#‘when the roads began to crumble in front of my eyes. there was only one person I wanted to find’

[salty-an-disco]

Hello. Clarity by Vance Joy Contrahero. Send tweet

ASTERION, how are you so good at finding Contrahero songs????

^ this is me listening to that song and thinkin’ of the blorbos

[thefallennightmare]

Miracle-nineteen

Pairings: Noah Sebastian x Reader

Warnings/Tropes: forced proximity, slight enemies to lovers, slow burn, smut, angst, fluff, mentions of death, and swearing.

Summary: Reader is the merch girl for Bad Omens. It wasn't what she wanted to do with her life but when her mother got sick with Alzheimer's, reader took a job where she could to help with the costs. She thought it would be a one-time gig but the longer she was on the road with them, the harder she fell for Noah Sebastian; even if he wanted nothing to do with her. She needed a miracle to save her mom and her future.

Author Note: only happy moments from here on out.

Tags: @ada-clarence @nonamessblog @thescarlettvvitch @malice-ov-mercy @crimson-calligraphyx @theoneandonlykymberlee @yumikitten @blackveilomens @cherrymedicine13 @thebadchic @notmaddihealy @jay02bo @beaker1636 @jakekiszkasguitarpick @punk-pr1ncessxoxo @er3nslovergirl @iamdesolate @lma1986 @jessitpwk @themodern-daywednesday @writethrough @bngurngheart @dreams-that-are-anwsered @loeytuan98 @omens-in-reverse @loverofagoodbeard @jay02bo @niicoleleigh

My screams echoed throughout the neighborhood as I felt myself falling fast towards the ground; my death. I tensed my body for the impact, knowing that impact would either severely injure me or kill me. I could hear muffled yelling under the loud sounds of sirens that dulled out my screams. Right as I was about to hit, two pairs of arms caught me and we all ended up tumbling to the ground.

"Shit," the body underneath me cursed.

Even with the cushion, my body screamed in agony and I tried to move but hissed in pain.

Jolly, who was the one underneath me, slowly rolled my onto the ground while Nick, who was the other that caught me, held my head straight so I wouldn't do anymore damage that I might have already caused.

"Y/N," Folio was quick to kneel at my side. "Don't move, alright? It sounds like paramedics are almost here."

Tears streamed down my face as I tried to sit up, Jolly and Folio holding both of my arms down.

"Noah," I coughed out his name. "Where's Noah?"

Nick stared up at the still-burning blaze. "I don't know."

The sheer fear in his voice made the others share a look which made me with strength I didn't know I possessed, push them away to get to my feet; albeit slow.

"Y/N," Folio stepped in front of me. "You can't go back inside."

"It's Noah!" I exclaimed with wide eyes.

He nodded. "I know. But it's dangerous if you go back inside. You already inhaled too much smoke and your hand is severely burned. You need to get checked out."

Just then the front lawn was swarmed with various fire trucks and paramedics as they began shouting orders.

I gazed up at the house that was slowly crumbling and let out a strangled sob. "He went inside for me and he hasn't come back out. What if something happened to him?"

Jolly wrapped an arm around me to force me away from the blaze. "Noah will be fine. Let's get you checked out.

Reluctantly, I allowed him to steer me towards the open back of an ambulance as one paramedic was waiting.

"Who's hurt?" The young brunette asked.

Jolly motioned towards me. "I'm not sure how much smoke she inhaled, but she burned her hand pretty good."

The paramedic forced me to sit on the edge of the ambulance as she wrapped an oxygen mask around my neck.

"Leave this over your mouth for a few minutes, it will help you breathe."

I pushed it away. "There's someone still inside. He came back for me but hasn't come out."

She turned to call someone over. "Chief, she's saying someone's inside."

The fire chief gave me a stern look. "Just one?"

"Yes, as far as I know. I was on the lattice but couldn't make it down so he must have gone inside from the back where the fire hasn't reached."

Although now, the entire house was up in a roaring blaze, the smoke filtering high into the dark night sky. My neighbors from around the street were perched on their porches watching the entire thing unfold.

"Please," I begged with tears. "You have to find him."

The chief nodded before barking orders into his radio.

"Breathe this in." The paramedic gently placed the mask over my mouth and nose so I can breathe in the oxygen while she assessed the burn on my wrist and hand.

"It's nothing serious but we still need to treat it at the hospital."

Jolly nodded as Nick and Folio hung back. "Folio, you go with her. I'll stay back with Nick."

"No!" I ripped off the mask. "I'm not leaving with Noah."

The paramedic this time forced the mask back over my face and with an ice-cold glare at her, I held it there.

Folio's gentle touch brushed some hair away from my soot-covered forehead as we all stared up at the house, anxiously waiting for any hint of Noah. My knee bounced in tangent with how fast my heart was beating and the tears wouldn't stop falling. I was a wreck, body shivering from the pain and adrenaline, not yet calming down.

The fire chief returned to me. "Can you tell me how the fire started?"

The paramedic was wrapping up my burned hand, so I didn't do further damage and when she nodded, I let the mask fall from my face. "I don't know. I was asleep and woke up to my bedroom full of smoke."

"Did you leave a candle burning or anything like that?"

"No," I answered with a stern voice. "Whatever caused this fire wasn't my fault."

"Chief, we got a body! He's burned but has a pulse, it's weak but there. We're coming out!"

I shared a horrid look with the guys and almost pushed my way past the paramedic and fire chief when movement from the front of the house caught my attention. Two firefighters were carrying a limp body through the yard before handing him off to another group of paramedics.

"No," I sobbed while trying to run over to him.

Folio's arms held me in place as I fought against him. "Let me go! I have to see. Please Folio, please."

Tears pooled in his eyes as his lips parted to speak but nothing came out, his voice gone. Just as important Noah was to me, he was their brother so I couldn't fathom to know what was going through their own minds as we all watched the paramedic work on the burned body.

My mind was running through so many thoughts about what the outcome would be. I shouldn't have taking things so with him. It was only because I was afraid of falling so completely into someone. I was so used to putting other's wants and needs before my own that when it was time to find something good; I refused because I thought I didn't deserve it.

Noah was that for me. Even with our rough start, he was proving to me I was the one for him; past trauma and all. He ran into a fucking burning building for me. Who does that?

Someone in love.

No, I shook the thought from my head. Noah didn't love me. He cared deeply for me but love. There was no way.

I turned to look at Nick. "What were you guys doing here?"

"We just got back to Jolly's place and Noah kept saying he had a bad feeling in his gut like something was wrong. He tried calling you but you didn't answer so we drove over here to make sure you were fine."

"And that's when we saw the fire," Jolly let out a broken breath.

Folio gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'd never seen Noah that freaked before."

Bloodshot eyes glanced over to the body on the stretcher a few feet in front of me as the paramedics worked on hooking him up to oxygen and cover the burned parts of his body. His face wasn't burned, but it was swollen and bloody, almost unrecognizable. Almost as if he was in a fight. I stared intently to the only patch of skin on the left arm that wasn't burned and raised a brow.

Bare skin, no tattoo in sight and my jaw dropped with the realization.

At that moment, a voice crackled through the radio of the fire chief, my heart falling straight out of my ass.

"Chief, we found another one!"

"There was someone else inside?" Nick asked.

It was clear since this burned body wasn't Noah but who the hell was it? And where the fuck was Noah?

"Angel!"

Turning on my heels, Folio's arm falling from my shoulder, I watched in sheer relief when Noah walked through the front door, flames dancing behind him onto the lawn. His hair was disheveled and black soot covered almost every inch of him as he leaned over to cough, hands gripping his knees. Seeing that he was alive made my heart sore in my fucking throat as my stomach warmed my entire existence with a rush I'd never felt before.

Oh. Shit.

Was this love?

"Noah!" I screamed before running over to him.

He caught me midair as my legs wrapped around him, Noah stumbling over his feet but remained standing. My hands cupped his cheeks as I looked over every inch of his face making sure he wasn't hurt. But expecting to see burns, it shocked me to see cuts and a forming bruise around his eye.

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

Noah gently set me on my feet but kept his arms around me. "Are you alright? How'd you get down?"

I let him ignore my question for a moment to let him know I was fine.

"Jolly and Nick caught me, well more-so fell on top of them. But I'm okay," I cupped his cheek with my non injured hand.

Noah leaned into my touch and left a soft kiss to the inside of my palm. "I'm alright, angel."

Paramedics rushed over to bring us back to the ambulance so they could check over Noah, who in fact was fine. He told them he wasn't near the flames and mostly inhaled a lot of smoke, so they hooked him up to an oxygen mask. His hand never left the embrace of mine as I stood right next to him, brushing away the strands of hair away from his face.

"You're fucking insane," Folio seethed once the paramedic's determined Noah was fine and let us all talk amongst ourselves.

Noah shrugged before looking at me. "You all would have done the same thing."

"You could have died, Noah," I quaked.

"I'm okay, angel. I promise," he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze for added comfort.

"Then why do you look like you got into a fight with the fire?" Nick motioned to the cuts and bruise.

I felt Noah tense next to me as he stared at the body being hauled into the other ambulance.

"It was James. I found him inside pouring more gasoline into the part of the house that wasn't burning."

I choked out a gasp as the ambulance drove away. James set the fire. Why? Didn't he want the house?

"He told me that if he couldn't get the house, he'd make sure Y/N wouldn't have it. Though he didn't expect us to be here, he must have been following our band page because he thought we were still at the festival."

"Wait," I shook my head then looked down at Noah, who was still sitting on the edge of the ambulance. "James knew I was inside alone and still set the fire?"

"You made it out and James got what he deserved." Noah assured by pulling me into him so he could press his face against my shoulder. "I'm so glad we made it here when we did."

I laid my cheek against the top of his head and let him hold me tight, knowing that walking up to the scene of my house on fire and me hanging from it must have been a scary sight.

Jolly sighed before motioning behind Folio. "The cops are here."

Just then an officer walked up to the group of us and gave us a small smile. "Who lives here?"

"I do," I lifted my head away from Noah.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

For the next few moments, all of us gave the officer our statements on what happened and as Noah told his, my stomach dropped hearing how he fought James in hopes to stop him from starting another fire which ultimately caused him to set himself on fire.

The officer closed his notebook with a long sigh. "We had a hunch it was arson because of the strong smell of gasoline but an investigation still needs to take place which could take a while. The paramedics said you should go to the hospital to get that hand checked out?"

I nodded. "Um, can you tell me what will happen to James?"

"As of right now he's stable but can't speak with him until the hospital checks him out. When we do, you'll be the first to know."

"Thank you, officer." Nick smiled.

Noah slowly stood to his feet with a groan and hand to his chest. "We should get Y/N to the hospital."

I frowned. "Are you sure you're alright? It sounds like you're struggling to breathe."

"Don't worry about me. Let's take care of you first, alright?" He kissed my forehead, and I melted into him, letting his strong embrace ease the erratic pounding of my heart that hadn't stopped since I woke up.

We watched for a few long moments as the firefighters doused the flames with water, what once was my home now reduced to rubble and ash. Everything I owned gone in a matter of seconds. Where would I go? I had nothing, no money, and the clothes on my back were burned and ruined.

Noah looked into my eyes, almost as if he could read my mind, and pulled me tighter to his chest. He breathed me in as his lips brushed over the top of my head.

"I've lost everything," I cried into his chest. "What the fuck did I do in life to deserve this? It's one thing after the other. I just want a fucking break, Noah. Please. I can't."

I sobbed uncontrollably into his chest as his hands ran soothing circles over my back, his soft voice cooing in my ear.

"It's not fair!" I wailed while pulling away from his chest so I could look up at him. "I did everything right! I took care of my mom when she was sick. I made sure she had everything she needed to fight her disease. I gave her everything, and she repaid me by lying about my entire life!"

Suddenly everything I've gone through the last few weeks came crashing down and I let myself to break down in Noah's arms. His thumb brushed away the tears as they continued to fall, the salty taste bitter on my tongue.

"Everything is gone. I tried to get my laptop that had pictures of all of us but I-I couldn't," I hiccupped. "That's all I care about and it's gone. I wasted time in grabbing pictures of my mom when I could have grabbed something more valuable and important."

With a shaky breath, I continued. "I have nowhere to go, Noah. No where to live. I can't afford a hotel or another apartment."

"Hey," Noah lifted my chin up towards him. "We'll get those pictures back, alright? What's important is that you're alive and here. With me; with us. You can stay with me and Jolly."

The latter agreed with a smile. "There's no way we would leave you alone, Y/N."

My bottom lip trembled with a sob. "I don't deser-."

The words died as Noah pressed his lips to mine in a short but hungry kiss, his tongue brushing over my own as it explored my mouth. My hands grasped at his shirt to pull him closer, needing the friction to feel something. These negative events made my body go numb but with Noah's lips on mine, I'd never felt more alive.

"Don't you dare fucking say you don't deserve it angel because you do. You deserve the fucking world and I'll make sure you realize that, no matter what it takes."

Lips still swollen from the kiss and heart pounding heart against my chest all I could do was nod, not finding the strength to speak.

Folio stepped up to us. "The paramedics are ready to take you two to the hospital."

With one more kiss to my lips, Noah led me away from my crumbling past as the tears continued to dry to my face. For the first time in a long time, I let out a deep breath of relief and looked forward to whatever the future held even if the guilt still ate away at me.

[voltronisanobsession]

Reader learning the hard way about Canon Events

Teen!spider reader idea!! A random, passing thought I had a few days ago I wanted to to write about😍

I also wanna say that I’ve been trying to write the pt. 2 for ‘Miguel codes Lyla a friend’ but my brain has just been EMPTY TRYING TO COME UP WITH IDEAS FOR IT💔💔 I have some stuff down but it just doesn’t feel right? I swear it’s a work in progress guys, it’ll come soon🙏💔💔💔

Ok so I was just thinking about if reader was apart of the spider society, making their incredible debut amongst the other spiders. Of course they had yet to go through their canon event of losing the captain they’re close to, and they don’t even know it’s a canon event yet!

Like I think knowing about canon events is the first thing new spider people are told by Miguel when first joint the society, but reader fully believes that they’ve already gone through with it after losing their uncle all that time ago. And Miguel can’t tell them that it’s not it or else you know, reader is gonna try and disrupt their canon event from happening if they know

So imagine reader is just chilling in their universe when boom, villain attack! It’s like super catastrophic, it gets to the point where they’re calling for back up from the spider society and Miguel already knows what going to happen.

He warns every spider that leaves for the mission to not. Disrupt. The canon. It may be hard to watch reader go through this, but he makes it extremely known that it needs to happen. And so that’s exactly what happens.

The other spiders, like Gwen and Peter b. (my favs😍), help reader save civilians from crashing buildings and crumbling roads. Finally at last does readers canon event happens.

