can't stop remembering, He takes your hand, squeezes it, reminding you he’s there. Always. You're face to face with the front door. With this house and the angry man that lives inside. You’re not sure you can do it, face him. You miss home. Every part of you does, but not the reality of it. Those hallmark movies with fireplaces and hot chocolate, with the loving mothers and caring fathers, that’s what you miss. The warmth, the embrace. Not this, not the truth. Your room, your old room, the one place you could find peace in, was overtaken by someone else. Someone is needed. Everything that had once been yours belonged to other people. Others who loved the angry man, who couldn’t love you as much because there wasn’t enough room in their hearts. The wind knocks the air from your lungs. You are already crying, tears welling up in your eyes, threatening to fall. He waits as long as possible, as long as you need, ready to shrug off his jacket and drape it around your shoulders. You’ll have to go in at some point, soon, or you’ll get a call, a text. They’ll come looking. Quickly, you wipe your eyes, dropping his hand to open the door. You feel him touch your shoulders, the heat from inside the house warming your cheeks. 

He sat beside you, thanking him for the meal, for the time and effort he didn’t actually put into it, but expected the praise for. You didn’t have to beg him to be nice. You didn’t have to explain the eggshells you walked on were normal. He understood. Everyone sat around the table, pretending to be normal, pretending, at any moment, he wouldn’t explode over the smallest thing. The same table you sat at long before, apologizing to him for standing up for yourself, your loved ones. The same table he didn’t accept that apology, feeling too hurt by your words. Near the kitchen, the sink, you remember holding a sopping wet pan in, ready to defend yourself when he got violent. Across from the bathroom you would hide yourself in, listening and crying as they fought. It was one of the only doors with a lock. It was one of the only places that guaranteed safety. You watched it all play out, that familiar sense of dread and fear blossoming in the middle of your chest. His hand is on your knee, drawing you back to the conversation, the forced content across their faces, the smile he wears instead of rage. He knows most of this, if not all, but he can’t feel it the way you do. He can’t watch it play on loop before his eyes. You manage a smile, wishing for the night to be over. 

Cleaning up the dishes was always your job. They leave the table without a second thought, lost in meaningless conversation, ignoring you and your sponge. He beckens for him to join. Your love, torn between worlds, begs you with his eyes for an answer. You nod, insisting he go with them. It’s just easier. Your being good is meant to make everything easier. Your water is warm, the kitchen is quiet. His laugh makes you sick. Reminds you of the jokes he made about you, your body, sexualizing you when you were so young. Too young. Making you ashamed, fearful. When he found out he was fuming, the most angry you’d ever seen him. When you flinched, watching his hands turn into fists, he let them go, immediately apologizing. You didn’t want him to be sorry, you didn’t want to be like this, so sensitive. You wear loose clothing, layered, trying to hide your body as best you can. He takes notice of this, but decides to say nothing. Your sleeves are rolled up, soap running down your hands. The foundation is crumbling. The water tastes of blood. You’re not sure how much harder you can scrub the glass, your skin, before you can feel clean again, before it's clean again. 

Coffee and dessert are served. Connors smile never fades, never falters, even when you jump at the sound of his voice rising, your own breath catching in your throat. You’re thankful for him, his presence. He is not an angry man. He is quiet, content, he never slams a glass or kicks a door. He is thoughtful, never reactive. Kind and considerate. He is your gentle giant. Your hand finds his under the table, grounding you back to your seat before you have the chance to wander. To your old room where you screamed and cried and called for help. To the couch, the floor, you slept on when your room didn’t exist, shivering in the winter night because there was no heat. To the deck where you sat eating dinner alone at your loneliest. To this house, which made you so sad, so scared, so willing to hurt yourself if it meant things would get better. They are better. Far away, you have a home, just you and Connor. It is bright and soft and no one is ever angry. He loves you and you love him, faults and all. You’ve got it all, everything the angry man in your home ever wanted. You kept your vow, that he would never find his way back to you. You found your sense of safety in him, in Connor, in his sweet nature. You don’t hide anymore. You don’t have to lock the bathroom door. You're not lonely anymore. Your bed isn’t half-full. You’ll go home and leave this place behind, like you’d been planning all along, like you’d been dreaming of since childhood. You'll never have to be near this angry man ever again.

[moodyseal]

Any thoughts on the Buffy season two premiere where we see her dealing with her trauma etc?

I'M SO SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO ANSWER I put it off for a while because I wanted to give a good answer and then forgot 😭 anyway now I'm finally going through my askbox and I do have thoughts about that episode! Many of them, actually, especially now that I have finished the main series and can look at Buffy from a whole different perspective.

Throughout the seasons, Buffy is pretty consistent in the way she deals with stress and physical/emotional pain: since she's pretty independent as a person, she tends to push away the people around her, preferring to deal with her problems on her own (see: her running off to New York after the whole thing with Angel).

This sort of behaviour is not as evident in "When She Was Bad" as it becomes later on (especially in the form of her very complicated relationships) but it's still there, and it's strictly tied with the fact that, for the first time, between her "death" and the amount of danger her friends went through, Buffy finally understood the meaning of her role as a Slayer, and the very lethal risks it came with. Before, she seemed to think that she was invincible, and that her friends were as well; but after experiencing what death feels like, after the pain and the horror, it seems that the prospect of not being able to grow old, and others risking the same because of her, hit her for the first time. Right at that moment she, a 16-year-old, actually started feeling responsible for everyone's safety, and it was too much for her to bear:

"I can't do it anymore. I can't look after the three of you guys while I'm fighting."

And what I think it's fascinating about this is how deep a show from 1997 went into her response to this knowledge, how it even went as far as to show us all the subtle little ways in which this independency of hers and tendency to alienate herself were starting to develop, all the negative effects it had on her and her relationships, and also why, exactly, her reaction was so severe; because you see, it's true that Buffy went through an incredibly stressful experience, and all in all she would've probably behaved nearly the same way in any other situation, but it's also true that she was a bit more reactive here than she would've been normally, and that's because she never managed to get closure by killing the Master herself.

She never actually staked him, nor did she exactly kill him herself in any way, since he fell through the roof of the library and basically got impaled on his own; she never defeated him. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that this made her very, very insecure about her own strength.

She wasn't even part of the burying, since she took off nearly right away, so she never actually witnessed him getting buried. For all she knew, he might've not been killed properly so, at least subconsciously, she must've felt as if she were still in danger.

Danger makes people act differently: some freeze in fear, some take off, trying to save themselves by getting somewhere safe. Buffy fights; and a fight response makes aggressive, reactive people.

So that's why I think she was so insistent on fighting on her own, why she lashed out so much and why she was much more brutal than she usually is. Before they found out about the ritual, with the lack of a Master for her to fight, she needed to wipe out as many vampires as possible to make up for the mistake of getting defeated by him; afterwards, her frustration stemmed mostly from the urgency to find him and kill him (on her own!) other than from the burden of having to protect everyone (that I've already mentioned) and from the intense, overwhelming feeling of being alone with this burden.

Because that's another thing that played into how she behaved (despite no one acknowledging it because, I mean, when is anyone ever held accountable when it comes to Buffy's feelings?): no one cared. Everyone else acted as if nothing happened at first, as if they didn't seriously risk their lives, and she couldn't understand why. Why was Cordelia so superficial when there were worse things to be worried about? Why was everyone acting so cheery? Why did she have to shoulder her pain alone?

One of the songs used in this episode actually explains this feeling SO well, and it's probably intentional that it played right at the moment when Joyce tried to ask her what was wrong:

It doesn't matter what I want/It doesn't matter what I need/It doesn't matter if I cry/Don't matter if I bleed

This is what's wrong. Her being powerless in the face of something bigger than her, risking her life either way, and others acting as if it were just a regular Tuesday.

In later seasons, she matures from this way of thinking; in fact, in 03x18 she comes to the conclusion that, more often than not, it's not that people don't care about her feelings, but they're just busy juggling their own emotional baggage (sometimes an invisible one) and they don't have time to deal with hers too.

"You have all this pain, all these feelings, and nobody's really paying attention. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they're too busy with their own."

However, at the start of the second season she was still 16, and she didn't have those two years of experience behind her back, so she couldn't have possibly known that, and therefore she had to deal with it in the only way she knew how to, in order to protect her feelings: by pushing everyone away.

The vampires trying to bring back the Master might've seemed like just the usual monster-of-the-week sort of plot—a way like any other to start the season and tie it back to the finale, remind the viewers of how the last season ended—but it's actually so much more important than that, because it's actually a way to give Buffy a way to process all those feelings.

By destroying the Master herself through a manual, powerful tool like the sledgehammer she used, and by destroying whatever remained of his bones until they turned into dust, she made sure that SHE had been the one to kill him, SHE had been the one to protect everyone, SHE had been the one to take revenge for all the grief she'd felt in those few months. This might even explain why she was seemingly fine in the next episode: after such a cathartic experience, she was finally at peace.

I definitely didn't expect a show from more than twenty years ago to deliver such a delicate situation so nicely, but they did a great job. The show has some issues for sure, but in my opinion it was absolutely brilliant for its time.

[sleepyselkiesims]

Part 40

Sage came by the house again, crying her eyes out. Amidst all the household drama, there hadn't really been a chance for the original family to mourn their loss. So, the benevolent god had an idea...

Well. This is everyone. The remaining members of the OG Queen family.

The benevolent god figured the seven sisters could use some familial comfort after losing their mama and founding legacy member. And it had been too long since they'd all been in one place.

Out of all of them, Apple understood best how lucky they were to have gotten so much time with their mother. Most kids weren't practically the same age as their parents for so long in sims world!

Arista and Thyme were surprisingly nonchalant. Maybe the glasses gave them some emotional protection.

Adrina and Attina took the loss the hardest; Attina disappeared somewhere to cry, and Adrina spent an hour crying to Ariel.

Sage had run off to whisper secrets to someone behind the grocer's stall, and at that point the benevolent god realised the family was still too hard to round up and were just making each other sadder or leaving.

Downhearted, Ariel set back out on an adventure. Apple had told her about yet another cool fishing spot she'd found, and Ariel could never say no to new worlds.

Unfortunately, Ariel was so depressed she didn't notice her surroundings at all. Even the giant mushrooms didn't attract her attention!

Still, she did manage to stumble her way to possibly the most beautiful portal she'd come across.

But before she answered the siren's call of adventure yet again, she had herself a good hard cry.

She cried her way through the portal, and didn't even notice her arrival in a magical new realm, or the inhabitants watching her.

Normally Ariel explored alone, for safety reasons, but this place didn't seem like a threat. And she desperately wanted to be on good terms with the people in her life.

Fresh out of drama club, and trying to cling to her bravery, Melody finally agreed to join her momma for an adventure. Under normal circumstances she would've said no, but they were both hurting so badly, it might do some good to try finding common ground.

What Ariel hadn't planned for was just how huge the magic realm was! Melody couldn't find her, but she did find a gardening room! It was perfect for her!

The gardening room provided a good opportunity to really let out her feelings. She sobbed and sobbed over the plants, watering them with her tears.

In another life, perhaps, her tears were as magical as the plants. And if anyone, say, got their eyes scratched out by thorns trying to climb her tower, or stabbed in the gut in her tower, her tears could heal them.

Yikes, you ever cry so hard that not only does it water crops, but someone has to come mop up after you?

Ariel had gotten a little distracted by her need to dig-dig-dig, so it would be a while before she could find where Melody was amongst the floating islands.

In the meantime, Melody had a heart-stopping moment while wandering around; for the first time in her life, she saw a boy. She'd met Christopher of course, but uh... yeah, she really only knew women. She was intrigued!

But then she ended up having a meltdown over a sandwich in front of an old mage. Melody left the building real quick after that.

Finally remembering they had phones, Ariel and Melody agreed to meet by the second portal on the right, straight on til- uh, down the stairs.

Their reactions to passing through the portal summed up their life philosophies; Ariel felt rejuvenated, in her element! Melody just felt uncomfortable and wary.

As Apple had promised, there was the fishing spot! And finally, the first mother-daughter bonding activity that these two had done in ages!

Who else could get to say they'd fished on the edge of a magical floating island! So cool!

But uh... well, outdoorsey activities were more Ariel's thing. Melody's skills tended to be indoors-based. At any rate, fishing was definitely not a new favorite activity. It didn't take long for her to call it quits and head back to the safety of her tower.

Ah well, more fish for Ariel!

Bonus

Melody wannabe

[sleuthy-scientist]

Time After Time Chapter 8 - Take All The Courage You Have Left

Once he saw who it was, Aaron was less worried about how their conversation would go. If anything he knew he should have expected her to come around. They hadn't had a chance to speak or clear the air and Aaron knew he owed anyone else an explanation it was her.

"Oh hey Jess, I'm glad to see you. Unfortunately you've missed Jack, if you want to wait to see him Dave took him out for breakfast."

Jessica simply waved off the news Jack wasn't currently there, she had specifically wanted to see Aaron first and talk, before she got her chance to reunite with Jack.

"I knew they were out, Dave texted me. Obviously I'd love to see my nephew, I'd say the reunion is long overdue. But, I also came here to see you, to see how your doing. And maybe knock some sense into you, if Dave hasn't done so already."

Aaron felt nervous knowing she had the foresight to visit when his son was out of hearing distance. It seemed everyone was cahoots, he worried too many people would try to get involved in his business with Emily before he had a chance to sort things out on his own.

Thankfully, much like Dave, Jessica had never been the type to beat around the bush, but she knew how to keep a level head and tread lightly on the more delicate and sensitive issues. Aaron knew for his sake it was better to get ahead and come right out, knowing she would force him to talk regardless.

He knew he could trust her opinion, she had always been fair and discreet when him and Haley fought. "To be honest, I probably should have expected your visit, I'm sorry I left in a hurry and we never got a chance to talk. I've got to say it was quite the shock seeing you there last night. But, I have to say the bigger surprise was learning I have daughter."

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around around that fact, it doesn't feel completely real yet. I was so worried when I woke up today, I'd find out it was some hallucination or dream."

"After I left, the few times we talked you never mentioned Emily, or Grace, not even in passing. I didn't even know I had a daughter, or that Emily was pregnant. If you had told me about Grace I would have come back. I never would have let Emily go through that alone."

He could see the way she tensed at his words, her defensive stance winding up. Knowing she was going to give him the earful he deserved, putting him in his place, just as she always had before.

"You don't get to blame me, Emily, or anyone else for that matter. This wasn't some big conspiracy against you Aaron, we all wanted you and Jack to come back when it was safe. Emily wanted you to have a choice, you made the decision to stay away. Nobody forced that on you, so don't act all 'woe is me'."

"No one lied to you, in fact anyone you may have contacted would have tried to convince you to come back. So, you don't get to point fingers at Emily or be mad at her. She tried to contact you numerous times, she wanted nothing more than to have you and Jack in both her and Grace's life."

"No one even remotely blames you for what that monster did, especially not Emily. We were all just worried and scared for your safety while it was happening. We all understood your choice to protect Jack through it all. Even the part about you leaving the BAU and FBI entirely to give him a normal life."

"But, you didn't have to leave for good without a word. These people are your family and friends, they were never just your coworkers. You owed it to me and them to come back after, even if it was just to say goodbye."

"And Aaron, about Grace, I wanted to tell you, but it wasn't entirely my place. It was Emily's choice and I made her a promise. You refused to listen when I pleaded with you to come back, how many times did I tell you that you would regret staying away one day. You made your choice and I won't let you blame me, Emily or anyone else for that. "

"And just so you know, this whole time she thought you knew about Grace's existence, well still thinks you did for that matter. I'll let you be the one to explain that bit to her though, she honestly needs to hear the truth from you."

"She obviously knows I'm here, she encouraged it actually. She knew I needed closure and you needed a friend. Emily also wanted to make sure you were ok, as angry as she was last night's, she was still worried about you."

"But, I'm not going to play messenger or go between, you both need a chance to really talk. I'd say just stop by her house, but you've already ambushed her once this week and I'm not sure she's ready to have you on her turf. If I were you, I'd let her come to you, I'd be happy to hang out Jack and have Dave stay with Grace."

"Or vice versa for that matter, I'd take on both kids, but I'm assuming you haven't told Jack yet. I'm sure once Jack's had a chance to meet his little sister, he's going to want to spend whatever time he can getting to know her."

"And I willing to be here for him, for you both, when you tell him about Gracie. I want to support Jack and help him adjust to this news. He knows me, I want to be here for him as an ally if he doesn't take it well, or needs space from you. I'm hoping I can make it easier for you both, and that you can find a way to fix this."

"And like I said, while I'm not willing to get in between you and Emily, I already promised her I'd help both kids with the transition. I don't think it will take much for Grace to adapt to things, she's easygoing, and Emily's mini me. She's resilient and takes change in stride typically with nothing but the sense of excitement."

"Plus she's always wanted to meet you. I mean considering Emily's shown her videos and they have pictures of you and Jack throughout their home. Grace has kown about you both basically her whole life, Emily never tried to hide anything. They even buy you gifts for holidays, and have cake on your birthdays, ready in case you came home one day."

