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moonbaby26 · 2 months

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Title: Proposal

(Chapter 16 of Doflamingo’s Marine Series)

*Crossposted to AO3 Here*

Chapter Pairings: Doflamingo x Reader

Chapter Warnings: language, toxic relationship, abusive relationship, manipulation, angst

Chapter Synopsis: Still feeling pressure from both real and perceived enemies abroad, Doflamingo gives into his insecurities and chooses to take your and his relationship public at last.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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——————————

For as wealthy of a country as Dressrosa was supposedly becoming, shade clearly wasn’t something they’d yet found important enough for including in colosseum upgrades.

You’d had no choice but to fully cover up in layers of clothing today to hide your many injuries. But no matter how you sat now, legs crossed or not, marine coat unbuttoned or not, there was zero breeze and you were getting hot beneath that persistent sun.

Having this tall, pink bird radiating his additional body heat as he insisted on staying hip to hip with you in the booth was not helping either of course.

Feathers grazed against you as you took yet another drink of the iced juice his servants had offered. But you really wanted to put that cold glass against the side of your face. You would have too if the damn cameras hadn’t kept checking back in at the worst times while the sounds of more weapons clashing carried up from below.

But it really was like some higher power just kept kicking you again when you were already down.

Because the juice was pulpy, and overly sweet for your tastes. Something Doflamingo had said was his preference when he’d seen you choose it earlier. So you should have blamed him. When on that final sip something harder in the pulp had caught right in the back of your throat.

Debris that was perfectly sized, too small to force down with additional swallowing. But just big enough to trigger a coughing fit as you left your now empty glass on the ledge of the booth.

You grabbed Doflamingo’s drink next. Some rich, dark beer you’d never heard of. Something you were not supposed to be drinking on duty anyway as you suddenly downed it like it was a late night, after hours in Marineford instead.

“Shit.” You still coughed several more times, but feeling that piece finally dislodge in the rush of alcohol.

“Well...I can’t say I’ve ever seen someone try to drown themselves with pomegranate juice before.” His mocking tone accompanied the stare you’d obviously now earned. “Did you forget the difference between breathing and drinking for a moment there, marine?”

And you glared up at him, everything only made worse when you saw that condescending expression on his face.

“Seeds got caught in my throat, you jerk. If you wanted your juice that damn thick, you should have just stuck a straw in a raw fruit for gods’ sake!”

But you saw the weird way Doflamingo paused. And then abruptly, the way the muscles in his brow shifted to give away that his smile had now spread to his concealed eyes.

“You swallowed the seeds then?”

“Well yes.” But such a simple question was far more off putting when he was now looking at you like that. “Should I have spit them out onto you instead?” You tried to fuss back, flustered really of what could possibly be going through that mess of his mind now.

“They don’t teach much literature in those naval classes do they?” He just answered with a question of his own, still looking inexplicably amused. “Just books on a thousand ways to tie ropes and how to properly mop decks then?”

“I don’t know what you’re on about.” You retorted, even still coughing an additional time then.

“I have an entire library back at the palace you know.” He said, even as he made a gesture with his hand to summon another drink tray. “I think I’ll pick out some books on this for you tomorrow. You’ll need something to do anyway while I’m back in meetings. I’d hate for you to be too bored and lonely, just pining for my return all day.”

Of course his taunting tone said otherwise. He’d love you to have nothing better to do than just lay around for hours waiting for him to climb back on top of you, you were sure.

“Go to hell.” You huffed, albeit still gladly taking a water this time as the servants were back before you both then.

“Already there, darling.” He quipped, still grinning as he grabbed another beer from their tray in replacement of the one you’d just demolished for him.

“And we have our first knockout of the competition!” The announcer’s voice boomed with excitement as you and Doflamingo finally looked away from one another and to the scene below then.

You’d already learned that everything was so over the top in this place, bordering on barbaric honestly.

But you’d done your best to reserve your judgement every time the crowd’s energy had surged when new wounds were opened up or bones were broken in the colosseum battles.

Because it might just be the culture here. Every island had its own traditions, its own history within reason.

Yet when the winner of this latest match began approaching his now unconscious opponent, spear angling further downward to take new aim, you nearly stood.

That was finally well beyond reason to you.

“He’s already down!” You said to the warlord. Your hand had closed on Doflamingo’s forearm in reflex.

And the fresh cruelty budding in that pirate’s smile while he looked from your hand now gripped onto his arm, and then back to your concerned face made you pause all over again.

“Oh, dear woman…a good bloodletting gets these animals excited like the hateful things they really are. Are you going to deny them this release?”

“There are children here.” You managed to retort. But the fresh tinge of disgust was obvious in your eyes.

These were people, not things.

Doflamingo still chuckled, like a mix of false sympathy and real distaste as his own hand abruptly rose above you. “And you are far too predictable, love. You’ll owe me again for this one.”

And the previous roar of the crowd quieted in the resulting confusion.

Only with the snail cameras then zooming in were you able to see that true result on the screen. Your surprise matching the other spectators as what now looked like a spider’s web had materialized from nowhere to block the kill shot.

The aggressor’s spear now hung in midair from where it’d been thrown. Its sharp metal tip pressed into that web, unable to penetrate past it and cross just those few inches that remained to the target’s throat.

“And…and I can’t believe it, ladies and gentlemen!” The announcer exclaimed again. “His majesty has interceded into the fight! Sire!? Would you like to address the crowd!?”

Some woman in gladiator attire was then at the booth before you knew it. She appeared to be part of the colosseum workers as she bowed in respect all the while offering Doflamingo a microphone.

You heard the warlord laugh quietly, speaking just to you before that microphone was in range to pick his voice up.

“See the trouble you’ve started?” He chided.

And yet he still took that microphone from her as if this was also second nature to him. No hesitation at all as he relaxed further back into the stone seating beside you.

His arm went tight around your shoulders to keep you in that resulting camera shot with him as well.

“I’m only being a hospitable host, Gatz.” Doflamingo’s best charismatic tone now echoed through the colosseum as he addressed the announcer by name. The whole venue was now silent except for their king.

“The captain here isn’t yet acclimated to the normal rules our gladiators live and die by. Just now, she expressed an interest to me in seeing even this loser have an opportunity to fight another day. Because she believes adversity can sometimes lead to improvement, even within the weak.”

He gave a slight sneer then, but remained relatively calm. “I disagree of course. However, I promised her we could try things her way just for today. So not only will there be no executions during today’s events…”

And he did pause briefly there, anticipating the crowd’s palpable shock. But he knew just when to continue as well, keeping them enraptured as he then dropped the next apparent change.

“But also, at the conclusion of today’s competition, the captain will also be granted one pick from all current participants to grant a full royal pardon to. And that gladiator will walk free from the colosseum this very evening, by her grace alone.”

You hadn’t known a thing about this of course. But your instincts were quick to believe it wasn’t at all an improvisation.

He’d planned this.

He’d known exactly how you were going to react as the battles worsened, and you’d played right into it.

And now he was doing his favorite trick again because of that. Controlling you at the exchange of human lives.

In Mariejois you’d submitted to him under the implication of him harming both yourself and your crew if you’d revealed him as Joker.

In Sabaody, he’d freed slaves from his own auction house in exchange for your promising to soon meet him again.

And in Scylla, he’d demanded your fidelity and made you promise to always return to him. Otherwise the life lost would clearly be your own.

“So I’d advise our competitors to do their best to impress her. She’s got very high standards after all.” Doflamingo still added, briefly smirking down at you.

He was complimenting himself of course there, implying that he was already one of your so called “high standard” choices.

With so much amusement, this man could make an instant game out of people’s lives and freedom. All the while still having the gall to stroke his own ego right on top of it.

—————————

And just those few hours later, he was already refusing to help you at all in this dilemma he’d so gladly created.

“Just fucking pick one.” Doflamingo drawled, sounding bored by then as Gatz was still talking over you both across the stadium speakers. The battles were done at last, the competitors reentering the arena one by one as the announcer reintroduced them to go through the final motions.

The sun was just beginning to set. Something you couldn’t even appreciate as the sky began changing to vibrant hues of pink and red.

Because you didn’t have an answer yet.

“That isn’t fair to them.” You insisted. “It can’t just be random.”

The warlord’s lips upturned a little, yet another beer still in his hand. “Then be lazy and let the crowd choose for you. I don’t care. Just hurry up. My ass is falling asleep. I’m tired of sitting here.”

“This whole production was your idea, you dick!”

“Yeah well, the fights take that much longer when they can’t just kill one another. It’s still your fault this had to be so drawn out.”

You made a dissatisfied sound in your irritation. He wanted you to just pick whoever the crowd had seemed most fanatic about. But you weren’t feeling that. Because they had cheered loudest for only the most violent participants.

Which seemed like a terrible criteria for choosing the person who was about to be released back into society.

Yet you could feel that Gatz was about to direct the cameras back to the royal booth at any moment.

Fuck. You were just going to have to go with your instincts. You didn’t have any information on each prisoner’s actual crimes to do any better with this.

“The tall guy with the tattoo and the ponytail.” You said quickly to Doflamingo then.

The fighter you now referenced was one of the first to have come back into the stadium in this final showing, and you’d already forgotten what Gatz had called him.

But Doflamingo did sit up a little more then, looking down at them all to see who you meant. Yet you saw his smirk fade once his gaze found the only man that matched your description.

“Fine. A deal’s a deal.”

And with almost a huff, the warlord made a sudden gesture with his hand. You’d known the executives were close by. Yet it’d still surprised you when Diamante was abruptly leaning in behind you both at that nonverbal summons.

“Yes, Doffy?” That creep of a man asked, far too close for your comfort.

“Diamante, remind me. What’s that fucker’s name? The one with the ink nearly on his cock. She likes him apparently.” Doflamingo grumbled, his fingers tightening on your side as his arm had moved back around your waist.

And you had to stare at the pirate when he gave this new description.

Because yes, that prisoner was shirtless and had a lower abdominal tattoo. With the bottom of that image partly obscured by the belt line of his loincloth.

But for all that was holy, did Doflamingo actually have a hint of jealousy in his voice again now? As if physical appearance had anything to do with your pick?

Diamante did answer easily with the name though. “He was one of Riku’s army captains.” He also added after with evident distaste.

“Wait…what?” you tried to interrupt at that. Because your true, only reason for choosing that particular gladiator was that in all the fighters you’d watched, he’d shown the most restraint.

Someone with real self control that you’d hoped would be the least likely to threaten an average citizen once freed.

But if they were now saying that he was part of the previous regime that had slaughtered those very same citizens under Riku’s command, then these two things just didn’t add up to you.

Could your instinct be that wrong?

“Does that mean he participated in Riku’s attack?” You asked seriously, butting in again.

“Of course he did. But I told you to pick someone the crowd liked. You wouldn’t do it. This is on you.” Doflamingo sneered a little at that, still confirming your choice regardless. “That’s the one you’re letting go, Diamante. Go tell Gatz. And remind him of my announcement too.”

“Yes, Doffy.” Diamante didn’t argue, though he also looked displeased with you before he was gone again soon enough.

And you must have had an expression of further concern on your own face, worrying over the possible ramifications of this as you heard Doflamingo finally chuckle again.

As if he couldn’t stay irritable with you when you were just this pathetic.

“Poor thing. Not easy making these decisions, is it?” He asked you. He was now rubbing your side with that large hand. “Don’t worry, we’re almost done here. And then I’ll be all yours again.”

