#Alright I'm gonna need a second ya'll...

[writingwhileblvck]

Can you do one where Bakugou gets from work horny and he walks in on you fingering yourself?

Absolutely! I changed it up just a tiny bit, but nothing crazy, so I hope you enjoy!

Stress Reliever

Paring: Bakugou x Fem Reader

Both you and Katsuki knew, in being hero's you would both have to find time for each other. However, when you have shifts that contradict each other, that becomes a lot easier said than done. Especially lately, since there has seem to be a surge of new villains that was currently infesting the city. It was nothing that too difficult to handle but with Katsuki on night patrol, the extra work was keeping him away from you for longer than either of you would like.

Tonight you figured you get some work done instead of lounging around the house, but you were really missing your man. Every inch of your body was craving his touch. His hands on your things, his lips on your neck, just the thought made you dizzy. But you put it out of your mind so you could work. Or... At least you TRIED. You really did try to get your mind off of it, because you had so much paperwork to finish. But as you sat at your desk, the throb between your legs was becoming unbearable.

Ah. What the hell?

An aggravated sigh of defeat fell from your mouth as you leaned back in your chair. Katsuki was plaguing your mind, and in that moment all you wanted was his lips wrapped around your sensitive little clit. But in his absence you were the next best option.

Thank god you were home. You thought as you propped yourself on top of your desk. With your boyfriend's shirt already discarded on the floor, you laid back and ran your hands down your body, legs spreading instinctually as you slowly removed your soaked panties. Your fingers explored your wet folds, rubbing small circles on your clit and letting your mind wonder.

You imagine Katsuki sitting in your desk chair and eating you like a man starved. Sucking , slurping, and moaning into your hot cunt. Your rubbed faster, harder. You could practically feel his lips wrapped around your hardened nipples, as his fingers easily reached and abused that sweet spot.

You groaned in frustration, cause no matter how hard you tried, your finger would never be enough. So instead your reached into your desk drawer and pulled out your pink dildo. Using the big suction cup on the end, you attached it to the surface of the desk. You were already dripping, so you didn't even bother with the lube and just lowered yourself down.

You didn't give to fucks about the papers below you as you rode your pretty toy. They were already cover in the sticky juices and beyond saving. All you were worried about was cumming, and you bounced up and down like your life depended on it.

"Fuck Katsuki...."

The little toy didn't compare to his coke can of a dick and you knew it, but you were desperate. You reached back into the drawer and pulled out your rose shaped vibrator. Putting it on his highest setting you went to town on your poor clit.

And there you were, completely bare naked on top of your desk, fucking the shit out of yourself. You were so gone you didn't hear the front door open...

Katsuki dragged himself through the front door of your shared home absolutely exhausted. This overtime was killing him. Having to do these drive by meeting with you was killing him too. Not being able to hold you like he wants, kiss you like he wants, fuck you like he wants... Even now, all he wanted was his girlfriend's sweet thighs wrapped around his face-

He pause though when he heard a weird sound coming from down the hall. It was late so he just assumed you'd already gone to bed. But oh was he surprised when he found you in your office desperately fucking yourself.

He watched you from the crack in the door, not daring to interrupt this beautiful sight. The moans that fell from your mouth were sinful, and each cry of his name went straight to his dick.

Katsuki palmed himself through his uniform as he watched your ass bounce on that pathetic dildo. Smiling to himself because he knows that he'll have you squirting within minutes when he gets his hands on you.

Eventually, Katsuki abandons just palming himself for just straight up stroking his hard cock. He paces himself with you as your moans get louder and louder. He can hear the squelching of your juicy pussy from where he was, the sound alone almost made him bust. But he was able to hold it together a bit longer until he heard you scream his name and squirt all over your desk.

He tried his best to stay quite has his thick, hot ropes of cum decorate your office door, but he knew he failed when he saw you shoot up and look straight at the door. Pushing the door open, he revealed himself in all his glory.

To say your were embarrassed would be the understatement of the century, as you tried to scramble from on top of the desk. Katsuki's voice is what made you freeze though.

"Might as well stay right there babygirl. It's daddy's turn to fuck you stupid." He was looking at you at a hunter about to capture its prey, and you could feel yourself getting worked up again.

So you did as he said, and arched that pretty ass up high for him. Because who were you to deny daddy what he wanted?

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Just Take It | Jeon Jungkook | Part Four

Summary: After last night you don't know where you stand but tensions are still high and you don't know what you really want. Pairing: Inexperienced f!reader x Best Friend's Dad Jungkook (20 year age gap) Word Count: 5.6K~ Warnings: Smuuuuttt, Explicit Language and a crap ton of pet names (I'm sorry okay I love pet names lmao) Same warning as before cuz ya'll wanted more smut haha. Horribly edited too so have mercy on me y'all I just wanted to get it out. a/n: Aw shit here we go again 🤣 Anyways ya'll asked and I delivered lmao so another smut chapter but next one is gonna be mainly plot alight 😂 gotta save some more smut for later 🫢 Requested by: @kkusadmirer 💜

Waking up the next morning I feel incredibly disoriented. 'Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I naked?' and at that last question I feel all the memories of last night rushing back to me.

Echos of the pet names and praises and the ghost of his fingers all along my body make every cell in my body buzz with need for more. I've never done something like that, something so...scandalous and with and man almost twice my age at that.

I thought that if I ever did something like this before I got married I would've felt shameful but I feel confident...wanted by someone who respects me for who I am and wanted nothing in return. It felt different that I thought it would've, having him hover over me, meeting me with his heated gaze. I wanted him closer. I wanted him to crawl under my skin and give me everything.

It's selfish to say I wanted more because he owes me nothing, he's given me so much and what have I given him in return? Nothing...

He says I've given him plenty but I still feel unworthy of his kindness. I have to do something to show him my thanks, to show him that I'm grateful for everything he's given me. I just don't know where to start.

~~~~~

Getting up and out of bed after I get my bearings was more difficult than I thought it would be. I felt almost a little sore from what we had done last night and I don't know if I should love or hate the sensation. Should I be mad that it got rough enough to cause this feeling or should I feel excited from still having a sensation left over from the pleasure he had given me?

As I continue to go round and round in my head with more useless doubts that run through my head I'm suddenly met with a light knock on the door.

"Um, just a second" I panic, looking around for something to cover up and notice the silk robe that had been placed on the bed and throw it on without a second thought before telling him to come in.

He opens the door and takes in my form for a second, biting his lip at the barely there fabric covering everything he saw last night. "Good morning" he husks out, his voice sending a shockwave between my legs making me cross them unconsciously, which garners a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth.

"Good morning" I squeak out, exposing my flustered state right away, cursing myself internally. "How'd you sleep?" he ask, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning up against the door frame, giving me space but somehow making his presence felt throughout the room.

"Amazing" I say, looking down at my feet in embarrassment, being honest but hating myself for it. "Yeah?" he prods, satisfied by my answer but begging to get that confirmation. "Yeah" I reply, nodding but still averting my gaze.

"Lunch is ready if you'd like to come downstairs. I check on you earlier to see if you wanted breakfast but you were still sleeping like a baby" he teases and if his voice alone didn't make me drop to the floor then that pet name at the end surely did.

"You alright?" he chuckles and I clear my throat before responding, knowing my voice would be no good if I tried to speak without doing so.

"I'm great, perfectly fine" I answer, glancing up at him before adjusting my robe and closing it around me even more. "I'll be waiting downstairs then. You can take your time getting dressed but you're also more than welcome to wear that all day" he taunts, pushing off the door frame and turning to leave after looking me up and down once more.

"I'll be down in a second" I call after him and wait for him to get downstairs before following the path he had just been on and running into my room, quickly but quietly shutting it behind me.

Leaning my head against the door I try to collect my thoughts and stop my racing heart that bound to explode at the next Baby, Bunny or Darling that's bound to come out of his mouth. 'It's just Jungkook. He's been nothing but nice to me and he seems like a really great guy.

We just need to talk and figure things out before something like that happens again' I coach myself and turn to face my room where I'm greeted with a freshly made bed and a single flower in a small vase.

'I can never catch a break with this man' I smile, shaking my head and dropping the robe to change into something more comfortable.

~~~~

"There she is" Jungkook say when he catches sight of me walking down the steps and into the kitchen where he has both of our lunches set out across the island from each other. "This looks so good!" I compliment the food he's made as he motions for me to sit down.

"I'm sorry it took me a while to come down" I apologize, sitting down and taking a drink of water before piercing a fork though the strawberry he has in a bowl full of fruit for us to share. "It's alright, I don't mind waiting for you. Seems like I tired you out last night so I'm glad you got some sleep" he say, smiling over the lip of his glass, making me choke on the next strawberry I had just placed in my mouth.

"You okay Darling?" he asks, handing me a napkin, with that last word aiding to my death by asphyxiation along with the strawberry lodged in my throat. "I'm fine" I choke out after a few more coughs and a drink of water.

"You seem rather jumpy today. Is something wrong?" he asks, tilting his head a bit and attentively waiting for my answer. "I'm fine, I think I'm still trying to wake up" I say, faking a yawn at the end to hopefully legitimize my claim. "Fair enough" he says, taking a bite of his food and grabbing his phone when it starts ringing.

"You can take that if you want" I say, taking a drink of water and glancing down at his phone before making eye contact with him. "No it's alright, I can take care of it later" he brushes off, silencing the call and taking a drink of water.

"So do you have any plans for the day?" he questions, looking at me as if I'm the most fascinating thing on earth. "Well, um, no not really. Do you?" I echo and when he goes to open his mouth to respond he's cut off by his phone ringing, not doubt from the same number again.

"Just take it. I'll be here when you get back I promise" I tease and he clears his throat, unbeknownst to me have flashbacks of when I asked him to take my virginity.

"It's for work, I'll be back soon" he says and I nod my head in response and close my eyes when he comes over to give me a kiss on the forehead like he's done time and time again but when I look up at him afterwards I see he hasn't made moves to leave.

His phone stopped ringing at some point which leave us with a lingering silence with so many words unsaid ultimately cut off by another incoming call. "I'm sorry" he whispers, his eyes glancing down at my lips before he turns around to head to his office answering with a curt 'What?' to whoever is on the other end of that call.

'I would hate to be that guy' I smile to myself, the vision of seeing him get mad comes to mind leaving my pressing my thighs together. 'Why am I so fucking horny these days?' I roll my eyes and continue eating my lunch, laughing at the sound of his frustration but hating that he's going through it at the same time.

~~~~~

It's been about a half an hour and he's still on the phone leaving me scrolling through mine until my brain feels as though it's turned to mush, a part of my brain occupied by him and only him.

As I hear another irritated sigh I decide I'll bring him some pain medication to help with the onset headache I'm sure he's having. It's gotta be a big problem if they're calling him on a Saturday morning.

I open the door slowly and peak my head in, being met with the sight of him with his laptop open and a mess of papers all over his desk. He looks up at me with an apologetic wince but waves me in nonetheless.

I raise my arms up, showing a full glass of water along with a bottle of pills and he mouths a silent 'Thank you' and I nod happily, proud that I made the right decision and place the glass on his desk while I open the pill bottle and drop a couple onto his palm to which he places them in his mouth and immediately chases it with the glass of water.

Watching as his Adam's apple bobs up and down as he gulps down the water has my head dizzy for some reason but I'm not sure why. While I'm trying to come up with an explanation some water spills on his cheek as he swallows the rest.

I feel as though my body has been taken over by an outsider being because my reaction was to catch that stray drop of water off his cheek with my thumb and bring it to my mouth.

His eyes dart over to mine, wide in shock and leaving me feeling as though I'd done something wrong. My next move being to hightail it out of here but he stops me with a firm grasp on my hip, making me lean up against his desk next to him.

I make an effort to slip out of his hold but he gives me a warning glance, wordlessly telling me to behave and I do just that, shutting my mouth and watching as he works. He keeps a hand on my waist, making sure I'll stay, his thumb gently rubbing circles on my hip mindlessly where my shirt had risen up in my try to escape.

I do my best to keep my composure but the visions of last night flashing though my head makes it hard to control myself from rubbing my thighs together and I ultimately lose the battle.

Forgetting that he still has a hold on me earns me a knowing glance when he notices my actions, his gaze gradually getting more and more heated.

I lean back in an effort to get comfortable while I wait, my palms helping me balance on his desk behind me, leaving my chest sticking out a bit. I earn a tight squeeze on my waist as a warning to be patient and to stop squirming, which at the moment is very hard to accomplish with him looking so fucking sexy talking business with the man on the other line.

Was I relieved that it was a man calling him three times in a row on a Saturday afternoon? Yes, yes I was. It's none of my business though, nor do I have any grounds to have an opinion on it but his hand sliding up my waist says otherwise.

"Yes. Okay, okay alright was that everything? Okay well we'll pick this up on Monday morning. Thanks alright you have a good weekend too. Okay bye" he says, looking at me the whole time he finishes up his call, squeezing my waist now, making my breathing pick up and I know I'm in trouble when he hangs up the phone.

"You're a little minx you know that?" he says, turning his chair to face me and takes his hand off my waist only to slide it down my arms and hold my hand, placing kisses on my knuckles. "What do you mean?" I question, already breathless from the look of him sitting back in his chair, his legs spread wide and his gaze getting darker by the moment.

"You know what I mean. You came in here acting all innocent and helpful and next thing I know it you're licking water off my cheek? Seems pretty naughty Bunny. Don't you think?" he says while kissing the tips of my fingers, making sparks fly through my arms and straight to my head, keeping my gaze locked on his.

"I didn't lick it off your cheek" I say quietly but he lets out a dry chuckle in response. "Technicalities will get you nowhere sweetheart. Just admit that you wanted my attention, you were too impatient and couldn't even wait an hour for me to come back to you. It's okay, I won't laugh" he says, pulling on my hand and making me stumble onto his lap, my legs hanging over one of them.

"I- I just wanted to hel-" "I'm sure you did Darling and you were so thoughtful bringing me that medicine but I know you wanted something else huh?" he says while brushing away the hair that had fallen on my face when he pulled me down.

I shake my head but he cocks a brow at me, wordlessly telling me to tell him the truth so I in turn nod my head, admitting that deep down I did want his attention again.

"Now what was it that my Princess wanted? Did she just want attention or did she want to be touched again? Wanted me to take care of her again?" he taunts, taking note of all the times he's seen me rub my thighs together or get that breathless look on my face. I nod my head but he shakes his leaving me confused.

"If my Bunny wants something she's gotta use her words. Can you do that for me Darling? Can you use that pretty mouth of yours and tell me you want Daddy to touch you again?" he says, testing out a new name to call himself that's got me squirming again.

"Nuh uh none of that Darling, if you want something you've gotta ask for it. Now be a good girl and tell me what you want" he says, holding my hips in place, unbeknownst to me preventing me from rubbing my ass against him, still wanting to hold himself back.

His only priority and desire is to make me feel good and he wouldn't have it any other way. He knows I'm inexperienced and doesn't want to scare me away. He wants to take his time with me. 

"I want you to..." I start, trailing off from embarrassment, not being used to saying stuff like this let alone to someone as intoxicating as him.

"What was that Bunny? Didn't catch that" he presses, clearly enjoying the internal struggle that's shown all over my face. If he didn't know I had a shit poker face then he sure as hell knows now. No matter how you slice it he'll always be able to read me like a book.

"I want you to touch me" I whisper and he leans in as if he couldn't hear me but my lips at this point are inches from his, the slightest movement connecting mine with his.

"Lie back for me yeah?" he asks, his lips ghosting against mine before grabbing my hip and guiding me to sit on his desk before pushing all of his papers and laptop to the side dramatically making me laugh at the motion until I notice his laptop falling to the floor. His eyes follow mine and notice said device and simply shrugs.

"I can buy another one" he mumbles against my lips before connecting them in a short lived kiss as he guides me down, my back against his desk while he hovers over me. "You wanna try something else?" he says, watching my expression change from one of nervous excitement to intrigue.

"You trust me?" he questions, watching my face for any hesitation but finds none. "Yes" I say, nodding my head and he smiles before placing a kiss on my lips. "Close your eyes for me yeah? I promise I won't put it in. Well, not yet" he says and my eyes bug out at his words, my legs that are wrapped around his waist pull him even closer in an effort to close my legs.

"You like that? You like the idea of me claiming you as mine? Me being your first, your first everything" he says, leaning down and placing kisses on my neck, his warm breath against my sensitive skin driving me insane. I shudder at the feeling and he chuckles before placing a kiss under my ear, garnering another shudder in response.

"Answer me Bunny. You want me to be your first everything? Want me to learn and teach you everything you need to know about your body and what brings you pleasure?" he says while tracing his right hand along my torso, ghosting his fingertips along my waistband.

"Yes. Yes, I want you. Please just take it, take everything" I mumble and he tsks at me, again leaving me confused. "I'm not just gonna take everything. I'm giving you as much as I'm taking love. If you're letting me have you then you have me in return. Never forget that" he says and I nod my head. "I won't forget" I utter and he smiles in response before telling me to close my eyes again.

"Can I take these off bunny?" he asks in regards to my leggings and I mumble out a quick 'yes' trying to hold the whimpers at bay from the thought of me letting him have complete control over me. I know I have the power to stop everything but I wouldn't want to. Not with him.

As he slides everything off me he curses at the sight of me. "Fuck you're dripping" he rasps and I try to close my legs in response, now truly feeling that sense of vulnerability "You've gotta stay nice and still for me Darling. Can you do that?" he asks and I respond with a whimper which satisfies him, having mercy on me this time.

He drags a finger along my folds just as he had done before, gathering up my arousal before circling around my bud, gaining him a soft moan in response. "Be loud for me yeah? Wanna hear you moan my name" he prompts, wanting to hear what his name sounds like when it passes through my lips filled with ecstasy.

He doesn't wait for a response and just continues to play with me just as he did last night but as I feel myself getting closer he pulls away leaving me groaning from the feeling of getting that high again being taken away.

"Ready for something new princess?" he asks, caressing one of my thighs and placing a kiss on the inside of it. "W-wait!" I flinch nervously, not knowing how to feel about this. I've heard about it before but I never knew if it would be something that I'd like.

"You want me to stop?" he ask, pulling away a bit and letting me take control. "I'm scared, I-i I don't know what it'll feel like. I'm not sure if I'll like it" I admit, feeling as though I was about to cum just from the thought of him doing that to me.

"I can stop if you'd like, it's up to you princess. I wanna make you feel good and this is something I think you'll love. I know it's something I'd love to do to you if you'll let me" he says, coaxing me into it since he knows I'm just nervous, placing a few more kisses on my skin, this time switching to the other thigh.

I take a few breaths and think about it but decide to trust him, just as he asked me to. 

"I want you to do it" I let out, my cheeks burning up at the thought of what I'm asking for. "You want Daddy to eat you out?" he says smiling, loving the fact that I've still kept my eyes closed. I start to squirm, feeling his warm breath traveling further up my thigh, the anticipation driving me crazy. 

"P-please" I choke out, tears prickling my eyes as the intensity of the moment increases. "Patience Princess. Remember what I said about being loud?" he asks, his breath fanning directly over my core, making me lose all sense of feeling except for what he's barely doing to me. He hasn't even touched me and I'm about to cum. 

He leans in and gives a soft kiss to my clit, my legs spread wide and giving him full access to me. I take in a sharp breath at the sensation, my muscles locking up only for a moment but nonetheless catching his attention. 

"You want he to keep going?" he whispers into me, his nose nudging my clit, making my clench around nothing and he notices right away, utterly exposed to him. I moan out a yes and he smiles, placing a kiss on my upper thigh before going back in, slowly making out with my clit, his tongue tracing circles around it before traveling down to my hole that's begging to be full. 

He licks inside me and watches my reaction, my brows drawn together and my lips parted, uttering curses when I feel him slip his tongue in further, the sensation driving me insane. My back arches off the table when he presses his face against me. His nose rubbing against my clit while his lip and tongue make out with my entrance. 

If I were to open my eyes now I bet all I could see was the world spinning around me, the feeling of being drunk on him being my drug of choice and I don't think I'll ever be able to live without it.

"Fuck Jungkook" I moan out, this being the first time I get close to screaming his name and he growls into me before going back to playing with my clit, making me do it again. "You sound so sweet Bunny, but you taste even sweeter" he groans, watching as my chest rises and falls in the baggy shirt I've still got on. 

"Do me a favor love and lift up your shirt, that's it. Wanna watch you play with your tits" he rasps out. Doing just as he asks I moan at the image of him watching me touch myself again, incredibly turned on by the though of it alone. 

"There you go, you're doing so good for me. Look so pretty laying here and letting me play with you in my office. Fuck you're driving me crazy" he praises making me whimper in response. 

"You like that? You like it when Daddy praises you? Like it when he tells you you're being so perfect for him? Pretty just wants to be worshiped doesn't she?" I let out a moan at the thought of him taking time and worshiping anything and everything about me. I try to close my legs again on impulse but he pries them open, growling at the thought of me hiding from him. 

"I'm not done with you yet" he says, biting the inside of my thigh leaving me arching my back off the desk again, squeezing my breasts and making him even hungrier for me if even possible. 

"Does my baby like pain? Does she want me to leave marks all over her as a reminder? A reminder of how you let me have my way with you while you were spread out for me on my desk. I'm not gonna be able to focus next time I have to work in here. Always gonna remember how sweet you taste and how adorable you sound"  he says, licking the area he just bit before sucking a mark into the same spot.

I groan at the feeling, the slight sting from the bruise making me want to ask him for more. To mark me everywhere like he said, always leaving a reminder. 

I scream at the feeling of him putting his mouth on me again, kissing, sucking licking into me without mercy, catching me off guard by the intensity. I let out an incoherent string of curses, hoping he knows I'm begging for more and he moans against me, the vibrations sending shockwaves throughout my body. 

"Don't stop, please please don't stop" I scream, the first decipherable words I've uttered in a while. On the cusps of ecstasy he growls into me when he sees me throw my hand over my mouth, embarrasses by how loud I'm getting. "Louder" he growls as a warning, not a request and so I do. 

I get louder and louder, screaming his name with curses being the only other words in my vocabulary. I feel as his movements get more intense, now using his fingers as well and moments later a wave of pleasure is crashing down, making me let out any and every sound I could possibly make, my voice getting softer and softer and I start to come down. 

Just when I feel like he's gonna stop he doesn't, he picks up the pace again which makes me whine in overstimulation, trying to wiggle away from him. 

"You can give me one more can't you?" he asks, pulling back only to lick a stripe into me, taking time to suck my sensitive bud into his mouth. "N-no no I can't" I say, shaking my head and trying to push him off and he pulls back and chooses to lean over me. 

"Just one more Bunny. I know you can" he encourages. Although I'm reluctantly saying no we both know I want to experience it, wanna experience coming undone one right after the other. 

He comes down and kisses me, making me taste myself on his lips and I can't get enough of him, I want to be good for him, I want him. I whine when he delicately runs his fingers over me again "You're so swollen but I'm sure you can handle it, can't you Darling?" he taunts. 

He pulls away from my lips and trails his down, kissing and sucking marks all over my chest giving me a bit more time to recover before deciding. "Yes, fuck yes" I moan when he greedily sucks one of my nipples into his mouth. My back arches again when he moans around it, making me desperately want to cum again, wanting it as much as he does now. 

"Want you to watch me this time. Can you do that?" he ask, giving me one last kiss on the lips before sliding his tongue down my torso, stopping to bite my hip, breaking me out of the daze I'd been left in, asking me to answer.

I nod my head and he luckily takes that as a response, going easy on me since I'm still not fully there after what he'd done to me. What he's still doing to me...

