#I got defeated last night and let him in and he slept on my bed with me :(((((( and then in the morning he was so cuddly :((((((((((

[flyingwea]

Nauurrrrrr poor fucking kitten 😭😭 he wants to get in myroom to cuddle and sleep with me but he still has fleas and I already deep cleaned my room

[roosterforme]

Yours Truly, Bradley Bradshaw Part 18 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Short notice before the start of a deployment was bad enough, but Bradley was left worrying about so much more. And if he didn't figure it out quickly, he thought he might lose you. How would you and he make it through the worst kind of time apart?

Warnings: Fluff, oral sex, smut, angst, adult banter, desperate Bradley, 18+

Length: 4100 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female teacher!Reader

Check out my masterlist for more! Yours Truly, Bradley Bradshaw masterlist

Your boyfriend was acting strange, and now you had the distinct feeling he was lying to you. You sat on your bed after work on Friday with tears in your eyes as you tried to process the fact that you barely heard from him after you sent the topless picture the day before. Usually that kind of thing got him going in a good way, and he kept telling you he was fine, but it didn't seem that way. You just couldn't figure out what happened. 

A few minutes ago, you texted him about the plan for the weekend. You really wanted to talk to him about your upcoming winter break, too. You were supposed to be heading to his house right now, but you were having second thoughts as you read the latest message from him again.

I know we were supposed to go to Salvatore's tonight, but I think we need to talk instead. 

This sounded so bad to you. It didn't sound like he simply had a long day and just wanted to relax on the couch with you. This was something that built up over the past two days, and now you felt tears in your eyes as you scooped up your overnight bag and headed out.

"Just get it over with," you told yourself as you drove. You tried to focus on your playlist, but your mind was wandering to the plethora of reasons why I think we need to talk spelled disaster.

After you fought your way through rush hour traffic and pulled up to park in front of Bradley's house which you were supposed to move into next month, you noticed he was sitting on the porch step, waiting for you. And he didn't look very happy.

"Hi," he greeted with a poor attempt at a smile as he slowly stood and made his way over to you. He looked tall, broad and handsome in his uniform, but he didn't call you Gorgeous. 

"What's wrong?" you asked, not even bothering to get your bag out of your car before you met him halfway up his walkway. 

He pulled you in for a hug, and you could feel his lips on your ear as he lied to you again. "Nothing's wrong."

"Bradley," you said, trying to pull out of his grasp. He let you go, but now he wasn't even pretending to smile. You swallowed and whispered, "You've been acting strange since yesterday. I thought maybe work was getting to you, or that you just needed a day of quiet to yourself. But clearly this has to do with me, so just tell me what's wrong."

"It's not you," he replied instantly, taking a step closer with a pained look on his face. "God, it's absolutely not you."

When you looked at him more closely, it was obvious he was exhausted. Like maybe he hadn't even slept last night. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his shoulders were sagging forward just enough that he looked almost defeated. 

"Bradley."

He looked down at the sidewalk before meeting your eyes again. "I found out yesterday... I'm being deployed."

The wave of emotion didn't hit you as hard as it could have, because you'd given this a lot of thought, but you were still rendered speechless. You'd mentally planned for this. Deployments were a way of life for him. But the tears were back as you asked, "When?"

"Day after Christmas," he murmured miserably. "But that's not all."

Your voice wouldn't work as you looked up at him, vision blurring his handsome features into something that was almost frightening. "What?"

He paused while you swiped at your eyes, and just when you thought you were going to have to force it out of him, he said, "It's with the Atlantic Fleet. Out of Norfolk, Virginia. They... they said they want me permanently."

"No," you sobbed, realizing that your tears were starting to roll down your cheeks. Now it made perfect sense. You knew why he'd been acting so odd. "You want to break up before you leave."

"What?" Bradley replied, his voice sharp as he reached for you again. "No. No, Gorgeous. I don't."

You felt ridiculous, crying in his arms in his front yard, but all you could say was, "Then why didn't you just tell me yesterday that you're going back to Virginia?"

"Fuck," he grunted, tucking you tighter against him. "Does this mean you don't want to dump me?"

You inhaled the smell of his deodorant and jet fuel as you cried. "Why on earth would you think I'd want to dump you? I'm in love with you."

He started to back toward the front door, his hold on you never relenting as he murmured, "Now that I know you're not going to leave, let's go inside where we can talk and snuggle on the couch."

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

Bradley had been waiting on his porch step for almost an hour for you to arrive, thinking there was a real chance that you'd drive off again. He was tired and hungry, and he'd spent the last day and a half trying to figure out what was going on with his job. But more than anything, he was afraid you hadn't changed your stance on falling for a guy who lived on the opposite side of the country.

Shit. He made you cry. You were still crying as he led you over to the couch where you ended up sitting on his lap. He was trying to wipe your tears away as you just shook your head. "I'm sorry, Baby," he whispered. "I didn't mean to upset you like this."

You sucked in a few breaths before you managed to say, "Let me make sure I have this straight. You're leaving for Virginia. And you don't know when you're coming back, if at all?"

"Yeah," he whispered. There was no point in beating around the bush about it. "The deployment out of Norfolk is a done deal. Leaving on the twenty-sixth is a done deal. I'm trying my hardest to fight the rest of it."

"You can do that?" you asked, letting your forehead rest against his. 

Bradley kissed you softly. He couldn't stop himself with you this close. "I'm trying. I don't want to leave San Diego. Virginia used to feel like home, but it hasn't for a long time. Especially not since I met you. So a permanent change of station is something I will fight until they force it on me."

You kissed him this time, and he knew nowhere would feel like home without you. But he couldn't retire yet, and he didn't want to have to ask you to uproot your life for him. He just made himself dizzy, chasing his thoughts around in circles. 

"Is there anything I can do?" you asked.

He wanted to beg you to stay with him no matter what, but he couldn't do that either. "Remember when I was deployed last time and you told me you were afraid I was stationed somewhere far away from you? And how you would have to brace yourself to say goodbye instead of pursuing something?" You nodded against him, arms around his neck as he whispered, "I thought about that all night last night. About how this could be the end for us."

"Stop it," you said before pressing your lips to his. "I don't feel that way anymore at all. It wasn't even a deal breaker when I said it months ago, and I hadn't even met you in person yet. I'm not going anywhere, Bradley. We'll figure it out."

He eased himself down along the couch, keeping you firmly on top of him as he sighed in relief. Suddenly fighting for his job with the Pacific Fleet didn't seem as daunting. He had to figure it out though, because he wanted to stay here and get married. "Say my name again?" he asked, knowing exactly how much you could calm him down when he let you in.

"Bradley," you whispered, settling against his chest as he closed his eyes.

"I love you, Gorgeous."

He didn't realize exactly how tired and stressed he was until he woke up close to midnight, alone on the couch with a blanket draped over him, still wearing his uniform and boots. As soon as he opened his eyes, his head was pounding from the events of the week, but he could smell something cooking.

Bradley rolled off the couch while his stomach growled, and he made his way into the kitchen where you were wearing his sweatshirt and making a grilled cheese sandwich while you looked at your phone. "Hey," he murmured, wrapping his arms around you from behind. You quickly swiped out of the photo album and tossed your phone aside.

"I was going to wake you up soon. You have almost no food here, but you need to eat," you told him, turning to face him. He had no food, because he originally planned to take you out tonight, and now there was no point in going grocery shopping since he was leaving. Your expression was unreadable, and he didn't like that.

"What I need is to spend as much time with you as I can between now and Norfolk." Your lips curved up into a small smile. "I should have told you what was going on as soon as I found out."

You nodded. "I know we haven't been together long, but I'm taking this pretty fucking seriously, Bradley."

"Me, too," he promised. "And it's really hot when you swear." When you laughed, he felt so much better. "Listen, you're absolutely stuck with me now, okay? I'll figure this shit out, but you're stuck with me, and we're going to get married someday."

"Sounds good," you replied easily, still smiling. "But right now you need to eat."

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

You felt better with Bradley's arm around you than you had all day. You couldn't believe he'd been hanging onto your words from his last deployment. You were surprised he could still possibly think that distance would mean anything to you. Both of you agreed not to get ahead of yourselves. Uprooting your life and your career would leave you devastated, but you'd start over again for him.

"Were you just looking at the dirty picture you sent me?" Bradley asked as he bit into half of the sandwich while another one cooked.

"Yes," you whispered before nibbling on your own sandwich half.

"Shit," he mumbled, dropping his food back onto the plate where he stood in the kitchen. "I never even told you how much I loved it."

"No. You didn't."

He wiped his hands on his uniform shirt. "God, I keep fucking up. I got so sidetracked by the orders from Norfolk that I couldn't even think. I loved that photo."

You turned away to flip the second grilled cheese sandwich in the pan. "I thought you got tired of me sending them." Bradley's hand moved faster than his brain as he flicked the knob on the stove, turning it off. "Hey," you protested, turning to look at him again, but he pulled the spatula out of your hand and tossed it into the sink. "Bradley!"

He mashed his lips against yours, silencing you as his hands grabbed the backs of your thighs, pulling you closer until you were pressed tight to the front of his body. Then he let his hands slide along your bare skin from your legs, over your perfect ass, up until they were on your lower back. "I'll do better," he promised. "And right now, I want to show you how not fucking tired of you I am."

A minute later, you were on your back on the edge of his bed, legs thrown over his shoulders while he ate your pussy. Your fingers were tangled up in his hair as he knelt on the floor, and his sweatshirt was bunched up above your tits. "I will never get tired of you," he swore before licking a long stripe up to your clit. If you thought for a second that he would want to throw in the towel over long distance, he needed to make sure you understood he never would.

"Bradley," you moaned as he sucked on your clit. His insignia pins were digging into the back of your thigh, as was his name tag. He would figure this out. He would figure everything out. Leaving in a handful of days was not ideal, but as long as you still wanted him, he was all in.

"Oh my god," you whined, back arching as Bradley realized he was being a bit rougher with you than usual. But he couldn't stop. His fingers were digging into your hips, holding you in place as you tried to rock against him. 

His mouth was demanding as he sucked on and plucked at your clit, but you just kept getting louder for him. Your legs were shaking, heels digging into his shoulder blades, but he didn't stop until you came. With his tongue still swirling your clit as you yanked on his hair, Bradley quickly unzipped his khaki pants and pulled himself free. He positioned himself at your entrance as you tugged until his mouth was on yours.

"You liked it rough," he grunted between kisses slick with your arousal.

"I did," you answered, rolling your hips to take the tip of him. As your fingers trailed down to his pins, you asked, "Are you going to fuck me, Lieutenant Bradshaw?" He watched you gasp, mouth agape as he filled you with one deep thrust, and then your head tipped back as you moaned, "I'll take that as a yes."

His lips found that sweet spot next to your ear that he loved to kiss. "I just want to ensure that you'll miss me as much as I miss you while we're apart."

Your voice was softer as you said, "You don't have to worry about that."

Bradley kissed along your neck and told you how much he loved you before absolutely pounding you into the mattress. 

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

You and Bradley slept in so late on Saturday morning, you heard him wander out to the living room when Natasha arrived to go for a run to tell her he'd workout on Sunday instead. When he tried to slip back into bed, you rolled over toward him.

"Sorry. It was just Nat. I forgot I told her days ago that we could run." He gathered you against his chest and kissed your forehead.

You grinned and said, "I heard you tell her that the love of your life was more appealing today than working out."

"I sure did," he grunted and ran his big, heavy hand down your back. "You're always more appealing than anything else, Gorgeous. But if I don't run, I'll gain so much weight. You know how much I eat."

A smile found your lips as you thought about the rough sex followed by another round of grilled cheese sandwiches at two in the morning. "Can we skip Salvatore's again tonight? I'd rather stay here and feed you. We can go to Salvatore's when your deployment ends and you return to San Diego."

Bradley sighed. "And if I get told my new station is in Norfolk?"

You pressed your fingertip to his lips. "We're not humoring that thought yet. Instead, we're going to snuggle and fuck and maybe watch a Christmas movie. Okay?"

"Nothing has ever sounded better."

After that, Sunday was spent with the two of you trying to use up as much of his food as you could. You even managed to bake some cookies that he ate a dozen of in one sitting, and then you found a strand of twinkle lights in his hallway closet where you discreetly squished a spider without telling him. You helped him hang the lights on his porch railing as he laughed and said, "I don't usually celebrate holidays anymore."

"You do now," you informed him, making a mental note to have your students make some cards for him this week before he left. Bradley would be very busy over the next few days, and you didn't want to stress him out about the holiday. But just when you were about to ask him if there was a chance he'd want to spend Christmas Day with you before he flew to Norfolk, he said, "Maybe we can get Thai food on Christmas, and you can help me finish packing?"

You nodded and tried to keep the tears at bay, afraid to admit to him that the future you were so sure of was scaring you a bit. Being without him for a deployment was manageable, but the last thing you wanted to do was move across the country. At least you'd have your regular pen pal back while he was on the aircraft carrier; having Bradley in your email inbox on a regular basis again was better than nothing.

"That sounds perfect," you told him, knowing you'd do whatever it took to make this work.

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

When Bradley was called in to talk to Cyclone, he was exhausted for a different reason. Although the weekend started out laced with uncertainty between you and him, it bloomed into something sweet. On Sunday evening, you held his hand and walked along the windswept beach until it got too chilly, and then you helped him start packing. You'd had some tears in your eyes that he brushed away as you folded his clothes into tiny rectangles and stuck by his side.

Now the only uncertainty he felt came from the U.S. fucking Navy. With a deep breath and squared shoulders, he opened Cyclone's office door after he knocked. It wasn't surprising that Mav and Warlock were there, too, but he couldn't tell if that was a good sign or a bad one regarding a change of station. He raised his hand into the proper salute.

"Admirals. Captain."

The three men returned the courtesy before Cyclone sank into his office chair. "Have a seat, Lieutenant." His voice sounded gruff and perhaps even more annoyed than usual as Bradley slowly sat down opposite him. "Captain Mitchell," he barked at Maverick who procured a folder from behind his back and handed it to Bradley. Then he turned toward Bradley again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lieutenant Bradshaw, you'll report to the USS Gerald R. Ford in a matter of days to rendezvous with the air strike team."

Bradley nodded and skimmed the paperwork inside the folder regarding the sensitive nature of the mission, but he didn't much care about what they wanted him to do when he got there. "Sir, can you tell me where I'll be stationed once this mission is completed?"

Cyclone leaned back in his seat, brow puckered, arms crossed over his chest. "Naval Station Norfolk has, as you know, requested you specifically to round out their Super Hornet team permanently."

"Yes, Sir," Bradley replied, practically choking on the words. He would have never thought the promise of Virginia would feel like a threat to his happiness, but here he was. "I would really prefer to stay in San Diego," he added, trying to keep the pleading tone out of his voice.

Cyclone leaned forward in his seat with a weary sigh. "Admiral Simpson, Captain Mitchell and myself all agree that the Pacific Fleet is very well balanced at the moment. Losing a reliable pilot to the Atlantic at this point would not be ideal." The tension in Bradley's body eased up momentarily before Cyclone said, "But I can only do so much to keep the status quo when there is a clear need across the board."

Bradley wanted to ask why nobody else was even in consideration when Warlock cleared his throat and said, "There's a price to pay when you're the best of the best."

There was a beat of silent agreement amongst the four of them before Cyclone heaved a deep breath. "I'll do what I can," he said simply. "In the meantime, prepare for your flight to Norfolk. The information is in the folder. And prepare to be out of communication with any and all civilians for the duration."

Bradley's heart stopped. He opened the folder again, but his eyes couldn't seem to focus on the words in front of him as the pages all blurred together. His fingers scrambled as he swallowed hard, and finally he looked up at the older man seated behind the desk. "No communication at all. For the duration?"

Cyclone nodded once. "You are dismissed, Lieutenant."

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

It was just something silly, but when you saw it while you were out shopping, you bought Bradley another Christmas present. You wrapped it up in red and gold paper along with the Mira Mesa Elementary School sweatshirt you got in his size. Then you threw the gifts along with the collection of cards from your students in your overnight bag and tried to keep yourself calm as you drove down to Coronado.

You would have a few days with your boyfriend at the beginning of your winter break before you took him to the airport and sent him off to Norfolk. There would be plenty of things to keep you busy while he was away, including packing up your apartment before your lease ended. But now you'd be moving into his house without him there.

All of the twinkle lights and decorated trees gave you a bittersweet feeling in the pit of your stomach as you drove down his street, but at least this time when you parked, he jumped up from his porch step and met you at your car.

"Gorgeous," he breathed, wrapping his arms around you. His old sweatshirt was currently keeping you warm, and you really wanted him to have his new one for his deployment. You kissed him hard, noting the look of apprehension on his face, but chalking it up to the stress of the unknown.

You kissed him again and kept your arms around his neck as he picked up your bag. "I was going to say we should wait until Christmas morning, but I want you to open your presents now."

His voice was deep and raspy and right next to your ear as he led you inside. "You did not have to get me anything." He kissed your cheek and added, "I need to tell you something important."

"After you open these," you agreed, reaching into the bag and pulling out both gifts before he set it down.

Bradley studied your face before running his thumb along your cheek. "Sure. After I open these."

He took the wrapped packages as you tugged him toward the couch with your hands on his bicep, and you ended up halfway on his lap as he carefully tore at the paper like he didn't want to harm it too much.

"Just rip it," you said with a soft laugh, but he shook his head and looked up at you.

"It's too pretty," he replied. "And nobody gets me gifts, ever. Unless you count coupons for steak dinners from Natasha."

You laughed a little louder as you imagined the laundry list of weird gifts his best friend must have given him over the years. When he finally had his hands on the sweatshirt, he sat frozen with a smile on his face. "I love this. I kind of feel like an honorary faculty member at your school."

"You're a legend in my classroom, Bradley," you promised, snuggling a little closer as he set the shirt aside and carefully unwrapped the second item. This one would mean more to you while he was away, and you hoped he understood just how much you were going to miss his voice and his touch. But you'd still have something from your pen pal.

"Oh," Bradley said softly as he held the navy blue stationery set on his lap. It included note cards, luxuriously thick paper and a gold pen. You could already picture his handwriting on the pages.

"We can go back to being pen pals for a bit," you whispered. "I'll be refreshing my email inbox and waiting not so patiently for my mail to arrive. It'll be great. That's how I fell in love with you in the first place."

"Gorgeous," he groaned, setting the stationery down on his coffee table before burying his face in his hands. "That's not gonna happen."

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

Atlantic Fleet, here we come. But for how long? No pen pals. No email. No letters. This deployment already hurts. Thanks @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 19

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[lasanya539]

tuck your head under the covers

(written for @tmnt-write-fight for @remedyturtles)

Fandom: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Prompt: Insomniac Leo - visiting various brothers when unable to sleep, or managing to fall asleep and his brothers doing anything to PRESERVE that sleep Word Count: 4635

Posted on AO3!

---

The first time it happens, Mikey doesn’t make a big deal out of it. 

It’s four in the morning on a Monday, and he’s thirsty, so he gets up from his train car and walks to the kitchen. Only to find Leo sitting at the table, with a lollipop in his mouth and a Jupiter Jim comic in his hands, legs rested on the surface, humming a tune under his breath.

“Leo?” Mikey mumbles drowsily, rubbing at his eyes. “Bro, what are you doing?”

Leo startles in surprise, and sits up, shooting him a guilty look. “Mikes!” He exclaims, voice pitched low. “Shit, I’m sorry, did I wake you up?”

“No, no.” He flaps his hand, grabbing a glass. “I was thirsty, wanted water. Why are you awake right now?”

“Eh, you know, same old, same old. Couldn’t sleep.”

Mikey hums, taking a languid sip. His tired eyes catch a giant mug on the table, black as tar coffee peeking from the bottom, a pack of pink Starbursts with wrappers, and what looks like the crumbled remains of the pecan pie April’s mom had lovingly gifted them. If he was a little more awake, he’d be a lot more pissed about that, but for now he just sighs and stretches. 

“Did you at least try to sleep?” He asks, knowing the answer. 

“Yeah, of course.” Leo replies easily enough, turning away to flip another page. “But that’s the problem with insomnia, my friend, it kinda makes the ‘fall asleep’ thing not happen.”

Hm, not good enough. Mikey waddles over closer, physically pushing his brother’s head up so he can study him. Leo’s eyes are just barely bloodshot, cheeks hollower than he’d like to see on him.

“Can I help you?” He asks, bemused. 

“When was the last time you slept?” 

“Somewhere in the evening, I got a cat nap in. Don’t worry, Mikey, you’re exhausted, go to sleep.”

“You go to sleep.” He retorts around a yawn. He plops down in a chair next to him, picking up an uneaten Starburst and chomping on it. Leo tsks at that, but he ignores him, folding his arms and resting his head comfortably. 

“You just brushed your teeth and are supposed to be asleep, why are you still here?”

“Moral support.” 

“Moral support from what? I – okay,” Leo stands up, all big brother voice. “C’mon, up.”

Mikey whines, not having enough energy to fight as Leo physically picks him up and throws him over the shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Grk–?” He chokes out in surprise, when the hell did he get so strong?

“Nope, don’t wanna hear it. This is what happens when you don’t listen to me.”

Leo plants him on the bathroom floor, and pointedly stares at him as Mikey brushes, having to actually count each stroke on the rows of teeth under the scrutiny instead of a quick wash. As soon as he rinses his mouth, Leo picks him up again.

“You realize I have feet.” He said, flopping his limbs in defeat and letting himself be carried lifelessly.

“You think I don’t know you were planning on dragging more ass by suggesting a movie night or something? I’ve taught you all my tricks, I know how your brain works.”

Mikey tries to keep in his smile at how well his brother can read him, and gasps dramatically. “Language! I’ll tell on you to Raphie.”

“If you make it to morning asleep like a good turtle, I’ll tell Raphie, how about that?”

Mikey gets tossed on his bed, the springs creaking under his weight. His favorite quilt is thrown over him, and his stuffed crocodile is tucked in between his shoulder and neck, just how he likes it. The warmth immediately makes him even drowsier, but he blinks up at Leo and invitingly opens his arms.

“Sleep?” He suggests, making the motion of scooting over to make room for him.

A few seconds, but Leo eventually sighs, far too susceptible to the prospect of little brother cuddles. He sticks his freezing feet into the tangle of limbs, making him hiss, but settles in comfortably on his pillow. Arms wind around him and squeeze affectionately.

“Better?” Mikey asks. 

Leo hums on top of his head. “Yep, thanks Angelo. You can pass out now.”

It doesn’t take very long for him to do so. Unfortunately for him, when he does wake up to his 9 A.M. alarm, the side of the bed is cold and the corner of the pillow undented. Outside, he sees Leo casually do the crossword puzzle with Dad with a newly filled mug of coffee in his hand, looking like sleep never graced him at all. Mikey sighs, but sets to making breakfast.

–

The second time it happens, Donnie is pulled out of his whirlwind of thoughts by a single hand on his shoulder. 

Naturally, he jumps, not having expected that contact when he’s working in his lab alone, smack-dab in the middle of the night. He’s too scientific and logic-driven to ever assume the existence of ghosts (which are different from spirits, thank you very much Michael), but the sudden touch makes him doubt that fact for a second.

Leo backs up with his hands up apologetically, and Donnie realizes with some amount of mortification he actually hissed at him. The mortification lasts for all of two seconds before he scowls at his twin with all the irritation in the world as he turns off his loud music. 

“What the hell do you want?” He groans at Leo, rubbing his sore eyes. 

“Just checking in.” Leo says, sounding normal enough, though Donnie picks up a strange note in his voice. He peeks at him between his fingers and catches his eyes look up from his torso just in time.

Looking down, he sees his other hand gripped into a fist, sharp claws extended, held right to the middle of his chest. Shit, he was scratching at his plastron again, the dull ache finally registering in his brain. 

It’s a nasty habit he’s had since he was very young, all the complicated feelings of the big, bad world too much for him to handle. His family has been trying for years to help him work through his emotions instead of immediately resorting to this, but apparently all the effort goes to shit the second it gets to debugging, the devil’s favorite method of torture. Donnie turns away, embarrassed but not willing to admit it. 

Leo thankfully doesn’t make a big deal out of it, and flops onto the back of his chair, resting his head at the top. “What are you working on?”

“Setting up face identification in the scanners in the Hidden City.” Donnie replies tiredly. “The mystic orbs they use as cameras are advanced enough to pick up magical signatures, but somehow not enough to track facial features of their various species of mutants and Yōkai. So, I’m doing it for them.”

Leo snorts. “Wow, how altruistic of you.” He leans in further, presumably to try to read the strange symbols that make up their programming language, before Donnie swats at his face. 

“Stop, you’re ruining my concentration.” 

“Shut up.” He swats back. Annoying

Donnie’s eyes flick over to the corner of the monitor, looking at the time. Wonderful, it’s another night of no sleep for his insomniac twin brother. 

He sighs. “I’m assuming getting bored to death from Papa’s speech on the various opera singers of the 20th century somehow didn’t lure you to sleep?”

“What, are you telling me you don’t care about the 1950s Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi drama about their different vocal techniques? It’s the hottest tea from that side of the century, Don-Don, I’m disappointed in you.” He dodges the swat from him this time.

Donnie turns up to look at him, noticing his brother’s heavy eyelids blinking over his sharp eyes, far too awake for someone who hasn’t slept in Gaga knows how long. He’s wearing his soft blue hoodie, the big one that he makes sure is always washed with the rose scent beads for the comforting smell. 

“Is there anything specific that is keeping you up?” He asks, worried. 

“Nah, not really. Unless you count my dumb brain as a whole, nope.”

“Don’t call yourself dumb.” Donnie says, practiced. He stands up and stretches, hearing some impressive cracks from his neck that Leo whistles at.

“Is there anything I can say that will make you try to sleep again?” 

“Probably not, if I’m being honest.”

“Okay, then.” He doesn’t argue. If there’s one thing he knows about his twin is that badgering him about his sleep intake, no matter how worrying, is the best way to get completely shut out by him. And as annoying as he finds Leo on a day-to-day basis, he’s rather fond of the time he gets to spend with him in the middle of the night when it's just the two of them, the disaster twins. “Do you wanna play some Mario Kart instead?”

Leo brightens up. “Snacks?”

“Of course we’ll have snacks. I may be crazy, but I’m not a heathen.”

“Oh yeah, sorry, you’re a civilized demon-possessed genius, right?”

“Exactly right, my dear brother.”

The twins grab enough popcorn and candy from the pantry to send a tiny child into a coma, but as soon as Leo’s hand moves to the coffee machine, Donnie whacks it with a box of Nerds. “Dude, ow?”

“No more caffeine.” He says sternly.

“Oho, that is rich coming from you—”

“Yeah, well, deal with it. Otherwise I’m switching the kitchen permanently to decaf and making myself a secret password protected machine with the good coffee, the extra dark-roasted one.” That shuts Leo up fast. 

They play and bicker loudly in the soundproof lab, up until the wee hours of the morning. Eventually, Donnie falls asleep with the controller in his hand, only to wake up in the afternoon and find himself resting on the cot with his favorite blanket, battle shell and mask off. His sleepless twin nowhere to be found. 

–

The third time it happens, Raph is having a nightmare about the Krang. 

It’s par for the course, really. In the morning, he happens to overhear one of Mikey’s favorite YouTubers talk about their grief over their late friend who was lost to the bubblegum aliens, so he spends the most of the day in a haze, keeping to himself in the dojo, training, and eating his dinner alone while reading news articles about the reconstruction in New York to repair the damage from their fight. 

One trigger after another. So it’s no surprise that his dreams are filled with sick pink flesh and yellow eyes, tentacles worming over his body, digging into his brain, sadistic voices of the hive mind overpowering his screams, the feel of a lithe figure in his clutch, nails scratching onto his hand as he tightens his grip on his victim, his brother—

The part that’s surprising, however, is the other presence in his room, comforting, safe. Soft words spoken over his whimpers, warm hands smoothing over his shell as he regains consciousness. “Deep breaths, big bro, you’re okay, you’re safe, I promise you. Try to breathe, please.”

He breathes, turning away from the damp pillow, lifting his head up by his elbows to blink the sleep away. Blood pools back into his body, bones creaking in protest. All four limbs, whole, green, normal. 

Raph takes in one deep breath, and lets it out with meditative precision. His vision finally clears. Leo is sitting on the corner of his bed, hands anxiously rubbing together but giving him space to get up on his own. Worried eyes ticking over his face before latching onto his, relieved. 

“Hiya, Raphie.” He says with remarkable poise. “Okay?”

Raph slowly scoots up to sit properly, picking up one of his stuffed bears and hugging him. Embarrassment keeps him from meeting Leo’s eyes, burying his face in the soft fake fur. “Mhm.”

A hand gently strokes his leg, a comforting, involuntary motion. “Long day?”

“...You could say that.” He agrees. He clears his throat. “What time is it?”

“Just after 2.” Leo squeezes his knee. “Do you want me to wake Dad?”

Raph scoffs. “What is Dad going to do in the middle of the night? Let him sleep.” 

“Okay, how about the other guys? We could turtle pile.”

He shakes his head before Leo finishes. “No, no, it’s not important, Leo. Let them all sleep.”

“It is important.” He replies sharply, and Raph blinks up at him. Leo’s sporting his own version of a Raph Chasm, eye-ridges pulled together in a gut-wrenching frown, lips turned down. “You are important.”

A lump rises in his throat, but he swallows it down. He’s had enough of Leo stubbornly insisting that he stop dismissing his own emotions over the years, so he says nothing, instead lifting up an arm. Leo immediately snuggles in next to him, shell fitting perfectly under his arm. 

The tension falls off his frame as his little brother wiggles to get comfortable. Raph sighs, the dregs of his nightmare-fueled dread seeping away with Leo right next to him, the scent of roses in his nose. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” He offers. 

“Pizza Supreme, no.” Raph snorts, making Leo huff. 

“Okay.” He agrees easily. Then, “Oh, I almost forgot!”

From the pocket of his hoodie he pulls out his phone, tapping at it for a couple of seconds before holding out the camera. “Snap streak.”

Raph snorts again but obliges his younger brother, putting on some version of a smile as he takes the picture, adding a bunch of unicorn emojis in the corner before showing it to him for approval. 

He takes the phone, but immediately frowns, zooming in to study Leo’s face. Even though he’s grinning, the exhaustion is practically radiating off him. The red stripes under his eyes are marred with purple bags, eyes squinting with the effort of staying up. He looks like he’s about to pass out almost any second.

Raph sends off the streak, and starts arranging the pillows and stuffed animals around him to make space for two sleeping turtles. He pulls his blanket over Leo’s head, which he, of course, shoves back. “What are you doing?”

“Tucking you in.” He informs him, dragging him down. “We’re going to sleep for a very long time.”

“Sure, Raphie, whatever you say.” Leo says too easily, and he immediately calls bullshit. 

“No, we’re really going to sleep. No more pretending.” He glares at him with one eye open. “Promise?”

Leo hesitates, but then forcibly relaxes himself, nuzzling closer. “I’ll try, promise.”

As good as he’s going to get, Raph thinks. He squeezes his brother tight enough for him to wheeze and laugh, wishing him goodnight and eventually falling asleep, nightmares far away. When he wakes up, Leo is on the floor next to the bed, face illuminated by the glow of his phone screen, playing a game of chess. The eye bags seem heavier than ever. 