"Its fair to say Emily's obviously really upset right now, and I don't blame her, because you left me too. You took the most important connection I had to my big sister and that hurt me in ways you can't take back. But for her, it was like her world was ending, she understood you needing a lifestyle change from the BAU, but she honestly thought you'd come back to and for her. "

Jessica broke eye contact, feeling her anger and confidence waiver as the wave of hurt and vulnerability caught up to her. She debated saying more, not sure how much she should actually share. But, she wanted to give him a clear view of the effect his choices and actions caused. And to do that, she had to give him something to go on, without breaking Emily's confidence.

"It was a scary and trying enough time for her being a new mom, but it was more than that. I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but you probably could have guessed, she wasn't the same after Peter Lewis took her."

"Physically she was pretty much fine, but mentally and emotionally she had us all worried. I mean no one can always be that okay, she was the pillar of strength and perfection everyone needed. Even when the news hit you weren't coming back, she supported everyone else and kept her promise to keep them altogether."

"For a long while we all thought you'd come back, held on hoping probably longer than we should have. But Emily, I don't think she ever really gave up on you returning. She couldn't bear the thought of Grace growing up without ever knowing you and Jack."

"As the weeks and months went on, she was a machine. I'm not sure how much sleep she really got, but I know at the very least she forced herself to eat proper meals, making sure she could provide Grace with the proper nutrition she needed."

"You know how Emily's always been so attentive to Grace's needs and putting her and everyone else's needs first. I don't think she's ever really let herself process the extent of everything that happened. You're who she wanted and needed then. And Knowing her, it's probably all still bottled and built up, waiting to explode or spill out."

Jessica was caught in the distinct memories from that difficult time. She especially remembered Emily being wrought with guilt, responsibility, and remorse for the death of her subordinate and friend at the hands of Scratch.

"I know she felt guilty for her friend Stephen's death, she still does. But I can only imagine how terrified she must have been when that monster took her. Dave and I convinced her to go home, take a nap, shower, get some food. We both promised her everything would be fine, that we'd watch after Grace at the hospital while she was gone."

"When she didn't call, text, or return an hour later we knew something was wrong. When the two hour mark hit, Dave had Garcia do her thing, she tracked down the police report from a car accident listed at Em's building. Stephen had his I.D. on him and was listed as DOA. Dave immediately organized everyone to find her. But that bastard had her for over 12 hours."

Aaron could see from the far away look in Jessica's eyes, pondering how much more she should possibly say. Not wanting to break Emily's trust, knowing the two had obviously grown much closer in his absence than he could have ever expected.

Aaron had felt his heartbreaking with everything Jess revealed, he could only imagine what that bastard had said to her, being his victim once himself. Aaron knew there was so much more Jess could probably tell him, but he wanted, no needed to hear the rest from the source. He owed Emily that and so much more, so for now he decided to steer their conversation towards a lighter topic for the time being.

"As much as it hurts to hear, thank you for telling me. I promise I'll try to talk to her about it, if she will let me. But, I think it's going to be awhile before she would ever consider trusting me again, or is willing to share her innermost thoughts and feelings. I'm sure her and I have a lot to sort out and discuss before we get to that point though."

"Jess, I didn't know you and Em were that close and continued being friends after we left. I mean it's a little weird for me, not that that even matters. Don't get me wrong I'm glad you had each other, but I never fully understood your friendship."

He was honestly glad they sought each other out in his absence. That the two most influential women in his life not only got along, but we're genuinely friends. He knew it's what Haley would have wanted, and had she still been alive, the three of them would have driven him nuts.

"You and Emily were always both hush hush anytime I asked either of you about it before when we were dating. I mean you were always friendly enough to each other, which I appreciated. But, I always thought it was some mutual respect thing, a bond forged and developed over your shared love of Jack and me."

Jessica couldn't disagree, knowing at first they could maybe have been classified as friendly acquaintances for the sake of the Hotchner boys. Knowing now, they were both intimated by the other, so worried and afraid to overstep or encroach on each others' territory. Trying to tread lightly unsure of their places, both wanting Jack and Aaron to just be happy and loved.

"You're not wrong, I think in some ways thats how our friendship started. But then you were gone, and I missed having my big brother and nephew around. I knew how dangerous it was, why you had to leave. But, I felt terrified and so alone."

"But, Emily was here for me the whole time you've been gone. She's been wonderful to me, so don't you dare try to destroy that. When you and Jack were in hiding, she constantly kept in contact making sure I was ok, giving me updates when she could. And then a few weeks into things, she confided in me about her suspicions."

"I was there with her when she took the test and found out she was pregnant. She made me promise not to say anything to the rest of the team, especially about the part of you being the father. She knew she couldn't risk Scratch somehow figuring out the truth of Grace's parentage."

"Emily let me be a part of everything to do with Grace, every step of the way. She told me she wanted me to be involved in the whole process, that I had every right to be a part of her baby's life. And she hoped I would accept the title of aunt and godmother when the time came."

"I know she missed you more than anything though, wished you and Jack could experience her pregnancy with her. I accidentally found one of the letters she had been writing to you. She wasn't mad when she caught me reading it. Emily told me how she had been sending you one, once a month while you were in WITSEC."

"Aaron, I really don't know how Emily found the strength to keep going. It was obvious she was hurting and that she missed you and Jack, terrified to let you down. But she kept going, held everyone together, myself included."

"She told me how she took every possible precaution sending those letters with updates and reminders of how much we all missed you both. I know if she thought even for a second it could have been traced to your location she wouldn't have dared risked it."

"Emily always understood why you made the choice to initially run. She explained how she just needed a way to remind you to hang in there. A way to express her love for you and Jack, and give you hope for the future."

"Aaron, I know my sister loved you, and not to speak ill of the dead, but her feelings pale in comparison to Emily's love for you. She has always had the capacity to understand you in ways Haley never could have. You need to fight for her and do everything you can to make this work."

"So you need to decide now, before you go any further, either you're all in or all out. If you can't go all in, you shouldn't get Emily's hopes up. And if you're not sure, please don't risk confusing or hurting your daughter. They both deserve all the love and happiness in the world."

Aaron didn't have to hesitate or think, the words slipped out as soon as Jessica finished her ultimatum for him. "I'm in, I don't care what it takes, I need them both in my life."

That brought a sad smile to her face. "Good, I'm glad. They both need you and want you, even if Em is too stubborn to admit it. But please tread lightly, her hearts fragile when it comes to you."

"No one really knows what happened to her in that basement with that monster. It's safe to say, we all tried to get her to talk, but Emily needed you, and you weren't here. She wouldn't tell me or anyone else about what happened. I'm not even sure she divulged the full truth in her report for work."

"The few times I tried to ask, she would get this desperate broken look in her eyes and all she would say was "I never revealed Jack and Aaron's location. All that matters is that they are safe now." It was like a mantra she spoke trying to reassure herself more than me, that you and Jack were still alive."

"All I know is it was hard after, but she pushed through, excited that because the threat was gone, that you and Jack could come home. She was certain you would be back the next day, both her and Grace were released from the hospital."

"When Dave drove her home, she was insistent he dropped her off at your old apartment. She kept up the lease the whole time you were gone, knowing you would be back once they caught that monster."

"Anyway he didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone after all she had been through. Thankfully though, Dave convinced her she shouldn't be alone and to let me stay, because her and Gracie were my only connection to you and Jack. She was the strong one the whole time you were in danger, it was only fair I tried to return the favour after."

"So she called me to grab her bag from her place and anything Grace might need. Dave kept her company until I got there. She promised the others we could do a welcome home celebration for her in Grace in combination with yours and Jack's homecoming. She refused to have it without you, so beyond excited for you both to meet Grace. We stayed a stalemate, waiting for you guys to return."

"When Rossi came by to deliver the news that you made your decision not to return, Emily refused to believe it. She called, numerous times only for each attempt to go unanswered. She was sure something was wrong when it had been days and your voicemail box was still full."

"Then you finally called me days later to let me know you both were ok, but you decided not to come back. We both know I tried to convince you multiple times, but I couldn't force you to return and you promised me you would call Emily when I asked."

"And days went by, she never got the call, I didn't have the heart to tell her I did get one. I couldn't let her think I somehow mattered more to you guys and she didn't warrant a personal call. She eventually found out when she had Penelope track your phone record and credit cards for activity."

"When she confronted me about it she wasn't mad, she was sad, hurt, and disappointed. I was so worried she would feel betrayed and she would cut me out of hers and Grace's life. But in the end, she promised me she would never do that and asked me not to ever tell you any details about either of them."

"She understood if I visited you and Jack, or if you called or came to see me. Emily didn't want to interfere with my relationship with you both. But, gradually you cut off contact with me too, and I only occasionally heard from Jack. Soon, it was just monthly emails from him with a few lines."

"I'm not going to pretend it didn't hurt me too. Everyone you left deserved better. But none more so than Emily. And if she decides to never forgive you, I support her, because you weren't there, you didn't show up, and she has always been there when you needed her."

Jessica knew she had already stepped over the line, oversharing pieces of the past Emily probably wanted kept from Aaron. She just needed him to know how fragile her bestfriend's heart is, hoping trusting him with these tidbits wouldn't backfire. She decided to steer the conversation back to more neutral and pleasant territory.

"After Scratch, the team learned you were Gracie's father. Garcia went searching for her birth certificate to confirm their suspicions. Obviously Emily had waited to submit the paperwork, she had left the spot for paternity blank, knowing while Peter Lewis lurked it wasn't safe to have your name out there.

"But when we got her back, filling out that information and getting it submitted was the first thing she did at the hospital, once she had Grace back in her arms. Not that they needed to see the document, it was a moot point really. Considering Emily wasn't trying to be subtle or put up any pretenses anymore. They all knew how adamant she was with her decision to stay at your old apartment when she was released with Grace the next day."

"Eventually after a few months, we all convinced her to move. Now, I live in her guest house, so I have my privacy and I am always there if Emily needs someone to watch Grace for her. I also have a bedroom in the main house, it works better for when work takes her away."

"It was always meant to be a temporary solution, it worked for us both thus far. But, you should know I'm engaged, my fiancee and I are still working on logistics for living arrangements but we plan to move in together after the wedding in September. "

"Emily's my Maid of Honour and Gracie's going to be the flower girl. As soon as Emily mentioned that meant she got a new dress, well it's safe to say Grace was over the moon. Emily likes to say she inherited her love of all things pink and girly from her Aunt Penelope."

"I'd like Jack to be a ring bearer or involved in some other role if he wants. We were planning to do something low key and sending out the invites next month. Obviously you are on my list, but I didn't know if you would want to come."

Aaron was elated with the happy news and turn in the conversation. He quickly pulled her into a hug, elated for his former sister in law. "Wow Jess Congratulations, I am so happy for you. Jack and I will definitely be there. I can't wait to meet the lucky man who has stolen your heart."

He sense her hesitation in the way she tensed in his arms. When he pulled back he noticed a look of uncertainty on her face. He braced himself for whatever she had to reveal now, hoping it was nothing major.

"Yeah that's where it gets a little complicated, my fiancee isn't too keen on you being in attendance. I'm sure, now that you have the chance to sort things out with Emily, he might back off a bit. He's just really protective of her in general, Emily's actually the one who introduced us."

"If I had it my way I want you standing up there with us, but I know my fiancee isn't a big fan of yours at the moment. But who knows in a few months once you make some headway making an effort to fix things, I'm sure I can twist his arm. At the very least you might make the cut as one of his groomsmen, especially considering the only friends he really has are on the BAU team."

"But I'll talk to him and smooth any ruffled feathers. I want you guys to be friends or at the very least cordial and polite to one another, for mine and Emily's sakes. And for Gracie's, she absolutely adores him, honestly I think seeing him with her, is when I first knew I was falling in love with him."

"So you're not going to tell me who this guy is, obviously it's someone I know."

"You're right, you two are already acquainted with one another, and have worked together before. That's all I'll say on the matter for now, I haven't had a chance to speak to him since you've returned. And Emily has been my main priority since you showed up."

"Jess, I promise whoever it is, I will try and make an effort to play nice."

"Thank Aaron, I'm holding you to that."

"I would expect nothing less from you. And I'm sure Emily will help you keep me in line, she's better at that than anyone."

"She's a good wing woman and friend, I have no doubt as my maid of honour she's going to have her work cut out for her. But she's definitely the best mediator for the job if you boys don't behave."

Jessica chuckled seeing him good naturedly roll his eyes, the expression one Emily used frequently in situations like this. She felt at peace, having even more renewed hope everything was going to all work out.

"Jess, I also want to thank you for always being there for Jack. I appreciate you keeping in touch with him after, trying to maintain your relationship. I would very much like to take you up your offer to have you present when I tell about Grace. I don't know how he will react, but I do know it's likely he's going to be beyond livid with me."

"I'd like to tell him this afternoon or evening if possible. I was hoping to have a chance to have an amicable conversation with Emily first, so I am aware of whatever rules she needs me to abide by going forward. And I was hoping to make tentative plans for Jack and I to meet Grace soon."

"I know you said not to put you in the middle, or make you play messenger. But if you could...."

Jessica cut him off, already knowing the favour he was going to ask. "I'll give her a call now, I'm sure she's calmed down enough to have a somewhat civil conversation with you. But you're right, it's best to try to at least tentatively sort things out somewhat before you tell Jack about his sister."

[sleeplesshq]

Sleepy Hollow welcomes you, Kell! We hope you enjoy your stay in town as we work hard to rebuild the unity that was once lost! Please send in your account within 24 hours to secure Samantha Logan as your faceclaim!    

Name: Sage Holloway

Faceclaim: Samantha Logan

Gender & pronouns: ciswoman, she/her

Species: Sprite

Age:  35

Occupation: Florist at The Bloom Room/Sleepy Hollow Scout

 BIOGRAPHY

Sleepy Hollow has always been home to Sage. She was born fifteen years after the barrier was placed over town, so the safety and peace of Sleepy Hollow was all she ever experienced herself. Of course, she was taught about the war and barrier, and how the witch coven would have to come together every now and then to make sure the barrier was still strong. All in all, Sage was able to grow up in a safe and happy environment, and she didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but she hated the idea of being stuck- of having no way of helping those in need outside of the barrier. It was upsetting to her, and she wanted to change that. So, ever since she was a child and heard about the scouts the Mayor, Althea, would appoint to go out into the world to bring back news and resources, Sage knew that’s what she wanted to do. Of course, that wasn’t entirely up to her as she had to prove to Althea that she could do it. Not only that, but she also needed the Sprite Queen’s blessing as well. 

 Sage came to both the Queen and Mayor, and told them how desperately she wanted this position, and Sage made sure she let them know she was reliable. She also began training so they would know a little Sprite could take care of herself in the outside world. After years of training, Sage was finally appointed a Scout, and during her first mission, she’d met another Sprite. They hit it off and they were a great team. Not only that, but they became a couple. Sage and her girlfriend would go on missions together, but one day, Sage would be the only one returning. It seemed hunters had figured out some of the Scout’s patterns, and they were attacked. Sage was the only one of the small group of Scouts to survive that mission, but she couldn’t return home right away, in fear she would be tracked back to Sleepy Hollow. When Sage returned to Sleepy Hollow, it took her a long time to get back to her normal self. There was so much death and suffering in her life now, and it was difficult to see everyone else in Sleepy Hollow hiding away in their little bubble. But as time went by and she healed from her losses, she understood that the barrier was for the best. Sage just prayed no one in Sleepy Hollow would ever experience the pain and grief she had, so Sage kept her job as a Scout so others wouldn’t have to, and she could take care of Sleepy Hollow.

 Now that the barrier is open, Sage is trying to find herself in this new way of life. She’s on guard but she’s managed to heal enough to find at least some of her old, bubbly self. Sage now works as a florist at The Bloom Room in town, a place her girlfriend always dreamt of owning someday.

[widow-maximov]

hi! i love your work and was wondering if you’d write a one shot where reader is thor’s younger sister and it’s her first time visiting earth. she’s clueless and doesn’t know how anything works 😩 wanda and nat get super smitten and eventually fall for the reader 😳 can we also get some protective big sister hela ♥️♥️♥️

Goodbye forever..

Pairing: Natasha x Wanda x Reader

Warning: Language, fluff, little bit of angst :3

Summary: First time visiting a place and being left by your brother, Thor for safety, falling into hands of Natasha and Wanda, will they help you adapt?

Word count: 4.1k

My requests are always open so feel more than welcome to pop in a suggestion for the next story :3

⸻⸻⋙☸🗲⋘⸻⸻

"Asgard is in danger at the moment so I had to bring her down here Stark" Thor explained as you stood not far from him as you looked around.

"That's not what I'm saying, she doesn't know anything here and I can't babysit her, I am a busy man if you haven't noticed" Tony raised his concerns.

"I'm not asking you to babysit her, all I need is for to stay here until Asgard is clear from whatever is putting it in danger" Thor had that charm at convincing people to what he wants, which was working on Tony.

"What if she leaves or something? Or accidently hurts someone with her powers, she's still young and doesn't know her full strength" Tony was sitting down as he slowly started to crack, but there were doubts.