———————————

Gatz had loudly announced your choice of who to pardon, and as expected the crowd had given a mixed reaction at best.

Their resentment to anyone associated with Riku’s former regime was still so visceral. A joke that just kept on giving as Doflamingo couldn’t help but gloat a bit.

Because they were all so fucking gullible. In that prisoner, they only saw someone who had once ravaged their own people without hesitation.

But you, a woman who had been here at the colosseum all of a single afternoon, had already seen straight through this. You’d zeroed in on likely the least corrupted in all of the current choices and picked accordingly.

It was impressive really. Highly annoying to him, but impressive none the less.

And Doflamingo had rolled his eyes behind his glasses when that now former prisoner did fall to his knees in the arena at the news of his unexpected freedom.

The idiot was actually crying by then, crying about soon being reunited with his family and thanking you over and over. While Gatz was playing the storyline up all the more, waxing poetic about your supposed indiscriminate mercy and unique capacity for forgiveness as you looked entirely uncomfortable in the whole situation.

But Doflamingo knew it would still work out in the long run. A single, former Riku loyalist back on the loose was no concern to him after all. Because this was perfect bait for others to follow.

Your kindness could soon become like a goddamn siren call to flush out his enemies.

His irresistible siren.

That wasn’t an inaccurate metaphor really.

And as Gatz gradually finished up, Doflamingo was now taking slightly deeper breaths himself without willing it.

His muscles were tensing and releasing again as he downed the rest of his current beer.

The real show was finally at hand. What he’d been waiting for all afternoon.

And that actual tinge of nervousness was still foreign to him as his hand had returned to his pants’ pocket, fingers tightening around that ring.

“And before the official conclusion of today’s events, it has been commanded that all you good people of Dressrosa please remain seated! As his royal highness, king Donquixote Doflamingo has an announcement to make!”

And their king did stand then, postured at his full height as the snail cameras had to zoom out to then keep you both in frame on the stadium’s screen.

You were sitting properly again for the cameras of course, with your back straight and your eyes cautiously on him. His disciplined marine once more.

Because you did know how to play this part of the game, whether you could yet admit it or not. The falsehood of putting on a strong front.

Another colosseum worker had scurried over then, presenting Doflamingo with a microphone again. He took it to hold in one of his hands, your ring hooked with his fingertip by the other hand still in his pocket.

“Citizens of Dressrosa…” Doflamingo’s smooth voice filled the stadium as all else quieted once more. “I hope you’ve enjoyed the festivities today. And I’m glad everyone could be here this evening on such short notice. As I do have a confession to make that concerns us all.” And his grin widened further in the dark humor of that implication.

Because there were a thousand crimes that would have lit this place up in an instant if he had divulged even a single one of them.

“I haven’t been entirely honest with you.” His heart was beginning to pound regardless.

But he liked it.

He liked the thrill in this risk versus reward.

He had waited so long for this.

“But that secrecy has been for a very good reason. Because the media would have spun this out of control as they’ve already tried to do. So much so that the very peace and stability of this island may have been threatened.”

He was still smiling, letting the lies begin to flow easier and easier from his wicked mouth.

“And I knew I owed it to you, the loyal denizens of this country to be the first to hear it direct from me when the time was right. To tell you of the choice I’ve made which will affect all our futures.”

And now he did see you, in the peripheral vision of his good eye as you started to look more stressed. That flicker of panic beginning behind those lovely eyes of yours.

You really were a smart girl where it mattered. Thankfully so, as he’d have tolerated little else in the long run.

He glanced down to you, turning his head to do so. He was making his attention on you undeniable again for those cameras.

“You see, contrary to prior reports, this woman is far from a recent acquaintance to me.”

If everyone was to know, then of course he would put his own spin on the narrative. He could rewrite this as easily as Morgans could.

Doflamingo would make it what he wanted it to be. Not what it really was.

“The captain here is a distinguished marine, yes. Which unfortunately, put us briefly on opposing sides some years ago.”

Oh, the way he knew he was already sanitizing this. As if talking about only a sporting like competition between the two of you then, rather than a trading of blood, bullets, and the warships that’d been out for his hide.

“But as we all know, through my own merit and perseverance, I also rose so quickly to be recognized for what I really was.”

And goddamn, it was actually fun to say this with almost a straight face. “No longer just a pirate, but a guardian of this world. One of the seven warlords, standing now beside her marines as a crucial pillar in the balance of powers on behalf of our world government.”

He was acting as if you two were truly the same, as if you always had been. That you were the self-sacrificing defenders of all these wretches now hanging on his every word.

And your hands were clenching against the top of your skirt in your lap again.

It was all utter bullshit and you knew it.

His grin widened.

“But I always desired her.”

An actual truth abruptly there.

He saw your lips part slightly. A sudden gun to your head likely would have provoked less surprise now in your eyes.

“So the very moment that ink was dry on my government contract, when my name was rightfully cleared and my honor restored, I called on this woman of course.”

His fingers were anxiously turning that ring in his pocket now.

“And we’ve been together ever since. In secret to protect her career from all the close minded fools who may still not accept this truth of our shared feelings.”

A sound went through the crowd of course, that mix of true surprise and excitement.

It was every trope he could throw into this. The star crossed lovers, the lonely heroes, the redeemed king pining for his mate that should be untouchable by the prior blood on his hands.

But he still wasn’t done. Because Doflamingo always wanted it all. And he refused to share you even with the ghosts of your past.

“We even went so far as to fabricate other brief relationships to throw the public off of our scent. Just peers of ours who were willing to let their names be tossed into the rumor mill here and there in order to protect us.”

Kuzan, Crocodile, Smoker…fuck them all. They’d had their chances and burned you both. They weren’t going to get any secondary fame any longer because of it.

This was his spotlight now.

“But after three years together…” He was counting from the day he became a warlord of course. At least giving you that sliver of mercy to imply the fucking hadn’t started until he had immunity from prosecution. When he was no longer legally a criminal at least.

When in reality, your very first physical time together had been closer to only three months ago. That day in Mariejois when he’d first closed his hand around your throat and then pounded his raw cock into you for all he was worth not long after. A whole new euphoria he would never forget that initial dose of.

“We’re not going to hide this any longer.”

His chest tightened as he felt that tangible flare of your haki. But he doubted you would dare strike him here. Not in front of everyone at least.

Doflamingo smiled.

Didn’t you know that fire inside only made him want you all the more?

“And this country will become even safer under her and my dual protection. We will have a marine port of call established here, just as we implied in Scylla. Dressrosa will be the new home for both her subordinates, as well as the roots for our future royal family.”

The cameras were flashing like lightning, the crowd’s roar the resulting thunder as he finally slid that ring from his pocket.

Your whole identity, your career, and your freedom was likely burning right before you as he saw your eyes look at that jeweled band in the fading sunlight.

A large diamond was in its center, rising above smaller rubies framing it as if they were droplets of blood. Their red reflection casting almost a pink hue across that larger faceted stone.

Like the diamond itself was a survivor rising from the blood of the battlefield.

There’d been no other choice in his mind as soon as he’d seen this ring. He’d known it was perfect.

Like you.

“Marry me.” And Doflamingo’s dark voice said those two words so simply. Firmly for all to hear across the speakers as he held that ring between the two of you.

There was no intonation of a question in that command, but he did not reach for you either to force your hand.

He was still standing, looking down at you. You were seated, so still in the silence that had consumed the colosseum once more as his subjects awaited your answer.

He would not kneel of course. Only in the privacy of the bedroom and within the throws of full passion would he ever do that for you.

No, here in front of all these nameless fleas, it was up to you to rise to meet him. To be worthy of this honor as he loomed above you.

And he did see you take a deep breath. Your haki had stabilized again at last, quieting in tandem to your careful body language as you did stand to your feet.

You held your head up, a forced grace that still didn’t match the sharp look in your eyes. You were staring into those red sunglasses of his in a way that made his stomach tighten.

Like a lioness on a too thin chain.

It could still all go wrong. Because your desire was unclear and wavering. You couldn’t win, but he knew that you could hurt him.

Did you want to hurt him?

His armament was ready. His heart was pounding.

And then you exhaled.

You raised your left hand up from your side, holding it out flat before him.

“Yes.”

Doflamingo did blink behind his glasses at such a small, yet life changing word. The surrender from you that was all it took to launch the crowd into an explosion of hysterics and roaring cheers as he did slip that ring onto your waiting finger.

Their new noise shook the stadium louder than anytime he’d ever heard before as he watched you with some amazement.

He’d abandoned the microphone now, tossed away for someone else to catch or not. He didn’t care.

He didn’t see anything but you in this moment as he squatted slightly, leaning down as well. Whatever he needed to do to catch you by the lips as he’d tilted your head back when the urge overcame him. His grip then so tight beneath your jaw.

And if you really had blasted him with every ounce of haki you possessed in that moment, he still would not have stopped. His mouth was back over yours, fully greedy and exhilarated.

It was now the kiss of victory for all to see as the crowd continued to scream and the cameras flashed.

——————————

“Do you want to answer any of their questions?” Doflamingo breathed against your ear. His taste was still fully in your mouth by the time he’d released your lips again. That kiss had been so rough and you could tell he still wanted more, much more.

But you were having trouble catching your breath. The noise, the camera flashes, and the remaining heat you’d endured for hours now were all culminating into this oppressive crush down upon you.

You really couldn’t breathe. Your pulse was racing. “No.” It was nearly a plea. “I want to go.” You said against his open shirt.

And for that single moment at least he did listen to you. He heeded you immediately.

You heard him call out to Trebol. The closest executive then to you both, that snotty piece of shit that you still refused to even look at.

“We’re heading somewhere quieter!” Doflamingo still had to be loud to be heard above the crowd. “Call me when they’re ready at the palace!”

“Will do, Doffy!”

And that was it. No other warning except for the way Doflamingo’s arms encircled you even tighter before your organs felt like they were being ripped down into your feet.

The ground was gone. The only noise then the air rushing past your ears as you closed your eyes in reflex to that sudden blast.

Any exposed skin you had now registered the temperature change as well. Everything around you abruptly cold and drier then as all went silent once the movement had stopped again.

You could feel your legs hanging freely now. Your arms moved up to slide tightly around Doflamingo’s neck as you dared to take another breath.

“Fuck…” You panted quietly, your eyes opening again even as you refused to look fully down just yet.

“Yes. The air is a good deal thinner up here. But it’s private. Silent. The birds don’t even come this high.”

And your wholly unorthodox method of transportation was now breathing deeper himself to adjust. His bare chest still so warm against you in contrast to the ever growing darkness, and the creeping cold which accompanied it.

The sun would soon be slipping completely below that far off horizon. The ocean mainly all you could still see. The island of Dressrosa was now just a small circle within it, the lights of the towns nothing bigger than fireflies at this distance.

“I meant…that I wanted to go back to the palace.” You at last responded, trying to regather yourself.

“And miss this view from heaven?” He taunted you still.

But as his grip on you started to loosen, your natural fear only began to rise. Your body knew it did not belong up here, literally now just an arm’s reach from the bottom edges of the clouds his strings were somehow suspending him from.

This was the very reason mother ocean detested unnatural talents such as his.

“Doffy...” You tried again, still unable to calm your now racing heart.

“Don’t tell me I’ve finally found something that my woman is actually afraid of?” And that grin of his was so infuriatingly smug.

“You know this isn’t…at least this isn’t the only reason I’m having a…I don’t even know what I’m having.”