–

The fourth time it happens, April is trying to catch up on physics homework. 

It’s actually ridiculous how she, a journalism major, has to study physics at all, even as a gen-ed. She’s a sophomore now, for god’s sake, she’s supposed to be interning at CNN and MSNBC, or at least spearheading some kind of journaling initiative with a bunch of her classmates. But no, Eastlaird is forcing her to calculate angular momentum and torque for a homework that is apparently not due on Monday, but in the morning on Friday, which is tomorrow. Or more accurately, today, she thinks, warily eyeing the clock on the table that reads 3:35 A.M.

She has maybe one more problem left before she can finally get some sleep, and hopefully get to stay over at the lair for the weekend. She hasn’t seen her boys and her Pops in over a month, and the joy of destroying Donnie in the Just Dance competition of their lives is the only motivation getting her through this. 

April sighs and stretches, cracking her back, before she hears a notification from her phone. Picking it up she sees, ‘nardo💙 sent an Instagram reel.’

She sits up in surprise. Why the hell is this idiot awake? And why is he sending her Instagram reels of all things?

‘awake???’ she texts back, worried. ‘why??’

Seen immediately, typing. ‘YOU awake why??’

‘homework’

‘yuck get away from me’

April picks at her bottom lip, watching the clock on her desk tick. If Leo’s awake at four in the morning, he hasn’t slept all night. She considers texting one of her other brothers to force him to sleep, but hopefully they would all be in bed by now, Donnie included. 

‘how much coffee did you have in the evening’

‘...’

‘Leo.’

‘okok four cups’

‘nardo you gotta be kidding me’. April rubs at her face, sighing. Leo knows better than to lie to his big sister, so he’s definitely telling her the truth, but it doesn’t make it any easier. Four whole cups of coffee?

‘did you try melatonin? helps me sleep a lot better nowadays’

‘apes do u even know me, obv melatonin doesn’t work on us’

‘damn’ 

‘ur taking it tho?? don’t take too much, not good for u’

‘yeah dum-dum, no sleep is not good for YOU have you thought about that?’

No response. Two minutes later, a funny reel. 

She huffs frustratedly, thinking, before finally deciding to call him on FaceTime, setting the phone against a textbook.

The face that greets her is so fucking worrying that April gapes, not responding to Leo’s raspy greeting. His eyes are completely bloodshot, face gaunt, red stripes practically completely purple now. 

“You look like shit.” She says, uncharacteristically blunt. Maybe the lack of sleep and physics is getting to her. How the hell does Donnie do this all the time?

Leo scowls, putting the phone down so all she sees is the dark ceiling of the kitchen. “If you just called me to insult me, I’m hanging up.”

“Sorry, sorry.” She raises a hand in surrender, pulling her notebook closer and picking up her pencil. “Science is turning my brain to soup, I lost my speaking filter. You’re still very pretty.”

A second, and Leo’s face comes back into view. “Promise?”

“Pinky promise.” She nods, smiling as Leo grins, as brightly as he can with fatigue coming off him in waves. “What are you up to?”

“This guy on YouTube is reviewing the older JJ movies, it’s a four hour long video. And I have Sour Patch Kids, so I’m happy.”

April bites back the hundreds of worried comments she comes up with, deciding to think a little more tactically. She doesn’t want to piss him off again, so telling him to sleep or pointing out his eye-bags is off the table. 

“You wanna hear about my homework? It’s so difficult and horrible, I hate it.”

“I respect your degree, I do, Apes, but how hard can journalism homework even be?”

“It’s physics, man, that’s the thing. I’m going to jump out of my window.” She groans, equations swimming behind her eyelids. “I’m like ninety percent sure if I tried explaining this to you I could bore you to sleep.”

Leo chuckles, but there’s something tired and morose in it. “I wouldn’t take that bet.”

She blinks at the bitter tone of his voice, but doesn’t call him out on it. There’s a lost look in his eyes as he stares off to the side, chewing slowly on his candy. Her big sister instinct rears its head immediately at that.

“Don’t worry about it, baby.” April assures him, deciding fuck it, opening up Chegg to find the answer to this last question so she can finish this as fast as possible. “I’ll be done in fifteen minutes. Why don’t you tell me what this random guy has to say about Pluto Vacation IV, and I’ll tell you how valid that is.”

By the time the sun rises, and Leo hangs up to go help Mikey make breakfast, April has turned in not only physics, but has finished all of the rest of her homework. She starts to pack, a plan ready in her mind.

–

They don’t let it happen a fifth time. 

Leo sighs, letting his head fall onto his bed, hiding his eyes from the fairy lights in his room. Normally, they look so pretty and aesthetic, but ever since this new bout of insomnia hit him, a lot of things have been bothering him more than usual. And he’s currently too exhausted to get up and turn it off on his own. 

He groans, reaching for his phone, because what else is he going to do? His brain is too tired for anything other than mindless scrolling, and if Raph asks him to train today he might just burst into tears. The time reads 12 P.M., a very productive time of day for the majority of planet Earth. The minority includes him apparently, as he pulls up one of his old blankets over his head, and settles in for an afternoon of TikTok.

The door to his train car opens quietly. Leo blinks, emerging from his nest to look up. 

Mikey stands at the doorway, sunshine smile on display. He sees his eyes scan his face, and the sunshine dims a bit, but he still says excitedly, “Hi, Lee! April just got back, we’re doing a sleepover!”

“Oh – oh yay!” His delayed response throws his act off a little. Don’t get him wrong, he is so happy his sister is back, it’s just he’d really rather not do a sleepover tonight where he has to spend another eight hours pretending to be asleep next to his peacefully resting siblings. “That’s great, I’ll be right there.”

Mikey nods but doesn’t leave, so Leo has to go through the excruciating process of forcing himself up and out of the room with a performative smile painted on his face. Mikey hooks his elbow with his, walking in step with him to the living room. 

He finds Raph and April talking, a bag carelessly dropped next to her feet. She catches sight of him and grins immediately, raising her arms. Leo can see the conscious effort it takes for her to not linger on his eye bags, he’s been needing a lot of that too lately.

“Hi, Apes.” He mumbles into her shoulder as she tightly squeezes him.

“Hi, Leo.” She replies warmly. “Missed you so much.”

A large hand rests on his shell, and he looks up to see Raph smile down at him. “Wanna join in on the hug fest, Raphie?”

“Ha, don’t worry, there’s gonna be plenty to go around in the sleepover soon.” He chuckles. 

“Soon?” Leo asks, and Raph points a thumb to the entrance. Leo turns around to see Donnie and Mikey walk in with a bunch of blankets and pillows in their arms. One of the spider limbs in Donnie’s battle shell is holding Raph’s largest teddy bear, the other holding his blue hoodie he couldn’t find in the morning. 

“We’re doing a sleepover now? It’s literally noon.”

“We’ve hit critical condition.” Donnie informs him primly, dropping the blankets in the middle of the floor. “You’ve been awake for too long.”

His mood sours immediately. He knows, okay? He’s aware that not sleeping for days at a time isn’t healthy, and he knows he looks like shit, but people don’t have to keep commenting on it. 

“Don’t pout.” Mikey wheedles into his side, giving him another squeeze. “We’re gonna help, I promise.”

“Right.” Leo says, disbelief clear in his voice, before something rose-scented smacks him in the face. “Hey!”

“You’re welcome.” Donnie responds, starting to move the furniture to make enough room for the blanket fort. “Your favorite hoodie, freshly washed with softener and your scent beads.”

Leo pulls it over his head, the familiar comforting smell easing some of his tension, the soft texture making him feel like he’s being swallowed whole. “Thanks.” He says quietly, hoping they can’t hear the croak in his voice. 

Donnie pauses in his ministrations for a millisecond before getting back to work with more gusto, him and Mikey setting up an impressive fort that could withstand five siblings. While Leo watches them, Raph taps him on his shoulder, and he’s offered a cup of freshly made chamomile and lavender tea, steam curling on top. The thoughtfulness almost makes him cry as he gives him a wobbly smile in return, taking a sip. It’s the perfect temperature, splash of milk and sweetened with honey, just how he likes it. 

He feels April at his back, gently untying the knot of his mask, carefully folding it and walking to his room to put it away. She comes back with his fuzzy Christmas socks.

“You guys.” Leo tries, feeling emotionally wrung out and sore. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Shut up.” Three turtles reply in unison, breaking out into chuckles. Raph guides him to the center of the fort, making him sit down and rest on the biggest pillow. He finishes his tea as Mikey puts the teddy bear under his other arm and April puts the socks on him, brain too fuzzy to protest. 

He jolts out of his fog when he feels something pressing down on him. He looks up to see Donnie tuck him in under his purple weighted blanket, the one he uses on his bad days. He’s awash with the clean scent of roses, as tears fill up in Leo’s eyes unbidden. He tries to blink them back. “Don…”

“Hush.” Donnie replies, quietly, and Leo sees the lights in the room have been dimmed, his other siblings wearing their pajamas and getting ready to pile. “Stop using your brain. It’s sleeping time now.”

“Wow, I never thought there’d be a day when Hamato Donatello would actually tell me to ‘stop using my brain’.” He croaks out.

Leo prepares for the obligatory joke about him not having a brain in the first place, but Donnie just gives him an amused look in return, speaking softly but matter-of-factly, “Your brain is hurting my twin. So stop using it.”

A ball of emotion lodges in his throat that keeps him from speaking out loud, so he just nods. He gets a head pat for his troubles that he’s too emotional to block away.

Eventually, Donnie lies down next to him, their arms pressed together. Mikey nestles into a ball on his other side, snuggling close. Raph settles behind their heads, turning to his side and curling around them all protectively. April throws her feet over their legs, playfully kicking him in the shin. 

Leo chokes on a laugh, tears soundlessly rolling onto the pillow. This has been one of the longest weeks of his life, hours in the middle of the night spent staring mindlessly at the ceiling, into the middle distance, into the New York skyline. The darkness seeping into his body, harsh, cold. A high pitched hum in his ears, heaviness in his eyes.

Right now though, he feels warm and loved and exhausted beyond belief. But not alone. Never alone. 

“Thanks, guys.” He finally whispers. 

Donnie gently bonks his head with his own, affection clear in the action. Mikey presses a loud kiss onto his bicep. “You’re welcome, big bro.”

Raph strokes his head. “Sleep, Leo.”

“We love you, Nardo.” April says, nudging his foot. “We got you.”

Leo smiles. He trusts them, they got him. He closes his eyes and pulls on his night mask. The demons of the night don’t stand a chance against the warm glow of his family. He finally falls asleep. 

[fanttasttica]

One plus one makes three

Rhysand x reader

After your one night stand with the High lord, you hadn't expected to see him ever again, but fate had other plans. You are pregnant, carrying the High lord's first child and you need to tell him. How is he going to react? And what will that mean for you?

Warnings: nothing (I think.. If you find anything, please let me know :D )

Words: 4129

Authors note: Thanks for participanting inthe voting! Since this idea got the most votes, i wrote it first. My next story will be on theme "enemies to lovers" :D

You weren't that type of a girl who got drunk every weekend and had a sex with males whose names you haven't bothered to learn. No.. So why was the universe punishing you for this? It was one night, only one. You were celebrating your birthday with some friends at Rita's, when you spotted the most beautiful male that ever existed. He was tall, seemed strong and there was this dark aura around him. He was undoubtedly powerful, but instead of fearing him, something dragged you to him. After some time you were watching each other from afar, he came up to you and asked you to dance. It was during your time on the dancing floor, when you found out it was no other than High lord or the Night cour, your High lord. It was the first time you saw him, the first time you talked to him and you thought it would also be probably the last. Maybe you ended up in his bed that night, but it was supposed to be only a one night stand, but fate decided otherwise. 

You weren't feeling well for a couple of days. Your friends were pushing you to see a healer and today you finally gave in. You visited your healer on the other side of the town, thinking she will brush it off, tell you to rest for another couple of days and eat chicken broth, you hated, but no. This wasn't only some illness you could get rid of after a few days. This would last for at least a couple of months and then the real fun would begin. You were pregnant. Carrying an heir to the Night court in your womb. Your stomach was still flat and if it weren't for your morning sickness and tiredness, you wouldn't have noticed you were pregnant yet. After finding that out, you thanked and said goodbye to your healer, leaving in a hurry. As if running from her would also mean that you would run from your situation. Unfortunately for you, that didn't happen. Symptoms still bothered you in the following days, reminding you about how screwed you were. 

“What are you going to do?” Your friends were curious, of course. And honestly you were too. “I have no idea. I am.. I only saw him once.” You answered her while running your hand through your hair. “Yeah, you saw him once. You slept with him once and you ended up pregnant.. I can't believe your luck.” It was hard to say if she was speaking ironically or not, because you wouldn't call yourself lucky. This wasn't some blessing. You weren't against children, you actually liked them and hoped one day you will have one, this was simply quite early for you and certainly with the wrong man. He maybe was a High lord, but you were an ordinary fae. He probably already forgot about your existence. “I don't even know how to contact him. Should I go back to Rita's in the hope I will meet him there? Should I send him a letter and tell him about this? And what should I write in it? Do I really have to tell him?” Not telling him anything and running to another court was an idea you were also toying with. “You can not possibly mean that! He deserves to know. And besides that, lies or secrets are always exposed in the end. He is the most powerful High lord of all times.. Do you really think you can keep this as a secret your whole life? Your kids' whole life?” You sighed in defeat and shook your head. “No, that's stupid.. I.. I just need another few days to collect my thoughts and think about ways to contact and tell him.” 

Few days passed by and you still weren't sure what to do. Why does it have to be so complicated? If he weren't the High lord, you would already have told him. It would make everything so much easier for both of you. It was pointless to cry over a spilled milk, but you couldn't help yourself, blaming it on your hormones. One day, you had enough of it. Enough of hiding in your room, crying and cursing on him and yourself. You were determined to find him, tell him about this and return home, so you could finally have some good rest without constantly thinking about this, because currently you were losing your head. You decided to try to find Rhysand again at Rita's. It seemed better to ask him for a minute there than marching to his house and demanding he would see you. You friends were supportive, not leaving you to be all alone. There always was at least one of them by your side, although you weren't finding it necessary, it was a nice gesture you appreciated. The first night you spent here looking for you, you hadn't had any luck, likewise the second or third night. But after sitting on the bar stool for the fourth night in a row, you finally saw him. He was talking to his friends, with a smile on his handsome face, unaware that his life was about to change drastically. 

Your heart started beating faster than ever before. In normal situations, you were a calm person, but obviously not today. “You should hurry and go speak to him, before other girls start to throw themself on him.” You swallowed hard.“Yeah.. I am going right now.” You tried to put on a neutral face and started walking towards him, even though everything in you screamed to run away. Suddenly, you were standing right before him and his friends, who were measuring you with interest in their eyes. You simply nodded at them in greeting and looked at the High lord. “You probably don't remember me, but we met here a while ago.. And I need to speak with you. It's urgent. ” At first you were worried he was going to send you away. He raised one eyebrow, but nodded and put away his drink, following you outside. Cold air hit you immediately, so you hugged yourself, before turning to face him. “I remember you, don't worry.” You weren't expecting that. “Yeah.. that's good.” It made a few things easier for you. Now you know there isn't a need to explain to him when you met and what you did together that night. “So? What did you need to tell me?” He was curious, of course. Maybe expecting you to try to seduce him, as many girls certainly did in the past, but there was nothing that could prepare him for this. “I am pregnant and it's yours.” 

There weren't many people who managed to surprise the High lord of the Night court. And even the least people managed to surprise him so much that he couldn't think of a reaction for the first few seconds. He was stunned, looking at you as if you were from another unknown world, so you took word once again. “To be honest.. I expected a worse reaction..” You sighed and looked at the ground. “I don't want anything from you. I want and will keep the baby, but if you don't want to, you don't have to be involved in the baby's life. I have people who will help me and also have enough money to take care of it. So.. It's up to you.” And with that, you left him standing outside alone, returning to your friends.

“How did it go? Did he take it well?” Immediately after your return, you were flooded with questions. You shrugged and drank water from your glass. “He was clearly surprised. I told him I don't expect anything from him and assured him it's his choice, if he wants to be involved or not and then left.” They laughed. “You told him this and just left him standing there alone? Oh my Cauldron, I would pay to see his face.” Maybe you would also laugh at this, only if it weren't you who was in this situation. You put one of your hands on your stomach. It was weird and also.. magical, knowing that right now, you are creating a new life. “He returned to his friends and is talking with them.” Your friend whispered to your ears. You could feel several pairs of eyes watching you. Shaking your head, you smiled at them. “Let's talk about something else for a while and try to enjoy this night.” You desperately needed some distraction and opportunity to think about anything else. In the end, the reason why you were here today was done and you deserved some break from this too. 

The next day, you were woken up by the Sun. After you forgot to close the curtains last night, there was nothing that could stop morning rays from tickling your eyes. Like any other day before, you were thinking, if you weren't dreaming this whole time, but morning sickness was clear evidence that in fact you were not. After brushing your teeths and hair, you dressed up, put on black leggings and your favorite jumper, you were ready for the day. For the last couple of days, you took time off from your job. It wasn't that hard,since you were running a small bakery with your friends and they almost forced you to stay at home. But today, you were determined to return. You wanted to start living normally again. There isn't a chance that you will spend a whole pregnancy locked in your room. You will take things slowly, so there is no chance for something to happen and it will all be good. 

Your day has been going just fine. After coming to work, you could finally be able to feel like a few weeks ago, like nothing was going on. Well, that was until the bell rang, announcing the arrival of another customer you should greet. After you look up, you find no one other than the High lord himself. “Shouldn't you be resting?” You raised your eyebrow. “Hello to you too.. I assure you I am rested well enough.” He came closer, the only thing between you was a counter, behind which you stood. “You don't need to work. I will take care of both of you.” You shook your head. “There is no need for that. I can work, what's more important, I want to work. I love my job.” Something in his face told you, he took this as a challenge. “You are pregnant with my child. I think I should have a say in this matter.” This whole conversation was uncomfortable for both of you. You both were very determined to do it in your way. And the fact that you were strangers had not been helping at all. You didn't know how to treat each other. “Then I guess we need to find some compromise.”

You weren't exactly thrilled with how some things turned out in the end, but on the other hand, it could be worse. After a long talk with Rhysand, how he told you to call him, you end up agreeing to stop working when you are halfway through your pregnancy, but that is not all. During those few weeks you will still be working, there will always be someone with you, during your shift. Practically, members of Rhys's Inner circle were supposed to babysit you. You knew it would be very unusual for you, but you were hoping that in a couple of days you will be able to ignore them or befriend them. You also agreed on moving in with Rhysand and his Inner circle, three weeks before the baby was supposed to be born and staying for at least a couple of months. “Honestly, I am surprised that you want to be so involved..” You mumbled. You two were talking almost your whole shift, which was coming to the end right now. “It's my baby, of course I want to be involved. We have to take care of her or him. Which brings me to my last point today.” He took your silence as a cue to continue. “We should get married.” You weren't sure what you were expecting, but this was certainly not it. Almost dropping a tray with two last gingerbreads, you turned to face him. His face was serious, there was no sign that he was just kidding, but you laughed lightly even so. “Good one. I am not marrying only because I am pregnant.” But he didn't let you brush that off so easily. “Why? It would be better. You would live in luxury for the rest of your life and I would have an heir.” Without this union, this baby would only be a bastard in the others eyes, you were aware of that, but you couldn't do this. “I already told you, I am comfortable with the life I am living. I don't need jewelry or fancy dresses. I was always determined to marry for love or not at all. And I am not changing my mind.” 

The weeks passed one by another. As Rhys promised, from the very next day, his friends started accompanying you, during your work. Sometimes, it was Morrigan you befriended quite quickly. It was because of her friendly personality. She was treating you like a friend from the start, promising you to always help you with the baby. Almost every time she came, she was bringing something for you or the baby. You It almost didn't make sense for you to go shopping for things for the baby since she was the one doing it. Then there were Cassian and Azriel. They also were friendly, but it took a little longer to get used to them, but after you started feeding them sweets from your shop, they warmed up to you and you were chatting like an old friend. The last person who you saw maybe two times was Amren. She wasn't rude, but when she was there, she was doing her own work and since you didn't want to disturb her, you hadn't talked so much. As for Rhys, he was visiting you every other day before and after your shift. The communication between you two was better and sometimes, you caught yourself staring at him, when he was talking to his friends and since that was exactly what got you into this situation in the first place, you weren't happy with yourself. 

“This is your last day, isn't it?” Morrigan was sitting on a table, smiling at you as you were counting the money before closing the register. “Yeah.. I still can't believe it.” You were half through your pregnancy and your bump was already showing a little. Fortunately, the morning sickness and tiredness have passed you by now. You were feeling great. “I don't know what I am going to do with my free time.” She shrugged. “You can read.. Paint.. Shop for the baby..” You chuckled at the last thing. “Thanks to you, the baby has more than enough clothes. And I pursue all my hobbies even when I am working.. Rhys is thinking that I will only lay in bed, eat and sleep, but that's simply not possible. I would lose my head after one week.” She smiled at you sympathetically. “My cousin behaves sometimes like a mother hen. I believe you, when you say it's annoying.. But you have to endure it only for another couple of weeks..” That wasn't helping. “I am not like a mother hen. I don't know what you two are talking about.”  You only noticed Rhysand, who was leaning against the door frame, now. “Yeah, you are worse.” You mumbled, after recovering from the shock he gave you. “You are hurting my feelings, dear Y/N.” You pursed your lips at him. “How are you going to recover from this?” His laughter filled the room and forced you to chuckle a little bit too. “When will you two finally get together? You are perfect for each other.” Neither of you answered her. 

As you expected, you were bored only after a week of not working. Sure, you had your friends and also new friends from Inner circle, but it wasn't enough. They also had work and their lives. So you decided to go bother the man who was responsible for your boredom, Rhysand. You already visited his home, he gave you permission to come and go as you pleased, so you decided to pay him a visit today with some sweet desserts from the bakery for him and a jar of pickles for you. The other symptoms of pregnancy passed, but this one, love for pickles, remained. You knocked twice on the mahagon door that led to his office and waited for his response, before opening them and walking in. “I am bored and it's your fault.” Rhys leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes. “How is that my fault?” He obviously wasn't understanding your logic. Maybe it was because he was a male or maybe because his brain was not affected by hormones. “You didn't want me to work anymore, so I don't have anything to do and in addition to that, I am already sick of some things that I normally like! It's frustrating.” You sat on the chair across from him. “I need to finish these papers, but once I am done, I actually know what we could do together.. Until then, you are welcome to stay.” You thought about it for a while and nodded. “Okay, I will wait. And I would almost forget. This is for you. Morrigan told me you like this.” You moved the dessert tray across the table in front of him. He looked surprised and also very happy. “Thank you, it's nice of you, but you didn't have to do that.” You shrugged, picked up one pickle and ate it before replying to him. “I wanted you. Sweet is good for the nerves. And you'll need a lot of nerve to put up with my moods.”

There was a comfortable silence. Rhys was working, you were eating pickles and watching him. During this time, you found out some other new things about him. For example, every time he tried to concentrate intensely, he furrowed his brow, when he was thinking about something, he tapped his pen on the table.. “I didn't know I was so interesting to you.” You blinked a few times, before you realized he probably noticed that you were staring directly at him for the past few minutes. “I was just thinking how can I protect our child from inheriting your crooked nose.” He chuckled and looked at you, still smiling. “Your love for me is touching.” You rolled your eyes playfully. “Are you almost done? I am running out of pickles.” He put the papers aside and nodded. “Lucky for you, yes. We can go now.”

You had to admit that his house was beautiful. It was so spacious, but cozy at the same time. It felt like home. During the tour Rhys gave you, you were imagining your life here. Imagining a little girl running around the corridors and Rhysand following her, while they are both laughing.. “There are only two other rooms I want to show you.” You offered him a small smile, “Okay, lead the way.” After climbing a few stairs, you reached the next floor of the house Rhys walked to the end of the corridor. “This is my room and right next to it..” He opened the door and let you walk in first. You gasped at the sight before you. It was a nursery. The walls were white and decorated with painted gold stars. Everything was ready. Closets full of baby clothes and other necessary things. Crib was in the middle of the room, filled with some stuffed animals and more blankets than needed. Tears welled up in your eyes. “It's so beautiful! Did you do it by yourself?” You asked, turning to Rhysand who was watching you with a happy expression. “Most of the things, although Cassian and Azriel had to help me to build the crib.. I am the most powerful High lord, but that thing is terrible.” You laughed at the idea of ​​the three strongest Illyrian warriors having trouble assembling a crib. “And Morrigan got the clothes.” You nodded, recognizing some pieces. “Thank you, really.” He walked towards you and carefully took your hand to his. “You don't have to thank me. I was happy to do it. After all, I promised you that I would spoil both you and the child.” The fact that your child was going to be spoiled was certain. And probably no amount of strictness couldn't prevent that. “As for spoiling you.. I also have room ready for you.”

It wasn't until Rhys pointed them out that you noticed a door not far from the crib. “This door leads to your room. And the door opposite.. to mine, so I can come and help you with the baby during the night or you can easily come to my room, if you would need it at any time.” It was practical, better than having to run to the hall and knock on his door there. “Are you ready to see it?” With this, he caught your attention once again. “Of course.” 

You fell in love with your room the first second you walked in. Rhys made sure the walls were painted in your favorite color. There was a table, not so far from the window. On the other side is a bookcase with a rocking chair next to it. The walk-in closet was the same size as your bathroom, which was as luxurious as everything else. “Okay.. Now I am really looking forward to moving in here.” You joked and lay on your big bed. Blanket was so soft you wanted nothing else than getting tangled up in it and never getting out. Rhys sat on your bed, watching you with a grin. “And I thought you said you didn't need a life of luxury..” He said playfully. As a response, you slapped him gently on his hand. “I don't need it. But I have to admit, it's nice.” You sat up and rested your head on his shoulder. He hugged you, with one of his hands, around your waist and placed his hand on your stomach, stroking it gently. “Only the best for you.”

Many weeks passed and now.. As you predicted, you were holding a baby girl in your arms. Your and Rhysand's baby girl. Your birth was quite easy, thankfully. You were happy. Rhys was all over the moon, not leaving you alone for one minute. The others were not better, they pushed each other away, only to get a better view of her, before Madja told them to leave, since you need to rest. So now, it was only you, Rhys and your little star. “I know I already said it.. But thank you.” You looked in his eyes and smiled. “I thank you. Afterall, this takes two.” Although most of the job was done by you, Rhys was amazing to you this whole time. Treating you like a queen. “I am really.. glad for this. Finding out I was going to be a father was shocking, I will not lie, but.. I am just really happy.” Hearing this made your heart jump with joy. “Yeah.. I am too. I am glad I met you. And I have to admit.. I grew fond of you.” He chuckled deeply and kissed the top of your head. “Does that mean you will marry me then? And I assure you.. I am not asking out of some obligation, because we have a child together.” Rhys was ready to give you time to think, but you didn't need it. It wasn't love at first sight with him. You were falling in love with him for a while, but now you were sure that he was your happy ending. Well.. him and your daughter. That's why there wasn't a trace of hesitation when you answered him, “I will.”

[4ttack-ur-heart]

Levi HC’s: Massage oil

Pairing: Levi x fem!reader

Warnings + genre: none & fluff

Summary: Your back has been killing you so Levi gives you a massage.

“Fuck.” You whined out, your hand reaching to grasp your lower back. Training has been rough over the past few days and you slept wrong last night, making your back extremely sore.

Sitting up straight, you made your way through the halls. Opening the door to your shared room with Levi, you spotted him already sipping a cup of tea by the window.

“I was wondering when you were coming.” He wondered aloud.

“Yeah, the new recruits were struggling today so that meant overtime for everyone.” You grumbled and shuffled through your closet for some pajamas.

Levi hummed in response and set his cup down. He came up behind you just as your stripped yourself of your jacket and shirt, his nimble hands instantly went to your shoulders in hopes to lighten the stress in your body.

“Agh!” You yelled out and tensed up as Levi’s hands started to work on your shoulders. He halted his movements immediately.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He placed a hand on your hip to turn you to face him. His eyebrows furrowed in concern at your pained expression.

You sighed as you tried to relax your back. “Yeah, just really stiff and my backs been killing me.”

“Get comfortable then lay on the bed, face down.” Levi ordered.

“Why?”

“I’m going to massage your back. You’re clearly in no position to relax right now, and it’ll only worsen when you sleep.”

“Levi, you don’t have to, I’ll be fine.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, what happens when your back gives out on an expedition? Don’t be stupid, let me help you.”

Sighing in defeat, you knew he wasn’t going to let up. Besides, a massage did sound nice, you just didn’t want to bother him.

“Ok.”

“Turn around. Let me crack your back.” You obeyed.

Levi made you cross your arms over your chest and he wrapped his around yours.

“Breathe in then exhale on three, one, two-”

“Agh!”

He lifted your body up and you moaned as your back cracked with the motions. Several loud pops echoing in the room. You were heavily breathing at the sensation. It felt so good and hurt so bad at the same time.

“Lay down.”

After changing into more loose clothing, you flopped on the bed and regretted it immediately when your back seized up again. “Shit.”

“Not the brightest are you?”

“Shut up and get to work.” You huffed and Levi chuckled as sat neck to you and lifted up the back of your shirt to reach your shoulder blades.

Levi was amused by the way you reacted to his hands. How you moaned as he went lower, then started muttering nonsense when he applied more pressure. After a few minutes of him trying to loosen the knots, he noticed your grunts and groans were out of pain, not pleasure. Wordlessly, he got up.

“Stay here.”

Levi disappeared into the bathroom for a few moments and came out with a small bottle.

“What is that?” You craned your neck over your shoulder to try and see.

“Hush, I liked it better when you were moaning.” Levi shifted one leg over your thighs so he was straddling you. He tugged at your shirt. “I need this off.”

You moved to take off your shirt, leaving you only in a bra. About to lay back down, Levi plucked the band of your bra and made it snap against your skin. “This too.”

Before you could move, Levi had already unclipped it and was moving the straps over your arms, flinging the item over the bed to join your shirt.

Now that you were completely bare on the top half, you finally laid back down and Levi popped the cap off the bottle.

A sudden rush of liquid squirting on your back made you flinch.

“Stop moving, I don’t want the oil to stain the sheets.”

“Oil? What’s that for?”

“Hange recommended it to me when we were in town last week.” He replied and gently started to rub it into your skin, soft moans escaped your sore body. “They had the same problems you did and Moblit actually bought it for them, and I figured if it worked for them then there was no harm in trying it. It’s supposed to ease the friction and moisturize your skin.”

You nodded only half-listening. The way his warm hands mixed with the oil against your back felt euphoric. With every push and dip, Levi’s fingers worked the oil into your back. It wasn’t long before you felt the eventual pressure release of the knots and tension.

“Mm, Levi.” You moaned through closed eyes. His fingers were slicked with the oil and you could smell the aroma of peppermint and lavender.

It felt way too good.

“How long has this been going on for?” Levi asked after a few moments of silence. His hands suddenly moved to just below your shoulder blade and started to work out the knot.

