#Get Those Fathers Away From Him Right Now So Help Me God Or Else

[thebestestbat]

Last page of Damage #9.

[ID: Grant Emerson limps away from a destroyed supervillain prison. the supervillains are throwing soap/toilet paper at him and yelling: "Whooooohooo, Damage!" "Up here, son!" "Don't listen to them, kid--I'm your dad! I can prove it!" "Your momma, she was so gooood! Fine woman!" "That's my boy! Come bust daddy loose!" Grant holds his arm and thinks, "It could be them...It could be any of them." End ID]

Last page of Damage #15.

[ID: In the first panel Grant Emerson stands in the middle of four men: Ted Grant (Wildcat), Alan Scott (Green Lantern), Ted Knight (Starman) and Jay Garrick (Flash). Jonn (Martian Manhunter) stands in the background. Ted Grant says, "We'll tell you all about 'em, Grant." Alan says, "And you can carry on." Ted Knight says, "For your father--for all of us." Jay says, "That's right, Grant--The Justice Society is gone. That's the past, and it's only right that it should be. We had our day. But you--"

In the second panel Grant crouches, putting flowers at his birth parents' graves. Jonn stands behind him, and the four men with their images of them in their superhero outfits rising behind them. Jay continues, "--You're our legacy. You and the other young heroes like you-- You're the future!" End ID]

[memetic-trigger-hazard]

Trope blender strikes again!

Since the formation of the Justice League Dark to deal with supernatural threats, Diana had been acting as the team's 'Superman' for lack of a better term.

It was, however, not a position she was entirely suited to, as ironically enough when engaging supernatural threats she was better suited to the same role that Batman played in the Justice League, engaging with superior training, tactics and specialised tools while also acting as battlefield tactical command.

With the lack of any other candidates however, she made do. But not for long.

Thanks to a wandering little girl, Diana had gained a new cousin and uncle who were refreshingly free of the hubris of the Greek pantheon, as well as an unexpected (and terrifying) meeting with her Grandfather who was far different from the stories, she supposed death and a few millennia would calm someone down. She was pleased however to add some paternal family members she could enjoy calm moments with.

Her Uncle was willing to help, however his backlog from the previous King in addition to the repairs and ongoing negotiations for reparations with the United States government made her feel guilt for placing further demands on him.

Her younger cousin however was more than happy to "get out of the house", her Father's comments about the expansiveness of a TARDIS castle completely ignored.

Ellie was already training with her old friend Pandora (So many happy reunions) so Diana was more than willing to take her to Themascerya for an initiation to the Sisterhood of Amazon's. Danny was ecstatic that his daughter was making friends.

Now Ellie as Banshee is JLD's front line fighter and Diana is the tactician, a dynamic duo of their own. Diana is so proud of her little cousin.

Which is why today was very..... Strange.

~

Basically the JLD have to head to the Watchtower for some threat, Ellie is super pumped because SPACE and Diana is excited to take her smol bean cousin to the Watchtower for the first time.

Batman and Co arrive and Drama TM occurs because "Holy shit that little girl looks like a Talia with blue eyes", Damian starts accusing and mouthing off, Ellie freaks because her Dad has warned her about the League of Assassins, so she freaks and bails.

Diana is explaining who Ellie is, how they're related when Uncanny Valley Danny in human form comes out of a portal in his "Royal Casual" work attire. Loose jeans,button up with vest, fluffy slippers with a coffee mug in hand. He's facing Diana, paying 0 attention to who else is there beyond "cool space station".

"Hey niece, why is my daughter running through my castle screaming about killer birds?"

"Ah, I believe she is referring to Robin being a former member of the League of Assassins." Diana replies.

Batman and the rest of the Justice League are tense, assessing this possible ally who RADIATES power and death. Anyone affected by death can feel it like static in their teeth during a lightning storm. Those who have been into the Lazarus Pits feel safe yet the overwhelming urge to KNEEL BEFORE YOUR KING.

"Well shit, someone actually escaped from the Fruit Loop Supreme? Anyone who gets away from my asshole grandfather is alright by me." Danny replies as he turns to look at the various heros, taking a sip from his mug.

"Danyal?" A faint hopeful whisper as Damian takes his mask off to look at his Brother (HOW, HOW? HE LOST HIM HE'S HERE HOW?) His dead twin somehow here and changed so much.

*Slurp*

"Well shit, didn't expect this."

This entire time Bruce's brain is making crunching noises.

It's not the extra son that's apparently God of the Afterlives. It's not the granddaughter.

Diana is his son's niece. Bruce had sex with his grand niece. Barbara is right, he needs therapy.

[pearlzier]

maybe this is odd but. i can totally imagine matt being down bad for chris’s baby mama. like he was neutral about her when chris and her were hooking up but when she got pregnant/had the kid and she started hanging around the house more?? yeah, he was completely done for

wait. no i get it .... i get it !!! brother's baby mama!reader.... bbm!reader.... LMFAO / mdni for this thanksies 😋

matt didn't mind you all that much when you and chris got together. you're his brother's girlfriend, not much to say about you, he supposes. you're pretty cool, you make chris happy. yeah, you're pretty. incredibly so, matt knows that—he's not insane to think otherwise. your company's nice, when you hang out with him, nick and chris, he's happy to have you around. but you were nothing more than his brother's girlfriend, right? he didn't have feelings for you or anything.

till that fucking changed. matt had noticed you were acting a little different as of late, just slightly. foods you usually liked were putting you off, you got sick in the mornings a lot and you were just a little different. he hadn't thought you were pregnant with chris' kid, no. but along with nick, he'd found out when chris had come bounding down the stairs all excited about becoming a father. he knew the two of you were fucking, had heard it before but he'd thought you were using protection or you were on birth control, at least.

he didn't think it'd affect him all that much, but here he was, staring at you like a damn dog. you just look good. you're over at the house a lot more now, and his eyes find themselves on you a lot more too. he likes the way you dress more casually, more comfortably now, which means he gets to see more of you. particularly those tank tops, god, your tits look so good beneath the white cotton. the way your nipples pebble against it? he can't take it.

"you okay?" he'd ask you. "just sore, but y'know," matt knows they're sore too, he'd love to massage them for you and relieve the aching pain but that'd be crossing some sort of line, he knows. but he wishes those lines weren't there. "hope you feel better, alright? ask chris for a massage or somethin', don't want you achin' all day." he settled for, knowing he couldn't offer much else.

matt doesn't know what it is that's gotten him so pent up over you but he doesn't want it to stop. honestly? he kind of, no, not kind of, really wishes that he could've filled you up with his cum and gotten you pregnant with his kid. he would've pumped you full a thousand times over to have you stuffed full of him. it gets so bad that he finds himself pumping his fist over his cock in bed at the thought of getting you pregnant, or even just cumming inside of you and watching it ooze out of you.

he started realising how damn sweet you are and how badly he wants you for himself. every damn time he sees you, he wishes he'd gotten to you first instead of chris. it's definitely selfish, he knows, but he can't help himself. matt catches himself literally restocking the fridge with food he knows you're craving, just to feel better about everything. when you notice, you immediately think it's chris who got it for you—"chris? did you get me food?" chris is confused, no, he doesn't think so. he was gonna go tonight, "uh, no?"

well, hey, it's food, so you're not exactly complaining all that much. matt realises you just shrugged it off, and he feels the tiniest pang of disappointment as he glances away from the kitchen, looking back at his phone. he hears your footsteps from where he's sat, hearing them beside him. but he's taken off guard when he feels your hand on his shoulder. "thank you," it's simple, those two words, but the kiss you press to his cheek as you wander back off to do whatever, yeah, it makes his cock twitch in his pants and he has to practically sprint upstairs, locking himself in his room for an hour or so.

[blvckqwz]

Officer Grimes (SMUT)

TWs: smut duh, teasing, a lot of teasing actually, sexual tension, semi-public sex kinda?, brat reader, switch Rick, age gap (reader is 21 and Rick is 38), alcohol use, Shane slander (as I should), mention of cheating (Lori), sassy reader, dirty thoughts, Rick is technically still married oops, season 2 era, it’s like 99% flirting and 1% smut sorry. Also this sucks since it's my first smut sorry again.

Rick knew deep down, really deep down, that he was a sick man, meeting you was just the confirmation. It all started a few weeks ago, when he and his group had just arrived at the farm. At first he only saw glimpses of you, whispering in your sister’s ear and giggling with her as you two watched the new group, or helping around the farm, sweat running down your neck to under your shirt, making Rick’s head spin. But you never spoke to him, to much of his disappointment. Well that was until two weeks before…

“Dude, Maggie’s sister is totally into you.” Glenn said, whispering to the sheriff as they walked to the makeshift camp they had built a few days before.

“What?” Rick asked in disbelief as his eyes landed on you, chatting with Maggie while sitting on the front porch “She’s too young for me.”

Glenn shrugged, replying, “Maggie said she turned 21 last month but whatever you say.” before walking past him to Maggie, waving to her.

"Really?" He murmured as his eyes scanned you, already watching him as you sent a small smirk to him, followed by an almost imperceptible wink. 

But oh boy he surely did notice it.

Glenn must have said something about his talk with him to you because since then your attempts to flirt with the police officer had become more bold, making the poor man every day more frustrated.

“Good morning Officer Grimes.” You said with a cheeky smile as he walked past you and Beth. “Good morning Y/N,” He replied, trying to sound as cool as he could.

Your eyes kept following his figure as he walked away, eating him with your eyes until Beth elbowed you, “Are you trying to get in his pants?” She asked in disbelief, whispering-yelling in case your father or someone else happened to hear you. 

“So?” You ask with a nonchalant smirk, “I think he’s hot.” You admitted, making your sister giggle. 

“Isn’t he also like 40?” She said, shaking her head, “And what if Daddy finds out?” 

“Well first of all he can’t find out what no one knows, and I’m sure you’ll keep your secret,” You said, waiting for Beth to nod, “And second I think older men are better.” You continued with a shrug as you closed your eyes, enjoying the sun shining on your skin. “What?” She laughs, “I can’t believe you just said that!” “Well,” You reply with a grin, “I’m sure he can do things Jimmy couldn’t dream of.” “Y/N!” Beth exclaimed with a fake shocked face as she lightly pushed you as you laughed.

If only you knew how right you were…

Rick was reaching his last strike, he realized as he whipped his hand on his pants, trying to erase the tension as he watched you return home from a supply run, riding your horse like you had done multiple times before. God he wondered if you would look as good as you did right now while riding him instead of a stupid horse. 

By now he had picked all her habits and routine, as creepy as it might sound. For example he knew how she would sneak out the house every night, disappearing between the trees before returning hours later, when the sun was almost ready to rise. He also knew about the whisky bottles that were coincidentally disappearing with you. The only thing that was still a mystery was what you did during the night with those bottles. Did you have a secret boyfriend? He hoped not, only the thought of you with any other men made his blood boil. He knew it wasn’t right, he hardly ever spoke to you, a miserable attempt to hide what he was truly feeling, but he was jealous as hell.

“Hello Officer.” You winked as you approached him, making his Adam’s apple shake. “You don’t have to call me like that, it's not like I’m a police officer anymore.” He said with a breathless laugh, “You can just call me Rick.” “Really?” You ask with a brow raised and a half grin, “Then why do you always seem so tense? Like you’re always ready to arrest someone or stuff like that.” You say, nonchalantly touching his shoulder as you talk, making his mind go blank and his pants feel tighter. 

“I guess it’s just because I’m talking to a pretty girl.” He replied before thinking, cursing himself immediately after the words left his mouth. 

“Smooth move Rick.” You say with a laugh before walking inside the house, sending him one last wink as you hurried inside.

Yup, this was his last straw for sure.

“Shit” You hissed as your backpack fell off your shoulders, the bottles in it loudly slamming on each other, “Shit, shit, shit.” You kept murmuring as you picked it up, quickly checking inside if the bottles broke. Lucky for you they didn’t. Unlucky for you, someone heard the noises.

“Shouldn’t you be inside?” Rick’s deep voice asked from behind you, holding his gun in one hand while the other one rested on his hip as he made his way towards you. 

“Shouldn’t you be with your wife?” She shots back before pulling her backpack back on her shoulders.

“Touché” He chuckled as you too couldn’t help but feel a smile growing on your lips.

You knew him and his wife had their problems and that she was cheating on him, you wouldn’t have eyed him otherwise. Marriage was still a sacred thing even during the apocalypse, that’s what your father had taught you. Plus it was unbelievable to you how she went from someone like Rick to a scumbag like that man she saw yelling at the most random things manytime. One thing was sure: if he was your husband you wouldn’t let him go. Ever. God if you just had the chance to show him how good you could make him feel even just once he’d forget about that Lori girl immediately.

“Why are you out here?” Rick asked, snapping her out her unholy thoughts.

“I wanted to take a walk.” You shrugged, “Are you going to arrest me, Officer?” You asked, the name making Rick feel things that were very very wrong. But still very very turning him on.

“No, although I’m sure I could give you a fine for the bottles in your backpack.” He replied, shaking his head, “But I won’t, just because you are nice to me.”

“Am I corrupting you, Officer?” You asked then, slowly advancing towards him.

Oh yes, you were very much corrupting him, he thought as he took a deep breath to calm himself. “That’s not how corruption works, sweetheart.” He says with a smirk. 

“Well, maybe that wasn’t…” You say, finally reaching him.

He could smell his scent from where he stood, fresh grass and soap, and he could swear his head was spinning.

“...But this surely is.” You say before quickly grabbing him by the wrist and running towards the woods, coughing him off guard.

“Hey.” He says between the pants, “Where are we exactly going?” “You know my secret so now I have to kill you.” You reply with nonchalance as you slow down your pace. “I'm just kidding, you asked why I was out so I wanted to show you.”

“I still have to decide about the killing part.” You then add.

“Do you still think about the old world?” You ask as you tilt your head to look over at the man sitting next to you on the roof of an old building you had found weeks before and had claimed as your secret place. 

“Sometimes,” He replies with a sigh, “Nothing will ever be the same again, not after what we’ve all seen.” You hum in agreement before taking a sip from the bottle that was now just half full before handing it to Rick, who gladly took it.

“I think about it everyday.” You admit, your eyes fixed on the trees as you avoid Rick’s piercing blue eyes staring at you, “Although the world had already fallen apart years before.” “True.” He replied, fidgeting with the neck of the bottle, “Do they scare you?” He then asked.

“Not anymore, I just find it sad now.” You say, “Those people were just like you and me and now we kill them like it’s nothing.” You sigh.

“You think we shouldn’t kill them?” He asked then, handing you the whisky bottle.

“No, of course not. I just think it’s sad we have to.” You explain as you take a large sip of alcohol.

Rick cautiously watches as your lips perfectly adapt around the bottle, wondering if they would be just as perfect around his c-

“You are staring.” You state with a laugh, breaking the silence.

Rick lets out an embarrassed laugh, “Sorry.” You shrug in response “I don’t mind.” You say with a smirk before letting your eyes wander on the man’s body. He was surely hot, you thought as you met his blue eyes, and he was probably into you too.

“I…” Rick’s voice died in his throat as his eyes found yours, already admiring you. Suddenly he felt like an awkward teenager with his first crush again, so shy yet so whipped.

“You know,” You say, “If I didn’t know you I’d say you have a crush on me, officer.”

The poor man almost choked when those words reached his ears, his eyes widening, not daring to look at you in fear you might be disgusted. God of course you were, he was too old for you. He takes a deep breath, clears his throat and then dares to start speaking, still avoiding your gaze, “Don’t you think you are a little too young for me?”