Thor looked back at you as you stared at the one of the tools that were laying around "She is young but she has been trained by me and Loki but if you're still worried, Wanda knows how to control her powers so she can train her and just keep an eye out. She is the strongest so she can easily over power her"

There was a moment of silence as Tony thought "Okay, I will brief Wanda about this"

Thor smiled widely as he was quick to give the rather smaller man a hug "I will be back as soon as possible"

Tony nodded with a small smile himself as he asked for Wanda, Thor turned towards you and took couple steps towards you which caught your attention "Y/n"

You looked at him with a smile "Brother"

"You'll be staying here for now until I came back from Asgard" He place his hand on your shoulder.

"I could help you fight in Asgard, you don't need to leave me here" Convincing Thor was a lot more harder than anyone really thought.

"We already spoke about this Y/n and you know my answer to that, I will try to visit but until then I'm ordering you to stay here and you can't leave" Thor stood straight as he slightly tensed when this was mentioned again.

You nodded, it's not like you had a choice and he nodded back "Good" Just in time Wanda walked in as she saw Thor since he was blocking you from her view, he turned with a smile at her sight, to which Tony walked out.

He hugged you "They will take care of you don't worry"

You nodded once again as you let a tear slide down your cheek, this was a big change, you didn't know anyone here and you was slightly afraid but only slightly.

He moved to the side to which now Wanda had a full view on you "Wanda, that's Y/n, you'll be training her. They will brief you now I have to go" Tony explained as he walked out.

Wanda raised her eyebrows at Tony but her gaze shifted to you and Thor to which she took couple steps, Thor rolled his eyes at Tony "Well anyways, this is Y/n as Tony said, she will be staying here for some time before I came back so I just need you to keep an eye out and keep her out of trouble so Tony doesn't try to kill me"

Wanda nodded as she smiled at you "Okay, that's not a problem, If I understood from what Tony said I will be training her?"

He nodded "Yes, she has powers even though she has them under control but just in case, just give her some tips or something"

Wanda wanted to know why you were here but she didn't want to cross any lines, she will find out if you tell her and that's what she will stick to.

"Well I have to go.." He stated as he awkwardly waited for Wanda to stop staring at you.

"Okay, I will show her around then" Wanda looked at Thor with a smile as he nodded, he gave you the last hug and walked off.

You followed Wanda around as she showed you everything, your room, meeting room, party room, training room, anything that she knew of, the last was the living room where most of the team was.

No one knew you were Thor's sister and you didn't know they didn't know so you just went along with it, as soon as you walked into the living room, the TV caught your attention.

Wanda stood near the kitchen as she faced you "Well this is the living room where the team usually relaxes after missions"

"And there is the kitchen to make food, usually I cook since they can barely make toast without burning it" She pointed towards the door that led to the kitchen.

You looked and smiled "Thank you, I think I understand everything now"

She nodded "Well if you have any questions, you can ask me"

This pulled the teams attention toward Wanda, their eyes landed on you and they quickly gathered around the two of you "Who is this?" Steve asked as he crossed his arms.

"This is Y/n, Thor brought her here from Asgard for the time being, so she will be staying with us" Wanda simply explained.

They all nodded and Wanda asked again "So Y/n do you have any questions?"

You nodded with a small smile "Yes, why are there people stuck in a box?"

Natasha frowned in confusion "People stuck in a box?"

You nodded as you pointed towards the TV "There, they seem to be frozen"

Natasha along with everyone looked over to see what you were talking about, Natasha tried her best to keep her chuckle in as she looked back at you "It's a TV, this is already recorded so we are just watching back"

Your lips turned into a perfect O shape as you nodded "Oh that's definitely new"

Sam held his face as he stared at you "You don't have TV's in Asgard?!"

You shook your head "That is not a thing, no. We have advanced technology there"

"Well, besides that I'm Steve" He reached his hand out for you, you looked at Wanda a little clueless to which she giggled slightly and showed you what to do.

You smiled widely at the hand shake, and then moved to Sam and Bucky and Bruce, they all shook your hand but when it came to Natasha, you leaned down and kiss her hand as she introduced herself.

They all stared at you with shock, Natasha didn't pull away which was more of a shock for the team, you turned back as you looked at the team "Is this not normal for people to do?"

They shook their head with awkward smiles "Not really, unless you're are rich and you're looking for a business deal"

You nodded slowly and looked over at Wanda "Don't worry I will teach you everything"

You gave a quick nod as you excused yourself to go back to your room, to which the team went back to watching the movie but Natasha lingered near Wanda.

"What is it Natasha?" Wanda asked as she knew it was her.

"Do you mind me tagging along?" The redhead didn't waste any time.

Wanda looked at her with her brows raised "Really? But why?"

She shrugged "I have nothing else to do"

Wanda tilted her head "Didn't you just tell the team you were overloaded with mission reports?"

"Well they aren't interesting unlike our new female recruitment" Natasha leaned on a door frame as a small smirk made it's way to her lips.

"Yeah okay, it will be easier with another person around" Wanda nodded to agree and started to prepare things to cook.

⸻⸻⋙☸🗲⋘⸻⸻

For few weeks, Natasha and Wanda trained and taught you how to be more human, which you really appreciated. It wasn't as bad as you thought this stay would be, you grew fond of the two women quite quickly.

The witch and the former assassin felt the same, well they were more aware of what those feelings were but for you it was a lot more harder to understand why you wanted to spend more time with them than the rest of the group.

The two women started to fall in love with you and each time it was harder to hide. The team had their suspicions to which they were confirmed each time.

There was this one time...

"Okay, we need to somehow get some clothes for Y/n" Tony stated as he tried to think of a loophole.

You was standing in front of him, being quiet and just waiting for them to come up with a solution, your attention shifted to Steve "We can always just go shopping with Y/n"

Bucky raised his brows at Steve "As if you know anything about women's fashion"

Steve frowned "I rather think of myself as an expert"

Sam laughed "Yeah an expert in messing up, she would look like fashion show gone wrong"

Tony even manged to crack a smile at the comment "Sorry Steve but no"

Steve dramatically huffed "You guys are so mean, you need to give me a chance"

A voice spoke up from behind them "Give you a chance for what Steve?"

You turned around at the familiar voice, as you saw Wanda and Natasha walk in, a smile spread across your lips at the sight of them and you waved at them and quickly going back to your serious face after they wave back.

"It seems like Steve wants to buy me clothes" You spoke up for the first time since you was called in her.

"That's a terrible idea" Natasha spoke up this time as she walked past Steve with Wanda and stood next to you.

"Thanks for the support Romanoff" Steve sounded offended at the comment, earning a laugh from Wanda.

"You know what, just leave it up to us Tony, we will take care of this little issue" Wanda proposed the idea to which Tony quickly agreed and went on with his little project.

And so Wanda and Natasha snuck you out and went on a shopping spree to find you better clothes. You looked like you were from the medieval rather than from this century so a new wardrobe was in desperate need.

You ended up buying a lot of clothes and decided to explore a bit before coming back, you had like 10 bags in one hand and it was still light to you, it was pretty impressive and definitely Natasha with Wanda admired the way your muscles would flex.

The amount of dirty jokes Natasha had to swallow down, Wanda didn't even need to look into her mind, she was thinking the same thing.

You stopped abruptly as you looked at the creature before you "Stay behind I will protect both of you"

Natasha nearly bumped into you to which she peeked to see what you were talking about "Protect from what Y/n?"

"That creature" You narrowed at the dog that was walking lazily with it tongue out.

Wanda looked at Natasha with a smile at how cute you were with your knowledge "It's a dog, not a creature Y/n/n"

You looked over at Wanda "A dog? It wont try to attack us?"

She shook her head with a smile, she pulled the woman's attention who was walking the dog "Sorry, do you think my friend can pet your cute dog?"

The woman was quick to agree with a big smile across her lips, Natasha kneeled down and you followed her lead, she placed her hand over yours, you felt goose bumps at the contact and she placed your hand on the dogs head.

"See, it just loves pets" Natasha spoke softly to you as she watched your reaction.

You were sceptic at first but gently petted the little dog, a smile slowly appeared across your lips as you looked over to Natasha, inches away from her face, if heart eyes were real Natasha would definitely have them in that moment.

"It's harmless.." You stated out practically with disbelief.

Wanda smiled as she placed her hand on your shoulder, she felt her heart melt at the scene in front of her "Okay, let's go and grab something to eat"

You looked at the woman in front of you and thanked her politely "She really trained that creature very well"

"Why do you call it a creature?" Wanda asked curiously as she linked her arm with yours and so did Natasha.

"Well in Asgard we have Fenris Wolf, they are a lot bigger but very violent and it did look like Fenris so I was worried it would try to hurt you both"

They were melting, the way you felt like you had to protect them from a Fenris Wolf and put yourself in danger first, it was adorable and there was slight worry in your tone.

"Well" Wanda spoke with a huge smile "Thank you for worrying"

You smiled back and looked between the two women who were on either of your side "You shouldn't thank me, ladies should be treated like treasure"

An innocently precious look settled across the two women's faces at your words, their eyes filled with adoration and love, you were perfect and that's what they loved about you.

Or this time...

You had woke up pretty early, having your mind set to preparing breakfast for the two redheads, you wanted to do something nice for how they both took care of you and always made sure that you felt a little bit less loner here.

You knew how to cook but it was a little difficult to make anything here with earth ingredients, that didn't mean you would give up, you make sure Natasha and Wanda taught you how to use something called internet, you managed to search up videos and taught yourself how to make food.

With a smile at your success, you delivered your food to their beds, Natasha and Wanda shared a room together which made it a lot easier to give them your hard worked breakfast.

You memorized the way they did their coffee and quietly walked inside their bedroom, with food and coffee in hand. You placed it down as you slowly started to wake the women in bed.

Wanda was quicker to wake up, she sat up as she stared at you "What is wrong Y/n/n?"

Natasha slowly stirred as she opened one eye and looked at you and half awake Wanda, she never was a morning person so she groaned at being woken up.

"I have made food for my two favourite ladies" You stated simple with a innocent smile.

Wanda rubbed her eyes and finally was able to take in the smell and the sight of the food, it was waffles with blueberries and whipped cream, it was both of their favourite.

She looked at you again "Thank you Y/n/n"

She looked over at Natasha who had a smile but her eyes were shut "Yeah thank you Y/n I really appreciate food in bed"

"You welcome Lady Natasha"

Wanda giggled at how you called her "You didn't have to do this"

You stood up as you walked over to the food and give Wanda her plate and Natasha as well "Nonsense, I will be forever grateful how yous have treated me, with most care and respect so I shall give back something as well"

Natasha smirked "You should definitely feed me if you want to give back something"

Wanda raised her brows at Natasha's comment to which you proceed at her command "Anything you wish for Lady Natasha"

Natasha chuckled as she waved her hand to dismiss you "I was joking Y/n but I appreciate your dedication"

"You are most certainly welcome" You bowed down in front of them, earning nods and slight giggles.

This was just a pure moment between the three of you, something that the redheads treasured and adored, it was those moments that made them realise how important you had become to their simple lives, you bright them up and surprise them each time which was new compared to the boring days on earth.

If we were to go through all of the times, we would be here for days, but the point has been made to why the team had their suspicions.

Weeks turned into months and you definitely was better and had a better grasp on your powers, you learnt their language properly and slang which made expressing a lot more easier.

The only thing you struggled was your feelings, asking was a lot more complicated since you didn't quite understand what you should even ask, you wanted to just be with them and when you learnt about something called kissing, it never left your mind.

To understand it better you searched everything they had on kissing on the internet, realising it's something you wanted to do, something you wanted to experience with Wanda and Natasha.

So now that you understood that, you were determent to ask about it to Wanda and Natasha, making your way towards the meeting room where they were.

You opened the door and almost immediately they looked up at you "Y/n/n what brings you here"

You felt hot just at them looking at you "Lady Natasha, Lady Wanda" You bowed as you always did.

Natasha noticed your nervous to which she stood up and Wanda followed, she walked over to you with a soft smile "Why are you nervous Y/n?"

You smiled nervously at her "I wanted to talk"

Wanda followed right after with a soft smile just like Natasha's "What do you want to talk about Darling" They slightly trapped you in between them which you didn't mind at all.

You took a deep breath and just as words were about to leave your mouth, a familiar voice to you spoke up but to the redheads it was unknown "There you are Y/n"

You turned to face the voice as Natasha took a step in front of you along with Wanda, her hands ready to fire away with red mist, what took them off guard was your question "Sister Hela?"

They looked back at you with shocked faces, the tall woman stood in the same place but just opened her arms for you, to which you gladly took, you hugged her.

Living on earth for long and having company made you forget that Asgard even existed in the first place "What are you doing here?"

"I will get to that in a second, right now I want to know why these two trapped you?" The protective sister was activated as she death stared the two women in front of her.

You pulled away from Hela as you looked in the direction of the two redheads "They didn't trap me, they are cool don't worry"

"Cool?" Hela questioned as she raised her brows at you "Is this the language they teach on earth?"

She shook her head "I knew your brother did a mistake taking you here"

Natasha crossed her arms "I'm sorry but who are you?"

She looked with no emotions at Natasha "Hela Goddess of death?"

"Doesn't ring a bell" Natasha spat out with a cold glare.

"Thor's sister?" She answered but more in a question tone.

Wanda looked from you to Hela as realisation hit her "If you are Thor's sister... And Y/n is your younger sister.. That means Thor is Y/n's brother"

You nodded simply "Yes, I thought everyone knew"

Wanda facepalmed herself "Of course! That's why you were so clueless of everything on earth and your powers! You are a goddess"

Wanda looked up at you with the most huge smile anyone had witnesses, she was impressed and surprised at her discovery, Natasha spoke up with a smile "Damn she's more badass than we thought"

"Well, this interaction seems nice but I'm here because it's safe to come back to Asgard, Thor sent me to fetch you" Hela cut in before this can go any further.

You looked at Hela "Asgard is safe?"

She nodded with a smile "Yes, you can come back home"

Those smiles that were on the redheads lips, fell almost instantly at Hela's words. They didn't want to lose you, there was an obvious pain in their hearts at this news but they decided to stay strong.

You nodded at her "Is brother Thor here?"

"Yes, I believe he is talking with some people inside, so now let's go so you can say your goodbyes with everyone" She spoke up as she placed her hand on your shoulder.

"Okay sister" You agreed as you looked over at Natasha and Wanda.

"We are right behind you Y/n/n" Wanda spoke up through the pain in her throat, she was going to break and she didn't want you to see.

You nodded and your sister led you towards the rest of the people, you hugged Thor as you commented "Nice haircut, I really like it"

He laughed "Thank you Y/n, the long hair was really hard to fight with"

You nodded and pulled away, so you started off by saying goodbye to everyone, they had grown pretty attached to you and your weird outbursts, they grown to love you as you and your food.

The last two people that were left were Natasha and Wanda, you walked over to them. You wished you had realised what you felt towards them and acted on it before you had to come back.

They both hugged you, each face on your shoulders as you whispered "I wish I could stay more but it isn't my choice"

Natasha had a sad smile as she whispered back "Everyone has a choice детка (baby)"

You pulled away and looked at Wanda who let tears finally slide down her face, you wiped it with your thumb as you looked into her eyes "I will miss yous"

Wanda nodded as she chocked out "We will miss you too, make sure to visit more often"

You nodded and finally returned next to your brother and sister, you couldn't stop your heart practically breaking at the sight of Wanda's eyes looking like a waterfall, whilst Natasha tried to act strong.

It felt like everything was muted until Thor spoke up "Have you gathered everything important Y/n?"

You looked up at him, in this moment you knew what to do "No"

He tilted his head "Well then go bring that important thing to take with us"

"It's impossible" You stated.

"How so?"

You looked over at Hela who had a proud smile across her lips "Are you sure Y/n?"

You nodded as you wiped a tear from your cheek "Okay, what's happening that I don't know off"

"Forgive me brother but I will not go to Asgard because I'm not leaving what's important to me" You spoke up with more confidence.

There was a gasp from practically everyone in the room but you only heard Wanda's "I am staying here because this has became my home when you left"

You looked back at the two redheads "I don't want to leave them because they are important to me and I think I might have feelings for them"

Thor had a smile across his face so when you finally looked back at him, he spoke "Okay Y/n, I'm glad you are able to decide for yourself and what you need"

His gaze shifted to the Russian and the Sokovian "I'm glad you found a home in these two"

You looked back with a smile as you made your way towards them and finally blurred out "I want to kiss yous"

Wanda giggled whole heartedly as your outburst as Natasha giggled with her brows raised perfectly "Are you sure?"

"You said everyone has a choice, so I chose to want to kiss the both of you" You said in one sentence so nervously to which Natasha proudly smiled and pulled you into her face, kissing you and you kissed her back gently, just like you were.

You pulled away and instantly Wanda collided her lips with yours, guiding you and preventing herself from deepening the kiss in front of everyone, she pulls away, leaving you wanting more, just like whenever you would spend your time with them.

"Okay okay, enough" Hela spoke up with slight disgust in her voice, causing the three of you to look over and turn the whole room into giggles.

"But I swear if my little sister ends up heartbroken, I will haunt you two redheads to the rest of your life" There was seriousness in Hela's tone and they both respectfully nodded, acknowledging Hela's words.

This time you were saying goodbye, not to the people you met here but to your previous life and welcoming the new beginning with open arms....

⸻⸻⋙☸🗲⋘⸻⸻

If you want to join my tag list, click here and enjoy my future posts.