With the other spiders occupied with their own stuff, readers forced to chose between saving a large group of civilians or the captain they love with all their heart. Just as they’re about dive into the situation, Miguel would yell to them as he’s kicking debris away from the spiders.

“You have to chose one y/n!”

And you being the young, ambitious teen, the only words the come out of your mouth are, “I can do both!”

To make a long story short, you indeed could not do both😭😭 Who knew webbing up and trying to hold a crumbling building with people inside would be a much tougher task while trying to stop debris from falling on the captain, who lay injured on the ground.

Everyone is too busy with the catastrophe to help you, and it finally comes to the point. Arms in pain from holding up a literal building while at the same time trying to stop debris from falling on your captain began taking its toll. Tears well up in your eyes, muscles straining with every passing second. Looking to the civilians trapped in the destroyed building and looking down to where the cop lay in pain as more rocks came crashing down on them.

“I can do both…” voice cracking, tears fall as you feel your arms slowly losing strength, the building slipping from your grasp. A soft sob comes out as you look down to the cop, a sympathetic look on their face as they watch you struggle between saving them or saving the people right in front of you.

“Let go! Save them! Please!”

You look down again in pain at the captains words, a sharp cry coming out as you see them mouth ‘it’s ok’, finally making the difficult decision to save the people from the building.

It happened so fast, from webbing into the building and gathering everyone, to the crashing of the building to the ground. As you put down the last woman you immediately would run to the rubble and begin digging frantically, cries and sobs escaping your mouth.

“No, no, no, NO! PLEASE NO!”

It’s only when you feel a hand on your shoulder tugging you away from pile of rubble that you snap out of it. Heaving, you throw yourself on the body and just. Cry. You bawl your eyes out on whoever was near you cuz bro. Reader at this time needs someone to comfort them. Big time.

Miguel (y’all already saw this coming) could only stand in surprise as you latch onto his body and let everything out. He would slowly caress readers head in a soothing matter, muttering that there’s was nothing they could’ve done.

Yup, a terrible way to lose a person so dear to you as a teen💔 after that, reader wouldn’t be the same. Having to make such a decision would definitely dampen their fighting spirit.

Which is why I think they would be super sympathetic towards Miles when he finally arrives. And I also think they would see a piece of themselves in him when he says that he can do both, that he can save everyone around him, even those he loves, his father.

UGH I CAN IMAGINE MILES BEING THE REASON WHY READER FINDS A NEW ENERGY AND SPIRIT TO FIGHT!!!! Like he’s so confident in himself and doesn’t just ACCEPT the fate he’s told he’ll have to face and that just ignites something in them.

They couldn’t save the person they loved, so they’ll help miles save his father from his ill fate. With this decision, you would ultimately leave the safety of the Spider society and join the gang when it comes to saving and helping Miles.

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 27 ~ New Beginnings

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 3

✧ Word Count : 6.1k

In this chapter ~ Months had passed as the group had found no real sanctuary, wandering around aimlessly together and bouncing from place to place just trying to stay alive. Although, just when they were close to losing hope, they found something that was only proven to be some kind of miracle. Their safe haven.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ROSE POV *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eight months. That's how long we've been trying to find a place to stay. Eight long months.

We had been close to all over the place since we began to travel east, picking apart houses we came across and staying there for only a night or two before we were on the move again. It wasn't easy and ever since Rick's big, ruthless speech; things haven't been the same. Everyone only grew closer with one another as we seemed to spend nearly every waking minute together in close quarters. But it always seemed different whenever Rick was also present in the room. It's as if they were all too uneasy to breathe a word around him, only speaking if it was absolutely necessary.

I continuously tried to talk to him a few times at first after the whole incident, attempting to speak with him like we used to, but he would either get irritable with me or just plain ignore me. There was never an in between. So after a while, I stopped trying. I didn't want to give up the idea that someday he would be okay, but watching him slowly slip away and ignore the people he once cared so much for, it was hard to keep that idea alive.

Winter was rough this year and if I was being completely honest with myself, sometimes I questioned if we would even make it through. You could easily tell just by looking at us just how much of our spirits had crumbled since our time on the farm. Which now seemed like a lifetime ago. But somehow, we always found a way to keep pushing on.

Though throughout the cold and harsh weather, Daryl somehow got very sick at one point and that lasted far much longer than I would've ever liked. But I stayed by his side at all times, getting him anything he needed as he slowly recovered. It nearly made me laugh at how needy he became when he finally admitted he wasn't feeling good, he never seemed to want me to leave. But lucky for him, I never wanted to.

And Lori alone had her many ups and downs through the long season. She was dealing with a pretty rough pregnancy and was constantly feeling tired and sick even now when she's about to pop. I had gotten a little closer with her than I would've guessed in the past, reassuring her that I would be there if she ever needed something, and she was always grateful for that. I also helped her and Rick out by keeping an extra eye on Carl every once in a while, though I knew he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

He had changed a lot more than the rest of us, more than I ever could've imagined. He had gotten colder. He still liked to joke around with me every once and a while, but he was mostly quiet and was in a constant mood.

It was a lot to get comfortable with, the different things we had to adjust to. But again, that's how we managed to get by.

Currently, we were making our way towards a house that he hadn't checked out yet in a somewhat new area, following behind a few of the guys while the rest stayed outside until we gave the okay that it was safe. I pulled out my bow and loaded an arrow in place, aiming it as we approached closer to the door. Oh yeah that's another thing that happened.

Within the first month of being on the road, I had come across a store filled to the brim with weapons, spotting a bow and arrows sitting in the corner and I thanked my lucky stars. I loved my throwing knives, but I thought it was time for a change. Of course, I let Daryl show me how to shoot it and he was a pretty good teacher...well, when we were actually focused on practicing.

We slowly made our way into the house, opening the front door quietly as I started heading upstairs with Carl to check out the bedrooms. He nodded at me, letting me know that he was going to look in the first door on the right as he slowly stepped towards the entrance. I went towards the left, swinging the door open somewhat loudly with my weapon raised and my eyes scanning the space. I was met with only a lone walker in the corner of the room, and I didn't hesitate to pull back and shoot it quickly before it even turned around to face me.

I walked in further and took a glance around for anything that could be useful but was left with nothing as per usual. Sighing quietly to myself, I pulled my arrow out of its head and placed it in the quiver on my back with the others. I slowly made my way back downstairs and by the time I got there, everyone else was gathered in the living room sitting down and getting settled for however long we planned to stay.

I spotted Daryl sitting in the corner of the room, walking over to sit next to him on the floor as he plucked feathers from a dead owl, and my brows furrowed slightly as I eyed the thing. I wasn't going to ask. My eyes simply lingered on the others, watching them talk quietly to themselves even though the house was completely clear. My mind wandered involuntarily when I suddenly felt something fluffy touch my face.

I glanced over and Daryl was smirking at me with feathers flying around my face, tickling my nose as he threw more at me. I gave him a playful glare and pushed his arm lightly as he chuckled to himself, thinking he was absolutely hilarious. He then pulled me closer to him with one hand and kissed the top of my head, before turning back to defeathering the owl.

Carl's fast footsteps rushed back into the room seconds later with an excited look on his face, glancing down in his arms to see that he had found some canned food. I leaned in closer to look at the label, before quickly realizing that it was dog food. My heart sank at the thought of him being that hungry, he was willing to eat practically anything.

Rick noticed this as well from across the room and before Carl could even do anything, he took one of the cans and threw it against the wall without a word. We all stayed silent as we watched the scene in front of us, not muttering a single word like usual.

But T-Dog giving out a single whistle from where he sat by the window, made us all jump up fast, knowing now that there were walkers making their way towards us. We all quickly gathered our things and made our way out of the back door towards the vehicles parked near the trees. I rushed over and placed my stuff in the trunk of one of the cars along with my bow and arrows with Hershel slamming it right behind me.

I then quickly jogged towards Daryl's bike and hopped on behind him, taking his crossbow to slip on my back while I wrapped my arms around his waist. After he knew I was on safely he started it up and took off with the rest of them following close behind, the dead slowly trailing behind us.

After we drove for a few minutes, the house now long gone in the distance, we eventually pulled over to look at our map, planning on where to hit next. It remained quiet as all of us scanned the areas to see where the next best stop was, with Carl and Beth standing watch in front and behind us for anything in the trees around the area. I noticed pretty much right away that there was hardly anything new that we hadn't already been through, but I wasn't going to lose hope. We were all tired of running around, but that didn't mean we were going to give up anytime soon.

"We got no place left to go." Hershel was the first to state out loud.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it south." Maggie said.

Daryl came up next to me, pointing to the map as he asked, "What would you say? That was about one hundred-fifty head?"

"That was last week," Glenn confirmed, "It could be twice that by now."

"This river could've delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through here."Hershel pointed.

I nodded, "Yeah but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." I muttered as I drew a line from the nearby herd, to right where we were moving towards.

"So, we're blocked." Maggie concluded.

"The only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing towards Greenville." Rick said.

T-Dog shook his head with a click of his tongue, "Yeah, we picked through that already. It's like we spent the winter going in circles."

My eyes almost rolled to the back of my head in frustration, "We did spend the whole winter going in circles." I said, feeling him place a hand on my shoulder in agreement.

"Yeah, I know, I know. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house, need to find somewhere to hole up for a couple weeks." Rick said, glancing back at Lori who was still sitting in one of the cars.

"Alright," T-Dog nodded, "Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? It won't take long, gotta fill up on water we can boil later."

"Knock yourself out." Rick replied.

Everyone dispersed after that to do their own thing while I continued to stare at the map for a few more seconds. We'd be stuck here for a little while as we filled up the waters and searched nearby for some food, I hoped the herd wouldn't catch up to us as we didn't have a choice but to stay here for a few hours at least. With where we were at, we had to think through every decision thoughtfully, otherwise shit could hit the fan.

Pushing myself off the hood of the car after a few seconds, I felt an arm gently wrap around my waist and I looked up to see Daryl smiling down at me sweetly, "Hi." I greeted.

"Hi." he muttered while quickly kissing my cheek, "M' gonna go scope the area quick, you wanna come with?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm going to keep an eye on Lori. But maybe take Rick with you? Maybe it'll help ease his mind."

We both seemed to turn at the same time to see the man anxiously pacing back and forth, unsure of where we had parked ourselves for a little while. "Alright," Daryl agreed quickly, "I'll see ya in a bit." he promised while squeezing my hip lightly.

I nodded and watched him walk off towards Rick, subtly glancing down at his ass for a few seconds before heading over to the car Lori was in. In my defense, it was hard to miss and I'm not a saint.

I walked right up to the passenger side door knocked on the window a few times to bring her attention towards me, glancing up as she rolled down the window so we could talk.

"How're you feeling?" I asked her.

She sighed, "I don't know, physically right now I feel fine. But I'm just-" she stopped for a minute, "What if we don't find a place?"

My eyes softened as soon as I heard the slight crack to her voice, "We will. And anyway, that's for us to worry about. You just worry about keeping you and that little peanut safe."

She smiled at the nickname, rubbing a hand over her stomach before her smile turned sour once again, "I can't help but worry Ro. I'm scared for this baby and what's going to happen if we don't find a safe place before..." she trailed off, not wanting to finish her thought.

"We will," I reassured her, "We'll find it soon, I can feel it."

Just as those final words left my mouth, we heard rustling coming from the bushes in front of us and I instantly took out my knife, only to see it was Daryl and Rick already returning. They carried nothing more in their hands, and I was beyond surprised to see Rick with a huge unreal smile on his face, looking the most hopeful he had in months.

"...What's up?" I asked cautiously.

Daryl smiled small before nodding back to where they had just came from, "Yer gonna want to see this."

Seeing their sudden happiness the two seemed to bring back with them, it caused the others to anxiously gather their things and move to follow them to whatever they seemed to find. I didn't know what to really expect, but I can genuinely say I never in a million years expected this.

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of large gates that led to an overrun prison, instantly seeing why the guys were so excited about this. It needed a lot of work, but this could be the perfect place for Lori to safely have her baby without drawing attention to ourselves. The perfect place where we could actually start building a life behind the safe and sturdy walls. I felt a smile creep onto my face at the possibilities as Rick was cutting the fence so we could easily sneak in. I didn't know what the plan was, but I would do whatever it took to guarantee a safe place for us to stay for a long, long time.

All of us made it through the hole in the gate and were now running down towards another, noting the number of walkers that filled the grassy field just on the other side. I knew someone would have to go in there blindly to kill as many as possible to make it to the other side, leading us one step closer to the main building. We needed to get the farthest gate closed that led to the cell blocks so more walkers wouldn't spill in, leaving us to take one small herd at a time instead of all at once. There were many of them scattered across the land, but in my mind we could easily take them all on. We just had to be careful.

"It's perfect," Rick breathed, "If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers and be in the field by tonight."

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel asked.

I was about to speak up, but Glenn quickly beat me to it, "I'll do it you guys cover me." he said.

But Maggie shook her head and protested quickly, "No, it's a suicide run."

"I'm the fastest." he argued.

"In your dreams." I stepped in with a scoff, "I'm definitely the fastest and you know it."

An annoyed look crossed his features as he turned towards me, "It's not a competition Ro."

"I never said it was," I replied, "I'm saying if anyone should go in there to close the gate it's me."

"Nah, ya ain't going alone." Daryl protested immediately.

"She's not," Rick stepped in, "I'll go with her."

I glanced up at him with narrowed eyes, "I don't need a babysitter."

"I know Ro, but we'll help cover you. It's the safest way, just let me help you." Rick nearly pleaded in a softer voice than before.

His just his tone by itself made me stop and look at him seriously. This was the first time in a very long time Rick had actually shown that he cared about me, or anything for that matter. Seeing him be so sure of something, the light slowly coming back into his eyes, I felt I couldn't argue further. So I nodded my head once as he quickly began telling the others what to do, while I looked back out to the many walkers, counting how many I would have to take down.

"Be safe." Daryl's voice whispered as he gently turned me around to face him.

I smirked, "Always am." I replied, repeating his own words back to him.

He gave me a small smile before turning around to go back to one of the watchtowers with Carol, having an advantage from higher up. I watched everyone else spread out, heading towards the gates to bang on the metal fence and distract them while Rick and I slowly made our way into the lions den. While others headed up into the watchtowers, taking out their guns to kill the ones in the distance.

"You ready?" Rick asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded my head and pulled my gun out to have at my side. We opened the main gate slowly and tried to quietly make our way up the gravel path without drawing too much attention, though the small rocks crunched heavily under our feet. I ran a little ways ahead of him and shot the walkers that were getting too close to me while he covered me, making sure none of them were sneaking up on us from behind.