~~~

After he makes me cum again I lose all sense of reality and I can barely tell up from down. He leaves the room only for a moment to get a warm towel to clean me up and I take that time to catch my breath, staring at the celling and trying to wrap my head around what just happened. 

I jump at the feeling of him cleaning me up gently and he apologizes, going a little slower with a lighter touch, doing just enough before helping me sit up. "You with me?" he asks, steadying me as I still sit on his desk, swaying back and forth. 

I turn my eyes to him and blink sleepily, smiling and taking in his handsome features and notice how red and swollen his lips have gotten. 

"There she is" he coos, brushing my hair back and cupping my face, looking at me as if I was incredibly precious to him. Little do I know that that's exactly what I am to him. 

That's a conversation for another time though. For now he'll just enjoy the dazed and freshly fucked look I give him, laughing at how adorable I look. 

"You wanna bath?" he asks and I nod, making the corner of his lips turn up before he scoops me up. I cuddle into him and link my arms around his neck, enjoying the slight bouncing sensation I feel with every step he takes. 

After he ascends the steps with ease I watch as we pass by my bedroom door and get confused as to why he's not taking me to bathe in there. I frown at him and he chuckles shaking his head and walking the both of us into his room.

"My bathtub is bigger and more comfortable" he explains and I nod, tightening my hold on him for only a moment before he guides me to sit on the edge of the tub. 

"You want a bubble bath?" he asks, turning to look through his cabinet and pulls out two bottles, one that smell of lavender and the other of eucalyptus. I point at the lavender and he smiles, nodding his head and putting the other one back before walking over to turn the faucet on, adjusting it until it's just the right temperature. 

"Do you take bubble baths Mr. Jeon?" I tease, earning a playful glare that breaks into a smirk moments later. "Who says grown men can't tale bubble baths? And it's Daddy to you" he says booping me on the nose, giving me butterflies. 

"You like being called Daddy huh?" I tease again and he crouches down in front of me, putting us at eye level. "I dunno, sounded like you liked it back there too" he says, smirking when he sees me avert my eyes, this time placing a kiss on my nose before straightening up. 

"Arms up" he orders and I lift them up so he can take off the last piece of clothing I've got left. "Who's shirt is this?" he asks, taking note of the oversize fit. "It's mine" I say truthfully, too quick for his liking though, making him suspicious of me. "Uh huh" he says slowly before throwing it in the corner of the bathroom. 

With a look like that even I can tell that I won't be getting that back anytime soon. It really is my shirt though...

After he pours in the bubbles and I'm satisfied by their bubbliness (which he reminds me is not a real word) I get in and moan at the feeling of the warmth enveloping me. My muscles losing all of their tension as I breathe in the calming scent of lavender surrounding me.

"You enjoying yourself?" he chuckles, leaning up against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest just as he had done this morning and I gulp at the sight. "Yeah, I needed this" I say, sinking further into it and being swallowed whole by the bubbles. "Well just call me if you need me" he says but before I can stop myself I quickly tell him 'No'.

He tilts his head to the side and smiles softly, taking in the precious sight of me surrounded by bubbles with almost a panicked look on my face, showing my honesty in wanting him to stay. "Can you sit with me maybe?" I ask, looking down and playing with the bubbles, shy that I'm begging for even more of his attention. 

"Sure Darling" he says, grabbing a stool that was tucked in a corner and placing it right next to the tub so he can stay with me. 

After a few moments of comfortable silence I break it with the one question that's been on my mind since I felt the air shift between us. 

"Can I ask you a question?" I say, looking up at him, noticing that he's started to play around with the bubbles that rest high above the surface. "No" he answers, pushing a dampened strand of hair off my face. 

"What?" I freeze, surprised at his answer. "I know what you're gonna ask so no. You can't, not yet. Let's get you cleaned up and well rested before we go there, alright?" he asks giving me a sad smile, so many words left unsaid behind those eyes, begging to be released.

I wait for a moment, studying him and notice that he looks almost...vulnerable. Something I had never seen from him before so I decide to just nod my head, returning the same smile before leaning back against the tub and sinking in a bit further, the water now just below my nose. 

"Aye! Don't you go drowning on me in there" he chuckles and my eyes smile, glad my efforts of lightening the mood had worked. 

Taking it a step further I choose violence and splash him, making the bottom of his shirt get wet. He gasps at the action and puts his hand over his chest "I make you a nice bath and this is how you repay me? The audacity!" he says dramatically before giving me a splash in return leaving me gasping just as he had done.  

After exchanging a few more splashes and laughs we call it a truce and we sit there talking and joking around until the water goes cold, going back to that sense of normalcy that I was so scared that we might've lost... 

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[queen-of-reptiles]

𝙷𝙾𝙾𝙺𝙴𝙳

description: In which leah's rockstar girlfriend shows the england girls how to really put on a performance

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leah williamson x female reader

disclaimer: this is all fiction! Do not take any of this seriously.

warnings: language, cute leah, some suggestive jokes

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y/n just posted on their story

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leahwilliamsonn just posted on her story

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y/n just posted

liked by lucybronze, keirawalsh and 8.9 million others

tagged lionesses,

y/n ready to put on a show ;)

view 2.3 millions comments

username1: CUTEEEEEE 😍😍

username2: I love how much the Lionesses love her - my heart 🥺🥺

username3: ❤️❤️❤️

leahwilliamsonn: always ready for you my girl <3

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y/n: my baby <3

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username4: 🥺🥺

lucybronze: excited !!!!!!

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y/n: SAME!!!!!

stanwaygeorgia: you better do 'hooked'! 😡

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y/n: 😏😏

username5: WHOOOOOO!! 👏👏👏

alessiarusso99: AHHHHHH

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ellatoone: AHHHHHH

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Lj10: AHHHHHH

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y/n: oh my children!

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username6: 🥺🥺

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username7: CUTE

username8: I don't really see the hype about her shows 🤷‍♀️

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username9: Okay????? The off you fuck! 🖕

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username10: hahahahahahah 😂

1maryearps: Gonna be a good night!

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racheldaly3: A great night!

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mbrighty04: The best night!

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y/n: ffs !

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username11: ahahahaHAHAH

username12: 😍😍😍

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y/n grinned as she sucked a deep breath through her nose, her breathing slightly out of pace from all the jumping as she slid her guitar strap over her shoulder, fixing the instrument to her.

"Okay, I know ya'll love this one." y/n grinned, she looked up at the VIP section, eyes catching that of her lover's. Leah Williamson, even now, when there were thousands screaming for her, all y/n would ever want to find was the blonde.

y/n's fingers played the familiar riff on the guitar and the crowd started their screaming again as the drums kicked in. The Lionesses in the section all cheered and began to bounce as Leah chuckled.

"Yesterday I crashed my car Because I wondered what it'd feel like Pressed my foot down on the pedal And I ran right through the stop sign." y/n sang.

Her voice had always been low, raspy and powerful. She used to hate that, but as she got older and found that no songs fit her, she found that it was best to write ones to do so.

Leah loved her voice, from the second the two met Leah would sit and listen in awe every time y/n opened her mouth, she could be recording in the studio or belting mockingly in the shower, Leah would stop and listen every time.

"Told all my friends I hate them And then I played the victim 'Cause God forbid the problem's ever me Fucked my ex just to do it Guess therapy's been useless What a waste of £250 a week." y/n continued before holding the microphone out to the crowd.

"SO HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?" The stadium erupted, shouts and screams from everyone saying the line.

"Well." y/n hummed, the music stopping for a second before the lights flickered and the drums kicked back in as the smoke machines went wild.

"I think I'm hooked on feeling low Like morphine in my soul Kinda like when I go cold (cold, cold) I think I'm hooked on feeling down I drink until I drown Anything to black it out (out, out)

I think I'm hooked I think, I think I'm Hooked

I think I'm hooked I think, I think I'm Hooked I think I'm..."

The performance boomed as y/n sung through the chorus. Her voice strong and just louder than the screaming crowd. Her precious guitar now sat safely off her as she bounced and sang.

Her hair was slick with sweat as she lent back slightly her jaw line popping and making Leah sigh and pinch at her nose in need at how hot her lover was.

"You alright there Leah?" Georgia asks, her voice worried as Leah turned to look at her, but the blonde scoffed when she saw the shit-eating grin on Georgia's face.

"Shut up." Leah huffed as the girls around them continued to dance along.

"Blow through all of my money On cigarettes and coffee 'Cause being broke is hard at 23." y/n sang.

"I'm actually 25 now." She added in spoken words, Leah rolling her eyes at the cigarettes line which was a habit she had tried to get her lover to stop.

"Go write another sad song And play it for my poor mom Anything so she feels bad for me." y/n continues before holding the microphone out once again.

"Y/N THIS IS SO DEPRESSING." The screams ran out from the stadium, Leah wincing as she shouted with them, and Lucy's shout in her ear.

The chorus began again and the lights flashed wilder as the bass became jumpier, the crowd bobbing as they jumped with y/n who always had good stamina and a great core to sing and dance as she did.

"I think I'm hooked." y/n finished with her song. The lights cutting out as the crowd screamed as the lights came back up, y/n laughing as she waved to everyone.

y/n let out a sigh as she slid her jacket off, her strong arms coming into show from the black one-piece she was wearing which was a bit too low cut for Leah's liking.

The sleek Arsenal red flares her lover also wore were more covering than the cleavage filled top, but the tightness at the top clung to her perky ass so well Leah gulped.

The cheers got louder which caused y/n to laugh as she ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head at the whistles which were aimed her way.

"This, is for one woman only." y/n winked, nodding toward the Lionesses where the camera zoomed in on the now smirking blonde captain.

Keira chuckled next to Leah as Georgia jeered, clapping her friend on the back who rolled her eyes playfully as y/n then hummed into her microphone.

"Got time for one more ay?" She asked her band who nodded.

The tune of 'Hot Gum' began and people went wild as the lights went down and came back up as y/n danced in place, Leah wetting her lips as she watched her lover.

"I hold soft flames on my tongue And chew on them like chewing gum They burn the roof of my mouth But I won't spit it out loud right now."

y/n's voice was low and lazy, vocal fry peaking through as she tilted her body around to the beat as the crowd cheered. The lights suddenly went dark as y/n continued.

"There's an inferno in your mouth I can tell by the way you smile like it burns You press your lips together like you're kissing yourself To stop me from learning." y/n's voice continued.

Suddenly the lights had come up and y/n was no longer visible on stage, but the camera's had found her. Leah jumped at the image of her lover behind her.

y/n chuckled into the microphone and wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist and despite the fact y/n was shorter than the blonde in that moment she had all the power.

"She's a keeper, she's a believer She's on the ground, on her knees in a theatre And she put us in a car, I don't know where we are But she fell in love with a fever." y/n sings.

The crowd were screaming once more, y/n grinning at her lover as she spun around her and to her front, Leah's arms wrapping around her naturally as she lent back to sing.

"I could never leave her, I could never keep her" That's what she says to the neighborhood preacher And she put us in a car, I don't know where we are But I fell in love with the fever and I." y/n sang.

Leah couldn't help but lean down and press a small kiss to the junction where y/n's neck met her shoulder and the crowd cheered once more.

"I watch us burn and fall, the heat is ten feet tall The potential is bench pressing us into the wall And the flick of flames weaving through my teeth If the hot gum were to slip out, where would we be?" y/n sung.

The girl switched so her back was against Leah's chest as she danced with the blonde's team the group all laughing as Leah's arms hugged tightly to y/n's waist as she continued to sing.

"She's a keeper, she's a believer She's on the ground, on her knees in a theatre And she put us in a car, I don't know where we are But she fell in love with a fever." y/n sang, slipping to her knees in front of her lover.

The cheers that arose were louder than anything all night as the camera continued to film as y/n lent into a backbend her hand gripping Leah's thigh - on her good leg, tightly.

"I could never leave her, I could never keep her" That's what she says to the neighbourhood preacher And she put us in a car, I don't know where we are But I fell in love with the fever and I." y/n sang once more.

She rose to her feet as the song continued, pulling the blonde in for a kiss which Leah returned albeit a little sheepishly considering they were in front of thousands.

y/n pulled away, pecking Leah's lips once more before high-fiving Georgia and running back to stage for the last section of the song.

"If I tell you what I'm thinking promise, you won't tell yourself If you tell me what you're thinking, I swear I won't tell myself She's on the ground, she's on his knees, she's a believer She's on the ground, she didn't listen to the preacher." y/n finished with a dramatic bow.

The crowd screamed and cheered as y/n chuckled, waving to them once more as she began to thank them all and her band.

"And thank you baby, for being so good with me." y/n added into the microphone which caused Leah to chuckle. "And to the team, because you're all always hype-women for me and that slaps." y/n added.

The crowd cheered as she thanked them once more before running off-stage, sighing in relief as she chugged a bottle of ice cold water while she waited for the growing cheers of the Lionesses to get closer.

"You sure know how to put on a show mrs. skipper!" Millie called as she slammed her hands on y/n's shoulders, only to wipe the sweat which coated them onto a shouting Rachel.

LJ and Hempo both cheered as the three shared a quick shared high five, before Lotte, Beth and Niamh all did the same.

"Hmm, certainly." Leah said, folding her arms and raising a sharp brow, an unimpressed look on her face at the stunt pulled.

"Love you." y/n winked as she pressed a kiss to Leah, Alessia and Ella letting out fake gags which caused Lucy to hit them.

"Children." Keira chuckled as Georgia high-fived y/n once again as y/n sighed and sagged.

"Carry me to dressing room?" She asked Leah tiredly and the blonde nodded, swooping up the star into her arms as the Lionesses teased and cooed.

"Shut up!" Leah called before walk off with her lover.

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y/n just posted

liked by leahwilliamsonn, stanwaygeorgia and 9.3 million others

tagged leahwilliamsonn

y/n she's a believer, she's on the ground on her knees in the theatre...

p.s. thank you london - so fucking much xxx

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username1: YOU WERE AMAZING !!!!!! 😍😍

username2: I Cried three times 😭

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username3: I CRIED AT THEIR KISS 😭

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username4: that was hot 🔥

username5: 🔥🔥🔥

ellatoone: the best night ever ! ESPECIALLY FOR LEAH ;))

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alessiarusso99: Subtle Ella

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keirawalsh: hahahahahahha - well done y/n!!

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y/n: Love you !!!

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username6: HEHehhehe

leahwilliamsonn: my girl - I - ...

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y/n: Leah.exe has stopped working

lucybronze: disappeared like Houdini 🧐

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1maryearps: Only disappeared because she's so small tho 🤷‍♀️

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y/n: count your days earps...

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1maryearps: gulp...

mbrighty04: you get well sweaty on stage mate ☺️

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racheldaly3: and needy too apparently 😏

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leahwilliamsonn: I'm not rli complaining

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y/n: ;)))

username7: Her and Leah are so cute! 🥺🥺

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username8: Right?!?!?!!!! ❤️

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END

loved this one and really got into the performing section lmao

Songs used:

Hooked - Sam Short

Hot Gum - Sofia Isella

[beanswrites]

Who I Should've Been

ya'll the idea for this popped into my head as i was writting the first chapter of my Peter B. Parker fic (soon on ao3!!) and i just had to do it immediately

i know it's just like a drabble but lmk if you want a whole, one-shot version, i think this has some VERY GOOD angst, second-chance romance potential

also brace yourself this is ANGST angst, i know there's no like major death or anything but it still HURTS😭😭😭

pairings: Peter B. Parker (from Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse) x fem! reader

tags: angst, regret, hurt/no comfort, kind of a cliff-hanger??

summary: Peter is your ex-boyfriend, which you broke up with because he never put in much effort into your relationship. Seven months later, you find Spiderman on your rooftop after one of his patrols.

requests are open!! | masterlist | rules for requesting

It was a cold night in NYC, usual for November. You had just gotten off from work and were in a desparate need for some fresh air, so you made way to your building's rooftop.

It wasn't particularly nice - nothing that would get people to come regularly. Especially you. This place was your secret place with Peter, that jerk of you ex who didn't bother once to call and ask you how you've been in the last seven months. Seven fucking months since you got in a fight and broke up, and he never even asked you how you've been.

Yet, it seemed like the only option, so tonight, it wouldn't matter. He wouldn't matter.

There was another figure out there - one of your neighbors, you assumed, sitting on the edge of the rooftop with his head in his hands, looking over at the city lights.

Wait, was the figure... Wearing a mask?

"Oh, Mr. Spiderman, hello! What.. are you doing here? Any villains? Oh, god- Should I leave?"

Spiderman seemed equally as surprised and starstruck to see you as you did him.

"No, uh, no! Just, on patrol.."

You didn't believe a word he said. You knew very well how to spot a man in despair - and he looked like one.

"Could I.. sit here?"

"Sure."

You sat next to him, wallowing in the beauty of the many lights. The silence between you two was uncomfortable, since it was obvious he had something weighing heavy on his mind.

"Are.. Are you okay?" You ask, unsure whether you should try and pride in.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm.. I'm gonna be okay."

"You don't look fine to me..."

Spiderman bit the inside of his cheek, like he was struggling to say whathever was wrong.

"I, just... Going through a break up"

"Yikes. Bad one?"

"Yeah. Pretty bad."

"Me too. I know it sucks, but it'll get better over time"

He chuckles sarcastically, shaking his head. If only you knew...

"No, not really. Not for me, at least"

"Aww, come on! It will get better, it always does-"

He cut you off sharply, a stern look in him.

"No, it never does. Not when you fucked up as bad as I did. Not when... Shit, not when you lose as much as I did."

An uncomfortable silence reigned. You felt bad for him, but in the end, you could relate. You, too, were trying to heal from a break up that broke you.

"You love her?"

He looks at you. His eyes are covered by the mask and yet, you feel how he's looking at you: full of regret and sadness.

"More than anything... But I fucked up. She won't take me back."

You nodded, your gaze returning to the city skyline.

"What about you..? You miss him?"

Please say yes. Please say you've been a wreck without me like I've been without you.

"Well, it's... Complicated. He was the greatest love I've ever known but.. He just wasn't there for me. Ever. And it eventually got too much for me. His abscense, his lack of attention, everything. It's been a long time, and I think I moved on pretty good. But.. But I still miss him sometimes."

Spiderman smirks.

"He must be an idiot"

You chuckle sweetly, enjoying your time with the superhero.

"Yeah, I guess he kinda was. It's one of the things I loved most about him"

He smiles sadly, suddenly getting up.

"I should go now, got some bad guys to catch. You take care of yourself, alright?"

All you could do was nod before he swung from your building onto another, and then another, and then another....