Now it was your turn to be disappointed, you really thought that he might be into you? He was probably just a very polite man and you just misread his actions. But still something about the way he was acting was telling you to not give up just now. 

“I don’t mind.” You answer, your voice barely audible. 

But sure as hell he heard it. And it all went straight to his cock. Still it felt very much wrong to flirt with a girl half his age.

“You are drunk, you don’t know what you are saying.” He murmurs, not noticing how close you two were standing until you started talking.

“You are drunk too, doesn’t that make us even?” You ask as you keep staring at his face, hoping he would look at you.

“I… I can’t.” He shots back, “We can’t.”

“Hey,” You say, placing two fingers on his face to make him turn to you, “I know you want me just as bad as I want you.” You say as you sink into his deep blue eyes, “Isn’t that right?” You then ask, making Rick nod in response.

“Then what’s wrong with it?” You ask, bringing your face closer to you, “Just give in.”

Rick’s Adam’s apple bounces up and down as the dirtiest thoughts flashed in his mind, all the things he could do to you, the things he wants to do. No, he doesn’t just want to do them, he needs to. He needs to do you.

You murmuring his name brought him back to reality, his eyes lingering on your lips, his cock twitching in his pants.

“Fuck it.” He murmurs before putting a hand behind your neck and pulling you in a heated kiss. You quickly reciprocate, one of your hands tugging his hair as the other rested on his chest. 

Rick quickly pulls you on his lap, basically making you straddle him as the kisses become more desperate, all the unsaid words purred in it. You could feel Rick’s tongue teasing your lips, begging you to let him in. Of course you do, quickly gasping for air as you begin to roll your hips on his painfully hard dick. 

Rick groans against the kiss, sending vibrations through your whole body. You still could taste the whisky on his tongue as it kept exploring your mouth, making you go insane. You could feel Rick’s hand trailing up from your hip to your back under your shirt as you fidget with the collar of his jacket, goosebumps forming on your exposed arms at the cold breeze.

“Here.” Rick murmurs, breaking away from the kiss to slip his jacket on your shoulders, “I don’t want you to get cold.”

You can’t help but let out a breathless laugh, “You are supposed to undress me officer, not cover me up.” “I guess I’m just too much of a gentleman.” He replies with a smirk, “You haven’t met many of them, have you?” 

You shyly nod, your eyes falling on the oversized jacket on your shoulders. You knew there was no one like Rick, you just didn’t know how right you were. 

“Then I guess I’ll have to show you how a real man treats a proper lady.” He says as his big hand cups your cheek before leaning closer, “And for the jacket don’t worry, I’ll eventually take it off you along with all your other clothes, if you give me the chance.” He whispers against your neck.

“You can have all the chances you want.” You whisper back before reconnecting your lips with his. His mouth quickly started to pepper kiss on her neck, leaving a few marks when he found her sweat spots. You softly moan at the feeling of his bears scratching on your neck as he keeps kissing your jaw and neck. 

“Rick…” You murmur as he softly bites your neck, soothing the pain with his tongue. “I need you so bad.” He whispers as his hands raise from your hips to your breast, squeezing them lightly under your shirt, making you whimper. 

“I’ve always wanted you…” He keeps mumbling as you fidget with the buttons of his shirt, slowly unbuttoning it. 

“You have me now.” You whisper back before pulling him in another heated kiss, making him groan as you press yourself against his erection. You can’t wait, you realize as the kiss becomes even more passionate, breaking apart just to quickly take off her shirt and tossing it somewhere near his.  

“God you are so beautiful.” He mumbles, making you suddenly feel so shy as you look in his eyes and find pure adoration as they scan your semi naked body, looking at you like you were the only person in this world. It makes your head spin.

Quickly the rest of both your and his clothes are scattered around. Rick cautionally holds you as he swaps position, now hovering over you as he propped himself up on his shoulders. “Are you sure you want this?” He asks breathlessly. You nod, “I’m sure.”

You eagerly reattach your lips to his as Rick’s hands roam your body. Your hands also wander around his bare back, your nails involuntarily digging into his skin when he squeezes your naked hip. 

“Rick, I need you so bad.” You pant as your eyes meet his. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” He answers as he ghosts your lips with his thumb.

He pushed some hairs of your face before lining up himself with your entrance as you could feel yourself get wetter each second that passed. Your legs quickly wrap themselves around his hips as he slowly pushes his length in. Your back arches as he completely fills you up, making him groan. He soon starts moving, each thrust making you whine as your hands tug his hair. Rick moves his hips back slowly, watching your reaction as he moves back inside you. He starts moving faster, finding his own rhythm that you waste no time to meet, raising your hips against his, allowing him to go deeper inside you, forcing a low moan from him as you feel your high coming closer. Rick moves his hand to your clit, his arousal increasing even more as you become more vocal. 

“I- I’m close.” You say.

“Me too.” He murmurs before bringing his lips to yours, his tongue eagerly exploring your mouth. It’s all it takes for you to cum, burying your head in the crook of his neck as you practically screamed while your body shook, your orgasm taking control. He soon after reached his high too, loudly panting as he rolled next to you.

"That was..." -your words die in your throat as her breathing is still ragged, but Rick knows exactly what you mean.

"I know." He replies with a smirk.

[world-of-aus]

AHEM. GOOD EVENING! I hope you're alive because I'm not 🤤

I am not okay, but I was inspired...

Worth Every Penny

Pairing: Mob!Bucky x Reader

Warnings: HEA. Pinch of Insecurities, Fluff, a doting and loving Bucky Barnes.

You can feel his eyes on you as you adjust the lone button beneath his bowtie, your fingers smoothing over the fabric as you list the details of tonight's charity auction. 

“You’ll be called on after Steve, and please for the love of God don’t forget to smile.” you say as your eyes meet his. There’s a grin on his pink lips, “like that,” you point tapping the stubble skin of his cheek. His hand wraps around your wrist keeping you there, “as long as you promise to raise your number tonight, I’ll smile all you want me too.” 

You only half roll your eyes, pushing your tongue against your cheek to keep your own smile in check, “I will not be responsible for your father’s death James.” He laughs, hand finding your waist, fingers curling to pull you flush against his chest, “good thing you’ll be with Ma, you can wave that number of yours as much as you want, put it on my card even sweetheart.” 

“James.” 

The hand that held your wrist finds your cheek, his touch comforting as he searches your gaze, “sweetheart if I cared what my father thought I’d be his next in line, but I’m not, I’m running my own show, the way my father should have – and you and everyone else that matters knows that. So wave your number if you want to – or don’t because at the end of the night I’m coming home to you regardless of what anyone thinks, says, or does.” 

“B,” you murmur and he can’t help but to chuckle because he knows he’s got you now. He feels you melt into him, “stop thinking, can see those gears running, don’t care what anyone has to say tonight, just care about you.” 

He makes it so easy for you to forget the whole world, forget the two very ‘different’ worlds you came from, the ones certain individuals just loved to make so painfully obvious to you – to him. And between your internal scolding and Bucky’s constant reassurance you knew you shouldn’t care, nobody else mattered except the man that held you in his arms but you couldn’t help it, their whispered words stung. They all only saw you as the successful mob bosses  secretary. To many like him you weren’t his equal, weren’t worthy of his time except for making sure to keep track of his time. 

A knock on his office door pulls the two of your from the intimate moment, the two of you stepping away from one another. Sam’s voice calls for the two of you, “it’s time, we’ve got to head out now.” You smoothed him over one more time, Sam pushing the door open further, “remember,” you say running a hand over his cheek “smile.” 

Sam calls for you one more time now fully waiting for you by the open doorway arm waiting for yours. You turn to move over to him but Bucky’s hand stops you, “Ill always choose you, remember that.” You give him a smile, one the two of you know doesn’t quite reach your eyes. Bucky wont let you leave like that so he pulls you to him, his lips finding yours in an unexpected but reassuring kiss.  

He only hands you over to Sam when he knows he’s kissed you breathless, “Take care of her Sam,” he tells his best friend and right-hand. Sam nods looping your arm with his, “you know I will, cars out front, your ma and sister are waiting.”  

The two of you follow your boss, out of his office making sure he makes it out to the car, Winnie rolling the window down to coo over you, “you looks absolutely stunning in that dress!” “we’ll save you and Sam a seat,” Rebecca calls from next to her mom. 

Before he enters the car with his mom and sister Bucky turns to the two of you, “when you get there, the four of you stay together,” he turns to Sam, “don’t let either of them out of your sight.” 

“I’ve got it handled man, get out of here before you get there late and your dad blows a damn fuse.” You and Sam watch him get into the car, watching it pull out of the driveway shortly after before moving to your own vehicle. 

“You know George will blow a fuse tonight either way right?” you laugh as you buckle yourself in. Sam laughs as he puts the car into drive, “Seeing Bucky alone will have him popping a blood vessel, that man can’t stand to see his son succeed.” 

The gala is in full swing by the time you and Sam arrive, several well-known notorious families all coming together for one big event that benefits all. You recognize several faces that have come through Bucky's office as you walk arm in arm with Sam through the ballroom to where the tables are pressed along the corners.  

You greet the familiar faces kindly as you pass through the tables where Winnie and Becca wait for you, Winnie’s hand flagging the two of you down, your name being called through the air. Bucky’s mother makes niceties for the other watchful eyes in the room, encouraging you to join them, of course you and Sam can’t pass the offer up – it wouldn’t look right in the eyes of the other families watching on, you thank her sweetly as you take your seat, Sam taking the one next to you. 

You can feel his eyes on you as you talk with his mother, he's sitting a table away with his father. George Barnes had saw to it that his son’s seat was assigned at his table, ‘there is business to attend to, new heads for you to meet that have been placed at my table it’ll be good for you to build your name.’ had been his excuse. Though you know that hadn’t been the case if the brunette-haired woman sitting next to him, leaning much to closely for your liking had been any indication. George Barnes had been trying to set Bucky up with Dot since you started on as his son’s secretary.  Bucky had no interest then, and he had no interest now, his eyes always looking your way, to be fair you tried to keep it to a minimum how often you glanced his way. 

 “You should raise your number tonight when he goes up dear.” Your eyes find Winnie’s and there's a warm smile waiting on her lips, “I know that’s what my son would want, and I know that's what you want as well.” Your eyes find her hand that's still placed warmly over yours, “I know Ma, but I don’t want to cause him any trouble – not tonight - and knowing your ex-husband there will be hell to be had if I so much as raise a hand when your son’s name is announced.” Winnie scoffs, “that man has raised hell every day since Bucky chose to build his own name, a name not tarnished by his father, George isn’t used to not getting his way, he’s used to glaring people down and getting what he wants, when in all reality it was his son that was getting him what he wanted and now that he doesn't have that, well he’s not used to losing so he brings down people to get what he wants. And you my dear are unfortunately his biggest target because he’s seen how much Bucky cares for you, how much he loves you.” 

Your eyes flicker to hers drawing a laugh from woman you’ve come to love as your own over the years you’ve worked alongside Bucky. “Don’t tell me you don’t see it y/n, my boy is as smitten as ever, can hardly get him to come see me on his own anymore.” 

“That’s where I come in.’ Becca laughs from beside her mom, “and even then he has to make it a whole day for us girls just to make sure he’s close by – can’t risk anything happening to my girls.” Rebecca says doing her best impersonation of her brother. 

You laugh then recalling all the Sunday afternoons that turned into family outings because ‘why not? I love keeping my girls happy, and you never know Becs mom might want a new set of nails after breakfast.’ Winnie never did need a fresh set, but the Barnes women always indulged Bucky in his Sunday breakfast with his ma turned family outings if only to keep him happy, because he deserved it.  

“He really does love you,” Sam chimes in from next to you, his shoulder bumping yours softly, “though to be fair he was smitten the day you scolded his father in front of his men.” 

“I swear that’s the day I made an enemy of that man,” you chuckle your eyes moving towards the table where George Barnes sat. You find awaiting eyes and a kind smile from the man that holds your heart, you return his smile, “that was also the start of the rest of your life, Bucky’s offered you more than George ever could, and in turn you’ve given my son the means to be who he is now.” 

Your laugh is watery as you fan at your eyes, Winnie cooing over you as she pulls you into her side pressing her lips to the side of your head. Rebecca eventually squeezes in Sam throwing his arm the best he can over the three of you. Before you arrived you might have though twice about using the black card nestled in your clutch but now, now you’d do it proudly. A table over Bucky can’t help but to worry as his family circles you, your watery laugh meeting his ears as you assure the table your fine, he has half a mind to leave the table and get to you but then they’re announcing all candidates with their secretaries to the stage. 

Bucky stands watching his mother smoothe you over, he meets you halfway not taking you in his arm right away to search your face. He cups your cheek, the moment intimate eyes surely on the two of you, “are you okay?” 

You smile squeezing the hand that rests on your cheek, “perfect B, come on let’s get you to the stage.” 

He gives you his arm, guiding you through the tables towards the back of the stage, the announcer is talking about the purpose of tonight’s event while the heads of the houses stand in a bunch awaiting their names to be called. Bucky guides you to his friends, Steve’s the first to greet you, Natasha following as she squeezes you in a warm embrace. Then comes stark with Pepper, Odison with Jane, and lastly the newest name vision and Wanda. This was the family Bucky had created after stepping down from his father, and he had you to thank for it, Steve had been the first to rally at his side, but the others came because of you, because of the relationships you helped him build.  

The girls are cleaning up their men as they straighten them out, you turn to your favorite brunette smiling as you squeeze his shoulders. “You keep smiling like that for me, and I’ll smile up on that stage for you.” You laugh, “careful B, don’t want to make it too hard for us to outbid.” 

“Ma did say I was worth every penny.” 

You shake your head at him, fingers running over the lapel of his suit, “you really are B.” 

His lips part to speak but the announcer has begun to call names, “remember sweetheart I’m still yours at the end of the night.”  

“I know B.”  

You let him go moving over to the ladies before you all exit from behind the stage, each of you going back to your respective tables to watch the auction. Vision is the first to be called on stage and his bids alone start off the auction strong. You’re not surprised when Wandas card fly's up, determination set as she outbids every woman who even try's. She closes the bidding for a whopping 10,000, no one ever stood a chance. 

And so, it goes with Odison going on next, Tony following both men closing 5,000 above visions, their secretaries waving at their recognition. The nerves begin to flare when Steve is called upon, your table at the ready with your numbers, Natasha meets your eyes from three tables down, smirk on her face. Steve’s bids started strong with 1,000 being called by Natasha other women chirping in throughout the room, with your table occasionally bouncing in. You begin to sweat when he passes 15,000 the numbers slowly climbing up. Sam closes the bidding with 20,000 you barely stifle your laugh at the wink Steve sends him. 

Bucky’s name is called next, his presence taking over the stage your breath catching in your throat, his eyes scan the entire room but ultimately land on you. Winnie starts the bidding at 3,000 “nobody's taking my boy on a date.” It makes you laugh when Rebecca follows, tacking on another 1,000, Sam taking it up another 2,000 shortly after. Steve’s voice sounds in the room bringing his count up to 7,000. His bid continues to climb the women chirping in outbidded by the ones he loves most. Bucky’s inching on Steve when from the table right next to you Dolores raises her number, 25,000. George finds your eyes, smirk on is devious features, you look away. 

The announcer begins to call out ‘going once twi -” 

Your number goes up, ‘55,000’ you call, the room gasps Winnie laughing next you, squeezing you as she huddles close. The announcer doesn't think twice as he closes the bid for ‘55,000 to the highest bidder of the night, congratulations.’ 