“Ah-! A-about a a week I think?” You groaned as his fingers rubbed circles into the spot.

“Tch, and I’m just now finding out about this?” He asked and a stern look crossed his features. You felt his eyes burn through the back of your head.

“In my defense- ooh~” His hands found another tense knot. “I didn’t wanna bother you, we’ve been busy all week and I can take care of myself.”

“Clearly not.” He argued. “Are you even stretching before training?”

Yes, you are.

Mostly.

Sometimes.

Okay, maybe not in the past week.

“Your silence is all the answer I need.” Levi chastised. “Let me make a deal with you.”

“Hm?” You didn’t care what it was, your mind was too clouded with relaxing under Levi’s touch. Levi suddenly pulled away and your skin tingled at the loss of touch, practically begging for more. He got off of you and grabbed a towel nearby to clean his hands of the oil.

“If you can’t fucking take care of yourself that’s fine.” He started and helped you sit back up so you were shoulder to shoulder. His forearm secured itself around your bare breasts so you wouldn’t feel as exposed. Steel blue eyes bore into yours, but soon they melted into a soft gaze.

Levi’s hand guided your chin and his lips met yours in a sweet kiss. “Then at least let me do it.”

————

Tag list: @cullenswife @sad-darksoul

[unreliablesnake]

Thunderstorm (Simon Riley x f!reader)

Summary: Simon spoils his daughter and he’s always there when she needs him–even if it’s because of a little thunderstorm.

Note: MW3 is coming, I’ll be back on my bullshit. / If you want to know when I post new stuff, follow @unreliablesnakefics.

“Daddy, please.”

That was it. Simon was usually defeated by these two words that his four-year-old used every time she wanted something. After all, he was his little princess, the sweet child who often fell asleep on the couch next to him in the evening, the one who held tea parties for her toys and him every now and then.

Since he wasn’t home that much, and since he never knew when his luck would run out on the field, he treated every second with her as if it was the last time he saw her. You knew perfectly well that’s why he always spoiled her, why she quickly became daddy’s little girl, so you never said anything to stop him. They needed to bond so she would have good memories of him, and you didn’t want to take it away from them.

“One day you’ll have to stop letting her get away with everything, you know,” you told him one evening after he came back from his daughter’s room following a fight about bedtime that was over an hour ago. “We need to set certain rules.”

“I know, I know.” Simon took his place in bed next to you, an arm wrapping around your shoulder to pull you closer. “It’s just so hard to say no. I swear I’m trying.”

You looked up at him and before you knew it, his lips captured yours in a sensual kiss that aimed to make you forget about what he had just done. But you knew better than to fall into his trap, so you pulled away with a delicate smile and gave him an understanding look.

“I know that, Simon, but we need to be partners in this. It must be nice to be the good cop, but she’ll become a little monster if we let her do anything she wants.”

After taking a deep breath, Simon nodded. “You’re right. It’s just so tough to be strict when I’m away this much,” he admitted before placing a soft kiss on your temple. “By the way, did you hear that?” You gave him a confused look so he went on almost immediately. “A thunderstorm. It’s coming this way.”

Finally it made sense to you because you let out a sigh and said, “She’ll run in crying anyway. Go get her.”

He got out of bed, but instead of leaving the room, he just put his hands on his hips and asked, “You sure? I will be the good cop again.”

“Go.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

His daughter was terrified of thunderstorms. She had been like that since the beginning, always crying when lightning struck nearby, instinctively calling for her mommy and daddy when she was scared, or running into their bedroom right after the sound reached her. He knew she would grow out of this eventually, but until then he wouldn’t want her to stay in her room alone.

Those nights when she slept in their bed between them were his favorites. Sure, he loved to be alone with you too; to explore your body over and over again, drawing out those sweet moans and whines from you, and seeing you fall apart for him. But being together as a family, having his favorite girls so close to him was still better.

Simon liked to think of himself as a good father and husband. He broke the cycle, he became a better man than his father had ever been, and every day he spent home with you two was filled with actions that spoke louder than words. He wanted the both of you to know, to feel that he loved you more than anything in this world.

When he reached his daughter’s room and peeked inside, he noticed that she was sleeping peacefully under the warm blanket. For a moment he wondered if he should just leave her be for now, but then he heard the storm outside and realized you had been right and this was for the best. So he picked her up carefully and walked back to the master bedroom, laying the little girl on the middle of the bed next to you.

“Thank you,” you told him quietly.

Shaking his head, Simon leaned over to give you a quick kiss. “Anytime, love.”

You flashed a wide smile at him, but before you could say anything, your daughter turned on her side and cuddled up to you with her small arm wrapped around your waist. Simon was a little jealous, but he kept this to himself for now. Sooner or later she would wake up and cuddle up to him instead as she usually did.

[number1mingyustan]

Habit (part i.) —k.sy

fuckboy!hoshi x fem!reader

Genre: fwb au, college au, fuckboy au, angst, smut

Warnings: kissing, cursing, mutliple orgasms, oral (f.), fingering (f.), protected sex, he's kind of an asshole but at the same time not ??

Summary: You're in desperate need of getting laid, whether you want to admit it or not. And it just so happens that the fuckboy from your Economics class comes knocking at your door.

Word Count: 3.1k

part ii. part iii. part iv.

_______________________________________________

(a/n: bittersweet made me realize i’m more of a mini series girl, so here’s a lil treat for you all)

“Soonyoung,” you frown with a sigh as you look through the peephole on your door.

The overly enthusiastic boy stands in front of your dorm with a brown paper bag in hand and a cup holder.

You crack the door open, peeking your head through. “What do you want?”

“I know you’re still mad at me, but I brought you food,” he smiles.

You close the door in his face.

“Please Y/n! I said I was sorry, just let me in. I’ll beg if I have to, but I’m going to drop these drinks if you don’t let me in right now!” his voice is muffled by the door.

“You can’t win my forgiveness with food Soonyoung!” you shout from the other side of the door.

“I got your favorite! Strawberry milkshake with extra whip and waffle fries! Please Shorty!”

Ugh you hate that he knows you so well. And as much as you want to prove him wrong, you’re hungry as hell.

You cave, opening the door for the boy. He rushes in, nearly dropping everything in his hands before placing it onto your desk.

He turns around, facing you with the brightest smile on his face. “Thank you for letting me inside.”

“Mhm,” you reach over him, grabbing your fries out the bag. “I’m still mad at you though.”

“Please Y/n, I’ve apologized like a billion times,” he pleads with you.

Last week Soonyoung ditched you to get laid. The two of you had an Econ project to work on and he didn’t show up on day you were meant to work on it. You texted him a billion times and didn’t get a response and ultimately ended up finishing the project alone.

He texted you later that night apologizing profusely because he was in Akari's dorm and forgot about your plans.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t completely out of character for him either.

You first met Soonyoung at a party. Your roommate, Nai started dating his roommate Seokmin. The mutuals brought you together one Friday night on campus. And although you usually didn’t befriend guys like him, the two of you worked great together.

You’d seen him around campus, including Economics class , but before the party you’d never interacted with him. The day after the party he changed seats to sit next to you.

You could admit he was attractive, yes, but that was really it. Soonyoung had… a bit of a reputation that preceded him.

He wasn’t big on relationships and he slept around a bit. He could commit to a friends with benefits, but that was really his limit. He partied a lot, which was how he met so many girls and had the chance to hook up with them. He did one night stands, but he also maintained his flings, like Leina and Akari. He maintained his grades well too, however his fuckboy tendencies still preceded him, especially in situations like this.

“I told you food wasn’t going to buy my forgiveness,” You dip one of your fries in your milkshake and take a bite as you plop down on your bed.

He frowns. “Please, I’ll never do it again,”

“Damn right you won’t,” you take another bite.

Truthfully, you’re not actually mad about it anymore. It was a stupid thing for him to do, but it’s been a week already and you’re not big on holding grudges. However, it is fun to mess with him.

“I give up,” he throws his hands up in defeat. “As soon as Nai came over, I knew you’d be here alone and figured I could win over your forgiveness. But you’re so stubborn I’m not even gonna bother anymore.”

“If you get on your knees and beg I’ll consider it,” you smirk.

“Are you being deadass?” he asks.

You giggle. “No, I‘ve been gotten over it. Thanks for the free food by the way.”

Soonyoung is silent for a moment.

“Seriously?!”

You nod, taking a sip of your milkshake.

“God Shorty, you’re so uptight I genuinely thought you were still mad at me,” he plops down on your bed next to you and takes a sip of his milkshake.

“I am not uptight,” you defend.

“Yes you are,” he takes one of your fries despite having his own. “You need to get laid or something.”

“Excuse me?”

He takes another sip. “What? Don’t act like I’m wrong. I know you’re under some sort of dry spell, it shows.”

“I am not under a dry spell,” you frown.

“Yes you are,” he laughs. “If you weren’t, you’d be more like me.”

“Bold of you to assume I want to be like you. You sleep around so much, I have no idea what diseases you’re carrying,”

“Hey! Have you know, I practice safe sex and maintain my 3.8. Don’t hate because you can’t get laid,” the blonde boy smirks.

“I can get laid!” You defend.

“I’m sure you can, you’re a pretty girl. You just like… don’t,” he takes another sip.

“That’s only because every time I’ve ever slept this someone it sucked” you scoff.

Soonyoung stops mid sip and slowly deadpans into your direction. “Are you serious?”

“Ugh!” you cover your face in embarrassment. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, it’s so embarrassing!”

He pulls your hands off your face. “Stop being so dramatic. I might be able to actually help.I’m kind of an expert in the area.”

You sigh. “Fine. I’ve only ever slept with 3 guys and the experience got worse between each guy. It was just like… I don’t know. I think I’m the problem.”

“I’m sure you’re not the problem,” he buts in.

“I think I am,” you frown.

“What, did you like… bite it or something?”

“No! God no! Nothing like that. It’s just like, none of them have ever gotten me there,” you admit.

“Like they’ve never made you finish?” he asks.

You nod.

“Then the problem definitely isn’t you, you’re just sleeping with guys that have no clue what they’re doing,” he shrugs.

“Yeah well I thought that the first time and then it happened twice again and ended up worse than before. Figured it had to be me,” you explain.

“No Shorty, they just suck. It’s really not that hard to get a girl to finish,” he shrugs.

“That’s easy for you to say,” you roll your eyes. “You’ve slept with half the girls on campus.”

“Okay first of all I haven’t slept with that many girls,” he defends. “And second of all, all those girls I did sleep with left satisfied.”

“I’m sure they did Soonyoung, but that doesn’t help me in any way,” you point out.

“Yeah, but I could help you out you know,” he offers.

Is he saying what you think he’s saying right now?

“You mean like…. sleep with me?” you ask.

He shrugs. “Only if you’re okay with it. No pressure.”

“Won’t that be weird?” you ask.

“It’s only weird if you make it weird,” he shrugs again. “I’m not asking you on a date Shorty.”

You frown. “Yeah I know that.”

“It would just be like a no feelings no rules thing, just me helping you out,” he takes a sip of his milkshake. “Can be a one time thing we both forget about if you really want.”

“I guess,” you think. “Okay,”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

What? Are you actually agreeing to this right now? You know he knows what he’s doing and that he’s safe about it, but it’s the emotional aspect you’re not taking into consideration right now. Soonyoung is still one of your good friends and this changes everything… right?

He says it’s only weird if you make it weird, but it’s easy for him to say that. He’s done this before, and he’s good at it. The sex with no strings that is.

You trust Soonyoung and you know he would never hurt you. He’s doing this to help you, and it’s really a win–win no matter how you look at it.

He smiles. “Come here.”

He pulls you onto his lap with great care. His thumb strokes your cheek for a minute assuringly before he closes the small gap between your faces.

The kiss starts slow and gentle. Quick pecks turning into a longing kiss that grows more intense with each passing second. His other hand lay on your waist, thumb rubbing small circles on your side as he continues to deepen the kiss.

You kiss him back with the same energy he provides you with. Hands wander across each other’s bodies, touching clothes and skin.

He moves, pinning your body down on the bed under his. He hovers over you, lips trialing down your onto your neck. He’s careful enough not to leave marks, simply pulling down the strap of your tank top. One of his hands sneaks up your back, unhooking your strapless bra and tossing it on the floor somewhere.

"Tell me if you want to stop," he says between kisses. "Or if you don't like anything, at all."

"Okay," you breathe out as you allow your eyes to fall shut. You submit your body to him, putting your trust entirely into his hands. Your body relaxes and sinks into the mattress. He removes his lips from your skin, stopping to grab a pillow and adjust your body to ensure your comfort.

He crawls down your body, fingers playing with the strings of your pyjama pants before pulling them off and tossing them onto the floor. You're left in your tank top (that's really only halfway on) and your underwear. He kisses your inner thighs gently before hooking his fingers into your panties and sliding them off.

"You're so pretty, Shorty," he mumbles, more so to himself.

His gentle demeanor is gone almost immediately. His lips immediately attach themselves to your clit, licking and sucking on your extremely sensitive bud. You let out a hiss and arch your back at the sudden contact.

Soonyoung's never been one of those guys against going down on a girl, but holy shit. He's eating you out like it's his last meal on earth. His lips and his tongue are everywhere, spreading warmth along your most sensitive areas.

He concentrates mostly on your clit, stimulating the sensitive bud to the max. You find it hard to keep still, constantly squirming as he devours you.

He's monaing in pleasure as your taste coats his tongue. He groans when you tug at his blonde hair, only causing vibrations to rumble through your body.

He's slurping and sucking, thoroughly devouring you like his life depends on it. It's only been a few minutes and Soonyoung fears he's addicted to you already. You taste sweeter than he could've ever imagined and the sounds you're making are driving him fucking crazy. He loves that you're vocal too, it's only serving as encouragement for him. You've never made this much noise in bed and the fact that he has you squirming and moaning like this only makes him want to devour you more.

Just when you think it can't get better, he slips his fingers inside of you. One at a time he pushes his digits in, pumping them in unison to bring you more pleasure. He's moaning with you enjoying this just as much as you do, if not more. His hips are rutting into your bed sheets, cock hard and leaking with excitement for what's to come.

You're grinding against his face and fingers, each flick of his tongue and thrust of his fingers pushing you closer and closer to the edge. The familiar feeling is buliding in your lower abdomen, however this time you actually feel the coil snap.

It comes so quickly you don't even have time to warn him that you're cumming. Your body shudders and convulses as you ride out your orgasm on his face and cry out his name. He doesn't stop even once you've come down, he's completely smitten and pussydrunk. You have to pry him off of you as your body grows sensitive from the overstimulation.

When he finally pulls away, his face is dripping and his eyes only half lidded. It looks at though he's been placed under some daze.

"Holy shit Soonyoung," you breathe out.

You're panting, chest rising and falling as you try to fully recover from the incredible orgasm he just gave you and the second one you nearly experienced.

"Was that okay?" he asks.

"More than okay," you lick your lips.

You pull his head down so he's hovering over you. "Want you to fuck me Soonyoung," you whsiper.

"You sure you can take me?" he asks. He breath fans against your lips. Smells like chocolate from the milkshake he was sipping on earlier.

You nod. "I can take anything you give me."

He swears his cock just got harder. He didn't think it was possible, but you're turning him on like crazy right now. Who knew you could be like this? The two of you quickly scramble out of all your clothes before you find yourself underneath him again.

There's a gold chain dangling from his neck as he hovers over you. He's got another shiny gold package in his hand that he got from his pants.

"You just keep those on you at all times?" you ask.

"Kinda," he shrugs. "Never know when you're gonna need them."

"Hmm, guess it's not such a bad thing," You lick your lips. "I was about to let you fuck me raw."

His breath gets caught in his throat. "Shorty are you serious?"

You peck his lips. "You know I don't keep any on me, and if you didn't bring it we'd just have to do without it."

He nearly tosses the condom away but you grab his wrist and giggle. "Maybe next time."

"Oh, so there's gonna be a next time?" he asks, voice laced with amusement.

"Can't decide that until after you fuck me," you smirk.

He feels his cock twitch under the sheets. He wastes no time ripping open the package, rolling the latex onto his length aligning himself with your entrance. He slides the tip along your slit a few times before he pushes the head of his cock in. Slowly, he pushes more of his length into you.

This feels so... intimate. Even though you've been in this position before, you never felt this close to any of the other guys. They all sort of just stuck it in and went at it for a few minutes before they finished. They didn't really bother to make sure you were okay, filling you up inch by in the way Soonyoung is. He wants to make sure you feel him.

"C'mon Shorty, you told me you could take it," he coos.

Your eyes are screwed shut as you try to loosen up for him but fuck, he's big. It's been a while since you've done this and he's fucking huge. Nonetheless he takes his time with you, ensuring that you're comfortable as he fills you up.

Once he's all the way in, he stops to ask if you're okay. You assure him at you are and give him permission to move. You can tell he's holding back. His thrusts are shallow and slow.

You've already started to adjust to his size and you encourage him to go faster. It's like a switch in him turns on again because his hips rapidly pick up in pace. He draws his cock out of you, slamming back in and making you curse and moan his name.

"You're so tight Shorty," he groans.

Shit, this feels so good. He fills you up so perfectly. You love feeling the stretch of his cock, his length pounding into you at the perfect pace. His tip pushes against your walls and his thumb soon finds your clit. The stimulation from both is so good and you know you're gonna cum again soon.

You're sure it's something about the dancer in him. The way he fucks you so well. You feel so good around him, he doesn't ever want to stop fucking you. So tight, so warm, so wet, all for him. You're driving him crazy.

He can feel himself nearing the edge too. His veins are popping out of his arm as he holds himself up, gold chain dangling in your face. You can't see it though, your eyes are still screwed shut with your lips parted as he fills you with inexplicable pleasure.

You look so sexy to him. You're both dripping in sweat and he finds himself becoming more vocal as the two of you approach your highs. He's cursing over his breath, nearly catches himself whimpering at how good you feel. You're throbbing around his length, letting him know that you're just as close as he is.

Thankfully so, he didn't want to end the night without you cumming around his cock. His thumb continues to circle your clit quickly and it only takes a few moments before he's driving you into another state of euphoria. His hips grow erratic as his orgasm hits him, full force. He doesn't stop, fucking both of you through your orgasms as his cock twitches inside of your throbbing pussy.

He fills the condom and pulls out before collapsing on top of you. His body weight is crushing you and he's panting into your collarbone.

"Soonyoung! Get off of me!" you push his slick body off of you.

He rolls next to you on the bed, landing on his back with a soft thud. "My bad," he chuckles. "I swear I died for a second."

"Was it really that good?" you muse with a smirk.

He presses his palm to your face plafully. "Be quiet Shorty, you know that was the best lay of your life."

He's got you there. There's no denying that he absolutely just changed the trajectory of your sex life and rocked your shit.

He smirks, sitting up on the bed. "That's what I thought."

He rolls of the bed and slips his boxers back on before disposing of the used latex.

"C'mon," he reaches his arm out to you. "You need to get up. Gotta pee and shower."

You groan into the pillow. "No."

He lets out a breathy laugh. "C'mon Shorty, you need to."

You groan again, but he pulls you out of bed. Luckily you only share a bathroom with Nai and none of the other girls on your floor. He helps you to the bathroom and assures everything is okay with you before venturing back into your actual room.

Once you're all cleaned up, you walk back into your room with just a towel on, only to see Soonyoung pulling his shirt over his head. He's leaving.

“You’re not spending the night?” you ask, cocking your head to the side.

“Can’t,” he says as he adjusts his pants. “I’ll see you later though yeah?”

You nod. He grabs the rest of his things silently and leaves with a soft close of the door. His exit leaves an odd feeling brewing in your body. What the hell just happened?

_______________________________________________

this is part 1 of 4!!

© number1mingyustan - Do not repost without permission.

[faerievampling]

Homecoming

Part 2 of A Vampire's Courage. Can be read as a stand alone!

Summary: The Dark Urge and Spawn!Astarion, after having decided to remain friends, have been traveling together after the defeat of the Netherbrain. After finally sleeping together, Durge and Astarion have unfinished business. Smut and feelings ensue.

Word count: 4.2k

Link to Ao3!

Pairing: Spawn!Astarion x Female Durge

Warning: 18+, explicit. Violence. Blood. PiV. Vaginal Fingering. Cunnilingus. Blow Jobs. Inexperienced reader. Sixty Nine ;). Durge x Astarion being deeply in love.

A/N: This Durge also goes by Tav! happy valentines day :) im foaming at the mouth for patch 6. I hope y'all enjoy.

Astarion holds you for a while, only leaving to lie in his own bed after you’ve drifted off. 

“That was the first time in ages you’ve slept through the night,” Astarion remarks once you wake. “We’ll have to do that more often, darling,” his tone was teasing. 

The two of you traveled in silence for a while. It was peaceful, under the stars and the full moon. You didn’t know what you wanted to say to him, so you said nothing. 

He had told you that you were special to him. But he could mean a million different things by that - couldn’t he? And of course you were special to him: you were the first person he ever trusted. 

And to be fair, he hadn’t said anything either. You can’t help but wonder if he regrets it, if your eyes and ears deceived you and he really had just been up to his old ways. 

Besides, you both had a job to do. You needed to focus.

“So, are you willing to sign?” The squat human asked; the contract lie in front of Astarion, who was still reading it over. “We are just quite ready for this little problem to be taken care of.”

Astarion did used to be a magistrate, but he hardly remembered his life before his undeath, so he was just pretending to read the contract. You both knew that if this man didn’t pay up, you would intimidate or charm him until he did. 

Astarion had just wanted him to beg a little. With a sloppy mark, Astarion signed his name before handing the pen over to you. You scribble something resembling ‘The Dark Urge’. 

“What an odd name,” the human remarks, giving you an awkward smile.

“A family name.” You smile back. 

“Well, let’s get on with it then, my dear,” Astarion says to you before turning to the human. “We never return empty handed. We’ll see you when the job is done,” The two of you leave the man’s office; he was an assistant to the Mayor, who you could tell he was rather eager to please.

You clear your throat, trying to make sure you sound as normal as you could after last night. “So, any ideas on how to kill a Chimera?” You ask Astarion, hoping that maybe he will surprise you. 

Astarion laughs. “Oh, Gods no, dear. Surely we should just cut off its heads, right?”

“As quickly as we can, I imagine.” You think you sound pretty normal. You sure hoped so, anyways. He sure did.

“So, you don’t really have a plan, is what I’m gathering.” 

You sigh. “Not in the slightest.”

The battle with the Chimera went about as good as could be expected: you and Astarion kicked ass, as usual, but not without injury. You had quite the gash on your shoulder, which Astarion was insistent on lapping up once you got to a decent spot to camp. 

Astarion had several protective camp items he could use to shield himself from the sun during the day: an enchanted tent and a music box that could hold constant concentration for casting a veil of Darkness. These were just some of your boons from adventuring as you searched for a permanent solution.

You felt the chill of his lips on your skin as he licked the wound clean. You wanted to tangle your fingers in his silver curls as he attended to you. The longer you two were in contact, the greater your heat was building up, and you could feel the slickness of your folds as the blood in your body rushed to your labia.

You could tell he was taking his time. The two of you had done this so many times before, but you couldn't help but feel how the pressure of his lips against your skin was softer, lighter, and he was moving his lips more than he usually did, like he was planting kisses on you.

This time, it undeniably felt more intimate, more erotic. Your heart was already racing from the contact, but gods was it fast now. You needed to say something.

“Alright, hurry up,” You say roughly, cursing at yourself for your choice of words; he relents, sticking a bandage on you and handing you a healing potion. You pop the cork of the bottle, drinking down the red liquid and instantly feeling warm all over. You would be fully healed by morning, thankfully; plus, the pain was already starting to subside, leaving you feeling greatly relieved.

But before Astarion says anything to you, he’s pulling you to your feet, his hand gripping yours with such strength it startles you.

“Someone’s coming,” Astarion whispers to you. “It’s several people. Smells like the villagers.” The two of you exchange looks of confusion before the picture comes into view.

There is a group of armored men approaching you; you and Astarion immediately go into a defensive stance. Typically, you would be in front and Astarion would be in the shadows, but this time he stands in front of you.

You realize you are only in your bra, since Astarion had been tending your wound. 

“Trying to protect my modesty?” You ask with a huff, but Astarion only growls at the men in response.

“One step closer, and I won’t hesitate to kill you,” Astarion sneers at the men, who stop in their tracks. You kind of wanted to see it, secretly.

“You’d really protect that monster? That Bhaalspawn,” A man spat the word from his mouth, and you knew why they were here. “I could never forget your face. I doubt you even remember mine. You killed so many at the Slaughter of East End, my family along with it.”

‘East End’. Didn’t ring a bell.

”I was able to run but you got to them!” The man was screaming at you now, but you can only blink at him over Astarion’s shoulder. 

“Maybe they should have run faster,” Astarion barks. He can’t see the mist in your eyes. 

“They are both monsters. Kill the elf and then the Bhaalspawn,” Someone bellowed from the crowd, causing the men to chant in agreement.

A mocking voice rang through the night air. ”Burn her!“

That’s all the group of men could say before Astarion tore the throat out of one in the faceless crowd. You had intended just to defend yourself if need be and knock them out, but when Astarion pounced first, the men were destined to die.

You’re plunging a sword through the chest of a man when you hear another start to beg. Astarion’s laugher rings out against the last few cries of battle before quiet settles amongst the camp. 

It takes a short while for the two of you to calm down. The blood of nearly a dozen men soaked the grounds of your campsite. The smell of copper overwhelmed an untapdoled (and thus less controlled) Astarion, and he had to get away from you for a while; he made sure you had your sending stone and your warding bond ring on, just in case. 

You felt numb for a while, and when you finally felt Astarion’s hand on your shoulder, you weren’t sure how long you had been sitting on your shins in the blood soaked earth. 

“He was right, you know. Even if I had seen his face, I wouldn’t have remembered it,” You say as Astarion helps you to your feet. He looks you over, scanning your body for injuries.

But your only injury is of the heart. Invisible, but maybe not to Astarion. 

“You’re not being fair to yourself,” Astarion says, “Maybe you caused ruin in your past. But you aren’t the same person you were.”

“But do I not still deserve punishment?” You say, exasperated. “I feel like I do. Like I should pay for what I’ve done. There are some days where I can’t stop thinking about Alfira -“ Your voice cracks, and Astarion grabs your forearms as if he’s trying to hold you together, to steady you from your wavering fortitude. 

“You’ve paid already, darling. You’ve saved the damn world! Isn’t that enough?” His eyes are pleading, because you know this isn’t just about you: Astarion’s own past was shrouded with victims. 

“I don’t know,” is all you can say.

“Those men deserved to die, Tav.” His eyes were narrowed, his face shrouded with convicted vengeance. And despite your anguish, your guilt, those feelings subside a bit when you look into Astarion’s ruby eyes. 

He’s nodding at you, further trying to affirm his words. You take a deep breath, nodding along with him. 

“Let’s set up elsewhere. If we hurry, we’ll have time to set up at least one of the tents,” Astarion squeezes your forearms before bringing you into an embrace.

It was a welcome surprise, and you melt into him, a warmth from within you starting to spread throughout your body. 

The two of you work hard to move the camp, setting up his sun-proof tent. You both make time to wash and put on fresh clothes; your wound from earlier is already healed, so you dress in fresh underclothes and camp wear. 

As you see the sun peak over the horizon, you look to Astarion, realizing neither your tent, nor the enchanted music box, was anywhere to be found. 

“I can’t find it, my tent or the music box,” You say, your tone more pleading than you would have liked. “You’re sure you grabbed them?”

“Yes, well, I think so, at least,”Astarion has a curious look on his face. “We don’t really need it though, do we?”

Oh. You knew what this meant; surely, surely, he is referencing his recent bedding of you.

“You want to share a tent?” 

“We already do share a lot of things: resources, often a room, and last night, a bed.” Astarion has turned on the charm a bit, but his smile his warm, his eyes open and rounded, wet with anticipation.

You feel the blood rise to your cheeks.

“You can cast Darkness yourself, can’t you? That would be enough for you to freely come and go from my tent so you can tend to your…living needs.” Astarion flirted. 

 “But you wouldn’t be able to leave the tent. I can only cast darkness for about thirty seconds at a time, and I have limited energy.” You were babbling now.

“I know how your magic works, darling. But I won’t be needing to leave the tent,” Astarion steps closer to you, putting his hand on your waist. 

You pause, getting lost in his ruby eyes. “So…you want me to keep you company?”

Astarion’s smirk softens, his eyes round and open to you. “Yes,” 

You swallow. “The sun will be up for a while,” 

Astarion chuckles lightly, so much softer than the last time you heard it. He brings a hand to cup your face, and now you finally understand what he may be asking of you. Astarion must see the realization in your eyes, and he brings his head down; you feel the sensation of his cool, soft lips as they press against your own.

His touch is so tender, you can’t help but melt into his palm. You feel like he’s holding you up now, carrying your weight. 

“Worried you’ll get bored, darling? I promise you won’t be,” Astarion’s salacious voice is low and raw in your ear; it sends an urgent shiver through your body. 

Astarion pulls you into his tent, and you are enveloped in him. His very presence lingered in the air, and you recognized the familiar smell of bergamot hanging in the romantic darkness. 

The tent was spacious and had been enchanted to look like the night sky. You had seen it before, of course, but not with Astarion’s urgent hands on you.

His lips are on you, his tongue easing between your parted lips as he drinks you in. Astarion was an excellent kisser, likely much better than you, and you did your best to follow his lead. But his tongue dominated yours, and he gradually deepened the kiss as his dexterous fingers began to unlace your shirt.  

You could sense Astarion’s desperation to see your breasts as he unhooked your brassiere. 

You don’t know if you’ve ever seen him like this before, so ravenous for you. His lips trailed over your neck, to your chest, where he focused on your sensitive nipples. 

You’re surprised when Astarion gets on his knees, his tongue circling the tip of your breasts while his pretty lips wrap around the swollen bud. 

You see the light of the enchanted full moon reflect off of Astarion’s eyelashes as he bats them at you, causing you to gasp at the sight. 

One of his hands is squeezing your other nipple, and the other is gripping the curve of your ass; Astarion groans against you, his fangs grazing your skin. You feel the pressure of the prick as they bite down, just enough to avoid breaking your skin. 

You’re focused on Astarion’s rapid breathing and whimpers as his arms snake around you, pulling you down to your knees to meet him at level. 

“Tav, I-“ Astarion begins, but he can’t seem to keep his lips off of you. 

“Astarion,” You say, but you trail off as his lips are on yours, tongue plunging into your mouth as he brings his hands to cup the sides of your jaw. 

I love you. It was on the tip of your tongue. You think it may have been on his, too. You didn’t even know if you really understood the meaning, but you knew how innately the words came to mind when you thought about Astarion.

Astarion eases you on your back, his lips never leaving yours. He makes quick work of unlacing your trousers. But before he can pull them off of you, his desperation overwhelms him and he moves to unlace his own pants, releasing his swollen cock.

“Take yours off, your panties too,” His words are firm, yearning, and Astarion watches you intently as you lift your hips to pull off the rest of your clothes, leaving you entirely naked in front of him.

Astarion groans, breaking your kisses as he moves to grab your shins, spreading your legs wide. His eyes sweep over you, pausing at your exposed core. You realize it’s rather bright in the tent with the light of the full moon, and surely he doesn’t sleep under this light.