A meltdown? Another panic attack? A complete shattering of everything you’d ever been and had worked so desperately to achieve?

“Why didn’t you at least warn me that you were going to do it this way!?” Your voice finally broke then as you looked to his face again.

His smile was fading. “You’ll have to be more specific than that.”

“You lied and told everyone we’ve been together this whole time!”

This was not how it was supposed to be.

And he was just watching you as if this was of no consequence while you went on.

“You just told the entire world that I have been going behind my commander’s back for fucking years, Doflamingo. And that everyone who knew about me and Kuzan or me and Smoker can now call me a cheating bitch…when I’m not, none of that is true!”

And you saw his brow change as soon as their names were mentioned. You knew he was beginning to glare at you from behind those crimson lenses.

“By all means, let’s talk about your other men and their feelings on this while I dangle you a few thousand feet above sea level. That sounds reasonable to me.” He sneered at you.

His hands had closed around your wrists. He was pulling your arms away from his neck now. Your body was starting to slip.

A clear threat, but you knew he was somewhat bluffing. He wouldn’t kill you outright, not tonight at least. Not right after a display like that at the colosseum. He had to keep this farce going in front of the public in the short term at least, lest he be the one to look like a fool.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t punish you if you kept going.

You were sure he could let you fall as many times as he wanted. Then catch you at the last moment just to do it all over again.

And he would absolutely be that cruel if you instigated this further.

But you were also so angry, that you truly didn’t care any longer.

“Then do it.” Your voice broke again. “If you’re really that goddamn hateful! Have your laugh and torture me like you would anyone else. I’m tired of trying to make you understand what you clearly don’t want to!”

You saw him pause as your voice rose further at him. Though he was now holding you by only one wrist as you watched him defiantly, waiting for the drop.

You knew his pride wouldn’t allow any other response. You knew that he was going to do it. That he would think he had to do it.

His only hesitation may be in his disbelief that you were actually choosing this.

That was the only thing you could assume as a grunt came from that man’s throat instead of a laugh. There was no smile. It only looked like an involuntary twitch of stress pulling the corner of his mouth further down.

An expression of actual misery just before his hand snapped open and you plummeted.

The fucking idiot.

And you didn’t scream. Somehow you forced yourself not to. Your eyes closed tightly as you crossed your arms over your chest and put your ankles together beneath you.

This was the safest way you might dive feet first into the ocean from the highest rigging overhanging the water off of a ship.

You had to pretend that’s all this was.

From this height a body would be nothing but a splat of blood and viscera though. Something unrecognizable if you made it that far.

The timing was so hard to tell with your eyes closed though.

Just that terrible feeling and the wind rushing past your ears again as the back of your coat fluttered up behind you.

It probably wouldn’t have even hurt. Death like that would have been instant.

What did hurt was the abrupt deceleration. Only then had you gasped, the pain sudden as your body stopped but your insides didn’t.

Your eyes opened as you clutched at your torso, feeling like things had actually tried to rip inside. Things that never should have moved at all as you twisted in his new strings.

Even through your harsh breathing you could now hear the sea. And your eyes widened when you realized how close it really all was. You could see the waves, breaking gently in the night’s breeze.

A secluded beach was just beneath you. Outside of that rocky ring of cliff face that surrounded most of Dressrosa.

And then the strings had moved again. You were jerked down before being dumped right into that warm sand.

You stumbled, falling onto your knees. But you were still holding your body just below your breasts.

You were too mad to cry by then. You just moved to sit in that sand, not even looking up as those long black shoes met the beach not long after and already began approaching you.

“I guess I forget that I string my insides as well to absorb that shock without thinking.” His tone was cold, almost monotone now. “And you can’t.”

You bit your own lip, refusing to look up at him yet.

And in all of it. In everything he’d just said and done this evening, what you still hated more than anything was how your heart felt like it was going to twist itself in two.

And that had nothing to do with the fall.

“Doffy…” You said his name in continued irritation, but with grief beginning to show fully on your face.

Even out of your peripheral vision you saw him straighten up at that single word.

“Do you know what’s the single thing holding me back from loving a man like you?”

What a loaded and entirely dangerous question that was. But you gave him no time to respond. You were yelling at this fucking monster next as you glared back up at him, grief and frustration bursting back out all together then.

“It’s only self preservation! Not self respect, not being a marine, not Tsuru, not Kuzan, not even your fucking crimes! I just want to be able to fucking trust you! For one goddamn day for you to not be a complete nightmare! I don’t understand…you say you goddamn want me. You beg me to stay, to say that I love you. And yet you still treat me like this, every single day. Nearly every day you find a new way to hurt me! I can’t do it. I’m not unbreakable. You’re going to kill me eventually! So why not just do it and be done!?”

He stared at you, silent for several moments. But you could see that blood vessel rising on his forehead.

“Why did you say yes to me so easily then?” His voice was so different there, so strained when it finally came.

And you didn’t hesitate to respond to that, regardless of the rising danger once more. “The easy answer? I didn’t want you to have a tantrum and start slicing through people of course!”

But you still scoffed, not stopping there either. “But the truth? I don’t want to be alone either, you asshole! And I know that no one else is ever going to stay with me for long. Because there is something very wrong with me. Something that only you aren’t afraid of. I don’t know why! But it’s a goddamn curse!”

You heard a low growl from him then even as those waves still moved rhythmically in and out along the shore.

“It’s not my fault.”

He said this so suddenly, so oddly, that you just had to stare at him as you watched his fist clench at his side.

“The way I treat you…it isn’t my fault!” He hissed at you as you felt that return glare from behind the glasses. His frustration breaking loudly at last. “You drive me fucking crazy! If you would just obey! If you would listen!”

You started to snap back at him. “I’m not your fucking slave! I-“

And he cut you off so quickly. “I don’t care about that! I don’t want you to die! Don’t you understand!? You’re the only one that makes me feel wanted, desired. It’s not transactional, it’s not fucking fake.” He was gritting his teeth, like he couldn’t explain this in the correct words. Like the correct words didn’t exist.

You gestured in exasperation, disbelieving, but knowing this was all the worse if true. “Then you have to work harder! You’re the only one who can protect me from you. If I die, it’s going to be because of you! Don’t you see that!?”

“Then help me!” He yelled right back at you, teeth bared and voice desperate.

This was two insane people now screaming at one another on what should have been a romantic, private beach just after sunset.

And you with a beautiful new engagement ring sparkling on your finger in the starlight all the while.

That finger which now clenched with your others into a fist against your hip. The anger just too much to possibly maintain.

“Fuck, I need alcohol.” You breathed, feeling like you could have punched a hole into a mountain right now if you’d really tried.

But you didn’t want to. And you sensed Doflamingo still all bristled up a few steps away as you told him as much. “I’m not fighting you.”

You did see his shoulders lower slightly, but that blood vessel in his forehead was still pulsing away.

“We’re getting married tonight regardless.” Doflamingo exhaled next, beginning to pace. “I’m not backing down. You’re signing those papers as soon as they’re ready at the palace. Trebol will call when the official arrives to bear witness.”

“And why does it have to be tonight?” You asked more tiredly then. Nothing was really going to surprise you any longer. You had met your limit for today.

“Because I don’t trust anyone either. When my stunt at the colosseum hits the newspapers tomorrow, someone’s going to try and stop us. I know they are. So you’ll smile, you’ll sign every goddamn paper I put in front of you, and it will all be faxed to Mariejois tonight. By morning you’ll already be Mrs. Donquixote and everyone else can go fuck themselves.”

“How romantic.” You answered, your chin now resting on your knees that were pulled up to your chest as you remained sitting in the sand.

And at last it was quiet then. Just the calm of the waves for a while.

Doflamingo had finally stopped pacing, standing there with his hands in his pockets watching the horizon.

For several minutes he remained there, lost in his own thoughts about who knew what before he turned to look at you again.

You heard him sigh, something he didn’t do very often as those long legs eventually carried him back over.

You didn’t fully tense as his ass suddenly met the sand to plop down near you. But you raised your head cautiously to acknowledge him.

“It’ll get better.” He said, almost quietly then to your surprise.

And all of the sudden your legs were moving on their own. You hadn’t even felt him attach a string to your spine this time.

But you frowned as they stretched out on their own accord. You could only wonder what he was planning now before he laid down abruptly, not caring about the sand on his clothes at all apparently.

His head was then resting in your newly available lap that he had just provided for himself by moving your legs.

He shifted his fingers again after as well, still controlling you to make yours go into his hair next as he used his own free hand to remove his sunglasses.

You saw the genuinely tired look in his eyes then as he looked up at you while you were forced to gently stroke his scalp. “I do want you to love me.” He breathed, his eyes remaining on yours.

“I know.” You answered. Not arguing any longer, and not bothering to demand him to release you.

“Just don’t give up on me yet.” He said, his eyes going more half lidded as he let your hand stop petting him. He turned his face, so gently kissing your hand then instead. “Because I already love you.” He added.

And you inhaled quietly. It pulled at you every damn time he said it. “I think…that maybe you want to.”

“If we don’t yet, then we’ll learn how to.” He promised you at that, not actually disagreeing. And he turned onto his side then, briefly closing his eyes with his head still comfortably in your lap.

“We’ll love each other.” Doflamingo said, reinforcing this just loud enough for you to hear over the continued waves. “We’ll have to, because no one else ever will.”

———————————

T⨂ BE

CONTINUED

———————————

Thanks for reading!

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azzypzazzy · 10 days

Note

hear me out… schlatt helping you relax after finals (its finals for summer semester i am dying rn)

ok so i misread this and didn’t see the after finals but i refuse to go rewrite everything because i am sleepy. hope finals went well and you enjoy regardless <3

smut warning btw!! it’s not too explicit, but it’s under the cut. dont wanna read it? don’t. it’s also my first one, so it might be bad

𝜗𝜚

Droopy eyes stared at your laptop, blue light reflecting onto your face. All you had to do was finish the chapter, you just had to finish it and hope to retain enough to lazily reread the rest later. That’s all you had to do.

You grabbed your water bottle, sipping down the reminds of a cheap energy drink you got this morning, when you were a far more ambitious woman. Maybe if you drank enough of these you could have a heart attack and sue. Drop out and live your limited years on some beach making stupid decisions, instead of this.

That’s it. You can’t do this anymore. You would just have to continue tomorrow, because if you spent another second trying to read the mess in front of you you’d explode.

Was there anything else vaguely productive you could do? You weren’t gonna sit and do any more work, but you still had to do something. You switched over to your email, leaving your study tabs open “for later”. You seriously have to check this thing more often, 223 unread? You skimmed through them, deleting as you went. Fortunately, most were only from Google Classroom or websites you landed on the spam list for, meaning you didn’t miss anything. Anything except an email from some guy in your Spanish II? Spanish II. You never should’ve taken that awful class. It wasn’t even required, but you took it regardless, and you were too deep in to drop. You opened it, confused on what it could even be.

Eric Thompson <[email protected]> to: me Found a great quizlet for the exam https://quizlet.com/940117849/spanish-2-flash-cards/. Please let me know if anyone's having a study session (I’m desperate.)

This just felt cruel. Like a cruel sign reminding you you were gonna fail, and probably him too. And for some odd reason, this email seemed to be the thing which made you realize that.

You shut your laptop, grabbing your phone. Before you could even think, you went to Schlatt.

to: Schlutt busy?

You set your phone down, leaning back in your chair. You just needed to relax a bit, that’s all. One night off and you’d be back.