Bucky’s grinning at you with love in his eyes as the announcer calls all winners to come backstage to meet and finalize a date. Aside from Sam who takes Natashas spot though she still follows the two of you, most of the secretaries are making their way behind the stage again. There is laughter in the air as Steve and Sam make dramatics of embracing each other intimately though you only have eyes for one person behind that stage. 

He closes the distance between the two of you, cradling your face in warm hands, “55,000, sweetheart,” he breathes, “my cheeks were already hurting just looking at you.” 

You pull him closer, “I did say you were worth every penny,” you grinned melting into his embrace as he captures your lips in a sweet kiss. 

He was worth every penny and more. 

[silassinclair]

Introduction!! Yandere Wild West Outlaw x Reader

CONTENT WARNING: Guns, Violence, Fem Reader, For 16+ Readers Preferably (Ik i cant stop you younger little shits from being here)

Mayor John L/n should have known better than to attract the attention of Maddox Graves; the West's number one most wanted criminal and outlaw. But Y/n L/n's Father, John L/n, is a fool.

It all started when John L/n rode into town on his fine horse. Tonight he was going to drink at the bar and chat with the other townspeople about some small town drama. When John arrived outside the saloon however he noticed all of the posts had horses tied to them already. John looks around and sees a free spot! Just as John hopped off his horse to tie the rope around the wood post another man beat him too it.

The man shoulder checked John as he tied his black horse to the post.

“Hey I was about to tie my horse there you brute! And how dare you hit me!” John says angrily.

"I had my horse tied here first old man. Go find some place else to tie yours." The Mexican American man says; his accented voice rich and deep. The bottom half of his face is concealed by a dark red bandana. His cowboy hat is a dark brown color, a contrast to the black attire he adorns.

"Do you know who I am young man? I own this town! Now get your filthy horse out of my way before I teach you a lesson!" Mayor L/n shouts aggressively.

The outlaw frowns disapprovingly under the cloth of his bandana. This greedy old fart dare insult his stallion? And threaten him?

The outlaw brings his masked face close to the older man, making the older man back up nervously. Bringing his rugged hands to his hips the outlaw moves his long black leather jacket to the side, revealing one of his two revolvers. Each revolver being a stunning silver color with black metal engravings. No other gunman in the west had such weapons, no one other than Maddox Graves.

The mayor notices the shining gun and he gasps in fear for his life. "Those guns! Y-You’re M-Maddox Graves!" He shouts in newfound fright.

"That's right old man. You fucked with the wrong guy. Telling me to move my horse and insulting him in such a way? You're a real old fart I tell ya. Ya had some real balls o’ steel to threaten me too." The outlaw says as he pats the back of his midnight black stallion.

The mayor doesn’t waste a second as he goes to his horse as quick as possible. He gets on it's saddle to ride off. Luckily, he escapes the outlaw. However the outlaw already knows where the mayor lives.

And he will not let him get away with what he has done. No one disrespects Maddox Graves unless they want to end up in their own grave.

.

.

.

"Father? Are you alright?" A young woman says. The woman's name is Y/n L/n, and she's the one and only daughter of Mayor John L/n. In this shit stain of a small town that is on the bottom corner of maps, she brings light and joy. The townspeople adore her presence and work ethic. Though she is wealthy and the daughter of the mayor she does volunteer work in local farms and helps look after the town’s children.

Though Y/n L/n has no Mother, not anymore. So John L/n protects her with his life. She’s all he has left and he may have just lost her tonight for what he has done.

"How can I be so foolish?! Oh god what have I done!" The old man says in despair as he rushes over to his daughter. He embraces her in a desperate hug which she returns gently with a pat to his sweating back.

"Father whatever is the matter? What has you in such a stress?" She asks with genuine concern.

The old man holds her plush face gently in his wrinkled palms. He gazes into her eyes, for it may be the final time he get to do so.

"I have made a mistake Y/n... I insulted a dangerous outlaw and he may come here to our home. I need you to hide okay... Whatever you hear, do not leave your hiding spot."

Y/n feels her Father tremble. "Father I don't understand! Please whatever it is let me hel-"

"NO! I CAN HEAR HIS HORSE OUTSIDE! GO UPSTAIRS AND HIDE NOW!"

The poor young woman yelps as her Father pushes her away. She is about to argue but the desperation in his eyes makes her only nod and run up the stairs and do as she's told. Y/n goes to her bedroom and opens the door to her oak wardrobe. She hides behind a few gowns and shuts the door enough for there to be a crack.

There are sounds of talking downstairs. Y/n can hear the voice of her Father and another. The other voice is deeper and strikes fear into her core. She can hear how desperate her Father is as he pleads for his life.

“You got a little girl right? Would be a shame if she lost her Father.” The deep voice says.

“Yes! So please spare me Graves! I’ll give you money, anything you want! So please leave us in peace!” The old man begs on his knees.

“Hmmm.” The dark outlaw ponders.

BANG

Y/n covers her mouth as she yelps in horror at the sound of the gunshot. Her body trembled, the silence now was frightening. No longer did she hear the sound of her Father begging for his life. All that was left was a deadly silence.

Her Father was dead.

“Come out girl! Your Father isn’t dead~ He’s just sleeping.” Maddox taunts as he blows the smoke from the end of his gun before returning it to its holster.

Tears fell from Y/n’s eyes as she struggled to steady her breathing. She could hear his footsteps ascending the stairs. Slow, and taunting. He was taking his time.

“I don’t like playing games. Now come out before I kill you.”

The hiding woman refused to make a sound. Her survival instinct made her once trembling body as still as a statue when she heard his footsteps enter her room. She felt frozen as his steps stopped right outside the closet door.

“I know you’re in here little girl. Now come out.”

She didn’t.

“Okay, you asked me to do this.”

Light flooded into the wardrobe as Maddox nearly ripped the doors off the hinges from swinging it open so hard and fast. Inside he heard the scream of a woman and suddenly a boot clad foot coming out from behind gowns kicked him in the groin. Keeling over in pain he clutched his jewels and fell on his knees.

“OO- YOU BITCH!” He yells. His eyes widen when he sees her though. She peeks her head out from behind the dresses and gowns. Her face is soft and stained with dry tears. Rather than a young girl who he thought, it was a pretty woman who looked to be a few years younger than him.

“You’re a disgusting man!” She says angrily and runs out of the closet past the kneeling outlaw. Dashing down the stairs she sees her Father on the ground, bleeding from his side.

“Father!” She calls to him desperately as she kneels by his side and cradles his head. He’s still breathing, thank god. But he’s losing a lot of blood. So Y/n grabs the hem of her dress and tears off a strip of the fabric and ties it around his torso.

“I-I’ll run to town and call for a doctor Father.” She says with a weak smile. His eyes are closed, he seems to have passed out from shock.

Just as Y/n stood up to run out the door to get help a gunshot rings out and the bullet hits the doorknob she was just about the grab. Whipping her body back in shock she looks up and sees Maddox at the top of the staircase, his smoking gun aimed at her.

“You’re a wild one aren’t you missy?” He says with a smirk. A freshly lit cigar hangs from his mouth.

Y/n stands by the door as still as a statue as Maddox comes down the stairs. Now standing before her the height difference is very stark. Her head only reaches his shoulders.

“Let me leave… My Father is dying. I need to get to a doctor.” She says with a wavering voice.

Maddox blows smoke in her face and laughs.

“He may as well be already dead girly. He’s lost a lot of blood. And besides, even if you did make it to town you would come home to him dead. There ain’t enough time for dilly-dally.”

He was right, unfortunately. Y/n tried her best to hold back her tears. She had to stay strong, she couldn’t show weakness to this bloodthirsty killer. But she could only handle so much.

She looks behind the outlaw and sees her Father grow more pale as the seconds tick by. The moment she noticed her Father’s chest still… and a final breath escape his lips.. Y/n felt like her life was over. Her Father was dead. All hope is lost for her as she crumbles like an ancient statue.

“F-Father, my Father is dead! You killed him-!” She breaks down and grips her hair in her hands, sinking to the floor. Maddox only watches with a small grin as he tosses the cigar to the side.

“He was an old man who was gon’ kick the bucket soon anyway. I only sped up the process a lil’ princess.” Maddox says with a mocking coo. But Y/n looks up at him with a piercing glare. Her hands turn to fists and she strikes. Her fist collides with his face, causing him to whip his head to the side. Y/n stills as she awaits his reaction. He is eerily silent and his downcast gaze is dark.

But then she is suddenly met with a chuckle. His deep, rich laugh radiates throughout the home. Like an infection that invades the young woman’s eardrums. She can’t stand it.

“You hit hard little lady, I like that in a woman.” Maddox grips her chin, squeezing her face and puckering her lips.

“Such soft lips… Wonder how they’d feel against mine. Poor lil thang like you needs a strong man in her life.” His condescending tone sparks rage in Y/n. This man, no… this beast. This murderer. She needs to take revenge. To kill the man who killed her Father in cold blood. But not now. No, she would have to wait. She needs the right moment to strike.

And she doesn’t mind playing the long game. She’ll play along for now.

Hey yall, it’s me. I’m SLACKING so hard. School and work has been busting my balls and writers block is eating me alive. But this Oc got me out of the gutter. Hopefully yall like him! I plan to write for him more.

[brucewaynehater101]

hii i just wanted to ask about the accuracy of the statement of "Talia abducted Jason during when he was arguably at his most vulnerable cuz catatonic and took advantage of his state (+no Bats knowing Jason came back to life) to indebt him to her and a cult + groom him to be a tool for whatever goal she had in mind" or if it's fanon and your opinions on this idea (+ actual canon if this statement is in fact fanon)

but just like how we play with the scale of good parent, bad parent Bruce we could also fuck around and do so much with this concept (fanon or not)

Hi! I'm not as familiar with this, so let's do the research together ^^ It's gonna be a long post!

I've heard many many many people curse out a few writers (I'm shitty at remembering names) for being a racist pieces of shit. I've also heard of Talia being thrown under the bus by a lot of writers. Here's a link to a wonderful Tumblr post that goes into Talia and how writers fucked over her character.

There's other posts, but this one quickly summaries what they did to Talia and briefly mentions the assassination of Ra's character as well.

Here's a post that goes further into Ra's character.

On that note, I have seen a few fics play around with two ideas that were (as far as I'm aware) retconned: Damian's conception being unconsensual and Talia having sexual relations with Jason.

As long as you keep in mind that these were retconned and come from racist, sexist, or both connotations, it's okay to explore the impact these actions would have on all characters involved (especially if we're utilizing the reasoning that Talia wasn't in her right mind during those actions).

That's a basic summary of why there's heavy debate around Talia and the al Ghuls as a whole.

Now! Let's get into Talia and Jason specifically!!!!

The comic run we want to look into is Red Hood - The Lost Days. I am unsure if there are any other comics that cover post-death Jason but pre-Red Hood. If anyone has any other canon material that covers or mentions this time period, feel free to comment, reblog, etc.

This is Talia's initial reaction to hearing about Jason:

She expresses concern, worry, and grief for Bruce

She then has spies give her updates on Bruce's situation. Everyone else states Bruce is "stepping up his game." She calls them fools (since Bruce is obviously just hurting)

Very quickly, we get into her discovery of Jason Todd:

So. Jason's catatonic and Talia was ordered not to inform Bruce. Regardless of if she wanted to, she would be betraying her father if she told Bruce

Then I'm just going to drop all of these panels:

This shows she somewhat cares about him. Whether that's for Jason or because of Bruce, that's irrelevant. She still cares and wants him to get better. She wants him to go home.

Talia only pushes Jason into the Lazarus Pits because she's run out of time

Now... she may be an unreliable narrator. She states she's doing this for Jason's sake, but it does seem like it's more for her own. Regardless, she doesn't have ill intentions.

Talia dips Jason in the Pits and then tosses him out

That line of hers seems suspicious, but I see it more as her trying to hide the fact she had Jason for so long. It's less "go be mad at Bruce" and more "gods, what is Bruce gonna think of me if Jason shows up on his doorstep?"" Selfish, but not in the way fanon characterizes it.

She had trackers on the bag, though. She just needed him away from Ra's

Ra's tells Talia she fucked up, Jason tries to blow up the batmobile, and then tries to tell Talia he didn't lose his nerve for revenge against Bruce

Talia realizes that reviving Jason with the Pit might have fucked Jason up

Jason asks Talia for her help with revenge against Bruce. Talia did not set that up. Jason was the one to suggest it without influence

Talia obviously does not want to be helping Jason right now. She still agrees, though

Let me just toss this here too:

So... She's not doing this completely because she cares about Jason or that it's the right thing, but she also sure as hell does not want Jason to be going down this revenge path

Despite all of this, there's this:

They then proceed to fuck.

Which is gross as hell, and how some people can say that she took advantage of him

I think them fucking got retconned, though....

So, it's slightly complicated?

In my personal opinion, the final answer is: "It is fanon!"

There may be some truth or canon behind it, but that most likely comes from more racist characterizations of her character. However, the canon material that explicitly covers this topic makes it clear:

"Talia was selfish with her help to Jason. She wants Bruce to love her. She thus ends up hiding Jason's existence out of fear of Bruce's reaction. She does not want Jason to be mad at Bruce or fight his dad."

This also matches the other characterization I've seen of this: "Talia uses the distraction technique to try to hold Jason back from murdering his own father. 'You can't murder Bruce without training, Jason.'"

To continue, whether Talia should've told Bruce or not is an entirely different matter. Sometimes, I've avoided telling people shit out of fear, which made the situations worse. It wasn't great of her to do that, but in no way should this villainze her. I also 100% love that this gives her a flaw. People make mistakes. She's trying. She may have gone about it poorly, but she did what she thought she could. It was selfish, but I don't blame her.

She could've also convinced Jason to give up his mission entirely right before they fucked. That's where it gets murky.

You are absolutely correct that we can use the fanon idea of the al Ghuls manipulating Jason. On the other hand, I haven't seen enough fics where Talia treats Jason like an unruly toddler instead.

"No, Jason. We can't murder Bruce. Obviously, you need training first." Her visible reaction is a motherly rolling eyes. Internally, she's just panicking ("fuck fuck fuck fuck. How do I curb bloodlust? How do I stop patricide? Procrastination!!!")

Anyways, thanks for bringing the question up! It allowed me to look into it and put my thoughts in order ^^

Feel free to read the rest of the run!

[thisissirius]

spoilers, spoilers, spoilers. i'm obsessed with the idea of eddie's breakdown.

supplication eddie/buck, chris (past tommy/buck). stylistic depictions of eddie's mental state. hurt, hurt, hurt and comfort. in which eddie loses chris, himself, and his tentative hold on his mental state. buck's there for him, for them, as always.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Buck doesn’t answer.

Eddie doesn’t know who he is without Chris. Actually. He does. He does know. He’s been without Chris and he doesn’t want to be that person again. Except this time it’s Chris that leaves. Chris went with his parents, looking back once, Eddie’s heart breaking at his feet. With Buck’s hand on his shoulder, his father’s admonishments ringing in his ears, and his son walking away, Eddie didn’t think there was much farther to fall.

Frank stares at him.

Eddie stares back.

“Eddie. I can’t help you if you don’t help me.”

Eddie says nothing.

A sigh. “Perhaps Buck—”

“No,” Eddie says immediately.

Buck is happy. Buck and Tommy, two of the best guys Eddie knows, are together and happy. Buck smiles more, lives more, and feels more comfortable in his skin.