I heard gunshots come from the towers where our people were slowly picking them off, but the noise began to draw more their attention towards us faster than I would've liked. I started to notice more of the walkers were making their way over to us, now not caring about the people behind the gates. The two of us then booked it towards the main gate that led to the prison, now not caring about being silent, but wanting to be fast.

I rushed up to it first, attempting to shut it while kicking a walker back in the chest that was trying to make its way out. Rick came up right behind me as I held it shut, taking clamps to hook it onto the fence, bonding them tightly to close it. We then shot at a few more walkers piling up behind us before making a break for it towards the watchtower to our right just before they could reach us as we slammed the door shut.

We rushed towards the top in a flash, hearing Daryl yell, "Light it up!" the second he noticed we were safe.

The group then didn't hesitate to shoot the rest of the walkers scattered across the field, Rick and I aiming our weapons to help out with the side that we had. And before we knew it, the last walker dropped dead to the ground, and we had the whole field cleared. I turned to Rick with a smile on my face and to my surprise, he was smiling too, amazed at what we had just accomplished. I held up my hand to him and he gladly took it in his own, while looking out at the progress we just made.

The two of us then made our way back down as the rest entered through the gates, amazing positive energy filling the entire now empty space.

"We haven't had this much space since the farm!" Carol yelled as she held her arms out running further into the field with a delirious laugh.

I watched slightly further back from everyone as they carried their things tightly to their backs, finding a good place to set up for the night. The gates being built up around us just gave us all this new sense of hope that I couldn't quite describe, a feeling that we would finally be safe after all this time of running constantly. Finally, being able to breathe.

Darkness now coated the sky as a few hours had passed since we got settled. The group sat around the big fire we had built, having something to eat while Rick and Daryl kept watch on either end of the large field. Small, hushed chatter filled the air around us, the most we had talked in a very long time, and genuine laughter that followed.

Glenn finished eating from beside me and tossed the can to the ground, "Mmm just like mom used to make." he muttered sarcastically.

I laughed quietly to myself before turning towards Lori as if it was a routine, and offered her the rest of the food still on my plate. She immediately declined, like she did every single time, but I didn't budge or move my hand away until she finally took the food away from me with a sigh. I couldn't help but worry that the woman wasn't eating enough along with everyone else, occasionally taking turns in giving her more food each night.

After finally finishing up, I stood to my feet and grabbed a spare plate, piling on the remaining food on it for Daryl who was standing tall on a bus that laid on its side on the far side of the grass. Walking over there was a workout within itself, but the man noticed rather quickly as he placed his weapon down beside him. He held out a hand for me once I was close enough, pulling me up with ease so I could stand with him alone for a while as he ate.

"What's for dinner tonight?" he asked as he glanced down at the food, now looking more like mush.

"Well," I sighed, "The options were either ravioli or ravioli...tough choice but I went with ravioli." I said as I handed him the plate.

"Ah." he muttered as he took it from me, "You eat yet?" he asked before even taking a bite.

I nodded my head, "Yeah."

He narrowed his eyes a little at me, taking a bite silently before muttering, "Yer a liar." I tilted my head in confusion, "I ain't blind, I saw ya give the rest of your food to Lori." he stated.

I rolled my eyes, "Well, she needs it more than I do right now."

He stared at me silently before finishing only half of his food before handing the rest over to me, "No." I immediately declined.

"Yes." he said with a crooked grin on his face.

"Daryl." I warned.

"Rosie." he mocked my tone, "Eat. Ya need it more than I do right now." he repeated back to me with knowing eyes.

I sighed, "Fine. We'll split it." I caved as I ate half of the half and handed it right back over to him.

"Nah." he said immediately.

"Look, it's called a compromise, I know you're not familiar. But everyone wins in this scenario." I stated while placing the plate in his hands.

He scoffed, "I ain't winnin, I wanted ya to eat all of it."

"I ate some of it, now you eat the rest. You're not getting exactly what you want, but kind of at the same time," I explained as if he were a child. Though he didn't respond to me, only giving me a blank stare, "If you want me to eat that you'll have to shove it down my throat." I finished.

He smirked a little, before finally eating what was left on the plate, "Kinky." he muttered.

"Oh my God." I huffed, slightly laughing as I looked down at my shoes, though I could feel his eyes on me. I eventually glanced up and leaned into him as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, kissing his lips softly and pulled back to watch his cheeks tint a deep red.

"So, how are you feeling, love?" I asked him.

He shrugged, "Hopeful I guess... considerin we found this place. How you doin?"

"I'm good, I'm just kind of worried." he raised an eyebrow at me, so I continued, "What if this place is too good to be true? I just don't want to get my hopes up." I said, looking back towards the small group.

He lifted his hand and placed it on my cheek to get me to look back at him when he spoke, "Ya don't gotta worry bout that. I think this place is safe and if it isn't, I'll protect ya. You know that." he finished, kissing my forehead.

I sighed and took his hand that was holding my face and kissed his palm, before holding it down at my side, "I know you will, I just... can't help but overthink, you know?"

He nodded in response and we both seemed to turn back to look at our group in front of us, huddled close together by the fire. My eyes then wandered up to Rick for a moment who was still pacing back and forth by the fence as if something would suddenly pop out of the woods, and I furrowed my eyebrows in concern. He hadn't stopped by to eat something or even give us an update on how things looked on the north side of the fence that he had been guarding.

He still wasn't okay by any means, but I was hoping since we found this place, it would lift his spirits a bit. Maybe give him some peace of mind for Lori, even if things between them weren't the best. He still loved her more than she even realized.

My shoulder then twitched involuntarily from the pain it was constantly in, causing me to roll it back and forth a little in an attempt to ease the soreness.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, just my shoulder, I don't know it's been hurting recently. Probably from sleeping on hardwood floors for God only knows how long." I joked.

His brows furrowed, "Why didn't ya say somethin?" he asked.

I looked at him confused, "I don't know?"

He chuckled, "Turn around." he muttered with a nod of his head.

I did what he asked and then felt his hands go to my shoulders and rubbed them, not too hard but just the perfect amount of pressure and I sighed in content as my eyes fluttered closed.

"Am I hurtin ya?" he asked softly.

"God no." I said as I let my head lean to the side.

I heard a deep chuckle escape him as he continued to work his fingers into my sore muscles. His hands then slowly moved towards the sides of my neck, traveling his way all the way down my back before landing back up on my shoulders again. I felt chills run down my spine at the feeling of relief washing over me, but then he stopped after only a few minutes much to my dismay. I groaned at the loss of contact the second he took his hands away, hearing him chuckle again to himself.

"Better?" he asked.

"No," I muttered, shaking my head, "I think you need to keep doing that for like...a few hours at least." I said as I turned back around to face him again.

He smiled a bit with a tilt of his head, "Don't worry, we'll get some alone time and then I'll do whatever ya want." he winked.

I raised my eyebrows at him, "Really? Okay, but I am definitely not having sex up against a tree again." I joked.

He smiled and shrugged, "Hey, we can check it off the bucket list."

"You have a bucket list for our sex life?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"Nah but I should." he said, before I felt him reach down to pinch my ass. I gasped and hit him playfully in the chest as he just laughed at his own actions.

I rolled my eyes, though I couldn't help but smile a little at his more positive demeanor. "We should be getting back." I reminded.

"Yeah, yer probably right." he agreed as he turned to grab his crossbow, before cautiously jumping off of the bus.

My eyes followed him before glancing back down to the ground nervously, watching him turn around and see my hesitation, "Don't worry, I'll catch ya." he assured.

"It looks so much higher up from right here." I voiced, and he held out his arms in response.

I felt myself smile before carefully slipping off the bus, feeling him catching me around my waist to bring me back down on my feet slowly. His hands stayed firmly on my waist for a moment, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on my cheek before turning around and picking his weapon up off the ground.

We then walked back to the others hand in hand, overhearing Beth say something when we got close enough.

"No one wants to hear." she muttered with a shy shake of her head.

"No one wants to hear what?" I asked her while Daryl and I sat down on the grass.

Glenn looked over at me, "Hershel wants her to sing, set the mood, but she thinks no one wants to listen."

I looked back over at Beth, "That's not true, hon we want to hear, sing us something."

She glanced up at me with a small smile on her face, "I'll sing...if you sing with me." she suggested.

I felt my cheeks get hot from embarrassment as everyone around me looked towards me with a certain glint in their eyes. I couldn't even bring myself to look over at the man next to me as I groaned internally. Why? I swallowed the lump that seemed to form in my throat, waving the girl off as I laughed nervously, the group expecting me to say something.

"I don't know." I muttered.

"I didn't know you could sing." Carol said with a smile on her face.

I shrugged, "I don't really...I haven't much the past few years."

"Oh, are you kidding? You sounded spectacular the last time I heard you." Hershel complimented.

I could feel the anxiety slowly creeping back up as Glenn prodded me again, "Come on, just one song. I've been wanting to hear you sing." he tried to convince.

I closed my eyes momentarily as I tried to keep my cool. None of them realized the severity I had behind this whole thing, they had no idea that singing just brought back horrible memories of the past. To them it was all in good fun, a talent that perhaps I shouldn't keep hidden just for myself, but the truth was it wasn't a talent. It was a coping mechanism. Something to distract me while my mother was on her fifth rampage of the day. Some trauma that was still built up and tucked away from when I was young.

"Ya don't have to if ya don't want to." Daryl said suddenly, whispering close to my ear so only I would hear, "Just say the word and I'll yell at em to stop." he joked, though I knew he was completely serious.

I huffed out a laugh as I shook my head, silently telling him that it was okay. I could tell how much the young girl didn't want to do this alone, and at some point I had to get it through my thick head that these people weren't here to hurt me. They weren't here to degrade me or mistreat me like my mother did, they were here to support me and applaud me for even the smallest accomplishments.

I sighed to myself with almost regret in my tone as I asked, "What song are we singing?"

Beth smiled wide, "You pick." she said in excitement.

I thought to myself for a moment before deciding on a Tom Petty song, Free Fallin. That specific song offered me some type of comfort that I couldn't exactly describe, but I knew it would help at least a little when it came to singing in front of everyone. It felt odd, having all those eyes on you as you tried desperately not to think about it, but I was only really doing it for Beth. With the day that we just had after all those hard months, I felt like I couldn't let her down.

Although it got better towards the end, Beth signaling for everyone to join in at the last part so we would all come in together. Our voices all mixed together softly and quietly, still somewhat aware of the things outside the fences, but laughing softly and enjoying it nonetheless. In the end it turned out to be a sweet moment, and one that we would all surely remember.

As it came to a close, soft applause came from everywhere, "Beautiful." Hershel complimented once we were done.

Everyone else muttered something in agreement, filling the silence with compliments about how great it was, especially hearing it on such a calm quiet night. One that we hadn't had in a long time.

Beth reached over to squeeze my hand as they continued to chat in the background, "I'm proud of you." she whispered with a smile.

I squeezed her hand, "Thanks, hon." I said genuinely, knowing that she had no clue how much those words truly meant to me.

She nodded and opened her mouth to say something else, but Rick's presence suddenly came back to join the rest of us, "Better all turn in, I'll take watch over there. Got a big day tomorrow." he announced.

He then continued when nobody spoke up, "I know we're all exhausted, this was a great win. But we have to push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners, looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact, they would have an infirmary, a commissary."

"An armory?" Daryl questioned.

"That would be outside the prison itself but not too far away. Warden's office would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine. This place could be a gold mine."

Hershel then voiced his worry, "We're dangerously low on ammo. We'd run out before we could make a dent."

"That's why we go in there, hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it. I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance." Rick said with a nod of his head, turning back to check the perimeter one last time.

I sighed quietly to myself before standing up to find my backpack, to try and get some sleep before tomorrow came quicker than I wanted. I laid down flat on my back in the soft grass, resting my arms behind my head as I looked up at the stars, hearing the others get situated as they too got ready to sleep. I felt someone come and lay down slightly next to me, looking over to see Carl resting on his stomach as he sent me a small smile.

"You sounded good." he said quietly.

I playfully rolled my eyes as I scoffed, "Yeah, thanks kid," I muttered before reaching up to tip his hat down so it would cover his eyes, "Try and get some sleep, okay?"

He nodded and laid down on his back, pulling his hat completely over his eyes to block out anything else as he tried to fall asleep. I followed his actions, seeing as I was barely able to keep my eyes open from the exhaustion, before I felt someone's arm wrap around me and pull me in closer. Smiling in content, I leaned in closer to rest my head on his chest, feeling him breathe in and out deeply.

"You amaze me every day, darlin." he suddenly spoke softly.

I peeled my eyes open and looked up at him, "What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

He shook his head, "Had no idea ya could sing like that." he said, tracing circles on my back lightly.

My face flushed as his words left a tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach, thinking back to how his gaze was burning into me the whole time I sang softly with Beth. I had noticed it almost instantly, but tried not to let my mind linger too much on it as I focused on the lyrics. Though the feeling rushed back to me in an instant, thinking how no one had ever looked at me like that before him. But I liked it, maybe even a little more than I let on.

But I didn't say anything in response to him as I buried my face in his chest from slight embarrassment, hearing him chuckle before placing his hand on the side of my face to get me to look at him.

"Nah, don't try and escape from it now." he joked, "How come ya never told me?" he asked, lightly rubbing my cheek with his thumb.

"To be fair, I only told Glenn and then his big mouth told everyone else," I said to which he nodded, "And I don't know...it's kind of hard to explain. More like something from my past that I just...want to ignore forever."

His face dropped slightly upon hearing that, somewhat knowing what I meant and didn't say anything else, but only brought me closer to him. I sighed in content as I scooted closer, hearing the steady sound of his heart beating, and feeling him place a kiss on top of my head.

I knew I never needed to explain myself to him, because somehow, he always knew. He always knew without me having to say a single word, and I loved that about him. He didn't pry, he didn't assume, he just held me close as if he wanted to take away the painful memories it brought me.

~ Thanks for reading!

[bonesofapoet]

the night that keeps our secrets

[ cullen rutherford x inquisitor!reader ]

author’s note: him!!! beloved!!!! loml !!!! i am so fucking soft for this guy you have no idea. anyway - the one where its the inquisitor, whose head is heavy under the weight of a crown they did not ask for. angst, comfort, alcohol mention

word count: 1568

The battlements were quiet that night.

Torchlight shone faint in the darkness. The range between the dying embers had grown long and sparse where a sentry was not required. Absolute darkness reigned wholeheartedly, where repairs to the old crumbling masonry had not yet been completed. Only the starlight kept you company here, on this stretch of stone that had become yours and yours alone. Moonlight  illuminates the heart you allow to bleed on your sleeve in the presence of no one but the Maker, Andraste, the Elvhen gods of old.