Tag list: @eilarch, @wandanatblogs, @madamevirgo @diaryoflife, @theprassebox, @daenerys713, @wymer, @marvelwomen-simp

[dreamescapeswriting]

Silent Treatment ~ OT7 [M] [Request]

WORD COUNT: 3.3K

PAIRING: ot7 x reader

GENRE: ot7, non! Idol, family relationship, smut, oral f recieving, female appreciation, we’re sorry sex,

A/N: I’m still not 100% there with ot7 smut, I am trying though so I hope that this is okay for you! I didn’t add too much smut as you only said a little. I hope you like it!

If someone had told you that you would be in a happy relationship with seven men, you never would have believed them. You never took yourself as someone who would be into polyamorous relationships but when you met the boys it all changed. They were kind, sweet, caring and they all loved you equally so it was no wonder you fell hard for them. Eventually moving into a huge home together and having a child. The only difficult part about that was explaining to your daughter’s teachers that she had different people going to pick her up from school. The dirty looks you would get from other people who thought your business was automatically their business when it had absolutely nothing to do with them.

“Mummy!” You snapped out of your daydream when you heard the familiar cry of your daughter’s voice. The more she grew older the more she began to look like you. Which you were thankful for. Neither you nor the boys knew which of them was the father, none of you wanted to know either. Collectively she was your child and that was the only thing that mattered.

“Hey sweetie, how was your day?” You questioned as you bent down to pick her up, placing her onto your hip as she began to list off everything she had been doing in class that day. You couldn’t believe she was almost seven years old, time flew by so quickly with her. 

“We did maths! I learnt how to multiply up to 10 today.” You giggled as you began heading back to the family car. It was supposed to be Yoongi’s turn picking her up today but it turned out he was busy and stuck at work. No big deal, you were mostly a stay-at-home mum and wife anyway since seven of them earnt far more than you knew what to do with.

“Are my dad’s at home?” A filthy look flew in your direction from the woman in the car beside your car. You weren’t stupid. You knew how everyone felt about your relationship with her fathers. Even the teachers in the school weren't best pleased that your daughter understood that she had more than one father. They expressed that they would rather have her know them as her uncles but who were they to tell you how to raise your daughter?

“Daddy Namjoon and Jungkook are but they’re a little busy, sweetie.” You strapped her into the back of your car, taking her book bag from her to check if she had homework to do. 

Normally it was Namjoon’s job to help with the homework, something you were trying to make happen so she knew it was okay as she grew older but not tonight. Tonight he and Jungkook were making renovations on the house so it was going to be you that helped her out.

“Okay, I’ll ask daddy Hoseok to teach me some dance moves when he comes home. We have an end of the year dance coming up and I want to ask Jaylyn and Katie to go with me.” You smiled weakly at her. The boys were all busy with their own things tonight but you nodded along, not wanting to upset her too much before you got home for the night. 

“Shall we put on some music or would you like to keep telling me about the dance?” You looked in the mirror at your daughter who pointed to the radio. One of her favourite things to do was listen to music. Something she had gotten from Yoongi. He was a radio jingle maker/ producer on the side which meant he was almost always busy with work. 

“Maybe we’ll hear daddy Yoongi’s radio jingle,” You told her with a laugh as you turned up the radio and began your drive home for the night. 

Your daughter had something from each of the boys, Yoongi’s love for music, Hoseok passion for dancing. Namjoon’s brain, Jungkook’s ability to be good at literally everything that she set her mind at. Jimin’s duality, Taehyung’s art skills and she took after Jin with her loud rambling in Korean. There was so much of them in her it was hard to believe she was only one of their children.

Once your daughter had finished her homework you allowed her to go and play while you cleaned up the house. It seemed that no matter how much you tidied up it would end up a total mess again. Clothes were strewn about on the top floor where everyone would come home and dump everything they had on. Shoes were piled up at the bottom of the stairs in front of the front door. Somewhat of a safety hazard. The floors seemed to always get dirty no matter how many times a day you cleaned them.

“What do you have planned for dinner?” Was the first question that flew from Jimin’s mouth once he entered the house. Shoes on messing up your freshly moped floors. Staring at him you almost wanted to slap him with the wet part of the mop.

“Jimin! I just moped!” You called out as you sat him leaving dirty shoe prints all over the place, seeming to have no care in the world as he made his way into the kitchen and heading into the pantry.

“Relax. It’s just a bit of mud.” He grumbled as he continued to go through the cupboards for snacks. Dropping different packets onto the floor that he didn't bother to pick up once he came out with what he wanted. 

“What did you say you had planned?” He questioned when you began cleaning up the mess he left and then began putting everything you had been using away.

“I didn’t, I don’t have anything planned.” You grumbled as you put the cleaning products away into the kitchen cupboards. Standing back up and looking over at Jimin who shrugged his shoulders.

“Nothing planned?” Jungkook’s voice chimed in as he heard you speaking. By now all of the boys were home and expecting something to eat as if you were the only one that knew how to use the oven. 

“Yes, nothing planned because guess what? I’m not the only one that knows how to cook.” You snapped as you glanced at each of their faces. You hadn't meant to snap as nastily as you did but it was getting to be exhausting being the only one that cooked and cleaned everything in the home.

“You’re the only one that has nothing to do all day. You've done nothing, the least you could have done was made dinner,” As soon as the words left Jungkooks lips the air seemed to turn cold and thin. Everyone turned to stare at him as you scoffed at the statement. The only reason you didn't work was that they had convinced you that they earnt enough, there was no need to work because who would look after your daughter all day.

“I did nothing all day?” Your hand rested on your hip as you tilted your head to the side. The boys said nothing leaving Jungkook to dig himself a bigger grave.

“I didn’t mean-”

“I do nothing? So I don’t clean all day, make breakfast and lunch for you, or take our daughter to school..." Jungkook turned pale as he realised how angry he had made you. 

"I don't pick her up even though it’s everyone else's turn. I don’t do the laundry, make sure the studies are clean or go food shopping, parent and teacher meetings?” Jungkook was taken back by everything he realised you did. He had no idea that you did so much leaving them to get on with whatever they wanted to do. 

“Y/n you’re being dramatic,” Taehyung mumbled as he shook his head, to him this was all easy work. Nothing about what you had said seemed as tiring as you were making it out to be,

“You know what...I don’t even have the energy for this,” You began making your way to the door when you heard Yoongi speak out this time,

“It's not like you work a full-time job, we would help but we work more than you do.” There it was. The "you don't work but we do" line. Something you had been anticipating since the moment they told you that you didn't have to work. Looking at each of their faces you knew from the moment you saw them they agreed with Yoongi.

“So you think being a mother isn’t a full-time job? That everything I do around the house is easy? Oh, please I would love to see you fucking try it for once.” You countered,

“You’re being stupid, they didn't mean it like that." All that you heard fall from Jin's lips was that you were stupid. You stared at him mouth hanging open a little but nothing came out. You just shook your head and stormed out of the room.

Ignoring them all as you stormed up to your bedroom. Normally you would share it with one boy a night, or two if you needed the extra cuddles but right now you needed to be alone. You walked past one of the studies to find your daughter fast asleep holding her barbies. Luckily she was away for the fiasco going on downstairs so you picked her up and carried her to your room. If they saw she was with you they wouldn't bother trying to get into the bed with you. 

Days passed by and the boys barely noticed you were giving them the silent treatment. They were all so busy with their jobs that they didn't speak to you. Meanwhile, you played the role of the pretty little housewife that made everything perfect for them while they were away. The house was spotless, your daughter was at school on time and picked up at the same time. 

"Darling, go and tell your dad's that dinner is waiting for them." You told her as you set the table for eight. Making sure your daughter's spot was right at the top of the table before putting their plates down and heading up to your room. There were piles of laundry sitting on the bed waiting to be put away. 

"Daddy," She called out as she walked into the back garden. They were all working on a new wendy house for her. They were trying to make it bigger than the last one so that everyone could fit into the house for tea parties. 

"Yes, sweetie?" Jin called out as she came bounding over to him, jumping into his arms and smiling.

"Mummy told me to tell you that dinner is ready," She looked at all of them and Jungkook clapped loudly. 

"Break time!" He chuckled rubbing his hands together and heading into the house. 

The dining room was empty and only eight placemats were set at the table. 

"Where is mummy?" Namjoon questioned your daughter who was sitting in your usual spot. She simply shrugged her shoulders before eating.

"I haven't seen her much and when I do she's silent which isn't like her," Jin mumbled as he began to eat the food you'd made, everything tasted fantastic like it always did when you cooked for them. 

"I tried to speak to her this morning but she ignored me," Jungkook mumbled as he pushed food into his mouth, 

"I don't blame her, you were rude on Tuesday." Hoseok reminded him of the day of the fight. That wasn't really a fight more like a disagreement. 

"We all were." Namjoon corrected him as they continued to think back on it. 

The weekend continued on just like that. You were sending messages to the boys through your daughter using her as a messenger owl while the boys did the same back. Monday morning came around and you were standing outside the school gates with your daughter. 

"Mum?" You looked at her as you zipped up her coat, grabbing her bookbag. 

"What is it, sweetie?" You questioned as you made sure her hair was perfect and she looked good to go. 

"Are you and my daddies going to spilt up?" You looked at her and then over at the school as the bell rang. 

"No, we're just having a small fight baby that's all." You whispered as you kissed her forehead. If you tried to explain it now she'd be late for school. 

"Go, I promise we'll make up while you're at school." She began rushing off in the direction of her class and you waved goodbye until the doors completely shut and you could head home. 

Home where all of the boys were waiting for you. They had collectively decided to take the day off from work so they could get to the bottom of whatever was wrong with you.

"So what's the problem with you?" Jungkook questioned earning a slap around the back of the head from Namjoon who was trying to be the levelheaded one throughout all of this. 

"What he means to say is, why are we getting the silent treatment?" Namjoon reiterated the question but in a different manner.

"Let me see...Tuesday night ring a bell?" You questioned as you walked past them and into the kitchen. Beginning to get started with the housework when Hoseok pulled you into a tight hug from behind. Your whole body seemed to melt into his as you missed the contact from each of them. 

"We were being idiots, we were tired and irritated with our jobs and we took it out on you." He whispered in your ear as he kept his arms around your tightly never once letting go. 

"Let us make it up to you," He whispered again, his breath making your back tingle as you shook your head. Getting away from him as quickly as you could. He knew what his whispers and touching did to you. 

"You think I'm just going to forget what you said with a simple, "we were irritated?" Because that's not how it works!" You snapped at them all, glancing over all of their faces to see if they truly meant what they were saying. 

"We didn't mean for it to be so mean and we're sorry," Yoongi told you as he stepped closer to you, holding your hand and running his fingers over your knuckles.

"We know how much you do and how hard you work," Jungkook stood up from the sofa and made his way into the kitchen to look at you.

"Now, please...Let us make it up to you." Yoongi told you again as he stepped closer to you. Running his hand up and down your cheek as you relaxed into his touch. 

"None of you have actually said sorry except for Yoongi." You moved closer to Yoongi, wrapping your arms around the back of his neck as you giggled. 

"So maybe I should only forgive him." You looked at the boys as your lips slowly began to kiss up and down Yoongi's neck, biting down softly right at the nape of his neck. His weakest point. 

"No! We're sorry! I'm sorry." Taehyung whined out desperately as he so wanted to have your body on his. It had been so long since any of you had been together intimately it was starting to become too much to be away.

Seven apologies later and you were laid on the bed making out with Yoongi while Namjoon's hands ran down your naked body. Massaging your breasts while his mouth wrapped around the other, sucking and nibbling on your nipple as you let out small moans of pleasure. 

"L-Let me touch you," You complained as you reached out to touch Yoongi but he moved your hand away. 

"It's about you tonight and only you," Confused by what he meant you went back to kissing him. Your lips moving in sync with one another as he held your face in his hands.

Suddenly you felt Jimin's lips on your core making you cry out at the sudden contact, 

"Seems like someone has missed us almost as much as we've missed her." He chuckled as he began to slowly lick stripes up and down your folds, nibbling at your clit whenever he could.

"Jimin!" You whined out, back arching a little as he continued with the slow movements of his tongue which almost had you begging for more.

"Hmm so good," Jimin moans out as he begins to dip his tongue in and out of you. Taking his time as he slowly licks your pussy, tasting every bit of you he can get. 

"So fucking good," He growled deeply, your whole body shaking as he continued to lap up your juices. Repeatedly flicking your clit with his tongue causing you to cry out his name, hands buried in his hair as you pushed him closer to your cunt.

"Jimin right there!" You cried out as he inserted two fingers into you, curling them up as he continued to suck on your clit. 

Your whole body was on fire as you could feel yourself getting closer to the edge. The curl of his fingers making you moan out, every now and again he would let out growls causing your pussy to clench around his fingers. 

"Don't take away all the fun," Yoongi pouted as he took your breast into his mouth, sucking harshly while Namjoon did the same to the other. Your head was spinning so fast you'd forgotten the other boys were in the room.

Watching as you were eaten out so carefully and lovingly.

"J-Jimin!" You warned as you could feel yourself beginning to get closer. The coil in your stomach was beginning to tighten with every bite, lick and thrust from him. 

"I-I can't-" You couldn't even finish your sentence before your orgasm ripped through your body. Your eyes shutting tightly as you cried out his name. Hips bucking against his lips begging him not to stop until you rode out your high.

"My turn." Jungkook chuckled as he began to kiss up and down your body. Hands travelling down to your core as he began to rub your already sensitive clit. Each touch felt intensified from your previous orgasm. 

"J-Jungkookie," You moaned out as he kissed you sweetly, two fingers rubbing small circles into your core.

"Shh, let us take care of you tonight, it's not about us." Jin's whisper filled your ear as he began to kiss and suck on your neck. Hoseok's hands made their way to your breasts as did Taehyung's. It was going to be a long and very good day.

By the time they were finished with you, you were panting and dripping in sweat...As well as other substances. You'd finally convinced them into letting you please them. Girls couldn't have all of the fun after all. Whining out as you held onto Jin you looked up at him,

"Someone needs to go and pick our little girl up, I don't think I'll be able to walk straight for a week." You laughed softly as Jin helped you into the bathroom. He'd already drawn you a hot bubble bath with a mug of hot chocolate waiting for you. 

"I'll go and get her, we can stop by the library before we come home," Namjoon said as he watched you sink into the hot water, eyes rolling back as you finally relaxed.

"I'll come too," Jungkook said as he looked at Namjoon and then at you. Making sure you were okay before they headed out to go and pick up your little girl.

"J-Jin." Your hand reached out to touch him and he turned to look at you. 

"Can you come in? I don't want to be alone." You told him, the others had all gone to wash up and you would have been alone. 

"Sure." He whispered as he stripped down, getting into the bath behind you and holding you close.

"I really love you guys," You mumbled as you closed your eyes. Listening to nothing but his heart beating against his chest.

"We love you too," He whispered as he began to slowly wash your body off carefully.

Tagline: @lyoongx​ @mitzwinchester​ @rjsmochii​ @sw33tnight​ @taestannie​ @sweeneyblue1​ @jin-from-the-block​ @acciocriativity​ @mwitsmejk​ @taeechwitaa​ @justbangtanthingz​ @stillwithlix​

[urlkssknt]

last piece (4.5)

pairing - nanami kento x fem!gojou!reader x fushiguro toji

genre - parent!au, 7k

warnings mature content mdni!! mentions of blood and hospitals, car accident, miscarriage

a/n - i’m so sorry for this chapter coming out so late it takes a lot in me to actually sit down and write nowadays

master list

now playing - apocalypse, cigarettes after sex

Toji was exhausted, finding a suitable job whilst trying to find a place to stay was becoming harder and harder as the days furthered. Slowly, the motivation to live independently would decrease as Toji was met with the harsh reality of the real world. It was only getting worse when a certain woman would seek his attention. The same woman who had corrupted his naive mind into believing her advances were innocent. The same woman who was the cause for his supposed downfall; his own blood casting him out of the large family mansion only to be kicked onto the streets with the worn clothes on his back. Toji barely had enough money to support himself let alone a blood-sucking leech, who he couldn't let go of no matter how hard he tried, it was as if he had fallen under some sick spell. She held him captive, her venomous tongue sang a siren song whenever he threatened leaving her. Mentally, physically, and emotionally, he was shackled to the woman, dare he say, once loved dearly. The only way she would no longer occupy his mind was when a glass of whiskey was in his hand. Sat at the bar, Toji took a small sip of the drink, not even flinching at the bitterness that burned his throat.

As his thoughts of despair began to spiral out of control, a little further from him, a woman sat at the table lined with the finest silk and plushest chair, begging for the heavens to stab her.

Toji's eyes settled on you, an unusual look of discomfort mixed with boredom spread across your face making you stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone else looked happy to be sitting and dining in such a luxurious restaurant with their partners. It took the man a few moments to recognise your features, he understood where the familiarity he felt came from when he first glanced at you. Gojou Y/n. The youngest and only daughter to be birthed into the Gojou family, and surprisingly the most beautiful. Your family’s name was thrown around his household many times, it always ended up giving him a headache. The conversation would always be about what land your father had acquired, what your stupid brother did recently. Toji thought you were stunning from the obvious elegance you exuded to the way you even managed to keep a nimble smile on your lips despite being plainly uncomfortable. With stern eyes, Toji watched the scene of a failing date unfold in front of him, wondering to himself if you would make an attempt to leave at some point. Anything was better than drowning his sorrows with alcohol.