Now that Cap’s out of hospital and recovering, everything as close to normal as it’s gonna get, Buck’s living for himself for the first time in—Eddie doesn’t even know.

What he does know is this; Buck can’t help, shouldn’t help.

Eddie can fix himself, can make this work without crawling to his best friend to help.

The house is too empty? Eddie will just make sure he’s rarely in it. Carla checks in on him? Eddie will just make sure he misses her calls. His parents messaging to tell him—well, those he’ll at least look at, because it might be something about Chris.

Eddie is fine, fine, fine.

Eddie remembers standing in a shop with Chris and Ana and feeling his heart race, pound, cascade away from him. He remembers thinking heart attack and being so mad at himself when he realised it was a panic attack instead.

Now, standing at his kitchen sink with a hand pressed to his chest, he’s just as mad at himself. He can’t even keep control, can’t stop himself from feeling Chris’ absence, from the press of loneliness.

Frank looks him in the eye when he says, “I can’t sign you back to work, Eddie.”

Eddie doesn’t snap until he’s sitting in his car. There’s Chris’ discarded bag on the floor on the passenger side. A takeout carton shoved into the gap between door and seat. Touches of his son everywhere. Touches of Buck, still, in his car.

He can’t go back to work. He doesn’t have a son. His best friend is—

Eddie is fine, fine, fine.

“The station will still be there, Eddie,” Bobby says gently.

Fuck you, Eddie thinks silently, because it’s not Bobby’s fault. Nothing will sill be there.

Buck glares at him. “When were you going to say something?”

Two weeks leave. For now. Until Eddie can figure out what the hell is going on.

“I’m going to see Chris,” Eddie says, injecting enough enthusiasm into his voice that he hopes Buck can’t read it. “I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, but—"

He’s lying to Buck.

He’s lying to Buck.

To Buck.

God.

“I’m sure it’ll be good for you both,” Buck says, frown giving way to a smile. He has a date with Tommy in about twenty minutes. Eddie knows because he saw the plan in his phone. “I’ll have to join you next time. I miss him.”

Eddie nods, because he doesn’t trust himself to speak. Buck will have to leave soon if he’s to make his date with Tommy and—

“Right,” Buck says, slipping his phone into his pocket. He pauses, because of course he does, looking at Eddie. “You okay?”

“I will be.” It’s not a lie; one day, probably, Eddie will be fine. “Go, have fun.”

Buck grins, laughs a little, bashful, and god, Eddie loves that he’s so happy, that he’s secure. He deserves it. “Thanks. I’ll speak to you when you get back?”

Eddie pulls him into a hug, because what else can he do. Maybe he clings a little too hard, maybe Buck presses back just as tight because some part of him senses something. Forcing himself to let go, Eddie finds his smile a touch more real because it’s Buck. “Go. I’ll be alright.”

“You better,” Buck says quietly. He gives Eddie one more glance and then bounces out of the house. Bounces. Child.

It takes a while for Eddie to move away from the door.

The house is quiet.

The house is lonely.

The house is empty.

Eddie’s empty.

Eddie’s lonely.

Eddie’s quiet.

Eddie’s phone is cradled in his hand.

The screen flashes and he knows he should answer, knows he should do something. Pick up? Speak to whoever it is?

Chris?

Buck?

Eddie closes his fist around it and drops it onto the floor.

It’s fine.

Eddie’s fine.

Eddie’s

                                fine, fine, fine.

“Eddie?”

Something bangs, a splinter of wood.

Eddie’s door, probably.

Did he lock it?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

“God, what—”

The voice is familiar. Cherished.

“Eddie, I need you to open your eyes.”

Why.

“Please. For me?”

Who.

“It’s Buck, Eddie. It’s me. Look at me. Please, look at me.”

It’s an effort to open an eye.

“That’s it.”

Buck looks—good. Panicked, desperate. Good.

Eddie doesn’t feel good. He doesn’t feel right.

“Buck,” he croaks.

“God, Eddie, you,” Buck looks over his shoulder. The bag is still by the door where he left it. “Chris called. He said you hadn’t called—you lied to me? About going to see him?”

Eddie doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Buck shakes him a little, fingers against his chin. “Eddie?”

“I miss him,” Eddie says, his voice breaking. “But I—I can’t let him see me, not like this.”

“It’s been two weeks.” Buck looks stricken. “Eddie, Eddie, tell me you haven’t been here alone for two weeks?”

Eddie can’t. It would be a lie and he doesn’t want to do that to Buck again.

“Eddie.” Buck’s face crumples, tears in his eyes. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You’re happy,” Eddie whispers. He touches Buck’s face. His hand is shaking. Why is it shaking? “I didn’t want to mess that up.”

“God,” Buck says again. Eddie should tell him he shouldn’t blaspheme, but then he’s being manhandled into a sitting position. Arms come around him. They’re strong, Buck’s strong.

Eddie opens his mouth.

Closes it.

“Buck,” he manages eventually. “I think there’s something wrong with me.”

Buck sobs, a hand coming to rest against the back of Eddie’s head. He’s cradled. Held. Loved. “I’m here, Eddie.”

Eddie breaks.

His feelings cascade, break, and he folds into Buck, buries his face in Buck’s shoulder and cries.

Buck holds him, protects him, whispers.

I’ve got you.

Let it out.

It will be alright.

Buck is watching him.

Eddie’s skin crawls. “Buck—”

“If you ever lie to me again,” Buck starts, cuts himself off.

“You remember that puzzle we did with Chris a few weekends ago?”

Frowning, Buck nods. “Yeah.”

“There were pieces missing,” Eddie says, staring down at his hands. They’re curled around his glass, but it feels like he’s not touching anything, like he’s not holding onto it at all. Maybe it will fall. He tries not to let it. “I feel like the missing pieces.”

Blowing out a breath, Buck looks down at his phone. He holds it out to Eddie. It says Frank and the betrayal is swift. Before Eddie can say anything, Buck says, “Eddie, take it,” and his voice is strong, unyielding.

“Okay,” Eddie says. “Okay.”

Eddie doesn’t know who he is without Chris.

He doesn’t want to learn, but he has to. Has to listen to Frank, to speak, to unwrap himself, to talk, to talk, to listen.

Buck is waiting in the parking lot, leaning against the car.

“You have a date with Tommy,” Eddie says slowly.

“Nope,” Buck says, standing straight. He looks happy, still, but the words coming out of his mouth; “I’m a free man.”

Eddie panics, feels something else cascade away from him.

Immediately, Buck is in his space. “Eddie, no, hey no.”

Hands on his face, thumbs against the curve of his cheeks. Buck’s eyes boring into his. “Buck.”

“Tommy and I, what we had was fun, good for me, but you, god Eddie, you’re everything to me.”

Everything.

Can he be everything when he doesn’t even know himself?

“Let’s go home,”  Buck says, “call Chris.”

Chris.

“Dad!” Chris is smiling, clutching he iPad and looking happy.

Is it Texas?

Being away from Eddie?

A hand rests on the back of his neck.

“Buck,” Chris says, just as enthusiastic. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, buddy,” Buck says, dropping into the seat next to Eddie. “Eddie?”

“Chris,” Eddie says, and feels something slide into place. He’s still a father, still here. “Are you having fun in Texas?”

Chris goes quiet, eyes dropping. “They said you were in hospital.”

Eddie closes his eyes. “Chris—”

“He was,” Buck says quietly. He’s done this before. Too many times. Eddie owes so much, so much, he can never be worthy of whatever brought Buck into his life. “But he’s home and I’m taking care of him.”

“Good,” Chris says decisively. “I want to see you smile, Dad, and mean it.”

Choked, Eddie doesn’t know what to say. The fingers on his neck stroke, soothe, and Eddie breathes. “I will, Chris. Promise.”

Chris beams. “I wanna come back home soon, Dad.”

“You will,” Eddie promises, because he may have broken, scattered, but slowly he’s piecing himself back together. “We’ll have a party when you get back.”

A cheer and Chris is off, talking about Texas and their family, and it washes over Eddie. He grounds himself; Buck’s hand, the steady cadence of his son’s voice, the house that feels comfortable in the moment.

Buck kisses him softly, cradles his head in his hands.

Eddie feels cherished.

Safe.

“Buck,” he says.

“Sweetheart,” Buck replies, like a benediction. “Let’s go get our son.”

Yes, Eddie’s heart sings. Yes, yes, yes.

.the end

i'm so emotional dlshfdsjfhkj.

ao3 link

[cypherscript]

In Bad Taste Part 2

"Four feet?!" The entirety of the league at the meeting is up on their feet. "Why so fast?"

"Do you have any pictures of the orb or the bodies? Were they dead," Batman asks as he pulls up the location of the League's hideout via a satellite trying to gain visual of what she was talking about.

"All but one. Why did you send Hood? I thought he was on your no go list."

"Hood's been getting better, he was the most logical one to infiltrate the League; he was already in good graces with them when Talia used the pits to bring him back. Being on my no go list made it seem like he was no longer associated with me. I have visual, why did they have the orb out in the middle of the courtyard?"

"I have some footage of the scene, they appeared to have been trying to cast some kind of spell to link the orb with other locations or maybe to expand its radius of effect. It's not completed," Zatanna places a device into a port on the table and pictures of a large magic circle surrounds the larger orb. The next few pictures were of the corpses lined up, some of the faces looking familiar to Bruce.

"So Ras is gone then, that's the man right there."

"So it appears," Zatanna agrees, switching the screen to one of the orb, with it being so big now details not seen are clear.

Superman looks at the picture closely, "Is it just me or does that look like a a bunch of stars?"

Batman says nothing as he runs the image through multiple star charting programs, "You're correct, Superman. I'm getting multiple confirmations; Perseus-Pisces, Pisces-Cetus, Ursa Major, the Centaurus Cluster, The Milky Way, Sto-Oa, Rao. It keeps going, it shows to be every star in our sky as well."

"Rao," Superman asks, looking for the familiar star by its formation. "How old is this thing?"

"We should contact Hal and the lanterns to let them know. This could be one of theirs or maybe the Guardians know what it is?"

"I'm sending the message now," Batman types away at the keypad, "While we wait for them I'm going to check on Hood."

"We'll come with you," Diana says as Bruce moves the files to his personal device.

"Do as you wish. Zatanna bring in Constantine, we may need his help."

***

The Justice League have arrived at the compound just thirty minutes later and it is swarming with more assassins and goons. Talia's there giving orders, "Remember! Squad D, do not go near the artifact! Everyone else is fine to approach, I want this circle destroyed post haste!"

Batman had snuck his way into their camp and put Talia in a hold, "Why are you here, Talia?"

"Br-" Batman tightens his hold painfully, "Batman, I suppose you're here for Jason?"

"Where is he?!"

"He's safe, you don't want to see him right now. He's back to the way he was when I first found him. It's not a pretty sight."

"Fine, what's with the orb then? You didn't answer my question, I know your father is dead, why are you here?"

"Same reason you are I suppose, I'm putting a stop to father's plans for this artifact. He planned on linking it with every Lazarus Pit on the planet, he believed this to be the heart of the god who made the pits and wished to bring it back. To bad for him he didn't know what I now know; it's not just the Lazarus waters it's absorbing, it's also draining the energy from those who have died and come back via other means. It hasn't killed anyone yet, just makes them unable to move until they're removed from its radius."

Batman releases her and taps his comms, "Batman reporting in, stay away from the compound."

Superman's comms respond, "I heard, I was able to pull myself back before I couldn't move. Felt like the life of me was being drained. Zatanna and Constantine seem to be fine, Wonder Woman says it feels like hades is staring into her soul from here."

"It feels like it's looking at me," Shazam pipes in.

"Noted, fill them in on what's going on. We need some league members who haven't been resurrected before. Let Talia's men destroy the circle then we can figure out a way to get it off the planet and away from the pits."

"Well aren't you the lucky lot," Hal's voice comes in over their comms, "Calvary's here. I can get it off planet for you."

______________________________________________

And there we go, part 2 like I promised. Also you were close @victoria-has-no-secret but it's ALL of the people who've been resurrected not just the pits. mwahahaha Now to get the tag list out of the way. hope I'm doing this right... As I was typing this up, it seemed like I made the Orb sound like an SCP... hmm, thoughts for future works.

@mnemovoid @may-rbi @cugzarui @ekatkit @farmercale @blackroserelina @justwannabecat @dragonborne-writer @aikoiya @chrysanthemum9484

[jungle-angel]

Master Of The Earth (Bob Floyd x Reader)

Summary: Out of all the Daggers, Bob has the biggest green thumb of all

Tagging: @floydsmuse @callmemana @attapullman @bradshawsbaby @withahappyrefrain

It was one of those spring days where you knew summer would be right around the corner, bright and sunny, the birds singing and the fresh early morning air making its way into the house. You had been sitting out on the front steps, enjoying your morning coffee and relieved that your lesson plans for your class's sixth grade year were finally done and that all you would have to worry about were the Greek Games and the spring fair at the school you taught at.

You heard the faint playing of music coming from somewhere around the corner, just having finished a phone call with Bob's grandfather and wondering if your mind was playing tricks on you.

You wandered around the back to the backyard where the garden was already beginning to bloom, noticing that the greenhouse door was cracked open just a little to let in the fresh air. A cheeky grin played with your lips when you heard the bluetooth speaker playing "Shambala" by Three Dog Night and your eyes laying upon Bob who was dancing shirtless as he shoveled some of the bagged soil into the clay pots on the long wooden table.

"BOB!!"

"Jeebus FUCK!!!" he blurted out, jumping a little.

"Have you been in here all morning?" you asked him.

"Since five in the AM," he chuckled, drawing you in for a tight hug.

Oooh he was warm, so warm and a little sticky from the greenhouse humidity, smelling of fresh dirt and wet leaves. You kissed the curve of his neck and the tops of his pecs before he gladly and eagerly returned the kisses you had been giving.

"Oh, I've gotta show you these," he said excitedly.

He gently guided you to the bench where a whole pile of seed packets were waiting to be opened. "Oh my God," you chuckled. "Did you raid the entire Home Depot garden section?"

Bob had opened his mouth to say something. "I......ya know......it's funny you should ask that....."

"Robert Joseph......"

"(Y/n) I swear half of it was my dad's idea, I'm not lying."

You laughed and rolled your eyes. Bob, his dad Joe Floyd and Joe's father, Lowell, were the only three people on the face of the earth who would have willingly raided a Home Depot garden section and not given a single fuck hereafter. "Alright Professor Floyd," you said. "Continue with the lecture."

"Ah ok," Bob said. "Now we have here an assortment of plants that will be first put into clay pots and then gradually into bigger ones until they are ready to root in the ground. Now if you would like to flip through the pile of seed packets, you may feel free to do so."

You laughed and gladly flipped through the pile of packets, amazed at what Bob had been able to get. Calendula, oregano, cayenne pepper, chamomile, poppies, lavender, rosemary, mint, marigolds, valerian and a whole host of other herbs and flora that you swore weren't even native to where you lived.

"Ooh, yarrow," you said.

"That was always Meemaw's favorite," Bob explained. "I've also got tulsi, catnip and mugwort too."

"What else did you plant?" you asked him.

"Maybe a peach tree," Bob said, blushing a little. "For my sweet, juicy little peach of course."

You giggled, the heat filling you from head to toe.