You grabbed your phone, realizing Schlatt already responded. Maybe you weren’t the only one having a rough night.

from: Schlutt Nope. You

to: Schlutt just exhausted

from: Schlutt Want me to come over?

to: Schlutt please

from: Schlutt Be there in five

You opened the door, immediately going in for a tight hug, “Hi!”

“Hey, missed you,” Schlatt said, resting his head on the crook of your neck.

“Yeah, me too,” you whispered, taking a deep breath. God, he smelled good. Did he usually smell like this? Must be a new cologne.

After a moment you pulled away, letting him in your cramped dorm. You turned around, realizing how much of a mess your room actually was. “Sorry for the mess, I’ve just been so busy with finals and completely forgot to clean.”

Schlatt shook his head, taking a seat on your bed, “No worries, not like I gave you much time. This is nothin’, you should see mine.”

“Oh god, I don’t think I want to,” You grinned, sitting next to him. “Finals beating your ass too?”

“Yeah,” He sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Trying not to think about it for a bit.”

Now that you’re looking, his head was pretty messy today. Most of him was, and it definitely fit. “Well, we’ve got time. Chloe’s not here,” you whispered, leaning a head on his shoulder.

He smiled, his arm wrapping around your shoulder, “Then maybe we could watch a movie or somethin’?”

“Sounds good to me,” you stood up, moving to your desk. You paused, looking at the mess of papers and trash which piled up in the past few days. You unplugged your laptop, opening it to close out your previous window, “Netflix?”

“Sure,” he replied, eyes fixated on you as you sat back down next to him. He shifted over, allowing the two of you to lay down on the small space.

You grabbed one of your pillows, using it as a table on your lap for the laptop. “Anything you wanted to watch?” You asked, entering the search bar.

“Up to you, toots.” Toots. You felt your stomach flip, face looking straight forward to avoid the embarrassment of Schlatt seeing how flustered you were over a simple nickname.

You nodded, scrolling until you landed on some old detective show, hoping it would be plain enough to bore him, “How’s this?” You clicked on it, “Says it’s a crime drama series following two detectives who have to solve a case 21 years after it was closed.”

His eyes never went to the screen, still watching you as you chose, “Perfect.”

You weren’t sure how long you two had been watching this crap, but it had been long enough. There was no way you could even try to focus on the show, but you were far too nervous to make a move.

Luckily, a warm hand reached your thigh under the covers, circling slowly.

It didn’t take long for you to realize what Schlatt was doing. Leaned on him, glancing up at him from the corner of your eye to see him staring back.

Within seconds you found your arms around his shoulders, ass on his lap, tongue in his mouth.

Schlatt moaned into you, the kiss becoming sloppy and desperate. You pulled away, heart beating out of your chest, a rushed confession escaping your mouth, “I really like you, Schlatt.”

“Fuck,” he groaned, throbbing under you, “Love you too.” He planted a hand on your ass, his breath hot on your face, “So fuckin’ much.”

You bit the bottom of your cheek to stifle a moan, before wrapping him into another frantic kiss. Schlatt fingers gripped your hair, pulling you in closer. He was seriously gonna be the death of you.

You slid a hand under his shirt, able to feel his heart erratically beating under your touch. His lips left yours, panting. You rested your forehead on his temple, admiring his eyes. Fuck. Without thinking, your free hand slipped to his shorts, toying with the waistband.

Schlatt tilted his head back, mumbling a plea. You stopped, looking up at him with a cocky grin, “You’re gonna need to speak up.”

“Please,” he looked back down at you.

Now this was a sight. The way his chest rose and fell, the way his eyes shined in the low light, it all was perfect, and you could feel it. Days of pent up tension and stress weighing on the both of you, begging to be released.

𝜗𝜚

okay i got tired and gave up. hope it was okay though!! maybe ill continue it eventually not sure be nice please

#jschlatt x reader #jschlatt x you #schlatt x reader #schlatt x you #fanfic #jschlatt smut #brjng back the art of making out for 5 hours straight #no beta. wrote on my phone sorry

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arsenal-womens-1 · 2 months

Text

I see you in my reflection part 2

Tw: guns school shooting death blood self harm description of death murder panic attack if there’s any I’ve missed sorry

“The bravest thing I ever did was continue my life when I wanted to die.” — Juliette Lewis

“If you love someone, you say it. You say it right then, out loud. Otherwise, the moment just passes you by.” — Mark Sloan

Six hours later, you are on your way back to Leah's. It was just going to be Beth, Viv, you, and Leah having dinner tonight after you’re planning on watching a movie called *The Fallout*. You have no clue what it’s about, but it’s apparently meant to be good. It’s cold outside, not too cold, but still cold. The car comes to a stop. Finally, you get out of the car and run to the door. Leah walks up the stairs as slowly as possible, finally opening the door. You run in, running straight to the kitchen. Leah had agreed to let you help with dinner. It’s called marry me chicken. It takes about 45 minutes to cook.

“Right, get all the ingredients out, and we can start cooking,” Leah says, pulling out all the ingredients: 30 g of plain flour, 4 chicken breasts, 125 g sundried tomatoes in oil (drained and roughly chopped), 3 tbsp oil (reserved), 1 red onion (finely chopped), 3 garlic cloves (crushed or finely grated), ½ - 1 tsp chili flakes (to taste), 2-3 thyme or oregano sprigs (leaves picked), or 1 tsp mixed dried herbs, 150 ml of double cream, 250 ml of chicken stock, 35 g parmesan (grated), 8-10 basil leaves (torn), and lemon wedges.

Halfway through making it, there is a knock at the door before Leah can say anything. You run to the door. Beth and Viv are just standing there. “Come in,” you say, taking off their shoes and coats. You all walk back into the kitchen where Leah is still doing stuff for the food. “How was media day?” You just shrug your shoulders at that.

“Boring, mainly they all ask the same question, just in a different way,” you reply. Beth and Vivian just shake their heads. You have said multiple times that you don’t like media days. This is only the second one you’ve done, but you still have the same opinion: “Yeah, they do that a lot apart from a few, and since you couldn’t do any work today, you need to do a bit more tomorrow.” The only downside of living with Beth and Vivian is that they make you do schoolwork. It’s the most boring thing.“What if I don’t do any more schoolwork?” you ask.

Viv loses it at your shoes, saying that no matter what you are doing, the work is still there.

You just accept your fate. “Can someone call my phone? I’ve lost it. It’s aging.” Leah holds your phone up and says, “Thank you.” Opening your phone, there is a text from your dad.

Dad:

“Hey kid, I know we haven’t spoken in a bit, but I thought I would text you and see how you are doing. Also, Max and Missy want to know if you are going to be home this summer for their birthday.”

You:

“Hey Dad, I’m doing good. I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it home this summer, but tell Max and Missy that I miss them and I wish I could be there, but I can’t. I’ll send them presents.”

Dad:

“It’s okay, kid. You don’t have to apologize. I know why you don’t want to come back, but they wanted to know if you were able to come. It’s good to hear that you’re doing well. I have to go. The twins need to be dropped off at your grandma’s house.”

You:

“I’ll text you later. I love you too.”

“Who are you texting?” Leah asks as she finishes cooking.

“My dad was asking if I was going home this summer.” In the time the team had, knowing you’ve only ever said that you lived in America, you dodged any other questions, so at one point they all just left it, seeing that you didn’t want to talk about it before you got there. “Are you going home this summer?” they asked.

“No, I think I’m just going to go to another country,” you told them.

They all nodded. “What country are you thinking of going to?”

You had thought about this a lot. “I was thinking Norway, Sweden, Spain, or the Netherlands. I’ve always wanted to go to those countries.” When you said “Netherlands,” Viv smiled a bit for the next 45 minutes. You all talked for 20 minutes before the food was done. It was time for the movie.

The movie starts with a girl sitting on the toilet. Three minutes later, she walks to the bathroom. Viv and Beth are sitting next to each other, and Leah is in the middle. On the end, exactly seven minutes in, it sounds like a door banging and screaming more. It feels like your heart is about to pound out of your chest. A lump in your throat starts to form.

Blood everywhere, screaming, bullets.

“I can’t breathe.” The second you say that, all three of them are beside you. Vivian lifts you up and places you in her lap. “Copy my breathing pattern.”

“Y/N, I’m scared.” The door slams open.

“They didn’t do anything wrong; it should have been me.” Your breathing isn’t slowing down. “They didn’t deserve it; we were just kids.” Beth is now standing behind you, kind of trapping you like a burrito. “Copy my breathing, kid.” You try your best to copy her breathing, eventually doing so.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Your head is still on Vivian’s chest.

“I’m a twin… was a twin. The shock on their faces was something. We were identical. Lucy was 1 minute and 25 seconds older than me. She always would use that or say it was the best time of her life.” Tears were falling down your face. The girls said nothing, so you continued. “When we were 4, we moved from California to New York. Our next-door neighbors had a girl our age. Her name was Lily. She had green eyes, brown hair, and was a little bit taller than us. We became inseparable. We were in the same class. It was grade 6; we were in 4th period English with Miss Cooper. We sat at the back of her class.”

“Today we are learning about Romeo and Juliet.” Lily is to the left of you, and Lucy is to the right. “Lily, give me a pencil; I’ve forgotten mine again.”

“We were 12 minutes into the class when the first shouts could be heard two doors down from us. The screams for help were horrifying. We did everything they said to do. He was down with that class fast. He moved to the one next to us. There was a door connecting both classrooms together. We didn’t barricade it.”

The sound of the door crashing open startles everyone. Before anyone can do anything, he’s shooting randomly all over, and in 2 minutes, he’s gone.

“Lily was on the ground. She was in a pool of blood. He shot her 6 times; 2 of them hit her left lung. I tried to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. Her lungs were filling up with blood. Her beautiful face was covered in blood. She was scared. I could tell because of the way her eyes looked. She would get that look when she was scared. Lucy laid her head on my shoulder. She had been shot once, between her chest and shoulder. I remember Lily’s eyes starting to shut. I remember saying, ‘Come on, Lily, keep your eyes open for me. Keep them open.’ I remember her last words so clearly: ‘Y/N, it’s okay. It’s okay. Go be a superstar, win all the trophies. Don’t give up on your dream.’ There was another round of shots. The color in her eyes was gone. She was gone.”

“No, no, no, Lily, don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me.” Armed police rush through the door. “Everyone show hands.”

“I don’t really remember much about how I got from the classroom to the ambulance. I remember the paramedic saying that I had been shot 3 times. I didn’t even know that I had been shot. I was in shock. I remember the sirens. I remember them asking questions, getting wheeled into the ER. I was next to Lucy. I remember her heart monitor. I didn’t know what it meant except that she was alive. Within 2 minutes of being there, she flatlined. They tried to get her back, but they couldn’t. 14:25 was her time of death. A piece of the bullet had made its way to her heart. They were dead, and I wasn’t. After that, I turned to self-harm and other things. I wanted to be with them. It wasn’t until about 2 months after it all that it sank in that I had lost my twin sister and my first love in the same day

#women’s football #women’s soccer #women’s super league #woso community #barclays wsl #woso imagine #wsl #woso one shot #woso fanfics #woso #woso soccer #leah williamson #beth mead #viv miedema #vivianne miedema #arsenal

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oftenwantedafton · 7 months

Text

Personal Space - Steve Raglan/William Afton x Female Reader

Chapter 2

Rating - Explicit

Warnings - none for this chapter

Also available on AO3

Tuesday morning.