Meanwhile, you began to feel completely exhausted from just listening to the pretentious bastard your friends set you up with. The man wouldn’t stop talking about himself, telling you about his extravagant education, the sports he plays, and lastly the three exotic languages he speaks. Normally, you would be impressed at such extraordinary accomplishments being achieved at a young age but your mind lost focus in the midst of his insistent ramblings. Even your self-centred brother didn’t boast about himself in such a trashy manner.

You decided enough was enough, you wasted an evening on some idiot when you could have been back in the safety of your cozy pyjamas, sitting on the sofa of your apartment in front of your tv, rewatching your favourite sitcom. Mustering up enough courage to raise your voice, in order to actually be heard, “It’s getting late,” you felt bad for wanting to leave the date (you didn’t, you would run for the hills if you could, even in your red bottom heels.) “I’m gonna take off,” you threw the sleazy man a sympathetic smile that wasn’t genuine as you gathered your designer bag, trying to leave as quick as possible, and save your ears from possible bleeding. “It was nice meet-“

A harsh vice-like grip latched onto your wrist, causing you to freeze in your spot like a baby deer caught in headlights. The man stood up from his chair to reach his full height, you realised how much taller he is than you as he peered down at you as if you were a child. “You’re a fucking bitch.”

“Excuse me?” you were baffled. How can a man, who spoke about himself for thirty-eight minutes straight, yes you counted, call you a bitch? Not only was he a dickhead, turns out he was a full on asshole, though there wasn’t much of a difference between the two degrading titles.

“Everyone warned me about you,” the man pointed his finger at you as his words were literally spat in your face, almost poking your eye out, “but I thought I should, at least, give you a chance.”

Other people sat in the restaurant watched the whole short scene develop with eyes trained on you like hawks. Some were whispering to one another about the uncomfortable site before them, the other half carried on with their evening’s acting like it was normal for a man to intimidate a woman to such a harsh degree. It made Toji scoff against the crystal glass. No one was going to help you, he was completely sure of that. The idiots, Toji thought to himself as he got up from his seat at the bar, taking one last long sip of the whiskey. Did no one in this whole entire restaurant know who you are?

A rough hand wrapped around your wrist loosely, just having a light hold on your limb whilst the other hand pushed off your date’s hand from you, roughly. A man slotted himself in front you as if to shield you from the secretive stares of onlookers. Your view becomes obstructed, all you could see was the material hugging the length of his large shoulders, broad enough for someone to cross an ocean on them.

“She said she’s leaving,” The unknown man’s voice was rough when he spoke with such authority, yet it was smooth like silk. “So why don’t you sit back down before I make this a little ugly?”

You were stunned when your date backed away and cowered in fear from the intimidating stare the other man gave him, it seemed like your date’s height didn’t faze the slightly shorter man at all. The dark haired man looked over his shoulder to give you a dazzling smile, one that made your cheeks burn and stomach warm. He guided you out of the restaurant gently so you both stood beside each other in the street.

With a sigh, you fumbled with your purse to find the box of cigarettes and silver metal lighter, not noticing the green eyes that were studying your movements with curiosity. No words were exchanged between the pair of you as you brought the lit flame towards the end of the small white stick, taking an extra long drag to calm the anger flowing through your veins.

“Mind if I use your lighter?” The rich voice spoke again. God, now that was something you could listen to all day. The man had pulled out his own cigarette, dangling it between the pillows of his plush lips. He muttered a small ‘thank you,’ as your hand neared the end of his cigarette, the other free hand cupped to shield the flame. You were much more beautiful up close, Toji could see the glimmer of the sparkly powder against your cheekbones shining under the low lighting outside. “Pretty girls shouldn’t smoke.”

“Good thing I’m a woman,” you answer in a simple tone after exhaling into the cold air of the night, you wished you wore a warmer jacket. You could feel an insistent stare from the man next to you, it caused a shiver to run through your whole body.

The man chuckled softly, making you turn to face him. For the first time that night, you got a clear view of his whole face. You had to admit it to yourself, he was extremely handsome, his eyes shone like tiny emeralds when they held contact with yours. “I like you.”

“I hear that a lot,” you reply in turn, it was the truth. Most of your ‘friends’ were either forced by their parents to be nice to you or they thought they’d gain some sort of in with your family if they faked their kindness. Loneliness was your best friend. “Normally it’s after someone hears my name.”

But it is easier to just ignore it all. Ignore the people you once trusted talking about you in loud boistering voices thinking you couldn’t hear. Ignore that their kindness was a double edged sword that you’d never be able to escape.

“Toji.”

“Y/n.”

A silence fell amongst the two of you, choosing to stay quiet and listen to the sounds of people laughing in groups from something humorous and cars driving past to escape the biting cold of the night. You would have to call a taxi to drive you home since your failed date definitely wouldn’t be, or maybe your brother might be willing to pick you up so then you could complain to him about the treacherous behaviour’s most males exhibit. Either way, your date failed.

“I hope to see you around, Ms Y/n,” Toji took your free hand between his, pulling you out of the trace you didn’t know you were in, you could feel the roughness of his calloused fingers but he touched you with such a gentleness you didn’t mind at all. His cold lips pressed a soft kiss to the skin. “Make sure the next guy you go on a date with isn’t a dickhead.”

You watched his large figure taking steps away from you to merge into the small crowd forming on the side of the street, never turning around to spare your curiosity another glance. Part of you felt disappointed that you’d never be able to see such a kind, beautiful gentleman again.

All you could do was hope, maybe you two could meet again.

“What are you doing?” asked Toji as his line of vision became obstructed by a hand, much smaller than his own, covering the expanses of his eyes. The sudden action led to the older man tensing up under your warm touch. Toji definitely didn’t like surprises, there was nothing fun about being presented with something unexpected. A sudden thought rushed into the front of his mind, it wasn’t a pregnancy stick, right? Toji didn’t consider himself to be a religious person, but in these few seconds, he found himself praying that when he opens his eyes, you’ll show him anything else.

“Tada!” you exclaimed whilst lifting your hand to let him see again. You held a small box in front of Toji, your voice was filled with joy and excitement, like you were the one receiving the gift. Toji knew that was just your personality, he thought it was a unique quality to have, being able to be happy for others. He admired that about yourself. “Happy birthday!”

And, thank God, it definitely wasn’t anything hinting towards a pregnancy. The box wasn’t large enough in width to contain a stick.

“You didn’t have to get me a gift.” Truthfully, Toji didn’t expect anything, not even a simple cake. Birthdays just weren’t celebrated as he grew up, the one time he did go out, Toji went to the club with his annoying cousin and nearly drank all the hard liquor. It was definitely not a night he prided himself in. A warm feeling spreads along his chest when the man remembers he had mentioned his birth date to you once, when you ask how old he was. Toji was only a few years older, it didn’t stop the ‘old man’ jokes you would make and laugh at, even when they weren’t funny. Sometimes, he couldn’t help but laugh with you, not because they were actually humorous but because of the gleaming sparkle in your eyes. You were just so adorable.

“I wanted to buy it for you,” you explained whilst taking the empty seat beside the large man on your sofa, “open it!”

The gold engraving on top of the box was a giveaway of how extravagant the gift inside would be. Toji had an assumption of the money collecting dust in your bank account, it must have been a fairly large sum of money because you rarely ever spent it, saving it for designer bags and shoes.

Slowly, Toji pulled at the neatly tied ribbon, the silky material between the pads of his fingers made him feel undeserving of your gift. There wasn’t an established relationship between the two of you, nothing tying you to him apart from the kisses he gives you in the dead of night when he’s hiding from her. You were a safe haven, never failing to look at him with a loving look in your sapphire eyes. Lifting the lid of the box, Toji becomes shocked at the gift inside, a Patek Philippe watch resting around a plush pillow. The sitting man becomes deadly silent, his eyes analysing every feature of the gift; from the brown leather straps to the gold detailing of the numbers on the face. It was safe to say the watch must have cost a couple thousand and here you just spent it all on a man who you occasionally have sex with.

“Do you not like it?” you asked anxiously, eyes shifting between the gift in his hands and the look in the emerald eyes that you adore. There were only a few things that you knew about Toji, gifting him a watch seemed like the safest bet, even your brother advised you to purchase it, thinking you were buying a gift for a boyfriend. “I-I can get something else, maybe a car-?”

“No, this is perfect.” Toji’s eyes connect with yours and he gives you the most sincere smile he has given anyone. The warmth on his chest heats up again, his heart skips a beat when your lips turn upwards into a beautiful smile.

Toji would have been happy if you had given him a lottery ticket, even if he won no earnings for the gamble.

“Happy birthday, Toji!”

Toji's lips chased yours as he gently led you down against your soft pink bed sheets that he found adorable. At the feeling of his rough hands squeezing your waist, a gasp fell from your lips causing you to split from the man. Your head was tilted back, eyes fluttering shut as your glossy lips fell agape.

"I missed you," Toji mumbled against your ear softly in a low tone, one that he knew would cause you to become flustered, cheeks dusting with a pinkish hue. Out of all the women the brooding man had been with, by far, you were his favourite, you reacted to Toji's touch in a way that made him crave you, always itching to have you. It felt uncomfortable, sometimes unbearable, to not be with you. Toji couldn’t understand why he was so drawn to you. One voice in his mind kept telling himself that it was only because you were beneficial to him, you could provide Toji a life of luxury, all he had to do was keep you beside him and toss away the other women, none of them could hold a candle to your flame. The other voice, offering a much kinder perspective, whispered words of admiration about you.

The large warmth pressing against the back of your neck leaves and then returns in the form of small circles being brushed along your inner thigh, leaving a trail of blazing heat to follow. Between your lashes, you gazed up at the man who had slotted a singular leg between yours, his jean-clad knee ever so close to where you needed him most.

For a moment, your wandering hands pause in their tracks, "did you enjoy your trip?" you asked with such a caring tone in your voice, a look of innocence swimming around in your eyes. Naturally, you were curious about the events occurring in your partner’s life. The pang of guilt hit Toji's chest again. He faltered for one moment, slipping away from you, before he immediately snapped himself into place. As long as you didn't suspect Toji of anything, everything will be fine, he'll soon be yours like you think he is. Toji just needs more time.

"Missed my princess so much," the words of endearment mixed with the sudden friction against your clothed heat acted as a distraction and caused you to forget about the short minuscule look of worry that flashed over Toji's eyes. His sweet words rang in your ear like a never-ending melody. Toji pressed his knee against your clit harder, carefully watching how your back arched off the bed ever so slightly. He wanted more of you so he could forget about the previous events that had transpired between him and his 'other woman.'

Soft, gentle kisses were spread all over your neck, a sharp nip here and there, not hard enough to leave a bruise but enough to add to the wetness pooling in your panties. With a tug on his hair, Toji stopped his ministrations before being brought to you with another kiss. You moaned at the touch of his large hands groping you through your shirt and bra.

Your breath came out heavy as you glanced up at your partner, his emerald eyes glowing with lust, the smirk on his swollen lips reminded you of a hyena. "I don't have any more classes." Toji's eyes widened in response to your suggestion, reading between the lines. It awoke something deep within him. Your bottom lip was tucked between your teeth to hide the growing smile along your lips as you noticed the desire burning in the embers of Toji’s eyes.

The loose shirt around you was practically ripped to shreds in Toji's hands as he tore the fabric of you like the cloth was offending him. “You're a naughty girl," Toji pulled the simple shirt he wore off his body, exposing the sharp muscles of his abdomen. You drooled at the sight like a baby looking at candy.

Without warning, two long digits were pushed past your cunt, fingertips grazing against a certain spongy spot. Intently, Toji watched as your walls swallowed him in completely, thick fingers stretching you out in preparation for his cock. One of Toji's favourite things to do was tease you with his fingers as you tried your hardest to complete an assignment. You could never reject his advances, his touch being too intoxicating. Your arousal covered his fingers as he pulled them out swiftly, only to thrust them back into you. Toji kept up at this agonising pace, dutifully watching how your hips would buck in order to gain some form of extra friction.

"You look like you can't take my fingers," the speed of his fingers increased as the tone in Toji’s voice mocked you in delight, "how can my princess take my cock?"

"I can! I can!" You mewled out a cry.

"Funny that," Toji let out a dark chuckle, "I didn't hear a 'please' anywhere."

"Please," your beg sounded more like a whine, your voice a pitch higher than before, desperate to reach your climax, “let me cum, daddy, please."

Toji curled his fingers with skill, hitting the bundle of nerves that was bound to add tension to the coil forming in your lower stomach. A twisted idea came to Toji's mind. The older man lowered himself till he could latch himself onto your chest, stuffing his mouth full with your breast, sucking on the mound as his hot tongue swirled around your peak, his other hand twisting your other nipple between his fingers. The added stimulation emitted a loud moan to fall onto Toji's ears, his favourite sound in the world, akin to a symphony. The convulsing of your gummy walls around Toji's fingers let him know you were close. Just as you could feel yourself reach your high, the touches along your chest paused and the fingers between your thighs were pulled out, a string of your slick following Toji's fingers keeping you both connected.

You could have come at the sight of Toji sucking on his fingers like a lollipop whilst his dick stood hard and proud between his fist. The sight made you feel ten times hotter.

"You taste amazing, can't believe I went a week without you."

Already knowing, Toji rummaged through your nightstand for the familiar box that contained all the condoms, as much as he enjoys unprotected sex, Toji respects your wishes of precaution. He wouldn't dare to force you into doing something that made you uncomfortable. As shitty as life was to him, Toji was determined to protect you from harm's way whenever you were together because you deserve the best. Once the condom was rolled on, the older man returned to his space towering over you, a steady arm keeping him up as he lined himself up with the entrance of your wet cunt. Toji took a moment for your appearance to sink into his mind like a sponge with water. A deep blush flushed your cheeks, as if from embarrassment but Toji knew better, as your lips deepened in colour from his vicious attacks.

The flushed head of his cock is pushed through your folds, collecting all the glistening fluid, not letting a single drop go to waste as it coats around his dick like a lubricant. You utter a curse at the feeling of the cockhead inching into you. Gently, you squeeze Toji's bicep to attract his attention, his eyes leave from the lewd sight of where your bodies connect to your blown out dazed eyes. "Can you be a bit gentle today?" you ask shyly, "my back just hurts."

The dark haired man quickly nods at your request, noting to give you a massage later with the muscle relief cream that he had bought from the convenience store down the road. "Whatever my princess wants, she gets."

Toji could easily say meaningless sweet nothings every second of the day and you’d willingly believe him, most of the time he meant those afflictions because only you were deserving of such pure kindness. What Toji didn’t know is that you knew about the work trips, it was easy to tell when he’d never let you use his phone or take items of his clothes.

You knew but for the sake of not being alone, you chose to stay naive and believe his ribbon-wrapped lies.

"What if I want you?"

"You have me,” he emphasised his promise with a sharp thrust, “you have all of me."

You watched the rain as it pelted against the glass window, creating harsh sounds that gently echoed in your room. It was the second time it had rained today. A warm hand slivered its way under your shirt to graze against your skin, the sudden touch raising the hair on your arms. Toji began humming a simple song that he had heard earlier and was annoyingly stuck in his head, he didn’t even like the song that much. There weren’t many things he liked; loud noises, large crowds, sour sweets. Yet, Toji enjoyed your presence, he found himself craving you instead of those cigarettes that he promised to never touch again but kept in the pocket of his jacket, just in case.

“You don’t love me, right?” your voice sounded so small like you were afraid of the answer, and you were. Toji’s rejection was a thought that terrified you. “I know this is just..” you pause to take a breath, to swallow the lump that was forming. “A silly thing for you.”

The steady breaths against your neck halted, your stomach churned as you braved yourself for the truth. Toji held his breath as he began to think to himself. Originally, your relationship was supposed to be short and sweet. A fling to look back on in later years and reminisce about. Toji couldn’t let you go. Your brother drilled it into his mind that there were other men out there willing to please you, do anything you wished for. Men who are richer, with a stable income, who have a name to be proud of. Everything that Toji couldn’t give you but he still grips onto you like a leech.

The mattress under you dips slightly as Toji turns you on your back and shifts himself to tower over your frame. The hand under your shirt gently grips your waist as most of his weight is put onto the arm holding him up. Toji felt his throat run dry as he tried to form the words crossing his mind. The muscle in his chest began to pound harshly against its confinement as Toji registered the emotions on your face. You always looked at him like he picked a star out of the sky, and for you he would, hell he would give you the sun even if it meant he’d hurt himself in the process. There was no look of anger like he was expecting, you were so patient with him. The two of you had been together for two years now, where you never failed to shower him with love and admiration. Suddenly, Toji felt angry towards himself, you loved him unconditionally and he couldn’t even utter three simple words to you. He owed you that much. He owed it to himself, to be happy with you.