"I've also got a few bushes too," Bob continued. "Blackberry, elderberry, raspberry.......maybe a camellia bush. Black cohosh will help with mom's hot flashes and keep the pests away. Nasturtium will grow hardy but they need wood dowels to climb up. I'd like to see about some mullein and nettle but I'm not sure where we'd put it. Hawk said he would come by later and give me some white sage seeds that he extracted from his daughter's garden too."

You could have listen to him babble on for hours about the plants and the experiments he was trying. You made a mental note to introduce him to Mr. Jenkins, the high school science teacher who was teaching his ninth graders some of the principals and techniques involved in holistic farming, as the two of them would have a day long conversation.

You and Bob set to planting the seeds, scooping the dirt and putting it into the pots along with the seeds and properly burying them just enough so they could push through to the surface when the time came. You watered and fertilized as you saw fit, taking pictures of new sprouts or buds and adding them into Bob's journal full of his drawings, writings and observations. You both had lost track of the time until you realized it was already noon and time for lunch. But thankfully, the day wasn't over yet and you could do as much more planting as the day would allow.

[thatlovinfeelin]

Half a Heart - One - Jake Hangman Seresin

Blaire Montgomery moved away from all she ever knew at eighteen to conceal a secret. Now nearly fourteen years later, her secret is finally out of the bag when her and her thirteen year old daughter, Lucy, quite literally run into Jake Seresin, young Lucy's father. All three lives are forever changed due to one fateful encounter, and two hearts are once again made whole.

Blaire Montgomery walked along the street, hand in hand with her daughter, laughing at a joke that the young teenager just told. Together, they made their way across the board walk of Virginia Beach, towards their intended lunch destination. 

“Mama, just once, you really should try it.”

“Nope, not going to happen Lulu.”

The younger girl, Lucy or Lulu, just frowned, but continued walking alongside her mother. They were best friends, maybe something stronger than that. Blaire was just a child herself, not even nineteen when she had Lucy. They grew up together, making their bond stronger than anyone could ever really understand. 

Lucy didn’t know who her father was, and probably never would. Blaire was counting on never seeing the man again. Which seemed funny, considering they lived in a military dominated area. But she never imagined that the man would be stationed here. 

She was eighteen when she found out she was pregnant, just after graduation. There was no way she could tell the father, not when he was planning on being so much more than just the small town boy he was. She didn’t want to hold him back, she couldn’t be the reason he never saw his dreams come true. So she lied to him and broke up with him. Blaire even went as far as moving shortly after, so he would never know. 

Her own family didn’t know who fathered her beautiful little girl, though she was sure they had their ideas. She would never confirm or deny them, only changing the subject whenever they asked. It helped that she hadn’t heard from him in nearly fourteen years too.

She grew up, she moved on. Going on a few casual dates here and there, but never anything serious. It was hard to be serious with someone when she had Lulu to look after. Even now that she was old enough to be left home alone and take care of herself, it was hard. Blaire couldn’t really think about bringing any man home who wasn’t the man she gave her heart to all of those years ago. 

Because the truth was, she might have broken up with him, but she never really got her whole heart back. 

“I’m staaaaarrrrvinnnggg,” Lulu said, dramatically dragging out the word. 

“Which is why we’re going to get lunch before we keep shopping,” Blaire reminded her daughter, “C’mon, just a few more minutes.”

“I’m going to die before we get there,” Lulu whined, “Die of starvation. Wither away to nothing right in front of you.”

“God, how did you get so dramatic?” Blaire questioned, “I swear I was never this bad when I was your age.”

They rounded the corner, restaurant now in sight and Lulu let out a loud sigh and tugged her mother along faster. They were seated almost instantly, making Lucy extremely happy. They ordered appetizers and fell into a comfortable conversation about school. 

Lucy was in middle school now, which seemed almost impossible to Blaire. It was hard for her to realize that her daughter was growing into a fine young woman and was almost an adult of sorts. 

“So Liam Mackey tried to ask me out yesterday,” Lulu said, taking a bite of a mozzarella stick. 

Blaire had to keep herself from choking on her water, “Oh really? What did you say?”

She was hoping her daughter said no. She wasn’t ready to deal with dating yet. Middle school drama was one thing, but boyfriends and heartbreaks were something else entirely and Blaire might just have a heart attack if she had to navigate that part of parenting right now. 

“I told him no, obviously,” Lulu rolled her eyes, “He asked out Marlee Parks two days ago, I’m not some sloppy second choice.”

Letting out a deep breath, Blaire reached for her water again and took a large gulp, “Well…good for you for knowing your worth.”

“Liar. You’re thrilled you don’t have to deal with me having a boyfriend yet,” Lucy teased. 

“You’re right,” She sighed, “So no dating till you’re thirty, okay?”

“What about you? You’re like thirty and you aren’t going on dates.”

“Okay don’t make me ground you.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Lucy countered, sticking out her tongue.

Blaire sighed again, knowing her daughter was right. She wouldn’t ground her. Blaire wasn’t one to ground or really punish her daughter at all. Not to say that she didn’t when she had to. But she hated every minute of it. 

When their food came, Lucy wasted no time digging in and eating every bite she could. Blaire almost had to laugh. Her daughter loved food, so much it was almost comical in fact. She was like her father in that regard, the man could eat like no one else. No one except maybe his daughter. 

“We’re still going shopping, right?” She questioned. 

“Yes, we’ll go shopping after lunch,” Blaire laughed.

“Good,” Lulu smiled before taking another bite. 

“Slow down before you choke, honey.”

Lulu made a face and continued to wolf down her food. Blaire couldn’t do anything but laugh at her little girl. Her sweet daughter. It was hard for her to come to terms with the fact that soon enough she would start really asking questions about her father. 

So far she’d been able to dodge any question Lucy asked about him. Somehow, it had been easy to lie to her. But Blaire knew that time would soon be over, and she would have to tell her daughter the truth sooner or later. Which meant finding him and telling him the truth too. 

They both deserved to know. Blaire knew that. But the thought of them knowing made her chest hurt. She couldn’t imagine the look on his face when he found out, she didn’t want to imagine it really. But she knew that time was running out. 

“C’mon kiddo,” Blaire said, putting money down on the table, “Let’s get going.”

They were hand in hand again on their way out, when Blaire ran into a strong body. She stumbled back. The man in front of her reached out, catching her arms to steady her for a moment. 

“Mom, you okay?” Lucy grabbed ahold of her mom too. 

“I’m fine honey,” Blaire replied, giving her daughter a small smile. 

“Blaire?” The man questioned, eyes widening. 

His head spun, the little girl, who wasn’t so little, called her mom. Which meant if this was Blaire, she had a daughter. A teenager by the look of it. He swallowed hard. He knew those eyes, because they were his own. 

“Holy shit.”

“Mom?” Lucy questioned before looking between her mom and the man. 

She saw it then, the way her eyes matched his. How they had the same cock to their head. Lucy was a smart girl, maybe too smart for her own good. She could see it in the way her mother looked between her and the man. In the way her mom held onto her hand even tighter. Lucy couldn’t help it, she was staring into the eyes of her father, and it seemed like he didn’t quite know it himself. 

“Holy fuckin shit,” Lucy mumbled. 

“Lucielle Grace!” Blaire hissed. 

But then it was his turn, staring into the face of the girl who looked just like him, and the woman he loved more than life itself, “Holy shit.”

That made three. Mother, Father, and daughter, all stunned to be in one another’s presence at long last.

In a panic, the second she heard the man speak her name, sounding so broken and shocked, she grabbed her daughter and pulled her out of the restaurant, not stopping to look back.

He followed them of course, forgetting the lunch date he had. He would apologize to his old friend later. This was more important, this was Blaire. His Blaire. The one girl he could never get out of his head. The one that he still carried a photo of whenever he flew. Because she was his, even if she broke his heart almost fourteen years ago.

"Blaire!" He called, trying to catch up with her.

She slowed when she saw her car come into view. He would catch them there and then there would be no more running away. She licked her lips and stopped, grabbing her daughter's other hand.

"I need you to go wait in the car," She told Lulu, not looking away from her green eyes.

"Mom who is that guy?" Lucy was worried that he was some creep, here to try to hurt her mom.

Maybe he was one of the Tinder dates gone wrong. The ones that Blaire always seemed to be too quiet after she came home from them. Or maybe he was one of the good dates that Blaire blew off because of Lucy, because she was too scared to bring anyone else into their lives.

"Please Lu, go wait in the car," Blaire begged, "It's okay, I promise."

The man was getting closer, almost reaching them when Lucy finally agreed and made her way to the older 4runner parked in a far space under a tree.

Blaire only had a moment before he was on her, grabbing her shoulder to gently turn her around. She didn't force herself to look up at him, knowing she wouldn't be able to handle the look in his eyes when she did.

He was always much smarter than he liked to let on, he had to have put the pieces together. He had to know that he was just staring into the face of his daughter.

God...his daughter. Even thinking it made Blaire shiver. This was never supposed to happen. That's why she moved to Virginia, far enough away from Annapolis or Texas.

"It's you," He breathed out, holding her at arm's length, "God, Blaire, it's really you."

She keeps her eyes tightly closed, too afraid to open them. She want to look at him though, she's aching to see the man he's become. How much he's changed from the boy she once knew. But she still can't bring herself. She can't even speak.

"Say something, please," he begs her, bending down to try to catch her eye.

"Jake," She breathes out, almost like a sigh. It cuts him to the bone to hear her say his name again.

"Who was the girl?" He asks, even though he somehow already knows exactly who she was.

Her eyes open now, looking up to meet the same green eyes that her daughter has. His brows were furrowed in the exact same way, just like the way he was cocking his head to the side. They were so alike and yet they never officially met.

She swallowed the thick lump growing in her throat, "That was my daughter."

He breathes out, like he'd been kicked square in the gut, "She had my eyes."

That's all he could think to say. Because every time he blinked he kept seeing her looking up at him with the eyes that mirrored his own. The same way he had his mother's eyes, and she had her mother's eyes. There was no denying there was some semblance between the two.

"Jake-"

"Blaire," he said urgently, "She had my eyes."

"I don't-"

"How old is she?" He asks, taking a step forward.

"Thirteen," Blaire nearly winces as she says it.

He does the math in his head. It'd been nearly fourteen years since they last saw one another. She broke up with him out of the blue and moved away weeks later, never to be heard from by any of the Seresins again. Now here she is with a thirteen year old who looked just like her, aside from small little details. Like how she had freckles dotting her nose, just like Jake and his sister's had when they were younger.

"Is she mine?" He asks her, almost afraid of the answer.

"Jake, please," She begs so quietly.

"Blaire, is she mine?" He asks again.

She licks her dry lips and tried to gather the courage. This was never meant to happen. She was never supposed to see him again, and he was never supposed to know about having a child. Jake Seresin was supposed to go about his life without her tying him down with a little girl. But it seemed like fate had other ideas

"Yes."

[darkscrossfire]

𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 Part two

Pairing: Obsessive!James Valdez x reader

Warnings: Death, possibly graphic mentions of death, betrayal, hints to blackmail.

Notes: I have so much determination to complete this fic. The support so far has been awesome. I’ve finally finished exams so i’m going to try my best to update as often as I can! :D

-> Previous part <-

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“We’re gathered here to honor the life that was Fernando Hernandez, a son, a father and a grandfather to those who loved him dearly. On this day of mourning, we recognize all that he has accomplished in the life that was taken away from him as not by order of God.”

Everyone around me seemed to be weeping as we all sat in the pews of the church, the pastor stood at the front with a bible in his grasp. Usually I would be sitting with tears streaming down my face, yet my skin remained dry. I couldn’t muster a single teardrop even though my body felt like it was soiling from deep within me.

James’ figure was sat next to mine, his knee occasionally brushing against mine. I had no energy to move, my eyes planted on the back of one of my distant cousins heads. I paid no attention to the pastor, my head empty as I found myself in a statuesque state. My lack of tears was likely strange, but everyone else was too focused on their own pain to notice.

I could feel James’ gaze turn to the side of my face. His expression was stoic, his job to ensure that no cartel related activities took place at the funeral. I knew that nothing would happen, but uttering that thought would make me incredibly suspicious, so instead I decided to keep quiet. My silence ensured that James stayed by my side, a supporting presence I desperately needed.

My hands were limply folded in my lap. If I could move, I would have been picking at the skin around my fingers. That action alone would have alerted James that something else was going on, that there was a secondary worry plaguing my brain. The pastors words fell as incoherent mumbles to my ears.

James eyes scanned my face for a moment, his eyebrows softly furrowing in a sympathetic action. It was not often that he showed such a soft emotion in public, not wanting to appear weak in front of anyone. Enemies were everywhere, eyes planted in the places you least expect.

My cold hand was suddenly enveloped in warmth. This sensation broke my frozen state and allowed me to glance down at the source, James’ hand interlacing with mine.

I stared down at our hands for a moment, his larger one keeping a comforting hold on mine. His gaze followed mine down to our hands. The sight sent a strange tingle through my chest, the first spark of positivity I had felt since the fire. James was good at bringing fear into those he aimed for, but he was also good at conjuring calm and peace. Every panic attack that he has soothed over the years confirmed that.

I met his gaze, his expression not changing and remaining almost blank. His eyebrows lightly furrowed, the movement so barely noticeable that if I hadn’t been face to face with him like this, it would have been overlooked. He gently squeezed my hand, and I couldn’t help but squeeze it back in return.

He slowly leaned forward, my figure stilling as his breath tickled my ear. He whispered. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

He slowly pulled away, my gaze still intently on his. On the surface, his words meant that everything would be alright and that I would heal from my grandfathers passing, yet something was evident beneath. The intensity in his gaze spoke other words. Almost as if he knew.

He couldn’t have. No one knew. If they did, I would be dead right now. If James knew then others would have known, there was a slim chance that only James knew. Information like that doesn’t stay in one person, it gets around quickly, faster than you can process.

He pulled his gaze away from me, staring forward again towards the funeral officiant, his gaze now hard once more and the softness that he given me faded away. His hand did not leave mine, still keeping a hold and every now and then delivering a soft squeeze. The feel of thumb drawing soft circles against the back of my hand brought my heart to a steady beat.

I glanced to my side, feeling eyes on me and immediately caught gazes with my mother who seemed to already be staring at me, her figure sat in the pew next to mine with my aunt at her side. My aunt Ana’s posture was hunched as she softly sobbed into her hand, her eyes pressed shut. My heart felt like it was tearing apart at the sight.

I directed my attention back to my mother. Her expression was soft, a light smile covering her features as if trying to comfort me. Yet the tears adorning her eyes and the sadness threatening to burst through at any moment told me that she herself was trying not to break.

I returned the soft smile and for the first time, warm tears spilt down my cheeks. They were not tears of loss but rather tears of guilt. My mother was staring right at the person responsible for this tragedy and she had no idea. A part of me contemplated whether I should just admit what I had done, allow my mother to receive the justice she desperately wanted.

My mother softly patted the spot next to her invitingly. My eyebrows softly furrowed and I glanced down at James and I’s hands as I was left with a choice. James’ eyes met mine once more and he gave a soft almost smile.

“Go sit with your mother.” He whispered, giving my hand one last comforting squeeze.

I hesitantly pulled my hand from his grasp, quietly moving from our pew and over onto the one my mother and aunt were at at. I slid in next to my mother, her arm immediately wrapping around my shoulder and allowing me to fit snugly next to her.

My hand still felt the warmth of James’. I found myself longing for it, as if the action of his holding mine was the most comfort I had received since all the tragedy happened. Even in the embrace of my mother, I felt cold. My entire body felt rigid once more and I felt myself in a constant state of inner discomfort for what I had done.