Maybe it was just your imagination, but the sound of Spiderman's voice sounded awfully comforting. Awfully familiar.

that's all for this one (or is it???)!! thank you sm for reading, follow for more! and lmk if this should be a one shot!! <33

[skyfallslayer]

The Devils Are Caught In Red Strings || Chapter 2: Cut Man & Specter

-Matt Murdock x Parker!OFC-

Series Masterlist

AO3 Link

♡Series Summary: Childhood friendships are a sacred thing... But so are secrets. This story revolves around a girl named Anya Hughes, an attorney by day and a vigilante by night. Join her into the struggles she’ll face, like her path coming back to haunt her, then facing a man who holds all the power, all while she develops a crush on her close friend. How long can she take all this until she falls apart? ♡

♡Chapter Summary: Anya and Matt make a near fatal error while trying to do their own missions, and they find an unlikely ally when they need saving themselves. ♡

♡Date: 12/20  ♡

♡Rating: Explicit ♡

♡Word Count: 11,757 (Another Long One, ya'll) ♡

♡Warning: Spoilers for the show; Canon Typical Violence; Blood and Injury; Strong Use of Language; Vomiting; Poorly Executed Fighting Scenes; Near Death Experiences; Talks of Murder and Murdering; Possible Medical Inaccuracies; Use of Pet Names; Constant Bickering; (Unknowingly) Enemies to Lovers; Talks of Child Abuse; Brief Session of Torturing; Claire Needs A Vacation; Jack Murdock is MVP here; Matt and Anya Are In The Wrong and Right; Poorly Translated Spanish Via Google (Let me know if I missed anything). READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!! ♡

♡A/N: Sorry this took so long! I got stuck editing some of my other stories, and trying to decided where this chapter should go. I originally was just going to have Anya be looking for Matt, but decided against it when didn't know how to execute it. So hopefully this was the smart route to go. I also I'm just going to write Matt's name anytime he shows up on page as the masked man since all you readers know who he is (it's going to be easier to read this way too). Enjoy! ♡

-21 Years Ago-

Everything that has happened in Hell’s Kitchen while he’s lived here, Jack Murdock never expected something like this. There were too many police and fire truck sirens for his liking. Too many people gathered around. Too many stray cars clustered together. His heart sank because he knows this route and he knows the time. The time was twenty minutes after school, and the route led back to his apartment. The route and time were giving him anxiety. 

His mind wandered to the kids. The very thought made his throat dry. 

No. They have to be alright. But it hurt so much to even say that.

But as he maneuvered around the cars, in the distance he saw a glimpse of familiar pigtails and sped up. He rudely told everyone to move, brushing past them with a bit of brute force. He needed to see this. He needed to see if–

Scared green eyes meet his blues.

“Anya! Sweetheart, are you okay?” He calls out, but her frazzled expression as she hovers over the body of her friend. 

His son.

“Matty! Matty!” He yells, dropping his bag and practically falling apart next to his son. “Matty! No, no, no! Just… Just don’t move!” His head snapped up in every direction it could just as the young girl started to ball. “Somebody get us some help!”

Matt shook at his father’s touch, confused, dazed. “D-Dad… Ann… what happened?”

“Matty, it’s gonna be alright. Just don’t move. Don’t move, okay?”

“What happened?”

Jack blinked at the question, oblivious himself as he started looking around again for more answers. He found none. “Anya?” He begins, getting her attention. “What happened, sweetheart?”

Her lip quivered. “M-Matt… h-he…”

“Your boy–” An older man calls out behind them as he’s being helped up. “He pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.”

Matt starts coughing, and squirms uncomfortably. “Dad… it burns.” He cries, eyes shut as he starts clawing at his lids. 

The seasoned Murdock looked beyond his kid, and that’s when he noticed the many barrels of toxic chemicals lying outside a truck, some spilling out into the street. He came to a haunting realization. 

He faces the little girl he could consider his own. “Did any…?”

Anya processed what he was implying in a few seconds, before shaking her head ‘no’. A small wave of relief washed over him before morphing back into major concern.

“Close your eyes, Matty.” Jack says, as he takes his sleeve and tries to wipe any excess liquid away. 

“Dad!” His son wails.

“Close your eyes.”

“Dad! Dad!”

“Close your eyes.”

“Dad. Dad. Dad. I-I c-can’t see.” The little croak, before his dad gently picks him up, cradling him close. “I can’t see. I can’t see! I can’t see!”

.

.

.

.

-Present Day-

“I can’t see!” Anya cries, clawing at her burning eyes. 

This wasn’t how this night was supposed to go. She was just going to do her usual business. Find information that could connect all the dots, a mission that was supposed to in-and-out, but…

No. Why would it be that easy? 

She heard him coming, even smelled his axe body spray before he even arrived; Anya was just going to leave him be, slowing her heart rate down so he could barely hear it himself. But that was another no. Somehow she ended up getting caught up in whatever he was doing, before it all descended into a blur. 

So now they’re here, laying in a dumpster somewhere in Hell’s Kitchen, hurt and blinded.

Ugh… I should have just gone to Josie’s with Foggy. She mentally curses, hands reaching out to find something, anything to hold onto that wasn’t open air.

“Hey, no-eyes?” She said, trying to hear out the ear that wasn’t ringing. “No-eyes? You alright? Answer me. I can’t really see you right now.” She waves her hands around some more before touching what felt like his bicep. He winces. “No-eyes?”

“W-Where are we?” He asked, groaning when he tried to move. 

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I mean, I don’t know. I… I got something in my eyes. I can’t fucking see anything.”

Matt made something like a scoffing sound. “Welcome to the club then.”

“Wait?” She raises an eyebrow. “You’re really blind?”

“Are you really that dense? Have you seen my mask?”

“Honestly, I thought you were making a fashion statement for all vigilantes.” Anya teased half-heartedly.

Matt holds his tongue on one thought, but expresses the other. “Listen here, peaches, you–”

“Hold up. Peaches? Why the fuck you calling me that for?”

“Same reason you call me no-eyes, peaches. You smell like the cheap ones that come in the cans.”

Anya scoffs. “Wow. You should buy a girl dinner before smelling her, you know? Just a thought.”

“Oh, you'll be the last girl I buy dinner for.”

“Man, you’re such a–”

“Shh!” He hushes and snatches her nearby hand, silencing her. “I can hear someone coming.”

Anya listens closely, hearing someone open a nearby door, footsteps urgently moving. “Shit!” She whispers, tensing up. “We gotta move.”

And they tried, but Matt was in the worst shape that she was. It took a lot of strength for him to even move his hand, how much would he need to move his entire body?

They soon could hear two people approaching, both speaking quickly in Spanish. 

“¡Aqui!” A voice of a younger man said (*Over here!). He seemed to be more in a rush, his heart racing like a bullet train. He was nervous, scared. You could practically smell the fear on him through his sweat. “¡Ven aquí!” (*Come here!)

Anya, despite not being able to see, did her best to go into defense mode as they approached. She bears her claws, clenching her teeth under her mask to hide the pain. “Stay back!” She hissed, hearing them stop a foot away from the dumpster.

“Relax. I’m just here to help. That’s all.” A woman’s voice replies, unusually calm. “Please, let me help. At least… let me help him. He doesn't look too good.”

Anya bite her lip, detecting no lie before tuning in on her unofficial ‘partner’. She could hear him dozing off again, but his heart was pounding, his blood pumping like it was trying to keep him awake or fight off an upcoming infection.

Shit. We ain’t getting out of this. She swallows, lowering her hands, shielding the claws. 

“Alright. But don’t try anything.” She replies, hearing her nod. “But you’re going to have to guide me. I can’t see anything.”

The woman nods again. “Alright, I can do that.” She faces the boy. “Ayúdame. Primero ayúdalo a él, luego a ella.” (*Help me. First help him, then her.)

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Anya listened to the woman’s instructions as she was guided around what felt like a large building, judging by how sounds were echoing quietly against the walls. After carefully going up three flights of stairs, she could hear a door opening which she assumed was their destination.

“Fácil, fácil, fácil.” She said, slowly coming to a stop a few steps inside a room, an apartment maybe? (*Easy, easy, easy). “Alright, mysterious lady, there’s a wall on your right, I want you to feel your way down to the floor. I’ll get to you in a minute. Keep your eyes closed while you’re at it.”

“Okay.” Anya replies, taking her hand off the woman’s shoulder to reach out. Her calloused fingertips brush the rough wall before slowly guiding herself down to the ground. She holds back another wince of pain by squeezing her eyes shut tighter, listening to the mask man being placed on the floor.

“Sube las escaleras y cierra la puerta. Y ni una palabra a nadie.” The woman said to the boy sternly. (*Okay. Go upstairs, and close the door. And not a word to anybody)

“Sí, bien.” The boy replies, standing up and leaving the apartment. (*Yes, okay)

“Ni siquiera tu mamá.” (*Not even your mom)

The door closes, and she sighs while springing to her feet. “How are you feeling, missy?” She asked, running towards the other side of the room, grabbing a bag.

“Still can’t see.” Anya replies, holding her stomach. “But I’ll manage. How’s he?”

“I’m checking.” She slides on rubber gloves before assessing the large wound on Matt’s arm before moving on to check a pulse on his neck. “Well, he’s alive.”

I could have told you that. Anya holds her tongue on the snarky remark, but she couldn’t stop her heart from sinking upon hearing the woman removing his mask.

“W-Wait. What are you doing?” Sure she can’t stand him, but whoever he may be, he's got a reason he’s hiding his face (just like she has a reason for hiding hers). She wouldn’t even snoop that low no matter how much he ends up annoying her.

“I’m saving your friend’s life.”  The nurse lady grabs a flashlight from the bag and begins shining it in Matt’s chocolate eyes. When his pupils don’t dilate, she stares in disbelief, which melts into worriedness when finding another gash on his head. 

“Wait, don’t!” Anya blurts out, her stomach churning even more when hearing the sound of a cell phone turning on. “You can’t–”

Before she could intervene, Matt had beat her to it by snatching the nurse’s wrist, stopping her movement.

“N-No. No calls.” He said, firmly.

“It’s okay, I’m just trying to help.” She said, calmly,

“No.”

“We have to get you to the hospital. The both of you.”

“They'll kill everyone.”

“Who?”

“The men who did this. They'll kill everyone in the hospital to get to me. To us.” He starts rolling over to get on his knees, groaning while doing so.

“Oh… I can’t believe I’m actually agreeing with you.” Anya mumbles, placing her hand on the wall for support. “But yeah, we gotta go.”

“You followed me! Okay? Geez, you can't…” The woman ushers. “Don't. You've lost a lot of blood. I think you might have been stabbed.”

“We have to leave.” Matt said, standing up and making a waving motion towards his (unknowingly best) friend. “Come on.”

She stands up between them, trying to be firm. “She can’t see–”

“I heard him waving.” Anya cuts in, pulling herself to her feet, still listening as Matt moves across the apartment towards the supposed exit.

Supposed.

“You wanna leave? Door's that way.” The nurse said, gesturing in the opposite direction, pausing his actions. He turns to go the other way, but just one small step causes him to collapse on the floor. “Shit!!”

Anya perks up at the thud, paling. “No-eyes?” She croaks, concernedly before her world starts to crash under weight. 

Her heart started to pace rapidly as her body caught itself on fire. She feels her body trembling, blood and vomit rising in her throat as she sinks back down to the floor…

Her mind is fading to black.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

-21 Years Ago-

{{ This crowd is not happy, Pete. Murdock has dominated this fight but now Price has turned the table on him. }}

“Oh, not again.” A young Anya mumbles, frowning sadly as her friend starts to look disappointed. They both sat in front of the small tv, watching as his dad started to lose his boxing match.

{{ He's pounding Murdock's head, and Murdock isn't even defending himself! }}

{{ Oh! Oh! }}

The two kids winced at the sound of Price’s gloves beating in Murdock’s head. They could only imagine what his face is going to look like when they get home.

{{ Wait! The ref is stopping the fight. (Bell dings) Canero has stopped the fight. Two-to-one favorite "Battlin' Jack" Murdock loses to a TKO in the 10th. }}

{{ Price looks as shocked as the crowd. Murdock had him on the ropes, but let his glove drop and got tagged with a series of devastating- }}

Matt holds up the remote and turns the TV off. 

“I’m sorry, Matty.” Anya said, sincerely.

"Not your fault, Ann. I just thought he had it this time." He replies, putting the remote back on the table. “Now it’s just a matter of time until he gets home.”

For the next hour or so, they stayed in the kitchen, heads resting on the table before they heard the door open. A man opens it, all bloody and bruised, huffing and puffing as he slides his gym back off his shoulder. The boy gets up, running down the narrow hallway with the girl trailing slowly behind.

"Dad!" Matt yells, plowing into his dad for a hug. 

"Hey, Matty! Hey!" Jack said, giving him a hug. "Hey, hey, don't... don't get blood on your shirt." He smiles softly at the kid behind his. "Hi, Anya."

"Hi, Mr. Murdock." She said, with a small wave.

"Hey, how many times do I have to tell you to stop the formalities, huh? Come on. We're family." He reaches out to mess up her hair making her laugh. 

"Gotta keep your gloves up next time." Matt said, teasingly. 

"Yeah, well, I... I should have you in my corner, then." Jack replies, walking slowly towards the kitchen.

"Does it hurt?" 

He sighs. "It don't tickle."  The older Murdock slides into his seat, a steady hand on his ribcage. “Go get the kit.”

Matt leaves to get the medical supplies, while Anya slides back into her chair, leaning on her elbows to feel taller. Jack takes his eyes off his son for a moment to look at the girl he should consider his own; especially since she seems to spend most of her time over here.

“So where’s your parents this time?” Jack asked, concernedly. 

The girl frowns and sheepishly looks away. “Um… my dad’s at another meeting and my mom’s at a bookclub.” She replies, sounding like she was going to get a scolding if she spoke.

Jack narrows his eyes a little. “Uh, huh. Your father sure has been busy lately.”

She nods, still not meeting his gaze. “Yeah.”

“And they’re okay with you hanging out here? I know we had a problem the last time you came over.”

“Yeah, they’re fine now.”

Jack said nothing more as he son arrived with a metal case, opening it up and grabbing a few cotton swabs with ointment on them. 

“You should’ve had him.” Matt scoffed, while pressing the cotton into a cut above his dad’s eye. “Price is a bum.”

“Hey, anybody who's got the guts to step into that ring deserves respect. Don't you ever forget that.” Jack said, pulling back to lock eyes with his son.

He raises an eyebrow. “Even Price?”

“Even Price.”

“Sorry you lost, Dad.”

“Yeah... Just wasn't my night.” Jack winces when the stinging sets in, and holds the boy’s hand to stop. “Easy with the cotton swabs there, doc.”

Matt frowns apologetically. “Gotta get in there. You don't want to get it infected.”

“Stitches?”

He chuckles. “Oh, yeah.”

“You better get the Scotch.” Jack said, and Matt stops to go grab it out of the cabinet. He sets the bottle on the table and pushes it towards the adult. Jack shakes his head. “No. It's for you.”

“Really?” Matt asked as the bottle was placed into his arms.

He nods. “You think I want your hands shaking like last time? This is my face we're talking about.” He faces the girl, a grin on his face. “Don’t tell anyone I’m doing this.”

She snickers, and makes a zipping motion over her lips. Matt opens the cap and smells the scotch, gagging. 

“Go ahead. Take a… just a little sip.”

Matt takes a sip of the scotch, and makes a face as soon as it hits his tongue. Jack chuckles at his reaction.

“Oh! Oh, it burns!” The young Murdock complains.

“All right.” Jack leans forward and sighs deeply. “Come on. Let's do it.”

Matt strings the needle and begins the procedure. “Don't move.”

Jack bites his lip at the pain, inhaling slowly. “So you two watched the fight?” His son nods. “You're supposed to be doing your homework.”

“Got it done first.”

“All of it?” Matt says nothing, causing Jack to sigh. “Anya?”

“I finished mine.” She replies, truthfully.

“Good.” He stares at his son, sternly. “I want you to finish up before you go to bed.”

“I'll do it tomorrow.” Was Matt’s reply.

“Tonight.”

“Before school?”

“Tonight. Okay?”

“Okay.” Matt stops for a minute, watching his dad shutter a little before urging him to go on. “Dad?” Jack hums. “You gonna have enough this month for Mr. Morris?”

“He will get his rent–” He pulls out an envelope. “On time.”

Matt finishes the stitches before picking it, opening it to reveal a few hundred dollar bills. His eyes widened in surprise. “You got all this for losing?”

Jack nods slowly. “Sometimes… even when you get knocked down, you can still win.”

“It ain't how you hit the mat…” Matt begins.

“It's how you get up.” They both said in unison, smiling.

“That's right.” Jack chuckles, grabbing the envelope back. “All right, all right. Go hit the books.”

Matt blinks before smugly asking, “Can I take the bottle?”

“No, just... Go on. Go on.”

“Okay.” He waves quickly. “Bye, Anya.”

“Bye, Matty.” She said, waving back.

“Alright, sweetheart. Let’s go.” Jack said, standing up and gesturing for her to follow.

“Okay.” She follows him, unaware of his careful gaze. She grabs her backpack by the door, sliding the straps on–

“Hang on, kid.” Jack said, stopping the girl. He carefully grabs her hand, pulling back her sleeve which was lingering with tiny bruises. He bit the inside of his cheek. “Anya, you would tell me if your dad was hurting you, right?” She nods. “So, is he?”

She shakes her head immediately. “No.”

“He’s not?” He asked, unconvinced. “Because you know I won’t get angry. I just want to make sure you're okay.”

“I’m fine, Mr. Murdock.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, just checking.” He opens the front door, letting her out. “Remember the route I told you about. It’s a lot safer.”

She mutters another ‘Okay’ as she skips out of the apartment building, living behind a man that is now angry at two things in the world.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Anya gasps, sucking in the crisp air as Matt does the same. They could feel the nurse hovering over them, still attending their wounds. Matt stiffened up, trying his best to stay alert as Anya squeezed her aching eyes shut; She could feel water drip down from the towel on her forehead, along with a wave of nausea that was coursing through her warm veins.

Shit… I really overdid it with my abilities. She scolds herself, feeling the nurse’s eerie stare.

“Are you gonna listen to me this time?” She asked them.

“Where are we?” Matt asked, straight to the point.

“You're in my apartment.”

“Who are you?”

“I'm the lucky girl who pulled you out of the garbage.”

Matt feels for his mask, frowning. “You've seen my face.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen both of yours.” 

“Great.”

“Awesome…” Anya mumbled, squeezing her eyes tighter while swallowing a bit of bile in her throat.

“Your outfits kind of sucks, by the way.”

“It’s a work in progress.” They both reply, sending a mental glare at one another upon it. 

The woman could practically see their child like antics and scoffed.

“Okay, I really wouldn't try to move too much.” She said, crossing her arms. “You, sir, have got two or three broken ribs, probable concussion, some kind of puncture wound, and that's just the stuff that I know about. And your eyes, they're unresponsive to light, which isn't freaking you the hell out, so either you're blind or in way worse shape than I thought.”

“Do I have to pick one?” Matt asked, dead serious.

“And you, lady, I’ve got a couple questions for you.”

“Shoot.” Anya said, eyelids still closed.

“First off, how the fuck do you have these glowing purple eyes?”

“Haven’t you heard of Elizabeth Taylor?”

“Yeah, but people’s eyes don’t just glow. So explain that to me.”

The brunette sighs, really not wanting to get into this conversation. “So I got superpowers. What do you want me to do?”

The nurse scoffs again. “Well that explains why the cut on your collar bone is in the proliferative stage.”

Anya raises an eyebrow. “The what?”

“Proliferative. It’s the third stage out of four for healing wounds.”

“Oh…”

“You can heal that fast?” Matt asked, surprised, eyes widening.

“Depending on how deep the wound is, yes, I can heal in less than a few hours.” Anya explains, slowly cracking her amethyst orbs open (She was starting to get some of her vision back).

“And your eyes are–”

“They’re not my real eye color. I just make them that way so no one knows who I am.”

Matt ponders for a minute, taking it all in. “I see.”

“Yeah. Hey–” Anya turns her attention to the nurse. “Did you flush them with something? They feel a little better.”

“I did. Several times actually before I applied some medicated ones.” The nurse replies.

“Thanks.”

“I get the impression you two don’t know each other.”

“What makes you say that?” Matt asked, curiously.

“Because, for starters, she keeps looking away from you every time she opens her eyes. And second, the two of you are clearly making your voices deeper than they probably are, and I don’t think it’s supposed to be directed at me.”

“Are you a detective or sometime?” Anya asked, shocked. How could one be that observant so quickly?

“Do you mind telling me how a blind man, and a newly blinded woman, in  masks end up beaten half to death in my dumpster? Two people who clearly are not on the same page as one another.” She said, ignoring her comment.

“The less you know about us, the better.” Matt answers, earning a nod from his ‘friend’.

“Yeah, ditto.” Anya agrees.

She shrugs, and then sighs deeply. “The wound on your side, mysterious man,... knife?

“Probably. Ah…” He groans, trying to get up.

The woman puts a hand on his shoulder, silently telling him to sit down as she checks his wound. “I think I got the bleeding stopped, but I can't tell how bad it is internally without a full series of X-rays, so–”

“Sorry. No hospitals, Ma’am.” Anya cuts in, half politely.