You wonder if he adjusted the magic so that he could see you better. And the little smile on Astarion’s face as he drinks in the sight of you, naked and spread for him, confirms your theory.

“I thought about you like this all day,” He says to you in a raw voice. His hands roam your body, a hand tugging at a nipple while the other caresses your curves. 

He shifts closer to you now, bringing you pelvis to pelvis, and his cock rests along your mound, the tip of which reaching just below your belly button. 

“You have?” You whisper, your eyes wetting against your own protests. He begins to rub his cock between your folds, and you squirm at the pressure on your clit. 

He dips down to press his lips to yours again, hand moving between your legs to your slick folds as he begins teasing you. “You’re all I’ve thought about, Tav.”

“Tell me what you want, my sweet. I want to give it to you.” Astarion whispers eagerly, and you realize just how undone he’s come: his curls are disheveled, brows furrowed with pleasure, full lips parted. 

Astarion’s fingers explore you, his thumb circling your sensitive bundle of nerves as he eases a finger inside your entrance.

“I want to taste you,” You say, your eyes glued to his swollen cock. Astarion hums with approval, eager to please as he readjusts you both.

Astarion lies on his back, prompting you to get on your knees between his legs, wrapping your hand around the base of his cock.

You wanted to taste it, because you never have before; as you place your lips on his tip, gently kissing it, flickering your tongue as you do, you realize you don’t actually know what you’re doing.

Surely you’ve done this before. It seems familiar enough. Astarion looks through his lashes at you, watching as you tentatively handle his cock. 

He tastes amazing: clean, cool, and you take him in your mouth as deep as you can, causing him to gasp. 

“Sorry,” you murmur between your darling kisses. “I don’t really know what I’m doing,” 

“Oh,” Astarion breathes, pondering this just for a moment before his focus is back on you. “Start by putting your lips around me. Go on, lover.”

Astarion watches as you follow his command, putting your lips around the girth of his cock. You start to move your tongue, swirling it on his skin as you’re already sucking just a bit.

“Yes, my sweet, oh-“ Astarion moans, his hand moving to your chin just to caress you, to touch you, to know you are there and that it is you that engulfs him. 

Astarion starts to buck his hips into your mouth, his hand moving from your chin to the root of your hair, holding you firmly in place as he starts to fuck your mouth. After a moment, he’s breathing heavily, and he releases you, ruby eyes boring into you, clear as day under the light of the enchanted moon.

“I need to taste you,” Astarion speaks, his voice low. “You trust me to make you feel good, Tav?”

You’re confused about why he’s asking you this: his precum was still on your chin, the taste of his salty seed still lingering on your tongue. He was delicious, of course, and you only wanted more. 

“Yes,” you say as he brings himself up to kiss you again. 

“I want you to bring your legs over my face, so that I can fuck you with my tongue while I stuff that sweet mouth of yours.” Astarion’s words are sultry, low and sexy, as usual, but his voice is firm, his words chosen in such a way so that you know exactly what he means to do with you. 

Your eyes go wide at this. You’ve never heard of anything like that before, and you think it sounds complicated. But, you hadn’t lied when you told him you trusted him: so you nod.

“You’ll have to tell me what to do,” Your words are heavy on your throat, thick with anticipation. 

“I certainly have no problem telling you what to do, my darling,” Astarion purrs, causing you to quiver with anticipation. 

Your cunt, so slick and desperate for more, throbs with desire as Astarion puts his hands on you, guiding you to position his head between your thighs, exposing the heat of your core to him as you face his cock.

Astarion let’s out an audible sigh of relief as he wraps his arms around your waist, bringing your cunt straight to his mouth; the sensation is heavenly, the angle of the position has your clit and folds fully exposed, resting in his mouth as he takes worship in you. 

His tongue teases your folds before dipping between them, hungrily lapping at your entrance; you feel used as your juices begin to drip down your thigh.

The vibration of Astarion’s little moans tease you, causing you to settle into him further.

You bring him in your mouth, trying to bob your head to give him pleasure, but you’re overwhelmed by the feeling of his tongue spearing between your folds, your walls, tasting your depths before sweeping over your swollen clit. 

You can’t focus on your movements any longer, as Astarion’s motions send shockwaves of pleasure through your body. As his expert tongue focused solely on your swollen nub, you go totally lax.

Before you know it, you’re moaning with Astarion’s cock still in your mouth, despite your orgasmic paralysis. You feel your rumble of ecstasy rise up within you, and you’re hoping you aren’t gushing too much as you spasm around his tongue. 

Suddenly, Astarion grabs the back of your head, pushing you down on his cock, stroking your mouth. You’re still writhing in utter euphoria and creaming in his mouth as he takes you. 

Once you’ve come back down from your high, your body is still lax. You’re thankful Astarion is so strong and doesn’t have to breathe, because you’re dead weight atop him. 

You muster the strength to roll off of him, and he works to place himself on top of you, between your legs. Facing him now, you see the evidence of your orgasm in his eyes and on his face.

His nose, lips, chin, were soaked in your come, his pupils blown with lust at your scent. 

You feel your walls stretch as Astarion inserts two fingers inside you, prepping you for the girth of his cock. His intrusion only makes your cunt salivate more. 

When he’s satisfied with your stretch, he starts to sink into you.The pressure of his cock makes you gasp, and Astarion cups your jaw, guiding your eyes to him. 

He’s saying your name like a prayer. “Oh, Tav, Tav, my sweetest girl, my love.”

Once his mouth finds yours, his kisses are fervent, passionate, matching the slow pace of his strokes. His tongue is so soft, and he tastes so good with your come on his lips that you’re already primed to give him more. 

He pumps in and out of you, stretching your walls to his girth until you are perfect for him before his thrusts start to quicken. 

You feel him putting more strength behind his thrusts, inserting himself deeper within you until he’s bottomed out.

“Gods, Tav, you’re unbelievable,” Astarion purrs in your ear. Finally, he’s fully inside you, and he can’t help it anymore: he strokes you, the tip of his cock brushing against your cervix, so deep you’re brought into a delirium of pleasure. 

You heave in his mouth as he eases his tongue between your parted lips. Your stretched walls start to contract around his cock, and you’re coming on him again before you even realize.

Your hands grab at his curls, trail lightly over his back: you’re careful not to be harsh with that sensitive part of him. But you needed to caress him, to feel his body beneath your palm.

As your body spasms beneath him, you feel entirely fucked out, your body going lax again in his hands. Astarion made you so…pliant. You wanted him to be yours so desperately. Your hazy brain is ready to do anything for him. 

Astarion’s thrusts become less calculated as he comes undone, and before you even realize, Astarion is moaning your name as his balls contract, spurting thick ropes of come deep inside you. 

It takes a moment for you both to come back to reality. Astarion rolls onto his side, gathering you in his arms as he adjusts to ensure your shared comfort. 

The coolness of him feels amazing against your skin, still hot from lovemaking. 

“I love the way you feel against me,” You hum into his chest. After just a few beats, Astarion pulls away, easing himself up on his elbow to look down at you.

“I want to kiss you,” Astarion says with a swallow. “And I want to do it whenever I’d like.” 

You pause, getting lost in his crimson eyes. “Y-yes, you may.” You stumble, but Astarion is smooth enough for the both of you.

He brings a finger to your chin, holding you in place as he presses a tender kiss to your lips. When he breaks away, he rests his forehead on yours, and you feel your heart thumping away in your chest. 

“I don’t want anything to change between us. I just want to be able to do this with you. To kiss you when I like, to touch you when I like,” Astarion pauses, trying to ensure he gets all of his thoughts out. “And I don’t want you to do these things with anyone else.” 

“I let you get away because I knew I wasn’t ready. I want to give you something real, but I couldn’t at the time,” Astarion kisses you again, so tenderly you feel a pang in your heart. And between your legs.

“But now, Tav,” He caresses your cheek, causing you to gasp a little. Astarion smiles a little before his face continues its serious, sincere expression. His eyes were wide, and he was bearing his soul to you.

His hand clasped yours. 

“I want you. I’ve wanted you to be mine since the clearing.” 

You’re speechless, heart fluttering at his words. You can only say what’s on your tender mind: “I think I love you, Astarion.” 

A hand smooths your hair back, delicately, as if you are a precious thing.

“I love you too. But I know that I do. I want every part of you.” Astarion’s voice rumbles through you.

Your chest swells, and you feel like you’re bursting from within: it’s something you’ve never really felt before, but it felt distinctly like home.

Masterlist

Link to Part 1

[elliemarchetti]

My AU Headcanon: after surviving the attack on their house, James had constant nightmares about seeing Lily & Harry dying & Voldemort, Wormtail and Snape taunting for failing them, despite being the great James Potter. It hurt Lily to see her once happy and mischievous husband be in so much pain.

I'm alive! Risen from the ashes like Fawkes!

Lovely anon, thank you for your patience and for sending this prompt, which allowed me to write James from another perspective and analyze his marriage with Lily with a more mature eye.

As always feedback and other suggestions on how to continue this (or any other) story are welcome but I'm also open to having a chat, exchanging headcanons and making moodboards and playlists for your favorite characters/couples.

Words: 700

After years of uncertainty and terror, with heavy casualties on both sides and entire bloodlines wiped out, the war ended, and the Wizarding World celebrated with displays of fireworks and jubilation. He Who Must Not Be Named was dead, just a corpse made of skin and bones buried beside his father in a forgotten graveyard, his remaining followers were locked up in Azkaban, and peace reigned once again, an outcome Lily failed to truly believe in as she held little Harry to her chest on the darkest nights, in fear it could be their last moment together. They had been lucky to survive Pettigrew's betrayal, something he did not, and Lily was grateful for every quiet day she was allowed to live, but James hadn’t gotten over the tension and the constant fear as well as she did. When there was light outside, from breakfast until he put Harry to bed, everything seemed fine despite the purplish dark circles under his eyes, and at work he was his usual mischievous self, at least according to Sirius, but when he got under the covers, once he had given a kiss to his wife and they both turned off the lamps on their respective bedside tables, he became a mess, clinging to her body as if she was a lifeline. The nightmares hadn’t given him a full night’s sleep for months now, and if sometimes he didn’t feel like talking, if sometimes the only thing that soothed him was sinking into Lily, taking her in desperation, letting her gentle words of encouragement and muffled moan ground him, during others he was more inclined to dialogue.

“He killed you,” he had murmured one night, heavy tears sliding down his sunken cheeks. “You were dead, and he… Harry… I couldn’t do anything but watch.”

It was like this, between stammers and fragmented sentences, that Lily discovered what was plaguing her husband’s sleep, a sense of guilt he shouldn’t have felt, an anxiety he couldn’t leave behind.

“It’s not my fault, Snivellus, it’s not my fault!” he had shouted on another occasion, before sitting up in bed, his forehead drenched in sweat.

“Dad?” Harry had called from the small corridor dividing their rooms, rubbing his eyes with the small fist.

“Dad had a bad dream, love,” Lily had quickly explained, as he guided him back to bed. “Every now and then it happens to adults too.”

“Can you give him this, then?” her son had asked, with the innocence only children possess, handing her one of the stuffed animals he usually slept with. “It will protect him from monsters.”

“He will appreciate it very much,” she replied, taking the fuzzy Welsh Green, his favourite birthday gift from uncle Remus.

“Did I scare him a lot?” James asked, defeated and worried, as soon as she closed the door behind her.

“No, but he wants you to have this, to protect you from monsters,” she answered, passing him the stuffed animal. He stared at it for a while, as if seeing it for the first time, or glimpsing something in his black plastic eyes, and then he hugged it tightly, curling up his knees and bowing his head until his dishevelled hair almost touched his arms. Seeing him like this, it was evident how young he actually was, how the weight of the carefreeness the war took away from them weighted on his hunched shoulders.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered, breaking the heavy silence engulfing the house. “I wish I was stronger, I wish I had been able to do more, but instead I had to hide like a rat, I had to wait for others to defend my family for me.”

“We’re all alive, and that’s enough,” was all Lily could say as she caressed his bare back, where the bones of his spine visibly protruded. When had he gotten so thin? When, among the pile of things he had to care about, had he stopped considering eating a priority? Just two more questions to add to the thousand she would have to find an answer, a solution, to alone, so as not to break the young man who that night slept hugging his son’s stuffed dragon.

[pugh-bug]

No.42 Chapter 7

Art Donaldson x reader slow burn

If you’re still reading this series I appreciate you so much 🫶🏻 this is a pretty angsty chapter - vague implications of an eating disorder.

Part 6

——————————————————————

You had twelve texts, mostly from Liam, with the most recent being:

11:49am - Text from Liam

Thanks for coming you looked great haha

get home safe ok ;)

The wink you barely registered in your exhausted morning state, instead you rolled over to see Art asleep on your floor. He was in last nights clothes, as were you, and curled up in the foetus position. The temperature outside had finally dropped enough degrees to let a light breeze through your open window, brushing Art’s curls off his cheek. He looked angelic.

‘He might need you more.’

What did he need you for? He had Art for friendship, Liam for rivalry, his family for financial stability and himself setting his future aspirational lifestyle in motion. All of these thoughts swam in your head like hunting gators as you listened to Art’s peaceful breathing. What was he dreaming about? You hoped something good, your recent dreams had caused you nothing but high blood pressure.

CLANG!

Ah…Patrick. Morning coffee time.

‘Hmmm?’ Art mumbled, opening his eyes slowly. The poor boy must have the worst hangover of anyone’s life (you’d say of his but it was likely Art’s first real one). ‘How are we feeling?’ You cooed, sitting cross legged on your bed staring down at him. For a moment you received no response other than groaning, as Art clambered to a seating position. His eyes were still foggy when he cleared his throat to ask what time it was.

‘It’s 12.’

Another groan. ‘Shit…where are my - I’m sorry why am I in your room?’ He looked around frantically for his phone or water, so you gestured to your nightstand which stocked both. You smiled slightly at Art’s sleepy, confused voice. ‘You tell me,’ you shrugged, trying to remember. ‘We probably got out the Uber and just collapsed in here instead of your room cos it’s closer…Pat’s slept on the couch maybe?’

Art ran his fingers through his hair, straining his neck up with wide but distant eyes. He looked, for a moment, like he’d stopped breathing. Like he’d severed the oxygen to his brain and he was going to sit and wait to crack. His nails were even starting to dig in on his own arm.

‘Art.’ You snapped your fingers in his face and he seemed to come back from wherever he’d been. ‘Are you okay?’ Art solemnly took in your concerned frown for a moment before standing up and saying ‘Thanks for looking after me.’ on his way out.

——————————————————————

Art had been too exhausted to go to practise but not too exhausted, apparently, to do press ups in the kitchen. You walked in, after your shower, expecting to find the two of them watching tv not working out - well Patrick wasn’t. ‘I know I know, you try telling him.’ Was all Patrick offered in response to your look of total disbelief.

‘Twenty six…twenty seven…twenty eight…’

Any other day you might have been impressed but this? This was ridiculous.

‘Art, what are you doing?’

‘Twenty nine…thirty…thirty one…’

He was sweating, not as much as when he played tennis but he’d need a shower. His lips, in between counts, were trembling ever so slightly from the effort as he pushed and pushed to fight against sleep. It was a sad sight, one you wished to dissolve one way or another.

‘Art, this is fucking ridiculous. You’ve barely slept you’re hungover you just need one lazy day.‘

No response.

‘This isn’t normal.’

Patrick gave you one last look of defeat before going for his shower, clearly desperate to leave the room. You hesitated before kneeling on the floor beside Art’s head.

‘Thirty seven…thirty eight…’

His body was giving up on him - just screaming at him to let it rest.

‘Thirty…nine…’

When he got to forty you hoped you’d see a flicker of satisfaction on his face, followed by a prompt end but no. No, he just kept going.

‘Forty two…forty thr’

‘Fucking stop!’ You yelled and he did. Finally. Art dusted off his hands and sat up, staring at you in complete silence. He looked almost horrified at the intrusion.

‘I’m not your Mum but you need to look after yourself, you’re never going to win matches if you turn up to them half dead because you refuse to relax.’ You sighed, heavily, waiting for the lengthy disagreement Art would throw at you. The defensiveness. It never came.

‘I know.’ He pulled his knees up to his chest and stared at the poorly woven carpet, looking lost. ‘I just…I can’t afford to take days off I’m not Patrick. I have to work and work and work at it constantly. If I get into the habit of taking days off whenever I feel a bit shitty what will that get me? It won’t get me into Challengers, it won’t make me win any Opens. I won’t win Wimbledon Y/N,’ Art looked up at you, his eyes glassy. ‘What will it have all been for if…if after everything I’m just average?’

‘You’re telling me you can’t win Wimbledon if when you’re hungover you watch tv instead of working out?’ You rubbed your face, studying his for any negative reaction. ‘Sometimes one small set back is all it takes.’ He looked utterly defeated, you’d never seen someone look so low. It was hard for you to understand the tennis obsession but of course, like most things, you knew it wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

‘Have you eaten yet?’

He shook his head.

‘Well, you really should - actually you will. There should be leftovers.’

You managed to convince Art to eat and drink plenty of water before he resisted. ‘Maybe go back to bed?’ Was your advice - which he did not take. Patrick was half gaming half texting girls and only chimed in to make the odd sarcastic comment. He didn’t hear what Art said next.

‘Y/N,’ When you took your eyes away from your coffee you saw Art’s hand trailing closer to yours, his eyes apologetic. ‘I think you’re kinder than anyone I’ve ever met.’ Before you could say anything he was coughing, interrupting himself before he could share further. It took a while for his diaphragm to ease up but by then the moment had passed. His hand had returned to his side of the table.

Chapter 8

Masterlist

Taglist: @gatorgirl007 @imblushingrn @soy-garbage @blahhucantmakeme

[i4bellingham]

AFTER BEDTIME: jamal musiala x reader

cw: suggestive content, allusion to previous sexual intercourse, petnames, sappy couple eugh (jk jk), kissing, (probably) incorrect engloish to german translation bcs i unfortunately don’t speak the language, lmk if i missed anything

i’m a sucker for the morning after type of fics so i just had to do my own 😩 and with our favorite german boyfriend ofc

A heavy weight was settled across your torso, hot breath fanning on your chest as you slowly opened your sleepy eyes, letting the morning light of the sun welcome you with its warm glare.

You turn your head off to your chest, seeing the short mop of curly hair of your boyfriend as he slept soundly above you.

You reach a hand to rub the bare skin of his back, one hand reaching out to run your fingers through his hair which emitted a satisfied sigh to leave Jamal’s lips as he adjusted himself above you, most likely being awaken from your actions.

Not even a minute later and he's rolling onto his stomach, bleary-eyed as he stares at you.

“Good morning.” Jamal greets with a small smile, propping up his left hand and placing his head on his palm. “How was your sleep?”

“Morning you blanket hog.” You greet back with a playful roll of your eyes, teasing him about the way he's got himself wrapped up in your supposedly shared blanket during your sleep.

Jamal takes the blanket that was wrapped across his midsection, giving you a fleeting view of the black boxers he slipped on last night before he’s throwing the blanket over your body and proceeding to wrap you in his arms in a burrito.

“This alright babe?”

You playfully knock your head against his, whining at him to let go of you as your arms began to grow numb from having him partially lay on them.

Jamal laughs melodiously at your protest and instead of unwrapping you from his inconvenient burrito, he actually lays his entire body over yours with your feet entangled together, his face buried on the crook of your neck.

“Oh my god I’m gonna die of suffocation if you don’t move right now.” You pout as you lay helplessly underneath your playful boyfriend. “J, move...”

“Nooooo...” Jamal whines against you, biting the skin in between your neck and shoulders. “This is my payback for the scratches you placed on my back.”

“But that was because of a good reason!”

Jamal huffs as he pokes your sides. “I know... but I still wanna do this for a few minutes because you're comfortable, more comfortable than the bed itself.”

You loudly exhale through your nose, finally conceding defeat as you let your boyfriend lay down on you. But of course his time ran out after an entire three minutes before you're back to wiggling underneath him.

“Let me check your back, love.”

Jamal finally relents after having his own version of fun, rolling away before sitting down in front of you with his back facing you.

Red streaks ran from the base of his neck up until his midsection, some of the angry red lines going as far as inside his boxer shorts and they for sure looked painful. You purse your lips apologetically, leaning down to kiss Jamal's cheeks as an apology.

“Do they hurt?”

He shakes his head. “Not as much as it looks.”

You began rummaging through your bedside table, grabbing a cooling tube from the cabinet before twisting the cap open and squirting some of the blue gel onto your palms. You rub the product across his back, silently taking in the hard muscles that ran prominent on his skin as he stretched after you're done with the cooling gel.

Planting a kiss on his shoulder, you wrap your legs around his waist. “How does it feel now?”

“Feels quite nice actually.” Jamal replies as he places a hand on one of your ankles. He turns his head to look at you over his shoulder. “Any plans for today miss beautiful?”

You stow away the cooling gel, keeping it back inside the cabinet before you leave the bed.

“Nothing in particular no, why?”

Jamal lays on his back, leaning himself against the stack of pillows he had created as a support underneath his elbows, his eyes following your every move as you began slipping on one of his shirts.

“Well I was thinking...” He trails off, piquing your interest as his silence ensues.

You raise a brow while pulling a pair of jogging pants over your legs. “Yes?”

Jamal leaves the bed before he stands behind you, one hand holding the hem of your shirt up from behind and the other securing the tie of your pants with one hand.

“We have training in the afternoon today and I was thinking... if you would like to come with me?” He sheepishly asks as he holds you by the waist, placing his chin over your shoulder. He plants a kiss on your right cheek, mumbling against your skin. “Will you please go to training with me? Bitte, meine Liebe?” (Please, my love?)

Shifting your hand over his, you nod your head yes, slightly tilting your head to the side to meet Jamal’s eyes that was already on you.

“But... we leave after the Warriors game.”

Your boyfriend dramatically sighs, kissing your cheek once more before he moves away to find a shirt and one of his shorts in the closet beside you.

“You really know how to entice me with your preposition.”

“It’s the Stephen Curry effect, my love.” You tease before handing him a pair of clean socks he usually dons at home as he throws on one of his shirts with a training short.

“You literally like Jordan Poole though?” He muses, scrunching his brows before he sees you chuckling as you walk to the door.

“But not as much as I love you J. You know I love you more than I like JP.” You counter, shooting him finger guns before blowing him a kiss and a wink.

Jamal amusingly laughs as he follows after you to the door.

“Well I really do hope my girlfriend would prefer me over her current favorite hooper.”

You hook your arm around his, tip-toeing to press a kiss on his cheek as the both of you leave his bedroom.

“Always you J, always you.”

a/n: guess my favorite nba team and my favorite nba players 😩 it's not very obvious i swear to you

[graciegoeskrazy]

it takes a bit more

Matty Healy + daughter!reader

warnings: yelling, drug use, rehab, relapsing, nothing graphic but it’s mentioned for sure, george being the best

a/n: HI IM BACK. sorry for being inactive. finals are kicking my ass. fun fact i thought i posted this earlier but it never posted and just deleted and went away😀 anywhooooo ty to the anon who requested this ily!! hope you enjoy!

Noises appearing in the middle of the night were not an unusual circumstance in the Healy household. You’ve slept through storms, blasting music, sirens, anything and everything you’ve heard, you slept through. Yelling, however, was something new. You couldn’t quite make out what it was because your closed door muffled the sounds, but you could make out the voices of your father and your uncle George.

When you got out of bed and and took your little legs to the top of the stairs you silently watched the argument take place. You stayed hidden.

‘You have a daughter, man.” George said,

Your father sat cross-legged and slouched on a couch. “She’s fine.”

“She’s nine!” George yelled. “She’s a nine-year-old little girl who watches helplessly while you get high like a fool every day!” You saw a tear slowly roll down your father's and George’s cheeks. They truly love you more than themselves and would do anything for you. For the last nearly 10 years you have been the light of all their lives. George was determined to not let Matty’s stupid actions get in the way of you living your life. George softened his voice. “And she loves you. More than anything in this entire world. She loves you. But I can’t have her growing up in this god-forsaken house with you.”

Matty grew defensive and stood. “Then you take care of her then!”

“I’m not her father!”

He stayed silent, accepting his defeat. He knew he was hurting you, even though it wasn’t his intention, he just didn’t want to face the reality. The reality was he was hurting and scaring his little girl.

“You need to go, mate. We’re doing this because we care. I can’t see you like this anymore.”

“What about y/n-”

“I will take care of her. She’ll stay with me.”

Stay with George?

“You need to go.”

“Go where?” Your quiet, timid, little voice asked.

All heads turned to you. Matty wiped his tears and passed George to take your hand. “C’mon baby, we need to talk.”

…

He said he was leaving. He didn't know for how long - at most a couple of months. You would be staying with George. He would take care of you and protect you. He’s done it most of your life anyway so that was nothing new. He said he wouldn’t lie anymore. He promised he would get clean and come home to you, and everything would change for the better. You cried for an hour while sitting in his lap. He rocked you back and forth gently, whispering sweet nothings in your ear. He carried you back into your room and tucked you in, placing a kiss on your forehead, and telling you he would see you in the morning before he left.

The next day, however, he left without saying goodbye. All of your uncles were downstairs in the living room. Faces red with worry and sadness. You already knew he had gone, but George’s face gave you the confirmation you needed to finally let it all out. He scooped you up into his arms from the bottom of the stairs, telling you it would all be okay.

…

A couple of weeks had passed. Your father was across the globe in Barbados of all places, and you were in Londen with George. Living with him wasn’t that different, they did share a house after all. But there was still a hole in your heart that only your dad could fill, and that became clear when people started noticing your mood changing.

George tried cheering you up, asking about your day, school, or anything to get you talking or get your mind off your dad leaving. Most nights consisted of you crying into his arms over your dad’s lies and words. You were young, but not dumb. You knew your father was addicted and addicted badly. You were angry and sad and missed him and felt so much more. Sad he was gone. Angry he left without saying goodbye. Betrayed thinking about all the times he chose drugs over you. You had never felt so many emotions at once and didn’t know how to handle it. Thankfully, you at least had George.

…

2 months later, his treatment was up and he was supposed to come home. You were so ecstatic. Just the thought of your dad’s time away running up gave you the motivation and energy to get through the last 2 weeks. Adam and Ross were scheduled to pick him up from the airport but when they returned without your dad and sombered faces, you knew something was up, and you feared the worst.

You sat up from the couch and walked towards them, George following right behind you. He had received a next from them earlier telling him what happened. “Where is he?” You asked.

Ross’s head hung low, avoiding your eye contact so you wouldn't see the tears falling from his face. It didn’t work though. You’ve never seen Ross cry. Ever. Something must’ve happened.

Adam spoke up, knowing that Ross couldn’t. “He relapsed, Darling.”

Your heart fell into a million pieces. “What?” You turned to George for confirmation. It’s not that you didn’t believe, you just didn't want to believe,

He looked at you and somberly nodded his head, giving you the information he needed.

You ran upstairs, slammed the door, and sobbed into your pillow.

…

You woke up a few hours later to yelling, feeling an intense amount of deja vu. You heard some voices downstairs, one of which included your dad. You snuck out of bed and made your way to the stairs. You saw your dad. He looked different. He still had his messy pile of curls lying on his head. He grew a bit of a beard and mustache, it was clear he hadn’t shaved in awhile. He was less skinny. His eyes were laser-focused on your uncles.

“You can’t keep her from me.” He said, almost with a deep growl.

“You need to leave,” Adam said.

“She is my daughter! I made her for crying out loud!”

Adam had his hands gently pushing back on your father’s chest and shoulder. “She doesn’t want to see you-”

“Bull shit.”

“I don’t.” Your little voice said.

Matty smiled and walked towards the bottom of the stairs expectantly.

“Hi, darling.” He said smiling. Tears started to form in his eyes but he whipped them away as soon as he could. I missed you.”

You stayed put, afraid to move a muscle.

“Can I have a hug?” He asked, reaching his arms out. You stayed hidden.

Matty cleared his throat, then spoke. “Y/n, it’s time to come home now.”

“They said you relapsed.”

“N-no! I…no. So it’s time to come home.”

“I thought you said there would be no more lies.” You said, with tears falling from your eyes.

“Y/n-”

“I’m staying here.”

“Darling-”

“I’m staying with George.”

He rose and his face turned stern, “Get in the car.”

“No.” You said, getting scared and starting to hide more.

He stood. “Y/n Healy. Get in the car. Now.”

“She’s not getting in the car,” George said.

“Yes, she is!”

“Matty, stop.”

“She’s mine!”

“You promised!” You yelled. All heads turned to you.

“You promised you would get clean. You promised me you wouldn’t lie to me anymore. You promised you would be my father!”

“I am your father.”

“Then where have you been the past 2 months?” Matty stayed quiet. He had nothing to say. He knew he failed and failed miserably. It would take much more than him getting clean to get his baby girl to trust him again.

“I’m not going home.” You said, crossing your arms. “Not until you can keep your promise.”

“Just leave. Like you did before, without saying goodbye.”

“Y/n-”

“Leave!” You turned and went back to your room.

…

As much as you wanted to remain positive that eventually, you would happily return to your father’s arms, every hint of hope slowly got lost over the next few weeks. Time went on. You turned 10 and at your request, your father wasn’t there. After some coaxing by George, you agreed to let him take you on a late-birthday picnic.

“How was your birthday?” he asked while eating the sandwich he had packed earlier.

“It was fine.” You said, shrugging.

“Fine? It’s your tenth birthday! That had to be a big deal?”

“Yeah. It was fun.” You paused for a second.

“I regret not letting you come though.”

He nodded, put the sandwich down, and whipped his hands. “You know…It’s gonna be three months tomorrow.”

You looked up at him and furrowed your brows, “Are you lying?”

He smiled. “Cross my heart.”

3 months clean.

“The house feels empty without you there.” You looked down. “Mayhem misses you. I miss you.” He scooted closer to you and took your hands. “Come back, darling. I’m not lying when I say I’m so much better. Everything is so much better.” You looked up at him, he smiled. “I lost a lot of things over these past few months, but I can’t lose you.”

“You have to promise me, for real this time, you won’t hurt me again.”

“I swear.”

“Pinky swear?”

He smiled and took your pinky in his.

“C’mere.” He said, pulling you into his lap.

He hugged him and after a moment whispered in his ear. “I’m proud of you.”

[borathae]

↳ Index [Chapter 03 - Reise]

• Reise (German, journey)

Warnings: Jinnie & OC share a cute friendship date, he tells her his story, there is also lots of grief in this chapter, and vampire on vampire violence & death

Wordcount: 10.3k

a/n: lots is happening in this chapter. get ready, besties

You feel ready to face the world come the next morning. You know that at some point yesterday the others knocked on your door, but you were too busy with housing Yoongi’s face between your legs to open the door for them. They gave up afterwards, doing god knows what.

Yoongi was still in the bathroom, while you were lounging on your bed fully dressed and with your hair actually styled.

Your stomach is rumbling like crazy. You are so hungry. You are going to eat ten servings of breakfast, that much is sure.

“Yoongi, how long are you still going to take? I’m so hungry”, you call out for him.

“Soon. Be patient”, he calls back.