I looked back over at James but found that his attention was no longer on me. I found myself disappointed, wishing that I could have found that familiar comfort in his gaze once more. I forced myself to look back over at the funeral officiate, his words finally no longer falling into incoherent mumbles.

“Before we end in prayer, Miguel Hernandez, loving brother of Fernando, would like to say a few words of appreciation.” The funeral officiate spoke, moving away from the podium to let Miguel take his place.

Once the service was over, we all headed out towards where the coffin would be lowered. It felt surreal, watching the coffin be moved towards it, knowing that my grandfather was inside. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sight at I watched it being lowered into the ground, the last time I would ever see it.

My mother figure was still at my side, soft sobs falling from her lips as she tried to remain composed but desperately failed. I don’t know why she would want to remain composed at the funeral of her father, she’s allowed to mourn. It’s probably something to do with the cartel and needing to appear almost untouchable at every moment.

My eyes caught James. He was adorned in a neat black tie suit, his hair styled upon his head. He wore a stoic expression, definitely following that cartel expectation. From the outside he was a very intimidating person, someone you’d expect to be able to kill you in an instant, and he definitely could.

I was glad to know more than what lay beyond the surface. I knew the softness that was inside that he chose to only show a select few people. I’m lucky enough to be one of those people. I didn’t understand why he decided to let me in, to see the him beyond the mercenary exterior, but I didn’t question it.

His eyes met mine and that softness covered his exterior, yet it felt more noticeable as he did not care if the other saw his moment of vulnerability.

“You feel guilty, don’t you?” He suddenly spoke out into the air.

My eyebrows furrowed as a sense of panic washed over me. What was he doing?

I quickly glanced around at the rest of my family members, to my mother at my side, but they all seemed entirely focused on the casket as if James’ voice had not sliced through the silence. His accusation made my heart start to thump in my chest.

“Everywhere you go… people die.” He spoken once more. “You wonder if you should just join your grandfather, save your family the risk of anymore destruction.”

My eyes widened and I felt myself in a state of shock. My lips parted for a moment before I was able to utter a meek, “James..” My voice hesitant and desperate as I took a small almost defensive step towards him.

“Luckily I have a soft spot for you, and I can make all of this go away.” He uttered, taking a slow step towards me.

I took another cautious step towards him, as if trying to barrier him from everyone. “James, what are you doing?” I quickly uttered out, glancing behind me at my family members but finding them still hyper focused on the casket in the ground, their minds appearing absent.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, glancing back at James as I searched for answers in his deep brown eyes. He just held my gaze, taking another step towards me so that he was now right before me.

“I can save you from this.. from them. I can stop them from ripping you apart the moment they’ve found out what you’ve done.” He spoke in a low voice.

“I.. I didn’t do anything.” I whispered, warm tears filling my eyes which were a sign of my guilt.

“Don’t play dumb.” He warned. “You’re not built for this world and I won’t let them take you out of it. They say they love you but what they’ll do to you the moment they connect that lighter back to you will be a moment that’s filled with anything but love.”

I found myself unsure of what to say for a moment, not quite knowing what he was saying or what his intentions were. My eyebrows softly furrowed as whispered. “I don’t understand.”

A soft, almost taunting chuckle left him as he reached behind his back, his movements slow as if he knew that it was killing me in anticipation. The worst kind of anticipation. His attention shifted from me to the figure behind me, my mother, who’s attention was still entirely focused on the casket. Her body seemed stiff, and so did the rest of my family members.

“Maria.” He called out to her. Her attention finally turned towards us, a soft gloomy smile on her face.

Before she could speak, the deafening sound of a gunshot rang through the air and her figure fell to the floor with a thud. No one moved, no one reacted, except for me. 

A gasp of horror left my lips, my limbs now frozen in fear at the sight of my mothers lifeless body and the dark crimson wound in the middle of her forehead. Her eyes stared up at the sky, empty and now devoid of any emotion. Blood slowly trickled from the wound and down the side of her face.

I stared back at James in horror, unable to utter anything as my entire face read the expression of trying to figure out why he would do this.

“You shouldn’t have taken what wasn’t yours.” He uttered.

I shook my head in desperation as another sob left my lips. I wanted him to stop talking.

“You shouldn’t have disobeyed your grandfather… now look what you’ve done.”

His eyes moved to stare behind me and I slowly let my gaze follow his. The moment my eyes landed on what his were focused on, another sob filled gasp left my throat and my figure threatened to fall to the floor as my entire body became filled with an aching weakness.

My entire family lay slaughtered before me. Their bodies scattered across the grass, crimson soaking the dirt around them. They had received the same fate my mother had, shown no mercy by the sniper. Their soulless eyes stared at the grey, cloud filled sky.

This isn’t real.

This isn’t real.

Please don’t let it be real.

I woke with a burning gasp, my throat dry and my skin covered in a chilling cold sweat. My body ached as if it had been tensing for hours. My hands gripped the sheets as I tried to come clear of my surroundings, my eyes adjusting to the darkness that filled my room.

The one hour of sleep I had managed to get was filled with the mixture of a memory and a nightmare, the real aspect of it all distorted by the fear that had filled my brain. My grandfathers funeral had been far less eventful.

My heart was pounding in my chest, it thrumming in my ears as I glanced around my room expecting to see something responsible for the panic that filled my brain. My room was completely empty, the only sound being my own rapid breathing and the crickets softly chirping outside.

I slowly let my breathing come to a calm as I became aware that it was all a dream. I yearned for the memory of last night to be a dream, but I knew it wasn’t. My heart began to slowly pound in my chest once more as a sense of panic washed over me.

Mom.

Before I could think anything else, I was throwing the covers off my legs and quickly swinging off the bed and stepping onto the floor. My feet quietly thumped against the floor as I pressed my door open, my figure heading straight for my mothers room with a fear filled determination.

My brain was immediately assuming the worst, expecting to see the last remnants of my mother the moment I opened her bedroom door. My chest ached, warm tears filling my eyes and creating a blur in my vision. I could not help but feel that my dream was some sort of warning.

The sight of her open bedroom door made my steps come to a slow, taking in a soft breath as I prepared myself for the potential sight that lay before me. My hand reached out and pushed her bedroom door further open, my head reluctantly peaking inside to look upon-

An empty room with a neatly made bed.

I furrowed my brows in confusion as a momentary sense of relief washed over me. My brain refused to believe that she hadn’t been hurt in the process of James’ ridding of my uncle Jose. My feet hurried towards the stairs, grasping onto the railing as I hurried downstairs.

“Mom?” I called out, my voice struggling to come out as my throat felt like it was constricting.

The sound of quiet conversation emanating from the kitchen made my footsteps come to a slow, my eyebrows furrowing deeper as I neared the kitchen. I first spotted my aunt Ana’s figure leaned against the kitchen counter, her eyes lighting as she spotted me.

She let out a loud noise that was hard to understand what the source was, her figure hurrying to mine as her arms completely enveloped my body, pulling me into a bone crushing hug. My mind immediately assumed that she knew what happened to Uncle Jose, interpreting the sound she made as one of distress.

“I can’t believe it.” She uttered as she gave me a gentle squeeze.

I couldn’t help the warm tears that filled my eyes at her words. Did they know? Why were they so calm? I couldn’t understand what was happening and glanced over Aunt Ana’s shoulder at my mother who was staring at me with a smile reflecting that of pride?

Her figure was sat at the dining table, a magazine open in her hand before she slowly set it down, moving to stand from the table. My heart began to slowly pound in my chest again, my hands barely returning the right hug that my aunt was delivering. I stared at my mother with a blurry vision.

“Is everything okay?” I barely whispered.

My aunt let out another noise which I could now tell was not one of distress but one of excitement. She mumbled against my shoulder as she spoke, a sense of heartbreak to her voice. “My babygirl’s all grown up now.”

A strange sense of relief washed over me. They didn’t know. A part of me wanted to keep it that way, to keep the peace for my own sanity. My hands softly clenched the material of her shirt as I gentle nuzzled into her shoulder, finding a sense of comfort. I blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. I couldn’t decide what to do.

Aunt Ana pulled away, her face changing into one of concern as she noticed the light state of distress evident across my face. She titled her head in an quizzical manner. “What’s wrong?” She softly asked, her eyebrows lightly furrowing.

I glanced behind her, trying to find some semblance of proof that Uncle Jose was still alive. If he were, he would be down here with us right now. My chest tightened and I whispered. “Where’s Uncle Jose?”

Her expression deepened as sorrow covered her features, her hand lightly rubbing my arm in a soothing manner.

“Oh, i’m sorry. Uncle Jose couldn’t stay. Business in Seattle pulled him away early this morning. I tried my best to get him to stay but he turned his phone off the moment I did. He promised we would be here for you today.” Aunt Ana softly frowned.

He’s not in Seattle, he’s dead.

I couldn’t utter those words, I couldn’t tell her. How was I supposed to tell them that I had witnessed James murder Uncle Jose after he admitted to not caring to spare me once evidence of the fire was connected to me. My eyes struggled to meet Aunt Ana’s, unable to look her in the eyes knowing the horrifying truth.

A sense of confusion washed over me as I recalled her words, my eyebrows lightly furrowing as I uttered. “Be here for me?..”

She let out a soft chuckle, titling her head once more in amusement as she lightly squeezed my bicep in a teasing manner. “Just turned twenty-one and the dementia is already kicking in. You’re not that old, honey.”

My birthday. It’s my birthday.

I swallowed the burning lump in my throat, softly nodding as I tried to pretend that I hadn’t forgotten my own birthday due to the haunting memory of last night. “Right, my party. Sorry.”

My aunt dismissed my forgetfulness with a soft wave of the hand, turning to keep one arm wrapped around my shoulder as she faced my mother, a prideful smile across her face. “There’s pancakes on the counter, the ones you like. Your mom made them.”

My mother gave a soft smile, moving from her place at the table to replace my aunt at my side, placing a kiss to the top of my head. “Happy Birthday, mija.”

I met her gaze but failed to return the smile, only able to utter a meek whisper. “Thank you.”

My mother had never been the overly affectionate type. The only time she had truly shown any affection towards me in front of other was at my grandfathers funeral. When she pulled me to her side, it was a comfort I had not felt very often. Arguably, I had received more comforting affection from James in moments where she should have been the one comforting me.

I guessed that she just wasn’t very sure of how to comfort her own daughter. My grandfather wasn’t a very affectionate person, and as his own daughter it didn’t seem like she received the affection she should have.

She gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving the kitchen, leaving me to wander towards where the pancakes were. I wasn’t sure if I could stomach anything, but I still piled three onto a plate and moved towards the dining table.

My gaze seemed to be stuck at the world outside as I glanced through the large windows. I wanted to think of something, to place logic into what I had seen last night. My brain was yearning for it to have just been some kind of late night hallucination, but I knew it wasn’t. One side of me was angry at James for murdering my uncle, but the other side viewed him as a kind of savior.

He killed my uncle before the possibility of either one of us getting the blame for the fire could happen. Was it to save his own skin, or me?

My body stilled the moment the sound of familiar footsteps filled the air, sourcing from near his bedroom before heading down the stairs and towards the dining area. My entire body seemed to grow stiff before I began to shovel slices of the pancakes into my mouth as a way of busying myself so that I didn’t have to face him.

I could hear him enter the kitchen just opposite the dining area. Normally, he would have greeted me the moment he saw me, but today he was still. His eerie quietness did not help the thrumming of my heart inside my chest.

He flicked the coffe machine on, it beginning to softly rumble as the water heated up. There was the sound of his feet moving as he grabbed a mug from the cabinet, placing it on the counter before placing coffee inside. I found myself hyper aware of his every moment, yet keeping my eyes focused on my plate and the way my hand shook as I brought another forkful to my mouth.

After stirring his coffee, he let the teaspoon clatter in the sink before moving towards the dining table. My entire body went rigid, my head almost ducking down as if to try and cower out of sight. The air was thick, we both knew and yet we both did not dare to speak.

The chair across from me screeched as he pulled it out, placing his mug down before taking a seat. I hesitated for meeting his gaze. The moment our gazes connected, my stomach flipped. His demeanor was calm and collected, as if nothing was wrong. He offered a soft smile, one I tried to return but failed to.

I barely managed to stomach the breakfast my mother had made, not wanting to offend her by not eating it. I tried my best to remain calm and composed, but James’ gaze which seemed to burn holes into my being made my stomach churn. Every time I shoveled a fork full into my mouth, I found myself waiting for him to say something as he waited for me to say something.

I couldn’t say anything, no matter how much I wanted to. Every time the thought of speaking out about what I had seen last night crossed my thoughts, my body seemed to stiffen in a grave state of discomfort. My body would momentarily still before I would quickly try and regain my movement, wanting to avoid looking suspicious.

“You look tired.” James uttered to the air. “Did you not sleep well last night?” His head was tilted in an almost interrogating manner, he knew why and yet he wanted to hear me say it.

My body involuntarily stilled once more. I glanced over at him for a moment, my chest tightening. I softly shrugged, staring down at my plate as I softly spoke. “I’m fine.”

He let out a soft hum, moving his attention to the window outside. He brought his mug to his mouth, taking a soft sip before placing it down again, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. I couldn’t help but stare at him. The dream I had last night had intensified the feeling that was already stirring within my stomach.

“There’s going to be a lot of people tonight.” He uttered.

I didn’t speak for a moment, just giving a soft nod.

“A lot of people who care for you.” He met my gaze, his fingers lightly trailing over the handle of the mug before him. “You excited?”

I hesitated for a moment, possibly too long of a moment to go unnoticed before softly nodding once more. My voice felt stuck in my throat. I couldn’t bare to sit before him like this, to pretend that everything was normal. It wasn’t, at any moment the world was going to crumble.

“I’m gonna.. go get dressed.” I uttered, grabbing my plate to quickly stand, pushing my chair in before moving to place my plate in the sink. Somehow, I had managed to finish the pancakes, filling every moment of silence with the sound of chewing.

I exited the kitchen in a possibly suspicious speed, not caring if he stared as I left. I just needed distance. I needed time to figure this out. It was still quite a few hours until I needed to get ready for the party. Guilt burned in my stomach with every moment that I kept what I saw to myself.

I managed to hide away in my room without any interruptions or possible suspicion until it was time for me to get ready. My mother and I had gone shopping for the dress I was going to wear a few days prior. I had been so excited to wear it, but tonight it just felt wrong. It felt wrong knowing i’d go out to my birthday venue, face all my family and friends and not say anything.

I slipped on the dress, pairing it with a pair of small heels to ensure that my feet wouldn’t get too sore throughout the night. I planned to spend the night dancing away all of my problems with as much alcohol in my system as I could take without getting absolutely sick.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror of my dressing table. James had been right, I did look tired. My mother and aunt were apparently too excited about tonight to notice. His hyper focus on me was the reason he noticed, assessing me for any sign that I might give him up and tell the truth about what happened.

I gently applied the rest of my mascara, completing the look. I managed to hide the circles under my eyes and the dullness to my gaze with an eye look that complimented my features. I softly set the mascara down on the dresser and took in a soft breath as if to prepare myself.

Before I could stand, a soft knock was at my bedroom door. My eyebrows softly furrowed before I uttered, “Yes?”

The door opened with a quiet creek and my entire body seemed to grow stiff once more as James stepped inside of my room, not speaking a word as he closed the door behind him, leaving us alone in the confines of my room. My heart seemed to slowly begin to pound in my chest.