She smacks her lips, holding back her irritation. “This is my night off. I'm really not looking for your partner to die on my living room floor.”

“He’s not my partner.”

“Are you a doctor?” Matt asked, curious again.

She shrugs. “Something like that.”

“Most people, they find bleeding people in masks in the garbage, they call the police.”

“You got a lot of experience in this area?”

“Why are you helping us?”

“The less you know about me, the better.”

This gets Matt to laugh and Anya to snort. 

“Alright, you’ve got humor. I like you.” Anya said, grinning a little.

.

“Yeah.” Matt said, copying her expression. “You got a name at least?”

The woman sighs. “Claire. Don't suppose I get to know yours?” Matt says nothing. “All right, I'll call you Mike.”

“Mike?”

“Yeah, a guy I used to date. Turns out he was very good at keeping secrets, too.”

Anya frowns hearing the heartbreak in her voice. She swallows, guilty (and hopefully not regretting). “Just call me May.”

Claire perks up at this. “May?” She said, smiling. “I’m glad you shared.” But her expression fades seeing the vigilante’s neutral features. “Oh. But that’s not your real name.”

“Sorry, Ma’am. It ain’t. It just means a lot…” She whispers that last part, causing Matt to frown.

That’s… odd. He thought, but kept it on the backburner for emergencies.

“Thank you, Claire.” He said, touching her hand.

Claire sighs again. “Rest. Make sure you're stabilized. We'll figure the other stuff out later.” She gets up and leaves the room, giving herself a breather.

Matt groans again, trying to get comfortable on the rug. Anya sighs, squinting now at the little light she could see.

“Hey, no-eyes?” She said, getting his attention. “Why don’t you rest? I’ll be on the lookout.”

“You sure?” He asked, dubious.

“Positive. Just rest. You’ll get better.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

-21 Years Ago-

Jack Murdock nervously tapped his foot in the chair, listening to all the machines tinkering, eyeing his son laying in a hospital bed. He was getting antsy while sitting here for hours on end. No updates for the doctors. No sudden movements from his son. No one coming up to him saying he has a phone call.

“Where the fuck are your parents?” He mumbled bitterly, while glancing at his kid’s friend beside him. “I’ve called them several times in six hours now. Where are they?”

Anya shrugs, bloodshot eyes looking away. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re busy…”

“Yeah, well they’re always fucking busy, huh?!” She flinches under his tone, which was enough for him to dial back. “Sorry, sweetheart. Didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“I know. You’re just stressed.”

“I know, but that doesn’t give me the right to take it out on you.” He sighs, locking his gaze with hers. “Listen, What about to ask you, is going to be a lot, okay?” She nods. “Good. So do you realize what happened to Matty?”

“Yeah. He can’t see anymore.”

“Yeah, which is going to be scary. Really scary, especially to Matty, so I want you to promise me something. Alright?” She nods again. “Alright. You’re always by his side when I’m not, so promise me you’re going to be there for him when he starts to feel down. Promise me you’ll pull him up when he falls?”

“I promise, Mr. Murdock.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

Suddenly, the heart monitor starts beeping frantically in the background.

“I can't see!” Matt cries out, clawing at the bandages over his eyes.

Jack rushes over, sitting on the side of the bed, carefully pulling away his son's hands. “Matty, Matty, Matty, it's me. It's Dad. I'm right here.”

Matt jerks around in his spot, tears starting to roll down his cheek. “I can’t see! I can’t see!”

His father shushes him. “You were in an accident, you remember? You're in the hospital, but I'm right here with you.”

The boy sobs, machine still racing. “Everything’s so loud… everything…”

“I'm right here with you. It's Daddy. Here, feel my face.” Jack takes his small hands, resting them on his cheek bones. “Feel my face. I'm right here. I'm right here.”

“I can't see.”

“It's alright. It's okay.”

“Dad, I can't see!”

“It's alright, Matt.”

“I can't–”

“It's alright.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Claire changes the towel on Anya’s head, folding it up nicely before gently laying it across her flush skin. The hot feeling in her body was starting to vanish away with the nausea. 

“You look like you’re in deep thought.” Claire said, setting the bowl of water down in exchange for a flashlight. She quickly flashes it, watching her pupils dilate normally.

“I’m just listening.” Anya replies, blinking from the brightness. She was starting to make out more shapes now. She could almost see their savior clearly.

“To what?”

“His breathing.”

Claire raises an eyebrow, confused. “I thought you said you weren’t partners? Why care about him?”

“Just because we aren’t doesn’t mean I want him dead. I’m not that type of person.” Anya replies, truthfully. “Besides, We both have a lot to do before we die. I got my mission, he’s got his.”

“Well that’s kind of morbid.”

“Tell me about it.”

Matt suddenly wakes up and starts gasping for air. He starts frantically gripping the ground, head looking around.

Claire faces him worriedly. “What is it? What's wrong?”

“No-eyes?” Anya said, reaching for his shoulder. She immediately picked up on the odd sensation stirring up in his chest.

“I-I c-can't br-breathe.” He chokes, face turning red.

Claire uses a stethoscope to listen to his lungs. “You've got air in your chest. It's collapsing your lung. I'm gonna relieve the pressure, but I'm gonna need you to hold still, okay?” 

She grabs some supplies from her medical bag, pulling Matt’s shirt down a little and begins the procedure. “Here we go... This is gonna hurt.” 

She frowns apologetically before piercing his chest with a needle. He grunts loudly and gasps, Anya wincing at the sound. Claire removes part of the needle, causing air to hiss out of his chest. It took a short moment for his breathing to stabilize.

“Good.” Claire soothes, removing the needle gently. “Just breathe normally.” She listens to his lungs again, sighing gratefully.

“Jesus Christ, no-eyes…” Anya whispers after the mini scare.

Claire finally looks between the two when everything cooled down. “All right. Look, let's just say for the sake of discussion I buy this whole, ‘We can't go to the hospital because whatever,’ story you two got going on. But we need to talk about what happens if you give up the ghost here in my living room.

“Because I'm listening to myself explain to the police how I let this happen, and every version ends with me in handcuffs, so convince me it's worth it. Who’s first?”

“They kidnapped a boy.” Matt says, immediately. 

“Who did?” Claire asked, as Anya looked at him surprised (this was news to her).

“The Russians. They've been running a human trafficking ring out of Hell's Kitchen. Took over when the Italians folded up. Two days ago, they pulled a kid out of the back of a van. Beat his father while he watched.”

How the fuck did I miss that? Anya scolded herself.

“Jesus.” Claire mumbles, shifting uncomfortably. 

“I knew the kid would still be alive. At least until they took him out of the city.” Matt continues. “I tracked the Russians to a warehouse not far from here. Thought I was being smart, how fast I found them.” He frowns at himself. “Turns out, I wasn't.”

“They were waiting for you.”

“And I walked right into it.”

“So, they took this kid just to get to you?” Claire asked, trying to piece it together.

“Yeah, I've been making their lives…” He grunts. “Difficult lately.”

“But you're blind.”

He chuckles. “There are other ways to see.”

“This is what you do, you make life difficult for bad men?”

“It's one way of putting it.”

She holds her hands up. “No offense, but you don't seem to be very good at it.”

Matt lets out a laugh.“Ow!” He touches his stomach. “Yeah, well, you're catching me on an off night.”

“Did you at least find the kid?”

He shakes his head, sighing. “No, he wasn't there. I barely made it out myself. I was careless… Stupid.”

“Sounds like it. Alright, missy, how about you?” She pats the woman’s leg. “What’s your story?”

Anya exhales through her nose, distant gaze going somewhere else. “I was looking for… information to lead me to something I’ve been working on. Lately, things have been linking up in ways that I didn’t think were possible.” 

“Were they expecting you too?” Claire asked as Matt drank up her explanation. 

“I don’t think so. I just like to get in and get out, I don’t like to cause trouble.” She frowns too. “It only got messy when no-eyes here showed up, and they started targeting me.”

“I see.” Claire leans back on her hands. “So these men that took the boy they're out there right now, looking for probably the both of you?” She gets no answer, both of them growing alarmingly still. “Guys?”

“Someone's coming.” They said in unison. 

“Wait, what?” 

“There's someone in the building, a man, going from door to door.” Anya replies, pushing herself up to sit.

“How do you know that?”

“He's on the third floor already.” Matt replies, also pushing himself up which was tiresome. “Smells like Prima cigarettes and discount cologne.”

“You can smell a man on the third floor?”

“You'll smell him soon enough. He really likes that cologne.” They both stand up, feeling her weary look on them. Matt's features deepens. “You're looking at us like we’re crazy, right?”

Claire nods. “Seems the appropriate response.”

“There are some things I haven't told you about me, Claire.”

“You haven't told me anything about you. The both of you actually. All I know is, Mike, you're very good at taking a beating.”

Matt's heart skips at a memory. “That part I got from my dad.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

-21 Years Ago-

Jack steps out of the ring, gloves and helmet off as he wipes away his sweaty bangs. He sighs, greeting a few other guys in the gym as he heads towards his kids. He watches Matt taking in each sentence on the page written in braille, while Anya looks through one of the books curiously.

“How'd you do?” His son asked, hearing a chair being pulled out and sat in.

“Uh I tagged him a couple times. That kid is fast.” Jack replies, scooting close and picking up a book as well. “So, how you… how you getting along with, uh, your new books?”

“I'm working on it. Each grid is six possible dots, so each letter is a combination of those dots. You have to feel for what's not there as much as what is.”

Jack purses his lips while flipping through the pages. “That doesn't make any damn sense at all.”

“Thank you.” Anya said, laying hers back down in defeat.

“Well, you know where a punch is going before it's thrown sometimes, right?” Matt begins, trying to help his father with the picture.

“Oh, clearly I don't.” Jack said, getting the kids to laugh. “So, uh, you can make sense out of all of this?”

“I'm starting to. Here.” He gestures to something on the page for his father to feel along. “Dot in the right corner, that's a ‘C’. Upper left, ‘A’. ‘T’ is hard. I get it confused with ‘Q’.”

He looks at the page like it’s got three heads. “Well, why don't they just make it feel like a ‘T’?”

Matt shrugs. “Well, they say this is faster once you get the hang of it. ‘W’ is really tricky. Braille was created in French, and they don't have ‘W’.”

“Oui, Oui, Mon Amie.” Anya said, playfully, which made him laugh and the older man stare in confusion. (*Yes, Yes, my friend)

Jack blinks before deciding to play along. “Oh… is that how you two talk shit about me behind my back?”

“Maybe…” His son snickers, but their playfulness didn’t last long when the visitor arrived.

“Oi, Battlin' Jack!” A man, Roscoe, calls out, waving him over.

Jack frowns and sighs, and gestures for Roscoe and his partner to go somewhere else in the room. “Hey, you wait. Couple months, you're gonna be reading Braille faster than I read normal.”

“I already read Braille faster.” Matt said, with a cheeky grin.

He chuckles and stands up. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You smartass.” He quickly kisses Matt’s head. “I'll be right back.”

He pats the top of Anya’s head before walking away from the table. His face became more serious as he got closer to the corrupt boxing promoters.

Roscoe laughs. “What's the word, Jackie-boy?”

“Roscoe. Silke.” Jack said, acknowledging. 

“Hello, Jack.” Silkie said with an eerie smile.

“I heard about the wee one.” Roscoe says, watching the kid read from afar. “That's a tough break.”

“You have our condolences.”

“And you're young yet. Plenty of time to have more kids.”

Silkie snickers, elbowing his partner. “But hey, he could get a couple grandkids soon, seeing that his son has a lady friend he could marry now.”

Jack looks at Roscoe angrily, holding his tongue and crosses his arms (It’s better not to poke the bear). “What can I do for you boys?”

“We come bearing glad tidings.” Silkie said, grinning. “A match with Creel.”

“Creel?” His blue eyes widened in surprise. “How'd you pull that off?”

“Mr. Sweeney can be quite persuasive when he puts his mind to it.”

“It's me Irish charm.” Roscoe said, proudly.

“Jesus! Creel?” Jack chuckles. “I owe you… I owe you guys.”

“Ah. You're doing us the favor.” Silkie said, knowing his boxer was not going to like it. “It's 3-to-1 that you go the distance. You drop in the fifth, we're clearing 70%.”

“Right.”

“Come on, Jackie! It's time to celebrate.” Roscoe encouraged.

“It's the big time, Jack.” Silkie added.

Jack frowns, completely unaware that the two kids were eavesdropping with enhanced hearing. “Thanks for the offer. I'm gonna take a pass.”

Roscoe laughed. “Did he just say ‘pass’?”

“I appreciate everything you've done for me. Really, I do. But…” He takes a quick glance at his son. “I got other things to worry about now.”

“He don't want to do it, he don't do it. Man makes his choice and we make ours.”

“You wanna step into the ring, see how that plays out?” Jack bites back, stunning them.

“You gotta think of your family, Jack. This could do a lot of good for your boy.” Silkie said, trying to plant the seed into his head.

“Yeah.” Roscoe nods, smiling. “What else are you gonna leave him when you're gone?”

Jack looks back at his son again, the guilt sinking in. “All right.”

“We need to hear you say it.” Silkie said, enjoying this.

He clenches his jaw. “I go down in the fifth.”

“There you go. That wasn't so hard.” Roscoe said, patting his shoulder.

Their conversation continued on, and Matt had stopped reading out of shock just as Anya broke the pen she was holding. 

“Uh… crap.” She mumbles, pulling herself out of trance .

Matt looks in her direction. “Are you okay?” He asked, worriedly.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. B-Broke a pen.” She replies, finding a towel and starts wiping off some ink.

“A pen?”

“Yeah. Just.. it was bound to happen. It had a crack.”

The two of them went silent again (despite the weird incident), frowning at what Jack Murdock had unfortunately got himself wrapped into.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Anya leans against the wall, pulling up her hood and mask, listening to Matt ruffling through a drawer in the kitchen. He too had his mask back on.

“This all you got?” He asked the nurse, holding up a tiny, partially dull knife. 

“Yeah, it's for vegetables, not a knife fight.” Claire said, hoping he wasn’t serious about this (Hint, hint: He’s is).

“He's at your neighbor's door.” Anya said, baring her claws.

“You kidding me?” She said, looking between the two. They didn’t listen as they started heading for the door. “Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.” She stops them with a hand on their chests. She glares at Matt first. “You can barely stand up.

“That's what the knife's for.” He replies, holding it up again.

“Claws.” Anya said, showing them off.

Claire sends her daggers too. “You can’t see.”

“Hey, I’m starting to. I can see clearly if I get up close. Like you’re–” Anya gets closer, eyes widened a bit. “You’re… a very beautiful woman. Like, holy shit. You’re a nurse?!”

“Peaches.” Matt hissed, reminding her of the task ahead.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

They take another step forward, Claire stopping them again. “Wait! Don't do this. Not in my home. Okay, nobody has to get hurt. You two just stand over there on that side and be quiet and I'll get rid of him.”

They vigilantes pondered on that for a moment before the knocking came. Another step forward,which was countered with another block.

“Please.” She whispers, begging. She glances at the door. “Who is it?”

“NYPD, ma'am. Please open the door.”

“Okay.” They whisper back, and she points to where they should hide.

“I'll be right there.” Claire announced, taking her gloves off, and hiding her medical bag behind the couch. She walks to her door and opens the keyhole, spotting the well dressed man holding up his badge. She mentally prepares herself as she opens the door just enough to see her face.

“Sorry to bother you so late, ma'am. My name is Detective Foster, with the 65th Precinct.” He begins, tucking his badge away. “We had a bit of a disturbance a few blocks from here. We're asking everyone if they've seen or heard anything unusual in the past few hours.”

She tilts her head. “What kind of disturbance?”

“Armed robbery. Some dickheads in a black masks shot up a bodega on 38th. Owner put up a fight. Perps fled on foot, leaving a trail of blood in this direction.”

“Oh, my God.”

“Probably long gone by now, but just in case, you know. You see anything, hear anything tonight?”

She shakes her head. “No, sorry.”

He nods in understanding. “Just being thorough. You have a good night, ma'am.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

Foster walks away, and Claire watches him move swiftly down the hall before closing the door. She lets out a heavy exhale, clasping her hands together.

“See? No reason to get all stabby.” She said, with relief. “Boy, were you right about that cologne? What? Does he dip himself in that crap?”

“He didn’t believe you.” Anya stated, already moving with Matt. 

“Mike! May!” Claire scolds once they're out the door.

Matt grabs a fire extinguisher off of the wall, coming up to the stairs, dangling it over the railing. The vigilantes could hear Foster hustling down the steps, calling someone on his phone in Russian, speaking in a frantic tone.

“What are you doing?” Claire asked, before Anya held her arm out to stop her.

Matt listens closely to Foster’s movements, and after a few moments, he drops the fire extinguisher. Claire gasps into her hands at the sound of it colliding with something, making Anya look down at Matt’s doing. Her eyes widened at Foster’s unconscious state on the floor, with a pool of blood around his head.

Anya paled. “Well that’s one way to do it…” She mumbled in surprise.

“What do we do now?” Claire asked, fearful.

“There's someone else one floor up watching us.” Matt said, pulling the girls close to the wall. He pauses to listen. “Oh, no. He's young. He's scared.”

She carefully takes a peak, spotting her young neighbour above. “Santino?” She said, watching him run away. “He's the one who found you guys in the alley.”

“He’s seen our faces, too?” Anya asked, pulling herself out of her shock.

“Yeah.”

“Claire, go upstairs and get him. We're gonna need help carrying Detective Foster to the roof.” Matt says, pushing himself off the wall with a grunt.

“What the hell are we going to the roof for?” Claire asked as he descended down the stairs.

“Less chance of someone in the building hearing him scream.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

-21 Years Ago-

“Alright, what’s with the frowns?” Jack asked at the foot of the school stairs. The kids were hanging their heads low, body slouching.

“Mrs. Whitmore gives way too much homework.” Matt complains, his friend nodding. “I liked it when she didn’t know how to transfer everything in braille.”

“Well, sorry to hear that, but you gotta do it.” He chuckles at them groaning miserably. “Alright, let’s go. We’ll get some food in your bellies and then hit the books.”

They mumbled an ‘okay’, but couldn’t even take a step in their desired direction when someone started cutting in. 

“Anya!” 

The girl froze upon hearing her father’s voice. A tall man who was similarly built like her friend’s father; Dressing up too nice for her standards, with glasses shielding his darkened eyes. He seemed irritated which made her want to shrink down under his intense stare.

“Alright, Anya, let's go. We got errands to run.” Stopping in front of her, not caring for the other people present.

“M-More errands?” Anya asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice.

“Ah, so you’re actually not busy today, Benson?” Jack said, not hiding his bitterness. “That’s a surprise.”

“Well…” He shrugged with the same attitude as Murdock. “Miracles can happen, Jonathan.”

“Uh, huh. And what kind of errands you running?” Jack asked, suspiciously as his fingers started aching to ball into a fist. 

He shrugged. “You know, just… simple errands. Grocery stores and stuff like that. Why? You worried?” He steps right into his personal space, voice real low. “Say, were you the one who called the CPS last week on us?”

His daughter looks up at them in surprise while Matt scrunches up his nose in confusion.

“Dad, what’s CPS?” He asked, making his dad clench his jaw.

“I was just concerned because your daughter’s always showing up to my house with bruises and what look like needle markings all over her arms.” Jack said, keeping a straight face.

“I’m a doctor, Jonathan. And it’s flu season.” Was his reply. 

“That seems like an awful lot of flu shots. The bruises?”

“I’ll admit, I’m a little harsh sometimes. But it’s not intentional. Right, darling?”

Anya nods slowly. “Yeah. Right.” She said, looking up at Jack. “I’m good, Mr. Murdock.” But she knows well enough that he doesn’t believe her, and almost pleads with his eyes for her to say something back.

“See? Nothing wrong.” Benson said, placing his hand on her shoulder, guiding her away. “Enjoy your evening, Murdocks.”

He strings her along towards their car somewhere down the block, leaving the family of two in the dust. Jack continues to send death glares that way, ones that his son could even feel.

“Dad…” Matt begins, getting his attention. “He’s not a good man, is he?”

Jack hangs his head low, sighing. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“Dad?”

“Let’s go. I’ll explain later.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“You really think this is the best option? Torture?” Anya asked, watching him (crystal clearly) tie Foster to a ladder with cable they found. 

“This is the only way I’m going to find the kid.” Matt said, bluntly.

“Yeah, but torture? Why not rough him up instead? Give him a few punches?”

“I’m not going to kill him if that’s what you’re worried about. There’s nothing wrong with breaking a few bones.” He finishes tying. “Why?” He asked, looking her way. “You scared?”

She shakes her head. “No, but…” She slouches, gazing at the floor. “As someone who was torture in her childhood, I don’t feel comfortable doing the same to someone else. There’s a reason why I do the whole stealth thing.”

And just for a split moment, he felt an ounce of guilt and sympathy before Claire showed up.

“You find anything?” He asked, as she held up Foster’s phone.

“You smashed the hell out of it with that extinguisher.” She says, crossing her arms. “He had a badge. What if you're wrong?”