“Uff”, you let out and drop into the sheets, “he’s taking so long.”

As if he heard your words, the lock suddenly turns. You sit back up.

Yoongi comes out in the outfit he chose. Black pants and a black t-shirt. Typical for him. You coo and whistle, flustering him deeply. 

“Stop that”, he hisses. 

“You are the most handsome”, you gush, “give me a pose.”

“No.”

“Come on, one pose.”

“No.”

You wiggle your brows at him to which he rolls his eyes. He sighs, then gives you the tiniest of poses. Just his arms stretched away from his torso and with his legs perfectly straight.

“Ooh perfect pose. Nine out of ten, the execution was flawless, your face doesn’t convince me however.”

Yoongi drops his arms. 

“Whatever, you got your pose. Can we go now?”

“Yes”, you say and waddle to him just to grab his waist and knead it. 

“Don’t”, he says, squirming out of your hold like a cat that doesn’t want to be held. 

“Are you ticklish? That’s the second time you are squirming. Please tell me that you’re ticklish”, you say, making grabby hands at his waist. 

Yoongi dodges you skilfully, grabbing your wrists to hold them tightly.

“I’m not ticklish. I just don’t like being kneaded like I’m bread.”

“But you are bread. You’re my sweet bread.”

“Stop”, he hisses.

“No”, you grin at him.

“You brat”, he mumbles, intertwining his fingers with you to drag you out of the room.

You know that Yoongi doesn’t see brat as an insult – at least not for you or Jungkook – so you giggle, skipping next to him whilst swinging your arms back and forth.

“I’m so happy we’re together again, Yoongi Boongie. I’m so excited to see the world with you.”

Yoongi locks his hotel room then puts the keys into the front pocket of his jacket.

“Don’t get too excited. I can’t promise you lots of sightseeing. Not with my schedule.”

“I’m sure that we will find some time”, you draw closer, squishing your cheek against his shoulder, “if not, I’ll just have to force you to relax.”

He sneaks a glance at you, trying to frown but ending up giving your cheek a soft peck.

“You should get some breakfast before anything else”, he says, “I don’t want you walking around hungry.”

“Mhm right”, you agree, “I’m so hungry already. I plan on emptying the entire buffet.”

“I’m sure you will. You should eat lots, princess. You need the strength”, he says, caressing your knuckles.

You meet Hoseok by the elevator.

“Oh? Hey guys”, he says and yawns, “how did you sleep?”

“Better than you so it seems”, you say, sticking your finger into his open mouth which earns you a soft bite.

With a hiss you pull back, sending him a look while Hoseok is grinning boyishly.

“I actually slept very well. Too well, if I’m being honest”, he says, stepping into the elevator, “The others and I went out last night and it got pretty late. We wanted to ask you guys if you wanted to come but you were fucking.”

“So uncalled for, Hobi” you mumble, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“Don’t worry, you guys sound good when you fuck.”

“Hoseok”, you warn.

“Okay, okay sorry”, Hoseok chuckles, lifting his hands in defeat.

“Tch so rude”, you mumble, nudging his tummy, “either way. Where did you guys go?”

“Just a rave. Tae knew about it and asked us to go with him. You guys, people in Berlin know how to rave. I had so much fun, no joke”, Hoseok says.

“Mhm, I bet you did.”

“Yeah and Tae tried to flirt with Kook all night, but Kook refused him. Honestly? I think something happened between those two that Kook doesn’t want to tell us. There is a weird energy between them, which I can’t quite make out.”

“So you noticed it too? I felt it too”, you agree.

“Yeah it’s so strange. I’m telling you, those two are gonna fuck real soon. I can feel it.”

“Tch”, you chuckle, “I think you’re just being a perv again. Seriously Hobi, stop being so invested on other people’s sex life.”

Hoseok grins boyishly, “I’ll try”, he says, not meaning it. Then he averts his eyes to Yoongi, “how are you, man? I didn’t get a chance to talk to you yesterday, given how you and ___ just bailed and then railed each other for an entire day.”

“Geez Hoseok”, you murmur, flustering deeply.

Yoongi doesn’t show that he was flustered, looking at Hoseok with a neutral expression.

“I’m good”, he answers him nonchalantly.

“I heard that you are feeling these days”, Hoseok smiles then places his hand on Yoongi’s shoulder, “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks”, Yoongi mumbles, now clearly flustered, “I uhm..” he clears his throat, “…you dyed your hair?” his sentence almost sounds like a question, as if he wanted to make sure that such a sentence was a good small talk starter.

Hoseok touches his black hair, fixing his sides with the back of his hands.

“I did. I was getting fed up with always having to redo the blonde, so I’m keeping it simple these days”, he says, fluffing up the back, “although I’m keeping it longer. It suits me, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, uh…it’s uh…a good length.”

“Thanks”, Hoseok gives Yoongi a sweet grin, making the latter look away in shyness. Hoseok gives him one last pat on his shoulder then steps back, exchanging a knowing look with you. This right here was Yoongi trying to be nice and being very awkward about making friends. You won’t call him out on it. It’s way too sweet to ruin it.

“I see that you’re growing your hair too. It’s funky, I like it”, Hoseok compliments Yoongi to which the latter flusters and touches the side of his neck.

“Thanks”, he mumbles.

Hoseok turns to you, knowing that Yoongi already said what he wanted to say.

“So did you guys catch up with each other?” he asks.

“You’re gross.”

“I’m not gross”, he says and studies your neck, “it seems like you guys did.”

“You are so inappropriate”, you groan, covering your neck, “where are the others?”

“Eating breakfast. They woke up early and went downstairs already. I don’t get how they did, it became so later yesterday. I almost didn’t manage to get outta bed today and that says a lot because normally I’m always the first one awake.”

“Maybe you just slept deeper than the others.”

“Yeah, probably. The pillows are so comfortable.”

“Right? I think so too. Gosh, no joke though? I can’t wait to eat. I’m so freaking hungry”, you say, stepping out the elevator as it arrived in the lobby just this moment.

“You’ll get food soon, I’m sure of it”, Hoseok assures you, walking next to you with a smooth swing in his hips. The chains on his baggy jeans make a little jingling sound with each step he takes.

The hotel’s restaurant is located just past the lobby, behind a set of swing doors. They are currently held open by two big statues, giving view to the tables and the busy restaurant.

You abandon Yoongi and Hoseok by them, hurrying straight to the buffet. You are way too hungry to care about anything other than food.

It was the right decision. You are greeted with the most delicious looking food and an array of beverages to accompany it and for the next minutes you are focused on nothing other than getting the best array of food onto your plates.

You decide to go for one plate of salty food and one plate of sweet food, topping it with a cup of tea and a glass of orange juice. Truly, you feel in breakfast paradise, hurrying to your table with a tray in your hands.

The others picked out a table in the darkest corner of the restaurant, far away from sunlight so they wouldn’t have to sit in this room with sunglasses on. It’s a good decision, otherwise they would draw way too much attention on them.

Jungkook is frowning at Taehyung, chewing his breakfast donut way too aggressively when you arrive by the table. The latter is talking to Seokjin, oblivious to Jungkook’s stares. Or at least he acts oblivious to them.

“Good morning”, you greet them.

Jungkook’s eyes shift to you, lighting up.

“Good morning, ___. How are you?” he says and smiles.

“Very good and you?” you say, sitting down with Yoongi’s help.

“So good”, Jungkook scrunches his nose up, “I’m so happy that you are here now. I really missed you.”

“I missed you too, Kookie. I’m happy to be here with you”, you say and thank Yoongi for pushing in your chair, “waah I can’t wait to dig in”, you say and shift your full attention to the food.

Yoongi sits back down, accepting the cup of coffee you brought him. He drinks it with sparkling eyes, even if other than that, he looks unaffected by the gesture.

“The food’s amazing, isn’t it?” Seokjin asks.

“It’s amazing”, you mumble with your mouth full.

Seokjin smiles fondly and looks at Yoongi.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I heard that you’re still looking for Emma.”

“Yes, but I have a lead. I want to check it out today.”

“Mhm, maybe you’ll find her.”

“Thank you. I hope so too.”

“How long are you guys going to stay?” Jungkook asks.

“A while. I can’t say yet”, you say, glancing at Yoongi, “you won’t get rid of me that easily however, I plan on being by your side for a long time.”

Yoongi lowers his eyes shyly.

“That’s good news. I’m happy that you are here now”, Jungkook says and grins, “I swear it’s been too long since we last talked.”

“Right? We really have to catch up”, you agree.

“Yes, indeed. I would love to catch up with you”, Taehyung says, sending Jungkook a look.

One which Jungkook ignores with a clenched jaw. There it was again, that weird tension between them.

“I heard that you want to find Emma in Berlin”, Jungkook says, looking at Seokjin, “that’s so cool, hyung. I seriously hope that you will find her.”

One must know that they had this same exact conversation already. Jungkook is attempting to act uninterested in Taehyung’s attention.

“Me too to be honest”, luckily for him, Seokjin is burning to talk about it again. It is, after all, everything he is thinking about lately, “I miss her more and more each day”, he says, sighing loudly, “I feel like my heart could burst with all the love I have for her.”

“Maybe you should prepare for the worst”, Yoongi says, making you all look at him, “I’m just saying, you haven’t seen Emma in a century. She could have changed or found someone else.”

“Yoongi, don’t say that”, you whisper, nudging his arm.

“What? I’m just saying”, Yoongi whines.

“Yes, but let’s hope for the best first and think of the worst last.”

Yoongi frowns, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“No, he’s right”, Seokjin says, “I shouldn’t put so much hope in this search. I know that it will end in more heartbreak than happiness. I’m so fucking childish, aren’t I?”

“No, you’re not.”

“Maybe just really naïve”, Yoongi says.

“Yoongi, come on”, you whisper.

“What? I’m just saying.”

“Seriously, it’s fine ___”, Seokjin assures you, “I can take the truth. I actually prefer it. Thank you for keeping it real, Yoongi.”

“Mhm yeah”, Yoongi nods his head, “I hope that you find her and it turns out well for you. Don’t think that I don’t.”

“I know, thank you”, Seokjin gives him a smile. One which Yoongi doesn’t retort as he is far too shy to do so. Seokjin looks at the rest of you, “I’ll leave after breakfast. You guys are free to join me if you want to.”

“I’ll pass. Kook and I have to track down a few of Namjoon’s followers. You guys are free to join us”, Yoongi says and looks at you, “not you though. You should go with Seokjin, it’s too dangerous with us.”

“I figured that it was”, you say, looking at Seokjin, “can I come with you? I promise that I’ll be quiet if you find her. You won’t even notice that I’m here.”

“Of course you can come”, Seokjin says, nodding his head, “I’ll just have to change into different clothes and then we can go.”

“Sure, take your time. I’ll be getting another plate of those amazing scrambled eggs either way”, you say, standing up to refill your plate.

You retreat to your rooms after breakfast, getting ready for the day. While Yoongi and his group prepare by putting on their sturdiest clothes, you and Seokjin choose something light to walk around in. After all, you weren’t planning on fighting anyone today. At least you hope that you won’t have to.

You meet up again outside the hotel where Yoongi already parked his car. The latter lets his eyes run up and down your body once before he looks at Seokjin instead.

“I’m trusting you to keep her safe”, he tells him.

“Don’t worry, I will”, Seokjin promises him.

“Good”, Yoongi says and turns to you.

“Stay safe”, you say and step close to kiss his lips, but Yoongi takes a step back. He sends you a look, one you figured out long ago stems from a place of discomfort public shows of affection bring him.

“Uhm”, he places his hand atop your head to give you two pats. Then he steps back, “I’ll see you later”, he says and presses himself past you to stomp to the car. 

“Don’t take it personal, ___”, Hoseok tries to comfort you, but you dismiss him with a shake of your head. 

“I know how he meant it. I know how he is.” 

“Well, that’s good. I’m sure he’s very thrilled about your sweet words.”

“I’m sure he is”, Taehyung says with a reassuring smile. He leans in to kiss your cheek, “stay safe, my darling. And call me if you need anything.”

“You too, my darling. I’ll call you”, you tell him, looking at the others, “and you too. I want you all back in one piece.”

“We will, don’t worry”, Hoseok says. 

“I’ll see you later, ___”, Jungkook says and grins.

He is the first one to leave, taking the passenger seat. Taehyung is next, wishing you a nice day. Hoseok was the last one to leave, giving Seokjin and you a hug each. They drive off moments later, leaving you and Seokjin alone by the hotel.

You turn to Seokjin.

“So where to now?” you ask him. He is looking into his phone as he is currently planning the route you will have to take to get to your destination. He lifts his eyes, looking at you.

“The train station. According to my sources, Emma was spotted a little outside of Berlin”, Seokjin explains.

“Lead the way then”, you say, beginning your journey of finding Emma.

Seokjin is shimmying nervously the entire train ride with his left knee bouncing up and down nervously and his nails between his teeth. He doesn’t talk a lot as he is most definitely lost in his thoughts. You understand him. It must be really exciting for him to possibly meet Emma today. You spent most of the time reading the book you brought with you. It was a really good book.

You lift your head to check up on him. He is shimmying even more than he did before. Poor boy. You place the bookmark on the right page and set the book aside after to reach over and pat his knee.

Seokjin flinches as he didn’t expect the touch, breaking his eyes away from outside to look at you.

“Are you okay?” you ask him.

“Why?”

“Because you’ve been fidgeting ever since we boarded this train.”

“No, I’m literally dying in nervousness”, Seokjin confesses, “I could potentially meet Emma today. It’s killing me. Do I look good? Did I overdo it?”

You study him from head to toe.

Seokjin decided on a combination of a beige linen suit and a white button up under a linen corset vest. It is accentuating his petite waist and broad shoulders. He also opted for closed brown leather shoes, but already regrets his choice as his feet are terribly hot. He wanted to wears gloves as well, but thankfully decided against them, going for golden rings and an expensive watch instead.

“I think you look very handsome”, you tell him.

Seokjin looks at his own reflection in the train window, fixing strands of his hair. It didn’t need any fixing, but Seokjin thought that it really did.  

“Did I overdress? Oh god, did I actually overdress?” he says, twisting and turning in his seat as he inspects his distorted reflection. He has long stopped dressing well every day. He did so for the longest time, but as the decades became more relaxed and the fashion less and less body fitting, Seokjin also stopped dressing up daily. He still likes to dress well, but he doesn’t do so every day. There are even days where he spends his hours in nothing but his pyjamas and fluffy slippers. He calls those days his free days and wants to do nothing more than lie around and play games. He thinks that he might have overdressed today. He looks ridiculous.

“No, you look good”, you assure him, “don’t worry Jinnie, she’ll see you and swoon.”

Seokjin looks at you with pink ears.

“You think so?” he asks in a shy voice.

“Yes, I really do”, you say, giving him a smile, “it fits you very well.”

Seokjin touches his own tummy, rubbing it gently.

“Thank you”, he murmurs shyly, eyes running over his own legs, “I probably should have dressed in white tie attire, because she doesn’t deserve any less. Oh dear, did I under dress?” he gasps with widened eyes, “should I have worn a tie? I should have, shouldn’t I? Oh god.”

Seokjin quickly fetches his phone and looks for the closest tailor. “I have to get tie. A, a brown one, matching with my shoes. Or perhaps should I get a black one for a certain dot of change? Maybe a colourful one would be best”, he babbles and huffs out air, touching his own forehead, “I can’t decide. What if I choose the wrong colour and Emma will hate it? ___, I don’t know what to do”, he says, looking at you for help.

“Relax. You look handsome just the way you are”, you assure him, taking his hand to squeeze it gently, “don’t worry about it too much.”

Seokjin exhales loudly, sagging his shoulders in defeat.

“You are right. Oh god, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m so nervous. This is the clearest lead I’ve ever gotten. I’ve never been that close to finding her.”

“I can only imagine how excited you are.”

“I’m so excited, but also really nervous. Do you really think that she’ll like my outfit?”

“Yes, she will. I’m honest.”

“Okay, okay. Good, yes good”, Seokjin exhales in relief, “I’m seriously going insane.”

“I can’t even tell”, you tease him.

Seokjin wanted to throw something back at you, but can’t as the train announces your stop.

“Oh! It’s our stop”, he gasps, jumping to his feet, “quick! It’s our stop!”

“Seokjin, wait for me”, you say, stumbling to your feet and running after Seokjin.

Seokjin is already by the door, fumbling with the buttons on his vest. He wonders if people can see how nervous he was or if he is hiding it well enough.

The doors open. You reach his side, panting slightly.

“You are way too fast”, you say.

You let a couple and an elderly man leave the train before you, then it is finally your turn to get off. The crowd is tense on the platform, an array of languages surrounds you. Many Seokjin understands, but countless more are unknown to him. There is a British couple arguing about whether or not they have to take this train three stations or two. There is a group of Turkish girls giggling about how beautiful it was here and that the sun was just right. Seokjin agrees with them, fixing the dark sunglasses perched atop his nose. As long as he has his glasses, the sun is wonderful. There is a friend group of Korean guys, who currently talk about whether to go left or right on the platform. They send Seokjin a look as you and he pass them and for a moment he wonders if they wanted to call out to him to ask for his advice. He hopes that they don’t because his Korean is rusty these days. They don’t in the end and the two of you leave them on the platform, never to see them again.

There are also too many locals to count, speaking on the phone, listening to music, talking to each other. Seokjin understands their conversations, but soon stops listening in, hurrying up the stairs to the exit.

He takes two at a time, careful not to bump into people.

“Seokjin slow down, I’m not that fast”, you complain, trying to keep up with him.

Seokjin turns, looking at you.

“I’m sorry”, he says, slowing down, “I was lost in my thoughts. Are you okay?”

“Yes, just out of breath”, you reach his side, holding his arm to make sure that he can’t escape again, “what were you thinking about either way?”

“Just that there are many people here”, he says, intertwining his fingers with you, “come, let’s get outside. I’m sure there are less people on the street.”

Seokjin was right. The crowds become less tense once you are upstairs, breaking up completely once you are outside the station.

The two of you stop just a few steps down the road under a tall oak tree. He inhales deeply. You do the same. The air is so much fresher here than it was in Berlin.

“It smells so good here”, you say.

“I think so too”, he agrees and sighs, “it’s good. It means that Emma can breathe in good air day by day.”

You sneak a glance at him, having to smile fondly. He is adorable when he is in love.

Seokjin scrunches his nose up at the feeling of butterflies in his tummy. He giggles and continues walking with a slight skip in his steps, swinging your hands back and forth.

“Do you think that she will recognise me?”

“I’m sure she will.”

“How do you think will she react? I’m so scared that she doesn’t want to see me or hear me out.”

“I mean, the possibility is definitely there, but I am sure that it won’t be like that.”

“Oh god do you think so? Oh god what if I mess up?” he says, touching his own forehead, “I’ve been practicing my words in my head ever since the morning, but what if I mess up?”

“Well, what do you want to do?” you ask him.

“I will start by greeting her. I have to get a bouquet of tulips. In yellow, because that has always been her favourite colour. She says it’s because yellow makes her skin glow and I think so too”, he says, smiling, “oh ___, I’ve always loved it most when she wore yellow dresses, she looked so beautiful in them”, Seokjin says and smiles dreamily, doing a little skip in his steps because he felt happy, “I can’t wait to see her again. I’m sure that she is even more beautiful than she was in the past. She has to be. She is Emma. Of course she will grow more beautiful day by day.”

“You are so whipped”, you say, nudging his arm with your own.

He sends you a look, pouting. His ears are beet red in embarrassment.

“Whatever, I’m just saying”, he mumbles, making you chuckle fondly.

You cross into a corner, dodging a woman before she could collide with you. You cross paths with a mellifluous scent of fresh coffee next. It halts your steps.

“Oh it smells amazing here”, you say.

“Right?” Seokjin agrees.

The two of you backtrack, looking into the opened café. There are currently three other people inside the small shop and the radio play slow jazz.

“Do you want to get a cup?” he offers.

“Only if they offer tea. I don’t like coffee”, you say.

“Want to check it out?”

“We could do that.”

And so it happens that you enter the café together, getting in line behind the other customers. You turn to Seokjin.

“So you plan on getting her tulips. Why is that?”

“Tulips have always been her favourite flowers”, Seokjin explains, “when we were dating, we had this tradition that I would bring home tulips after work and in return she would kiss my cheek. I always loved the tradition and I thought that maybe if I showed up with tulips, she would know who I am.”

“This is really sweet of you. Gosh Jinnie, you are really going all out aren’t you?”

“Am I overdoing it?”

“No, I don’t think you are.”

“Okay, okay good”, Seokjin says and looks around the café.

You do the same and for the next few minutes you share silence as you people watch.

The lady before you orders a macchiato and a croissant. She leaves after getting both. An elderly lady eats cake by the window and drinks black coffee with it. Another lady eats onion soup with fresh cheese sticks. There is also another young woman right behind you, reading a book whilst standing.

“It seems that this café is very popular with the ladies”, Seokjin says.

“Yes, it’s really pretty. I can see why.”

“Do you think that I should take Emma here for a date?”

“I mean, it is a beautiful spot”, you say, “maybe you could ask her.”

“Yes, I will do that”, Seokjin says and nods his head.

It is your turn to order. You choose to go with a cup of peppermint tea and a chocolate donut and Seokjin chooses to go with a cup of mocha latte.

You leave the café together, enjoying your refreshments whilst wandering through the beautiful streets. The buildings have many years written on them, but it is clear that they are well loved by the city. The architecture may be a part of history, but the façades are all clean. You think that Taehyung would love this type of architecture and if he was with you right now, he would ask to take a picture of you in front of one of the houses.

“May I ask”, you break the comfortable silence, “where did you hear about Emma’s whereabouts?”

“An old friend of mine”, Seokjin answers you, “he said that his partner spotted someone with Emma’s features boarding the train to Bernau.”

“I see. And is that source trustworthy?”

“I really hope that he is, otherwise I’ll be heartbroken.”

“Well then, let’s hope that he is”, you say, “how is your coffee?”

“Really good. How’s your tea?”

“Yummy.”

“Good, that’s good”, Seokjin says, stopping in his steps, “we have to go there”, he tells you, disappearing in a narrow alleyway.

You follow him.

“Where are we going now?” you ask him.

“A florist”, he says, looking into his phone, “I have to get tulips first.”

“I see. And where do we have to go then?”

“I can’t say yet. She must be somewhere here so maybe let’s walk around and hope that we can bump into her.”

“That sounds like a plan”, you say, taking a bite of your donut.

And so it happens that you and Seokjin find yourself wandering the streets of this small German town, gradually finishing your refreshments and talking about Seokjin’s life with Emma.

He tells you about how he met her when she just turned twenty three and that they spent six years together. Emma lived comfortably back then. She was neither a factory worker nor was she also part of the elite. Her father was a merchant doing trade with the Middle East and brought home enough money that they could live comfortably in a townhouse in London. Seokjin lived in London at that time as well, spending his days at the libraries in search for something that could entertain his endless boredom. He met Emma during one of his library visits and they instantly clicked.

Seokjin tells you that he planned on marrying her, but that he never got the chance to propose as she died before that could happen. He says that these days he knows that she didn’t and he admits that it hurts him that she never set out to look for him, but that he can’t blame her.

Seokjin also tells you that he tried to live a good life in case Emma stumbled upon him. He wanted to make a good impression on her and not scare her away.

Seokjin tells you about his time in the Wars. He hated it, but he saw it as his duty. If other men had to leave their homes, so had he. He healed a lot of people in the war with the help of his blood. He thought about being a vampire differently back then. He was more reckless. He thinks that he might have turned a few people as well without knowing that he did. The ones who were already too close to dying. Seokjin tells you that he never checked up on them again, but he thinks that he might have turned a few people without wanting to. Seokjin hopes that if he did, they are living a good life these days. Imagining that they couldn’t and that he was the reason for it, fills him with too much grief.

You assure him that if he did, they surely are because they had him as a sire. Seokjin smiled at you because of it and continued his story when you asked for more.

The sun had long passed its zenith by that time and Seokjin was able to take off his sunglasses. You had also checked on a big part of town already, but hadn’t met Emma yet.

Seokjin tells you that the years after Emma were filled with grief and hatred. He knew of Alpha, but could never bear to face them. He hated them so much that he wanted them dead, but he knew of their ages and knew not to intervene. Seokjin admits that there were many moments where he considered fighting them just so they could kill him and take the pain of losing Emma from him. Seokjin never really went through with it. So Seokjin left Europe to return to his home country, hoping to find happiness there and he did.

Seokjin met Jungkook in the seventies. The younger vampire lived in the sewers under the city of Busan at that time. Seokjin accidentally stumbled upon him as he followed a trail blood. Jungkook was in the middle of ripping a poor man apart and at first Seokjin wanted to kill him, but then Jungkook began crying. He fell to his knees and looked at Seokjin with innocent, heartbroken eyes and the involuntary murder covering his entire face and he begged him for help. That was when Seokjin felt pity for him, so he tells you, and he decided to take him in and the days of loneliness finally stopped.

Seokjin tells you that he trained a lot with Jungkook and that he is aware that he didn’t help him even remotely as much as Yoongi does these days, but that he tried to help as best as possible nonetheless. He gave him one of his rooms, bathed and clothed him and then introduced him to feeding from blood bags. And while Jungkook always turned feral when he ate and on many occasions that meant that Seokjin ended up with clashing bite wounds or broken bones, he never for a second regretted taking him in. 

You tell him that you were happy that he met Jungkook and that you were happy that they were still friends these days. By now the sun had wandered closer to the horizon and the town was hued in golden light. Emma you still haven’t found and the tulips began welting just slightly. Seokjin seemed hopeful still.

They met Hoseok two months after he turned. Seokjin showed him control as best as possible while Jungkook tried not to bite him too often. Hoseok never had problems with control, so Seokjin tells you. Sometimes they joked that if they hadn’t found him as early, Hoseok would have had moments of lost control as well. But maybe Hoseok was just incredibly talented in control. 

You agree with a fond chuckle.

Hoseok moved in with them soon after, but spent many days away from them as he wanted to travel the world. Seokjin and Jungkook wanted to come with him, but Jungkook couldn’t really leave the house back in the days. So Seokjin stayed with him, never once regretting it.

“I can imagine”, you say, “I’m really happy that you guys found each other. The bond you share is really precious, I think.”

Seokjin gives you a smile, “thank you”, he says and nudges your arm, “and now we found you. Our little family is growing.”

His words make you feel warm in your chest.

“Yeah, it’s growing”, you say, giving him a fond smile, “now where do we have to go next? It’s already getting dark.”

Seokjin’s smile drops, sadness replaces it.

“I don’t know”, he says, dropping onto a bench, “we’ve looked everywhere, but haven’t found her”, he says, looking at the wilted tulips, “fuck, I’m so stupid. Why did I think this could work? That I could just go to a random town and find her? It’s so goddamn dumb.”

You sit down next to him.

“Maybe we haven’t looked everywhere?”

“We have. You know that we have. If Emma was here, we would have found her”, Seokjin says, sagging his shoulders, “let’s go back to the hotel. This search feels hopeless.”

“Are you sure? Maybe we just have to try one more time?”

“No”, Seokjin shakes his head, “no, it was the same shit in New York and later Amsterdam. I follow stupid leads, buy tulips, only to realise that I’ve been chasing ghosts. Emma isn’t here. Fuck”, he presses out the last word, lowering his head, “I’m so fucking stupid.”

“No, you’re not. You’re hopeful that doesn’t make you stupid.”

“Then it makes me naïve. Let’s be honest.”

“Gosh, Jinnie I’m so sorry. Do you want a hug?”

“Yeah, I think I do”, he whispers, falling into your arms and resting his head on your shoulders.

“I wouldn’t mind walking another round”, you tell him, rubbing his back soothingly.

“I don’t know”, he says, “the tulips are already dead.”

“So let’s meet her without them. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the gesture nonetheless.”

“You are so positive. I want what you have”, he says, breaking away from you. He sends you a sad look, “fuck sorry, I was so preoccupied with telling you about me that I didn’t even notice that we were failing. And now it’s all coming back to me. I’m failing, aren’t I?”

“No, don’t say that. Even if we can’t find her tonight, I’m sure that we will find her somewhere else. I believe in your reunion”, you say, giving his thigh a soft squeeze.

“Thanks”, he whispers and sighs in defeat, “do you think that the others have more luck?” he asks you.

“I don’t know”, you answer him.

Jungkook is chasing after a Glutton, his face is covered in blood and from his exposed fangs acid drips. The Gluttons knows that she has no chance at escape. Not only is Jungkook a Ripper, but he has seven decades on her. She has no chance, even if she tries to run. He will catch her. And rip her to shreds. She passes by Luc. Luc was her friend, but he is dead by now. Killed by the Creator of whom she only heard stories of. Min Yoongi. The vampire that hunts vampires. Namjoon told her that she won’t ever have to meet him. She believed him and allowed him to turn her. She finally begins to realise that Namjoon lied to her back then and she wonders what else he lied about. Was he ever planning on keeping her safe? On making her his queen? Did he ever really love her or did all the sex she had with him mean nothing to him? Did he use her? Why is he not here? Why is he allowing his creations to be slaughtered?

She collides with a chest, screaming up in fear. Strong hands hold her arms, keeping her from fleeing. Her fearful eyes lift, locking eyes not with the Ripper like she expected to but with someone else. His eyes were dark red, his cheeks covered in black veins and from his fangs black blood was dripping.

“Who are you?” she presses out, “let me go! He will catch me!” she yells at him, eyes flitting behind her own back where the Ripper inches closer and closer, “let me go! He will kill me! He will-”

Her voice gets stolen from her as the unknown vampire rips through her throat. She gurgles and chokes, fighting for air and knowing that it won’t come.

“Die!” the vampire screams at her, throwing her to the ground. She slides past Jungkook, fighting for air as now her lungs were protesting from the impact. Seconds later she stops feeling as the vampire straddles her and begins bashing in her face.

“Die! Die! Die!” he screams, bringing her closer to actual death with every punch he throws.

This is the end, she thinks and stops thinking as darkness engulfs her.

“Die! You ugly cunt die! I hate you! Die! You killed him! Die! Die! Die!” Taehyung screams, punching the vampire over and over and over again. He is doing it. He is seeking revenge for Jimin. He is killing all of them. He is hurting Namjoon with it. “Die! Die! I hate you so much! Die!” He can’t remember how many he killed already. He blacked out with the first punch he threw. Did Yoongi even say that he wanted them dead? Taehyung can’t remember. He doesn’t care. He wants them dead. All of them. They need to die.

“Die! Fucking die!” Taehyung screams, having punched her head so many times already that by now he is punching his fists into a puddle of goo and the hard asphalt, “die! Fucking die!”

“Taehyung hey! Taehyung! Stop! Tae stop!” Yoongi has to yell over Taehyung’s heartbreaking screams. His grip is tight on the younger vampire’s shoulders. 

“Die! You did this! You did this! Die!”

“Taehyung! Stop! They’re already dead! Tae stop! There’s nothing left of them! Stop!”

Yoongi finally manages to pull him away, getting in front of him so he can’t storm back to the vampire.

“Leave. We’ll join you later”, he says over his shoulder at Jungkook and Hoseok and then the others lay forgotten to him, “I’m here now, Tae. Calm down.”