Skyhold was at peace, after such a harrowing win. A raging celebration had cloaked your base from the stables all the way to Leliana's aviary - a collective exhale, finally, breathed new life into not only the Inquisition itself, but those supporting the cause you had, once upon a time, questioned on your own. It was infectious, this taste of victory, especially when the road to get here was long and cruel and tedious. Roaring fires have calmed to kindling now, the rest of the Keep not too far behind for the night. 

There was still much to be done, but this night provided a vital respite that no one seemed to oppose.

It was a calm thing, at such an hour so late. The pathways up into the depths of the stronghold were occupied by the occasional pair, group, lone survivor stumbling to bed in their own corner of the castle.

Your time was your own, now - and by the way Bull kept sliding rounds of Maraas-Lok your way - it was a welcome thing, slipping away from your friends. Dawn was fast approaching, and you hoped to at least have your head about you when the time came to greet it. Sleep sounded a welcome way to temper the evening, but - exhausted as you were - it would never stay for long. So, here you came. Slipped away through the shortcut passages that were less traveled, less well known among those that weren’t under your direct chain of command. 

Not many knew to look for you here. Save Cole, because he was Cole. He watched over you, here at Skyhold. Out of sight, always, but without a doubt, at your back nonetheless. Leliana, of course - the Nightingale was spymaster of the Inquisition for a reason. And, finally -

"Oh, I - there you are. I've been looking for you."

Cullen.

So lost in your thoughts as you were, with your gaze tipped up, up, up, towards silver-lined clouds wisping over bright constellations and velvety darkness alike. The steady breeze gliding over your skin had a calming effect this evening. Gentle as it was, a natural balm to any sleepless night, especially on the worst ones. You hadn't realized this serenity had been broken by heavy footfalls on stone, and, hidden by the wind swirling past, was the familiar rustle of the fur cloak he never went without.

"Didn't I leave you fast asleep in my quarters?"

Starlight painted a smile upon your lips, and you wore it with all the grace and beauty of the Divine. Cullen had to stop, when your face turned from the heavens to him, down here on Thedas. If it weren't for the brisk mountain air grounding him here and now, he would be drifting away, lost in the radiant presence of the Inquisitor - his Inquisitor. A smile began to rise upon his lips, and he ducked his head in shadow. A blush began to bloom, and he knew you wouldn't leave it be.

"You did," he says to the stones. "And you -" He steps closer, eyes tipping up towards yours, watching him. There's a glint in your eye; the one he’s learned to mean mischief. At his expense tonight, no doubt. " - slipped away without a trace."

A small laugh escapes you, loud in contrast to the quiet of the night. Your hands drummed upon the chipped stone in front of you, an idle movement to occupy your body. You had become so much more restless, since you were crowned Inquisitor.

"I didn't want to wake you."

"You didn't think I'd notice you were gone?" This time it was Cullen, who chased away the silence with a quiet laugh of his own. He reaches for you, a hand skimming along your spine. It's gentle, his touch, softer without the leather gloves always hugging his skin. "My love, I always notice when you're gone."

Your smile is warm, his words taking root in your chest to grow a beautiful garden in your heart. As for it reaching your eyes, as it so often does. . .

Cullen notices, of course, when it doesn't.

His smile wavers, all space between you disappearing when you lean into his touch. Your name is quiet, when it leaves his lips. It's spoken with reverence, always his favorite prayer to sing even when you are no longer near.

“Are you all right?”

It was unintentional, to laugh at his question. And yet, that didn’t stop the sound from spilling into the night, swirling above with the snow that had just begun to fall. They were both gentle in delivery, the flakes weightless and fluffy as they shone bright in the rays of moonlight that remained. The clouds were thick and glowing now, heavy under the weight of unfallen snow. Your voice was loud in the darkness, loud in comparison to the quiet worry that Cullen always held for you.

But, the world had become heavy, even in victory. Leading the Inquisition came with a price you kept to yourself, most days.

Heavy is the head, as they say.

“I don’t think I have a choice but to be, do I?”

His touch stills, and you both turn your eyes out towards the darkness, out into the world beyond Ferelden, beyond Orlais, where trouble is no doubt lurking. Somewhere, it’s hunting for you. It never stops.

The breath Cullen takes is unsteady, yet his tone remains soft. Tender. “In front of the Inquisition? Your troops and allies? No, I’m afraid not - the stakes. . . None of us have that luxery. Though -”

It’s gentle, when he pulls you into him. You breathe in the comfort of leather and sandalwood, the faint air of celebration and strong liquor still clinging to him for dear life. The hand that isn’t holding you rises to rub circles along your back. Traces soothing lines down your side to twine his fingers through your own. It doesn’t take long before you're burying your face into his furs.

Cullen says your name again, all quiet and warm and strong. “You have a choice with me. Always.” a kiss is pressed to your crown, and it lingers. Lingers. Lingers. “With all of us in your council, really. Just as we know we have a choice around you.”

Too soon are you creating space from one another, but Cullen is stepping back to tilt your chin up from the safety of him, to the uncharted glory of the sky. Snowflakes are swirling just a little bit quicker now, the wind coming to bite, rather than soothe. You bring your eyes down to meet his veiled amber gaze, breath shaking at the warm look he’s giving you now. It’s the one you’ve seen only  when you come home hurt.

You nod, the heaviness of your crown resting a little easier now. A little less heavy, but a little more snug. Cullen offers you a smile - something small, something aching, and he begins to tug you forward by the hand. You don’t fall into him again, because he’s walking backwards in time with your steps, back the way he had come.

“That’s it, love. What do you say we continue this back inside? It’s getting a little too cold for my taste.”

A smile of your own begins to take shape upon your lips. “Welcome to the dregs of the Inquisition, Commander. Most of us don’t have a shiny rack of Templar armor to cozy under, believe it or not.”

“Oh, is that what you think? That it is warmer than it is dreadfully heavy?,” he tugs you harder with the next step, and this time he has to catch you so you don’t trip. The noise of shock that pierces through the snowfall mixes with a laugh as Cullen keeps teasing. “I brave the cold to find you, and then you twist your dagger where you can, hm?”

“I suppose -” you begin. The grin spreading across your lips is coated in irony and dripping with sugary sweetness. “- someone other than Sera should keep you on your toes. Unless, of course, you’d rather I leave it all up to her and her bees-”

“Don’t you dare.”

“You didn’t like the bees?”

“Inquisitor.”

“Yes?”

“Maker’s breath - just - I - let’s go inside.” Cullen huffs, turning on his heels to leave you laughing in the face of the dark of the night. Snow was catching in his furs, his golden hair still glowing bright in the ethereal glow of snowfall - a beacon for you, in the darkness. The grip on your hand tightened, and you couldn’t help squeeze back, laughing an apology as you finally kept pace with his strides.

When you begin to shiver, the weight of a fur cloak is slung around your shoulders; the warmth burying you in a wave of peace - the first you’ve felt in months - and you rode that wave all the way to your quarters through dawn.

[riddle-me-ri]

TWOJAR!Riddler x F!Reader - Having Fun Pt. 2

A/N: Whelp, the past 48 hours have taught me anything is that y’all really are thirsty for the buff leprechaun prick...and it’s okay, me too. I’m glad I could provide rip. So here’s a part 2, as a thank you for all the love and support on it. Special thanks to @finniestoncrane who requested the brilliant set-up for this in the first place.

Also reader has a vagina in this, the first part can (hopefully) be read gender-neutral, but I only know how to write smut for an afab reader cause it’s what I’m used to rip so sorry...

Trigger Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content (like fresh filth), Unprotected Sex, Face-fucking, Biting, Heavy Sexual Teasing, Cursing...that should be it

Word Count: 1.77 k of pure filth I’m so sorry

Oh yeah…he’s pissed…pissed and horny. 

You had to try and keep your smile down to a smirk before it turned into a prideful grin. No need to remind Ed of that pale-faced prick. You get in the passenger seat and you barely get your seatbelt on before Ed peeled out of the parking lot. 

“Jesus, Ed what the hell?”

A scoff.

You crossed your arms in a huff. He always got like this whenever you dealt the shit he gave you back at him.

It’s a fun game between the two of you. Who gives in first? Who crumbles at the touch of the other? Who is the first to say “fuck this” or “to hell with this” and pounce?

Looks like it’s him, and it’s got him frustrated…

Edward was always a a sore loser. You were lost in thought of your next move, when you felt a warm hand on your knee. You gave the hand a glance before looking back out the window. The thumb of his hand started rubbing along your knee. 

Shit, gotta think of something… 

You grin as the idea came to you. This set-up gave you an advantage to double down on your ministrations from earlier that you were able to half ass with your foot. You also don’t have to be as discreet about it. 

“Eddie?” 

“Mm?” He didn’t dare take his eyes of the road to look at you, he removed his hand from your knee to make a turn.

You lean over the center console. One arm goes around his head and onto his shoulder. The other lays purchase on his left pectoral. His shirt was open (obviously) so your bare hand touched warm skin. His breath hitched at the cold assault of your hand. 

“I can keep going…”

“I don’t doubt it.”

Your hands start softly rubbing into his skin, as your lips began making a trail kisses and hickies along his cheek, neck, wherever your lips could reach. He tries to remain unphased by your affections, but it is all a front. The hand that rested over his chest could feel his heart doing backflips. 

He can think whatever he likes, but his heart doesn’t lie. You drag your hand down his torso, stopping at start of his question mark scar. Your pointer finger begins to trace the top of the question mark to the bottom and playfully tap the point. You did this a couple times to get him to loosen up as you notice his hands tighten the steering wheel again. 

“Do you want me to? Keep going?” Your hand falls down from his chest and lands between his legs. Your fingers cup his dick and you start pumping it through the fabric. He hisses as you gently nip at his earlobe.

“W-We’re almost home..”

“Doesn’t answer my question.”

“Gr..y-you’re mad…absolutely mad and insatiable.” 

“Only for you, Mr. Nygma.”

That was your final attack, the move you waited until the very last second before he absolutely implodes, securing you a victory. 

Before you knew it, he threw the car in park in front of your apartment complex. He grabs you around your waist and torso and drags you across the console and into his arms. 

“Ah–Ed!” If it wasn’t for all the teasing beforehand for your game, this would’ve been super sweet to have Ed carrying you to your apartment. His eyes were completely blown at this point. There was nothing sweet behind those eyes. 