“I'm not/He’s not.” They said, sending an annoyed look at each other again.

Claire shakes her head in disbelief. “This is way past what I signed up for.”

“What exactly do you think that was?” Matt asked, gesturing to Foster.

“I found two people who needed help, so I helped them.”

“Oh, yeah? That simple?”

She holds her tongue, fearfully looking at them and the sleeping man. “Do you really want to get into this in front of him?”

“He's out.”

“Maybe he's faking.”

He pauses to listen. “He's not.”

Claire threw her hands up. “Okay, that right there, that's what I'm talking about!” 

Anya sighs, taking a step forward. “Claire–”

“No! Let me finish.” She points to Matt first. “So, I find one guy in a dumpster who turns out to be some kind of blind vigilante who can do all of this really weird shit, like smell cologne through walls, and sense whether someone's unconscious or faking it.” 

She points to Anya. “Then I found a lady who has these crazy, fucking glowing eyes, and has some weird green shit coming out her finger nails.” Claire almost laughs at the next statement. “One can take an unbelievable amount of punishment without one damn complaint, and the other can heal way faster than any human being.” 

Matt gave a vague shrug. “The last part's the Catholicism.”

Anya nods. “Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Claire scoffs. “So, what? I'm supposed to take it on faith I'm on the right side of this?”

“You don't carry two masked people bleeding to death into your apartment on faith.” Matt stated, crossing his arms. “You knew which side you were on the moment you found us. Why'd you help us, Claire?”

Claire sighs, shifting the weight on her feet. “I'm a nurse. Work the ER at Metro-General. A few weeks ago, cops brought in three men, said they were robbing tourists, beating them up pretty bad. Apparently, a man in a black mask took issue with their activities and decided to step in. I counted nine broken bones between them.

“A few days after that, EMTs brought in a 19-year-old waitress, said some guy she knew waited for her after work in the parking lot, attacked her and tried to drag her in the alley. She said she screamed and screamed, and a man in a black mask heard her and he saved her life.”

She looks at Anya. “And I don’t think I’ve ever heard about you until today.”

Anya shrugs. “Yeah, well, stealth work, remember?”

“Yeah, but how long will that last?” Claire asks, words twisting in the vigilante’s gut, as eyes trailed back to him. “So, yeah, word's getting around. And I want to believe in what you're doing, Mike. I really do. But this?” She jerks her thumb at Foster, frowning more.

“I know you're afraid.” Matt begins, getting closer with a tiny grunt. “You can't give in to the fear. If you do, men like this win.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

-21 Years Ago-

Matt was reading out loud from the kitchen table, loud enough for his father to hear as he walked around the small apartment.

“There is a price to be paid for division and isolation. Democracy cannot flourish amid hate. Justice cannot take root amid rage. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear.”

Jack pauses after coming into the kitchen, sitting some dishes into the sink. “Either you're actually reading all that, or you're making it up as you go along. I don't know which is more impressive.”

“It's Thurgood Marshall.”

Jack hums, placing a half drunk cup of water on the table. “Starting centerfielder for the Mets, right?”

Matt raises his eyebrows in surprise. “You know who Thurgood Marshall is.”

“School wasn't my strong suit.” Was he reply before plopping a package down, untying the strings. A quick look inside was enough for him to whistle from its beauty.

“How's it look?”

“It’s…” He takes out his new silky robe. “It's red. It's really red.”

“Can I?” Matt asked, holding his palms out.

“Yeah.” Jack watches his son feel the material before tracing the words: ‘Battlin’ Jack Murdock’.

Matt grins. “Good thing about red.”

“Huh?”

“They can't tell how much you're bleeding.”

“Hey–” Jack picks up his glass. “Who says I'm even gonna get hit?” He takes a sip as his son tilts his head.

“We're Murdocks. We get hit a lot.”

His heart sinks. “Yeah I guess we do.”

“But we get up. Right, Dad? We always get up.”

“Right.” Jack places the glass down, making his mind up. “But we also pick up our friends.”

Matt furrows his brows. “What do you mean?”

“Listen, Matty.” He takes a seat. “Some kids… aren’t so lucky when it comes to loving parents, and in that case, it’s Anya. Now, I can’t do much unless she complies, but she won't. She’s scared. I just want you to make sure you keep an eye on her. Alright?”

“I’ll always do that. She’s my friend. Is…” Matt frowns, looking like a kicked puppy. “Is she getting hurt by her parents?”

His heart sinks a little bit more. “Something like that.”

And now, since he knows the both of them will hang onto one another–

He’s got one last thing to do before everything’s over.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Foster wakes up, inhaling loudly. As he huffs in oxygen, he looks up and momentarily tries to get out of the cable, before gazing flickering down at the vigilantes and Claire (who had her face completely covered).

Matt steps forward. “Here's how this is gonna work. I'm gonna ask you some questions, you're gonna answer them. If you're lying to me, trust that I will know… and I will be unhappy.” He clenches his fists. “Where's the boy?”

Foster returns a cold glare. “He's dead.”

Matt punches Foster in the jaw, causing him to cough and heave heavily.

“This is what unhappy looks like. Where's the boy?” He tries again.

“What do you care? If he's not dead yet, he will be.”

“Why did you take him?”

Foster gives a half shrug. “Figured you'd come running.”

Matt tilts his head. “And after I was dead?”

“Sell the kid, like all the others.” Another punch again, harder than the last. He spits out blood. “I was telling the truth on that one.”

“I know.”

Foster chuckles. “We got you good, didn't we? We even got a two for one deal on that sweetheart over there.” He cocks his head towards Anya. “Nice of you to stop by too.” She stays quiet, making him frown. “What? You’re not going to say anything?”

“I’ve already done my part. I suggest you answer his questions.” Anya replies, folding her arms. 

“Who do you sell the children to?” Matt badgers again.

“I don't know. Whoever has the money.” Foster replies, nonchalantly. 

“Where's the boy?”

“So you find him. So what? We'll take another. Kill me, somebody takes my place. Long as people are buying, we'll be selling. Nothing you do tonight will change that.” His cocky grin returns. “But go ahead. Keep hitting me. Let's see who drops first.”

Matt snags a chunk of the man’s hair, holding his head upright ready to try–

“Try stabbing him in his trigeminal nerve.” Claire said, stepping up next to him.

Anya’s amethyst eyes widened in shock. “Dude…”

“Where is it?” Matt asked, not missing a beat.

“Dude.”

Claire points the spot out on Foster. “Go in through here, right above the eye. That's the supraorbital foramen. You want to go in right under there.”

Matt holds the knife up to Foster’s face, just above the eyelid as he starts to struggle.

“Hold still. I might do some serious damage if you squirm.” He hissed. “How will I know when I find it?”

“He'll tell you.” Claire responded.

There is a squishing sound as the knife goes in for the nerve. Foster begins screaming loudly, flailing his body.

“Oh, Jesus…” Anya says under her breath, looking away just as blood started caking the side of his face.

Matt pulls out the knife roughly as Foster starts breathing heavily. “You're right, what you said before. I kill you, somebody takes your place, but they'll end up back here just like you, and sooner or later, one of you is gonna tell me what I need to know.”

Matt jumps up and cuts the cable, then throws Foster over his shoulder and carries him to the side of the building. The girls follow him as he dangles him by the wire over the edge. He starts screaming again which nobody cared to hush.

“This is important.” Matt said, hearing the man start weeping. “Listen! I need you to know why I'm hurting you. It's not just the boy. I'm doing this 'cause I enjoy it.”

“No-eyes.” Anya begins cautiously.

“No, no, no! No, no, no!” Foster pleads.

“Where is he?!” Matt yells, dangling him some more.

“No!” He sobbed, shaking his head. “Underneath Troika restaurant! Eleventh and 44th.” Matt grunts and pulls him back, just as he chuckles. “They'll be waiting for you. If you're lucky, they'll kill you before they start in on the boy. It would be a shame for you to have to watch what they do to him–” 

Matt suddenly pushes him over the side of the building, making him scream. Both Claire and Anya shriek and run to the edge, looking down. A loud thudding noise is heard, enough for Claire to pull off her disguise.

“Oh, my God!” She said, panicking.

“Jesus, man! What the fuck?!” Anya said, looking his way.

“It's all right. He landed in the dumpster you pulled me out of.” Matt answered.

“Is he dead?” Claire asked, still peering down.

“He’ll live.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little obsessive?” Anya asked, getting in his path.

“He’s fine.” 

“That's insane.”

“We both beat people up. What’s the difference between you and me?”

“I knock people unconscious just so I can get away, I don’t throw them off buildings to potentially kill them!”

He steps closer, their nose practically touching. “If you don’t like it, then stay out of my way.”

She bites the inside of her cheek. “That’s not fair.”

“Like you said the first night we met, you do your thing and I’ll do mine.” He hits her shoulder with his as he passes by. “Claire, you need to get your things and leave. Don't tell anyone where you're going.”

“What?” The nurse asked, confused.

“He wakes up, he'll be back, and he won't be alone next time.” He explains, while cleaning up the remaining cable in the area.

“But he didn't see my face.”

“That was just for effect, to scare him. He knew you were lying when you answered your door.” He leans against the latter, grunting.

“Mike?” She said, worriedly. 

He lets out a heavy exhale. “Do you have somewhere you can go?”

“I'm cat-sitting for a woman I work with. Her brother's sick. She's in Oklahoma.”

“What's the address?”

“Why?”

“I'm thinking if I make it through the night, I may need some help getting patched up.”

Claire debates for a moment before giving in. “Tenth and 54th. Apartment 412, um, in the building above the liquor store.”

He puts his hand on her bicep. “Thank you, Claire.” He said, walking away.

“I don't believe you.” She calls out, making him freeze. “What you said. I don't believe you enjoy this.”

Matt says nothing and continues walking away, and Claire opens her mouth to try to protest just as Anya holds her hand up to silence her.

“I’ll watch him. Just get to safety. Please.” 

And she walks off too.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

-21 Years Ago-

Matt and Anya were sitting down on the floor, cross legged in front of the TV with biggest smiles on their faces.

{ Murdock lands another and another! }

“Get him, Dad! Get him!”

“Yeah, Mr. Murdock!” 

{ Creel is rocked! Murdock won't let him out of the corner! The younger Creel seems stunned by the ferocious display by the more seasoned Murdock! Creel goes down! }

Matt bolts to his feet as the crowd starts roaring. “Yes! Yes!”

“Holy cow…” Anya said in disbelief, the bell ringing. 

{ He's not getting up! It's over! ‘Battlin' Jack’ Murdock has defeated Crusher Creel! }

“Yeah, Dad! Yeah!” He faces his friend with pure joy on his face. “He did, Ann. He finally did it!”

She chuckles. “He finally lives up to that name, doesn't he?”

“Hell yeah he does!” He pumps his fist. “I can’t wait to celebrate when he gets back!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“You’re following me?” Matt said, stopping at the edge of the rooftop. “Thought I scared you off.”

Anya steps out the shadows, slowly coming up next to him. “I’m not scared of you, I’m scared of what you might do.” She replies, honestly. “You’re not thinking straight.”

“What makes you think I’m not?” He asked, skeptical.

“You’re not the only one who can pick out emotions from heartbeats.” She said, genuinely concerned. “I know you lied when you said that to Foster.” She watches his look away, his unhidden features seemed neutral, but she knew better. “Or maybe… you were trying to convince yourself you do.”

He faces her, heart spiking in surprise as she adds, “Do you think you’re actually the devil in Hell’s Kitchen?”

“If that’s what everyone is calling me then… yeah.” He said, a small nod to go with it. “Then I’m the devil of Hell’s Kitchen?”

“Well, which one then?” She asked, his confused aura coming back. “Are you the devil when he became the devil? Or are you the devil when he was an angel?” She looks across the street at the building they were going to enter. “The reason I don’t want to go so far with my skills is because I’ve seen enough dead bodies at my feet to reconsider my life choices.”

He grows quiet for a little while, an internal debate going back and forth in his mind before he whispers,

“So have I.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

-21 Years Ago-

Anya wakes up on the couch at a sound in the distance. She has enough time to rub her groggy eyes before seeing her friend run down the hall and out the door with just his cane.

“Matt?” She calls out, following him. It took her a few minutes to catch up, asking where he was going but he said nothing. “Matty, seriously, what’s going on?”

He comes to an abrupt stop, right before an alleyway where some policemen were guarding it, keeping bystanders away. Matt attempts to enter like he owes it, but an officer keeps him back.

“Oh, oh, hang on there, son. What's the hurry?” He asked.

“I-I think that's my dad.” Matt said, urgently.

Anya snaps her head his way, stunned. “What?”

“Jesus, Ray, the kid's blind.” Another officer scolded, right as Matt pushed him aside to get in. 

“Matt!”

“Hey, wait!”

Anya follows behind her friend with the officer Ray on their tail, and she freezes up completely as Matt sinks to his knees.

“Jack…?” She said, teary eyed.

“Dad?” Matt croaks, feeling the body’s face, which was covered in blood; But he knows who it really is. “Daddy! Daddy!” He lets the dam break immediately. “Daddy! Daddy!”

“Matt, he’s–”

“No… he’s… he’s fine…”

“Matty–”

“Daddy! Daddy, please come back! Daddy!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“I take the left, you take the right?” Anya asked, as they slowly creeped inside the building.

“It’ll make this quicker.” Matt said, his way of agreeing.

They could hear a TV playing, some kind of card game going on, people snickering and talking in Russian. 

They even heard the little boy begging for his dad.

They moved slowly, three doors total. A door straight forward, one on the left, and one the right. The two of moved to their desired door, hands on the handle–

They suddenly push the doors open, screaming and running in. The next few minutes went by quickly, but felt like an eternity. Guns were being fired off, missing every one of them by a hair; Glass was shattering, shards dousing the air; Furniture was smashed to pieces, too torn to be put back together. The Russians were sent flying across the rooms, splattered around the hallway as the doors came off their hinges.

The two of them were starting to become gassed as they were left with a pair of gunmen waiting in the hallway. They acted quickly. Anya manages to disarm them to give Matt enough time to incapacitate their foes. And just for a second, they allowed themselves to lean against one another, closing their eyes and taking in deep breaths of oxygen.

She only opens them to look at him worriedly when she hears something wet dripping off his clothing. She frowns, eyebrows pushed together. “Your bandage came loose.” She replies, hand hovering over the one on his abdomen. 

His face was trying to keep the pained expression off his face as he could feel it. “Let’s get the kid first. I’ll worry about it when he’s safe.” He replies, hearing her nod.

“Okay. Let’s do it then.” She touches his shoulder. “Watch for the doors.”

The two carefully navigated over the rubble that lingered on the floor. They slowly came up to the end of the hall, listening to see if anything unpleasant awaits them inside.

Nothing. Which was the best news they had all night.

“Mind turning away for a moment?” He asked, which she granted. He pulls up his mask, turning the knob and greeting the little boy. “Hi. I know you're scared. But I'm here to help you. Okay? You don't have to be scared anymore.”

“Okay. Okay.” The boy said, quietly.

“Let's get you home to your dad.”

Anya waited until he was out, tapping her in the back to tell her she could look. Once she saw his mask was back in place, and the boy was held safely in his arms, she started moving ahead just by a few steps; Just enough to stop anyone from trying to come their way.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

It was like déjà vu again as they found themselves standing on top of the building from the police station. They stood in silence for a long time, more than likely either listening to the police activity inside or were waiting for one another to speak. Or maybe… they were starting to actually like the company. But there’s no way that could be true.

Right?

Anya exhales, the wave of adrenaline is starting to die off finally. “I guess we should call it night.” She said, not expecting this type of reply.

“Thank you.” Matt said, genuinely. He felt her bewildered eyes on him, mouth open slightly too.

She blinks, shifting to face him completely. “Did I hear that right? Did you just say, ‘thank you’?”

He lets a little grin play on his lips. “Don’t read too much into it, peaches.”

“Wow.” She chuckles. “Sure you don’t have a concussion?”

“You know I can take it back, right?”

“Nope.” She pops the ‘p’. “No take backs. I will forever remember this.”

He sighs. “I regret saying anything.”

Another chuckle. “Lighten up, no-eyes.” Anya said, lightly hitting him in the arm.

This is nice, actually. She thought, smiling. When she first heard the rumors, she didn’t think there was another man out in HK doing justice like her. But now that she’s seen him in the flesh, it’s kind of nice knowing she’s not alone.

Not that she’ll ever say that to his face though.

Matt on the other hand was silently thinking in a similar way, only this time his curiosity finally got the best of him. “Can I ask you something?” He said, feeling her gaze.

“Shoot.”

“Why do you do this?” She immediately frowns, crossing her protectively.  He could sense how uncomfortable she was getting. “I mean… you’re not doing what I’m doing. At least that’s what I think.”

“Well… you’re kind of right.”

He tilts his head. “Kind of?”

Anya nods slowly. “Yeah.” She sighs, looking out of the distance (Matt could hear her heart pounding like crazy). “My parents were… murdered some time ago, and uh…” She makes a sound between a sigh and scoff. “They were not good people, but, um… they’re still my parents, you know?”

“And you still feel obligated to investigate their deaths?” Matt finished, an underlying anger he felt that wasn’t towards her.

She nods again. “Yeah, you’re… right again.”

“But they hurt you.”

“Th-That’s besides the point.” Anya really didn’t want to get into that part of her life just yet. “Basically, they were in some shady shit, doing some shady shit. I know because I’ve seen some of it first hand. And when they were killed, I thought it was because of that.”

“And it wasn’t.”

“Yeah. Exactly. When I started looking into it more, all these things, every little thing that seemed to be going on in this city, seemed to connect in some kind of way.”

“Connect in ways, how?” Matt asked, intrigued.

“That’s the thing. I don’t know.” Anya replies, shrugging. “But I’ve seen things coming up frequently to know not to ignore them. I mean… something’s going on here. Between these human traffickers, drug smugglers, that whole… Union Allied bullshit last week, I’ve seen and heard that name in so many different places, it can’t be a coincidence. And I think you see this too.”

He frowns. “Yeah, There’s definitely something going on here.” So he wasn’t alone like he thought. “Sounds like you want to do something about it?”

“Well I found out about all this shit. Can’t exactly back away from it now.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”

“Look–” She begins, stepping closer. “I’m not saying we should become partners, but if we’re going to figure out what’s going on here, we should not exactly push each other away. If we come across each other, we just deal with it.”

“And… if we do, we compare notes if we find something?” He asked, carefully.

She nods once more. “If you're okay with it, so am I.”

He ponders for a moment before holding his hand out. “You got yourself a deal. Peaches.” He said, smirking.

Anya chuckles. “Alright, no-eyes.” She shakes it, and casts a glance to their interlocking hands. “Strong grip. What’s your secret?”

“Tell me yours and I’ll share mine.”

“That’s no fair, You know mine.”

“Oh, what a shame.”

“You’re something special.” She jerks her head in a familiar direction. “Go get patched up. I can practically sense your energy draining from you.”

“You don’t say.”

“Yeah.”

“Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Why the hell not.”

He looks at her funny again, replying, “When we both were at that warehouse earlier, the one that started this whole nightmarish night, I never even heard your heartbeat. I thought I could smell you faintly, but hearing you? That was a negative. How come?”

She gives him a bittersweet look. “Truthfully, I was trained to slow it at a young age. Slow it down to where it sounds like I don’t have one. It takes a lot of concentration, I can’t do it all the time, but it comes in handy.” She says, now looking amused. “If you're nice next time, I could teach you.”

He returns the look. “I’ll definitely think about it.”

She smiles and bids him farewell, running off into the night. But Matt stayed on that rooftop for a little bit, the gears in his head turning at the thought of maybe…

.

.

.

.

Maybe he should have said yes to being her partner.

》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《

-Taglist Is Open-

@uncle-eggy @fangirling-galore

[paranoicdatenshiintokyo]

My opinion in all Eurovision 2023 entries, but it's all positive (1st part)

I'm obsessed with many things, and one of them is Eurovision. That means I'm currently enjoying my favorite time of the year. Today, I want to do something specific - express my personal opinions on all the entries for Eurovision 2023. However, I'll only be highlighting what I like from each song, and I hope to spread some positivity.

Don't get me wrong - I don't like all the songs. I have my own top 37, but for the purposes of this exercise, I'll be listing them alphabetically. There are many of them so let's go with the first half of them! Would you be able to say any positive thing about the song that you dislike the most this year? Tell me!