Steve decides to try to show you around the computer programs that are used the most frequently. He appreciates technology; how could he not, given his engineering background? But he’s a creature of habit. He likes the old tech that’s familiar, comfortable. It’s the reason he hasn’t let them switch out his computer or phone for something newer. The electronic typewriter on the table behind his desk still sees a lot of use. He likes the old adage “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Nothing wrong with innovation. He admires that. But. When it comes to this job. Well, he just prefers the tried and true methods.

He’s still not an expert on the new scheduling program. He doesn’t use it much. But he figures he might as well try to show you. Every time he moves the mouse to click on something he finds himself on the wrong screen. Confusing the menus. He’s getting frustrated already.

“Here, let me try.”

“No, I think I’ve got it…no, that’s not it.”

“Can I just…” You lean over without waiting for a response. Your fingers close over his to guide the mouse.

Raglan inhales sharply. This close, he can smell your fragrance. Something fruity like raspberries, maybe. Your hair is tidy today now that the skies are finally emptied of water. You’re wearing a black pantsuit that fits better than the outfit you’d worn the previous day. The skin on your fingertips is soft. Your eyes are focused on the screen. He should just remove his hand and let you take over. But he’s frozen, immobile. He can’t remember the last time someone’s touched him beyond the courtesy of a handshake.

“There it is. You were close. It’s just a little convoluted…” Your voice trails off as you release his hand, leaning back. Staring. Something’s happening. You hadn’t quite moved back to your original position. Still close. Heat wafting. That sweet scent.

Steve’s mouth goes dry. He struggles to work moisture into it. “Well, good, I guess we don’t need to waste any more time on that, then. I’m going to go make coffee.” Pushing the swivel leather chair away. At last some clearer air. He fusses at the coffee bar. A little clumsy. Nearly drops the pot on the way to the sink. You’ve unnerved him. Not an easy thing to do. He doesn’t like it. He makes sure his seat is further from yours when he settles again. Grabs some binders from the nearby shelf and dumps them on the desk blotter. Something to distract you until the next client arrives.

The untouched coffee seated on the coaster goes cold.

***

Wednesday afternoon. Another workday behind him.

You’re parked closer to his car today. You’d taken his advice and gotten to work earlier.

Steve halts near the rear bumper of yours. He notices an outline of Hello Kitty affixed to the left corner. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turns to leave but your voice halts him.

“Are you doing anything? When you get home, I mean.”

“Nothing in particular. Why?”

“Want to go get coffee first?”

He frowns. “You don’t drink coffee.”

“Well, I’ll get something else then. Know where to get a decent milkshake?”

“I do, actually.” He’s still hesitating. “We just spent eight hours together. You really want to spend another hour?”

“I don’t know anyone else,” you remind him.

So that was the motivating reason behind it. You were lonely. Homesick already. It was certainly beyond any obligation of his. He was only responsible for you at work. Outside of that was your own affair. But a milkshake actually sounded great. He surrenders. “Alright, let’s go.”

“We can take my car.”

Raglan has a difficult time settling into the passenger seat of the compact. His knees press uncomfortably close to the dashboard.

“The lever to move it back is underneath the seat, in the front…yeah, you got it. I guess that’s as far back as it goes,” you murmur apologetically. The seat only moves a few scant inches. The older man is still quite crammed in. “Um, where are we going?”

“Take a right out of here and head to the second set of lights. I’ll tell you the rest when you get to that point.” He reaches for the shoulder strap of the lap restraint and notices there’s a Hello Kitty cushion velcroed over it.

“Is your masculinity threatened yet?” You glance over at him as you reverse the car out of the parking spot.

“Hardly,” he responds drily.

“How come you know who Hello Kitty is, anyway?”

“My daughter.”

“How old is she?

“Around your age.”

“Do you have other children?”

“Yes.”

“How old are they? Are they home with your wife or…”

“No. I live alone.”

“Oh.” You exit the parking lot. There’s a fair amount of traffic this time of the afternoon. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s fine.” It’s not, actually. But you couldn’t possibly know the reason why. So he’ll accept your apology in good faith.

“So where are we going, anyway?”

“A diner.”

“Do you go there a lot?”

“Everyone does. It’s something of a local attraction. That’s it there on your left.”

Steve sighs in relief when he’s able to extricate himself from your cramped vehicle. There are a lot of cars in the parking lot. Probably better off getting something to go. Which meant getting back into the sardine can again right after. Great.

“It’s so cute!”

Raglan grunts, watching you take in the chrome trim, red vinyl seating and checkerboard patterned flooring. Classic 50s styling.

As he’d predicted, there’s a line for seating. “We’ll get drinks to go, okay? Otherwise we’ll be waiting forever.” You nod. “Flavors are up there on the right.” He points to a row of signs with red printing. You protest when he pulls out his wallet after you order and he waves the argument away. “I’ve got it. You can treat me next time.” You look a little too pleased with the promise that there will be a next time and he inwardly curses. He has to be more careful with his wording.

He doesn’t even know why he’s going through this charade at all. He should have just declined and gone home.

Steve jams himself back into the passenger seat and takes a sip of his shake, the burst of sweetness on his tongue mollifying him a bit. Well, he guesses it was maybe worth it. Maybe.

“So since I told you about my family, why don’t you tell me about yours. Siblings?”

“None. Oh, that is good. I get why this place is so popular.” You take another long swallow. “It’s just me and my parents.”

Well, that conversation dead ended quickly. He tries to adjust his knees. He knows he’s going to have bruises before this evening is over.

“Let me ask you something. How do you think I’m doing so far? Be honest.”

He looks at you. “You’re performing adequately.”

“Adequately,” you repeat. “That’s it?”

“You’ve barely just begun. What did you expect?”

“I don’t know. Just not ‘adequately’. What can I do to improve?”

Raglans frowns. “Your handshake is too weak, for one thing.”

“So show me the right way to do it.” You settle your cup into the center console’s holder and the older man mirrors your movements.

He hesitates a moment longer, then reaches out to take your hand. As expected your grip is very tentative. Also cool from the chilled drink. “Harder. Be confident. It will automatically help you when you begin the conversation.”

He feels your fingers tighten, exerting more pressure. Then your hand drops and his goes with it. Still clutching each other, resting on the padded surface between you. Yours so small and soft in his. He withdraws his hand abruptly, jerking free with perhaps a bit more force than necessary, snatching his cup back up and taking a long pull from the straw. Instant brain freeze. He winces.

“How was that?”

“Better.” He busies himself with studying the other cars in the parking lot.

“What else do I need to do to improve?”

“We’ll discuss it at work. I’d like to go home now.”

“Um, okay.”

A silent ride back to the office parking lot. You pull in beside his car.

“Thanks for coming out with me.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Back in his own vehicle. So much roomier.

So much emptier, too.

***

Thursday. There’s a seminar being offered nearby. Steve isn’t really interested, but he thinks you might benefit from it so he agrees to attend with you. Taking one car because it just seems easier. He insists on being the one to drive this time.

“Wow, there’s a cassette player in here. How old is this car, anyway?” You ask, settling inside and drawing the seatbelt strap over your shoulder.

“Old. Like me.” He turns the key in the ignition. The rabbit’s foot swings gently on its chain.

“You’re not that old.”

“That old?”

You grin. He’s starting to like your smile. Soft and sweet and warm. Natural. Genuine.

Once you arrive in the conference center, he allows you to choose where you want to sit. You opt for the back row, occupying the two seats on the end. You’re handed a copy of the PowerPoint presentation. There are lines for taking notes to the right of each printed slide. Steve glances over to see what you’re writing. You’re not. You’re doodling. Drawing. A little cartoon rabbit. He fights the urge to smirk. “Stop that and pay attention,” he hisses. Another smile. There’s no way you’re unaware of how disarming that gesture is.

“It’s for you,” you whisper back, sliding the packet over to him. He hands you his own copy in exchange. Admires the little caricature that is nearly an exact replica of Spring Bonnie, the mascot from the picture on the restaurant coaster in his office. Jaunty bow. Rows of buttons. He stares at it until his vision blurs.

There’s a one hour break for lunch. Fast food has been acquired. Burgers, fries, soda. He chooses a spot at the end of the parking lot. You dip a French fry into sweet and sour sauce. Raglan scowls disapprovingly. “That’s a crime you’re committing right there.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s the salty sweet combo. It’s good. I bet you’ve never even tried it.”

“I don’t need to.”

“You should. It’s not fair to judge it unless you have.” You dip another sliver of fried potato into the plastic cup and hold it before his lips. The pale brown sauce drips down. He takes a reluctant bite. Your fingers brush his tongue in the process. It’s just as you’ve said. Salty. Sweet. You lick the stray dribbles from your fingers, watching his reaction. “It’s good, right?”

He won’t admit it. Just like he refuses to acknowledge he’d liked tasting your skin just then. He stares hard outside the windshield. Lets you babble and grunts noncommittal answers until it’s time to return inside.

Late afternoon. Steve pulls up outside your apartment building to drop you off.

“Thanks. It was fun.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be educational,” he mutters reprovingly.

“Come on, Steve. It was kind of fun, right?” Your head tips back into the cradle of the headrest, watching him.

“Kind of.” His voice is rough.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” You struggle with the seatbelt buckle.

“It gets stuck sometimes, here…” He leans over. His fingers collide with yours. The mechanism finally surrenders, releasing. The sound of nylon winding back into place. You make no move to leave. Whatever you were expecting clearly hasn’t happened. “See you tomorrow,” he says gruffly, his fingers wrapping around the steering wheel, dismissing you.

***

Steve had forgotten he’d given you his home phone number. Early on, in case you needed to contact him about something work related.

It surprises him when he hears your voice that Friday evening. He doesn’t get personal calls often. Doesn’t usually get calls period unless it’s from a solicitor. He leans forward, easing off of the cushion against his back on the living room couch. “Are you alright? What time is it?” He’s too embarrassed to admit he’d dozed off. He rubs at sleep bleared eyes, trying to focus his gaze on his wristwatch. Only ten.

“Were you asleep? Did I wake you?”

“No,” he lies. “Are you alright?” He repeats. He remembers you mentioning you were going out with some of the other employees after work for drinks. He’d politely declined the invite. He never goes out to socialize. “You didn’t drive home drunk, did you?”

“Yes. No.” A sigh. It’s loud in his ear. Your mouth is very close to the receiver. “I can’t sleep.”

He frowns, leaning back. “You seriously called me in the middle of the night to tell me you have insomnia?”

“It’s not the middle of the night,” you protest. “How early do you usually go to bed?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Are you mad? You sound upset. I hate it when you’re upset with me.”

“I’m not upset. Just confused. What do you expect me to do about it? Drink a glass of of warm milk.”

“That’s so gross!”

“Count sheep. Put some television on in the background, I don’t know what you want from me. Take a shower.”

“I just took a bath.”

“Oh.” An image of you swathed in bubbles shoved from his thoughts just as quickly as it appears. “Well how did it go tonight, anyway?”

“It was kind of boring, to be honest. They’re kind of boring.”

“They’re you’re coworkers. You should try to get along with some of them, at the very least. In case you ever need—”

“—I wish you had gone.”

His hand tightens on the receiver. “I don’t see what possible difference it would have made.”

“Because then someone I actually wanted to talk to would have been there.”

He doesn’t have a response for that. Doesn’t really comprehend any of what’s happening beyond you being inebriated and lonely. Again, not his problem.

“I think you should try to sleep now.”