You gulp. Maybe you pushed him a wee too far?

~~~~~~~

It was a small scuffle for the top position. After you two threw off the rest of your clothes, Ed lifts you up again to toss you on the bed. You were quick to scurry away before he could cage you with his body.

“Nuh uh, I don’t think so.”

Ed growled in frustration. It shouldn’t have made you as wet as it did. 

You pace the edge of the bed before pushing him down onto the mattress. You’re straddling him now as you grab his wrists to keep him from lifting you up and tossing you back down. 

Given how turned on you both were by the end of dinner, it was a toss up who won or lost. Now it was up to who could make the other cum first. 

Ed lets up; he puts his arms up in faux surrender. “Okay, okay…You win, darling...just...please.”

“Please what?” You mistakenly let go of his wrists. 

“Let me make you cum.” He smirks.

He grabs your waist before scooting further down the bed so his head was perpendicular with the mattress and not propped by a pillow. He hoisted your waist up and pressed your core right to his face. 

“Ed! Ahh…shit!” 

His tongue immediately dove in between your soaked folds. Eagerly tasting for more of your juices. His stupid round nose teasing at your clit every time he shook his head. 

“S-S-mmm- sore loser…” You mutter in between your moans. You could feel him grinning before teasingly nipping at your folds. You’re desperately clawing at something to ground yourself, you find purchase in the textured wall. 

You’re conflicted between pulling yourself away for a chance at victory or just giving in to the loss. Ed’s hands squeeze your waist as he begins thrusting his tongue in and out of you, occasionally taking it out to lick deep circles in your clit. 

“F-f-fuck…fine. Fine! God damnit, you-you win...just...please...please, baby…Eddie..” You were becoming delirious at this point. You didn’t give a shit about winning, you just needed some release from the growing knot in your stomach.

Before your brain can register what you’re doing, you’re softly grinding your cunt further into his face. Anything to get his tongue to reach in deeper. Edward hoists your hips off his face for a minute as he brings his fingers up to your clit to rub fast circles. 

“E-E-Eddie! Ed-fuck…just like that.” 

Your hands fly down to grab at his head. You were once fighting to keep his touch off you. Now you’re fighting to make sure he doesn’t pull away. 

“Mm...Ed! ED!” The knot in the pit of you gut finally came undone in a strong wave. Every inch of your body shook in tremors as warm tingles rode throughout your nerves. You barely felt the soft lazy licks at your folds as Ed’s tongue lept at your release, not wasting any. 

Eventually you had to pat his head to let him know you were getting sensitive. He let go of your waist and you scooted down as he sat back up to lean his back against the wall. You straddled him lap as you rest your hands on his shoulders.

His stupid chin was shiny in the glow of the moonlight that spilled past the window. 

He has a stupid grin on his face. 

He opened his mouth to say something, probably something stupid. 

You smashed your lips into his. He tastes like you and it makes you moan into his mouth. He lets you take control for once and allows your tongue to take over his mouth. Your hands cup his face as one hand of his cups your cheek. 

His thumb rubs along your cheek and it makes you break the kiss to look at him. The absolute wreck you’ve turned him into. His pale skin was tinted a soft red throughout. His hair was disheveled in some areas and his broad chest was heaving. 

Let him think he won…this view is worth losing over.

“What does the, oh so brilliant, winner of the evening want for his prize?” You already know the answer, which is why you were already lifting yourself off his lap.

“What I always want…” Ed groans as you grab his cock to line up to your entrance.

“Me.”

“You.” You both let out a moan as you finally connect. His cock stretched you and reached further into you than his tongue ever could. 

“Shit..E-eddie…”

He wraps his hands around your waist. “F-fuck…” He pulls you into his chest as he starts kissing along your neck and shoulder. He slowly starts thrusting in and out of you. You wrap your arms around his neck, as one hand runs through his hair. 

“Aahh..E-Eddie w-what’re you?”

He bite and nibbled on the top of your breast in a strange pattern than usual. He was marking you up though, that’s all you knew. When you tried to ask him again, he just started thrusting harder and you began bouncing on him to meet his pace. 

You were close after coming earlier, although you tried to keep it at bay so you could come with him. Ed is kneading both breasts now, the one he marked up being especially tender with every squeeze, but it just fueled you more. 

You grab Ed’s face again and pull him in for another passionate kiss. Faster and faster, closer and closer to the precipice. Your legs start shaking as the all too familiar knot starts tightening and tightening. 

“E-E-Eddie..Eddie!” 

His fingernails dig into your skin as he holds you down on top of him as you cum and he’s quick to follow suit as your clenching walls tighten around him from your climax. 

You’re both panting messes. You rest your head on his chest as he leans his head against the wall. 

“That was close…” He mutters. 

You giggle softly, “yeah, I almost broke your winning streak there, huh?” 

“If not for your foolish tall tale I would’ve taken you over the table.”

You raise your eyebrows. “Ooohh. Good to know…gives me ideas for next weekend.”

It was his turn to laugh now. 

“Now what the hell were you biting into me,” you looked down at your right breast, “oh what the hell?” 

There were four to five marks that were starting to bloom, and they were linked together to look like a question mark. 

A goddamn question mark. 

You lightly punched him in the shoulder, before shoving your face into his chest again. “You’re such a possessive asshole.” 

Ed chuckles again as he scoots down the bed with you in his arms and grabs for the covers to cover the both of you. 

“But you love me.” He kisses the top of your head. 

“I do, and there’s nothing to be done about it, unfortunately..”

“Damn.” 

You punch his chest again. 

“Hey, is that anyway to treat your partner after having such a fun night together?”

“Oh...hush.” 

You both fell asleep contently in the others arms, already scheming about the next night of fun to come.

[ghostfaceaddams]

Gentleness of a Criminal

Part One

a/n: hi! so this is my first time posting my writing on tumblr, I'm excited but also nervous. I hope you all enjoy this fic and its beginning. special thanks to @imnotawitch for being my biggest fan and @maximotts for inspiring me.

warnings: 18+, minors DNI; mentions of violence and blood, cursing, and that's about it for now.

word count: 3,335

next part

Rain was pouring down around Ash like a curtain as she pumped her legs down the surprisingly abandoned streets. The chilling rain did nothing to wipe off the blood covering her face or to cool off her burning muscles. Her legs felt close to falling off, like they were action figure’s that could easily be removed, and her chest felt like it was being caved in by a boulder. Still, she pushed herself further and further. 

The only sounds she could hear were the men’s chortling as her father was beaten up. There had been four, two of them holding up her father when he would fall over, the third one was doing the abusing and the fourth one held a menacing gun as he stood at the front door. Their mistake was being one less a man, which allowed Ash to sneak out my window and shimmy down the back of the house. 

Ash had never seen her father so beaten down before. He was a sincere and sensitive man, but he was incredibly strong. She had only ever seen him cry when her mother had died and when herself had been in the hospital. Through all his sensitivity and semi small stature, he was able to hold his own against two men. His iron, commanding tone left no room for discussion and oftentimes left his employees shaking. 

He had been so bloody, bubbles of foamy blood dribbling down his chin and staining his teeth. His astonishing, crisp and cool crystal eyes had been unbearably bright, calling out to Ash from across the room. The way he kept falling forward and crumbling into himself, was uncharacteristically weak. 

‘Danvers. Danvers. Danvers.’ 

She kept repeating the name of the bar and grill in her traumatized mind. It was the one thing her father told her never to forget no matter what. Even if she was bleeding out and delirious, she had to remember Danvers and hustle her way there.  

The tears bubbling in her eyes, blood seeming into the crevices, and heavy downpour of rain were a deadly mixture against her eyesight. Ash almost missed the neon sign. The letters were wrapped in yellow with blue and red wrapping around the slanted, oval sign. The blue OPEN was switching to red CLOSED as Ash got closer. 

In a desperate attempt to keep her promise to her father, she threw herself against the door and began pummeling it. Her hands were slick with syrupy blood which speckled the black, wooden door. When she squinted, she could see one lone figure in the place but that was it. She couldn’t make out any other details and she didn’t care. 

“We’re closed.” The voice wasn’t rude but firm, a first warning to the miserable drunks of the city. 

Ash’s hair clung to her forehead as she whipped her head from side to side. She risked a chance back at the deserted road behind her. The men hadn’t been pursuing her, which meant they either didn’t know she was in the house or didn’t care about her fleeing. 

“Please! My-my dad said to come here if anything happened to him!” Ash clapped the palm of her split hand against the glass, smearing her blood over it. 

There was a moment where Ash thought the person inside was just going to leave her out there in the rain. What she said had been odd, but she didn’t expect it to strike a nerve with the owner, but she was relieved nonetheless. 

The forty seconds it took the owner to cross the room and unlock the doors felt like an eternity to Ash. It felt as if the rain had turned to acid and was melting her skin off. As soon as the door was open an inch, she flung herself through the crevice away from the acid rain and evil men. 

Her shoulders shook violently as they pinched forward, her chest caving in on itself.  She raised her arms and wrapped them around herself, her bloody hands fisting her soaked jacket. The sound of the door bolting shut made her jump and turn around. Swallowing hard, she watched as the owner pulled down blinds over the windows in the doors. 

When the owner of the establishment turned around, Ash was finally able to get a look at them. She was taller than Ash with long, burnt golden hair that rested over her collarbone. She was in a black tank top exposing luxurious collarbone and impressive biceps. Slim fitting jeans hugged her legs, her leg muscles almost bursting through the pants. Her eyelashes fluttered celestially and her gentle lips parted. The lights flashed against her light brown eyes causing them to flash like a beer bottle. 

“Hey, what happened kid? Why’d your dad send you here?”

The way she carried herself was upright and full of confidence, and her voice didn’t waver a bit. Ash always thought she was good at gauging people and their personality and capabilities, but after tonight she didn’t think she was good at anything other than running. She couldn’t trust herself. The longer she stared at the older woman across from her, the more she morphed into someone capable of bashing Ash’s brains in. 

Surely her father wouldn’t send her to a place that was dangerous. His instructions were clear: Go to the Danvers bar and grill if anything bad was to happen to him and Ash was left alone. This was supposed to be a place of support for Ash, that’s how he had influenced his command at least. She was safe here.

Or was she? She thought she was safe at home with her father too. Was anywhere safe anymore? She felt like her skin was melting because she was so sweaty. But she had also just been out in the rain. 

Ash jumped when the other woman exhaled a strenuous sigh. 

“Okay, you must be freezing. I’m going to go get some towels to dry you off, and then you tell me what you’re doing at my bar at two am.” 

Ash squinted her eyes at the stranger walking to the back of the bar. She remembered hearing the lock being bolted shut, but those men could still break in. They could’ve been right behind her, just hiding to not cause a spectacle in the middle of the street. She was better off following the stranger. 

But what if the stranger was going back there to call those men? Or to let them in? 

Her father told her to come here though. 

Everything was swirling inside of Ash’s mind like the mending of chocolate syrup and ice cream. Her chest tightened under the stress of breathing so fast and her head ached deeply. She took a step forward blindly, just to fall. The last thing she remembered was the blurring of the bar as she tumbled to the ground like a rock. She didn’t even feel herself make contact with the ground. All she could do was close her eyes. 

*****

“And you said she just showed up here?” 

There was an insistent high pitched ringing in Ash’s ears as she tried to blink. It felt like her eyelids had been glazed over with honey and she couldn’t open them. She opened and closed her eyes, trying to catch the words that were being said underneath the ringing in her ears. When she closed her eyes again, she almost slipped back to sleep. Her entire body felt like lead, unable to move, and she didn’t even really want to move. 

A few more minutes of rest didn’t sound so bad. She hadn’t slept since the day before-

Before her father was beaten. 

“Her dad told her to come here?”

‘Dad. Dad! My dad! He told me to come here.’ 

Ash’s eyes threatened to spill into the back of her skull as she blinked too quickly. Her head felt bigger than the rest of her body as she tried to swivel it around. She felt like she was being tied down by some invisible force, or like a blanket burrito seeing as she couldn’t move any of her limbs. Her mind screamed at her body to move-for any part to just twitch! She hadn’t been injured when those men broke in. 

Were those the men here right now? Were those the voices she heard? 

Her heart lurched up her throat, her eyes flinging open. She stretched her neck as her head rolled to the side and she seeked out the face of the voices. The room she was in didn’t seem familiar, accelerating her heartbeat. There were random posters hung up around the dimly lit room; sexy women on the beach, a race car picture frame that was signed, random band posters, an alien spaceship. She dumped her head down and saw tables and chairs, booths in the back, a dart board, a dance floor, and a pool table. 

The bar. She was at the bar her father told her to go to. Danvers. 

“I don’t think she even knows why she���s here or what this means.”

No. No, she didn’t recognize that voice. She did, but it wasn’t any of the men that brutally attacked her father. It was the voice of the woman who owned the bar. 

Blinking, Ash tried to root herself to this moment. She needed to wake up and focus. She didn’t know how much time had passed but knew it was too much. Her father needed her. He gave up his solidarity to take care of her and raise her, sacrificed so much to make sure she was happy. Ash’s father was always there for her, it was time for her to be there for him. 

“Someday, you’re going to realize that only you can give yourself strength; you can’t keep relying on others. It’s time to get up and be a grown girl, Ashilde. Get up.” 

Ash sat up, her body instantly wanting to slump back over. Her limbs felt made of jelly and not bones that could move like a motor. There was a person at her side before she could fall off the table. An arm was wrapped around her waist and a side was pressed against her own to keep her up straight. She tried to raise her head to look at how the other people in the room were, but her head just dipped to the left. She flicked her hazel eyes up through her eyelashes and was met with cool, clear, sea eyes. 

She dipped her head down to refocus herself. Her nose brushed the broad shoulder of the man holding her. A whiff of men's cologne wafted her nose, trickling to her brain. She blinked a few times until she felt like she wasn’t going to fall and looked up at the people in the room. 

There was the woman from earlier, the bar owner, and then there was another woman. She looked around the same age as the blonde, but taller and had wavy, short hair. The roots of her hair was a dark brunette, nearly black, but as it traveled down her hair got lighter. The ends were a white blonde and the rest was a dark, golden blonde. Her eyes were the clearest, brightest eyes Ash had ever seen. They looked like a diamond but how clear and sparkly they were. The perfect comparison Ash could think of was green apples. 

Her cheekbones were rounded like a Greek sculpture and her jawline was sharp, threatening to tear your heart apart. Her eyelashes fluttered kindly and her luxurious lips were clamped together. She wasn’t glaring at Ash, but she wasn’t smiling either. Her arms were crossed in front of her like a barrier, her eyes tracing Ash like a computer doing an analysis. She was in white shirt with a black blazer over it accompanied by black dress pants. 

She reeked of dominance and authority. Her posture was immaculate and her gaze was steady. There was something deeply unsettling about the woman but also sort of…tingly.

“Where’s my father?” Ash spoke, her voice hoarse. 

The green eyed woman curled her lips up for a fleeting second, the brief smirk sharp. 

“You’re not the one asking questions here, darling; I am.” She cocked her head to the side and slowly pulled her eyebrows together. Ash tried to swallow down the nerves fluttering around inside of her but failed. “Now, who are you, and why are you here?” 

Ash stared back at the woman with an unwavering gaze. Her body still felt sluggish and a part of her brain felt like it was elsewhere, and this woman was intimidating as hell, but Ash wasn’t going to back down. Her father wouldn’t back down. Neither would-

“Carol, why don’t you give our visitor some water. I think she’s too parched to speak.” The woman commanded. 

The blonde bartender, Carol, nodded her head and swiftly walked across the space between the two women to the bar. Ash and the other woman never broke eye contact as Carol got a glass and filled it with water like she was told. Carol walked back and handed the glass to Ash. 

“Here, drink up kid. Water will do you some good.” Carol commented. 