------------------ ・Albania (Albina & Familja Kelmendi - "Duje") Deliciously dramatic. Albina's parents seem so nice I wanna have lunch with them! ・ Australia (Voyager - "Promise") Powerful! Have you watched them in Madrid's PreParty?? Looking forward to their performance in Liverpool! It's gonna be alright, I promise! ・Armenia (Brunette - "Future lover") Full of emotion. This is one of the 2 songs of this year that have made my tear up. I don't have to say anything else. If my future lover sings to me this song, I'll fall in love. ・Austria (Teya & Salena - "Who The Hell Is Edgar?") Genius. Catchy. Absolute perfection. Inteligent lyrics with a message. Catchy and well produced music. A fun female duo. A dance not so complicated so I can reproduce it... I can not ask for anything more! This is one of my absolute favorites of this year :D ・Azerbaijan (TuralTuranX - "Tell Me More") Ya'll, I genuinely enjoy the song! I think it's bold. There's an evolution throughout the song that makes it interesting. I like the rap part. ・Belgium (Gustaph - "Because of You") This song makes me happy and I love music that makes me happy. Gustaph has a lot of charisma and a really great voice! I also enjoy the 90's sound of the song! ・Croatia (Let 3 - "Mama ŠČ!") Okay. I FUKIN LOVE THIS, I GENUINELY LOVE IT!!!! This is bold, punk, genius, irreverent in a good way, original, out of the box, smart, fun, chaotic... I only can say good things about it. "Joke" entries always have a soft spot in my hear, and I don't even think this is a joke entry. This is high quality music, guys! This is what I love about Eurovision! I just need to stop screaming Mama kupila traktora 24/7 to stop annoying my neighbours lol ・Cyprus (Andrew Lambrou - "Break a Broken Heart") Very well produced song! And Andrew seems a really talented singer. I love the UUUUUUUHHHHUUHHUUUUUUUUUHHHUHHHHHHHH part. ・Czechia (Vesna - "My Sister's Crown") I love to hear so many different languages in one song. The chorus? OMG, the chorus is absolutely powerful. I always get goosebumps when I listen to the song. Love it! This is an anthem. ・Denmark (Reiley - "Breaking My Heart") Tbh, I like the voice effect in the studio version lol The song is stuck in my head and it's well done. ・Estonia (Alika - "Bridges") What a beautiful melody and what a powerful and talented voice for such a young artist! ・Finland (Käärijä - "Cha Cha Cha") I don't know if I'll be able to put into words what I feel about this song... I fall short if I say that I love the song with all my soul from the first second I hear it. Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it... ・France (La Zarra - ""Évidemment") I love the mix of musical genres. This son is so elegant and exquisite... I love what France is bringing to the table this year! (Not gonna lie, I usually love France entries every year!) ------ And that's all for now! What is your less favorite song of Eurovision 2023 and what do you like the most about it??

[botanical-feverdream]

🎤

File:XXXXXXXXX<REDACTED>XXXXX

VZCZCXRO6637 RR RUEHAG RUEHAO RUEHAP RUEHAT RUEHBC RUEHBI RUEHBL RUEHBW RUEHBZ RUEHCD RUEHCHI RUEHCI RUEHCN RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDF RUEHDT RUEHDU RUEHED #2628/01 1372030 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 162022Z MAY 08 FM SECSTATE WASHDC TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE TO CPTN <REDACTED> AND ALL WORKING BODIES OF <REDACTED> RUEHTRO/FIRSTLIGHT TRIPOLI 0478 BT UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE XXXXXX E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD, EAGR, EAID, ECON, TBIO, <REDACTED>, <REDACTED>, <REDACTED> SUBJECT: RECORD #0031 OF FILE:<REDACTED>

H1-4: LEFT ROOM CLEAR! H1-2: CLEAR. H1-1: RIGHT ROOM CLEAR. H1-3: CLEAR. H1-1: Alright. first and second deck clear. <BEEP OF COMMUNICATOR> H1-1: HELIOS 2-1 status on basement? H2-1: Clear. gathering samples. ya'll real lucky to not fucking get the basement. I swear to god these leeches never have normal fucking basements. <CHUCKLING> <BEEP OF COMMUNICATOR> H1-1: affirmative. I'm sure we will have a grand time looking through this place. shits a focking mess. H1-2: I dont know why they let that lick run loose in the house. where the fuck even is it H2-3: dont tell me yall already lost that thing. H2-5: Oh for fuck sake. 2-1 call for CASEVAC this parasite kept a pantry. <CRYING SOUNDS IN THE FAR DISTANCE> <BEEP OF COMMUNICATOR> H1-1: How about ya'll deal with ya'lls buissness and I will deal with mi- H1-4: WATCH OUT <SOUNDS OF FALLING AND RUNNING> H1-1: FUCK- <WET SOUND AND A THUD> H1-3: B1-1 WHAT THE FUCK- B1-1: ..sorry..... I.... wouldve warned... but it... hadn't.. noticed me yet... so I thought... I would ambush... it instead.... you... you weren't in any danger... I promise... H1-1: ANY DANGER? THAT LEECH ALMOST WENT FOR MY THROAT. B1-1: I.... You see... I.. I am faster... than it... so.... I.. and now... its... dead... so... H1-4: 1-1 why the hell do we work with that thing H1-2: come on guys... it saved our fucking asses atleast. How the hell didn't we notice it. is our gear fucked or something? B1-1: no.... stronger blankbody... harder to notice.... I barely saw it..... H1-1: is there more here? B1-1: uncertain sir.... there may be... <COMMUNICATOR BEEP> H2-3: BB SPOTTED. LOWER DECK. RE- <GUNSHOTS AND SHOUTING> H2-3: QUESTING BACK UP H1-1: Affirmative. H1-1: B1-1 go now. B1-1: affirmative sir... <SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS AND MORE GUNSHOTS IN THE BACKGROUND> H1-3: 1.... 2..... 3.... <SILENCE> <COMMUNICATOR BEEP> H2-2: ....Target neutralized.. H1-3: and 4. damn. H1-1: I swear to god theyre gonna pull a unit 242 on us. H1-4: those are just rumors. dat shit aint real H1-2: riiiight sure man. H1-3: come on. lets collect what we need to do and then help out HELIOS2 so we can finally blow this shit up. H1-1: we could always just. make B1 stay here while we blow it up. see how much better it is than us when theres fire involved. H1-2: sir we cant seriously harm our fellow agents H1-1: oh shut it Crystal. it is not an agent. it is not even a dog. stop sympathizing with it. youre gonna have me fucking worry over ya if LT finds out about that. you know what happened to the last guy. H1-3: well nobody knows what happened. H1-4: I think thats the point H1-1: that is indeed the point. H1-2: whatever. as if the LT would allow yall to endanger the coalitions property. <SOUNDS OF FOOTSTEPS> <FADING INTO THE BACKGROUND> H1-2: I am surrounded by fucking pigs. men I swear to GOD. <CHUCKLING>

[auroralightsthesky]

Prompts 8 or 12 for Sledge or Burgie please 🥰

Dahling of course!!! And you know what?? I think Imma do both!!! lol

You were unbelievably excited, so excited you could hardly contain yourself as you, Sledge, Burgie and Florence had set up a spot on the lawn, miles away from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. So many people had come out to watch, people from all corners of the U.S, North and South, East and West, rich and poor alike, all waiting in anticipation for the moment when it would all happen.

"Oh my God it's like an Alabama block party," you joked as yours and Sledge's son, Tim, wriggled in your lap, trying to make a grab for the beer can in Burgie's cupholder.

"Big deal in these parts darlin," Burgie replied. "Ya'll think Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are a big deal? Nothin screams 'Murica' more than a space shuttle launch in the middle of summer."

You and Sledge laughed. The Fourth was right around the corner and with it would come Tim's first birthday along with Burgie and Florence's son, Jack's. Never before had the rest of the year gone so smoothly with Gene starting as a civilian instructor at the Marine Reserve Center and you taking a job at the historical society back home in Alabama. You had both had it made like never before, a good family, good paying job, close relatives.....what more could have been asked for?

"Ya'll doin ok?" Gene asked you.

"Yeah but I think this one is gonna need some sunscreen in a minute," you told him.

"Alright, give him to me," Gene said, lifting Tim carefully from your lap and placing him in his.

As Gene slathered the sunscreen all over Tim, you looked over at the time clock for the launch, 3 hours, 12 minutes and 15 seconds were all that were left as it ticked away.

Gene put his camo boonie hat on over Tim's head to shield his delicate skin from the harsh Florida sun. The day was getting hotter and a dip in the lake was looking pretty damn tempting. Somewhere close by, a radio was blasting "Sweet Home Alabama", a tune that you, him and all your friends had heard time and again at every block party you had ever been to.

"God it feels good now that I'm on vacation," Florence said. "Drives me feckin bonkers when patients get irate."

"And you finally have some breathing room," you added.

The three of you went back and forth for as long as you could, enjoying the sunshine and jokingly griping about work as you waited out the long hours before the launch.

"Ladies and gentlemen," an announcer said over the loudspeakers. "Space Shuttle Endurance is preparing for takeoff....."

"Oh my God I can't wait!!!" you exclaimed.

You all scooted closer to each other as you and Florence pulled your phones from your purses to take videos. Gene and Burgie weren't far behind as they held the boys with one arm and the countdown began.

10.......

9.........

8........

7..........

6........

5.......

4.......

3.......

2......

1........

The engines roared and the smoke billowed from the engines, the grey-black and white clouds of exhaust from the shuttle engines flying in the air in every direction, the sparks of fire glowing with an incredible ferocity as the shuttle began to lift into the air.

"Ladies and gentlemen we have liftoff!!!"

The crowd cheered and whistled, applauding as the shuttle lifted higher and higher into the air, disappearing into the wild blue yonder. You and Gene shared a kiss as the shuttle took off, happy to finally be together, with the people you loved most.

[soraavalon]

Eudora: I think...I think, so I'm gonna scooch a bit don't want to cluster up with anybody, but also yeah. DM: right. Eudora: And I am going to make a show of lowering the gun while keeping eye contact with Hitivind and then more generally towards the sister, Skelfingauga, Eudora's just gonna say; [in Draconic] "So what do you say? You've done the job, will your mother trust your word that you've done it?" DM: Alright. It is Skelfingauga's turn. She kind of turns the corpse over with a claw, looks to you, is considering everything that ya'll are saying and kind of gives a snort and rolls her shoulders. Skelfingauga: [in Draconic] The Queen will know what we have done here. Our father can hear if we need proof, let them have theirs. DM: And she will step away from the body. Moriarty: *sigh of relief* Tark (OOC): Don't sigh with relief until they're gone. DM: And she will, she will sit and sort of watch all of you like, she's very much like sits she puts her tail over her claws like a sign of 'I'm done if you're done.' Eudora: Mm-hmm DM: We can exit combat now if we'd like, they seem like they're about to leave if you guys sort of lower all your weapons and you know. Hunt (OOC): Uh-huh. Marigold (OOC): [something] the carriage. DM: Okay. Out of sight. Tark (OOC): Yeah. DM: So we'll drop combat. Skelfingauga throws back 'The Queen will know. Our father will hear and be our proof.' and then the three of them, as Tark moves forward, they deliberately will move back. Tark: As Tark is picking up Vanessa's body, he's gonna be like [in Draconic] "Is it rude to ask who your father is?" Eudora: I was gonna ask if--- Moriarty (OOC): Oh my god. Eudora: I would have any idea who they're referring to. DM: Hitivind, who is bleeding, [something] up a very proudly because he is from a great lineage of dragons obviously. Tark (OOC): Yes, obviously. Hitivind: [in Draconic] Our father is The Mystic. Hunt (OOC): *gasp* OHHHHH!!! Moriarty (OOC): I'm sorry? Nathaniel (OOC): Oh my fucking god. (?) Tark: Tark, in shock, drops Vanessa's body. Moriarty (OOC): I'm sorry? Tark (OOC/IC?): Oh no. Hitivind: [in Draconic] He will know her lies have stopped. Tark: [in Draconic] Oh my god! We're friends with your dad! DM: As they're like going to leave, they kind of look back at you. Like they're about to take off and sort of give you this look. Tark: [in Draconic] Alright have a good day! Nathaniel (OOC): 'Have a good day?' Tark: I don't know! Tark panicked. Marigold: Well you couldn't tell, it was very smooth. DM: She looks  at you hard for a moment and jerks her head and the three of them fly off. Leaving you alone with a slightly damaged wagon and a dead body. Tark: Tark quickly bends back down and casts Revivify. DM: Okay, just in the nick of time. Tark: Just in the nick of time, yeah. DM: Like in the last moment, you're just like 'nope nope nope hang on. Hang on.' She's like in the threshold and you like reach around and slam the door. 'no no no' Tark (OOC): 'No no no' Hunt (OOC): 'No no nonono. You get your ass back here.' Moriarty (OOC): 'Hold on a second there.' Tark (OOC): So much explaining to do. Hunt (OOC): Oh yeah, this bitch owes us an explanation. DM: Uh-huh. Marigold: While that's happening can I kind of shield the spellcasting with an illusion. DM: Sure, absolutely. The dragons are taking off as Tark does this before the minute runs out.

[luvlysangi]

roommate :: mingi

*.~ pairing: roommate!mingi x fem oc character

*.~ warnings: none omg this fic is so cute cuz mingi is so cute uwu

*.~ genre: fluffy af, romance, roommate au, slight angst

*.~ Wattpad

*.~ a/n: this is something I wrote that was inspired by the jdrama plot of good morning call lol (its so cute ya'll should watch it!~)

*.~ ost: home by seventeen

*.~ masterlist

*.~ sign up to be notified for future fics

"I deeply apologize for this inconvenience!! I thought I specifically put you both in the two new apartments that you both individually selected! I thought it went through in my system."

The landlady frantically clicked her mouse and looked through the computer and the two different applications.

"The second apartment isn't available anymore for some reason...it's out of my control now. I'm terribly sorry!!"

Lucy and the guy sitting next to her, Song Mingi, collectively sigh at the situation before them. It wasn't easy finding a good apartment in Seoul with the little money they had, this building was the only option.

"Uh, Miss Yuna, I'm a little short on money right now to be applying for other places..." Mingi tells her honestly.

Lucy nods her head in agreement, "Me too."

The landlady thinks for a solution then a lightbulb goes off in her head, "Ah! Why not you both split the rent and share that apartment for now. Until then, I'll keep my eye on one of the tenants on another floor that recently gave me notice that they'll be moving out. Once they move out, I'll reserve it and let one of you take that one! I really am sorry I was not more careful with your applications. This is all I can offer at the moment."

Lucy and Mingi awkwardly look at each other but then give the landlady a nod in compliance. If this was their only option, then so be it.

————

"So....we need to set some rules if you and I are gonna be living together," Lucy tells her new roommate as she places a pen and paper down on the kitchen table.

"Alright. Then, I guess the simple one can be don't touch each other's stuff."

Lucy began writing the list down on the paper, "Agreed. Label food. Hmm but I mean if we do decide to share food then give a heads up or something."

"Yeah, fair enough."

They wrote a few more rules regarding chores, the different shared spaces of the apartment, and of course, guests.

"Don't invite your girlfriend over. I don't want to see or hear you two having sex. It'd be so awkward."

Mingi chuckles, "I don't have a girlfriend so you don't even have to worry about that. But, if I did, bold of you to assume I'm that kind of guy."

"Well, still."

"If that's the case then, don't bring your boyfriend over. You think you'd be awkward if I had a girl over? I'd be more awkward with you kissing up your mans on the couch or something."

Lucy gasps and puts the pen down, "First of all, yes, I have a boyfriend, Second, no, I do not kiss him up!!"

Mingi laughs and shrugs, "Just saying. Have respect for the single guy in the room."

"Okay, okay. Fair enough. I won't bring him over. Plus, I don't think he'd like the idea of me rooming with another male."

"Good. So, I think the list is good."

"I think so too. Just respect me and I'll respect you, Mingi." Lucy says holding her hand out.

Mingi shakes it, "Alright, Lucy, you have a deal."

————

As the weeks turned into a month, Lucy and Mingi had finally gotten used to each other in their shared space. It was difficult at first, as their life schedules were different. Mingi took quick showers whereas Lucy took longer ones. Lucy was quieter while Mingi was a loud one.

Mingi groaned as he checked the time on his watch for the 5th time. Lucy had been in the shower for almost 20 minutes now.

"Geez, that girl showers long."

When he heard the water finally turn off he cheered and waited for her to step out. About 5 minutes later, Lucy comes out of the bathroom and Mingi scurries inside to take his shower. While Lucy quietly combs through her damp brown locks, she momentarily stops when she hears Mingi start singing in the shower.

"INTO THE UNKNOOOWWNNNN!!! INTO THE UNKNOOWNNNNN!!!! INTO THE UNKNOOOOWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!"

She puts her comb down and starts cracking up for a good few minutes before getting up to close her room door, hoping that would keep the sound of his obnoxious voice out.

Mingi was not a morning person while Lucy was up at 7am having breakfast and getting ready for her morning classes at her university.  Mingi had afternoon classes at his university so he woke up later in the morning around 10 or 11.

Late afternoon is when the two of them are both not in the apartment as they're in their jobs. Lucy worked part-time at a makeup shop in the late afternoon whereas Mingi did busking in a mini dance crew with his two friends, Yunho and Wooyoung. Around nighttime, the two are normally tired when they both come back after slow pay jobs. They both normally have dinner and chill for the rest of the night, sleeping afterward to the next day when it starts all over again.

As Lucy makes her way to the bus stop from finishing at her job, she hears the sounds of clapping to a hip hop beat and sees a small crowd start to gather around in a circle.

Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, groove Babygirl watch how you move

"Ooh, buskers! I gotta see this."

She slips into the crowd and gets a good spot but freezes when she sees who one of the buskers were. Lucy recognized the familiar pair of dark eyes and fluffy red hair that bounced as he danced. It was none other than her roommate, Song Mingi. This must've been his busking crew he was telling her about.

They were all wearing similar clothing with colors of white, black, and gray. Mingi wore a white turtleneck with a black vest over it which extended down the length of his back. He had a black belt around his stomach and one around his waist which held his silk black pants up. The pants were tucked into big black boots.

She smiles as she watches him dance, Mingi is really, really good. Lucy decides to wait for Mingi to finish busking since they'll be going to the same place afterward. Eventually, the busking ends and successfully as people enjoyed them tonight.

"Oh? Lucy! You're here!" Mingi says with a smile as he greets her with a high five

"You guys were great!"

"Thanks! Yah! Yunho! Wooyoung! I want you guys to meet my roommate."

A much taller male with brown hair put the large speaker down and gave Lucy a bright smile while coming over. The other male around Lucy's height with black hair put down the wrapped-up cord he was holding and came over as well.

"Wahhh! So you're the girl that got stuck with Song Mingi? Hey, it's okay if you're not okay, he's an interesting character." The black-haired guy says to Lucy putting a hand on her shoulder with sincerity.

"Yah! Jung Wooyoung! I am not a pain in her butt! Right? Lucy?!"

Lucy laughs and nods in agreement, "I'm fine with Mingi. I swear."

"Haha well if he ever gets on your nerves just look for me, Jeong Yunho, and this guy, Jung Wooyoung! We'll handle our Mingi." Yunho says with a laugh.

"Yah...you guys aren't funny!" Mingi whined making the three of them laugh.

Lucy at first thought Mingi was intimidating judging from his looks and how deep his voice sounds when he talks, but she didn't find him to be that at all. He's really cool to be around, the stupid jokes he likes to make always make her laugh and he's very sweet. She really found him helpful in the apartment especially when she wanted to reach things from high places, Mingi was much taller than her and could always reach them for her swiftly which always amazed her.

"Mingiiiiiii!!!!" Lucy calls out from the kitchen.

Within a minute, Mingi dramatically kicks the door open of his room and he slides swiftly in his socks to the kitchen, doing some anime pose.

"Cool guy Mingi has arrived at your call!!"

Lucy chuckles and rolls her eyes, "Look, can you reach the small bag of sugar at the top shelf in the cabinet, please? I just wanna add a little bit to the tteokbokki to make it a lil sweet!"

Mingi sniffs the fresh scent of the delicious looking tteokbokki cooking in the pan on the stove.

"Ooh for me?"

"nO, it's for my lunch tomorrow at school! I already planned something else for dinner tonight."

Mingi opens the cabinet and picks out the bag of sugar and starts to hand it to Lucy. Before Lucy could take it he pulls it back away from her and holds it into the air above her head.

"Let me have a bite and I'll give it to you!!"

"Mingi!! I just told you it's my school lunch!!" Lucy whined as she jumps up to try and reach the sugar.

Mingi laughs at her attempts with her shortness and he continues pulling the sugar away from her.

"Give it to meeee!!"

"Just one bite Luc!!"

"UgH fine! Okay! You can have one bite!!" She says in surrender and Mingi cheers giving the bag to her.

Mingi ruffles her head with a chuckle, "Call me when it's done, yeah?" then heads back into his room.

Lucy fixes her hair, rolling her eyes but can't help but laugh as she gets a tablespoon and puts a bit of sugar on the spicy rice cakes.

Mingi thought in the beginning that his short roommate was shy and timid judging from how much time Lucy spent in her room the first few weeks and how quiet she'd be, but she wasn't like that at all. Once Lucy started talking to Mingi more he found her very outgoing and comforting to be around. He liked making her laugh and smile with the little things he did or said. When they had free time, Mingi always wanted to spend it with Lucy as he found her pretty fun. He also found fun in teasing her every now and then when he got more comfortable with her, Mingi noticed his contact in her phone changed from "Roommate" to "Tall Bully Mingi" which he found amusing.

Lately, Lucy has been opening up to Mingi about her boyfriend troubles as she always seemed to come home upset after a date.

"Did it work?!" Mingi perked up and asked Lucy as she closed the front door behind herself with a frustrated expression on her face.