“I love you,” Toji’s grip deepened, his nails that you had trimmed earlier creating crescent shapes on the canvas that is your skin, “very much.” The words of affection felt alien on his tongue, he had finally voiced his confession to you. Toji was a man that never blushed, not even when he was in year seven and had his first kiss, but seeing the grin that stretched from ear-to-ear on your face, his cheeks couldn’t help but darken in colour. “Don’t ever doubt my love for you,” Toji mumbled into the crook of your neck, hiding the few salty tears that escaped from his emerald eyes, quickly feeling embarrassed, “please.”

Gentle, soft pats of your hand along his back helped the rapid beating of his heart to calm down, internally, Toji scowled himself for acting like a teenager who had just been confessed to. The rain still poured down onto the streets, the sheets were still warm, everything still felt the same. Toji knew that loving you became his norm, he wouldn’t know how to function without you, as much as the dependency scared him, it also brought comfort; he was still capable of loving.

You ran your fingers through his raven locks before kissing his forehead. “You'll be my baby.”

Despite his concealed face, you could feel the corners of his mouth turning upwards into a smile, “and you’ll be my princess.”

“Why are you mad at me?” You ask desperately in a plea to understand why your boyfriend dragged you out of the hospital room like you were some criminal he was arresting. Contrary to what many believed, Toji was caring and gentle towards you, never so much as touching a hair on your head. But today, a new ferocious side you had never witnessed before and been brought out. There was always something Toji was hiding from you, keeping you in the dark for as long as possible, completely out of the loop so you’d ever understand and continue to be oblivious. You could easily find out what it was, that wasn’t the difficult part. But it seemed that through the whole duration of your relationship Toji was keeping a part of himself from you. Patiently, you have waited for five years and he still won’t open up to you about his family and childhood. All you knew was that his family disowned him due to some petty reason, which he won’t reveal to you. There was an inkling feeling at the back of the mind that it had something to do with the reason why Toji leaves you for ‘business trips.’ As much as you wanted to go out looking for the truth, you knew if you dug a little deeper into his past you might find something you wished to be untrue.

As you stand rooted into the ground of the hallway, Toji doesn’t even spare you a glance as he keeps his back towards you, ignoring you as a sad childish form of punishment. He was so enraged with you, just merely looking at you was making blood boil with hot anger.

You hated being ignored. It was useless. Not talking about the issue will not solve the issue at hand. Quite frankly, you didn’t think you deserved to be shunned, you had done nothing wrong, all you did was go to the hospital to meet someone. You didn’t deserve to feel this immense amount of guilt, it’s not like you killed his firstborn for Toji to act so cold towards you. “Don’t ignore me like some child, Toji!”

“Why are you prying into my life?” His loud voice booms in your ears when he turns around and invades your space, latching onto your arms to grip you into his strong hold. “I tell you what I want you to know, I don’t need you going behind my back and stalking me!”

Toji had never raised his voice at you before, you felt scared for the first time. His emerald eyes didn’t hold that small shining glint, they were blunt and cold, just enough to feel like they were cutting you.

Your voice came out in a frail quiet tone as you mustered up enough courage to speak. Arguments rarely occurred between the two of you, there were things Toji did that annoyed you like leaving his socks in the living room instead of putting them in the washing machine, but this time, you could feel this dispute would mean much more. “All I did was visit your mum, she didn’t even know who I was to you.”

The frail woman looked at you with so much confusion when you met her, it was still fresh in your mind, like it was painfully impossible for Toji to have a girlfriend. She was kind enough to let you introduce yourself and give her the gift you held in your trembling hands. You had always imagined the day you’d finally meet Toji’s parents; he would be extremely nervous and jittery, constantly reaching out for your hand so he could ground himself, whilst you would sit by his side idly and tell him ‘it will be okay.’ Instead you had to walk into a cold room, filled with a heavy stench of disinfectant, all by yourself. He really didn’t tell his own mother about you, his supposed girlfriend.

“What are you hiding from me?” You ask Toji, trying your best to reach out to him, offering him a crutch to use - you. If he told you the whole horrible truth now, you would instantly forgive, how could you not when Toji was baring himself up to you? The one thing you wanted in the world that money could never buy. You plead again pathetically, tears brimming in your water line. “Please, baby, just tell me and I can help you.”

“You can’t fucking help me, no one can!” Toji would never be able to deal with his anger in a healthy way, for now he will just have to scream in your face till you finally understand. You are a smart girl but he knows he makes you lose all your senses. A look of worry covers your expression, this face was different to the normal one Toji was so used to seeing every time you waited to get a grade back for an assignment. “If I see you snooping around again Y/n, I swear to God-“

His voice was much quieter, no longer sounding like thunder clapping against your eardrums. The roughness was still present. It began to make you feel angry. He wasn’t talking to you at all, Toji was just avoiding it completely.

“What? What will you do? Tell me Toji!” You scream back at him, raising your voice as loud as your now-dry throat would let you, until you could feel a burn at the back of your throat. You thrashed around in Toji’s hold, trying to get his hands off of you. Of course you struggling attempt is futile as your boyfriend is much bigger and much stronger than you, it was almost stupid to think you could escape his hands from a small push.

“I’ll fucking kill you, you stupid bitch!”

Everything slowed down until you felt the moment come to a simple pause. The man who just threatened you so viciously, holding a grip on you so tightly like a snake constricting its prey, held no resemblance to the gentleman who you knew to be your boyfriend. Your heart was pounding in your chest so hard you were afraid it would burst out of your chest at any moment.

“Get out.”

The grip around your arms immediately loosed till the touch was ghosting over your skin. Then the guilt of the situation finally hit Toji like a tonne of bricks. He didn’t realise how scared he made you feel. When he reached out to embrace you in a shy attempt to console your worries, your feet took small steps backwards away from him.

“Princess, n-no I didn’t mean it.”

“Touch me again Zen’in and I’ll kill you instead.”

The rain began to pour heavily. Anxiously, you stood under the small roof of the shelter, the rain still somehow managed to catch you from your attempt of hiding and drench you with its drops of cold moisture. Toji was taking much longer than you expected, he should have spent no more than four minutes in the convenience store at most. All the man planned to buy was a packet of cigarettes and a cheap lighter, there wasn’t anyone else in the store apart from him so Toji couldn’t be held up in a queue.

Cold air bit at your already-shivering figure. The harsh winds didn’t help, constantly forcing the rain to change the course of its allocated direction. Normally you liked the rain, you found it calming to listen to the droplets pound against the glass plane of the windows in your bedroom. It’s a different story when you aren’t in the safety of your home to protect you from the harsh conditions of the unnerving weather.

“Let’s go, princess,” Toji walks out of the small store, the automatic doors closing behind him. Your boyfriend gave your hand a strong squeeze as you both made your way to his motorcycle. When you left your home earlier the rain was just a small light drizzle, creating the smallest water droplets against your hair and clothes.

It was difficult to see in the rain, especially when the sun had already set, leaving gloomy clouds to form in its stead. Toji tries his absolute best to look out for any approaching hazards. The slippery surface of the empty road caused the tough rubber tires to serve slightly, with each dip Toji felt the grip of your hands around his waist tighten to impossible strengths. You never liked going on his motorcycle no matter how many times he’d try to soothe your worries about your safety, it was fruitless. A numbness spreads from the tips of your clutching fingers up to your arms as you press yourself up against Toji’s back completely, leaving no space to separate you from him. In your head, you tried reassuring yourself that you would only have to be on the heavy death trap for a few more minutes and then you can take a nice long hot shower in the comfort of your apartment

Toji couldn’t see the car emerging from the oncoming junction, mainly because they didn’t have their lights on so he couldn’t notice their presence among the pellets of heavy rain, but it seemed like the driver didn’t spot Toji either. It was too late to swerve out of the way, the car was travelling far too quickly for Toji to brake suddenly or turn into a different direction. A loud crush sounded when both the fast moving vehicles collided with each other at such a threatening speed.

One minute you were clutching onto your boyfriend’s waist for dear life and then the next you were sprawled out against the hard pavement. It felt hard to breathe. Maybe it was from the helmet on your head or the heaviness spreading across the whole of your body? You couldn’t feel anything but a sharp sensation in your abdomen, the pain felt like you were being ripped open viciously. The rain beating down on your form washed away the deep crimson liquid flowing from the side of your head. You tried your hardest to fight in order to keep yourself awake, however the pain you felt was so excruciating, it may be better to just let go.

“Oh god,” the driver of the collided car rushed over to your side, not a scratch on himself apart from a small cut where blood was speeding from. He reached into his pocket and quickly dialled the number for emergency services, begging the operator to hurry an ambulance over.

In a matter of minutes, a vehicle with bright flashing lights arrived. Two paramedics rushed to clamber out of the large ambulance with first aid kits in hand. The closest person to them was Toji, who was in a similar state to yours. Yet, the horrific pain shooting all across the areas of his brain wouldn’t stop him from trying to crawl over to you. Only when the paramedics lifted and shifted him carefully onto a stretcher did he really get to see the state you were in.

“My g-g-girlfriend,” Toji managed to mutter as he was fighting himself to stay conscious, his finger shook drastically as he pointed to your unmoving body laying on the ground. Why was no one helping you? They should’ve put you on the stretcher first, didn’t they know you were also in pain? The paramedic tried to calm Toji down, telling him phrases like it’ll be okay, the standard textbook phrases of reassurance. How could things be okay when the ambulance he was rolled into left without waiting for another one to retrieve you?

After spending a few days in the hospital, the doctor assigned to Toji deemed him fit enough to allow him to visit your hospital room. There Toji waited for what felt like months in your room, staying in the same position in hopes you’d wake up soon. It had been six days and you still hadn’t opened your eyes yet. An uneasy feeling grew in Toji’s chest as he couldn’t help but think of the worst case scenarios. He couldn’t live without you, as dramatic as it was. Toji would rather eat a thousand nails than never be able to see you smile at him again. Whilst Toji only had two small injuries, a sprained ankle and a scar along the edge of his lip from his crushed helmet, you had obtained a minor concussion and two badly broken ribs.

“I want you escorted out of this room,” a low voice spoke from the door of the private room. Instantly, the ravenette whipped his head around to see your grandfather stood in the doorway, eyes cold as ice just like his voice, baring no emotion. “How dare you injure my granddaughter!”

The ravenette stands on his feet so quickly he may have gotten whiplash, as a simple sign of respect for the old man. It was only because Toji knew how much love you held for your grandfather, whilst the rest of your cousins would cower away from his scary face, you chased after him. “Mr. Gojou, please, I can’t be without her.”

“Do you think I care?” The old man questions maliciously as he begins to walk over to the bed you rested upon, his slow stride sounding out loud footsteps that were known to instill fear in people’s hearts. At that moment, Toji understood what it felt like to fear something so badly you felt like you may die from it. If the Gojou Matriarch wished for something, it would become a command almost in an instant. “My Y/n has lost her baby whilst you walked away with just a scratch on your head!”

“B-baby?” Toji was shocked into complete stillness, the warm blood in his veins ran icy cold as he tried to process the new information. The doctor didn’t tell him anything about the baby. It couldn’t be true, there was no way.

The elder Gojou stared at Toji with eyes of disgust mixed with burning anger, not only for putting your life in danger but subsequently harming the great-grandchild in your uterus. “Are you some kind of idiot?” Your grandfather spat.

“I-I don’t u-understand-“

“Y/n wanted to marry you, like any dutiful granddaughter, she asked for my blessing first but now look where we are.” Your grandfather studied your still features, your cheeks were no longer pink nor had their usual fullness, probably from not having the capability of being conscious so you couldn’t eat. Your skin was dry and flaking at random places all across your face. This wasn’t a state any Gojou should be in, you shouldn’t have been in this state in the first place. The sight of your still face was so frighteningly similar to your grandmother’s, the old man was once again reminded of his deceased wife, the purest soul to ever grace the earth. You reminded him of her.

“The baby was 15 weeks old.”

🏷 @irreverent-dream @mystic-poteto @the-amaranthine @ys2800 @aphrodani @thoreeo @bryandechartisasmolbean @nanaminswaifu @youraggedybitch

➳ next

[plus-size-reader]

Domestic

Natasha Romanoff x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 2000 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Nat has a super cute wifey who likes to have mass dinners for all the avengers at their home

—————————————————————————————————

The arrangement that Clint had for Laura and the kids had worked for him.

By all accounts, most people didn’t even know that they existed, which in this life, certainly helped to keep them alive.

Having people that you loved made you vulnerable, and it also put all of their lives in danger. Clint knew that all too well, and made sure that no one would know who or where they were in order to protect them.

It was a good plan, a smart plan, and when you and Natasha got married, she wanted the same thing for you.

You were the love of her life, and one of the only people in the world she truly cared for. She had spent her entire life sure that she would never fall in love, or get too close to anyone, but you had easily broken down all those walls.

That made you more valuable than gold to her.

You were her everything, and if hiding you away was what she’d have to do to keep you safe, no one would need to know about you. It had been easy for Clint, and others like him, so there was no reason it couldn’t work for her too.

Fury understood that Natasha wasn’t taking this issue lightly, so he and Colson took special precautions to make sure that no one would ever be able to find you unless they had high enough clearance and couldn’t be registered as a threat.

After all, Nat had no shortage of enemies and getting ahold of you would be all they would be after.

You were valuable to them too, for a much different reason.

Getting to you would put Natasha in quite the predicament. Using you as leverage, there was virtually nothing they couldn’t find out, which meant it was in S.H.I.E.L.Ds best interest to keep you hidden too.

They had too many secrets to keep, and Natasha held the key to most of them.

So, she kept you hidden away.

It was safer for the two of you to just keep the love you shared under wraps and you didn’t mind that. You understood that there could be real danger if you weren’t careful.

It was just something you had to do if you wanted to be with her, and you certainly did. Quite frankly, there was nothing you wouldn’t do for her, even if it meant uprooting your whole life and practically going into witness protection.

However, staying there forever wasn’t an option either.

As with all things, nothing could stay a secret forever. At some point, the secret was bound to get out to someone; though, it wasn’t as detrimental as you had always assumed it would be when it finally came to light.

The visitors you had were more than welcome.

The knock at your door wasn’t one you had been expecting, but when you opened it, you were anything but worried.

Standing there, entirely unannounced, was the woman you’d married and all of the avengers.

“What are you doing here?” you gasped, throwing your arms around her shoulders before she could so much as say hello. Technically, you weren’t supposed to be so open right away, but you didn’t care.

You hadn’t seen Natasha in months, and you weren’t sure you could hold back much longer with her right in front of you.

Living out here, while safe, was lonely.

Still, Natasha with as much as she missed you was paranoid by nature. Even this much, out in the open, made her nervous.

“Inside honey” she reminded gently, gingerly walking you back until you were safely within the confines of your home. It was only when the door was closed and locked with all of you inside that Nat visibly relaxed.

Understandably, she was uneasy about this whole thing.

Not only was she telling them all about you and the secret she’d been hiding for years at this point, but she was also gathering all the people she cared about in one place.

With a past like hers, it was a little stressful.

Though, she also found some amount of comfort in getting to see you again after all this time. The recent events had made it hard to sneak off and visit you without attracting suspicious or unwanted attention.

There was silence for a moment or two as the waiting crowd tried to figure out what was going on, or what about this place made it Natasha’s very important stop. She had been very clear that they couldn’t go anywhere until they came here.

There had to be a reason it was so important.

Natasha had never done anything like this before, and until this moment, they were sure that she didn’t have any personal connections to anything or anywhere. A woman like her, doing what she did, didn’t get that luxury.

...or, at least, they didn’t think so.

Almost immediately, of course, Tony connected the dots.

There was just something about the way she looked at you, and the way you looked back at her in turn, he’d seen it a million times before. He’d seen it in his own parents on the rare occasions they weren’t fighting.

You were in love.

The fact that he didn’t know you existed until today, or the fact that she’d hidden so much from him didn’t bother Tony in the least. In the lives they lived, everyone had their secrets, no one more so than Natasha.

If anything, he was glad she’d chosen to share with them now.

“This is your special lady, isn’t it?” he teased, doing his best not to be as awkward as he was sure it was coming across. Natasha was just so cagey about the things in her life, especially her love life, and this was news to him.

Good news, but news none-the-less.

You weren’t entirely sure what to say at first, taking your place at Natasha’s side. You knew who they were, of course, and you’d heard a lot about them but you had never had the privilege of meeting any of them before.

You didn’t get to meet many new people ever, for that matter. You were a little concerned that your people skills had gotten rusty.

It was impossible to know who was dangerous or not, and you didn’t want to risk running into the wrong kind. Being on high alert made it really hard to connect with people, even when you were sure they were safe.

It was new for you.

“This is my wife, Y/N” Natasha hummed, practically beaming as she finally said those words out loud. She had never had the privilege before, but this seemed like the perfect place to finally make it happen.

This was safe.

These people were safe, and even with as nervous as you were to be meeting them, you knew that Nat would never bring anyone even remotely dangerous to meet you.

The fact that she trusted them enough to bring them to your home meant that she trusted them, and if she trusted them, you could too. So, rather than hide behind your beautiful wife all night, you stood up a little straighter and decided to just give this thing a try.

“Hello, you must be the avengers” you tried, ignoring how strange the sentence sounded falling from your lips. It was hardly a normal thing to say, and hardly the most smooth delivery you’d ever given but it wasn’t the worst.