“I’m not a kid.” Ash snapped as she took the water. 

“You look like you’re about to go to prom.” Carol smiled as she walked back to the side of the woman in charge. 

Ash settled Carol with a crisp glare. “I’m twenty-one. How old are you, forty?”

The man beside Ash erupted into smooth chuckles. She turned to watch the man unwrap his arm from her waist and try to stifle his laugh. His hair was long and thick, curls twisting neatly at the ends. He had on a black leather jacket, a dark gray shirt, and black jeans. His jaw was sharpened nicely and his lips were wide, his smile contagious. He was beautiful. 

“Shut it, Barnes. You’re seven years older than me.” Carol snapped.

“Both of you, behave.” The third party member ordered. 

Barnes smiled a charming, mocking smile at Carol as she rolled her eyes. The other woman focused her gaze back on Ash, a smile glinting in her eyes. Ash drank her water, her gaze cooling with the other woman. The longer she gazed into those eyes, the less intimidating she became. Ash didn’t think she was going to be harmed, they had gotten her water and laid her down after all, but she still didn’t know if she could trust this woman. 

“I’m sorry for being impudent. Today has been a long day, and receiving a call at two am about some girl being hysterical about being let into my bar causes some worry.” 

“Your bar? Are you Danvers?” Ash stitched her eyebrows together, scooting forward. 

If this woman owned the bar and she was Danvers, then she was who her father wanted her to find. This had to be her. 

The woman parted her lips as her shoulders hitched upwards. Ash noticed this and felt her heart plummet. 

“No, Carol is Carol Danvers. My family owns this bar, but she works for us. The man beside you is Bucky, he’s my security guard.” She nodded her head formally at Bucky Barnes. 

Ash turned to face the man who smiled kindly at her. It wasn’t inviting, but it wasn’t threatful either. None of the people in the room seemed to be keen on hurting Ash. But a bodyguard? Why would this woman need a bodyguard? 

“Who are you?” Ash asked. 

Dim, hazel eyes met sparkling green ones. Ash looked at the woman-really looked at her. She knew that whoever this woman was, she wasn’t going to hurt Ash. The only thing she wanted was to help Ash. But Ash could also tell that none of this was simple and that everything was about to change. 

“I’m Wanda Maximoff.” 

Wanda. 

Ash kept repeating the name in her head, loving the sound of it. She was obsessed with how smoothly the words slipped off your lips and how well they went together. 

But there was also something familiar about the name. She swore she had heard it in association with another name, a name starting with an L. She had only heard it in eavesdropping between her parents when she was younger. Nothing was ringing any bells. 

“I’m Ash.” The raven-haired girl swallowed hard, tears swirling in her eyes. “Ash Xavier. My father is Charles Xavier and he told me to come here if anything bad was to happen to him and-” she gasped. 

Ash studied the cool, black flooring and tried to calm down. Getting all worked up wasn’t going to help anything and crying was only going to make her seem weak. She needed to take better control of this situation. 

“He was beaten. These men broke into our house and were asking him these questions.” 

“What questions?” Wanda asked quickly and yet calmly. 

Ash jerked her gaze up at Wanda. The blonde had her eyebrows stitched together and her lips pressed thinly together, her eyes now trees in a storm. She seemed to know something about these questions and whatever they were, Ash didn’t have a good feeling about them. Her heart sunk further into her chest. 

“I, I don’t know. They- none of it made sense!” Ash leaned forward and stuffed her hands into her damp hair with her elbows resting on her knees. Her heart was racing as well as her mind, all of it flooding her like waves pushing you down to the ocean floor. She felt like her lungs were collapsing. 

“Hey. Hey, Ash. Ash listen to me.” 

Ash lifted her head and gazed into serene green eyes without even thinking about it. Wanda gently wrapped her long, slender fingers around Ash’s blood stained wrist and lowered her arms. The dirty blonde woman scooted closer so the only thing Ash could see and was forced to focus on was Wanda. 

“I’m going to help you find your father. Alright?” There was a thick, raspy accent that filtered through Wanda’s words as she spoke. It was all Ash could focus on for several long seconds, dragging on lazily. “There’s a lot we need to talk about, but you have dealt with enough shit tonight. You’re going to come back to my place, and we will go over things in the morning. Sound good?” 

Wanda raised her dark, sandy eyebrows that looked excellent looking and very soft. Ash wondered what it’d be like to brush her thumbs over the woman’s eyebrows down the sides of her face until she was cupping her face. 

The other two members in the bar watched with silent, contemplative eyes at the action playing out before them. 

“Okay.” Ash said dumbly. 

Ash was trying to remain in the moment, but her mind had ideas of its own. Her father being beaten kept replaying in her mind like a broken dvd player. All of the blood, his eyes slipping closed, his lips red and foamy as he mumbled out answers, the sound of knuckles connecting with his face, broken glass, blood.

The young girl was startled from her movie when Bucky wrapped an arm back around her waist, helping her to stand up. Her legs felt too thick to move, but with Bucky’s help she was able to make it outside to the car. Wanda bid her goodbyes to Carol before joining Ash in the back seat, Bucky up front in shotgun. 

“Take us home, Jarvis.” Wanda commanded. 

The thin haired, blonde man in the driver's seat nodded his head to Wanda through the mirror. “Yes, ma’am.” 

Jarvis slowly peeled away from the curb and began easing the way down the road. The smooth trek caused Ash’s mind to soften and drift back to earlier that night. It seemed as if her mind would never shut up. Too loud to even notice the gaze of the woman beside her penetrating her mind.

[suchaspookyginger]

'just on a whim' || a torao/lawlu playlist

track lyrics below the read more (it's long though)

secrets i have held in my heart are harder to hide than i thought || i'm sorry, brothers, so sorry lover; forgive me, father, i love you, mother || save your breath - half your life, you've been hooked on death || i fell in love, 'cause no one saw me the way you did || i wanna know what it's like to be awkward and innocent, not belligerent || there's a box in your heart where you keep your feelings hidden || and maybe it's the past that's talking, screaming from the crypt || tremble, little lion man, you'll never settle any of your scores || i know this whole damn city thinks it needs you, but not as much as i do || i'm no good on my own anymore

left my soul in his vision, let's go get it out || last night i had a dream we were inseparably entwined || i'm on my guard with the rest of the world, but with you i know it's no good || i lose my voice when i look at you, can't make a noise though i'm trying to || can you hear me say, "don't throw me away"? there's no way out || best friends, ex-friends til the end, better off a lovers and not the other way around || in the morning you'll learn i disappeared off into the night so quietly || i'm exhausted by my heart || when the road began to crumble in front of my eyes, there was only one person i wanted to find || can't stop thinking 'bout the nights that i still regret

and the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up || my friend says "you're not alone," but that skin still doesn't feel like home || reaching for the deep end but i can't swim || it's not that i don't feel the pain, it's just i'm not afraid of hurting anymore || i've been on the run since i was a boy, but i'm now done running, got another thing coming watching my enemies get destroyed || who am i without this weight on my shoulder? oh god i'm dying to know || i've been running away i forget what i'm running from, but it still scares me today what i found in you love || smitten's a bad look on me || in the name of the father, the skeptic and the son, i had one more stupid question || i don't know where i'm going, but i don't think i'm coming home

a half-empty [boy] don't make me laugh i'll choke || my eyes want you more than a memory || it's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him || god knows where i would be if you hadn't found me sitting all alone in the dark || your dark brother wrapped in white, says it's good to be alive, but now he rides a comet's flame and he won't be coming back again || i'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take || this was the place i grew up, now it's ashes to ashes || i've been ripped up and tossed like a mouse, wrestled with the heavens and the devil himself || why drink the water from my hand, contagious as you think i am? || i just want to make it vanish, but the notes of an old mistake still ring louder every day

you're always getting curious and leaving town || i could never define all that you are to me || i wouldn't test you, i'm not the best you could have attained || i can't process what i'm feeling now, this skin i can do without || i woke up with the sun, thought of all of the people, places and things i've loved || love of mine, someday you will die, but i'll be close behind || they say an end can be a start, feels like i've been buried yet i'm still alive || i'm chasing down my demons, i can hear them breathing. but who knew you would bring me comfort? || i won't fight for anyone until you move my hand || rainy days and bad luck comin' my way, i look for when i'm lost so i don't go insane

this is all your own battle to win, this is your ship and you are the captain || i'm feelin' like i'm messin' it up, i'm callin' out your name and god help me 'cause i'll never love again || got my heart in your hands and your hands on my chest || strange life i live, but it's what you've decided, i'll give it all into your hands || i won't make the same mistakes that i've made for fifteen years || oblivion is where i'm headed, my mind is on the brink of going supernova || and as the world comes to an end, i'll be here to hold your hand. 'cause you're my king and i'm your lionheart

[ingeniousmindoftune]

𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝒢𝒪𝒪𝒟 ℒ𝒪𝒪𝒦ℐ𝒩𝒢 𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝒲𝒜𝒯ℰℛ • Dark Romance

This story was written separately from this platform; with proof I’ve written. Do not plagiarize or steal my work. I do have a lawyer on standby and will gladly take your ass to court! DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT.

WARNINGS: dark fic, dark humor, smuts, explicit scenes involving characters, gore and brutality! Do not read if you aren’t into dark romance or lifetime type shit cause baby, this isn’t the book for you.

>>Jason Momoa x blackplus!size!OC.

𝐃𝐞��𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Jason Momoa stars as the main character in one of my original fics. It’s been a while since I’ve written on tumblr and wanted to come back with a bang. Jason Momoa is Cyrus Eastwood, a handsome tour guide and naturist. But he’s not just that, he’s also.. a serial killer. And his newest mark is Luna Blair <feel free to change it to your name but this is an original character.> whom was in desperate need of a get away, who escaped the craziness of her home life and booked a nice little cottage off to itself in the woods, I know right? Black woman by her lonesome in the woods? Rare shit!

Prologue…

NEVER TRUST GOOD LOOKING MEN ON THE WATER.

Prologue.

𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. That was all that Luna could feel during this present time, it was the only emotion she could feel. Luna cried her eyes out, it was becoming impossible for her to drive, her car swerved as she tried to see and avoid the deer in the road. This isn’t safe. She thought to herself. This wasn’t safe at all. She pulled over, getting as close to the edge and away from the road as best as she could, the windshield wipers swayed back and forth, turning off her vehicle, the soft music still played, throwing her head back against the seat, she continued to sob.

Luna was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Just when she thought her life couldn’t get any worse, her grandmother got up and left her, she could still feel the loosened grip as her hand left hers. Luna couldn’t afford the treatments anymore, she was already in debt trying to keep up and give her grandmother the medication that was needed. Bills, bills, and more bills piling up like a game of jenga. What was there to do? She couldn’t even afford to bury her beloved grandmother, she had to cremate her.

Her eyes darted to the urn that held her ashes. Her grandmother had burial insurance but it lapsed, no one could afford to make the payments.

It was just her. Her and her beloved granddaughter, Luna, who she loved more than life. Luna sighed heavily, wiping the tears from her face. She was fine in just that moment, it was like a voice inside her had awoken. Telling her that everything would be okay. And that her grandmother didn’t blame her. “Get it together, Luna.” Turning her car back on, she pulled back onto the highway and proceeded home.

Getting to her grandmother’s house, she stepped out with the urn and parked inside the driveway, taking slow but long footsteps.

She approached the front door and there was a letter taped through the door with big bold red letters that threatened her and shook her. Tears began to fall again. FORECLOSURE NOTICE. Thirty days. Her heart raced. Ripping the paper off the door, she crumbled it up and tossed it on the ground. Attempting to open the door not realizing the big black box taped on the door. Her heart raced. She felt like all the walls was closing in. think. Think. Think. She kept telling herself but she couldn’t. This was becoming too much. Too soon. She sat on the steps feeling faint. “I’m sorry grandma.”

- Several Days later.

“You’re free to go.” The psychologist stepped into the room looking at her.

And did. She had a mental break. She found herself screaming, throwing rocks at the windows, she did everything to make her feel better that night, she remembered getting everything she could out her grandmothers house. She was soon admitted into a psychiatric ward where she was admitted for a seventy-two hour psych-review. But she was just in need of a release. “There’s nothing for me to go back to.” Luna spoke soft.

“I understand that. You lost a lot.” Dr.Brown expressed with deep concern, sitting next to her

Luna eyes directed to hers. “But, that’s not how it’s going to be forever, Luna. I think you just need a get away. You need a few days to clear your head, outside of a place like this. You need nature. You need silence.” Luna shook her head. “Silence is all I hear now, where is the rest?” Dr.Brown rubbed her back in circular motions in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable. “Trust me. Being around nature is the most beautiful part of life. It’s always so healing. The staff and I have put together a love offering to help you through this time and we’ve even booked you some place secluded but safe.”

“Dr.Brown, you do see the color of my skin right?” Luna raised concern.

Dr.Brown laughs. She nods. “I do. Trust me, this stay will give you the answers you need. It’s the same Cabin I stayed in when I was your age. Newly renovated. It belonged to my grandfather.” Luna shook her head, she jumped off the hospital bed, gathering the few things that came with her. She gathered her urn that held her grandmother’s ashes. “I don’t take charity. Thank you for all you all have done.” When she thought of psych-ward. This wasn’t what she had in mind, she had in mind needles, pills, screams and torture. Not this. Dr.Brown shook her head. “Please, Luna.” Luna exhaled sharply, but little did she know.. she would deeply regret the decision to take up on Dr.Brown’s offer and proposal.

That it could very much be the worst decision she could have ever made. Sometimes, wishing for an escape can result in possible death..

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[itsneowriting]

Breathing Beneath

With a gasp for air, he opened his eyes. He wasn't sure if his eyes were open, as the only thing he could see was darkness. He tried to get up, only to realize he couldn't move. He tried crying out for help but was stopped by the pain in his head. He struggled to breathe at this point and had so many questions. "Where am I?" "Why can't I move?" "Why does my head hurt?" But one question stood above all. "Who am I?"

Through the darkness, he saw a glimmer of light. As he focused more, the light became clearer, revealing the image of a woman. She looked familiar, but he couldn't recall who she was. She appeared to be in her 70s. As he gazed into the light, the surroundings became clearer. The old woman was hugging a young person in a black robe, wearing a peculiar-looking hat. Both looked happy. "Amma," he began to recollect his memories. This picture was taken on the day of his graduation. His mother raised him alone after his father's death when he was two. He was the sole reason for her existence. His graduation day had been one of the happiest moments of her life, witnessing her child grow into a remarkable individual.

"Aaahh..." The pain in his head brought him back to reality. The light had vanished, and darkness persisted. He struggled to determine if his eyes were closed, as the darkness felt brighter when he thought his eyes were shut. He attempted to rise from his bed, but it seemed as though an invisible barrier engulfed him. "Cough... cough..." Breathing became increasingly difficult. With limited options remaining, he closed his eyes once again, hoping to see another glimmer of light.

Through the darkness, another ray of light illuminated his vision. It was himself, along with his mother and two other individuals. Their faces were not clear to him. Gradually, things began to become clearer. A beautiful woman held a precious baby, and there was something blue in the background—it was their first car.

"Shreya!" he called out. His daughter was named after his favorite singer. He remembered the day they bought their first car—a birthday surprise for his wife, Sruthi. She was speechless upon seeing the gift. Shreya was overjoyed and immediately jumped into the front seat. They went to the planetarium for their first ride. Amma was also thrilled to see her young man reaching new heights. She was immensely proud of her son.