“Okay, I guess. If that’s what you think I should do.”

“Yes, I do.”

“You’re sure you’re not mad?”

“Starting to be,” he mutters.

“Wait, Steve, really?” You suddenly sound sober.

“Forget it. Just get some rest. I’ll see you Monday.” He hangs up the phone, deciding on a shower before bed.

Comforter and top sheet flipped back and he’s tucked beneath both. Eyes snapping back open as soon as they’re closed. Staring up into the void. Sleep eluding his capture.

***

A new week of work begins.

You arrive looking well rested. If you’re at all embarrassed about the other evening’s phone call it doesn’t show. Maybe you’d even forgotten it. Well, he certainly wasn’t going to dwell on it.

“Can we eat outside today? It looks nice by the pond.” You let the blinds snap back into place and rejoin him behind the desk.

“You can have lunch wherever you want.”

“You’ll come with me, though, right? I don’t want to eat by myself.”

“Maybe.” He’s not committing himself to that. “You need to focus on the task at hand right now. The next client is coming in soon. You’re going to be leading the discussion.”

You nod, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear. “How do I look?”

“Nervous.”

You frown.

“Poised, articulate, confident. Those are the three qualities you need. Even if you’re not feeling them, you should exude them.”

You blink, looking surprised. “You want me to lie?”

“Sometimes lying is the correct choice. The only choice,” he adds.

“That’s…I don’t even know. Give me one example of when it’s better to lie.”

“Fine. Say a young child’s lost their parent in a violent death. Isn’t it kinder to say they went to sleep, they’re in heaven with loved ones, watching over them, whatever platitude people like to spout, as opposed to telling them they were murdered, hacked to pieces by some serial killer?”

“Geez, that’s really dark.”

He shrugs. “You wanted an example.”

You shake your head. “I still don’t think people should lie.”

Steve grunts. “Do as you like. I’m only trying to give you pointers to ensure your success.”

“Do you lie a lot?”

Oh, what a question. If you only knew. “Yes.”

“To me?”

“What would I lie to you about?”

You squirm in your seat. “I don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“But why? Why would you?”

He sighs. His fingers drum on the desk blotter. The conversation is becoming tedious. He wishes the applicant would hurry up and make an appearance. “For the same reason as the example I gave you. For your own good.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re not supposed to. Where the hell is this woman? Maybe I should have reception give her a call. See if she forgot, got tied up or…”

“Steve.”

The drumming fingers still. “What?”

“I don’t want you to lie to me. I’m not a child.”

“Then don’t act like one.”

“Is it because of my car?”

You’re trying to make light of the situation and it irritates him to no end. “It’s everything. Everything about you screams immature. Your appearance. Your demeanor. And yes, that ridiculous car. Getting drunk and calling me up.” He sees you wince but he barrels forward. “Even asking me for permission to eat outside. Take some initiative. Be an adult and make a decision on your own.”

The light, teasing tone evaporates. “I thought we were friends.” Your voice is faint, barely audible.

“Friends? We’re not friends. We’re coworkers. That’s it. I didn’t volunteer for this. You were foisted upon me. All because you had some preconceived notion that I was going to be some ideal instructor for you to follow. You shouldn’t even be here. You belong up north. Back with your parents. Whatever friends you had there. There’s nothing for you here.”

It’s like a floodgate has been opened. He knows he’s being unnecessarily cruel. It’s hardly the first time. So why does he feel so guilty for saying these things to you?

Your eyes are getting shiny. Making him feel even more uncomfortable. “Don’t even think about crying. I’m not dealing with th—” The phone rings, interrupting his next tirade. “Raglan. Great. Yeah, find a block to reschedule.” He hangs up, glancing at you. “She cancelled. We’re free until the afternoon now. After lunch.”

You nod, averting your gaze.

“I’m going outside.” He doesn’t wait for a response, grabbing his lunch tote and heading for the elevator. He punches the down arrow with more force than necessary. Stupid, feeling remorse. Over some new hire. Who was immature and overly sensitive. He was doing you a favor. The real world was not a kind place. You needed to toughen up. The training wheels had to come off sooner or later. Might as well be sooner.

The career counselor settles onto one of the shadier picnic tables. Doesn’t even bother unzipping the bag. He’s looking out at the water. A pair of mallards and a row of offspring following. Gentle quacks. Preening feathers. Beaks dipping for a drink.

You sit beside him. Drop a plastic shopping bag on the weathered wood. Make no move to open it, staring at the pond.

“I brought you a brownie.”

He blinks, looking over at you. Your gaze is still focused on the scenery. You sniffle. He thinks some of those tears made good on their threats and escaped after he’d left you in his office.

“Thank you,” he says stiffly.

You nod. “I’m not…I’m not really hungry.”

“Neither am I. I’m going to go for a walk.” He stands. Glances at your seated form. “You can come along, if you want.”

You rise from the bench. Still not making eye contact. The older man begins walking. The trees grow thicker the further away from the pond you travel, a dense stand that reaches back to the edge of the property. Conservation land that can’t be developed. Sunlight struggling to reach through the leaves. Dappled shadows. He likes it better here. Too fair skinned for all that light beaming down. Better in the cool green shade. The pond is no longer in sight. Even the office building is out of his field of view. In truth he’s never been back this far.

Steve halts abruptly and you stumble to stop beside him, nearly tripping over a tree root. What he means to do is simply break your fall. Curse you out for being clumsy. But his body has other intentions. The arm that was to be a barrier curling around you. Pulling you against him.

It’s not in him to say he’s sorry. He’s not one to apologize. He thinks it’s a sign of weakness. A degradation of character. Erosion of pride. He won’t allow it.

Your back rests against his chest. He hadn’t set a very brisk pace. More of a leisurely stroll. But now he finds it hard to breathe. The harsh rasp of it echoing loudly. His arm is still wrapped around you. Both of your hands curled over it. His lips pressed against your hair. Inhaling the scent buried there. Strawberry shampoo. He releases you gently. Doesn’t push you away, merely loosens his grip. Feels your hands hesitating over his dropping arm. Reluctant to let go. You turn to face him. His lips part as if to speak. What will he say now? What can he possibly say?

He says nothing. The coward’s way out. He turns back in the direction of the pond. You follow beside.

The trees keep this secret.

#william afton x you #william afton x reader #steve raglan x reader #steve raglan x you #dividers credit @ saradika-graphics

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achubbydumpling · 7 months

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The Struggles of Being Too Fat for Fat Camp

This was inspired by an incredible video by @lardfill. Sadly, I can't find a current link to the video and I only have it as an mp4. But basically the entire second part in the kitchen is inspired by that.

Rating: Explicit Words: 2387 Relationship: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers Additional Tags: Weight Gain, Teasing, Name-Calling, pig, Bucky calls himself a pig, Belly Kink, No Lube, ...dish soap, it's inspired by a real video!, Fat Bucky Barnes, literally getting off from his own fat, Extreme Weight Gain, Mobility Struggles, out of breath, modern AU, Established Relationship

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Read the series on AO3

The inevitable conversation about moving in together came up earlier than Bucky had expected. Just after he’d entered cabin 13 Steve had already stood in the doorway, knocked on the door frame and wrung his hands.

“I’ve got a flat in town. Just until the end of summer, but, you know, you could move in. If you wanted to.”

Of course, Bucky had agreed to spend the rest of the summer there. No useless dieting rules that he wasn’t going to follow anyway, no annoying team sports and activities, and no one that expects him to lose any weight.

When they finally lived together, it didn’t take long for them to settle into a comfortable routine living together.

Steve would get up early to go for a run and to make breakfast. While Bucky spent another hour just lounging in bed with the sun shining on his face, slowly waking up to the quiet sounds of Steve moving around the kitchen.

However, today Bucky woke up to the soft press of Steve’s lips to his temple and his hand gently squeezing his plush side.

“Morning, sleepy head.” Steve could barely hide his amusement at Bucky’s wide-eyed look around. When he noticed Steve wearing his counsellor uniform already, Bucky tried to sit up. His efforts were hindered by the heavy weight of his belly.

“What time is it?” Bucky had to build up a bit of momentum first and Steve ultimately helped him scoot back to rest against the headboard.

“Almost half nine.”

Bucky sighed, “Wanted to eat breakfast with you.”

Steve’s expression softened and he tucked a stray strand of hair behind Bucky’s ear.

"I didn't want to wake you up if I didn't have to."

Bucky couldn’t stop the warmth that bubbled up inside him. It built into a fond smile that pulled at his lips.

“Tomorrow?” he asked.

“Tomorrow.” Steve pulled a serious expression before he broke out into a smile again. “Do you want to stay in bed a bit longer or some help getting up before I leave?”

The sleep-warm duvet tempted Bucky to stay a bit longer, but he could feel the beginnings of hunger coil in his stomach. So, he stretched his arms out towards Steve, who gripped his hands tightly. Together they got Bucky on his feet and out of the bedroom in no time. Alone Bucky would’ve probably taken twice as long just to get up, but he needed fewer breaks when he could lean some of his weight on Steve.

Still, just the few weeks he had spent living with Steve had resulted in even more weight piling onto his already morbidly obese body. While Bucky didn’t feel much heavier, his doughy belly had gotten wider and softer and increasingly unwieldy. Where he used to be able to grab a good roll, now the fat was so pliable it almost slid out of his grip of its own volition.

This new development also led to his belly working more and more against him when Bucky tried to walk. It weighed on his thighs and swayed between his thighs with every step. The heavy swing always in opposition to the leg he needed to bring forward. His breathing was laboured from the moment he heaved himself out of bed and the sofa creaked dangerously beneath him he plopped down on it.

Steve placed the small folding table in front of Bucky and started loading it with a veritable breakfast buffet until it bowed under the weight of all the plates. Sweet and savoury, a stack of pancakes soaked in maple syrup, thick cut slices of bread with margarine melting into it and sprinkled with garden cress, two cinnamon rolls the size of Bucky’s palm and a bowl of thick, oatmeal topped with spoonfuls of peanut butter and halved plums.

“Here.” Steve handed Bucky a piece of grapefruit. “It’s really good. I had some for breakfast.” Steve smiled at the ground and shuffled his feet. ”Wanted to share.”

Bucky waited until Steve looked back up to say, “Thank you.”

“I’ll make dinner tonight, ok?”

“I don’t know when I’ll be back. Fury planned some competition for the campers that could take until the evening,” Steve paused and grinned when he remembered the last year Bucky spent at camp,“or just a few minutes.”

With a kiss and a promise to call before the end of his shift Steve left the flat. Bucky could finally dig into the food Steve had prepared for him.

It didn’t take long for him to feel full, but Bucky didn’t get to his current size by stopping when he was full. With the bread and oatmeal gone, he started on the pancakes. The carbs were laying heavily in his stomach, he felt the familiar bloat settle in.

So, he set about eating the thick slices of freshly baked bread. His initial plan was to force them down quickly so he would be finished before the bloating really caught up to him, but when he bit into the first slice, he couldn’t help himself slowing down to savour it.

The crust crackled between his teeth and the soft middle was soaked through from the thick spread of margarine. On his first bite he noticed the faint taste of other herbs as well. The tang of the sourdough bread spread on his tongue and Bucky couldn’t hold back the content hum at the combination of the taste and texture of the still hand-warm bread.