...And no one seemed too offended by it.

All in all, it was an okay icebreaker, and before too long, conversation was swelling all around you. You had gotten ready to start dinner when they arrived, so it seemed like the perfect thing to busy yourself with while they talked and checked out your home.

It was a cute little place, one Nat had practically fallen in love with, partially because of the close family floorplan and mostly because of the isolation.

The two of you sometimes talked about getting a bigger place, or moving somewhere far away from here, but for the pair of you, this house was just fine. It was decorated nicely, your way of having some agency over the situation you’d been put in with pictures and artwork everywhere.

“So, you’ve just been living here? Isn’t that a little difficult?” Steve asked, sitting down across from the island where you were stirring a bowl of what looked to be pasta salad.

This whole thing was blowing his mind.

In general, most everyone else had come to accept the arrangement you two shared as just part of being married to a spy but Captain America was less used to this whole thing, even now. The idea of hiding away your life partner was blowing his mind, even for safety's sake.

It seemed like it would be hard.

“It isn’t easy, but it’s just what we have to do. Nat’s made a lot of enemies over the years” you shrugged, doing your very best to explain the situation in the same way you did with everyone else.

It was just how it was.

You sometimes dreamed of what it would be like if you didn’t have to live like this. If you and Natasha could just go strolling down the street, hand in hand, without the fear of being kidnapped and tortured in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately though, that fear was justified. There were people everywhere who would have gladly gotten their hands on you, in this country, and all over the world.

“Well, you’ve got some allies in your corner now too” he smiled, finishing what was left of his glass of juice and then going to look through your wedding album with the others on the couch.

Clint had snatched it from the shelf as soon as he came in, after giving you a hug and a kiss on the forehead as he always did, and insisted on showing it to the others. Your wedding pictures were some of his favorites, especially because he’d been the only other person in attendance to the event.

You hoped that for your sake, Steve was right. You had grown so accustomed to seeing everyone else in the world as a threat that it would be nice to know that you had some friends in this world as well.

“You forgot to stir the noodles, honey” Nat grinned, gliding past you to the stove where the pot was bubbling away. You had a habit of getting a little far off, especially in a kitchen setting, with a million thoughts swirling around in your head.

It was something you hated, but couldn't seem to get a handle on, but Natasha found it endearing.

It reminded her of the first time you’d offered to make her dinner and ended up burning most of the spaghetti to the bottom of the pan.

It reminded her of why she’d fallen in love with you in the first place.

~

Eventually, with the quick rescue of the spaghetti from Nat, dinner was ready which meant that your small, meant for two dining room, was full to the brim with assassins, super soldiers, and avengers of all varieties.

It wasn’t exactly how you saw tonight going, but as everyone crowded around the dining room table, you were anything but upset about that.

This was what you’d always wanted. A house full of guests, a warm dinner spread out over the entire table, and the love of your life at your side.

It was absolutely perfect.

You didn’t get to experience things like this very often, but you had a feeling that now that it had happened, this was going to be an ongoing occurrence for you and Natasha, who enjoyed these things much more than she’d ever admit.

After all, this group was her family, and it wasn’t going to kill her to be a little domestic from time to time.

[defilerwyrm]

Queer Exandria: Pride vs Prejudice

You know what I think about sometimes? The hypothetical state of a queer community in Exandria.

Pop off all the pithy platitudes about oppression not defining queerness that you want, but the queer communities of Earth do, as a matter of fact, stem from our oppression. We travel in packs for safety. We made spaces and symbols for ourselves because we were not welcome in most places and we needed to be able to identify each other—for companionship, for love, for sex, for someone who understood—without being overt enough to be, you know, murdered and/or experimented on by our respective countries. We formed whisper networks. We built safe havens, because the world at large was not safe—and it’s not now, but in many countries it’s just about the safest it’s ever been since certain religions infested the planet. The privilege of being openly queer, of being out and proud, without being arrested for it is very recent.

So we’ve banded together for centuries, first in little groups, then in larger communities, and for most of that time it was all underground. When a group is forced to build communities under duress, under threat of violence from the state and the public alike, that builds strong bonds. It forms a sense of cohesive identity. Just look at Black culture in America, or Ashkenazi Jewish culture around the world: when everyone else is against you, and they have the power and bloody-minded vicious hatred to pick off anyone they can, the group by and large sticks together, close enough that culture forms. A shoal beset by sharks schools closest. And make no mistake, I love the queer community, and I’m boundlessly, depthlessly thankful to live in a time when I can exist as a queer person openly without losing my job, my home, my family, my freedom, my life, and that so many others like me can do the same; I am glad that we’ve come to a point where we can afford to be quarrelsome. These are merely the facts of how we came to be.

I don’t think a queer community wouldn’t exist without oppression, either. People will always seek out those like us, especially when it comes to matters of sex and romance, or even lack thereof. In a more perfect world, one without all the various stripes of queerphobia that make it unsafe for us to congregate among those we don’t know are either like us or supportive of us, I imagine we would be something more akin to book clubs or fandoms: a purely optional community, or set of communities, united by a likeness of “interest” rather than sheltering from a storm.

So enter Exandria, a setting that canonically does not have queerphobic power structures; where a fluidity of sex and gender factors heavily into at least one entire culture; where another culture is shaped and ruled by people who can remember being a variety of sexes, genders, orientations, and even species; where homophobes are distasteful outliers, not the status quo. What does the queer community look like there? Are there gay bars, or are there just bars? Is it common for queer Exandrians to congregate in friends groups among themselves? They certainly don’t need to, but I can still imagine some might want to, and besides, it’s common enough for people to have multiple circles of friends—at least those with the privilege of reaching a large number of people. Is there such a thing as gay fashion, or is clothing loosely-gendered enough that cross-dressing is just dressing? Are there drag queens & kings? How do non-binary Exandrians signal their gender? I can’t imagine there’s an equivalent of a hanky code, because that was constructed as a way for queer men to find and hook up with each other in a way that gave them plausible deniability because sex between men was a crime. What use would they have for Pride and all its symbols when no one has ever tried to make them feel ashamed?

I think about these things a normal amount

[maximotts]

♡ 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘵. 𝘪𝘪 ♡ {𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵}

pt. i || pt. iii

a/n: ahaha remember when I said all would be fixed in this part? Turns out I lied. Part 2 was getting way too long and I didn't want this to feel rushed so part 3 will be the final part, but fret not, I'm finalizing part 3 as we speak because I didn't want to leave y'all at another painful cliffhanger. That'll be up right after this one before I go to bed tonight

warnings: angst, another semi-argument, Wanda reading Natasha's thoughts, a gallon of hurt feelings, panic attacks (Wanda)

summary: Natasha can't give Wanda space anymore after an Incident. aka the Secret Softy finally realizes she misses the Small Sunshine

words: 3.1k

masterlist. || navi. || request info/rules. :open

𝘮𝘰𝘺𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘬𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘬𝘢 = 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭

𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘬𝘢 = 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺

𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘺 = 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵

✣ ✣ ✣

It’d been three weeks. Three weeks since she’d seen Wanda, eaten any meals with her, watched her dark hair fall gently over her shoulders as she laughed, or felt her soft hands brush against her fingers for reassurance or in a silent request to be held. Safe to say, Natasha missed Wanda terribly. Even more so, the guilt from how deeply she’d hurt the person she cared about was eating her alive. She saw Wanda’s wounded face almost as frequently as she blinked and she longed to reach out and hug her until it was all better.

She had made attempts. The night of her blow up, Natasha knocked on Wanda’s door for a good five minutes. It was obvious she was in there, sitcom laughter emanating from her television. After a while it was clear she wasn’t ready to talk and Natasha understood; she wouldn’t want to talk to her either. She resigned herself to seeing Wanda at breakfast the next morning, hoping maybe a friendly smile from across the room would let the girl know she wasn’t mad at her. But Wanda was nowhere to be found. Two days of missed meals later and having tripped over a dirty sandwich plate in front of Wanda’s room and Natasha realized she was purposely avoiding even the possibility of having to sit next to the redhead when she ate. Again, Natasha couldn’t blame her.

Now three weeks in, Natasha settled on just walking in. Wanda rarely kept her door locked when she was inside, she and Natasha were the only ones with permanent rooms on the female residence side and there was never an issue with Nat coming in unannounced- until now of course. An hour’s worth of hyping herself up behind her, she took the ten steps next door to where she’d hopefully be able to fix her awful mess. Still she hovered outside, hand outstretched, hovering as she took one last deep breath.

Her hand never reached the doorknob.

Before Natasha could make contact with the metal, a hot spark of red zapped her hand and she jumped back to avoid further attack. “Wa-”

“Don’t even think about it, Natasha Romanoff.” The first time she heard that voice again, she didn’t expect it to sound so dangerous. Natasha expected anger, but she didn’t know Wanda could sound so threatening.

She’d be a fool to try the knob again, it’d only upset her further. Nevertheless, it was important she at least got part of her message out. “I know you’re upset, Wanda. I’m upset with myself too. I was wrong, so wrong. I never should have hurt you like I did, I should have just talked to you. That’s on me. I want to prove to you I’m sorry, maybe even earn your trust back eventually? Whenever you’re ready.” Natasha sighed, twisting her still tingling hand in the other. “I miss you, but I ruined us. Not you. I’m sorry, Wanda.”

Unbeknownst to Natasha, Wanda had wandered closer to the door as soon as she noticed the other pacing outside of her doorway. She wasn’t ready to talk to her; she couldn’t find a way to face her yet without fear of looking like she was coming crawling back without having heard an apology, but before she could think too hard on it, Natasha was speaking. Her heart grew heavy with the weight of Natasha’s words. She wasn’t one for feelings or true emotions and although fairly clumsily uttered, Wanda knew sincerity when she heard it. Swayed as her heart was to run into the arms of the woman she missed for the past week, her brain instantly reminded her of other words.

You still want her after she told you how clingy you are? She’s right. You are pathetic.

The ache was back, stinging just as sharp as the day she’d first heard. She couldn’t yet.

Wanda’s back hit the wall, sinking to the floor with her knees huddled close to her chest. She knew Natasha had just been angry when she lashed out, that she wouldn’t typically be so public with her outbursts, much less direct them towards her, but there were some true feelings within those poison laced words and Wanda didn’t want to have that conversation yet.

“Well.. you know where to find me.” Wanda hated how sad Natasha sounded; she must’ve been tearing herself apart. She despised not being able to fix things. Soft footsteps told Wanda she was fully alone again and although that should have let her relax, she groaned with how empty she felt once more.

✣ ✣ ✣

Another week went by with no exchanged words and Natasha was beginning to give up hope. She’d ruined everything between them seemingly irreparably; asking any of her teammates yielded a non-committal response, none of them were spending tons of time with her either. She’d given up on knocking, having only met silence or words of warning. All she could do was wait.

For Wanda’s part, she felt like she was going to burst. Her skin felt like it was on fire, nervous energy sparking right under the surface. She’d closed herself off to everyone, opening herself up to Natasha was a mistake, it must have been. Her last words to her had been apologetic and kind, but the hurtful ones still lingered and she felt stuck. It was tearing her apart. Even more so, today’s training left her disoriented- earthquake simulation. As the fake ground shook under her and buildings fell, Wanda was spiraled back to childhood and more recently, Sokovia, and although she played it off as nothing with others, as soon as she was back in the safety of her room she fell apart.

Before she would seek out Natasha, whisper her worries against her skin from under the safety of a warm blanket. She couldn’t do that now, couldn’t ask such a thing from Natasha after what she said and after near radio silence for a month. Wanda huddled in her own bed, tired eyes staring longingly at the wall separating her and Natasha’s room. The person she wanted -needed- was so close, but so far. “You’re fine. You’ve dealt with this alone before.”

✣ ✣ ✣

Natasha couldn’t sleep. Not for lack of exhaustion; she’d been training longer these days in hopes of catching more glimpses of Wanda, just to make sure she looked okay. It was working and thankfully from what she could see, Wanda was alright. The past few days were different though; she looked more tired, dragging along more and more, and now today she’d survived the earthquake simulator. To anyone else, Wanda looked like her normal self, quiet and to herself, but Natasha saw the girl’s hands shake, watched her stance go slack in a way she’d warned Wanda against many times. Afterwards, Wanda was off to her usual seclusion before Natasha could reach her from across the room so she settled for giving Bruce a stern talking to instead. He should’ve known better than to shove Wanda in that simulation, especially by herself.

She left a properly admonished Bruce, heading in the direction of Wanda’s room. Arguments be damned, she wouldn’t let Wanda explode alone, even if she hated her for intruding after. If her repeated self-reassurance weren’t enough to convince her by the time she reached her destination, the moans and whines from within set her mind. Natasha hovered again, weighing the consequences, but Wanda let out such a sob that she couldn’t ignore. “Wanda? Can I come in please?” Her hand landed safely on the door, an improvement from last time.

“It’s just me, I wanted to check on you after training.” No response, but no rejection either. She turned the knob, grateful Wanda seemed to have forgotten to lock the door. Whether it was a mistake or a silent hope for Natasha’s intervention, she didn’t know, but she would use the opportunity. She could barely find Wanda in the dark room, but her eyes settled on the small form in the middle of her large bed and Natasha was by her side in an instant.

“Wanda? Sweetheart, hey, it’s me. What’s wrong?” Her eyes were unfocused, pupils blown wide with fear. Natasha longed to scoop her up, but she couldn’t startle her; she didn’t even know if she’d want her there once she realized who she was. Still, it hurt so deeply to have let her get this bad; she could’ve helped if Wanda trusted her enough to reach out. Natasha waited for what felt like hours until Wanda noticed her, crouching by a bed was rough on her tired knees, but she’d stay like that forever if need be. When Wanda finally made eye contact, she only stared at the redhead, as if figuring out whether the woman in front of her was real or not. She took a daring step, holding her hand out to Wanda, keeping it in her eyeline as long as she could until her palm reached her head. Her thumb moved, ever so softly, over her scalp as a test. Anything she could do to soothe her. “I’m here, Wands.”

If Natasha weren’t so strong, Wanda would’ve knocked her over. She’d thrown her full weight onto her in an instant, clinging to Natasha for dear life while her lower half still hung from the bed. There were so many things tearing at her, so much emotion she needed to unload, but she was too overwhelmed. Natasha had come to her. Had ignored their month of silence and hurt feelings to try to aid her and it left her stunned. “Tash- Natasha.. I-I’m so sorry..”

“Ah, no none of that,” Natasha stood with a grunt, taking Wanda with her to set them both on the bed. She navigated her way to the top of the bed in the dark, only stopping when her back hit the headboard, letting Wanda hold onto her, “This is my fault, I’m sorry. I should have been here for you.”

Wanda shook her head slowly, burying herself as far into the crook of her neck as deep as she could. “No. I should’ve been able to handle training today. You were right, I can’t do anything myself. I’m weak and pathetic and..” Sobs took over any chance of coherent words, shaking against the warm body she’d missed so much. Part of her screamed to move away, to suck up her tears and prove to Natasha she was just fine on her own. But she couldn’t pretend. She was fine on her own, she could handle it, but she needed the comfort of someone she trusted too. Someone she could relay her thoughts too instead of bottling them all inside until they got the best of her.

Before she knew it, Natasha felt tears rolling down her cheeks as well. She hated crying, couldn’t stand being so outwardly vulnerable with someone else, but if Wanda could be with her then she owed her the same trust. Toned arms pulled the small woman trembling against her closer, pressing frantic kisses to the crown of her head, anything to show her apologies. “You’re not weak for your emotions, detka. It’s one of the strongest things you could do to allow yourself to open yourself up and trust me.. I should have given you that same trust and been honest from the start.” Natasha cradled Wanda’s head to her chest, rocking her as sweetly as she could. She knew she was holding her a fraction too tight, but she couldn’t help it. Reassuring fingers brushed through long brunette hair, keeping her as close as possible.

“Can you forgive me?” The muffled voice from below temporarily shook Natasha from her waterfall of revelations and she remembered why they were in this situation.

“Moya sladkaya detka, you were forgiven weeks ago. You were trying to help me and yes, we need to talk about how I deal with the aftermath of long missions because I do sometimes need time to myself, but nothing, nothing you did warranted how I hurt you.” Wanda froze and for a moment Natasha was scared she would pull away, but she nodded slowly. “Can you forgive me?”

That was a loaded question. Wanda fought to clear her thoughts, organize them in any way that could possibly make sense. She wanted so badly to simply accept and stay in Natasha’s arms. It wasn’t that she thought Natasha was lying to her; she truly believed she was sorry for what she did, but that didn’t mean those words didn’t still swirl through her head everyday since she’d first uttered them. It was hard to think so close to her. Wanda pried herself away from Natasha, not missing the way Natasha kept hold on her hips as if letting go meant she’d lose her forever. “I want to forgive you, Natasha.”

It hurt, but it was fair. She didn’t expect an easy apology and didn't deserve one either. “There’s a but coming, right?” Wanda couldn’t meet her eyes; she only avoided eye contact when she had more to say and was biding her time. “You don’t have to forgive me, Wanda. I’m willing to do whatever you need to make you feel safe again, no matter how long it takes.” And she meant it. Natasha would put in the work for Wanda, she was more than worth it.