He wraps his arm around Taehyung’s waist so he can push him out of the hall this way. 

Taehyung lets him, screaming graphic curses at the already dead vampires. Only once he is outside and Yoongi managed to put quite a lot of distance between them and the factory, does Taehyung finally stop fighting him.

Taehyung roars, whipping around the rip out a poor, unsuspecting lamp post. Sparks of electricity cut through the air. Yoongi dodges them while Taehyung doesn’t even feel them hit his skin. He screams and throws the pole as far as it can go, which results in it piercing the asphalt a good four hundred feet away from them. It wobbles a few times before standing completely still.

Yoongi lets him, knowing that nobody can see them. Taehyung needs it. Yoongi knows that he does. 

Because after the outburst of anger, heartbreak follows. Taehyung wails, falling to his knees because the pain is dragging him down. He punches the asphalt. He punches and punches and punches until his hand is broken and even then he continues. He heals and punches and breaks his bones only to heal and repeat the process over and over again until the asphalt is grinded into fine powder and he physically couldn’t take another round of broken bones. 

Taehyung wheezes for air, staring at his shaking fingers. They are covered in his blood and the remnants of street. His hot tears drip down on his skin, washing away the dirt in streaks.

He gasps loudly, fighting for his right to breathe, sobbing because it doesn’t stop. No matter what he does, the pain doesn’t stop. And so he screams again. He screams and it doesn’t help. He killed them and it didn’t help. He hurt himself and it didn’t help. Nothing helps. He is hurting and nothing makes it stop.

Yoongi squats down in front of him, taking his hand. There are pieces of asphalt in his skin. Yoongi picks them out wordlessly and Taehyung lets him, crying loudly whilst clutching Yoongi’s hand as the only support he currently has. He sits down on the wet ground, soaking his clothes but why should he care? Why should he care about stupid fucking shit like wet clothes when his best friend is dead? Why should he care about anything? 

“Don’t do it”, Yoongi says, squeezing Taehyung’s hand.

Taehyung, who wanted to turn it all off, lifts his head to gawk at Yoongi.

“I know it’s tempting, but don’t do it”, Yoongi says. 

“Why not?” Taehyung’s face contorts in pain, “it hurts so much. I don’t know what to do.”

“I know Tae, I know.”

“I don’t know what to do with it. I love him so much and now that he is gone I don’t know what do to with it. It sits in my chest and hurts me. I don’t want to love him anymore, it hurts so much.”

“I know exactly how you feel, Tae. I’m here for you. Share the pain with me”, Yoongi insists. 

“I can’t do this anymore. My life is a living hell”, Taehyung sobs, dropping his head, “I want to die. Please kill me, hyung. Please.”

“I’m not gonna do that, get that outta your head.”

“Please”, Taehyung sobs, “please I can’t live without him. I can’t do this anymore.”

“I know how you feel, Tae”, Yoongi says, cupping Taehyung’s cheek to tilt his head up, “there are no words to describe how much you are hurting and every single second feels like a century of agony.”

Taehyung sobs because Yoongi speaks what he can’t put into words.

“I know how much it hurts. Fucking hell, it hurts so fucking much. Come here, Tae”, Yoongi says and pulls Taehyung into a hug by the back of his head.

Their chests collide harshly, Taehyung’s face gets pressed into the crook of Yoongi’s neck. 

“I’m here for you. I know how it feels to lose your best friend. The pain is unbearable, I know”, Yoongi says, hugging him tightly, “but please don’t turn it off. Use me to feel better, just don’t turn it off.”

Taehyung wraps his arms around Yoongi’s waist, whimpering a helpless “hyung” before falling back into his sobs and desperate cries.

“I’m here now, Tae. I’m here”, Yoongi whispers and holds him for as long as he needs to.

They don’t know how much time passed. Neither of them care. Yoongi knows that Taehyung needed to cry while Taehyung was just happy to have someone to lean on. To kill Namjoon’s creations knowing it was fruitless because even all the murders he will commit won’t bring Jimin back, broke Taehyung. Even if he finds Namjoon, even if he stares into his eyes and asks him why he killed Jimin, the outcome will be the same. Jimin is dead and Taehyung has to spend eternity without him. The fact became so painfully clear to him now that he was confronted with Namjoon’s creations. They get to live while his best friend had to die. Taehyung hated them so very much that he couldn’t stop. Even long after they were dead he couldn’t stop, wishing for them to die over and over again.

He would have turned it off tonight. If Yoongi wasn’t with him, holding him and understanding his pain, Taehyung would have turned it off. One year and his heart hurts just as much as it did on the day he lost Jimin. Taehyung can’t bear the pain anymore. Yoongi is the only thing keeping him from turning it all off.

Taehyung long stopped crying by now, head resting on Yoongi’s thigh and eyes glued to the lamp post in the distance. Yoongi runs his fingers through Taehyung’s hair, staring out into the night. His left hand is propped up on the asphalt, supporting his weight.

The position they find themselves in is peculiar, but Yoongi knows that Taehyung needed it. He was in the same situation than Taehyung long ago. After the human crafted the attack on him and the other Creators, Yoongi hurt unbearably for many years. He killed too many people to count in hopes of lessening the grief, but no amount of killing made the pain go away. So Yoongi understands why Taehyung lost control tonight. Why one single punch broke every ounce of self-control he possessed and why the taste of blood turned him maniac. He understands because he was in his situation as well. Too many times to count.

“Why do you want to help me?” Taehyung whispers.

“Why not?”

“Please answer my question.”

“Because”, Yoongi hesitates, eyes drifting up at the sky. He shifts his legs a little, making Taehyung’s head rise and sink with it.

Six months ago the situation between the two vampires was entirely different. Messed up and soaked with too much distaste. Never hatred, because while they fought a lot, they were still friends in the end. Friends of too many centuries, which perhaps explains why they fought so passionately without fearing that their bond may break. And while Yoongi still possessed distaste for what Taehyung did to you, he doesn’t want to punish him anymore. He can sense when someone needs help and if one of his longest friends was soaked in it, Yoongi can’t bear to stand idle by.  

“Because I went through all my shit without anyone by my side and I don’t want people to feel the way I had to feel during those times”, he says.

“I see”, Taehyung whispers.

Yoongi runs his fingers through Taehyung’s hair, watching the silent tears run down his face. He wipes them away wordlessly and begins massaging Taehyung’s earlobe. The latter reacts accordingly. His eyes fall closed, some of the tension in his face disappears.

“I regret locking you up”, Yoongi says.

Taehyung lifts his head, holding his breath in shock. Yoongi glances at him.

“You were a victim, not the culprit. I shouldn’t have kept you locked up for so long. I’m sorry.”

“It’s…I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s okay. It’s better if you don’t. It’s so fucking dumb to talk about.”

“No it’s good. I like talking to you. We haven’t ever done that.”

“That’s not true. We talked. In the prison when I consoled you”, Yoongi glances at him, “and the music nights”, he adds quietly.

“Ah yes, the music nights”, Taehyung says and smiles, “I guess I was wrong. Perhaps we stopped talking then.”

“Mhm, perhaps.”

“Why?”

“Because you piss me off so often.”

“I piss you off?”

“You’re reckless and get off on fucked up shit. It disgusts me that you do. Whenever I think of what you like in the bedroom, I dislike you.”

“Your honesty is harsh and hurts.”

“But it’s honest. I couldn’t give two shits about being honest with people I don’t care for.”

“So you care for me?”

“I don’t know, you punk.”

Taehyung laughs softly, lowering his head back onto Yoongi’s thigh. He runs his hand up and down the inside of it even if Yoongi tenses his muscles because of it. He tenses them, but doesn’t pull away for now. 

“I care for you too, hyung”, Taehyung confesses, “even if we fight a lot, I still care about you.”

“Yeah, we fight a lot, don’t we?”

“Yes, we do.”

“It’s ‘cause you piss me off.”

Taehyung chuckles honestly, “you annoy me many times as well, don’t think so highly of yourself.”

Yoongi scoffs, “I guess”, he says, shaking his thigh, “stop touching my thigh like that, you punk.”

Taehyung rolls onto his back, looking up at Yoongi. He caresses his tummy instead, running the back of his hand back and forth and forcing Yoongi to tense his muscles.

“Stop touching my stomach. What did I just tell you?” Yoongi hisses.

“You merely told me to stop touching your thigh, you never said not to touch your stomach”, Taehyung defends himself which earns him Yoongi’s fist against his chin in a tender nudge.

“Punk”, Yoongi murmurs, shifting his eyes back into the night.

Taehyung lets his eyes wander over Yoongi’s features. The last time he talked to the older vampire, they wanted to kill each other and Taehyung tried to hurt Yoongi in the most horrible of ways. He knows that what he did back then was awful.

“I’m sorry for what I said to you back then.”

Yoongi glances at him, but doesn’t react otherwise.

“I was anxious that I will have to spend the rest of my life in prison and I wanted to hurt you because of it. I shouldn’t have pushed your buttons that way”, Taehyung confesses, “I understand now why I shouldn’t have done it. You felt again and were overwhelmed by it. It was unfair of me to attack you.”

Yoongi shifts uncomfortably.

“It’s fine. Time passed, it’s in the past now”, he says quietly.

“I am glad that it is”, Taehyung says, turning his head to nudge Yoongi’s stomach with his nose.

The latter lets him with his widened eyes glued to him.

Taehyung looks up, eyes filled with less pain than they were all those hours ago.

“How long have we known each other now, hyung?” he asks Yoongi.

“I don’t know.”

“Was it the 1530s?”

“No. 1430s.”

“Six hundred years then.”

“I guess. You didn’t believe me when I told you that I was like you. Remember?”

“I didn’t think it possible.”

“Mhm. And once you finally accepted it, we didn’t see each other for most of it, because you didn’t want my help and instead wanted to be free.”

“I was free. I loved being free. It all changed when Namjoon returned to Jimin. He ruined us.”

“Namjoon ruined most of us.”

“So he ruined you too?”

“I guess. He broke my heart.”

“He did?”

“He pushed me away.”

“I see. So you truly understand.”

“I do. Each time I see him, the wounds feel fresh. I understand you.”

“I’m glad you do. I feel so lonely in my grief.”

Yoongi breathes deeply. Taehyung feels the sensation against his cheek. Yoongi shifts his eyes back to the endless night.

“Loneliness and loss are the worst feelings. Especially when you feel them at the same time. I don’t want you to be lonely, Tae”, he says.

Taehyung squeezes his eyes shut tighter, whimpering painfully. He drapes his arm around Yoongi’s waist, turning his head so his face was buried in it.

“Hyung, I’m so lonely.”

“I know, but don’t be. You have me and you have ___. We are both there for you.”

“I want to turn back time.”

“I know. I want that too.”

“Why can’t I? Why do I have to move on?”

“I don’t know Tae.”

“I don’t want to move on, I want to go back.”

“I know, Tae.”

“How do I do that with my emotions on?”

“By leaning on me.”

“If I truly lean on you with all my grief, you would break under its weight.”

“I can take it, Tae. Hyung’s strong”, Yoongi promises him and begins running his fingers through Taehyung’s hair again.

“I miss him so much.”

“I know.”

“It feels unreal at times. As if I am trapped in an endless nightmare and any moment I will wake and he will be beside me.”

“I get that.”

“And I still see him. I think of what we did together and repeat the phrases he said often. I’m scared that if I don’t repeat them, I will forget them. As long as I do, I can still hear his voice when he says them.”

“I know what you mean.”

“I’m so scared of the day where I will forget how his voice sounded.”

“I don’t think you ever will. If you love someone so deeply, there will always be a part of them that will stay with you.”

Taehyung spills tears, “I miss him so much. Why can’t I turn back time?”

Yoongi places his hand on Taehyung’s head, caressing it soothingly.

“I know, Tae. Life’s fucking cruel.”

“You won’t leave me too, will you?”

“I won’t leave you, Tae.”

“Can you promise me?”

“I promise you.”

And for just a moment, their eyes meet in a true and loving gaze before they both break it again in fear of deepening it too much. Taehyung closes his eyes, softening his hug around Yoongi’s waist. Yoongi begins playing with Taehyung’s earlobe again, sharing in the silence with a relaxed expression on his features.

Taehyung is hurting. He hurts so very much. But at least for this short moment in his endless hell, he doesn’t feel lonely anymore.

You ate dinner at the hotel. Alone because Seokjin wasn’t hungry. You knew that it was because he was heartbroken about not finding Emma, but before you could ask him if he wanted to talk, he locked himself in his room. You didn’t mind eating alone. You are used to being alone and quite enjoyed your time in the restaurant. You liked watching people come and go and really liked the food the hotel served. You tried to check on Seokjin once you returned to your room, but his door was locked and he didn’t answer you. So you let him be alone, returning to your room with great grief for him in your heart.

You have just wanted to start your night routine when someone calls you out the bathroom by knocking on your door. You hurry to it in big steps, opening the door without thinking of asking first because you thought that Seokjin might have come over to talk. However it wasn’t Seokjin you are met with, but Hoseok and Jungkook.

“Oh? Hey guys. I thought you were Seokjin”

“Hey”, Hoseok says.

You run your eyes over their dirty clothes.

“What happened? Why are you covered in vampire blood? Are you okay?” you gasp. 

“It’s nothing, we’re good”, Hoseok obviously lies. 

“You’re the worst liar ever, just saying”, you say, stepping closer, “oh god, are you guys hurt? What happened?”

“No it’s- it’s just”, he sighs in defeat, “we didn’t achieve anything today. We found his followers, but had to kill all of them. That’s why we look like that.”

“Oh, goddamn it that sucks, but I’m sure you’ll get there soon”, you say.

“I guess. But what about you guys? Did you find Emma?”

“No, we didn’t.”

“What? No that sucks”, Hoseok gasps.

“How is Seokjin? Is he okay?” Jungkook asks.

“He’s in his room. He went straight to it once we came back. He didn’t let me talk to him, but I guess we all know what he is doing in there.”

“Noo that suck so much. Poor Seokjin”, Jungkook says and pouts sadly.

“Maybe we could try to talk to him? What do you say, JK?” Hoseok asks.

“I guess we could try?” Jungkook nods his head, “do you want to come with us, ___?”

“I have to decline. I’m so tired, it’s insane. It feels like we walked a hundred kilometres today.”

“Of course. I get that. Sleep tight, ___.”

“You too, Kookie.”

“Sweet dreams”, Hoseok wishes you and you return the wishes.

Then it was already time for them to leave and for you to return to your night routine.

You weren’t lying when you told Hoseok that you were sleepy. You barely manage to shower, let alone brush your teeth because of your body begging you to sleep. With heavy, aching feet, you drag yourself to the bed, lying down with a loud and content sigh. 

“That’s incredible”, you say, closing your eyes, “exactly what my feet needed.”

Knock. Knock. Knock. 

You lift your head. 

“What the hell?”

Knock. Knock.

“Why is somebody knocking on my door?”

Yet another round lets you know that whoever wanted to see you, was persistent.

So you force yourself to get up, groaning as you have to walk.

“Who’s there?” you call out. You aren’t reckless enough to open the door blindly again.

“Me”, Yoongi’s low voice sounds from behind the door. 

Well, that is a surprise you hadn’t expected. You can’t say that it isn’t a nice surprise. You were a little worried for him when he wasn’t with Hoseok and Jungkook.

You unlock the door for him immediately, “hey there, you’re back.”

He nods his head, “I am”, he answers you dryly.

He was already showered, now wearing what you assume to be his sleeping clothes.

“I heard what happened.”

“I didn’t expect anything else”, he says, voice still terribly dry.

“I know, it sucks so much”, you say, reaching out to caress his arm. And unlike this morning, he doesn’t dodge you, accepting the touch gladly, “how is Tae?”

“I helped him fall asleep. He’ll be alright for now.”

“Mhm, that’s good to hear”, you say, “and you? How are you?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“That sucks. Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

“Gosh, Yoongi. I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Don’t ask me that.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“I see. Fine, then don’t talk.”

Yoongi looks to the side, shuffling from left to right awkwardly.

“Well. Do you want to come inside?” you offer, getting out of the doorframe. 

“Yeah”, he whispers, nodding his head almost shyly.

“Then come on in”, you say, giving him a sweet smile. One he retorts with great struggle for he still seemed plagued by too much annoyance to feel like smiling. He follows you kind of awkwardly, watching you climb into bed while he just stands there and fumbles with his own thumbs. 

“Are you just going to stand there?” you ask him.

“No? But you didn’t tell me to join, did you?” he is almost snappish in his answer.

“Calm down, I’m on your side. No need to be so sharp with me”, you say, opening the blanket for him. 

He flusters greatly in both embarrassment from being called out for his bad mood and from the coyness of being offered warmth under a blanket. 

“Sorry”, he mumbles into himself, lowering his head in shame. 

“Just get in here, you old grumps”, you dismiss him. 

Yoongi crawls onto the bed and under the blanket, studying your features with fearful yet oh so longing eyes.

You reach out, tugging a strand of his soft hair behind his ear. His eyelids become droopy instantly, the deep crease between his brows becomes softer.

“What’s going on with you?” you whisper, dancing your fingertips down his temples until you can cup his cheek. 

“Nothing”, he barely gets out.

“Just a bad day, am I right?” 

He nods his head. 

“That sucks, but you’re not alone anymore. Come here”, you say, shimmying closer until you can bury his face in your chest. 

Yoongi freezes up in surprise, lying in your arm as stiff as a wooden board.

You begin playing with the short strands of hair at the nape of his neck, forcing an almost shuddering breath to slip past his lips. He finally closes his arm around you, squeezing you against him.

“You’re warm. I like that”, he whispers into your chest.

You kiss the crown of his head as an answer, inhaling the scent of his shampoo deeply. Mint and apple.

“I’m sorry for being such a grumps”, he says. 

“It’s okay, I get it. It’s frustrating that we can’t find him.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s not your fault though.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, Yoongi I do.”

He sighs, resting his palm between your shoulder blades so he can hold you oh so much closer. 

“Thank you”, he whispers, growing oh so soft in your embrace, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too”, you says and kiss his hair, “sweet dreams, Yoongi Boongie.”

“You too”, he says, basking in your serenity. He longed for you all day. He is so happy now that he can finally be with you.

[roseofdarknessblog]

Humanity's strongest, loveliest, and tiniest (Levi Ackerman x Reader) » Part II

Word count: 5 560

Disclaimer: english is not my first language, I apologize in advance for any mistakes

Part I

Humanity's strongest, loveliest, and tiniest (Part II)

After that night, days went by pretty quickly.

The next morning you found out what happened – the Scouts got surrounded by an unusually large horde of Abnormal Titans. Too many of them lost their lives in an attempt to defeat the enemy. After that, Erwin gave the order to retreat. A lot of soldiers were badly wounded, and continuing the expedition would end up killing them.

Everyone was devastated because the preparations for this expedition went on for weeks, even months. And now everything was in pieces. Even Erwin kept to himself for a day or two, not talking to anyone and mostly staying in his office. It made you worry, but reaching out to him did nothing. He needed to work his way through all of that alone.

Levi seemed to be fine the morning after. Well... mostly. He didn’t talk to you about what happened, but that wasn’t that unusual. You just had to wait until he was ready to open up or ask for help. Or just let the entire thing go completely.

„Are you planning to stay in bed all day?“ he asked one morning after you didn’t show any interest in getting up.

Your health wasn’t the best for the last couple of days. Fatigue, moodiness, almost extreme food aversion, dizziness, nausea, and frequent vomiting kept you company every single day. You’ve never felt this sick and weak. Never in your entire life. Because of that, it was almost impossible to keep it from Levi. But you tried anyway and hoped that the loads of work he had to face every day would keep him occupied until you get better.

„Not all day, just a few more minutes. I barely slept all night, couldn’t get comfortable.“

„I know, I didn’t sleep much either.“

You outstretched your hand towards him, putting a lot of almost nonexistent energy into a small smile. „Why don’t you come and lay down for a bit? Work can wait, it’s still pretty early, Erwin will understand.“

„You know I hate just lying around.“

„I know, but you need to rest, Levi. You are working long hours every day and after that last expedition... I just worry about you, that’s all. You’re being too hard on yourself.“

That night still haunted you. His bloodied uniform and torn cloak, him collapsing right there in front of you, the still healing cut under his eye. From what you heard it was a miracle he made it back that day. And that made you feel horrendously sick while you cried your eyes out for long hours during the times he wasn’t around. Because how could you ever again live in a world without him?

„My work keeps me sane, love. I need to do something or I’ll go crazy.“

„You could just spend the time with me,“ you teased your husband, still waiting for him to come closer and take your hand. „What if we left the HQ for a couple of days?“

„What do you mean?“ he asked and came closer, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Levi gently took your hand and brushed his thumb over your wedding band. It was a small gesture he did quite often. As if he still couldn’t believe you were his wife.

„We both could use a vacation somewhere quiet. The next expedition won’t be happening anytime soon, we should use this time wisely.“

The little smirk on his lips surprised you. But in a good way, his eyes always lit up a little when the corners of his mouth curled upwards. „That sounds lovely if I’m being honest. We didn’t have proper time off since our wedding. And that was a long time ago.“

„We should go up to the mountains again.“

„To the cabin, we spent our honeymoon in?“ You nodded, biting your lower lip playfully and squeezing his hand lovingly.

Memories of your honeymoon were some of the best you had. It felt like you and Levi were living a totally different life for those couple of days. All your worries melted away the second he put the wedding band on your finger. Suddenly, you had everything you ever wished for. And even more.

„Should I ask Erwin for permission?“

„If you don’t mind...“

„No, of course not. I’ll do anything for you to be happy.“ Another tiny smile settled on his lips as he leaned closer and kissed you. This was the true Levi Ackerman. A loving and caring man. A brilliant husband. „I’ll talk to him later, okay?“

„Okay.“

He was about to get up, but you quickly grabbed both of his wrists and pulled him back to bed. His disagreeing growl made you laugh before you found his lips again and shut him up in the most gentle and loving way. He stayed for a couple of minutes, held you tight against his chest, and made your morning sickness a little more bearable.

You slowly got dressed after he left for Erwin’s office and got ready for the day. The morning training was almost over, but you just couldn’t be bothered to go. You were sure Hange will understand.

„Good morning,“ you said to Petra with a bright smile when the two of you met at the HQ courtyard. All of your closest friends thankfully made it back from the tragically failed expedition. With a couple of scratches and injuries, but still. They were alive and safe, that mattered the most.

„Good morning, it’s so good to see you again,“ she replied happily and draped her jacket over her small shoulders. „Are you feeling better?“

„Yeah, a lot better,“ you lied. The two of you haven’t seen each other since the expedition, but since Petra was in your husband’s squad, she knew about some more personal things. You trusted her, she was one of your closest friends for a couple of years now. Even before the relationship between you and Levi got serious. „It was nothing, just nerves, and tiredness.“

„You can be just as stubborn as Levi, both of you should learn how to relax.“

„It’s too late for that, I’m afraid,“ you laughed a bit nervously, looking over her shoulder. Moblit was talking to some cadets just a few feet away. „Can we meet up later? For tea, maybe? I have to talk to my brother now.“ You nodded in his direction.

„Yeah, sure. We should finally sit down and catch up.“

„Great... around five, maybe?“ Petra eagerly nodded, gave you a quick hug, and went her own way. You felt bad about lying to her but had zero energy to talk about what was really going on. What you really needed was to talk to your brother and then to Hange.

Moblit saw you walking his way, quickly ended his chat with the cadets, and turned his full attention to you. „Good morning, beautiful,“ he said with a huge smile on his face, opening his arms so you could slip into his embrace.

„Hey, good morning.“

„Don’t take it the wrong way, but you look awfully pale. Have you seen that doctor yet?“

You shook your head and wrapped your arms around him. „I didn’t sleep well,“ you mumbled into his shoulder and closed your eyes for a few seconds. It felt so good to lean against him and not have to carry your own body weight. „That’s why I skipped morning training. I hope Hange is not angry with me.“

„You weren’t the only one, don’t worry. Everyone is still shaken about what happened, a lot of people mourn their friends or are still recovering.“

„I’m really glad you and Hange had to escort me back that day, I can’t imagine...“ You couldn’t even finish that sentence.

Thinking about your younger brother or your best friend getting hurt made your stomach twist. Yes, being in the Survey corps came with a lot of danger and even more death. But you promised yourself that you would always protect those closest to you. Even if it meant sacrificing your own life to save theirs.

„Don’t think about that now,“ he said rubbing your back.

„It’s pointless I know, but... you didn’t see Levi when he came back that night. He never looked so devastated, I was seriously thinking that he was the only one who made it back.“

That expedition was a huge blow to the whole Scouting regiment. Nothing as gruesome happened in a long time. Yes, all expeditions beyond the Wall brought a few casualties, but this was something else. Something much worse. Almost half of the Scouts died that day. And that took a heavy toll on all of you.

„Be glad that he came back unharmed, and leave it be, please.“

You nodded, lifted your head, and kissed his cheek. „The other day you said something about going to the city library, right?“ you finally asked what you wanted to discuss with him. „If you’re still going, could you pick me up a couple of books?“ With a sweet and innocent smile, you pulled out a folded piece of paper from the back pocket of your pants. „I will be eternally grateful.“

Going that far was beyond your measures right now and since Moblit was always eager to help you with anything, you sometimes took advantage of it. But did the same in return when it was he, who needed a little help with something.

„If that’s all you need...“ he laughed and took the piece of paper from your hand. „I’ll get them, don’t worry. But maybe not today.“

„That’s fine,“ you assured him. „Thank you.“

„Anything for you.“

You exchanged a couple of more words as he walked you to your Squad leader’s office but then left to tend to his own responsibilities. Shear panic was spreading all over your body as you knocked on the door and waited for Hange to permit you to come in. You needed to talk to her for a couple of days now but kept putting it off.

But you were so tired of keeping secrets from Levi. It wasn’t fair, he trusted you and shared everything with you. And if your suspicions were true...

„Hey, do you have a minute?“ you asked your best friend and closed the door. Hange’s office was always a mess, but today especially. Science papers, mission reports, and various similar things were tossed all around the place. You couldn’t even see her desk under all those files.

„Yeah, just a second. Sit down until then, I’ll be right with you.“

„Sure...“ you said hesitantly and scanned the office with your eyes once more. There was no place to sit down, so you leaned your back against the door and crossed your arms. You still felt awful, waves of nausea coming and going every other second, while your head hurt like hell.

Hange was running around for a bit, mumbling under her breath and unsuccessfully searching for some papers she didn’t find in the end. For a short while it looked like she forgot about you, but then shot you a bright smile and hopped on top of her table, sitting down right on her papers.

„I’m all yours now, what’s up?“ she asked and took off her glasses for a short while, rubbing her eyes.

You took a deep breath, feeling your heart pound in your chest. Nothing was sure yet, but a lot of things started to come together. Even more when you thought about the last couple of weeks as a whole.

„I think...“ you said, but stopped almost immediately. You knew Hange was the right person to talk to about something like this. There was no one you trusted more. No other friend, to be precise. „I think I might be pregnant.“

Hange first laughed at your words, but when she saw the serious look on your face, her smile vanished. There was nothing to smile or laugh about, not if your suspicions were true.

„I’m not sure, but I’m... I’m really scared. Like really, really scared, Hange.“

You and Levi haven’t talked about starting a family. Not seriously. The topic of having kids came up a couple of times, but both of you just brushed it off. You were still young and living in a world where nothing was guaranteed.

Bringing a new life to a reality like this...

You felt a little selfish when thinking about having children with the man you loved. How would their life look life? With both parents in the Survey Corps, the poor child could end up an orphan in a blink of an eye. You weren’t ready to give up on your life in the military. Not yet.

„Okay...“ she breathed out and looked to the floor, gripping the edge of the table. „Why do you think you’re pregnant? What symptoms do you have?“

„I feel really tired and weak for a while now, I can barely eat because of the worst nausea I’ve ever felt. I’m always throwing up, feeling dizzy...“

„Okay,“ she said again firmly, gripping the table even harder. Her knuckles started to turn white. „When was the last time you had your period?“

You opened your mouth but closed it immediately. It was a simple question, you should have known how to answer it. But nothing came to your mind and that made you panic even more since the moment you realized it. Your period was never regular, so freaking out about it being late wasn’t something you did often. Not when you and Levi were careful and did everything to prevent you from becoming pregnant.

But now... with all the other symptoms...

„I don’t know, but it’s late. Even more than usual.“

„That still doesn’t have to mean anything.“

„Yeah, I know. But...“

„But there’s a pretty good chance that you really are pregnant, it would all make sense.“

That is what you were so afraid of – everything making perfect sense. How would you announce something this serious to Levi? How would he take it? Having kids is an enormous responsibility, were the two of you ready? Did he even want to be a father? He never knew his own dad, lost his mom as a little boy... he never had a parental figure in his life. What if he didn’t want kids because of that?

And what about you?

You trained really hard to become a Scout, it has been your dream for many years. And you loved it, despite everything. You couldn’t think about giving up on going outside the Walls and experiencing the freedom you felt there. Not yet, not so soon. The last couple of years just weren’t enough, you wanted more. Much, much more.

„It’s Levi’s, right?“ asked Hange in a quiet almost scared tone. She didn’t even dare to look you in the eyes as she asked the question.

„Of course!“ you assured her right away. „Why would you even ask such a question?“

She shook her head, hopped down, and went over to you. „I’m sorry, it’s just the look on your face. I’ve never seen you this scared.“

Maybe because you’ve never felt this scared. Not ever. Not even during some of the most brutal expeditions. Not even during your first one, when you got separated from your squad and had to face two Titans alone.

All sorts of emotions were squirming around in your head as your eyes started to fill with tears. You tried to fight them off but lost when Hange pulled you into a tight hug. The two of you’ve been through a lot since the days you were little. And she never let you down, not even once. Besides Moblit it was always her you could turn to when something was wrong.

„It will be fine, you know? You would make a great mom if you ask me. And Levi... well, he’ll learn. Someone like him is not going to be intimidated by a baby,“ she laughed, but her words made you cry even harder. „Look, you should see a doctor first, and plan the rest after you’re sure about the pregnancy. Maybe it’s something else. Maybe... maybe you’re just dying.“

„Hange!“ you cried out and rested your forehead against her shoulder in frustration. This was really not the time for her weird sense of humor.

„Are you okay, Mrs. Ackerman?“ You almost jumped hearing that question and finding a red-headed girl sitting next to you. She was one of the new cadets... Nifa, if you remembered correctly. One of the few that made it back from the last expedition. „You seem really distracted today.“

„What? Why?“ you shook your head and looked around. Since Hange had a lot of her own work, you agreed to watch over the new cadets during their evening training. But you barely showed any interest in what was happening around you. „I’m fine, sorry. Did all of you run twenty laps?“

„We finished about ten minutes ago.“

„Yeah, right. So...“ All of them were watching you, waiting for new orders. But you didn’t have a clue what to do with them next. Other times you trained with them as it helped in getting to know them and forming important bonds, but today you just sat aside and proceeded to lose yourself in your thoughts.

The whole world was falling apart right beneath your feet.

You were pregnant.

Two doctors confirmed it because you didn’t trust the first one and wanted a second opinion. Somehow you were hoping the first doctor was mistaken. But no, he was right. You and Levi were expecting your first baby.