"No. Acting cute to get his attention only made him more annoyed at me. Gosh, he was never like this at the beginning of our relationship! He's so...difficult now."

Mingi pauses his show and watches as Lucy drags herself over to the couch and plops down next to him upset.

"I'm...doing everything I can to save us but...nothing seems to be working." Lucy sighs putting her head in her hands.

"Wow...I don't even know your boyfriend personally but he annoys me a lot." Mingi scoffs.

"Is it...my fault?"

"What?! No! Lucy, look at me." Mingi tells her, grabbing her shoulders and facing her toward him.

Lucy looked up at the taller male with a frown.

"See what this whole situation is doing to you? It's getting to your head. It's not your fault at all! He's just super busy. Yeah, he's a little too busy to be a better boyfriend but maybe give him some time. Maybe he needs to figure stuff out on his end. You should take some time to figure stuff out on your end too. If you've done all that you've could to get his attention even with my advice and it's still not working, then that's all you can do. Now maybe just give him some space and just know it's not your fault. Alright?"

Lucy smiles at Mingi's advice and she nods her head.

"Geez, what would I do without you?"

"Haha I know, I know, I'm so great right?" Mingi says with a proud grin.

"Alright don't get too cocky now!" Lucy says grabbing a pillow and hitting Mingi with it making him laugh.

After a few minutes, Lucy got up to go to her room to change into some more comfortable clothing. Mingi stayed on the couch, crisscrossed, staring at the paused tv show hugging a pillow. He paid attention to the small flutters his heart was making. This had been happening lately whenever he'd see Lucy or be with her.

Mingi felt extra smiley whenever he'd talk to her and he'd feel butterflies in his stomach whenever he listened to her talk. If Mingi knew anything, he knew he was definitely growing fond of Lucy, and even more, as the days went on. He wasn't going to say anything, however, as he was still trying to figure out his feelings, plus, Lucy has a boyfriend already so he wasn't going to do anything about it either for that sake.

For now, Mingi was alright keeping it to himself. He just wanted to do his best as her roommate and most especially, as her new friend.

————

It's been about 3 months now living with Lucy. These days, Mingi has gotten worried whenever she doesn't come to the apartment on her regular schedule after work or even after hanging out with her boyfriend.

Such a day, was like today. Mingi stood by the window watching the clear drops land onto the glass of the window and slide down to the window pane. It seemed to be raining really hard and Mingi was waiting for Lucy to return back from a date with her boyfriend.

The corners of Mingi's lips curved into a small smile as he remembered helping Lucy pick a nice outfit for her date. She was dressed so prettily and her happiness made her look even brighter. A nice pink dress with some white heels and a nice white purse to go with it. Mingi almost felt jealous that he wasn't the one to take her out in that outfit.

Now, it was getting late and rained harder by the hours. Impatience and anxiousness rise up in Mingi's chest and he takes his phone out to call her. Right when he could tap on her caller ID, the front door of the apartment opens. Mingi looks up with hopefulness and relief but is quickly in shock when he sees her.

Lucy was drenched from the rain, clothes, and hair damp and she held her wet heels in her hands. She shivered a little as it was cold rain she walked through.

"Ya! What happened?!" Mingi asks her but Lucy doesn't look back at Mingi and simply walks to her room to go change.

Eventually, Lucy comes back out in her PJs but she still shivers as she's cold. She leans against her room door trying not to cry. Mingi notices and he quickly gets the blanket that was sitting on the couch. He goes over to her and wraps the blanket around her, walking her over to the couch.

Lucy wraps the blanket tight around herself and continues trying to hold back her tears despite her heavy heart.

"Yah...Lucy...what's wrong huh?" Mingi asks her again, gently rubbing her back for comfort.

Lucy felt the pain build up inside and she couldn't take it anymore. Tears slid down her cheeks and eventually, she began to sob. Mingi frowns, even more, feeling heartbroken seeing her like this. What the hell happened on her date? What did her boyfriend do to hurt her like this?

Mingi didn't hesitate to pull her into his arms and she sobbed into his sweatshirt. He continues to rub her back and he lets her cry it out. When Lucy's sobs died down, Mingi reached over for the tissue box and handed it to her which she gladly accepted.

"Are you better?" Mingi asks her.

She blows her nose and nods, looking down at her lap.

"H-he...he said he's...tired of me. He...b-broke up with me." She said then hiccuped.

Mingi felt two different emotions surge through himself. Relief and happiness that she and her boyfriend are no longer together. Angry and frustrated that her now Ex, left her to walk back home in the rain alone at night. Mingi knew, however, that his goal at the moment was to push aside his feelings and try to cheer his roommate up.

As Lucy started to cry a little more, Mingi got an idea.

"Aigooo...you shouldn't be here with a broken heart releasing waterfalls down your face. I know just the right person who can bring a smile on your face though!!"

Lucy sniffed then looked up at Mingi in confusion. Mingi did a cute peace sign pose and pouted his lips.

"I'm the magical princess mingki and I have a present for you, Lucy!~" Mingi says in a cute voice then makes an apple shape with his hands.

Lucy stopped crying at this point and continued looking at Mingi in confusion.

Mingi acted surprised and happy, "Wah!!~~ it's a magic apple!! Do you know why it's a magic apple?!"

Lucy looked more amused now and she shook her head.

Mingi made an apple splitting in half sound and then with the two "apple" halves with his hands he put them on either side of his face and puffs his cheeks making a cute expression.

"It turned into a face heart!! Tada!~ a face heart for Lucy!!" Mingi said cutely making Lucy successfully smile and crack a small laugh.

"You're a dork." She says and Mingi laughs putting his hands down on his lap.

"A dork who cheered you up! See? You're not crying anymore." he says with his regular deep voice.

"Hehe yeah. I guess it did work, you dork. Thanks, Mingi."

"No! It's princess mingki to you!~" Mingi says with a cute pout making Lucy burst into laughter and Mingi joining in with her.

When their laughter subsided Mingi came up with another idea.

"Say, you're probably still stressed and hurt. Do you wanna go to a sauna tomorrow? Relax a little? Clear your head?"

Lucy smiles and nods, "yeah, that...that'd be nice, thanks Mingi."

"No problem!" He says giving her a warm hug.

Lucy rests in his warm arms and flushes when she realizes how close the two of them were. She looks at his purple sweatshirt and feels guilt when she sees the dampness she caused with her tears. She immediately sits up from his arms.

"Sorry about your sweatshirt. I practically wet it from crying."

Mingi smiles at her and waves it off, "don't worry about it. Feel free to make me your human tissue whenever you want to cry!"

Lucy chuckles and thanks him again for his kindness. For the rest of that evening, they decided to watch a movie together and cuddle on the couch. Mingi loved cuddling and Lucy needed comfort so it was a win-win for both of them.

Lucy felt very warm and comfortable in Mingi's arms and eventually fell asleep in them while the movie was going on. Mingi looked down to see the sleeping girl in his arms and he smiles gently as he felt his heart skip a couple of beats.

————

After that night, Mingi noticed how strong his feelings had gotten for Lucy. He found every little thing she did to be so cute and it drove him crazy inside. He thought about her every second of every day especially when they weren't together.

Lucy notices just how much often she texts or calls Mingi when she's on her own schedule. She's found it hard to leave ahead of him in the mornings, wondering if he'd be okay. She ends up making and packing him breakfast to eat every now and then out when she can't be there with him, just out of thoughtfulness.

It's also become a routine to wait for Mingi's busking to be over and then the two of them walk back home together. Lucy always wondered what's these warm feelings she was developing were about.

One night, Lucy laid wide awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. The only source of light in her room came from the yellow fairy lights on her bed frame. Normally she could sleep like a baby but tonight, she just couldn't. She picks up her phone to check the time.

𝟸:𝟸𝟻 𝙰𝙼

Would Mingi be awake? She immediately wondered.

Lucy shoots him a message then rests her phone on her stomach.

Me: Mingiii, are you awake?

He wouldn't be awake now right? Mingi is a deep sleeper too. She thought.

She pauses her thinking after feeling her phone buzz and she quickly picks it up to check the message.

Tall Bully Mingi: Yeah. You can't sleep?

Me: No…

Tall Bully Mingi: Yeah...me too.

Tall Bully Mingi: Do you wanna get some fresh air? Go for a walk in the neighborhood

Me: Sure!

After a few minutes, the two stepped out of the apartment and started walking down the street at a slow pace. They made it to their nearby convenience store and bought some popsicles to eat while they walked. While walking, they talk about random things, one of which...love.

"So, have you dated anyone before?" Lucy asks Mingi, taking a lick from her blueberry popsicle.

"Nope. I've never made it past the crush stage." Mingi replies.

Lucy eyes him with a smirk, "ooh are you crushing on anyone now?"

A small blush creeps up on Mingi's cheeks and he smiles proudly, "Yeah!"

"Ooh!! Who's the lucky person?! What are they like?!"

They finish up the last of their popsicles then toss the sticks into a nearby trash can. Mingi proceeds to answer her questions.

"Well, for starters, she's very cute! She always smiles at me and it always makes my heart race really, really fast! She's funny and charming too and she never fails to make me laugh. Hmm...she looks after me a lot and I can always make her smile! She's pretty short and she's so small when she's in my arms in hugs. I miss her a lot when we're not together and I always think about her late every night or even dream about her during the daytime. And...she always makes time in her schedule for me like coming to see me busking after her work or...watching movies with me after a long day."

Lucy stops walking making Mingi stop too. She looks up at him in curiosity, "A-are you...talking about...me?"

Mingi's eyes widen and he mentally curses himself for letting some details slip. He relaxes seeing as there's no running from this. He decided to tell her so that way at least it's out of the way. If she rejects him then they can still try to live comfortably together but as friends and roommates.

"Oh um yeah. It's you that I like..."

Silence fills the space between them as Lucy tries to process what was happening. Mingi has a crush on her? Her roommate and friend, Song Mingi has feelings for her? Lucy felt happiness begin to fill her chest.

Mingi notices that she wasn't responding so he automatically assumed rejection. He then tried to fix the awkward situation.

"Look, I'm sorry. You don't have to worry about it! I don't want to ruin our roommate relationship." He tells her biting his lip.

He gestures for her to keep walking with him and he turns around to start walking.

"Mingi ah."

Mingi turns around to her call.

"Come back here. I want to tell you something."

Mingi curiously comes back up to her and she gestures for him to come down to her short level. Mingi leans his tall structure down as told thinking she wants to tell him in his ear. Lucy smiles feeling her heart skip some beats and she kisses his cheek.

Mingi immediately stands back upright in surprise feeling fireworks go off inside him.

"I feel the same way about you too. Let's be more than roommates."

Mingi grins at her acceptance and he happily pulls her short self to him, wrapping his arms around her. He leans down and meets his lips with hers.

Lucy realized that she loved having Mingi in her life and being roommates opened that door of opportunity to her. He had been there for her through her thick and thins and she couldn't think of anyone else to turn to when she needed comfort the most. She found comfort in Mingi and that was all her heart needed.

—————

Weeks later

Lucy and Mingi sit by the kitchen island counter, counting up rent money due today.

"No, no, no, carry the five," Mingi tells Lucy and she recounts thanking him for catching her mistake.

"Alrighty! 600,000 won! We're all set! This means whatever we have left...can be used for dates.

Mingi cheers then looks at her with excitement in her eyes, "Let's go on one today!"

She chuckles, "Alright! Let's do it!"

The two of them go out to their nearby park. The soft spring season breeze blows through the pink and white sakuras in the park making the petals from the trees flow away from its flowers. Lucy and Mingi set out a yellow blanket on the green grass under a Sakura tree.

They ate fish bread that they bought on the way there from a vendor as well as banana milk. They watched the lovely view of the rest of the semi-crowded park. Mingi finishes his snack then lays his head on her lap, looking up at her with a smile.

Lucy smiles back and plays with his fluffy orange hair. Mingi closes his eyes still smiling, enjoying the sunny day and his girlfriend's company.

~The end uwu~

[tinyboxxtink]

"Black Magic" *Part 4*

Whoooooo! Okay alright here's 4, I don't know if I can get 5 up tonight but at least you'll have the whole "day". [you'll see]

YA'LL enjoy this because....it's gonna come crashing down. I'm so sorry. Maybe I should leave it here tonight. Yeah I might.

Also-- WINK! When you see it you'll know. 😉

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

@omgsuperstarg

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@gibbs274

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@word-scribbless

@objection-argumentative

@aprildecker-blog

@lolliepopsicle

@madamsnape921

@stars-trash-18

Part 3

Part 5

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

“Well!” he wiped tears away from his face and then yours before he gathered up your trash and threw it away. “ I think that's quite enough of the melodramatic stories today. Now it's time to show you my favorite place,”

He took your hands and let you further deeper into the park. You had never been this deep into Central Park before you don't think you'd ever actually been in Central Park, you've just passed it. You were kind of a shit New Yorker.

“Where are we going?” You asked as he pulled you faster down some steps until you reached what you could only describe as a “Cave”.

“You'll see,” he smiled as you approached the cave. You both walked inside and before you was something you never thought you'd see.

“Oh my god…” You said breathlessly. Are those…?”

“Penguins” You heard a smile in his voice as you stared. In front of you with a long glass tank encased in the stone. It was full of happy, smiling, swimming, penguins.

“How... why….why is this here?”

“Well the zoo is right next door.” He explained. “And they accidentally made the penguin exhibit about a foot outside of the zoo's zoning area. So, while it is technically part of the Central Park Zoo, this one area is completely free to the public. It beats paying $50.” He laughed.

“Penguins are my favorite,” you said softly as you just continued to stare at them. It was true. You loved penguins since you were a little girl and you had no idea why. They were just so cute.

“Mine too,” he smiled, taking his arms and pulling you into his chest from behind. They look so happy. And they're in little tuxedos. Which I highly approve of,” He joked. You giggled in response.

“I like to come here when I've had a really long day or a really bad day in court.” He continued to explain. “And just sit here and watch them; and imagine how much more enjoyable life would be as a penguin. Look at them they're so happy and carefree, not a worry in the world.”

“God wouldn’t that be nice,” You sighed. “No rent, no bills, no annoying job.” you have laughed, giving him a nudge

“And.. They are also monogamous,” He stopped laughing and turned you to face him.

“What?” You stopped laughing as well, giving him a stunned expression.

“Did you know that when a male penguin fancies a girl penguin he will look everywhere until he finds the perfect rock or pebble as an offering to said female. And if she accepts it, then they're together until they die.”

“So.. basically like an engagement ring,” You whispered. Oh god.. what was happening?

“Yeah I guess so they get engaged and married. Without the wedding of course.” He nodded.

“Can you imagine that? I mean they’d be pretty prepared already in their little tuxedos” you laughed, hopefully trying to change the subject getting away from marriage although you didn't really know how. “Rafael…”

Okay surely even if he was under this spell, was there kind of some kind of backstory? Did he think you had been together for a very long time? There's no way he was going to propose after one day was he?

“Don't worry carino, I'm not proposing. He laughed, noticing the panic in your eyes. "I'm not that crazy.”

“Right you laughed and nodded your head. “Of course. Because we've only known each other so shortly….?” You tried to ask in a leading way.

“Right. But if we're being totally honest,” he took your hands. “I think I fell in love with you the moment you walked in the door on your first day.”

You silently gasped.. Could that be true? Was that him making that up in his head? Did he have memories before today? Did he have real memories before today? How far did this thing go? Could he actually really be saying that? Your mind started swimming.

“I..” You looked into his eyes, searching for sincerity. Obviously it was there but you didn't know if it was fabricated or real. But any real form of sincerity was moot at this point. Right?

“Really?” Was all you could say back.

“Yeah,” he smiled while he stroked your hair. “Really,”

That was it you couldn't take this anymore. You Broke down crying once again, and threw your arms around him. You were holding him so tightly, as if he was going to disappear in front of your eyes any second.

“Please Don't leave me, you sobbed. “Please don't leave me,”

“Hey hey hey,” He took your arms and pulled you over to a bench in the cave. Then he sat you down and put both hands on your shoulders.” I'm not leaving you. I'm not going anywhere, okay? Never,”

“You can't say that,” You sobbed. You completely threw any thoughts of keeping this under wraps out the window.

"Why not?” He looked at you quizzically.

“Because….because this isn't real!!” You kept sobbing.

“What…? Baby you have to calm down,” He started getting really concerned.

“I….” You tried to find the words to explain it without sounding crazy. Then you realized it didn't matter.

“I...my roommate Chloe she's a...well she, she made this...stuff, that I put in your coffee yesterday and it made you think you're in love with me.” You realized you had said explanation a little too loudly, as the very few other people that were in the cave with you gave you strange looks and started to walk away. You looked at Rafael who was just staring at you in disbelief and confusion.

“What are you talking about?” He half laughed. Baby look I don't know what you think you did. But if you're talking about what I think you're talking about--- magic isn't real.”

“Yes it is!” You continued to sob. “I didn't believe it either. That's why I did it. I thought on the off chance maybe it would work but I didn't really think it worked like this” you gestured between the two of you.

“What, make an actual connection between us? Has anything you said to me today been a lie?”

“No” You started to calm yourself down.

“And I can promise you nothing I have done today has been a lie, or fabricated in any way,” He wiped the tears from your face.

“So again, I don't know what you think you did, but my feelings for you are real. The only magic here is the magic of true love,”

“See who says that?!” you cried angrily. “Nobody says that for real, Rafael. Not unless they're--”

“Under some kind of magic spell?” Rafael asked sarcastically

“This isn't funny!”

“Okay so what you're just saying is that tomorrow I'm going to wake up, and just think you're a normal girl and what? Think today was a fluke?”

“No.. you're not going to remember anything.”

“I really doubt that,”

“It's true! Why do you think I said back at Maria’s that I need you to hold on to this day? I need you to remember this day? I wasn’t just saying that to be cute.”

“Okay well I'm taking you seriously now. I'm committing this day to my memory this entire day even with your nutty little break down here.” He took both of your shoulders and looked at you seriously.

“Because I'm going to prove to you that this is not some kind of magic spell. It's me and you and our real feelings. I told you I fell in love with you the day I met you, that was before today. That was three months ago!”

Could that be true? Could this have just fast forwarded the time that it would have taken you to get here? Is he really going to remember this?

“Okay” was all you could say.

“Okay.” He smiled, pulling you into him again and kissing your forehead while stroking your hair. “I'm never going to forget you Y/N. I could never forget you,”

“Okay,” you repeated, believing him a little more this time.

Rafael glanced at his phone. Oh God it's four fifteen already,”

“So…? Do you turn into a pumpkin at 5?” You joked.

“No but I did promise Olivia that I would drop off some paperwork. Do you mind?”

Oh God you really don't want to face Liv again, at the risk of exposing your secret. But what else could you do?

“Yeah I guess that's fine.” You shrugged.

It definitely was NOT fine.

-----

You walked into the NYPD police station nervously, as if you were a hooker doing a perp walk. You hoped that maybe since Raphael had calmed down maybe Olivia would just think this morning was a joke after all. You hoped he wouldn't say anything.

“Olivia!” He walked over to her desk and still had your hand in his.

“Hey Rafa.. what is this? I thought you weren't dating your intern?” She frowned.

“Oh I'm not ... Apparently I'm under her spell,” He laughed.

Oh my God oh my God oh my God what…. Why was he being so flippant about this? Oh God.

“...Excuse me?” She asked him seriously.

“Did you get her in on this Y/N? Pretend that she has no idea about us?” He asked you while still laughing. You wanted to crawl into a hole.

“I don't have any idea about-- didn't you say this morning that you were kidding?” Olivia looked at you angrily.

“What? I don't remember this morning.” Rafael looked confused.

Oh God maybe it was starting to wear off and then forget-me-nots were working oh God oh God oh god….

“What is wrong with you?” Olivia put both of her hands on her shoulders, then she looked at you. “Did you actually do something to him?

What? No, I didn't do anything!” You cried defensively, hoping she would back off.

“Liv back off she didn't do anything. Magic isn't real. What is wrong with you?” Rafael stood in front of you.

“Then explain how you feel right now???” Olivia crossed her arms.

“What are you talking about? We've been in love for months now!”

Oh shit. Oh GOD.WHAT?

“WHAT?” Olivia almost screamed.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to overeat like this." He gave her a look.

“Oh that is bullshit.” She spat, and then looked at you over his shoulder. “You did something to him and I will damn sure figure out what it is,”

“Liv you need to seriously back off,” Rafael increased the space between the two of you.

Liv nodded, but mouthed to you over his head with a whisper. “I am going to figure out what you did and you're going to pay.”

You gulped and looked at Rafael who was still glaring at Liv. “Look Olivia, you need to get over whatever thing you have for me and just let me be happy.”

That was it! That was why she was so upset about this. She was in love with him too. Oh God. You suddenly wondered how accessible that spell that Chloe did was.

“I.. you.. we…” She stammered. “Here's your warrant,” Rafael tossed some papers at her and walked out the door with your hand in his. You looked back at Liv who was still fuming. That can't be good.

----

“Can you believe the nerve of her?” He scoffed as you walked out.

“Yeah totally,” You laughed nervously.

“I'm sorry about her. She doesn't know when to stop beating a dead horse,” He sighed.