She knew what she needed. It was the only way she could think of easing her mind. Still, Wanda promised she wouldn’t do it again unless she had to, but… she had to. “I need to feel you.” A hesitant ring-clad hand reached out, tapping Natasha’s temple to finish the thought she couldn’t speak. “Nothing traumatic, nothing too deeply buried.. hopefully, at least.” Rarely was it hard for Wanda to search out thoughts in someone about a particular person who crossed their mind regularly. She hoped it was more than wishful thinking that Natasha had her in her thoughts with some frequency. “Please, Tash… I need to know you feel more for me than just ‘clingy, weak puppy.’”

Natasha opened her mouth to retort, to try to take her harsh words back, but she knew it wouldn’t help. The thought of Wanda searching through her mind again scared her still. Last time left her shaken for weeks, months, after what she’d dug up, but back then Wanda was looking to hurt her and damn, she was great at it. She had to trust she wouldn’t do that now. Trust was so hard. A promise was a promise, though. Natasha took Wanda’s free hand in both of hers, a lifeline to hold while she gave herself to the woman she cared so much for. “Okay.. be gentle?”

Wanda let out a chuckle; Natasha’s sensitive side was so very cute. “I would never be anything but, dorogoy.” Natasha nodded, swallowing her fears with reassurance. Wanda was only ever kind to her, too much at times; Steve and Sam never missed an opportunity to poke fun at Natasha when in the early days Wanda was practically exploding with nerves around the redhead. Eventually they figured out it was less that Wanda thought Natasha was going to beat the pulp out of her and more that she wished the older woman would crush her with her thighs- but the two men waited for Natasha to figure that one out on her own.

“Go ahead, Wands. Just be quick about it, alright? I don’t want to spill all my secrets right now.” Wanda agreed with a quiet hum, shaking her head and straightening her spine before moving her fingers alongside Natasha’s head. It reminded her of the first time they’d officially met; a bittersweet memory of how stunning she felt her then enemy was, but bringing her trauma to the surface before those steadfast blue eyes caught sight of her. Now though, Wanda was careful. Only going deep enough to look at Natasha’s memories and thoughts about her. How surprised she was that Wanda was as powerful as she was. Her instant and ongoing distrust of her when she and her brother came to aid the Avengers in Sokovia. Natasha’s annoyance at her stolen red jacket, with an added and apparently shocking sense of possessiveness brought on by seeing her in her clothing. Interesting. Wanda would note that little fact for the future.

Red ringed eyes shone in the darkness, both locked onto Natasha’s and staring far past her. She wanted to be open and honest, that was the whole point. Consequently Wanda let Natasha see what she was seeing and with every twinge of irritation her past self felt towards Wanda and her initial attempts to gain trust with her new team, specifically with herself, her current self cringed at her behavior. But slowly things shifted. Resentment shifted to reluctant endearment, then care and protection and finally into where she longed for Wanda’s calming presence when she was stressed or wanted a confidant. The weight of vulnerability felt like being flayed alive and despite the hand Natasha held using one finger to stroke reassuringly at her palm, she squirmed as they approached that night Natasha came home a month ago.

“You’re fighting me.” The brunette’s eyebrows furrowed, pushing harder at the memory Natasha was keeping away from her. “Stop it.”

Red curls shook as Natasha hung her head; she didn’t want to live through it again. Every night it haunted her. She should’ve just talked to her, given her credit for being one of the most understanding people she’s ever met, having her see it again would just push Wanda further away- “I can still hear your thoughts, Natasha.” Her racing concerns rang loud in Wanda’s own brain, blocking out any hope of unlocking that dreaded outburst until she could get her to calm down. “Trust me, please. You have to let me in.” True, Wanda could forcibly rip the memory from her with ease. It would take such little effort, but she wouldn’t- couldn’t. She needed Natasha to let her see, allow herself to be this forthcoming with Wanda. That would speak louder than anything.

It took everything in Natasha to take her next breath, “Okay, do it.” Wanda breathed a sigh of relief, Natasha’s agreement giving her hope of progress. She slipped her hand from Natasha’s warm grasp, ignoring the small sad noise she was sure Natasha didn’t want to talk about. Instead her hand went to the back of Natasha’s head and brought it forward to rest on her shoulder, her nose promptly burying itself in the crook of Wanda’s neck. Her gentle floral scent settled Natasha’s worries; it’d been too long since she was allowed so close. “I trust you.”

[votederpycausemufins]

All my knowledge is of hermitcraft and the stuff people have written for the Hermit!Tommy Au but I kept having this idea and needed to write it. I also think i got a bit out of character halfway through because it was supposed to be short, but i vibed with it too much so now it’s long and maybe not 100% accurate but it’s still angst followed by fluff.

also @petrichormeraki wanted me to tag them when i posted this.

Tommy had been with the Hermits for a while now. He hadn’t really kept track of when he first arrived, but it had at least been a few months. Otherwise, time was a mess. The Hermits has all but legally adopted him and all the joy that came from them caring for him made time seem to fly by.

Doc was fun to be around because while Tommy was perfectly fine never going back to the SMP, the way the man acted gave Tommy a small bit of familiarity in a good way to his past life.

He likes hanging out with False, mainly for sparring. Never anything deadly, but even if there wasn’t a need for Tommy to constantly look over his shoulder, it was good to keep from getting too rusty.

He doesn’t really hang out with Zedaph as much as Zedaph hangs out with him. Normally the Hermit would come out of the blue with something new for Tommy to try. Flicking levers over and over for something that would normally be as simple as using a furnace just became fun for Tommy, especially if he had energy pent up.

Xisuma is someone Tommy doesn’t run into much, but the fact that he doesn’t is something Tommy finds comfort in. Even as the server admin, the man is very down to Earth. Nothing like Dream ever was.

And then there’s Grian. Tommy got along with all the Hermits fine and of course there were some he preferred over others, but Grian took the cake for him. When he first showed up, Grian was the one to give him a place to stay at his old hobbit hole. Professor Beaks had been left there and still used to the SMP and scared for his life, Tommy hid the pet bird as leverage for his own safety. When Grian found out, he mostly shrugged it off, but the tens of chickens in the hobbit hole the next day was proof of retaliation.

Tommy didn’t understand the underwhelming response at first, but responded in kind, using the eggs from the chickens Grian had left to egg the Hermit’s base. When the builder nearly broke the door to the hobbit hole, Tommy grabbed his axe, ready to fight for his life, but was taken aback by the cheerful look on Grian’s face.

After that, Grian had practically taken Tommy under his wing. He showed Tommy how to build more effectively with cobble, eventually managing to get the teen to have some variety. Grian also brought Tommy along on his various chaotic endeavors, leaving behind chickens, mycelium, and possibly some missing doors.

The two chaotic red wearing Brits got along so well that they sometimes spent entire weeks together. Because of that, Tommy was all too aware that the Hermits participated in MCC as well.

It made sense. A few of the Hermits vaguely recognised him when he showed up in Hermitcraft and a few of them looked familiar to Tommy. That had made him feel a little safer since now these people weren’t complete strangers, but it did complicate things. Every so often, the portal to MCC would open and the Hermits participating would go through. The closest Tommy would get to the portal was just before the Hermits left, occasionally giving a ‘Good luck Grine!’ or something similar to Grian as he went through. But after that Tommy stayed as far away as he could manage.

The portal there led to MCC. And from there, there was a portal that led to the SMP. If Tommy could get to Hermitcraft, others could too. And that idea was terrifying, no matter who it was. Dream was a worst case scenario, but even if it was Tubbo. Tubbo had exiled him, and even if they were still on good terms after that, Tommy could have visited at some other MCC, but he didn’t, and that idea likely wouldn’t go over well, especially since otherwise, people probably thought he was dead and Tommy didn’t care to correct them.

But compared to all those other times, today was very different. Today Tommy wasn’t at the sidelines to help send off the other Hermits, he was one of the ones being sent off. They had taken every precaution. Mumbo had rebuilt his Spookification chamber for Tommy with some alterations, specifically removing the firework method of alteration. The teen was also dressed for being on a team with Grian as the Cyan Creepers, so his familiar red and white shirt was missing. But under Tommy’s costume, he still kept the chain necklace holding his compass. He refused to part with it, though made sure he would be hard to access to keep from glancing, knowing at the championships, it wouldn’t be spinning wildly anymore.

With a comforting pat on the back from Grian, he and the other Hermits walked through the portal. The crowd of people that were on the side almost immediately overwhelmed Tommy, making him think that it was a bad idea all over again, but the sight of the two other team members for the Cyan Creepers reassured them, especially as they lined up for the cameras for some fun and silly times. Then once the games began, he was too focused on winning to think of much else.

Before long, the championships were over. They had come in fifth, which was a bit disappointing at first, but on the other hand, it was still pretty good and kept the spotlight off of him. When dodgebolt began, Tommy stood next to Grian, but with a crowd of people, a good game, and no perfect place to sit, the both of them wandered for a better vantage point.

At one point, Tommy managed to push his way right up to the edge of the viewing ledge. It was the perfect place for a while until the action moved, causing everyone to decide it was the perfect place. Enough people moved nearby that Tommy was worried about falling into the pit below, and he almost did before someone pulled him back.

Tommy was ready to thank whichever Hermit or even other player helped him but the words died in his throat when he faced the person who grabbed him. He knew that mask and neon green color. And there was no reason for him to help Tommy unless-

“I finally found you!” Dream spoke. He raised his voice to be heard over the crowd, but not too much to draw the attention of others. Tommy froze as he definitely heard the words. But there was no way for Dream to know, he didn’t look at all like normal.

“I-I’m sorry.” Tommy tried not to stutter, hoping just the situation of being grabbed would excuse it. “But I don’t think I’m who you’re looking for. I’m new here. Unless you’re greeting me for being new.” It was something he prepared before in his mind after Grian brought up the possibility, but it felt sloppy putting it to use.

“Oh don’t lie Tommy. I know it’s you. I guess you got lost, but it’s okay, you can come back now. I got rid of the exile for you. Aren’t you glad?”

Tommy was glad for the mask that covered Dream’s face. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see Dream’s actual expression. “How did you-” He started to speak, but Dream cut him off, poking Tommy’s chest, right where the compass was.

“Weren’t you paying attention to the teams? Tubbo got put with me. And between games he just happened to glance at his own compass. And wouldn’t you know it, it led me right here.” Dream held up the compass that belonged to Tubbo. It looked damaged, and it was recent. Tubbo likely didn’t want to give the tyrant admin the compass, but lost it to Dream anyway.

“Give that back to Tubbo!” Tommy shouted at Dream, trying to snatch it from him.

“Feisty now, aren’t you? We can take care of that when you come back. I’ll also give it back to him if you come with me.”

Tommy froze. There was no way he was going back, but what could he do? Everyone was focused on dodgebolt, and he didn’t want his appearance to have caused more trouble for Tubbo.

Tommy glanced at the crowd one last time before reluctantly nodding. Dream grabbed his hand in a painful clench and dragged him out of the crowd towards the SMP’s portal to leave. However, just before reaching it, Dream stopped. Tommy, who had been looking back at the crowd, hoping someone would see what was going on, turned towards the portal to see Grian standing in front of it.

“Heya, where do you think you’re going. MCC isn’t over yet. Dodgebolt it still going on.”

Tommy expected Dream to just push past Grian or even give some sort of retort, but the actual reply was shocking. “Uh, n-no, just… have to head back early. Th-the game delays made things run over. A-and we’ve got to get b-back for… something else. Don’t w-want to be late for that.”

Dream’s words made Tommy so shocked he forgot to breathe. Dream was scared, no he was terrified. And he was terrified… of Grian. Tommy looked back at the Hermit who stood unflinching in front of them.

“Really? I could have sworn that you were here when I arrived, and that kid wasn’t. And he definitely came from a different portal. I know since I was keeping my eye out for my teammates. So why’s he going with you?”

“I uh…” Dream struggled, struggled, to give an answer, letting Grian continue. “That’s what I thought. C’mon kid, let’s go back to the crowd. You can stay with me until it’s over then I’ll help you find your portal back.”

And Grian took Tommy away without any retaliation from Dream. Tommy was left in awe. Grian wasn’t even an admin in Hermitcraft but Dream was terrified of him. It was amazing! But at the same time, it made Tommy spiral a bit.

When everyone returned, Grian had made sure Dream left before the Hermits and Tommy did so Dream couldn’t watch Tommy leave. Tommy stuck to False’s side as they walked through the portal, Grian being the last to come through as he continued to act as a guard. When he tried to comfort Tommy after his run-in with Dream, he understood when the teen responded he just wanted to go home. The championships were exhausting enough without a scare like that.

The next day, Tommy hung out with False. And then Zedaph, and then Doc. Grian noticed immediately, but didn’t pay much mind to it. He noticed since Tommy had spent a full week only hanging out with him, so the sudden absence of the boy was noticeable, but it made sense that he would want to hang out with the others.

After that, Grian didn’t pay too much attention to the lack of Tommy until he ran into him while stocking the barge. Tommy had been buying something at the store when Grian flew in. He nearly dropped his diamonds in trying to leave in such a hurry that it finally concerned Grian. The builder started visiting other Hermits Tommy tended to visit and ask about him. No one really noticed much other than Tommy dodging any questions about him possibly going to hang out with Grian.

Grian decided to leave it alone, and he was definitely going to, but after another run in with Tommy, he threw that decision out the window. Grian normally wouldn’t have done this, but after trying multiple times to just talk to Tommy and being unsuccessful, the builder had to essentially corner the teen.

Immediately, Grian regretted it. Tommy was trembling, obviously scared, holding a sword in his hand. He carefully tried to point out that Tommy didn’t need to have his sword out, but instead of just putting it away, Tommy just threw it on the ground, also throwing down his other gear. Grian had heard of Tommy doing this before with the other Hermits, so he immediately recognised what was going on and dived to grab the gear. It scared Tommy more, but Grian wanted to make sure nothing ended up destroyed.

“Tommy, calm down, I just want to talk. Did I do something wrong? I mean, obviously I must have, you look scared out of your mind every time I’m around you. But I can’t think or anything I did and I don’t want this to keep happening. So can I know what’s going on?”

Tommy didn’t speak for a while. He just looked defeated and terrified. Grian called in some of the other Hermits to come help Tommy calm down, though at first it didn’t help. But over time, Tommy finally did stop looking so terrified and they moved to somewhere he would feel less cornered. It took more coaxing after that, but finally, Tommy explained himself.

“He’s scared of you. Dream is… actually scared of you.”

“Yeah, I’ve killed him once or twice. Plus my full name is Lord Grian Dreamslayer, so it’s kind of in the name.” The builder tried to say it as a joke, but it didn’t seem to lighten the mood.”

“He’s the admin and he’s scared of you. And you… I’ve been hanging out with you.”

Grian nodded. “Well yeah, we do fit together well. ...Did he say something at MCC to make you think I didn’t like you?”

Tommy shook his head. “N-No. You’re right, you’re fun to be around. But dream likes… liked messing with me. And tried to train me. And I hang out with you more than I had with him, and I’m more like you. I-If you’re somehow more powerful than him-!” The rest of the words stopped in Tommy’s throat, choking him up. Stress was nearby and gave Tommy a careful hug for comfort, which helped him a little.

Grian waited a little bit for the tension to calm slightly before he spoke. “I don’t know exactly what Dream has done to you. You’ve told us a lot, but you obviously haven’t told us everything, and telling us isn’t the same as experiencing it. But let me tell you that I’m not going to do what he’s done to you. I remember how you were the first day we found you. And I see how you are now- well, how you were a few weeks ago- and I’m happy. Happy because you’ve been happy. You’ve been safe and cared for here and it shows. I don’t want to force you to be anything, I want you to be you. Sure, I’m powerful enough to kill Dream, but I’m not going to use that power on you. I’m only going to use it around you if it’s to keep him away from you.

“And! And! It’s just because of how your server is. Here we can go to the end. We don’t have a set amount of lives. We build massive structures and sell totems for a single diamond each. We fight Withers for fun and make farms with them. We farm just about anything you can think of. And Tommy.” Grian paused, making sure Tommy was paying attention. “You may be from somewhere far off that none of us old Hermits have seen, but now you’re here. And new home or not, that makes you a Hermit too. Sure you can be like me. Or you can be like False or Doc or Scar or Mumbo. But so far, you’ve been pretty you. And that you is a Hermit.”

Tommy took a few moments to process it, but the message seemed to get through to him. With that, Grian stood up with a smile. “Now I get that you probably don’t want to hang around me much right now. It makes sense. Maybe hang out with some other Hermits and learn some new stuff to get your mind off of things. Plus, I also did some talking around looking for you, and got you this.”

Tommy’s eyes practically sparkled as Grian placed down some music discs. He greedily grabbed the treasures and stuffed them in his inventory, looking up just to see Grian flying off. Taking on Grian’s idea, Tommy decided to go with Cleo and try to wrap his head around those armor stands again. While he wasn’t a pro, he did manage to make one scene of the hermits all holding weapons and surrounding an armor stand in lime leather armor. Grian was right. He was a Hermit. And he wasn’t going back. At least, not permanently, he thought, clutching his compass. Maybe, there would even be another Hermit like him.