"Aaah..." "Cough... cough..." It didn't take long for him to return to reality. If the pain at the back of his head and the difficulty in breathing weren't enough, there was now a strange fragrance surrounding him. It was both pleasant and unsettling. He tried to get up by pushing his palm against the bed and felt something crumble beneath it. It wasn't anything solid; it felt like powder, perhaps sand.

"Help... Somebo..." he tried to yell again, but the pain in his head forced him to stop. Besides, he didn't have enough air in his lungs to produce the needed sound anyway.

Slowly, he began to remember. It was Shreya's birthday, and he was on his way to pick her up from school. He had bought her tickets to her favorite band's show. It was raining. He remembered applying the brakes when he saw that cat suddenly crossing the road. He vaguely recalled his car skidding on the wet road and hitting something. The truth began to dawn on him. The blood covering him, the doctors, the tearful faces of his loved ones.  They hadn't realized he would wake up again, alone, as they put him to his final sleep. He took one heavy breath of whatever little air was available to him, accepting the darkness that enveloped him, and closed his eyes. Memories flooded his mind, the fragments of a life that was abruptly halted. His family, his achievements, his joys, and sorrows—they all merged in a bittersweet symphony.

[oldfangirl81]

When the road began to crumble in front of my eyes, There was only one person I wanted to find, it was you

[your-name-is-my-favorite-verse]

Finding the Sun

chptr 4.

AN: it's a long one! big tw for abuse

Today was cooler, rainy. Maybe the gods added the rainstorm for dramatic effect, or maybe I deserve to be wet and cold.

as I walked, the only thing on my mind was Chris. He was always there for me, since I was born. He was the only thing that was really constant.

I don’t remember a lot about our childhood, just the stuff I'd rather forget.

Like that one night, when I was little. I was 10, he was 16.

My father was drunk, and angry. I had heard glass shattering, and my mother trying to calm him down.

I stood in the living room, listening to it, paralyzed in fear. I felt Chris grab my arm and tug me into the hall, as he suggested that we play hide-and-seek. I nodded, of course, it was my favorite.

Hiding in his closet, he whispered to me. “Okay Charlie, remember, you gotta be quiet!”

I smiled and pressed my finger to my mouth in the ‘shush’ motion, childlike naivete making me think nothing of it. The door to his room burst open, and immediately I felt the heat of his palms pressed against my ears, blocking sound from getting through. It made the world seem fuzzy in the dark, stuffy closet, and I only heard incoherent yells through the muffs he had formed for me. His body was shaky and pressed tight against the wall.

I remember a second silhouette joining in the room, as my father grabbed the handle to the closet door. My father yanked it open, his face twisted in drunk fury. He was about to lunge at my brother, who was hugging me tight to his chest, palms stuck steadfast to the side of my head.

I shut my eyes, scared and trembling, as a gunshot reverberated through the room, breaking my brother's sound shield. He let go of my ears, and I looked up at my mother, who was holding a revolver in her unsteady hands, staring down at her now dead husband in front of her.

She turned her head to us, and smiled meekly. "Dinner's.. on the stove, if you kids are hungry." she fell to her knees, letting out a strangled scream.

She didn't serve time, she was defending us. Our shaken little family was crumbling at the seams, and mom didn't leave her room for a week.

Chris stayed by my side, walking me to school, cooking for me, and sleeping near me to wake me up when I had nightmares. He was there for me when no one else was.

And I pushed him away.

I pushed everyone away, but after all he'd done? Chris, of all people, deserved better than that.

My heart thudding, I began to run across the wet road. I ran like in my dream, I ran with no direction.

My socks were soaked, my surroundings were muddled, and I couldn’t figure out where I was going. I paused for a moment to recollect, and catch my breath.

I remembered a technique Dr. Lindsay taught me. “When you’re overwhelmed, Charlie, Count your breaths carefully. In, out. Every cycle, count up. Take a breath, one. Take a breath, another.”

I nodded to myself. I tried to listen, and count my breaths. One. two. Three. I felt sick, dizzy, but the fuzz in my brain was clearing. By my 20th count, I felt calmer than I had in ages.

I recognized this area, and as I followed the sidewalk on my left, I ended up in his neighborhood. Just a few yards away sat my brother's house, gold light shining from a window. I smiled as I sprinted to his house, and that was when I tripped.

My skin tore as I skidded across the rough pavement. I gritted my teeth and exhaled sharply, gingerly moving my weight from my knees, to sit on the sidewalk.

My leg was covered in blood, which intermingled with the rain, swiftly dripping down my legs. I winced, trying to dab at the wound with the edge of my shirt.

"God, you're pathetic" I heard from above me.

I looked up to see a tall, sandy-blonde figure, Chris, smirking down at me. I reached out my hand, and he shook his head.

"No more handouts, Charlie. Get up yourself."

I struggled but eventually got to my feet, blood still pooling down my leg. He nodded in approval, and I limped side-by-side with him up his front steps.

He went ahead of me inside, and looked back at me "stay on the doormat for a sec- i don't want blood on my tile."

I looked down at the kitchen tiles, which unfortunately already had my blood on them. He came back with an old t-shirt, a towel, and a first-aid kit.

"Well. I guess you were never good at following directions, except for one."

He threw me the towel and I nodded, saying "stay quiet".

I dabbed at the wound with the towel, after drying the rest of me. He turned his back to me as I changed, and then directed me to a kitchen stool.

He sat next to me, and propped my leg on his thigh.

"This is gonna hurt." He commented, before applying rubbing alcohol to my leg.

I stiffened and let out a pained hiss, that he ignored. Applying a pad of gauze, he started speaking.

"What brings you around here, Charls? Just looking to rough yourself up? Acting like a mess so people will feel bad for you?”

He didn't meet my eye, just wrapping the bandage around my leg. He patted it, to signify that he was done. I swung my leg off of his and fell onto him, hugging him tightly.

"Chris, I'm such an asshole." He looked at me with a stunned expression, and then hugged me back.

"yeah.. a little."

I nodded into his shirt.

He continued. “You had all of us worried that we’d never see you again.”

Everything seemed to come out at once. I told him everything. About my relapse. Losing Her. Therapy. The dreams. Everything. I looked up at him, seeing the face of the man who risked his life for his shitty little sister. He just looked back, as if waiting for me to say something else.

"Chris, I'm so so sorry."

He gave me a disingenuous smile, with tear stains I hadn’t noticed marking his face.

"it's going to be okay"

[dailyslap]

Clarity by Vance Joy

The day began like all the rest A frantic beating in my chest A panicked reeling in my brain Perspective lost but nothing gained 

The precious moments that we shared You slowed time down inside my head I wish I'd found this clarity While I still had you close to me

But I was stuck inside my shell Until the ground began to sway I realized what mattered most, that day When the stars began to fall right out of the sky And the seas were rising up

I had one thing in mind When the road began to crumble in front of my eyes There was only one person I wanted to find

It was you It was you

[stirlingmoss]

Fig Tree

This afternoon, as storm clouds descended over London and the world turned the colour of melancholy, Kostas Kazantzakis buried me in the garden. In the back garden, that is. Normally I liked it here, among the lush camellias, sweetly fragrant honeysuckles and witch hazels with their spidery flowers, but this was no normal day. I tried to cheer up and see the bright side of things. Not that it helped. I was nervous, filled with apprehension. I had never been buried before.

Kostas had been toiling outside in the cold since the early hours. A light sheen of sweat had formed on his brow and it glistened every time he��forced the steel edge of the spade into solid earth. Behind him extended the shadows of the wooden trellises that in summer were covered with climbing roses and clematis vines, but were now no more than a see-through barrier separating our garden from the neighbour’s terrace. Slowly accumulating beside his leather boots, alongside the silvery trail left by a snail, was a pile of soil, clammy and crumbling to the touch. His breath clouded in front of his face, his shoulders were taut inside his navy parka – the one he had bought from a vintage shop on Portobello Road – and his knuckles were red and raw, slightly bleeding, but he didn’t seem to notice.

I was cold and, though I did not want to admit it to myself, frightened. I wished I could have shared my worries with him. But even if I could have spoken, he was too distracted to hear me, absorbed in his own thoughts as he kept digging without so much as a glance in my direction. When he was done, he would put the spade aside, look at me with those sage-green eyes that I knew had seen things both pleasant and painful, and push me down into the hollow ground.

Only days to Christmas, and all around the neighbourhood sparkled fairy lights and metallic tinsels. Inflatable Santas and reindeer with plastic smiles. Bright, blinking garlands dangled from shop awnings and stars twinkled in house windows, offering furtive peeks into other people’s lives, which always seemed less complicated somehow, more exciting – happier. Inside the hedge a whitethroat began to sing – swift, scratchy notes. I wondered what a North African warbler was doing in our garden at this time of the year. Why hadn’t it left for warmer places with all the others that must now be on their way south, and who, if they made a slight change in their flight path, might just as well head towards Cyprus and visit my motherland.

I knew they got lost occasionally, passerine birds. Rarely, yet it happened. And at times they just could not make the journey any more, year in year out, the same but never the same, miles of emptiness rolling out in all directions, and so they stayed, even though it meant hunger and cold and, too often, death.

It had been a long winter already. So unlike last year’s mild weather, with its overcast skies, scattered showers, muddy tracks, a cascade of gloom and grey. Nothing out of the ordinary for dear old England. But this year, since early autumn, the climate had been erratic. At night we heard the howling of the gale and it brought to mind things untamed and unbidden, things within each of us that we were not yet ready to face, let alone comprehend. Many mornings when we woke up, we found the roads glazed with ice and blades of grass stiffened like shards of emerald. There were thousands of homeless people sleeping rough on the streets of London and not enough shelters for even a quarter of them.

Tonight was set to be the coldest night of the year so far. Already the air, as if composed of splinters of glass, pierced everything it touched. That is why Kostas was rushing, bent on completing his task before the ground turned to stone.

Storm Hera – that’s what they had called the impending cyclone. Not George or Olivia or Charlie or Matilda this time, but a mythological name. They said it was going to be the worst in centuries – worse than the Great Storm of 1703, which had torn the tiles from rooftops, stripped ladies of their whalebone corsets, gentlemen of their powdered wigs, and beggars of the rags on their backs; wrecked timber-framed mansions and mud-built slums alike; smashed sailing ships as if they were paper boats and blown all the sewage floating down the Thames on to the riverbanks.

Stories, perhaps, but I believed in them. Just as I believed in legends, and the underlying truths they tried to convey.

I told myself that if everything went according to plan, I would only be buried for three months, maybe even less. When the daffodils bloomed along the footpaths and the bluebells carpeted the woods, and the whole of nature was animated again, I would be unburied. Bolt upright and wide awake. But, hard as I tried, I could not hold on to that sliver of hope while the winter, fierce and unrelenting, felt as if it were here to stay. I had never been good at optimism anyway. It must have been in my DNA. I was descended from a long line of pessimists. So I did what I often did: I began to imagine all the ways in which things could go wrong. What if this year spring did not arrive and I remained under the earth – forever? Or what if spring did make an appearance at long last, but Kostas Kazantzakis forgot to dig me up?

A gust of wind swept past, cutting into me like a serrated knife. Kostas must have noticed for he stopped digging. ‘Look at you! You’re freezing, poor thing.’

He cared about me, always had. In the past, whenever the weather turned frigid, he took precautions to keep me alive. I remember one chilly afternoon in January he set up windbreaks all around me and wrapped me with layer upon layer of burlap to reduce moisture loss. Another time he covered me with mulch. He placed heat lamps in the garden to provide warmth throughout the night and, most crucially, before the crack of dawn, the darkest hour of the day and often the coldest. That is when most of us fall into a sleep we never wake up from – the homeless on the streets, and

us …

… fig trees. I am a Ficus carica, known as the edible common fig, though I can assure you there’s nothing common about me. I am a proud member of the great mulberry family of Moraceae from the kingdom of Plantae. Originating in Asia Minor, I can be found across a vast geography from California to Portugal and Lebanon, from the shores of the Black Sea to the hills of Afghanistan and the valleys of India.

Burying fig trees in trenches underground during the harshest winters and unearthing them in spring is a curious if well-established tradition. Italians settled in sub-zero towns in America and Canada are familiar with it. So are Spaniards, Portuguese, Maltese, Greeks, Lebanese, Egyptians, Tunisians, Moroccans, Algerians, Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians, Kurds, Turks, Jordanians, Syrians, Sephardic Jews … and us Cypriots.

Maybe not the young so much these days, but the elderly are no stranger to the custom. The ones who first migrated from the milder climes of the Mediterranean to the blustery cities and conurbations across the West. The ones who, after all these years, still dream up ingenious ways to smuggle across borders their favourite smelly cheese, smoked pastrami, stuffed sheep intestines, frozen manti, homemade tahini, carob syrup, karidaki glyko, cow stomach soup, spleen sausage, tuna eyeballs, rams’ testicles … even though they might, if only they searched, find at least some of these delicacies in the ‘international food’ section of supermarkets in their adopted countries. But they would claim it is not the same taste.

First-generation immigrants are a species all their own. They wear a lot of beige, grey or brown. Colours that do not stand out. Colours that whisper, never shout. There is a tendency to formality in their mannerisms, a wish to be treated with dignity. They move with a slight ungainliness, not quite at ease in their surroundings. Both eternally grateful for the chances life has given them and scarred by what it has snatched away, always out of place, separated from others by some unspoken experience, like survivors of a car accident.

First-generation immigrants talk to their trees all the time – when there are no other people nearby, that is. They confide in us, describing their dreams and aspirations, including those they have left behind, like wisps of wool caught on barbed wire during fence crossings. But for the most part, they simply enjoy our company, chatting to us as though to old, long missed friends. They are caring and tender towards their plants, especially those they have brought along with them from lost motherlands. They know, deep within, that when you save a fig tree from a storm, it is someone’s memory you are saving.

[messers-moony]

Nothing Left | R.B

Paring: Regulus Black X Wife!Gryffindor!Reader

Summary: Everything crashes within seconds and Sirius doesn’t know where to go. 

Everything went downhill so fucking fast. How was that even possible? Everything was perfectly fine a year ago, but it seems that within that year, everything had collapsed onto the helpless boy. It was like being beneath a crumbling concrete tower that fell with no warning. Like being slapped in the face unexpectedly. Like getting doused in freezing water on a Sunday morning. 

In retrospect, it sucked. 

Sirius Black would know first hand. His entire life had been a screw-up from the beginning. It started with his parents, who - at the start - loved him. But when he turned out to be the child they never wanted all that love had vanished. They tortured him, broke him piece by piece, they built up trauma that took years for him to express to his friends. It wasn’t until third year when they heard him crying alone in his four-poster bed and asked what was wrong. He could remember the comforting embrace James Potter had given him. 

Nevertheless, it never ended there. The summer going into his sixth year, Sirius decided it was enough after too many Cruciatus Curses and body binding curses; enough was enough. His hands were trembling after enduring just ten minutes of the torture curse, and it was a struggle, but he packed everything he could. His heart broke at inevitably leaving his little brother behind. He could only hope that Regulus would understand. 

It took a Knight Bus trip to the Potter residence in Godric’s Hollow. The sky could’ve resembled how Sirius felt. Back at Grimmauld Place Twelve, the sky was always cloudy and rainy. Godric’s Hollow allowed the sun to shine past the fluffy clouds, but tonight was different. The sky was dark and thick, black clouds covered the stars. Rain poured from them, and it pittered on the stone roads. Sirius was instantly drenched when he stepped off the Knight Bus. 

Hesitantly he made his way to the door, where he knocked softly. The house was two stories and was a relatively big family home - not bigger than Grimmauld Place - but an average family home. The house was a mixture of grey, dark purples, and brown. It reminded Sirius of Remus’ patched jumpers. Sirius could hear movement from behind the plum door, and it opened to reveal a familiar face. James Potter with his messy hair, hazel eyes, and long limbs. James was muscular, but he was also tall, not Remus tall but taller than Sirius. 