Bucky warmed up the cinnamon rolls in the microwave and ate them as a late morning snack. Yesterday’s leftovers served as lunch to keep him comfortably full into the afternoon.The hours of stuffing slowly transitioned into himwatching TV, burping his way through the bloat and rubbing away the tightness in his stomach

After nursing away most of the pain, Bucky finally pulled out his laptop to work on some of his course assignments for after the semester break, but the contentment of a lazy morning and a still-full belly had him falling asleep on the couch without meaning to.

The late afternoon sun warmed Bucky’s face as he blearily opened his eyes. He groaned when he saw the low battery warning on his laptop. Bucky checked the clock — almost five — and then his phone for any messages from Steve. Even though a lazy sort of hunger curled at the back of Bucky’s mind when he looked down at himself he could still see the bloat from his extended breakfast. He could still feel the heavy weight of the food in his stomach.

Not for the first time Bucky was surprised just by how fat he was — how much fatter he was getting every day. He pulled his shirt up and splayed his hands over his upper belly, he couldn’t even cover half of it. Then he trailed lower, grabbed onto his sides and hefted his belly up to let it drop down again. It rippled through the fat all over his body and his dick gave an interested twitch.

I’m getting so fat, was all Bucky could think when he saw his belly continuing to move on its own like this. The smallest movement making it shake and jiggle, his fat moving in waves across his body. He grabbed the sides of his belly again and let it drop into his lap. Then he tried to reach over it, he reached his belly button and about a handbreadth beneath it, but he couldn’t actually reach the lowest part of his belly.Thick arousal started to cloud his mind.

“Fuck,” Bucky groaned and scooted lower on the sofa. His hands dug almost painfully into the fat on his sides. He noticed how it spilled over the edge of the sofa even though he was pressed into the cushions of the backrest. Just exploring all this new softness had him half hard under the heavy overhang on his thighs. But he wanted to feel out the changes to his body some more.

His hands came up to his moobs and he lifted them each up and let them drop through his hands again. Bucky skimmed his finger over his nipples, they felt even more sensitive with just the weight he’d put on living with Steve, stretched out from gaining weight even there. He’d never really had pecs, always soft even at his lowest weight.

Bucky tried to get more comfortable. He splayed his legs as wide as he could, but the couch was barely wide enough to fit his entire body. He bent his knee and tried to get his heavy belly to pool to one side, to give him access to his dick.

Every one of his movements was followed by a grunt, just trying to move himself into position, a difficult task for someone Bucky’s size. He tried to heft his belly up and to the side, out of the way so he could finally get his fingers on his dick that was growing harder underneath his fat pad.

With his belly hanging over the side of the couch, however, it only felt like he was about to be pulled off by its weight. Bucky rolled more onto his side, angled his knee more, but no matter what all he could reach were his thigh rolls and his fat pad, he couldn’t actually get to his buried dick.

He tried one more time, adjusting his position and trying to work his way along his fat pad, but the furthest he ever managed to reach was just barely skimming the tips of his fingers over the tip of his dick.

“Fuck,” Bucky breathed. Oh, God, I’m too fat to jerk off.

His emotions were all over the place. Partly in awe at how big he’d eaten himself, slightly shocked he’d ever let himself get this fat, but most importantly so incredibly turned on and he couldn’t do anything about it. Unless he got up and tried again in bed — more room to spread his legs and get his belly out of the way.

He pushed the folding table to the side and prepared himself to get up. His lower belly was trapped against his thighs, so he grabbed at that lowest roll to move the heavy overhang to droop between his legs. Then he scooted forward.

He couldn’t help the noises he made, moving this much mass forced grunts and sighs from his straining lungs. Once he got his body right to the edge of the sofa, he rocked back and forth to build up the momentum to get to his feet. The couch had been sagging lower every day, so he had to cover an even greater distance just to stand up.

Might as well get something to eat for after. So, instead of heading to the bedroom Bucky turned to the kitchenette. They kept snacks in the cupboards above the kitchen. Bucky was craving something salty and headed for the right side.

Opening the cupboard wasn't too difficult since Bucky could just grab the bottom of the door. However, reaching the chips he wanted was a different story. Of course, his favourites were high on the second level.

Bucky stretched upwards, going up on his toes just for his finger tips to barely graze the package.

The cold countertop pressing against Bucky’s belly startled him, but the enticing snack kept him going.

As he moved closer to try and reach the cupboard his fat pad pressed against the counter too and when he stretched up his fat pad almost spilled onto it. His belly and fat pad rubbing together against the cold hard counter.

That's when he got the idea.

He should have gone to the bedroom.

He should have lied down, gotten comfortable and used some actual lube, but he was here and horny and some watery dish soap seemed good enough for lubrication.

His inhales were stumbling over each other, a strangled sound and he had to slow down to actually take a breath. He lifted his belly, blindly searching for his fat pad before finally grabbing it and maneouvering his dick to rest on the counter too. When he let go of his belly, it added the most incredible pressure.

He could barely lift his entire belly up and then it slapped right back onto the counter, he moved on to just jiggling it, letting the counter take most of the weight of the fat apron on his front and just moving it by shaking and grabbing rolls all over it, letting the fat rub over his dick. Relishing in the feeling of having gained so much weight that he could fuck his own fat.

“Fat fucking pig,” Bucky said to himself in between wheezing breaths. Steve always defaulted to praise, but sometimes Bucky needed that humiliation. Someone telling him how much fatter he was gonna get if he kept eating more.

“Gonna get bigger, fatter.” Bucky’s thrusts were becoming erratic, his muscles were shaking with the effort to keep his hips driving forward against the counter.

“Please,” Bucky could barely get the word out with how ragged his breathing had gotten. Begging someone, anyone to let him come before his legs gave out.

A dull, tight pain had started settling in his joints, lactic acid built up in his thigh muscles. Still he kept up the shallow thrusts, even as it became increasingly difficult to command his body to keep going.

"Fuck," Bucky grunted, "I'm such a pig."

He tried to wrap his arms around his belly to adjust it one last time. So close to coming, racing against exhaustion. The very body he was getting off to, threatening to cut his orgasm short.

One last grunt and he was finally rewarded. Thick spurts of cum painting his belly, mixing with the soap suds.

His legs were shaking, knees threatening to buckle. He was holding himself up on the counter though his arms also quickly tired. With a last effort he made it to the chair in the kitchen and let himself fall down on it.

"What a work out," Bucky chuckled to himself, reverently running his hands over his belly.

And then his gaze fell on the chips packet that was tilting out of the cupboard, perfectly in reach if Bucky just stretched up a little.

#my writing #chubby bucky #fat camp bucky #fat bucky #chubby!bucky #chubby stucky #weight gain #belly kink #wg fiction

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potatoplace · 2 months

Text

Omega Needs - chapter 1

Feyre x Tamlin, eventual Feyre x Rhys

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Series Masterlist

Story Summary: Feyre presented as an omega after being changed into a high fae Under the Mountain. Her heats have been hellish, and Tamlin has neglected certain aspects of her presentation. After the disastrous wedding ceremony, how will Feyre’s omega handle being away from her Alpha?

Words: ~1.3k

Warnings: smut, A/B/O dynamics/knotting

Author’s note: sooo it’s my first time writing in quite a bit. Like. Years. Also my first time writing smut, so apologies if it’s bad. But @acotar-omegaverse-week got me in the mood to write again finally, and tbh I’ve loved a/b/o for a long time and it’s just. Perfect in acotar. So yeah. Not written for any particular day, Written for day 2: turning up the heat, and just setting up the story a bit in this. Also I wrote this in one sitting and haven’t proofread… oops… and don’t know where exactly this is going.

18+ only

---

Feyre was upset. But she didn’t know why.

She had gone into heat for the first time nine months ago. In the days leading up to it, she hadn’t felt safe sleeping in such an open space, so she had created fluffy mound of pillows and blankets to surround all sides of her bed. That had helped soothe her anxieties a bit. But not enough.

She had even snuck a few of Tamlin’s shirts from his clothes bin, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed about it when the added presence of his scent calmed her down and allowed her to sleep with only a few nightmares.

But then the cramping started. And the heat licking up her spine had been unbearable. Even a cold bath had only helped abate the fire for a few short minutes and she gave up and dragged herself back into her bed.

Tamlin had shown up a few hours later, tossing the pillows and fabrics at the end of the bed onto the ground as he eyed Feyre with a predatory glint in his eyes.

“Pretty omega,” he crooned, slowly getting on the bed, covering her naked body with his. “Did you need some help from your alpha?”

Feyre had whined, tugging at his shirt weakly, needing to feel his skin on hers, knowing it would help with the fire in her blood. “Please alpha, touch me,” she said, her voice breathless as she sucked in his scent.

Tamlin chuckled, pulling his shirt off over his head and throwing it to the side, Feyre’s eyes tracking where it landed, marking it for later. “I only have a couple of hours I can spare today, omega. I wish you’d told me you were nesting, I would have cleared my schedule in advance.” He paused, loosing a long breath into her neck, her answering breath in sharp and needy. He chuckled, pressing hard kisses to the side of her throat before sucking gently on her scent gland.

“Since you didn’t tell me, I won’t be able to help you much these first few days, omega.” More placating to her neck as she whined again. “I’ll have Lucien push anything after tomorrow, but maybe two days without your alpha’s knot will keep you from making that mistake again, hmm?” He finally, finally, placed a kiss on her mouth. And then her breasts. Then stomach.

She sighed a hum of agreement, just happy to finally have her alpha giving her the attention she needed, and threaded her hands into his hair, trying to push him lower with her remaining strength. He chuckled against her skin, before lapping up some of the slick that had been steadily leaking from her since this afternoon.

“Alpha,” Feyre whimpered, shifting her hips up into her face. “Need more. Please.” Tamlin smirked at her from between her thighs, his mouth gleaming with her slick.

“Need my knot, sweet omega?” A vigorous head shake later and Tamlin had shucked off his pants and lined up his cock with her cunt. “Good. I’m going to fill up this cunt, breed you full of pups. Would you like that omega?” Another head nod, tears forming at the edges of her eyes from the sheer need for him in that moment. He flashed another smirk at her, thrusting into her in one motion, pushing the air out of her lungs.

The stretch of him normally burned even when he went slow, but today? He fit perfectly in her, slick easing his way into her. As he pulled back, she sucked another breath in, preparing for the brutal pace she hoped he would set.

She wasn’t disappointed, the fast movements of his hips sending ice cold pleasure up her spine, and within minutes his knot had begun to catch in her, sending her into a blissful state, only thrown further in once his knot had locked him inside entirely, and he was spilling his seed deep inside her.

Finally, the heat had left her body.

Tamlin had rolled them to their sides, arms wrapped loosely around her. They sat in the quiet for a while, before his knot loosened and he pulled out of her, leaving her empty, and heat almost immediately started building in her abdomen again. A small whimper left her, and she tried to sit up to watch what Tamlin was doing, but collapsed back into her bed, only managing to angle her head in his direction.

He had already pulled his pants back on, and had moved to grab his shirt off the floor before looking at the fabrics lining the eyes of her bed. He pulled one of his shirts out from it, wrinkling his nose at it before dropping it. “Really Feyre? Stealing my clothes? Don’t do that anymore.”

Feyre frowned, not sure what was so wrong with it. “But your scent-”

“I don’t care omega, don’t steal my clothes anymore,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument as he put his shirt back on. “Anyways, I have a meeting I have to go to, I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t leave your room, I’ll have Alis or Ianthe come up in a bit to check on you.”

Tears filled Feyre’s eyes at the thought of being alone, or worse yet with Ianthe, in this state. “Alpha, please don’t leave,” she begged, managing to push herself onto her knees in the middle of her bed as something inside of her panicked.