“Yes?” I whispered out, asking what it was that brought him here, watching him through the reflection of the mirror.

He held my gaze for a moment before taking a slow step forwards.

“Your mother would like to leave soon, just so that we can do last minute preparations at the venue.”

I nodded and softly spoke. “Okay.”

I expected him to leave after those words but he didn’t. Instead he just stood there for a moment, holding my gaze as it appeared he had a lasting thought on his mind. He took another slow step forward.

“I know i’m supposed to give you your gift at the party, but I just wanted to give you something before.” He stated.

I didn’t say anything, just simply watching him as I waited for him to continue. My mind was curious to what it was that he wanted to give me.

I watched as he slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket. My mind immediately began assuming the worst, that the gift he was going to give me was a bullet to the head on the night of my birthday. I watched with cautious eyes at his hand and almost let out a sigh of relief at the sight of a small black box in his fingertips.

“I had this made for you.” He softly spoke.

My eyebrows lightly furrowed at his words, as if surprised that he would do something so kind. I had always seen him as kind, even as I saw him do horrific things to those who apposed my mother.

He pulled the lid off of the black box and set it down on the dresser before me. He pulled a glistening gold necklace out of the box, the chain delicate. I watched through the reflection as he stepped towards me, bringing his arm around to join the necklace around my neck.

The chain was cold against my burning skin, all too aware of his presence behind me, the way his fingers brushed against my skin as he clasped it closed. His hands didn’t retreat, instead moving to rest on my shoulders, his palms resting against my skin as he gave it a gentle squeeze. His eyes met mine in the reflection of the mirror.

“Happy Birthday, Y/n.” He softly uttered.

He had to have seen the terror that lay underneath my expression. The way my eyes were a little too wide, my expression a little too narrowed, yet he didn’t say anything. He just held my gaze. He remained calm and collected far better than I did, clearly having had done this more than once.

I shifted my attention to the necklace, holding the pendant between my fingertips as I brought it up to study it. There was the image of an greek statue surrounded by litters of flowers. The woman depicted in the pendant held one hand to her chest, the other at her side as he cast her gaze aside. It was a beautiful necklace.

“Persephone.” He suddenly spoke.

I met his gaze in the mirror, confused.

“The woman in the pendant. It’s Persephone. The goddess of growth, fertility and love.”

I shifted my gaze to the pendant once more. His statement made the necklace seem even more beautiful. For a moment I seemed to forget what I had seen in the night before and I was back with the same James I knew before.

My eyebrows furrowed as I remembered his prior words. I had this made for you.

Had I reminded him of Persephone? I knew little of the tales of her and the other Greek gods and goddesses. The face of the woman in the pendant was almost reflective of mine but it was too small to truly tell. Her features became vague with the size of her.

His figure shifted, his hands moving to rest on the chair as his head leaned downwards. His breath was warm against my ear and his eyes held an almost terrifying intensity.

“Tonight, all eyes are going to be on you.”

Those words hung in the air for a moment as he took a small step backwards, his eyes trained on me before he turned away and took slow strides out of the room. I couldn’t tell if those words were just an utterance of mere fact.. or a warning not to try anything stupid like tell my mother what I had seen.

The memory of the nightmare I had last night flickered in my mind and I couldn’t help but picture the entirety of the guests tonight slaughtered at his precise hand for the utterance of a confession. My chest tightened and my eyes began to pool with warmth. I blinked the tears away, letting my head hang as I took in a slow breath.

I clenched the pendant in my hand, holding it tight. I wanted to rip the necklace off and discard it, but I couldn’t find the strength to do so. My hand shook, my lip trembling as my eyes pressed shut. I couldn’t let him ruin this for me. I had dreamt about this night for so long.

Breath.

Just breathe.

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[canirove]

Rice, Rice, baby | Chapter 28

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Masterlist

“And what did you say people call this?” my mum asks.

“Babymoon. It's like a honeymoon but for parents, and it is a trip where you get to relax and spend some time alone before the baby comes” I explain.

“Then why are you going with Kennedy? I'm sure she went with James to hers.”

“Because I have no one else to go with and she is the one gifting me this trip.”

“What about Alex?”

“Mum” I sigh. “How many times do I have to tell you that I want nothing from Alex? That I'm done with him after everything he's done?”

“But Olivia, he is your baby's father!”

“No!” I yell. “He…”

“Everything ok, darling?” my dad says, suddenly showing up at my room's door and interrupting me before I say something that I shouldn't. “James is downstairs waiting for you.”

“Thank you, dad. Would you mind carrying my luggage?”

“Of course, darling” he smiles, looking at my mum before leaving.

“Olivia…” she says behind me. “Whatever has happened, you know you can tell me, right? That you can trust me.”

“I know, mum.”

“Then why don't you tell me?”

“Because it is… complicated. And I don't have time to explain it right now.”

“What if we have a date just the two of us when you come back, uh? We can go shopping, have lunch… Whatever you are in the mood for. But in one condition” she says. “That you must tell me what is going on.”

“I… Ok, mum.”

“Thank you, Olivia” she says before hugging me. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“What took you so long?” Declan says while Madders helps me get out of the car.

“Traffic, bro” he says. Because my babymoon isn't with Kennedy as my parents think. It's with Declan.

He had suggested the idea after Aaron had told him that he and Georgina had had one and really enjoyed it, and since he was suspended due to yellow cards, he organized us a little trip to the countryside to one of those super posh and super private hotels where famous people go to not get bothered.

“You could have texted me or something.”

“Sorry” I smile. “We got a bit carried away with our singing contest.”

“Oh, so that's why those black clouds were following you, uh?” Declan smirks.

“At least we don't sing “Rice, Rice, baby” in front of the whole country and make a fool of ourselves.”

“Oh, that's low, Liv” he laughs. 

“Oh my God!” Madders suddenly says. “How have I been so stupid?”

“What?” Declan and I say, looking at him.

“Rice, Rice, baby! The nickname was right there in front of me and I didn't use it!”

“The… what are you talking about, James?” I ask him.

“The baby's nickname, Liv! We could have been calling him Rice, Rice, baby and singing the song and we've basically missed the chance!”

“Thank God.”

“So rude, Olivia. So rude” Declan laughs again. “But maybe it was for the better, so don't start now, Madders.”

“But…”

“No” I say, threatening him with my finger. “Now if you'll excuse me, our babymoon awaits.”

“Yes, of course, of course. Enjoy” he winks, making me roll my eyes. “Take care of them, Dec.”

“Always” he says before putting my luggage inside the car and joining me. “I made you something for the trip.”

“Please tell me you didn't try to bake me something.”

“As if you hadn't eaten all the cookies I made the last time” he says, rolling his eyes.

“I ate them because I was hungry, nothing else.”

“Yeah, sure. But it isn't something you can eat. It is something you have to listen to.”

“What?”

“I made you a playlist” Declan says with a shy smile. ”It's just a bunch of songs I know you like, some that we've both enjoyed listening to together, and a few that remind me of you.”

“There are songs that remind you of me?” I ask, trying really hard not to cry. Because that is the cutest thing someone has ever done for me.

“Yep” he smiles. And call me crazy, but I could swear he is blushing. Declan Rice… is blushing. Oh my God. “Anyway, should we get going? I want to be out of the city before rush hour.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Do you want to listen to it now?”

“Please” I nod.

“Here we go” he smiles again as he starts the car, the screen on the dashboard showing that the playlist is called “Liv ❤” and that the first song is…

“No way!” I laugh.

“You were a One Direction girl, weren't you?” Declan smirks.

“I was and I am.”

“Then this song had to be there…” he winks as Niall Horan sings “Oh, I love you, I love you, I love, I love, I love Olivia.”

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I can't believe we just crossed paths with Richard Madden!”

“Who?” Declan says, looking for our rooms. 

“Richard Madden! Robb Stark!”

“I don't know who that is.”

“How can you not know who Robb Stark is? Didn't you watch “Game of Thrones”?"

“No.”

“Declan!”

“What?” he chuckles.

“I can't believe you haven't watched one of the best shows of the last decade. It is Mason's favourite!”

“How do you know that?” 

“He said it during an interview.”

“Now you watch Mason's interviews?” he asks, arching an eyebrow. 

“No, I… I mean…”

“Oh my God, Liv! Do you fancy Mason?” he laughs.

“Of course not!”

“Then why are you blushing?” 

“I'm not blushing, Declan” I say, hitting him with my bag.

“The mother of my son fancies my best friend. Unbelievable.”

“I don't fancy him!” I say, hitting him again while he just laughs. “At least not anymore.”

“So you did fancy him!”

“I had a little crush years ago, ok?” I confess, my face burning. “Now, have you found our rooms or not? I could do with a nap.”

“I think they are the ones over there” he says, pointing towards a big cabin at the end of the path we had been following. “We are next to the lake and have a little outside area that looks at it and from where I thought we could have breakfast tomorrow morning. Maybe sit down at night wrapped up in a blanket and look at the stars.”

“So romantic, Declan” I chuckle, speaking before thinking.

“I am very romantic” he smiles, making my heart skip a beat. Or two. We are off to a great start.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I could get used to being rich, you know?”

“What?” Declan laughs.

“Coming here at least once a month and getting all pampered is the best plan ever. A massage in the morning, spa in the afternoon, some beauty treatments here and there, breakfast in bed…” That was what we had actually been doing since arriving the day before: be treated like royalty. 

“I can do the breakfast in bed.”

“But can you massage my legs and feet the way Patricia did?”

“I can try” he shrugs before tapping his hand on his thigh. “C'mon.”

“What?”

“Put your legs here, let me try.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am. C'mon, Liv. I've been having massages on my legs for years, I think I know a thing or two about how it is done.”

“Ok…” I say, slowly moving on the sofa until I'm lying down and my legs are on his lap, tightening my dressing gown around my body to not show him anything. I'm wearing a swimsuit and he's seen everything that there is to see, but…

“Try to relax, ok?”

“Easier said than done.”

“I'm not going to injure you, Liv” he chuckles.

“Yeah…” I say, biting my lip to stop me from gasping as his hands move up my legs, massaging them but not making me feel the same as Patricia had managed to. With her I felt myself relaxing, almost falling asleep. With Declan, all my senses are alert, my body temperature going up by the second. Because he is turning me on. And badly. 

“How does it feel?”

“Uh?”

“The massage, Liv. Is it good?” he asks, his hands moving up on my thighs and getting dangerously close to where I would not mind having him massaging me. 

“Yes, yes. But my feet need it more than my thighs” I manage to say.

“Feet it is, then” Declan says as he focuses on them while I let out a big breath I hope he hasn't heard. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“When people do this in movies they never tell you how boring it is.”

“Liv!” Declan laughs.

“You know I'm right. Like, yeah, the sky is pretty and all that. But after five minutes you've seen it all” I shrug. “And my neck is starting to hurt.”

“Come here, then” he says, gesturing me to move closer to him. It is the last night of our babymoon and we are sitting outside our cabin, wrapped up in blankets and looking at the night sky as he had suggested we should do. “You can rest your head on my shoulder. If I recall correctly, you used to say it is very comfortable.”

“It surprisingly is, yes” I chuckle, sitting next to him and doing as he has suggested while he puts his arm around me, pulling me even closer. 

“I've missed this” Declan says after a few seconds in silence, his eyes still fixed in the sky.

“Me too” I whisper.

“I'm sorry, Liv.”

“What?” I say, moving to look at him.

“I'm sorry about what happened last summer. About the way I treated you, about how I behaved. I was a dick” he says, still looking up. How can he have such a perfect profile? It's not just his nose. It's his jawline, the shape of his Adam's apple, his lips, his eyelashes… Everything. And then you add the way the moonlight is lighting up all the right places and… “I'm sorry, Liv” he says, finally looking down at me. And when our eyes meet, I can't help but gasp. He is simply gorgeous. 

“It's ok” I whisper, still trying to process that this is real. Him, and this place, and everything I'm feeling.

“You didn't deserve that” Declan says while caressing my cheek, the noise that leaves my mouth being closer to a moan than a gasp. “I should have… I… Urgh” he groans, looking up again. 

“It's ok” I repeat, resting my hand on top of his, on the one that still is on my face. “It's ok, Declan.”

“No, it isn't, Liv” he says, looking down at me again. “Because I… I… Liv, I…”

“It's ok” I repeat once again before leaning forward and kissing him. 

At first he doesn't do anything, I've definitely caught him off guard. But when he finally reacts and kisses me back… Dear God. That probably is the best kiss of my entire life. 

“Liv” he whispers against my lips. “Liv, this…”

“Please don't talk.”

“But I need to, Liv. There are things I need to tell you, things that have been eating me alive for months, things you need to know.”

“You can't tell me tomorrow.”

“But Liv…”

“Tomorrow” I say before kissing him again. I will worry about what this means and what he has to tell me tomorrow. Right now, all I want to do is enjoy this moment, savour every second of it. 

Right now, I just want him.

[dreamerinthemoonlight]

Of Memory and Brotherhood

Who likes angst with a side of Kaeya and Diluc reconciliation? Me! Who likes being an absolute bitch to her favorite characters? Also me. So have another fic that is pretty much just those two things.

Summary: Kaeya has a nightmare--no, an inherited memory of Khaenri'ah's fall. Diluc is there to help pick up the pieces

CW: Heavy angst, intense imagery, panic attacks, angst with a happy ending

Word count: 1490

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Kaeya walks through familiar-unfamiliar city streets. All around him are the tell tale signs of a civilization crumbling.

Soaring buildings, truly magnificent in construction, are torn down. Chunks of stone, pieces of metal warped beyond all recognition, are strewn across once smooth roads.

In between bits of rubble, there are bodies. Bodies of dark creatures, like the rift hounds that have recently begun to appear in Mondstadt, and bodies of people. Women, children, some crushed by the homes that once housed them, others mauled, sometimes beyond recognition.

It’s a familiar sight.

Once, it was a scene that frequently occupied his sleeping moments. His father--the first to leave him--had explained it as a generational memory, so that the last of their nation “would never forget how they fell.”

The elder Alberich had comforted his son, empathized. He too often saw Khaenri’ah fall. Such was their lot, he said.

Of course, then Kaeya was left behind and learned to suffer in silence. Granted, as a pre-teen, the dreams had a softer, blurry quality. Shelter for the innocent, he figures now.

Then he met Albedo, who had found a way to drive the dreams away.

Yet, now, he finds himself amidst his ancestor’s homeland, the memory now crystal clear.

Far in the distance he hears a child crying for her mother. Even further away, there are still sounds of combat. The soldiers of the nation do their duty, unwavering. Not unlike a certain red-head.

Yet, for all that he sees and all that he hears, he is a phantom in the world. Not long after appearing in this memory, he had tried to help a young woman who was bleeding on the street. She did not see him. She did not hear him. She was but a memory, one he was forced to see die alone.

Kaeya moves further into the center of the city, towards a golden palace and black tower that stands beside it.

Before he can reach it though, a sound like a hundred peals of thunder and the ringing of a gong, overlaid with the mournful melody of a lyre--a ringing requiem of power. 

Six--no seven--figure float above the city. One is a man, tall and stern. Another is a fair lady wreathed in violet lightning. And a third is a familiar face from his life in Mondstadt. Venti the Bard. Or perhaps he should say, Barbatos.

Kaeya pauses in the middle of the road and watches the divine figures. He watches as they pronounce judgment and shatter the city. As the city breaks and a nation cries out, backed by the pained song of the archon’s power, Kaeya is thrown back into his body.

Kaeya wakes and reaches for his vision.