Hange was the first person you shared the big news with. She proceeded to squeal with excitement so loudly, that the whole HQ surely heard her. The smile on her lips grew so wide you were afraid she was going to break her jaw in half. Not to mention the baby names she started to suggest to you for both genders.

„We can call it quit for today, go get some rest. Dinner will be served soon anyways,“ you said finally and smiled at the young recruits.

They seemed different from the last time you’ve seen them. Before the expedition. A lot of them were missing... and never coming back. Was it maybe your fault as well? Did you not help them adapt well enough? Was there something you could’ve taught them that would ensure their survival?

Maybe.

And maybe not.

You always did your best. At least you tried. That’s why everyone liked and respected you. Even before you got together with Levi. Being his wife just made things a little more... official?

„You all did great today. Any questions?“

When none of them responded, you waved your hand at them as a signal that the training was over. But none of them moved, all eyes were focused somewhere behind your back. You wanted to stand up before looking over your shoulder, but your legs were suddenly too weak to support your weight. Feeling horribly lightheaded you dropped back down on the bench, making some of the cadets jump to your help immediately.

„I’m fine, I’m fine...“ you assured them, trying to steady yourself and stand up once more. This time an arm firmly grabbed you around your waist and helped you up. Your husband’s light grey eyes were watching you worriedly while you leaned against his side.

„Training’s over for today, brats. Get lost!“ he ordered them in an unnecessarily harsh tone, but none of them questioned. Not even Nifa, who was still by your side. You gave her a tiny smile and waved to the other cadets.

„Being rude wasn’t necessary, darling,“ you said to Levi when it was just the two of you.

He shrugged and gently kissed your cheek, helping you sit down again. He sat beside you, hugging you around the shoulder and bringing you closer to him. „You should be in bed if you’re not feeling well. Or at the doctor, you should’ve seen days ago, because something is going on. This isn’t just nerves or tiredness like you always tell me.“

„I was at the doctor today,“ you whispered almost inaudibly, blindly grabbing his hand and intertwining your fingers. Levi almost instantly froze in place which made you, even more, terrified to tell him the truth.

„And?“ he asked after a moment of painful silence. Your whole body tensed up, shivers running down your spine.

It was nothing that horrible is what you kept telling yourself. And Levi loved you, he would never be angry about something like this. Maybe he would be happy. Maybe he wanted a family with you. And maybe not. What if this was a good reason for him to leave you? What would you do in that case? Without your husband and a with his baby on the way?

„Talk to me, please.“ He seemed even more scared than you.

„Well, I’m not dying,“ you said and tried to laugh it off. But tears started to build up in your eyes again. You couldn’t even look at him, it was better to close your eyes and rest your head against his shoulder.

You suddenly felt sick to your stomach – but pregnancy wasn't the one to blame. Emotions were flooding your mind and making you want to stand up and run away. Hide somewhere and cry for hours to end.

Levi waited for a couple of minutes and rubbed your back for comfort as he planted a few kisses on top of your head. His hand was gently clenching your own, his thumb going back and forth over your wedding band. He was dying to know the answer but didn’t pressure you in any way.

„You forgot about the tea with Petra,“ he said finally, bringing your hand to his lips and kissing your knuckles lovingly. The sudden change of topic surprised you, but you were glad. Wrapping your hand around his torso, you kissed his neck and closed your eyes to stop the tears from spilling. „She was looking for you.“

„I totally forgot about her,“ you mumbled, burying your face in the crook of his neck.

The sun was slowly setting, another day will soon be over. Summer was long gone and chilly fall nights were just around the corner. You loved the colder weather, it was the best for training. But not everyone agreed. Your husband hated the cold, especially on those mornings when getting out of your shared bed was hard enough on its own.

„We’ll make up tomorrow, I’m not really in a mood anymore.“

Levi nodded and suddenly stood up, carefully pulling you to your feet as well. He left one of his arms around your waist to make sure you can stand steadily on your own. Hand in hand you walked back to your room. It was just a short walk but you felt exhausted, ready to fall into bed and not move for another month. Overall, it was a pretty difficult day. At least emotionally.

„We can eat dinner here if you want,“ suggested Levi when he closed the door behind you. His work desk was covered in mission reports. That was always a sign of a long, sleepless night. Sometimes he let you help him, but today you were already sure that nothing like that is going to happen. „I’m not really in the mood to see anyone, had enough for today.“

„Rough day?“

„It’s more about the overall atmosphere, everyone is still loathing than cursed expedition.“

„Well, nobody was prepared for such a disaster. It’s natural to feel hopeless. The latest recruits seemed like completely different people today than a couple of days ago.“

„They should get used to it, being a Scout will never be easy. They should be aware of what they signed up for.“

„It’s not about that, Levi,“ you protested and sat down on the small couch next to the bookcase and the door leading to your shared bedroom. „You can never be prepared for something like that. Even you came back more shaken than ever before. For a while I thought you were the only one who made it back because you weren’t saying anything, you were covered in blood...“

And so on. Memories of that night still haunted you every time you looked at Levi’s face, where the cut under his eye was still healing. When it came to injuries, he paid just a small price that day. And you were more than grateful for that. But that didn’t help you forget about his bloodied uniform or about him just collapsing from exhaustion and grief right there in front of you.  

You waited for his response but it never came. Levi just sat down at his table and got back to work, not looking in your direction even once. You sat there uncomfortably, anxiously tapping your foot and playing with your wedding band. Finding the right words seemed impossible. The worst part was that you didn’t have anyone, who could assure you that everything will be okay. Yes, Hange tried her best, but even your brutally intelligent best friend didn’t know everything.

You contemplated talking to Moblit first. He almost always had the right words for any kind of situation. But as you looked at your husband, you changed your mind. He deserved to know first. He was the baby’s father and the love of your life. Keeping something so important from him any longer would be unfair.

Yes, telling the truth and not knowing the outcome was scary. But was there really a reason to be this scared? Levi truly loved you, he made sure to tell and show you every day. He would never abandon you in a situation like this.

No.

He would not abandon you in any situation.

You took one last deep breath and came closer to his desk, standing behind his chair. Your hands slipped to his tensed shoulders gently massaging them. Levi let out a little sigh before leaning back and grabbing your hands from the front, pulling you closer.

„Should I go get us dinner?“ he asked and looked over his shoulder right into your eyes.

„Actually... could you come to the bathroom with me for a second?“ you asked with an innocent smile, brushing your lips against his ear.

He was genuinely surprised but didn’t say anything. His lips found yours in a quick kiss before he got up and let you lead him to the bathroom. The last rays of sunshine were illuminating the small room, reflecting off the full-length mirror in the corner. The one you needed for your little plan.

„Can you unbutton my shirt, please?“ you asked him, guiding his hands to the top button of your white shirt. Levi’s breath got caught in his throat, his hands shaking a little. It surprised you because he never was nervous in situations like this. He wasn't shy or hesitant when it was just the two of you.

You smiled at him, cupping his cheeks lovingly, and tasted his lips for a short moment. As you were about to pull away, Levi leaned closer and kissed you again. His fingers started to blindly unbutton your shirt – one little button after another. He didn't stop kissing you until your shirt was undone and your lungs were burning from the lack of air.

„Thanks, darling,“ you whispered and grabbed his hands, turning around. Facing the mirror you wrapped his arms around your waist and put his palms directly on your stomach. Nothing was out of the ordinary. For now.

„What are we looking at?“ Levi asked, kissing your shoulder. The two of you were almost the same height, which you found super adorable.

„As I said earlier... I was at the doctor today,“ you started carefully, leaning against his chest. His light grey eyes were carefully watching the both of you in the mirror. Your silhouettes joined in one in the rich orange hues of the setting sun. „And I’m okay, it’s nothing serious.“

You wanted to keep him calm and concentrated. Even more, as you could feel his heartbeat picking up against your back. But it still wasn’t pounding as hard as your own.

So many things could go wrong.

So many.

„But he told me something that... that...“

„You are pregnant,“ he said calmly, kissing you behind your right ear, his thumbs drawing small circles on your stomach. „I suspected it for a couple of days now but didn’t want to say anything. It wasn’t my call to make.“

You instantly turned around, meeting his eyes directly. „What? How?“ Levi smiled a little, sliding his hands into the back pockets of your pants.

„I’m not stupid.“

„I never said you were, Levi.“

He furrowed his brows, resting his forehead against yours. „Then why are you so surprised?“

It felt like you could finally take a breath after the whole day. Fear was slowly melting away, disappearing somewhere in the corner of the bathroom. Your husband didn't seem upset or annoyed. Not even irritated.

„Because even I didn’t think about pregnancy right away. Just then, after all of my symptoms started adding up.“ Levi carefully turned you around, both of you facing the mirror again. His hands came to rest on your stomach just like a couple of moments ago.

It all felt so right at that moment. His content expression, the love you could see in his eyes. And just him being there with you. Having a baby was a big thing, and there was no one else you could imagine doing this with.

„Were you scared to tell me?“ You nodded, leaning against his chest again. But more relaxed this time. A tiny smile started to form on your lips when you saw Levi grinning and shaking his head.

„Can you blame me? We never really talked about having kids and with everything that happened just a few days ago... I didn't feel like it was the right time.“

„There is no right time, my love. And there’ll never be.“

„What do you mean?“

„We can die any moment, you know that. And I do as well. Waiting for the right time would mean accomplishing nothing in this life.“

He was right. You knew that. It was never the right time. For anything. Just a year ago it wasn’t the right time for you to get married. So much was happening during those months and weeks. But the two of you did it anyway. After what happened in Shiganshina just shortly before, you didn’t want to waste more time.

Because if being a Scout meant dying for humanity at any given moment, you wanted to leave this life behind as Levi’s wife.

„Look, I’m internally freaking out, not gonna lie. And I suppose you are too.“ Levi slowly pulled away from you and made both of you slightly turn to the side, so you could still see your reflection in the mirror. While looking directly into your eyes he knelt, resting his forehead against your stomach. „But we can figure it out, right? We still have... how many months?“

Tears rolled down your cheeks without you even noticing first. But they were happy tears for sure. The weight of the world was slowly lifting from your shoulders as you looked down at your husband, sliding your fingers into his thick dark hair.

„Uhm... at least seven for sure, I’m about six or seven weeks now.“ If your calculations were at least a little bit correct. „But... anything can happen. Mostly these first few weeks.“

Yes, you were pregnant and your husband seemed delighted. But there was still no guarantee that at the end of this journey, you will hold a healthy baby in your arms. Your mother was pregnant once more after Moblit was born. You were six at that time, and your brother was just three years old. He was too little to remember the sibling that was never born. But you did and sometimes wondered how different your life would be if you had two younger siblings. How different your bond with Moblit would be.

„I’ll take the best care of you. Both of you, my love. I swear that on my life.“

„Levi...“

„We’ll both do our best so nothing bad happens. And if something comes up... well, then it was destined to be that way.“

You slowly sank to your knees before him, wrapping your arms around his neck tightly. Tears were still running down your cheeks, all of the emotions becoming just too much. Happiness. Fear. Anger. Disappointment. Excitement. All of them hit you simultaneously so you ended up like a sobbing mess on your husband’s shoulder while he was doing his best to comfort you.

Levi was silently whispering sweet nothings to you, rubbing your back and finally sitting down against the wall, cradling you into his warm embrace. Your shirt was still unbuttoned and your abdomen showing. That’s why you immediately felt him place his warm palm on your stomach, rubbing it carefully.

„I love you,“ he whispered as the last bits of the setting sun left the bathroom. Darkness was growing thicker all around you, but there was no need to fear.

Not when your husband was by your side.

To be continued... 

Part III

[breathlesslink]

Chapter Eight — First Encounter

[chapter warnings: self doubt (what’s new), violence]

t.o.c ; << | >>

Link came back a few hours later, stocked up on potions and weapons. He didn't stay long, antsy to make it to Ploymus Mountain and into the Divine Beast by nightfall. He left with a small hug and reassurance that he'd be fine, but it did little to console you.

You knew that you'd agreed to let him handle the Ganon-related things, but it didn't stop you from worrying. This guy just woke up a few weeks ago out of a hundred-year sleep, was he really ready to face something that killed his teammates?

You had to hope for the best.

Kodah stayed by your side often, checking your leg and making sure everything was fine. It was— the healing potions did wonders on physical health.

Mentally? Not so much.

You wanted to beat yourself up.

You're traveling with the Hylian Champion of Hyrule. Appointed by Princess Zelda herself, destined to seal away Calamity Ganon once and for all.

And you got taken out by a Lizalfos with a shock arrow. How embarrassing.

Embarrassed was putting it lightly, actually. You were mad. Mad enough that when Kodah and her husband went to bed for the night you grabbed your weapons and snuck out, heading out to Ralis pond.

A blue Hinox was there— you overheard two travelers talking about it at the last stable. A real opponent would help you regain your skills, right?

You wanted to cringe as the gross monster came into view. It slept peacefully next to the pond, it's one eye closed and unaware of its surroundings. You analyzed the monster quickly— the eye would definitely be a weak spot. If you could blind it, then defeating it would be much easier—

"You just gonna stand and stare?"

"Motherfu-"

You whipped around, hearing the voice from behind you. Nothing was there.

"Hush, you're gonna wake it up."

There it was again. You turned around, eyeing the Hinox. Still asleep.

"Above you." The voice got sassy. "You're supposed to be the smart one, what happened to that?"

"What?"

You tilted your head up and in the branches of the trees above you sat a shadowy figure. It blended in with the darkness of the night and shadows of the trees, but you'd recognize the stance from anywhere. Your throat clenched.

Yiga.

"We've been looking for you, you know."

"Okay, and?" You rolled your eyes. You did not have time for this, especially when a large monster was on the precipice of waking up at any second. "I'm not going back."

"That's a shame," The Footsoldier chuckled, "You were always our favorite. So strong. It was a devastating blow when you took your siblings and ran. They weren't half as good as you, but they had so much potential."

"Don't talk about them."

"Awe, why not?" He was teasing you— trying to get a reaction. Trying to make you lose your cool. "That littlest one— Kimi, was it? Always such a sweetheart. Hiro was a bit much to deal with, such a bad attitude. Where are they now?"

"None of your business."

"I think it is my business, considering we know where Hiro is."

"What?”

"Oops! I've said too much. Say, why don't you go and show me how the wonderful protégé of Master Kohga fights?"

Without even giving you a second to think, the soldier took out his bow and fired an arrow towards the Hinox, striking it right in the arm. Its eye snapped open and it let out a roar loud enough to make the ground rumble. It spotted you.

"You asshole!" You turned back to the solider, but he was nowhere to be found.

The Hinox was standing up now, its hands gripping a large rock that it had picked up off the ground. You grabbed your bow and notched an arrow. Time to fight.

You barely had time to dodge the rock being hurled towards you, but muscle memory kicked in just in time. You rolled to the left, aiming an arrow at the monster and letting go.

The arrow didn't penetrate its eye, however. The Hinox seemed to anticipate your movements, using its large hand to cover its eye whenever you were ready to shoot your arrow. You looked around for another plan, and that was when you remembered what you'd read about them back in Gerudo Town.

Red Hinoxes were the easiest to defeat, having little strategy skills or defenses. Its only thoughts were to kill. Next were Blue Hinoxes, much like the one you were fighting against now. It was much more defensive and resourceful, and packed a larger punch. Lastly was a Black Hinox, considered the most powerful of the three. It was a guaranteed death at your strength if it were to hit you, and you were lucky you were only having to deal with the 2nd variation of the nasty monster.

Its shin-guards were made of wood, unlike the Black Hinox that may have steel ones. It would be an easy distraction if you just—

Notching a fire arrow, you aimed at the monster again. It covered its eye once more, prepared for another direct attack, but it never came. Instead, you quickly aimed downwards at its shin-guards. The Hinox looked down and noticing its armor was on fire, began batting at it in an attempt to extinguish the flame.

That was when you took initiative, drawing another arrow and hitting it directly in the eye. The Hinox fell over, groaning in pain, and you took the opportunity to pull out your Windcleaver.

It would be much more durable, able to easily cut through the Hinox's thick skin.

You jumped on its arm and made your way up to the Hinox's throat, putting all of your strength into slicing a clear cut through its throat. The Hinox yelled out again, loud enough that you instinctively covered your ears and slipped off of its body as the area around you rumbled.

And then, in a cloud of dust, it was gone.

Guts and weapons surrounded you, but you weren't too interested in them save for another bow.

Your pride felt a bit more established— at least you could still think on your feet pretty well. Your leg, however, didn't feel as good. The wound had most definitely opened back up, and you weren't looking forward to the chiding you would be getting from Kodah in the morning.

You decided then, you'd have another potion tonight while she slept, and hopefully would heal enough the rest of the night to avoid any questions.

You also decided that looking all over Hyrule for Hiro may not be the best route. As much as you hated to admit it, but you'd have to go back and face the one thing you prayed to never face again.

The Yiga.

———

You woke up late the next morning, choosing to forego breakfast in favor of a few extra hours of shut-eye. Fighting monsters at 1 in the morning takes a lot out of a girl. You blamed it on being tired from the injury. Not a complete lie.

Kodah dragged you out of bed at noon, claiming that you "couldn't waste the day away waiting for Link to come back".

You argued that you could, and would.

Instead, she took you to the pools behind the stairs of the throne room where the Zora children swam. You dipped your legs in the water, sitting on the edge as you both watched the kids with some of the other mothers.

"Aren't they just the cutest!" Kodah gushed, "Finley says he's too big to play with the little ones at the pool now. He wants to go out and explore outside, but he can't when it's so dangerous out there."

"It is." You agreed, "Hopefully, when Link is finished it will be much safer."

"Ah, the hero!" She turned to you, "How did such a lucky girl like you get to travel with the Champion of Hyrule?"

"It's not an interesting story, I promise." You smiled bashfully, "We just met in Kakariko Village. We were going the same route across Hyrule, so we figured it would be easy to travel together."

"That's it? You're telling me there's nothing else going on?"

"Uh, yes?" Your cheeks felt hot at her implications. "There's nothing else. We haven't known each other for very long, so there can't be anything else. That's not how that works."

"Wrong, little fish!" Her enthusiasm was beginning to freak you out, and you worried about how this conversation was going to go. "It can happen at any time, anywhere. Love at first sight is a real thing— it happened when I met Kayden."

"I'm sure it is, but I don't think it's the case here—"

"Just you wait. Before you know it, you'll be watching your own little ones run around."

You didn't respond, choosing to watch the Zora children instead. Kodah was right, and you did believe in love at first sight, but did you even deserve it? Especially with someone like Link?

You did grow up being taught that you were supposed to kill him. It felt like a betrayal on both sides for you to even be friends with him, much less eventually be with him.

After the life you've led, would you even want a spouse or kids? Or are you just too messed up for that to ever be a possibility?

And there it is again— it all leads back fo the Yiga. Every little thing. Even out of it, they seem to have an iron grip over your life, preventing you from truly living. From being totally free.

Would Link look at you differently if he knew? Would he trust you the same, knowing that your sole purpose up until a few years ago was to actively work against him and your home kingdom?

He has to know eventually. It would be better to tell him than to let him find out another way.

The thought of that made you nauseous.

"Do you think we should cook a big dinner tonight? He should be coming back soon, right?"

You'd never been more thankful for Kodah's talkativeness. "Yes! That would be perfect. He loves anything with riceballs, so maybe like a spicy fish riceball or something?"

"I have the perfect idea, let's go!"

[dragon-creates]

Just How Fast The Night Changes (Does it Ever Drive You Crazy?)

Chapter 1/Chapter 2/Chapter 3

Read on AO3

Trigger warning, there is a panic attack in this one but it doesn't last for long. One final reminder that this was written before the Mario Movie's release. Other than that, enjoy!

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Future

The first thing Luigi received when he stepped foot into the mushroom kingdom was for Mario to come speeding towards his brother and tackling him in one of the biggest hugs that he ever got in his life. The older was crying into the younger brother’s shoulder, before pressing his forehead against Luigi’s, looking at him as though he was making sure that he was really here and that this wasn’t a dream. “I’m so sorry Lu!” Mario sobbed, bringing Luigi into another hug and lifting him off the ground, “I should’ve kept a tighter hold on your hand, that way you wouldn’t have-!”

“It’s okay bro, you did the best you could,” Luigi reassured him, Mario gave him another squeeze before setting him back down on the ground, “I’m here now, its like you always say, everything will be okay…”

“As long as we’re together,” Mario finished for him, his smile wobbly and eyes red with more tears to come.

“So, you must be Luigi,” a soft feminine voice spoke up.

Luigi pulled away from Mario as he laid eyes on one of the most beautiful women that he had ever seen. Her hair was the colour of the sun on its brightest day and was tied into a high ponytail, her big blue eyes sparkled like a summer ocean and her skin looked as soft as a rose petal. She was also wearing what seemed to be a motorcycle suit. Luigi clasped his hands together tightly, shyness overcoming him as the young woman looked at him with the sweetest smile.

“Yes, I am ma’am,” He nodded.

“I am Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she gently took his hand into hers and shook it, “You were all Mario could talk about for our whole journey, he even fought a giant ape just to make sure we could get you back!”

“What?!” Luigi let out a disbelieving laugh, “That actually happened?!”

Mario chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck as well.

“He even turned into a cat to beat him, well, more like a cat onesie, but it didn’t stop him from acting like one.” Peach giggled.

Luigi cackled at those words, slapping his knee as Mario face turned as red as his shirt. “Thank you for that information, Princess,” he gritted his teeth at her.

Peach only smirked back at him, before her face became serious. “As happy as I am that you’re both reunited, I’m afraid we have more pressing matters at hand. Bowser is on his way, and we have the Kong army in order to defeat him.”

“Wait a second, weegee, how did you escape him?” the thought suddenly dawning on Mario.

“Well, that’s the thing,” he stimmed with his hands as he answered, “He let me go.”

“HE WHAT?!” Mario and Peach chorused. Luigi jumped at the sudden noise; the duo noticed his small fright for they both quickly apologised for their sudden outburst.

“How about we go into my castle to discuss this?” Peach suggested, “We’ll be able to talk about what happened while we wait for Bowser to eventually arrive.”

And so, the three of them trekked into the castle where they headed to a balcony outside of what seemed to be the princess’ bedroom. Tea and biscuits were served while Mario and Peach patiently waited for Luigi to tell his story. Luigi let the warm liquid calm his nerves while he told them everything that happened in Bowser’s kingdom. From how he let him bake in the kitchen, to eating meals with him and his son, him saving Luigi from the boos, Bowser soothing Luigi with his nightmares (he didn’t share the fact that they also slept in the same bed) and how Bowser let Luigi go, not because of any malicious plan or intent, but because he just wanted Luigi to be free.

Mario and Peach glanced at each other and then back at Luigi. The younger brother could almost hear the gears turning in their heads. “It’s been a long time since Bowser has done anything so selfless,” Peach murmured.

“You don’t think this is a trick, is it?” Mario asked her.

“No,” Peach quickly answered, “I’ve encountered Bowser’s tricks many times before and unless we get word of any spies near my kingdom, I have faith that this was done out of genuine kindness.”

Luigi clutched his cup tightly in his hand, “So, what do we do now?”

“For now, you should get some rest,” Peach told him, “We still don’t know what to expect from Bowser so it’s best that we keep ourselves prepared. I’ll have someone make up a room for you and your brother Mario, so the both of you can catch up.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Mario grinned, Luigi swore he could see a tint of pink light up on the princess’ cheeks.

That night, after a bed was set up for Luigi, all he and Mario could do was talk to one another. Mainly it was Mario blubbering apologies to Luigi, the latter reassuring him that all was forgiven, the night ended with the two of them cuddled together on Mario’s bed instead, as if they were children once again, clinging to one another as though their lives depended on it.

.........

It was only three days later when there was finally news about Bowser. Apparently, his floating island was approaching the Mushroom Kingdom, ready to attack with the superstar he had gained from the penguin’s kingdom.

Luigi felt like he was going to be sick, his heart going in two opposite directions. Was he really willing to fight Bowser after everything that they shared while in his kingdom? Or was he going to stand aside and let him defeat Mario and take over the rest of this world?

Mario easily sensed his brother’s panic, making sure that he was calm enough to not spiral into an anxiety attack before telling him that he did not have to be a part of this fight. Peach had requested that he stay in his room and be guarded by two toads until the battle was over and while Luigi still felt conflicted, he agreed that this would be the best option for everyone.

And so here he was, hidden in the shared room he had with Mario as he watched the battle from the inside.

His heart squeezed in his chest as he saw Mario fight back against the troopas, his brother was dressed head to toe in some kind of flying racoon onesie, dodging their punches while the princess was battling with the army of apes that she had recruited.

He knew that Mario and Peach were fighting for a good cause, to protect the kingdom from the koopa king taking over with the power of the superstar. Yet he still couldn’t help the guilt swarming in his stomach, towards Bowser, towards his brother, towards everything!  

God, he wished he could be a bit like Mario right now, he always knew to do the right thing and to act upon it without any doubts. Just like when he protected him from Spike all those years ago, despite knowing what his horrible uncle was capable of, Mario’s first instant was always to protect Luigi…but what if the younger brother could do that now?

Despite how he felt towards Bowser, what if he could finally repay his older brother for all that he’s done for him? He remembered what he and Bowser has said to each other the day he left, how both wished that they could’ve fallen in love under different circumstances, what if he had the chance to make that difference to make things better, not just for him, but for everyone?

He felt himself stand a bit taller, running towards the bedroom doors and shoving them open, the guards outside startling a little bit. Luigi stuttered an apology to them before taking off down the hall. He had figured out the mapping of the castle the few days he was here, so after a few tries, he managed to find the exit.

He couldn’t stop running, not even for the koopas that lunged for him, or for the apes and toads that gawked at the other Mario brother charging towards Bowser’s castle. His lungs burned and his legs ached, but he couldn’t stop, not while he had this mission in mind. There were some koopas that didn’t go for him, but rather stare as well, wondering if Luigi had changed his mind and was going to join them instead. But Luigi ignored them, he couldn’t focus on what they were thinking about him, he had to keep going.

Eventually, he made it into the castle, hiding in the little spaces that he remembered from his time here and corners in the hallways and other guards marched by. If his memory served him right, there were a few more turns that he had to take before he officially made his way towards the throne room where he and Bowser met. He remembered how the superstar twinkled in front of him, as though witnessing his and the king’s interaction first hand, knowing that it was the reason the two of them had met to begin with.

He made another turn, down the hallway leading to the throne room when suddenly, he was stopped by a familiar face.

“Sam?!” the human exclaimed with surprise.

“Luigi?!” the koopa retorted with the same tone, “What are you doing back here?!”

“I-uh…” Luigi thought about making up a quick lie, something to derail the guard a bit. He didn’t want to hurt his feelings; he knew that he was a sweet guy who showed him nothing but respect even when he went back to his brother. Yet, that was also the reason why he couldn’t fib to him, Sam didn’t deserve that, no matter what side he was on.

“I’m going after the star,” Luigi replied honestly.

Sam’s eyes widened with shock at the sudden information Luigi had said, but then they narrowed a bit, as though he was contemplating something over. He looked over both his shoulders, making sure there was no one there before whispering to Luigi, “Do what you need to do, and I’ll pretend you weren’t here. Take it as a form of gratitude for what you’ve done for me and the royal family.”

A grin broke out onto Luigi’s face and pulled Sam into a hug, “Thank you Sam! I won’t forget this!”

The koopa awkwardly wrapped an arm around Luigi’s back, patting it before the human eventually let go. They nodded to one another and soon, Sam was running down the hall, like nothing had ever happened.

Luigi continued down his path, until finally making it to the throne room, his eyes scanning the place until landing on the bright, glowing Superstar that everyone was after. He ran up to the throne, scaling the giant seat carefully and gently took the star into his hands. Holding it tightly, he jumped down back onto the ground, smiling with pride as he looked over the magical artifact. He did it, he actually did it! He got the star!

He was about to turn and run back out when he noticed a dark, large shadow looming over him. He gulped, turning slowly, his eyes traveling up a familiar body until his eyes met the ones of the koopa king.

“Well, well, well…” Bowser purred, his amber gaze trailing up and down Luigi, who’s knees were trembling at the thought of what the king was going to do to him. After all, Luigi was currently with his enemies, holding the one thing that Bowser was after. “Couldn’t help but come back, eh?”

“I-I, w-ell,” Luigi stuttered as Bowser began to circle him. He clutched the star tighter.

He forced himself to bite back a yelp as Bowser tucked his claw under the human’s chin, tilting his head upwards to meet his face. “I don’t blame you though,” Bowser chuckled, his finger coming up to caress his cheek, “I was tempted to follow your scent the minute you left. After all, dragons often like to keep their treasure safe.”

The star, he had to be talking about the star. Following his scent, keeping the treasure! He probably started making plans to go after Luigi when they both parted their ways. But Peach did say that she trusted his kindness, and there was nothing in sincerity in Bowser’s voice when he said that he wouldn’t follow him. But how could he tell? This wasn’t his home! And now he made this stupid plan to retrieve the star all by himself when he was completely defenceless against the koopa king.

The air became warmer, everything started to blur, he couldn’t breathe…

He couldn’t breathe…

.

.

.

Bowser immediately pulled his claw away when he saw tears form in Luigi’s eyes. When he spotted the little green man in the throne room, everything that he felt for him during their shared time together came rushing back to him. The longing, the happiness, the need to see his smile and the need to keep him happy. He wanted to tease the man, but just a little bit, like how he did during their first breakfast together, he missed the little blush on his cheeks.

For a moment, he forgot about the different circumstances that they were in, that Luigi was now on the side of the Mushroom Kingdom, helping defend it from Bowser, getting the star in order to keep Peach’s people safe. And being face to face with Bowser, someone who swore to destroy everything and everyone in order to have that star, was definitely terrifying for the anxious human.

Luigi’s breaths became sharper and shorter, like when he…oh no. Bowser crouched down to meet Luigi’s height, his large hands resting his shoulders and he did what he remembered help the human the last time he witnessed his panic attacks. “Breathe, one, two, three, four,” Bowser murmured softly.

Luigi shook his head, terror and distrust gracing his features. Bowser heart sank, knowing that he was the most likely cause of why those emotions were there in the first place. “I won’t hurt you,” he spoke firmly, his thumb now stroking Luigi’s shoulder, “I could never hurt you. Not now, not ever. One, two, three, four.”

It seemed to have worked a little bit, the small man was now copying Bowser’s words, trying to count the seconds in his head as he carefully breathed in and out. When his breathing returned to a bit of normalcy, Bowser lifted his thumbs and gently wiped the tears from his soft cheeks.

Both he and Luigi’s eyes softened, both lost in their shared little world together until…

“GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!” Mario screamed, the tail of his suit smacking Bowser across the face, the king yelling in pain. Mario looked to his brother and ran up to him, his hands coming up to cup behind his head as pressed their foreheads together. “Lu, are you alright?” He asked, panic lacing his tone.    

In a small state of shock, Luigi answered with a small, “I’m fine.” He was still shaking a little bit, but other than that, he was unharmed much to Mario’s relief.

With his worries about his brother subsiding, it was then when Mario finally noticed what his brother was holding. “The Superstar!” he gasped, the corners of his mouth turning up into a proud grin, “You found it!”