James didn’t speak and ushered him inside. The following morning at breakfast, Euphemia - Mrs. Potter - had given Sirius the excellent news of his new forever home. The Potters would never forget the way Sirius lit up and how a smile had taken over his face. Sirius didn’t remember being this happy except for when Regulus was born. 

But his forever home was not forever. 

In seventh year, James’ parents had died, and nobody had comforted Sirius except one person who attempted. James had Lily, and that was enough for him. Perhaps it was selfish to think that James should be comforting him. It was definitely selfish. Sirius was doing really good at hiding how he felt until he crumbled behind a tapestry near the dungeons. 

Sirius didn’t know if it was good or bad luck that Regulus - his prefect Slytherin brother - had found him behind that tapestry. Regulus had pulled back the fabric slowly with his wand lit. His face had softened at his older brother sobbing with his knees to his chest. Regulus allowed his wand light to extinguish before sitting in front of him in the same position, allowing their socks to touch at the tips. 

They sat there for a couple of minutes before Regulus moved closer, albeit hesitantly to sit beside Sirius. Regulus had his back against the concrete, and Sirius curled up onto him while the younger Black brother rubbed his older brother's back. Sirius cried harder and harder. It took an hour before he subdued to sniffles and whimpers, but Regulus took it as his time to speak. 

“I know they meant a lot to you,” Regulus stated, still rubbing his older brothers back, “And I don’t blame you for grieving them.”

Sirius sniffled, “I ought to be grateful for them, really.” Regulus released a sound that sounded like a chuckle, but it was so foreign to Sirius he couldn’t tell, “They kept you safe. Kept you away from mother and father. They gave you a home where you could finally be you.”

“And no matter how mad I want to be at them for taking you away from me,” Regulus admitted, “I just can’t be because they gave you everything you wanted, and I’ve never seen you happier in my life.”

Regulus didn’t stop talking, “You know… I- I found my own James Potter.”

Sirius looked up at Regulus with flushed cheeks, but his facial expression was baffled, and Regulus presented him with a small smile, “Okay, maybe she isn’t my ‘James Potter’ per se because I don’t see her as a sister but rather she’s my girlfriend.”

“What’s- What’s her name?” Sirius croaked; his throat was so raw from crying. 

“Y/n L/n.”

“A- A Gryffindor?”

Regulus made that sound again, “Yeah. A stupidly brave one too. Even worse.”

Sirius smiled, “I know her.”

“Don’t tell me she was one of your conquests.” Regulus grimaced, and Sirius chuckled, snuggling back into Regulus’ chest, “No, she wasn’t. It turns out she has the hots for the other Black brother.”

Regulus smiled, and they allowed the silence of the castle to consume them. It was dark in the corridor on the other side of the tapestry, and Regulus could see the faint moonlight peaking out. He could also imagine the stars glittering beautifully in the midnight sky. He could see the star Sirius shining brighter than ever, and he just wanted his brother to feel the same. 

“I plan to marry her.” Regulus said before he could stop the words from falling from his mouth.

“What happens then?”

“What do you mean?”

“Mother and father will never approve.”

Regulus scoffed, “I’m done with their bullshit and have been for quite a while.”

Sirius met his brother's eyes again, “I left right after you. It turns out there is no more heir to the Black family name.”

The older Black brother smiled brightly and tightened his grip on his younger brother. Regulus couldn’t remember feeling this warm since they were little boys running around the backyard. Sirius was practically on top of him, and that was okay. For now, everything seemed okay again. Maybe Euphemia and Fleamont were gone, but even in their deaths, they managed to benefit Sirius’ life. 

Now it all seemed fruitless. 

Only a couple of months later, Sirius and Regulus had gotten into a huge kerfuffle. It ended with screaming, raw throats, tears, and flushed cheeks. Sirius could remember how Regulus playfully mocked his and Remus’ relationship. He didn’t know exactly what happened, just that he was pouncing for his little brother, and Remus was holding him back. Sirius had yelled some very awful things that he couldn’t take back. 

She hadn’t done anything. She didn’t even know that an argument had happened. Y/n had been reading in the common room when the book was flung out of her hand, and she was pushed against the stone wall of the Gryffindor Tower. Y/n met eyes with stormy grey ones, not unlike her lovers, but these weren’t her lovers. These were his elder brother's eyes, and he had lifted her off the floor against the wall until James had pulled Sirius off her. 

Y/n hit the floor with a thud and repeatedly coughed, hands on her throat. James had stormed into the boy's dormitory with Sirius with him. She didn’t even understand what was happening not until she met up with Regulus in the prefect dorm, and he saw the marks on her neck. Sirius had taken it too far, and Regulus was furious. They were no longer on speaking terms. 

Now Sirius had someone entirely different to grieve. 

Sirius had felt like his heart hit the floor when he was forced to move out of James’ house with Lily due to Harry being born. Remus had moved away to take care of his sick mother and asked for privacy. The funds that had previously been in Sirius’ account had been squandered, and now he was paying the price. 

He had absolutely nowhere to go. Truthfully, there was one place he could go, but he didn’t think he’d ever be accepted there. He had said unforgivable things, but James had given him enough confidence that it would be okay. Reluctantly, Sirius Black took the Knight Bus to the suburbs in London. The community felt so modern and new. It was different then Godric’s Hollow which had been around for so many years that it began to weather and erode. 

The deja vu was hitting him like a brick. Their house was a mixture of grey, black, white, and maybe blue - Sirius couldn’t tell in the darkness if it was white or pale blue. Perhaps he’d find out tomorrow if he was even welcomed inside. Sighing and shivering, Sirius knocked on the door. He could hear little squeals of delight that sounded much like a child. He also heard talking, but he froze when the door opened. 

Regulus Black, at the age of twenty-two, looked good. His hair was to his jaw, and it was wavy at the ends, whereas Sirius’ was much more straight. His eyes had turned silver over the years. His cheeks looked much fuller, and he looked a lot better. Regulus was no longer looked underweight, but he was still slim and skinny. Black family genes, Sirius supposed. Sirius couldn’t meet his brother's eyes. 

“What do you want, Sirius.” 

His name falling from Regulus’ mouth instead of a nickname hurt more than he expected, “I had nowhere else to go…”

Regulus scoffed, “James finally kick you out, eh?”

“Yeah, he did.” Sirius sounded so distant, “Perhaps it was about time, and here I am, at your doorstep.”

“Come on, Sirius.” Regulus motioned for him to come in, and Sirius did. 

The house was much cozier inside. The floors were dark wood, almost black. The living room - on Sirius’ left - was a darker turquoise color with grey furniture. The dining room - on Sirius’ right - was a light grey. The furniture was a marble table, white wood chairs with cushions, and a beautiful light fixture. Regulus led him to the kitchen, which was straight ahead in the hallway. 

It was a beautiful mint green color with black and white furniture. The appliances were primarily black and the furniture primarily white, but regardless, it was beautiful. They had another table in the kitchen that was a grey wood instead of the shiny marble in the dining room but nevertheless screamed elegance. Sirius sat at one of the barstools at the L of the counter. Regulus slid him a cup of tea. 

“Your house is beautiful.” Sirius complimented, and Regulus placed the cup back into the saucer, “Thank you. My wife picked everything out for the most part. I either built it or painted it.” Regulus smiled. 

“Your wife?”

Regulus hummed, “Y/n Black. Ring any bells?”

Sirius swallowed, “Yeah.”

They both took a sip of tea, “I have two kids too. Both boys.”

“Two?!“ Sirius nearly spat out the liquid he had just taken a sip of. 

“Twins. Fraternal, thankfully.”

He placed the cup down, “What’re their names?“

“Perseus Regulus Black and Leo Alphard Black.”

“Perseus and Leo, huh?“

Regulus blushed, “It wasn’t my idea. It was Y/n’s.”

“I like them,” Regulus looked up at him, “The names. I’m sure they fit them too.”

“Thanks.”

It wasn’t long until footsteps began to echo coming down the steps. Y/n had grown up too. Her face was sharper and her curves more defined. If Sirius was honest, she didn’t look like she had kids at all. To be fair, he wasn’t really staring at Y/n but more so his brother. Regulus had a starstruck expression as his wife walked towards him. He had a dopey smile on his face and stars in his eyes. Regulus really loved her, and Sirius could tell, hell, anyone could. 

Y/n stopped in her tracks at seeing Sirius, “What’s he doing here?” 

Regulus placed an arm around her waist, “He came looking for a place to stay. While I was waiting for you, I decided to catch up with him for a little.”

Sirius looked guilty, “Ultimately, I’m leaving this decision up to you.” 

Y/n sighed and looked at both brothers. She thought of what he did back at Hogwarts. She thought of how Regulus had cried and ached for his brother, wishing for their relationship to be back the way it was. She thought of her two children who always asked about their Uncle Sirius, who was never around. 

“Sirius,” Y/n began, and Sirius held his breath, “Where will you go if I were to say no?”

Sirius looked at his lap, “The streets.”

He couldn’t hear the footsteps that approached him until soft hands lifted his head where he met soft e/c eyes, “I’m willing to look past everything that happened at Hogwarts for the sake of my children. They deserve their uncle. But I need you to show me that I can trust you and that you won’t cause trouble.”

“I’ll do anything.” Sirius complied, and Regulus smirked, “Don’t say that. She’ll have you remodel something.”

“You’re an asshole.” Y/n whirled, and Regulus continued to smirk, “I told you to use magic, and you said we should do it the Muggle way.”

He shrugged, “We got good memories out of doing it the Muggle way.”

“If getting paint all over me counts as good memories, then sure.”

“It does.” Regulus smiled, “Your face was priceless.”

“Dickhead.” She muttered. 

Sirius grinned, “Well, Sirius. If Y/n lets you stay, then you’re welcome here. What I did back at Hogwarts was uncalled for, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mocked you and Remus.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It is.” Regulus countered solemnly, “Had I not done that; then we could’ve had a better relationship. For that, I’m sorry.”

Sirius stood up and hugged Regulus tight, “New beginnings?”

“New beginnings.” Regulus smiled. 

Regulus led Sirius up the wooden stairs up to the second story. It seemed to have had four bedrooms and two bathrooms, one in the master bedroom, one in the hallway, not including the one downstairs. On the end of the left side was a door leading to the master bedroom. On the right end was a cabinet and two doors across from one another. Then in the middle of the back was a door leading to another bedroom which Regulus had opened. 

The bedroom was spotless and beautiful. It was painted a grey with purple undertone with a queen-sized bed. Most of the furniture was white, and the bedding was black. Sirius had brought his trunk to its normal size and placed it at the end of the bed. Regulus smiled as Sirius looked around. 

“This is yours for as long as you want it.” Regulus stated softly snd Sirius had tears in his eyes, “Thank you.”

Sirius hugged his brother again, “I really mean it, thank you.”

“I love you, Sirius.” Regulus confessed, “You’ll always be my brother. The one who held me during thunderstorms. The one who sewed up my teddy bear when it had gotten ripped. The one who took the blame so I wouldn’t get punished.”

Sirius was gripping the back of his shirt tightly, “That stuff doesn’t just go away.”

They parted, and Regulus smiled, “Get some sleep. I’m sure you’d like to see the boys tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’d like to meet my nephews.” Sirius admitted smiling brightly. 

“Get some sleep, Siri.” 

“You too, Reggie.”

[memes-saved-me]

TW: Injury, homophobic slur

It was in fact Hopper who noticed first. The kids being too swept up in their own lives and school drama to see it. The subtle touches, the leaving early, the looks and gazes from across the room but most importantly the swapping of clothes. Just an odd shirt here or there, a jumper definitely owned by one of them on the other.

Little things no one else noticed or cared enough to connect. However, Jim had very basic training and the past few years had taught him how to collect clues, what to look for and more importantly come to conclusions.

A conclusion that confused him for longer than he would admit. Monsters and little girls in the woods was one thing, two teenage boys together was something he had never personally seen first hand. He had read the stories from the big cities of boys dying alone in hospitals after being abandoned by their parents, an act he didn't understand at all.

The thought of leaving your own child like that was something he could never do, no matter who they loved. You should feel lucky to have had so long with them, some parents lack such luck.

He had heard rumours from time to time, hushed whispers received with a gasp or a scowl. But never did he think the resident bad boy and the son of rich family up town to be what he had heard about from time to time.

Of course, he never said anything. His conclusions being just that, a theory with no actual proof. That was until one night the station received a call from a concerned neighbour on Old Cherry Road. Shouting and banging coming from next door.

He took it, knowing exactly who lived there and what went on but not having the chance to catch it in motion.

As he pulled up outside his concern rose significantly when he saw the familiar BMW parked on the curb. When he got near the front door he could hear the yelling, so loud he knocked to no answer.

"You think you can just walk away after coming into my house and-," Hopper kicked open the front door to find a scene he had feared as the worst.

Neil Hargrove had Steve Harrington by his hair only a few inches from the coffee table's edge, bloody to the point of unrecognisable. His hands limp on the top in an attempt to push back against the force of being smashed into the wood. Billy Hargrove was close by, crawling towards them on his front.

Everything froze as he took it in, as Neil Hargrove's perfect family man image crumbles. His grip loosened on Steve's hair, allowing for him to slide down to the rug and lie flat on his back as he coughed up blood. Billy still moving to get to him, tears streaming down his cheeks as he reached out to grab his shoulder and pull him up right.

"This boy came in here and attacked me," Neil lied. "I had to defend myself."

"That's bullshit," Jim spat at him and moved to grab his arm. "You're a piece of shit father who doesn't deserve the right to even be called one."

As Hopper pushed him up against the wall he looked back at the two of them to see Steve lying in Billy's lap, cheek pressed tightly to his temple as he held him close. Steve practically unconscious as Billy tried to keep him awake.

"Look at them! They're just some fags who need dealt with," he tried to get out of Jim's grip but it wasn't happening.

"You better shut the fuck up," he pulled him off the wall and turned him around to hand cuff him. He pulled out his walkie. "I'm gonna need an ambulance at 5280 Old Cherry and a back up vehicle."

"I haven't done anything," Neil squirmed but Hopper didn't budge. "You'll be fired for this."

"Oh, trust me I won't."

Billy was whispering in Steve's ear, something too quiet for Jim to hear but he didn't want to. It was for Steve, not him. Still he held Neil there until the back up arrived and handed him over to them before going over to speak to them before the ambulance arrived.

"Hey, you got any family near by or a place to stay," he asked Billy.

"He's all I got," he replied with a wince, hands still wrapped around Steve with no sign of letting go.

"You wanna stay with me? At least for tonight because the hospital waiting room ain't the place for those bruises."

"What?" Billy's eyes widened. "I'm not leaving him."

"Alright but they're just gonna send you home and keep him in so its the waiting room or a bed," Hopper told him and watched as he looked down at Steve's blood covered face and hair before turning back to him.

"You don't care that we're..."

"Look, kid I don't care about any of that shit. There's bigger issues in this town than two teenage boys being gay," he rolled his eyes slightly. "Do you want a bed for the night?"

"Yes," he said. "Please."

Hopper watched as Steve was lifted into the back of the ambulance, Billy hesitating beside him the entire time. His hand clearly wanting to reach out and hold Steve's but too scared to do so in front of so many people. Still he climbed inside and sat down as the paramedic focused on Steve.

He followed them to the hospital and waited around until Steve was cleaned up and the nurse informed him he would be fine but needed some stitches and a hell of a lot of pain relief. Max ran in at one point wanting to know what was going on. Her mother having gone to the police station instead.

Later on as the early hours of the morning began to pass by Billy appeared and followed Hopper out of the hospital and into his truck. Face cleaned and taped up in various places with an ice pack under his arm against his ribs as they drove in silence. El preparing his bed for Billy as they made the drive to his cabin.

That was when he knew for a fact this was not the last time he would have to deal with the the two teenage boys he now could for sure call a couple. A couple who would face hell and had already, but he would be damned if he didn't make sure they made it out alive. Together and not alone because it was a privilege to be a parent, even to someone else's child.