He has to get out. Out, out, out. Away from Mondstadt City, away from the confinements of his room. 

He needs air. The wind. Somewhere else. Somewhere that could never be mistaken for the underground nation without a god.

Diluc stands underneath the great boughs of Vennessa’s Tree, taking a brief break from his patrol.

Despite the rumors of abyss mages in the area, he’s seen nothing so far. Not that that’s a bad thing, but vigilance never hurts.

At least under Vennessa’s tree, a place that is realistically holier than the Cathedral, there is safety. Safety and peace.

Or so he thought. A few minutes into his break a flash of white under the waning moon catches his eye.

Diluc takes a few steps towards the figure, squinting to make out more detail.

When he identifies the person his brows furrow. There’s no mistaking the tanned skin and dark hair or the scar crossing the man’s right eye.

Kaeya, of all people, is out in the middle of the night, shirtless and shoeless. If anything, it looks like he jumped out of bed, grabbed his vision and went for a run. Odd, because when Kaeya left the Angel’s Share earlier, he was most definitely inebriated.

It doesn’t take long for Kaeya to come close enough for Diluc to make out his expression. It’s one he’s never seen on the Cavalry Captain, not even in those painful days after his father’s death. The panic that has his breath coming in heaving gasps is contrasted by an eerie emptiness.

“Kaeya?” Diluc calls out softly.

Kaeya gives no sign of having heard him. Instead he trips on a rock, landing on his hands and knees. 

When he doesn’t get up, Diluc goes to kneel next to him. A glance at Kaeya’s feet reveals bloody soles. 

“Kaeya. Look at me.”

Once again Kaeya doesn’t register his voice.

“Kae.” Diluc’s voice is sharper, this time as his heart clenches in his chest.

He reaches out to touch Kaeya’s shoulder, only to be knocked backwards when his little brother latches on to him.

Diluc freezes. What do I do? Kaeya doesn't know it’s me. He can’t. He’s not in his right mind. What the hell happened to him? How do I help? Wait… why do I want to help? Archon’s wh--

The scarlet-haired man shakes his head and looks down at the man wrapping his arms around his waist, only to find Kaeya crying.

Archons what a mess.

Diluc gathers Kaeya into his arms and carries him to the tree, where he arranges them comfortably.

Kaeya continues to sob silently into his chest, limbs shaking with suppressed  emotion.

“Kae, I know you don’t like me all that much--and I really don’t like you--but you don’t have to hide from me. Let it out.”

Diluc’s assurances are all Kaeya needs to break. He can’t help but be glad that they’re at Windrise in the middle of the night, where no one can see the weakness in their Cavalry Captain.

After a while Kaeya’s tears stop and a semblance of self returns to his eyes, though none of the edge or the sass that is typical of him. Rather, it’s grief and horror that settles on his face.

“Kae, what happened?” Diluc asks when he’s more certain that he’ll be answered.

Of course, he isn’t.

Kaeya just pulls away and wraps his arms around his knees.

“Kaeya, you’re out here. I’m out here. Talk to me.”

“Why? You hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. You’re a liar, but I don’t hate you. As much as I don’t like saying so sometimes, we’re still brothers. I’m trying to act like it for once, so let me damn it.

“I---” Kaeya pauses, giving Diluc a bewildered look. “I haven’t had Albedo make a new dose of the medication I use to prevent dreams. I tried to drink enough to prevent them but---”

“It didn’t work.”

“No.”

“Will you tell me about it? Sometimes, when I dream about Father’s death, talking to Adelinde helps.”

Kaeya’s eyes widen. Whether at the admission or the offer, Diluc isn’t quite certain.

“The remnants of Khaenri’ah are cursed to dream about the fall of the nation. I had them a lot when I was a kid. Not anymore, since I started taking Albedo’s concoction. But I ran out and the nightmare is clearer than ever. It was horrible, D. Watching the city be destroyed by monsters, hearing kids cry, watching the archons destroy it.”

Kaeya’s breath comes in short, shallow pants. Diluc reaches over to rub gentle circles into his brother’s back.

“Kae, breathe. It’s ok. You’re here, with me, not there. It’s just a nightmare. Not your memory. You’re Kaeya Alberich,” he tells Kaeya, using a similar litany to the one he’s used on his worst nights, when he comes perilously close to losing himself. “Spy, but also a Knight of Favonius and adopted son of Crepus Ragnvindr. You belong to Mondstadt as much as Khaenri’ah.”

“I’m Kaeya Alberich,” the younger man repeats. “Spy and Knight of Favonius. Crepus’s son. From Mondstadt and Khaenri’ah.”

The words seem to ground him, bringing him into the here and now.

“Better?”

“A little. Except now my feet hurt.”

“I wonder why? I’m taking you back to the Winery.”

Kaeya frowns. “Why?”

“Your feet are a mess. I want to go home. And I don’t think you want to explain to Jean why you can’t walk tomorrow. If you’re at the Winery, I can claim that you came over last night to raid my basement.”

“I don’t think she’d believe it.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

Tell him the truth, a little voice in Diluc’s heart whispers. He’s family. He doesn’t deserve a bunch of excuses.

Fine. I’ll tell him.

“And I want to be there if you have any more nightmares. I think you’d do the same for me.”

“Heh. Probably. Sometimes I wonder why.”

“You know, I’ve been asking myself the same thing.”

Diluc stows his claymore under the tree--to be retrieved when he doesn’t have a 6 foot sibling to carry--picks Kaeya up onto his back.

“Hey D--” Kaeya says, voice soft and sleepy.

“Hmmm?”

“Thank you.”

A soft smile tugs at Diluc’s lips. “Anytime, little brother.”

[splatooshy]

a peek into my notes app.

file: 🧛‍♀️😜

tvdu oneshots mixed with opinions. completely different from my ‘tvdu opinions’ file and my ‘bloody hell! silly oneshots’ files. this is only 1/4 of the file.

damon in guyliner

y’all the witches go on about how vampire evil vampire must be stopped and then they take away someone’s magic for stopping said vampire

Damon just licked his lips in anticipation. "Oh, you know how I like having things pushed inside me, don't you?"

“You can’t avoid me forever, Damon!” Elena warned. “Maybe so,” he admitted, “but I’m still gonna try.” He darted around her, blurring towards the staircase and sliding down the banister, mentally shouting ‘parkour’ in his head. Damn. He’d been spending too much time around the little Gilbert. And teenagers in general. “Parkour!” Jeremy cheered from the couch, cradling a bowl of cereal like it was a newborn. Yup. Too much time around teenagers, Damon thought as he rolled his eyes.

“I just don’t get it,” Matt grumbled confusedly as Caroline walked away. She wanted to talk to him. Now she was walking away? First Stefan yanked Elena from him and now Tyler had taken Caroline. He and Elena had been on the verge of getting back together until Stefan showed up and stole her away. And just when he was seriously reconsidering his breakup with Caroline, Tyler was suddenly swooping in and taking her from Matt. It wasn’t fair.

ok but the locker rooms at the batting cages in denver 🤭

“Pretty boy?” Stefan spluttered. “Well, you are kinda pretty.” Elena shrugged into the mirror as she applied eyeshadow. “She's not wrong, brother.” Damon piped up from the doorway. “You’re a little bit pretty.” He patted his brother on the cheek and went to join Elena at the mirror, snatching her eyeliner with a triumphant grin. “I'm not pretty!” Stefan denied with a small whine. “Not compared to me, no.” Damon smiled sweetly, turning to reveal those blue eyes, now rimmed with black kohl.

s1 damon / eternal teenager verse: “Why is it she’s always telling you to leave her alone when she’s the one seeking you out?”

damon: “My father used to say I had the devil in me, but really it was just my riding instructor.”

someone (jeremy) gets runic tattoos with elena’s doppelganger blood because they want to be the avatar.

“Oh my god, it’s a room full of Elijah’s.” “I had that exact same nightmare once.” OKAY but put that line in tvd and Damon then goes “Really? I had a sex dream about that.”

“you really are quite the little slut, aren’t you, Damon?” The velvety croon of Elijah’s cultured voice makes it sound all the more dirty, and Damon can’t help but let out a small moan as he nods. “Very good,” the Original murmurs, and oh fuck. Elijah can do whatever he wants with Damon as long as he keeps talking like that.

“That’s so hot.” - Damon, every day. Alternatively: “Anyone else a little turned on right now?” // any time he gets pinned to a wall, he whispers “traitor” to his dick.

sassy elijah vs sassy damon except they kiss.

“Now, what am I going to do with you?” “Something terribly naughty, I hope.” delijah.

dabekah are essentially cats. very sassy ones. like a slinky black cat and a fluffy white one

idk some wedding, kol gets confused with american accents and brings a bear trained to carry rings

compel the president to make random holidays

kol and rebekah watch the hunger games and decide to do a real life version, compelling the tributes

“Klaus and Stefan pulling another devious act,” Klaus gleefully mumbles, high on the wolfsvain(™️) joints Damon and Kol had invented. Stefan just stares at him for a minute, silence filling the room as they blink in tandem.

 elijah walks into the boarding house, kisses the girls on their hands. damon holds out his expectantly, and smiles deviously when elijah actually kisses it.

[captain-mj]

I bring you the bones of my friends that are uneducated on lgbtq+ matters for

PrinceGraves x leader of Royal guard Price

Graves is ruling temporarily while the King is away on diplomatic matters and he drives the court insane. He's cocky, talks over advisors and thinks he can doe everything better.

After 3 days Price is so fed up with the spoiled Prince so he fucks him on the throne and tell him to behave.

Here ya go!! Btw, in case it's not explicit enough, Graves is very capable, he was just playing Price to get a reaction. It's not really paid much attention, we all know why we're here

Price watched the Prince speak and tried not to chew his own sword.

The worst part was Graves had good points occasionally, but he didn't listen and he always questioned everything. He didn't trust any of them and made that clear.

Price bit his tongue as Graves once again questioned one of the King's most trusted advisor.

"How are you sure of this? Where are your sources?" Graves looked right at Price as he spoke, a small grin on his face. He had asked that four times. In this meeting.

"Are you sure we should do that? I heard that those are flimsy..."

Price got up and left, going to the throne room. God that little brat pissed him off. As the leader of the royal guard, he knew he needed to keep on good terms with him. One day, Graves could be his boss.

God, he hoped not.

Price took off his helmet and ran his hands through his hair. Didn't help that he was so hot. Walking around barely dressed most of the time. Wearing sheer clothing and letting everyone just drool over him. When his father was here, he never acted like this!! What was his deal?

"John." Graves interrupted his thoughts. He only had some loose pants and his crown on. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, your majesty." Price glared at him but Graves did not seem moved.

After a few minutes, Graves tilted his head. "You know, it's polite to ask someone how they're doing back. I know you're a Captain, but that's not an excuse for bad manners."

Price gritted his teeth before drawing his sword and put it to his throat. He didn't have words. Three fucking days of this.

Graves blushed and looked up at him. "John. Remember your place. Kill me and the King will have your head. Relationship or not."

Price got closer. "I wouldn't kill you, Graves."

Graves looked intrigued. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Make you shut up." Price threw the sword to the side and grabbed him, placing him on his back on the throne. He pulled down his pants.

"Wait! The doors!!"

"Let them walk in." Price snapped at him. "Maybe it'll teach you manners. Get too loud and someone will come in."

Graves blushed and looked away, grabbing the throne. "Fine. I give you permission."

Price shoved Graves's knees to his chest and shoved a finger into his hole roughly. He spit onto his finger and shoved it in deeper. Graves started to thrash and eventually tapped him insistently. "Wait, there's oil. Please you're being too rough with me!"

Price grumbled, but he did it. He wanted to hurt the Prince but... not that bad. Tearing him seemed excessive.

Now that he had the oil, he forced his fingers back in, watching Graves tense to try to stop himself from moving. He groaned as Price slid a second one in, making him pant softly as he tried to keep quiet.

"Can't get through one meeting without you complaining about how long its taking or how many people are there or how you want to be doing anything else." He thrust his fingers in hard over and over again, needing him well stretched.

Graves whimpered and twisted, clearly not used to such rough treatment. "What else?"

Price frowned and got a third one in, groaning at how tight the fit was. "What else what?"

"What else do I do wrong?" He pushed back against him, biting his lip. His face twisted in pleasure and pain.

"You keep questioning me! I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard for a reason! You're such a royal brat." Price forced another finger in him and Graves's back arched.

"I'm sorry, sir." Graves panted out, putting his hands under his knees so Price didn't have to keep holding him. He threw his head back and rocked against him desperately. "So good, please."

"Shut up." Price forced his fingers in deeper. "So tight. So fucking tight. Shit."

Graves closed his eyes and looked away. Once Price was sure he was open enough, he picked Graves up. He then put him on the floor and sat in the throne himself, the great crowned prince looking up at him from his knees.

Price buried his hand in Graves's hair and pulled him to his cock, watching Graves's eyes widen. He tilted his head before running his tongues along one of the veins, grinning when Price groaned.

"Good boy. Finally putting that mouth of yours to good use."

Graves went to retort and Price yanked him down on his cock, making him gag. He held him there for a moment, feeling his cock convulse around him for a moment before letting go so Graves could pull back. He took a deep breath and then immediately went back down on him, swallowing. Price groaned and relaxed, letting Graves work on him.

"You seem happier on your knees. Like you wanted me to do this."

Graves looked up at him through his lashes, swallowing hard.

"You fucking brat." Price yanked him closer, making his eyes fill with tears. He swallowed and used his tongue, clearly trying to please him. "You're not going to be able to walk until the fucking King comes back."

Graves hummed in response and bobbed his head enthusiastically. Price pulled him off and he made a wounded noise.

"Yeah, Yeah. Get up here."

Graves did as told, grabbing Price's shoulders as he picked him up. He slid him down on his cock and enjoyed the little whimpers it got. One of his hands fit around Graves's throat and the other around his waist. He thrust up into Graves, watching his eyes roll back.

Price enjoyed him like a toy. Graves scrambled for a hold as he was slammed into mercilessly, hiding his face out of shame.

Well, that just wouldn't do.

Price turned him around so he couldn't, hands going under his knees to keep his legs spread apart. If anyone came in, they'd see Graves's face and the way his body took Price like a whore.

"Sir, please."

"Your voice is pretty when you're begging." He moved Graves instead of himself, making him bounce up and down. The new angle must've felt nice because he was a mess in Price's arms, tears streaming down his face.

Graves twisted his head to kiss his cheek. "So mean to me."

Price growled. "You like it."

Graves blushed and shuddered. "I like when you growl."

Price yanked him closer and kissed him, hammering into him now. Graves grasped him as hard as he could and Price could feel his legs shaking.

"Don't finish until I do."

"You fucking bastard." Graves huffed. "Hard to do that when you're fucking me like this."

"Try harder." Price smiled and forced his legs further apart.

Graves held on to him, painfully hard. He was clearly trying his hardest though and Price could appreciate that.

Price reached around and stroked him, feeling him tremble. "No, please, I won't last." He kept stroking Graves anyway.

Graves did not last. He came all over himself with a groan and his head fell back. He panted softly as Price fucked him through it. Price came in him and patted his thigh.

Slowly, he pulled out of him and set his Prince on the throne. "You look gorgeous." He didn't fix his pants, but he did fix his crown, looking at the cum running down his legs. "Act right in the next couple of meetings and I'll do this again."

"Don't you mean don't do this again?"

"Darling, we both know you wanted this."

Graves bit his lip. "Alright, yes sir."