“Y-yeah,” Luigi laughed nervously, “I just wanted to do what I could to help.”

Mario sighed with nothing but pride and affection for his little brother. “Lu,” he smiled, brushing Luigi’s air out of his eyes. If this was the Luigi before they went into the pipe, he would’ve been scared shitless and not want anywhere near this mess (not that Mario could blame him), but there was something different now. While Luigi still looked scared, there also seemed to be something stronger about him as well. “What made you want to do this?”

“I-”

Before Luigi could answer, an ear-splitting roar blasted throughout the throne room. The brothers turned as they saw that Bowser had quickly recovered; his eyes now darkened as he glared at the star.

Mario quickly scooped his little brother up into his arms. “You can tell me later, let’s get this back to the princess!”

With that, he flew off, but Bowser wasn’t going to give up that easily. Now on all fours, he ran after the brothers, animalistic growls escaping his throat. “YOU CAN’T TAKE WHAT’S MINE, RED!”

Luigi whimpered at the noise and buried his face into his brother’s shoulder, making the older of the two tighten his hold on him protectively.

Soon, they made it out of the castle, not without a few soldiers throwing whatever weapon they had to take the star that the green brother had, yet they still managed to make it out. Bowser was still chasing after them however, Mario making sure that he was flying high enough to avoid the koopa’s claws and teeth.

Mario flew up to the highest balcony of the castle, placing Luigi down on his feet and kept his arms out to make sure that Luigi didn’t have any dizziness from the speedy flight. Luigi wobbled a bit, using his left arm to hold onto Mario while the right kept clutching the star.

“You should be safe now,” Mario said in a reassuring manner. “You feelin okay weegee?”

“Yeah,” Luigi panted, his head starting to return to normal, “I’m good.”

“Right,” Mario nodded, “Don’t worry, Bowser would be an idiot if he tried to get you up here.”

Just as the older brother finished his sentence, a large bang rattled the entire castle. Both brothers shared a glance, ran to the edge of the balcony and peered over. Luigi gasped when Bowser began to scale the walls of the castle, his determination fuelling his speed as he climbed faster and faster.

Luigi began to tremble again, hugging the star for comfort. Mario noticed his brother’s uneasiness, his face breaking into a scowl as he looked down to the koopa again, his protective instincts taking over again. “Wait here,” he grumbled angrily, his rage focused on Bowser, “I’ll deal with him.”

Mario took off again, his tail spinning as he flew down towards the king. “Mario, wait!” Luigi reached his arm out, trying to get his brother to stop, but he was already at the king’s face, landing punches as the giant koopa shouted in both pain and anger.

Mario raised his fist again, preparing to land another hit when Bowser suddenly raised his paw and slammed the red plumber again the brick walls of the castle, the racoon suit disappearing as he landed on a balcony below him.

“Mario!” Luigi screamed. Bowser’s eyes locked onto Luigi and made his way up again, his stare not leaving the human’s.

Luigi yelped and took off out of the room that he was in and down the hall. He took the extra time that he had, knowing that Bowser was still climbing he probably had a good chance to hide somewhere with the star. He made it down a set of stairs when he felt the ground rumble.

Bowser was coming.

He kept running, he refused to look over his shoulder and let it hinder his progress. He finally found a set of doors and made a beeline straight for them, immediately shutting them once he made it inside.

Luigi took this moment to let his legs rest. Looking around, he found himself in what seemed to be some sort of council room, with a set of stairs leading up to what seemed to be Princess Peach’s throne.

He felt the ground shake again, his eyes darted around the room, scanning for a place to hide, when the doors suddenly flung open.

Within seconds, Luigi was pinned to the floor, Bowser’s paws on each side of his body, caging him while the human clung to the star, quivering beneath the giant. Bowser huffed, the warm air making Luigi flush while the crazed, rage-filled look in the king’s eyes started to calm down as he took in the situation. Here was Luigi, whimpering with fear with Bowser on top of him after chasing him down like a mad man all over a silly star, at least, Bowser thought it was the star.

Actually, now that he thought about it, seeing Luigi in such a frightened state suddenly being taken by his supposed enemy set off the more primal part in his brain, the part that needed to keep Luigi safe from those who posed a threat to his safety. But Mario wasn’t a threat, he was just trying to protect Luigi too. Now here they were, Bowser inches away from his life-long goal…and someone he never knew he was waiting his entire life for.

Luigi seemed to have noticed the mental storm in Bowser’s mind. His trembling lessened and his eyes – still holding fear – filled with concern for the king. “Bowser?” He managed to whisper out.

The doors burst open again, flooding with toad guards, the kong army, Kamek, the koopa army, Princess Peach and Mario, the latter dawning red and white overalls while holding a fireball in his hand. The plumber, princess, apes and toads were all on one side of the room while the koopas stood at the other, both groups snarling at one another.

“It’s over Bowser!” Peach snarled and pointed her axe at him, “Release my friend and hand over the star!”

Bowser gazed down at the star again. He could use it right now, fulfil his quest and easily take out everyone in this room. But then that gaze met Luigi’s, the scared look that the human held tugged on his heartstrings in the most painful way. He remembered how he felt in the castle gardens with Luigi, how he wished that they had met within a different context, without this war having to tear them apart and make Luigi feel horrible about himself for loving Bowser and making him feel that he was betraying him.

Suddenly, Bowser found himself wishing that he never started this war, how he let his greed take over his mind and led his kingdom to be feared and hated, how one day Junior might have to carry that same burden as well, how he sabotaged himself for finally and selflessly loving someone but losing them because of his own entitled actions. How he wished it could’ve been different…and maybe it still could.

“As you wish,” he murmured, retracting himself from Luigi and slowly stood up, raising his arms above his head in surrender.

The toads and apes gasped at this sudden revelation while the koopa army whispered to one another, wondering why Bowser was giving up so easily, Kamek found himself smiling as though already knowing the answer. Peach shared a shocked look with Mario, the latter shrugging at the royal. Luigi titled his head cutely with confusion, making Bowser smile warmly.

“I surrender myself and my army,” The koopa king announced, “I will hand the star over to Princess Peach where she will return it to its rightful owners. I will release my prisoners back to their respective kingdoms and will carry out whatever punishment that I deserve for the crimes I have committed. If the time comes and you find it in yourself to forgive me, I am willing to sign a peace treaty to make sure none of this ever happens again. Though I don’t blame you if you can’t find it in yourself to forgive the misdeeds that I have done.”

Peach quickly snapped out of her confusion, motioning for her guards to take the star. Two toads quickly ran over to Luigi, helping him up and gently taking the Superstar from him and made their way back over to the princess with the plumber running over to his big brother. “And how are we able to trust you?” she demanded “After all you have ransacked multiple kingdoms, stole the Superstar, threatened to destroy mine and held my friend’s brother prisoner!”

Bowser looked to her solemnly, knowing that she would say this and with every right to. He turned his attention to Luigi, and what happened next shocked everyone.

Bowser stepped closer to Luigi, Mario immediately stood in front of him, a toad and an ape raised their weapons at him while the koopas readied theirs in case of another fight breaking lose. Kamek raised his arm to stop them, his focus never leaving the king. Luigi put his hand on Mario’s shoulder, the older looking at his little brother with doubt for a second before stepping away, giving him and the king space.

Their eyes met. Everyone waited with bated breath when suddenly, Bowser dropped to the ground…and kneeled.

Everyone gasped when both the king’s knees hit the floor, his hands resting by his sides as his head bowed in front of Luigi.

Luigi raised his eyebrow, “I’m confused, what’s happening?”

Kamek spoke up, “In our lands, royalty never kneels for anyone. A monarch’s subject must always be the one to bow before their leader. The only time royalty is to bow is if they are of a higher rank, let’s say a prince bowing before a king and even then, never bow to nobility from other nations.”

“And Bowser just kneeled for you…the king of the koopas just kneeled for you…” Peach breathed.

“W-what?!” Luigi yelped, “B-but I’m just Luigi! I-I’m only a p-plumber!”

“But to me my dear,” Bowser murmured softly, Luigi gasping at the sudden sound of his voice as Bowser lifted his head, his face filled with so much love, “You are so much more that what you believe yourself to be.”

The king bit back a chuckle as he watched Luigi’s face turn as red as his brother’s overalls – said brother was still glaring daggers at Bowser but held himself back for Luigi’s sake. Bowser rose to his feet as Peach walked over to him. “You and your army will spend tonight in the dungeons,” she began, “In the morning we will discuss the punishments you will face after all that you’ve done. After that, we will see if there is a possibility for a peace treaty.”

“Of course, princess,” Bowser nodded, he turned to his shoulders, “You heard her, lower your weapons. This war is over.”

The koopas all shared a glance with on another, still processing what was going on until a clang hit the ground. It was Sam, he was the first to drop his weapon, holding up his arms in surrender. He looked to Luigi and smiled, the plumber returning it with the upmost glee for his friend.

One by one, each koopa dropped their weapon to the ground and were let out of the room by the Toads, even Kamek had dropped his wand, though he didn’t look too displeased about it. Bowser was the last one to be led out, not even putting up a fuss the Toads pointed their spears at him to make sure he wouldn’t get any ideas (even though those spears were like toothpicks to the koopa).

He shared one more glance with Luigi, the two sharing a look of longing before the king was taken away.

Peach exhaled heavily, placing a hand on her chest, “Well that was definitely something!”

“You can say that again,” Mario agreed.

Peach grinned with relief, her face beaming, “It’s over, it’s really over! We could actually get a peace treaty with the Darklands!”

Mario nodded, still a bit dazed but otherwise pleased with the outcome, “Yeah. You know, I’ve never seen this side of you before Lu.”

Luigi turned to his brother, raising his left eyebrow in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Its just that, for our whole lives I knew that you had so much potential within you, but I don’t think you fully believed it, especially with all the bullshit Spike said about you.” Mario explained, “Yet here you are now, charging headfirst into battle to help us despite being afraid. Within the time that we got separated and seeing you again, whatever happened with you and Bowser, you finally realised that. I might still be wary about Bowser, but if he managed to help you see just how amazing you are and that he’s able to turn over a new leaf, then I have the feeling only the best is to come.”

Luigi’s lips wobbled and he pulled his older brother into a hug, silent tears dampening his brother’s shirt as he buried his face into it, “Thanks Mario…you know, it was because of him that I finally believed what you told me all those years ago,” he whispered. “I’m sorry it took this long though.”

Mario pulled away and grasped his brother’s shoulders firmly. “You have nothing to apologise for, nothing! What happened to you was not your fault, okay? You’re allowed to heal now weegee.”

Luigi sniffled and all but collapsed into Mario’s arms, the older of the two sitting them both on the ground, cradling him like how he did when they were children. Peach joined the two of them on the floor, wrapping her arms around them and rested her cheek on Mario’s head.

“We won today because of you Luigi,” the princess told him, “You’re a hero.”

Hero

The title was new and quite foreign to the younger Mario brother…but he liked it. He really liked it.

.........

One Year Later

It’s a little bit hard to believe that so much can change within the span of twelve months, but anything was possible in this new crazy home of Luigi’s. After Bowser spent his night within the Mushroom Kingdom’s prison, he was ordered to let his own prisoners go and return the superstar to its rightful home, he and his troops would then go onto repairing all the damage that they had caused, lastly was signing the peace treaty between both Bowser’s and Peach kingdoms, which Bowser agreed to with no hesitation (it also helped that the entire time he couldn’t keep his eyes off Luigi’s excited smile).

Within that time, Luigi had also helped Bowser repair his mess. Often the two would just talk about anything and everything until they had to part ways when the sun finally set, and the stars began to rise.

“It’s beautiful,” Luigi had told Bowser, “We rarely get to see the stars in Brooklyn, so its pretty magical seeing them now.”

“It is indeed,” Bowser had nodded, “Though they are simply nothing compared to the shine of your eyes my dear.”

Bowser chuckled at how hard Luigi had blushed.

Soon, Luigi had started staying when the night appeared. Bowser didn’t want him traveling home in the dark and had offered to let him stay in his old room. Luigi had protested at first, claiming that it was no big deal, but his yawning and swaying on his wise was all Bowser needed to scoop him up into his arms and carry him to his bed.

That was how their new routine had started, Luigi would help Bowser during the day, spend the rest of their hours together doing whatever they pleased (Junior would soon join them as well) and Luigi would retire to his room by the end of the day. Of course, Luigi would still have his nightmares, but Bowser was always attentive and caring each time they would come, staying by Luigi’s side and giving him whatever they needed until he was comfortable enough to fall asleep again, Bowser refusing to leave his bed to make sure there wasn’t another one lurking. One night, it had gotten so bad that Bowser carried Luigi back to his own room to keep a closer eye on him, fretting over the plumber until his fears had subsided. From then on, Luigi had opted to stay in Bowser’s room, noting how much better he slept within the koopa’s sheets and the king right by his side, protecting him.

Soon, Luigi’s stays would extend to the point that he began bringing his most of his belongings from his and Mario’s little cottage in the Mushroom Kingdom, because when he’d ‘leave’ he would be back in a few short days so there was so reason to just keep packing and unpacking when he could save the hassle by keeping his essentials in the Darklands.

Then, up to when the treaty was finally signed, Luigi’s visits had stopped being, well, visits and he had uprooted everything from his new home in the Mushroom Kingdom to Bowser’s castle. Junior had been over the moon when his Papa and Luigi announced that the human would be permanently staying, immediately jumping into Luigi’s arms and giving him a tight hug. The rest of the kingdom were also quite happy with Luigi’s choice to stay, having grown fond his kindness and respect towards their king. Sam was especially glad to have his companion back, their friendship becoming much stronger as they exchanged pleasantries whenever they saw each other and gossiped about their partners. Truly, everything had worked out better than everyone imagined.

That was how Luigi now found himself here, waking up to the sun rising outside, wrapped up in a cosy blanket in a pair of green pyjamas and Bowser snoring softly beside him with his tail curled around the human.

It seemed that Bowser had also begun to stir himself awake, his sleepy amber eyes meeting Luigi’s as he smiled softly to his partner, “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Luigi replied gently, shifting a little bit to press himself closer to the koopa.

“Did you sleep alright?” Bowser asked, his expression becoming concerned and wrapped his hand around Luigi’s back, “No nightmares that I wasn’t aware of?”

“No, no nightmares,” Luigi said reassuringly, “I slept like a log, though, I’m not surprised I did when I’m in the comfiest bed in the world and have my own giant heating pad next to me.”

Bowser smirked. Luigi gulped; he always knew that koopa was up to no good whenever he had that smirk. “Does that mean you find me hot greenie?”

“You know what I mean!” Luigi spluttered, burrowing his blushing face into the koopa’s chest, “Don’t twist my words you overgrown lizard!”

Bowser chuckled at the other man’s antics, lifting his hand and running it through Luigi’s soft brown locks. His focus then shifted to the faded scars on human’s arms and back as he continued stroking and frowned. Eventually, Luigi had told him about what he and Mario had when through when they were kids; the destruction of their home, the death of both their parents and being forced to endure the misery upon them by their ‘uncle’. Luigi never told him what happened to Spike, saying that they never heard from him since they moved out, but he did know about what Spike did to him when they attempted to do so, he knew everything about what Spike did to Luigi. Looking at each scar, no matter how big or small they were, just seeing them was enough for Bowser to want to protect Luigi more and make sure his human felt safe no matter what. Though he was certain of one thing, if he ever did come across this Spike, he wouldn’t even last five seconds within his presence before begging for mercy.

“Bowser,” Luigi’s soft voice broke him out of his train of thought. “Are you okay?”

Bowser sighed, wrapping Luigi up into his arms and stroked his hair gently.

“Just…thinking about what you’ve gone through,” Bowser huffed, pressing his nose into the chocolate locks, letting the gentle scent of rosemary fill his nostrils, “Knowing what that man did to you, how he made you hate yourself to the point when someone shows the smallest bit of gratitude, you either get so overwhelmed or think it’s a trick. A part of me wishes that I was there, somehow, and just protect you from everything that happened.”

“Oh, Bowser,” Luigi whispered, tracing small circles on the koopa’s chest with his index finger.

“I just want to keep you safe,” he admitted, “I want to take away all the hurt that you have, but I know that’s not possible. I can promise this though, I will make sure that no one will ever hurt you again, they’d have to get through me if they tried. I’m sure your brother and the princess would have no trouble with assisting me.”

Luigi laughed a little bit, “I have a feeling they would, and I have no doubt that you would be able to protect me, but I don’t want you to beat yourself up about what happened to me, okay? We never knew each other exited, so you would have no idea how I was treated, and you are not responsible for what Spike did to me.”

He put his hand under Bowser’s chin, guiding him so they could properly face each other, “You’ve already done so much for me by just being there for me. Not only did you help me realise what I’m worth, you helped me recognise that my brother saw that as well. If you didn’t do that, I never would’ve had the courage to get that star from under your nose,” he booped the scaly snout for effect, making Bowser scrunch it up and chuckled from the human’s affections, “Yes, I was overwhelmed by you saying how much you liked my baking and listening to my rambling, but it was those little things that made a big difference for me. Other than Mario, no one else cared for me that way since my parents died. It’s why I love you so much Bowser, maybe even marry you one day.”

“What was that?!” Bowser suddenly bolted up, his tail falling from Luigi’s side and stiffened with shock.

Luigi turned red, he meant to just say that in his head! “N-nothing, just me rambling again!” he laughed nervously.

“Well, you did say that I love hearing you ramble,” Bowser purred, rewrapping his tail around the human’s body and nuzzled his neck (he learnt a while ago it was one of Luigi’s ‘special’ spots). “Say it again.”

“Y-you already heard it the first time,” Luigi pouted, “There’s no reason for me to say it again then!”

The koopa gently shoved Luigi into the pillows and put his paws on each side of him, making sure he didn’t sense any hesitations from the man and giving him space in case he wanted Bowser to back off. “Aw, come on Greenie, don’t leave me hanging like that. Say it again.”

Luigi pursed his lips together and turned his head away.

“Say it,” Bowser nuzzled his snout into Luigi’s neck again, smirking when he heard Luigi trying to stifle a laugh, “Say it again!”

Luigi shook his head again, keeping his mouth shut knowing that if he tried to speak again, he would break out into laughter.

“Say you want to marry me!” Bowser began to chortle, “I know you said just let me hear it one more time!”

Giggles escaped Luigi as Bowser kept nuzzling his ticklish skin, the koopa knew he wouldn’t last long now.

“Come on baby,” Bowser grinned when the snickers got louder, “Say you want to marry me!”

“Yes, yes, I want to marry you!” Infectious laughter burst out from Luigi’s lungs, his little body trembling from it all, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and love you! I really want to marry you one day!”

Bowser laughed along with the small human, removing himself from Luigi’s neck and rolled onto his back, keeping a paw on Luigi’s back as he lay on his stomach. They waited a while until Luigi got his breath back, resting his chin in his hand as he looked at Bowser as he rolled his eyes, “There, happy now you useless reptile?”

“More than anything,” the koopa murmured softly, the sudden change of tone making Luigi bit his lip, leaning forward to gently press a kiss to Bowser’s. There a rumble coming from Bowser’s chest, he cupped Luigi’s cheek as both deepened the kiss.

“PAPA! BABBO!” Junior burst through the door, making the two pull away from each other as the young koopaling clambered onto the bed and buried himself under the blankets.

“Morning Junior,” Bowser smiled at the boy, shifting to let Luigi off his stomach as the human went on the other side of the boy.

“Good morning il mio piccolo,” Luigi whispered, pressing a kiss to his head, “Did you sleep well.”

“Yeah, I slept good,” Junior gave them both a toothy grin before burying himself into Luigi’s side, the plumber wrapping his arms around the boy in return.

Bowser moved once again, laying in a position as though he were a dog as he pulled the two – still wrapped in the blankets – against his side and started purring.

The three stayed like that for a while, Bowser thumping his tail against the bed as Luigi stroked Junior’s hair as they dozed.

At least half an hour passed before Kamek came in, with tea and breakfast on a cart and used his want to open the curtains, sunlight pouring in.

“Good morning, Sire,” Kamek handed Bowser a cup as the king sat back up, “Luigi, young prince. I take it you all had a comfortable night.”

“As usual Kamek, thank you,” Luigi nodded to Kamek, making the magikoopa smile as he handed the human his own cup. “And for you, young master.” Junior gasped with delight as Kamek floated a mug of hot chocolate to him, the child blew on it before taking a big gulp.

“Now we all have a big day ahead of us,” Kamek started “It is the ‘union festival’ today to mark one year since the treaty has been signed so we’ll have to make sure the entire kingdom is prepared.”

“Don’t worry Kamek,” Bowser patted his surrogate father in the head, the elderly koopa scoffed and swatted his hand away with his wand, “You’ve put your heart and soul helping us prepare for this. Everything is going to be great.”

“I should hope so,” said Kamek, “Though, if Luigi wasn’t there to make sure I didn’t overwork myself I wouldn’t be able to keep standing on my feet.”

“I just wanted to do my part Kamek,” Luigi told him, “You shouldn’t burden yourself with everything all the time.”

“Well, thank you again Luigi,” Kamek smiled, taking his own cup and spent the rest of the morning with his family.

.

.

.

The journey to the Mushroom Kingdom didn’t take long when you had a giant flying fortress. They used the day to get ready for the festival, making sure the subjects were ready, gathered the food to provide for both toads and koopas and getting changed into their finest garments.

Luigi had opted to wear a dress for the festival, he had slowly been building up the confidence to start wearing dresses occasionally on the days he wasn’t busy until he felt comfortable enough to wear them out on public, and the festival would be a good opportunity to wear one that was tailored to him that he had grown fond of (he also really liked the look Bowser gave him whenever he wore one). It was quite simple, just a simple green dress with a pleated tea-length skirt, a cream blouse underneath and a tiny black ribbon wrapped in a bow under a peter pan collar.

Bowser was dressed in a normal suit consisting off a blouse, blazer, trousers and shoes all being the same black colour, he even had eyeliner on the top and bottom of his eyelids. Junior wanted to match his father but was wearing a white blouse instead of black like Bowser and skipped out on the eyeliner.

Currently, the three were waiting in the throne room, Bowser on his throne with Junior in his lap and Luigi in the crook of his arm, chatting about whatever came to mind or sitting in comfortable silence. Often, Luigi would fidget ands stim with his hands and Bowser would clasp them in his own, stroking his thumb over them to help Luigi calm himself. The human wasn’t nervous for the festival, he was excited to see his brother and the princess, but old habits don’t die easily but they were simpler to face with his new partner to remind him how loved he was.

Soon, the fortress landed next to the castle (in a little area that was built for whenever there were going to be events such as this one). The three immediately got off the throne as they made their way towards the exit.

All the guards were lined up outside, bowing courteously to the couple and prince. It still amazed Luigi that the koopas treated him with such fondness and respect, almost as though he were as much of a royal as Bowser.

“Well, you did help stop a war for them and helped them repair the kingdoms, it doesn’t surprise me that they like you this much, love,” Bowser had told him a while back.

Kamek suddenly appeared out of thin air to stand with the koopa royals and human, making his way over to the two toad soldiers guarding the entrance. The magikoopa cleared his throat, “King Bowser, Consort Luigi and Prince Bowser Junior would like to announce their presence to Princess Peach and Consort Mario for the ‘union festival’.”

The two toad guards nodded. “This way,” one of them instructed, the four of them following behind.

They made their ways through marbled hallways until arriving at the throne room, Princess Peach was sitting in her plush throne with Mario standing beside her. The princess was adorned in a baby pink dress with a straight neckline and long bell sleeves, while the rest of her bodice and overskirt was pink and decorated with small white flowers, the front of her bodice and underskirt was a pearly white.  

Mario wore a red frock coat with gold accents and buttons along the edges over a white dress shirt and black trousers. He even wore some fancy boots that Peach had gotten for him. The red plumber’s face suddenly beamed the moment he saw his younger brother.

The other toad guard raised his voice, “King Bowser, Prince Bowser Junior and Consort-”

“-LUIGI!” Mario interrupted the guard, running down the steps to lift his brother up into a tight hug, making the green man snort and wrapped his arms around his older brother.

The toad stood there stunned for a moment until his face morphed back to be serious again, “Yes, Luigi. If that is all your highnesses, I will take my leave until the festival starts.”

Peach sniggered Mario’s behaviour, the whole day he had been on his toes with excitement, anticipatingly waiting for his brother to arrive, as though it had been years since he’d seen him (it was actually three days). “Thank you, yes, that will be all,” Peach nodded as the guard left.

“Lu, I’m so glad you’re finally here!” Mario cheered, still not putting his brother down, “I missed you so much!”

“Mario, relax!” Luigi cackled, “How am I the younger brother when you’re acting like a big baby?!”

“Hey!” Mario gasped, feigning shock as he put his brother down, “I’m happy to see my little brother and this is how I’m treated! Peach, hold me!” He pretended to faint into the princess’s arms, making her roll her eyes and pat his shoulder.

“Gee princess,” Bowser snickered, “I didn’t know a walking melodramatic theatre was the one that was able to give you butterflies.”

“What can I say?” Peach shrugged as Mario stood up and wrapped an arm around her, “He makes me laugh.”

Mario blushed faintly, even more so when Peach placed a kiss on his nose.

“Uncle Mario!” Junior bounded over to the red man, jumping in his arms as Mario caught him with ease, being used to the child doing that since Luigi began a relationship with Bowser.

“Hey, amico!” Mario grinned, “How you doing?”

Junior then proceeded to talk his ear off, Mario listening intently, as Peach made her way over to Luigi and Bowser. “And how are you two doing?”

“Very well princess,” Luigi said, leaning over to give Peach a hug to which the latter responded by giving him a careful squeeze, “Anymore plans been added to the wedding yet?” He gestured down to the sparkling engagement ring on her finger, missing her usual white gloves on her hands.

“Not yet,” she said, “We’re both hoping to have you both here to help plan, after the festival of course.”

“Absolutely, one step at a time,” Bowser agreed, a cheeky grin forming on his face as he glanced down at Luigi, “And maybe after that, we might have another wedding to plan.”

Peach gasped, covering her mouth to hide a wide smile, “Are you two-?!”

“N-not yet!” Luigi spluttered, blushing like back as he glowered at the currently laughing koopa, “He hasn’t-we haven’t…Like Bowser said, one step at a time, right?”

“Sorry,” Peach grasped onto Luigi’s hands, “I just got a little excited at the thought of you two getting married.”

“You two are getting married!” Mario’s eyed widened as he carried Junior piggyback style as the made his way towards his fiancé, brother and koopa.

Luigi buried his face in his hands, muffling an embarrassed groan as Bowser continued to chuckle, Peach joining in as well. “Don’t worry Mario,” Bowser decided to give his small human a break, “No proposals have been made…yet.”

“Bowser!” Luigi slapped his arm, the koopa began to snicker again.

“Don’t worry, if you two tie the knot one day then you have my full blessing,” said Mario, turning to Bowser, “You make Luigi feel special and happy, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for him and I’m so glad that you were able to help him realise this,” his smile then dropped as he stared at Bowser dead in the eyes, “But know this, you break his heart and I break you.”

“Make that two of us,” Peach agreed, cracking her knuckles as she matched Mario’s glare.

Bowser gulped, losing composure a little bit before straightening himself back up, “I wouldn’t dream of it. Luigi is very important to me, and I don’t ever want to lose his trust.”

“Aw, you guys,” Luigi wiped away a tear, happiness bubbling within him.

Junior leapt of Mario’s back and ran over to Luigi, wrapping his little arms around his legs, “Don’t cry Babbo, it’s okay.”

Luigi scooped up Junior into his arms, internally aweing at how cute his stepson was, “Don’t worry il mio bambino, I’m happy, just a little emotional that’s all.”

The door opened, revealing the guard from before, “The kingdoms await you your highnesses.”

Everyone glanced at one another, smiling at they turned back to the guard. “Then what are we waiting for,” Peach grinned, “Lead the way.”

The guard bowed as the royals followed him, making their way onto the balcony. On each side there were two guards, one was another toad and the other was-

“Sam!” Luigi exclaimed happily, putting Junior into his Papa’s arms as he made his way towards the koopa.

The guard perked up at the sound of the plumber’s voice, “Luigi, its great to see you!”

“How’s Enver?” Luigi asked, taking note of how the koopa’s eyes filled with nothing but love.

“They’re amazing,” he confirmed, “I’m sure I’m the happiest koopa alive whenever I’m around them.”

Luigi nodded, glancing at Bowser, “I know the feeling.”

“I don’t think I would be with them like this if it weren’t for you,” Sam told the human, “I’m grateful that we met Luigi, and would be honoured to serve you for the rest of my days.”

Luigi smiled, placing a hand on the koopa’s shoulder, “I’d be more honoured to have you as a friend.”

The koopa’s eyes widened at the kind words and nodded back, “Then I shall do just that.”

“I’ll catch up with later, enjoy the night same,” Luigi waved to him as he made his way back towards the others.

“You too Luigi,” Sam called back.

Bowser wrapped his arm around Luigi once he was back at his side, his hand warm and his gaze loving. Luigi returned it before looking towards Peach as she began her speech.

“Welcome toads and koopas to the first ever ‘union festival’!” she started, applause erupting from the crowd below, “This is the once in a lifetime event that we will ever experience, as we celebrate a day were two kingdoms united after years of fighting, becoming closer and stronger than ever in those twelve months. And we wouldn’t have been able to do this if it wasn’t for one human, who was able to stop with war by just being his kind and amazing self. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have the peace we all currently share and why I will be eternally grateful towards him. Everyone, I wanted to dedicate our first ever ‘union festival’ to the one and only Luigi!”

Luigi couldn’t believe what he was hearing, people were cheering, for him! They were happy for him to be here, happy for everything that he did, happy that the version of himself that they loved was the person he wanted to be all along…just him.

Spike was wrong, he was always wrong, but just seeing and hearing all the adoration that everyone in this beautiful magical world was giving him by being what his uncle detested him for filled him with a joy he never felt before.

“Luigi,” Peach’s voice broke him out of his thoughts, “Is there anything you would like to say?”

Luigi thought about for a bit and shook his head, although he was grateful, he didn’t think he was ready for a grand speech yet. He was still taking those baby steps.

“That’s alright, would you like to just wave instead?” she asked.

Luigi nodded at that; Bowser kept his protective hold on him as he made his way to the front of the balcony. He waved to the crowd below him, his eyes widening as the crowed cheered for that simple action. Soon, the rest of them started waving to the crowd as the festivities began.

Bowser scooped up Luigi into his arm with Junior, who immediately hugged the human tightly. Luigi stroked the child’s hair as he looked up towards the Koopa again.

Bowser turned to him, brows furrowed in concern, “Are you alright Greenie?”

Luigi answered by pressing a slow, soft kiss to the king’s lips before pulling away, whispering, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Bowser blinked.

“For everything,” Luigi replied.

Butterflies were fluttering in Bowser’s stomach; Luigi was making that sweet face that he loved so much again. He pulled the human in, resting his forehead against his as his sweet little human giggled.

Later, they would go to the town with Junior, Mario and Peach to indulge themselves with games, shopping, eating and more. But for now, Luigi wanted to stay like this, surrounded by those he cared for more than anything, knowing that one thing that was absolutely true…

He was enough.