“So you know she's had a thing for you? And you've never had a thing for her?”

“I mean there was a time when we first met that I thought maybe something could happen. But too much time has passed and I don't feel that way about her anymore, but apparently she still does.” He shook his head.

“And besides whatever feelings I thought I had for her went out the window the moment I saw

you,” he smiled, pulling you in for a kiss.

“Oh I mean since this morning,” he teased. But you knew he was right on the money.

“Haha. Can we please not joke about it?” You asked dejectedly.

“I'm sorry carino. Let's go get some dinner huh? Forget about this?”

“Yes please” You smiled.

---

He took you to his favorite restaurant Forlini’s and you two had an amazing dinner laughing, talking and discussing Broadway shows.

"Wait so you saw RENT with the ORIGINAL cast?!"

"Yeah…." He lightly chuckled. "I know, I'm super old."

"Oh I wasn't going to say that at all. I was going to say you are so lucky!!!!” You squealed.

“So you've never seen a show on Broadway?” He asked.

“Well...when I first met Chloe she was working as a PA for one of the directors of a show that had just gone to Broadway. It didn't last very long; it wasn't that great of a show. Except for the leading actor in my opinion,”

“Oh really?” he looked at you curiously. “What show?”

“It was called “Leap Of Faith”, I think? It was based on some movie about some televangelist creep con man, who fell in love with the sheriff and his heart turned to gold or some lame-ass thing like that. You rolled your eyes

“Oh really was it that bad?” he laughed.

“I mean, the songs were good and like I said the leading man Raul Esparza was amazing,” You smiled as you sipped your wine.

“Raul Esparza? You know when I was younger, people used to say that I looked like him.” He chuckled as he sipped his scotch.

“Really?? Nah I don't see it. You're way more handsome,” you smiled.

You continued to have a fabulous dinner so fun and easy, you almost forgot it was all fantasy. Before you knew it, Rafael was walking you to your door.

"Well I had a fabulous 'last’ 24 hours with you mi amor,” Rafael smiled.

“Yeah.. me too,” you said sadly.

“You sure you don't want me to come in?” He asked you with mischievous eyes.

“No, you better not.” You wanted so badly to let him, but you didn't want tomorrow to be jarring for him.

"Oh right I might wake up tomorrow and forget where I am," he teased, tickling you. You laughed while he was doing it, but the pain of really knowing he was right knocked you right back to sadness.

"Well good night beautiful. I'll see you tomorrow" He grinned.

"Yeah…." You smiled sadly thinking "not like this,”

He kissed you gently, but you pulled him in for a deep long passionate kiss, desperately memorizing every detail. His tongue, his mouth, his hands, his smell, his skin on yours.

"Wow, I should be under spells more often he chuckled. He gave you one last small kiss, and you held onto his hands.

"....Baby I'll stay if you want me to, you don't have to be so sad," He stroked your hair and gave you a reassuring smile.

"No…" you shook your head silently chastising yourself. "Let him go," you said mentally.

"No it's ok I'll see you tomorrow" you have him the bravest smile you could.

"Ok. Maybe tomorrow when you see you were being silly I'll sleep over," he winked, walking down the hall.

You slowly shut the door and fell down the floor sobbing.

Chloe came running out of her bedroom to check on you.

"Aw honey…."

"I love him Chloe,” you sobbed. “I didn't know how much or even if I really did before today but I really love him.”

“Oh honey. I can make more right now, even a bigger batch so it'll last longer!” She offered.

NO you shook your head sternly. "That's not fair to him"

"Well….it might be,” She gave you a hopeful look.

“What are you talking about?”

“Come on,” She picked you up and dragged you to her room.

She sat you on her bed as she went and pulled an ancient looking book from her shelf. You read the cover: “The Grimoire.”

“I borrowed it from my friend Maggie,” She explained. “Basically it's a master list of spells,”

“And she just let you borrow this?” You gave her a suspicious look.

“I told her it was an emergency.”

“Really?”

“Well! It was. Of the heart. She gets it she’s an empath and a romantic,” She assured you. “Anyway!” She turned to a dog eared page.

“Read” it she instructed.

You read the page: “ ‘Emotion Magnifier’....what is this?”

“It's the spell I used on Rafael.” She smiled.

“...What?”

“It wasn't really a love spell per say,”. She explained. “Those are frowned upon in the witch community. Y'know free will and all,”

“Wait so this didn't mess with his free will?”

“No ma'am! It just magnifies whatever somebody already feels. You just have to zone in on what emotion you want to draw out. So I used amorous feelings on Rafael,”

“So...that means...what exactly…?” You wanted to make sure you understood what she was saying.

“Well since he went so insane this morning, it magnified some already pretty strong feelings for you.” She smiled

“WHAT?!”

Your mind was spinning. Had he really been telling the truth about falling in love with you the moment he saw you? Has this actually just sped up the process of your relationship? Why hasn't he ever said anything? You've never really talked. How was this possible?

"So...what you're saying is…"

"He was clearly already smitten with you darling," She grinned even bigger at you.

"Oh my god….oh my god!!!!" You squealed. Maybe...maybe those feelings would be stronger than any potion, maybe he would remember today.

You went to bed that night with a hopeful heart.

-----

[jinxthequeergirl]

The Good Thing About Plastic Flowers

Ash williams x reader

Summary: after a close call with some deadites ash attempts to comfort you

Warning: angst, swearing meantion of like blood and trama type stuff?? (not a lot though) fluff

This is based-ish on the song "Plastic Flowers" By The Front Bottoms

Ya'll lookin for some soft ash? Look no further

Also sorry this is just all over the place

~~~~

You stared blankly ahead with your knees drawn up to your chest as you sat in the passenger seat of the Delta. 

In all honesty you weren't aware if the car was even moving or not, as far as you were concerned you could've been parked for the last half hour or going 90 down the highway, it didn't matter you were so far lost in your thought. 

Ash Glanced at you from the driver side with a worried look. You weren't supposed to be there, you were told you could come along as long as you stayed in the trailer. 

He should've known you were too stubborn and curious for your own good for you to actually listen to him. But of course he blamed himself and since you weren't exactly in the head space to argue with him and tell him it was your choice to run out there and help him, it only made him feel worse. 

Kelly and Pablo looked at you from the back seat with the same look. You'd been like that since it happened, though you were shaking a lot less now compared to when Kelly found you, and you were more responsive than you were now, even if it was you screaming at them to not touch you before Ash calmed you down enough for you to let him carry you to the Delta. 

Ash finally pulled up outside of your house. And sent Pablo and Kelly inside to their rooms, you let them stay in while he attempted to get you out of the car. They sent him an apologetic look as they walked past but he missed it because he was too busy looking at you.

You looked so fragile, and still so scared even if it didn't translate on your face, and he was worried that if he touched you that you might  shatter in his hands. He opened the car door and touched your shoulder lightly enough to snap you out of your trance and you let out a scream and tried to get away from him. 

"Hey! Hey easy! Y/n easy it's me!" You looked at him with what he only hoped was relife took a shaky breath before you started crying, he took that as his chance to pull you out of the car and into his arms. 

"It's alright, it's alright." 

You had calmed down a bit by the time he'd brought you to your room and set you on the bed. 

"Ash where are you going? Don't leave me!" 

He grabbed your arms and knelt in front of you. "I'm going to be right back ok? I'm not leaving you, I'm just going to step into the bathroom for a second ok? I'm not going to leave you." He kissed the top of your head and stepped into the bathroom leaving the door open enough so you could see him. 

You winced at the squeaking sound that came from the bathtub faucet and listened to the water run for a while before you realised the tub was being filled.

You took a breath and pushed yourself off the bed and walked to the bathroom and leaned in the doorway and watched as Ash got the bath ready for you. 

"I'll be right outside if you need me." He said turning the faucet off and stepping out closing the door over more to give you privacy. 

You faced your reflection in the water for a second really seeing how the blood stained your skin for the first time, it made you sick so you got in and watched the clear water cloud up with the blood and couldn't move again, remembering how that thing came so close to you before being blown up in your face. 

You pulled your knees up to your chest again, and sat there for a few minutes in silence. 

"Ash?" 

"Yes?" 

You bit your lip in hesitation for a second. 

"Can you help me?" 

You looked up at him as he stepped back in and sat beside the tub. He was being awfully quiet, usually he would be making a joke of some sort, making some type of comment. 

But he was quiet and you partly knew why. 

"I'm sorry...I should ha-" 

"No…" He sighed "just relax…" He did his best to wipe the blood from your skin the whole time you never looked away from him. 

When he was finished with your hair you brought a hand to his face. "Thank you." 

"Get dried of and dressed." He kissed your head again and left you to do so. 

When you came out you found him staring at the vase of fake flowers on your dresser. 

"You know the good thing about plastic flowers?" You asked softly. "What?" 

"You can spray them with any type of perfume." He smiled. 

"That and they never die…" 

"You kept them?" 

You rolled your eyes and walked over to him wrapping your arms around him, resting your head on his back. "Of course I did...best part of our first date was seeing you show up with that sad excuses for flowers." He chuckled and turned around to hold you in his arms. 

"I'm sorry I didn't listen and stay in the trailer like you asked...I'm sorry I-" 

"Shhh shh it's ok...you're safe...that's all that matters."  

"You're so brave killing those things everyday….what if I...What If I lost you!? What if your the victim or the victim's family!? I can't deal with that and-" 

He pinched your chin between his index finger and thumb and pushed your chin up to look at him before kissing you softly. 

"Not gonna happen sweet thing, I'm not going anywhere as long as I got something to say about it. Besides I would dream of leaving such a wonderful slice of heaven such as yourself." You chuckled and kissed him again. 

There was the ash you knew.

[may85]

Title: Cross My Heart

Series: Country

Summary: Imagine Modern!Arthur, a Rancher, going out on a blind date for the first time in ages since his nasty divorce from Mary.

The Plus Size!Reader is nervous about the date. Will things work out between the two?

Pairing: Modern!Arthur x Plus Size!Reader

Game: Red Dead Redemption 2

Word Count: 1303

Warnings: Some cussing, nothing serious at the moment.

Notes: If you'd like to see something more in this series, please don't hesitate to drop me a line! Photos found on Google, aesthetic made in CollageMaker found in the Google Play Store.

Arthur slammed back his shot of whiskey, trying his best to calm his nerves. He wanted to run and forget about this whole thing… but he promised Sadie that he wouldn't bail. He thought back to the afternoon that he finally agreed to her stupid setup.

“No, goddamnit!” he cursed, throwing the bale of hay into the back of his pick up.

“She's a real sweet girl, Arthur!” Sadie argued.

“Who's a sweet girl?”

Arthur groaned when Kieran came over to help him finish loading his purchases.

“None of your damn business, boy!”

Sadie being Sadie continued the conversation, “Y/N,”

With a great heave, he and Kieran threw a bag of chicken feed in front of the hay, “Oh yeah! Y/N's a great lady, but what's she got to do with Arthur?”

Sadie stood with her hands on her hips, “I'm trying to get Grumpy Ass here to go on a date with her,”

Arthur was fed up with being ganged up on. He patted his wrangler jeans, searching for his keys. He glared at Sadie when he heard them jangle.

“Fork ‘em over Adler,”

She twirled the set and smirked, “Only if you promise to go out with Y/N,”

“Son of a- fine!” he growled, wiggling his fingers.

Triumphantly, Sadie grinned and chucked the keys to him, “Be at Charles’ bar Friday at 8… and take a shower, Arthur, or I'll sick Miss Grimshaw on ya,”

Arthur's eyes widened at Sadie's threat. Miss Grimshaw was his neighbor and he knew that she'd come a callin’ ready to smack the shit outta him, “You wouldn't dare,”

With her eyes squinted, Sadie bent at the waist, “Try me Morgan, try me.”

And that is what led Arthur to this… blind date. He gulped, feeling like a skittish horse.

“You need to slow down, my friend,” Charles said, taking the dirty shot glass from the bar.

Arthur sighed, “You know as well as I do that this is gonna end up bad,”

Charles shook his head, then looked over his shoulder. A small smile stretched across his lips as he jerked his chin towards the direction of the door, “You need to have some faith, Arthur,”

Arthur turned in his seat and could feel the breath leave his lungs.

The woman that had walked through the door was an absolute beauty. Her full figure filled out her purple plaid shirt and blue jeans. She wore boots, but he didn't linger too long on her shoes.

His eyes slowly moved back over her curves and he licked his lips, needing some moisture as his mouth began to feel like the desert. He watched her as she spoke to a waitress, which happened to be Mary Beth.

When his date smiled in thanks, he felt like the floor gave way. His chest ached and tummy rumbled at the foreign feeling butterflies. Even the spark that he felt when he met his ex wife wasn't that strong… and with that thought, he could feel his mood sour.

“Stop thinking about her and go over there to her,” Charles chided.

Arthur got off the stool and wiped his sweaty palms on his wranglers and straightened his shirt. With one last deep breath and putting Mary in the rearview, he made his way to the table where his date sat.

She was looking at the small menu when he stopped at the seat where he'd be sitting. Arthur cleared his throat, his voice deep with hesitation, “Y/N?”

She looked up from the menu and a soft, genuine smile lit up his whole world.

“You must be Arthur,” she rose and hugged him, which shook him to the core.

He gave her an awkward squeeze and pat on the back.

“I'm sorry. I'm a hugger,” she chuckled.

Arthur felt as though he was in a stupor. Everything about this woman so far had threw him for a loop. He shook himself mentally before he royally screwed this up.

“It's quite alright,” he said, with a chuckle of his own.

“It's nice to finally put a face with the name,” Y/N said, as they both sat down.

“Likewise,”

Mary-Beth came over to the table, grinning from ear to ear, “What can I get ya'll?”

“I'll have the pot roast and cornbread and a diet Pepsi,”

Oh god… that was his favorite.

Mary-Beth jotted that down and gave Arthur's foot a little kick for his staring, “And you?”

“Uh, I'll have the same. Beer for me, though,”

Mary-Beth winked and went on her way.

An awkward silence fell over the table, Arthur not knowing what to say. Y/N smiled, sensing his nervousness, “I don't bite,”

Arthur chuckled, his posture easing, “I'm sorry… it's been awhile since I've been on a date,”

“Divorce?”

He nodded, that old wound stinging. “What about you? You're too gorgeous to be out with an old man like myself,”

She shook her head and looked him dead in the eye, “You're not old, Arthur. In fact, you're beyond handsome and anything I could have ever thought of…”

Arthur felt his cheeks redden.

“I'm widowed, though,”

Annnnd he felt like shit, “I'm sorry,”

She smiled sadly, “It's quite alright. He passed a few years ago, so it doesn't hurt near as bad,”

He cleared his throat, “I feel like I've made a mess of this,” he hated feeling insecure. Scooting his seat back, he stood, only to be stopped by Y/N’s warm hand.

“Arthur, Hun. You're fine,”

His skin tingled and the butterflies fluttered even faster at her soft voice.

“Please sit down,”

He did so and it was the best decision he could've ever made in his life.

°°°°°°

Laughter echoed throughout the empty bar as Arthur clutched his stomach.

“Ya gotta stop girl. I'm gonna wind up pissin’ myself,”

“Then my job is complete,” Y/N giggled.

He wiped his eyes and sat back, taking in Y/N's rosy colored cheeks. He honestly didn't want the night to end so he offered the next best thing without trying to scare her off, “Care to take a walk with me Miss Y/N?”

She nodded, “I'd love that,”

Arthur helped Y/N with her jacket and he waved at Charles as they left.

The night was a bit cooler than expected. Y/N had her arms folded, trying to ward off the extra chill.

Feeling rather brave, Arthur put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.

“Oh my God. You're so warm,”

Arthur chuckled, moving his hand up and down her arm.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, she spoke again, “I've had such a great time with you tonight, Arthur,”

He hummed, nodding his head, “Me too. I'd,” he paused to clear his throat, “I'd love to see you again,”

“Same,”

They had stopped in between buildings, staring at one another. Taking his hand, Arthur cupped Y/N's cheek, his thumb smoothing over the soft curve.

“May I?” he asked, his voice dropping.

She bit her lip, the plump flesh flushed as it slipped from her teeth, “You may,”

The second their lips touched, Arthur groaned and Y/N whimpered. He pulled at her full waist, wanting her flush against him.

Y/N had gripped his sides holding onto his belt, moving her lips in slow synchronicity with his. Arthur's stubble burned, but deliciously so.

With a light smack, a few more small kisses, Arthur rested his forehead against hers, “Damn woman… where did you come from?”

She giggled and Arthur wanted to hear it for the rest of his life. With his one hand still cradling her face, the other rested at the top of her backside.

“Can I see you again tomorrow?” she asked him, her eyes hopeful.

“Damn right you can Miss Y/N,”

[jolieny-blog]

❌❌!!!Triggering content!!!❌❌

Chisaki x Depressed reader One Shot/Scenario

• Self-Harm •

(I know this isn't the best representation of self harm,but I needed this badly and hope ya'll enjoy|| I feel like I neither write Chisaki too soft or too bad,i never get the middle lmao)

It was late in the morning,even if my life would depend on it,it wouldn't mean anything to me.There was no motivation for me to get up,furthermore the day would pass like any other,why should I bother then?As soon as my Boyfriend enters the room-no im being silly.For sure it's gonna be Chrono,Mimic or Nemoto getting me up.Chisaki sure as hell won't even lift a finger,the only effort he's gonna take is to call one of those three with a flick of the finger in order to take care of me.I would love to judge him purely based on the fact how rare i get to see him,but I cant blame him.Its still a challenge to me how I got to be in a relationship with him.A simple,plain girl that always did relay on those dear to her,a girl which always struggled with her self,A crybaby.He knows my thoughts before I get to think,he always did read my mind based on my facial expressions.

Chisaki,my love,its a shame,huh?You gave me everything i could ever wish for,showered me with lovely gifts just to be able to see me smile.In return I reached for the razor blade,covered the soft skin you fell in love with in blood.Yesterday as you stepped in,at the worst time,I witnessed you crying for the first time.It took one tear of you to break my heart into peaces.Seriously,I just couldn't find a excuse for my unforgivable act.Im ungrateful,it was bold of me to assume that just because I fell in love,the madness in my head would fall apart.The moment he kissed me softly back then let me forget,what a mess I am as he confessed to me in the silliest way possible two months ago.I knew it wouldn't last for long.But a surprising beat against the door,tore me from my thoughts,the crazy world I began to sink in.Within a second i got up "Come in." I said,trying to hide my uncertainty.As My Boyfriend stepped in my eyes widened "My dear." His voice was as soft as always.But it were the big eye bags under his eyes which concerned me.Chisaki was a man who was sensitive when it came to his sleep schedule,due to his work he couldn't allow himself to stay up for too long,or even dare to get a single hour of sleep less as usual.I covered my body behind the bed cover "Kai?" My eyes went down to the ground,he stepped closer to me,afterwards he grabbed the bed cover and did throw it to the side.My body,especially my arms provided by scars,were bare.In shock I jumped back,put he just leaned closer to my face.He stroked my Face carefully with his left hand,with the other the lifted up my arm which he gave a soft kiss "Please." He softly whispered "Promise me,that you will never do this to yourself ever again,I beg you Y/N." It seemed like he once again was shortly before the peak of crying.It surprised me to see Kai like that,usually he has an cold expression and is good as holding back his feelings.It's because of me that he feels pain in his chest which he couldn't explain,because I was being egoistic everyone I loved had to suffer.At first no words were able to come out my mouth,my breathing was hard and I could feel my heart almost knock off "I-I'm sorry." My entire body began to shake out of sorrow "I only think about myself and not about the others-" before I came to finish my sentence Kai interrupted me "Shut up!" He highered his voice,it was obvious how frustrated my dear partner was "You're sich an idiot for thinking that way,I love you,you dumbass." "And do you now expect me to get better?Simply because of love,I don't want to hurt you but-" suddenly Chisaki hugged me tightly,it was unusual for him to be that kind.He's one who does not simply show his feelings,neither is he slightly decent at comforting others.His face laid on my shoulders "Then I will make you,no matter what it takes." What surprised me the most was how he still accepted my,at first I expected him to view my as sick but that isn't the case "I will do anything,just promise me you will try." He clearly couldn't understand my mental illness he tried made it simpler than it was,he's maybe not stupid but not the smartest either when it comes to others feelings.But the fact how hard he tried to get me up,made me change my mind.I patted his Hat " I will try,I will,but I cant do this alone.I cant promise you it will never happen again,just tell me that you will be at my side and I will do anything in my power.But it could took me years,please be patient and never leave me,alright?" I was willing to change,I just can't take seeing him as down as he is right now,yes maybe it was out the blue but as long as he gets better it will be alright.kai lifted his head up and kissed my on the lips "Silly,i would never leave you.If that's what you desire,So be it." I softly smiled at him,even tho i wasn't in the mood to "Thanks my love."

It wasn't the last time but I cant do more than give it a try,right?As long as he won't leave me,like everyone did.Without him I cant imagine the meaning of life anymore.Some would say I'm emotionally addicted to him,but what other option is there for me?Exactly,being alone one more time,with the darkest thoughts my mind could come up with.