Tamlin looked back at her, already with his hand on the doorknob. “Oh, omega,” he sighed, “I already told you this would happen. Just think of it lie a punishment for not telling me you were nesting when you started,” he said coldly, opening the door and shutting it behind him, the sound of it latching breaking the dam on her tears as she fell back into her bed- no, nest.

The rest of her heat had passed in a cramp filled haze, Tamlin stopping in when he had the time, but never for longer than it took for his knot to deflate. She remembered him saying something about his schedule, but couldn’t think of exactly what.

But that was over. The next two heats, three months apart each, had gone fine, though she woke up alone during most days which hurt the part of her that she’d figured out was her omega. She wanted to wake up in his arms, knowing he was there to help if the heat got too unbearable. But that had only happened two days total in her first three heats, in the year since she had been high fae. Not that he wouldn’t burst through her door in the middle of the night if he had a nightmare about her death again. Why he didn’t just sleep in her room, she didn’t know.

But today, that doesn’t matter. Today is her wedding day.

Today is her wedding day, yet Feyre is angry.

She is angry about her dress. The obnoxiously poofy, overly resembling-a-cupcake dress was horribly itchy on her skin, and is just ridiculous and not her at all. Her hair has been teased into a fluffy, curly mess with so many pins she just knows her head will be aching all day.

And her omega? Well, she is pissed about the fact her alpha still hadn’t but her scent gland, marking her as his forever, and he refused to answer why. And, well, her nest hadn’t had any of Tamlin’s scent in it besides what he left behind during her heats, as he wouldn’t let her take his clothes since her first one. She had been more on edge after every heat, and nearing them as well because of the lack of him.

Today is her wedding day, and she’s hoping that after today, during her next heat in a few days, Tam will give her the mating mark her omega is craving. Because if not… she feels she might go insane.

#feyre x tamlin #feyre x rhys #feyre x rhysand #acotar a/b/o #a/b/o dynamics #acotar #acotar fic #feyre #tamlin #acotar omegaverse #my writing #tato writes #smut #feyre x tamlin smut #omega!feyre #omega needs #alpha!tamlin

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drysdaleknieslee · 9 months

Text

Wipe Out - Part 2

I chose to keep the name but change the contents which made this part longer so thank you all for doing the poll.

Word count: 2000+ (i hope you enjoy this)

No warnings in this but rabid Rutger and sweet and blushy Luke!

“Luke needs a pen, Lia, but he doesn’t want to use ours for whatever strange reason,” said Ethan, snickering.

“Mr. Edwards,” said the professor, who looks like he does not have the patience for four rambunctious hockey players at 9 in the morning (neither do I), “is there anything you would like to share with the class that pertains to Economics?”

“No, sir. I’ll keep it down.” “I hope you will.” He said before continuing with the lecture.

A few more minutes go by before I feel something small hit the back of my head. “You can’t aim for shit, Fridge!” I heard Tyler whisper behind me. “So much for hand-to-eye coordination.” The Professor then puts on a video for the rest of the class that ‘carries a lot of information on the material we will learn in this class.’ He’s got his feet kicked up, watching the video as if necessary.

I feel the small object again make contact between my shoulder blades. That’s it.

I whip my head around before whispering, “If you idiots throw another piece of paper at me, I will lose my mind. Luke, here’s a pencil. Next time, ask. And Rutger, you do have terrible aim.” With this, I toss Luke my only good pencil and turn around to act like I’m interested in what the video is saying.

The rest of the class ended smoothly before we were dismissed. I have a two-hour window to give me time to find where I’ll be doing ski practice. As I walk out, I catch the four hockey players in the corner of my eye. They’re nudging Luke towards me as they seem to have inner turmoil before he finally faces me.

His cheeks turned a light crimson before making their way to me. “Hey,” is all he says while scratching the back of his neck, eyes facing the ground, “sorry about class today. The guys can be… well,” as we both look behind him to see the other three snickering like a pack of hyenas.

“It’s not a problem, Luke. Next time, though, ask me for a pencil. I don’t mind.” He cheers up at this, giving me that lopsided grin again. “Oh!” he digs in his pocket and pulls out the pencil I gave him earlier. “You probably want this back. It’s a good pencil. Don’t want you to think I was stealing or anything.”

“Keep it,” I say, giving him a small smile. “I’ve got a bunch of them back at the dorm.” “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. No biggey.”

There’s a ghost of a smile on his face as he sticks the pencil back in his pocket. Then I suddenly remembered practice. “Oh, shoot, I gotta get to practice. I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye, boys!” I say before heading to the practice site.

“Bye, Lia!” I hear the boys scream in sing-song voices. Yep, this year isn’t going to be boring at all.

Fast Forward to Practice

“Alright, ladies! Welcome to the first official practice for Michigan’s Women’s Volleyball. My name is Coach Z, and this is Assistant Coach Mills.” She said, gesturing to the woman beside her.

Coach Z played volleyball for a living. She was a tall redhead with piercing grey eyes. You can tell she meant business. The more I looked at her, the more I saw the Olympic rings tattooed on her left wrist. She went to the Olympics!? She’s the real deal! Coach Mills was way more petite, maybe at 5’6, than Coach Z’s 6’2. She was a brunette with glasses and wore her hair in a messy bun. She was going to be the nice cop out of the two, I can tell.

“This year is a redemption year. Last year, we took a hard loss at championships against Penn State, and I intend on us coming back stronger and harder. Hush it, Hannah!” she said to the snickering blonde in the back. Her face reddened immediately as all eyes were on her. “I know your sister and mother. Don’t try me,” Coach Z warned.

“Now that we have formalities out of the way, I want to see if you are conditioned enough to even get to championships.” Uh oh. “First, we’ll run four laps around the gym, two sets of 30 jumping jacks, two sets of 25 burpees, and then we’ll play some actual ball.”

We all stood in shock. No one moved. Coach Mills calmly pulled out her stopwatch and said, “Laps start now. If anyone is slacking or not putting in their best effort, we’ll add another lap or high-intensity workouts. Time starts NOW!”

We all start running around the court before they drop something else on us. I have no idea how this school is ranked 12th because these two ladies will kill us before championships are even around the corner.

We make it through the drills and the exercises before playing a scrimmage game. I’m on the yellow team, which represents the away team in this case. This is to give the coaches a look into the type of team they’ll play with. I noticed right away that there’s not a lot of communication. “Hey Hannah,” I say, tapping her shoulder after the first set, “you’re a hitter, right?”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Look for me next time you approach the net. I can’t send it to you if you are too early. And Lindsay”, I say to our Libero, “You’re a little late on getting to the middle. That’s why they keep attacking there. Maggie gives her some backup, too,” I say to our middle blocker.

After forming this plan, our side started gaining momentum and earning some points. We had to dig some to save a few, but ultimately, we returned and won the last two sets. Coach Mills dismissed us to the showers before Coach Z yelled my name and someone else.

“LI! Adams! I need to see both of you for a second.”

Another girl and I walk back onto the court. ‘Adams’ stands at 6’0, brunette with blonde highlights, and looks to be a senior.

Coach Z looks both of us over for a second before speaking. “How old are you, Li?”

“17, ma’am. I graduated early,” I say, answering her silent question to go along with her bewildered expression. “Jesus! Ok, Adams, here is our senior in command and our captain. Sorry, I didn’t introduce her to you all. I like seeing everyone act a fool before nearly shitting their pants because the captains have been there the whole time,” She said, snickering. Coach Mills rolls her eyes at this.

“I tell her every year to stop, but to no avail.”

“Anyway, Adams, do you think I would be a good addition to our captain roster for next year?”

Huh? I’m going deaf or forgetting English.

“I don’t see a problem with that. She brought her side back in the last two sets. She’s got a high volleyball IQ.”

I’m forgetting English. Are they talking about me? This is only my first day. Maybe if I try to translate in my head-

“Li!”

“Yes! Sorry, say that again?”

“We want you to be our second captain.”

“Uhm, this is a tremendous honor. I mean, I just got here-“

“Li, I have seen intense competition where you fall back and can’t make up those points. I sat here and watched you form a plan in 2 minutes or less and won a scrimmage game. You read your players and the court like no other. I don’t play with things like this.”

Do it. You know you can do it. Don’t second guess. You can’t fail something you never tried. This woman has seen an Olympic court. Do it.

“It would be my honor to be this team’s second captain.”

Fast Forward

The walk to my next afternoon class is exhausting. I’m going to feel this more in the morning. I stay awake during Bio and Humanities and barely pass college algebra. I walk out of the class and glance at my watch. 3:30 is what it reads. I have plenty of time to go to the library or crash in my dorm.

“Hey Lia,” I hear to my left, and I pray that it’s no one whose name starts with an E or an R. I glance, and I see that mop of curls. Luke. Suddenly, I had all the energy in the world and had to tell myself to calm down mentally.

“Hey Luke, where are you headed to?” Does that sound clingy? I hope not.

“Headed to practice at Yost. What about you?”

“Deciding on heading to the dorm or the library. I had practice this morning.” “How did that go?” he asked as we slowly walked towards Yost.

“Coach asked me to be the second captain. And I said yes.” “No way already! You must be perfect to be on Coach Z’s radar. Everyone here is afraid of her. But I’m happy for you. Captain.”

“Don’t call me that!” I say before playfully hitting his arm and him acting like I shot him.

“Well, I’m happy for you. Really.”

As we walked, I could tell he wanted to ask me something. He alternated between messing with his hair and shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Is there something you need to ask me, Luke?” I broke the silence slightly, startling him.

“Oh! I just wanted to know if you're not tired or busy and want to see us practice. You can study there, and I’ll walk you back like last time.” He rattled off in one breath.

He wants you to see how he plays. He WANTS you there.

“Sure, Luke. I’d like that.”

He gives me that lopsided grin that I like as we finally reach Yost arena. Almost all the guys and a couple of new ones are there.

“LIA!” screamed Rutger as he ran at me at full speed. Thankfully, another boy grabbed his hood before getting too far and nearly choking him. “Will you stop it? You don’t have to act rabid.”

“Dammit, Mark, you almost killed me!”

“If that’ll calm you down, then sure. Why do you think your name is Fridge.”

A blonde then takes up my vision with beautiful teeth. That’s weird. Stop that.

“Excuse the idiots that go by Rutger and Mark. I’m Luca.” Why are all these boys so big? And why are some borderline insane or borderline gentlemen?

“Luke wouldn’t have let him get far- OWW!!” screamed Ethan as Luke elbowed him hard in the ribs before muttering a ‘shut the fuck up!’

“Guys, come up before coach tears us a new one!”

“Coming, Adam dear,” said Rutger. This boy is going to be the death of me.

“Hey, I’ll see you in the stands, ok? Wait till I’m out of the showers, and I can walk you home,” said Luke, whispering. I confirmed him with an Okay before heading to the general stands.

I opt for more seats in the middle to give myself some quiet time before the guys come out. “Is this seat taken?”

I look up, and a blonde girl points to the seat to my right. “Oh no, it’s not. Have at it.”

“I’m Kayleigh, by the way. And you?” “Lia. Nice to meet you.” “Likewise. You here watching someone in particular?” “Um, not really. Luke invited me. I may watch some, but I’m mainly here for homework.” “I’m here for Rutger. Girlfriend has to support boyfriend.” I can’t control my facial expressions because she laughs at me. Rutger. Loud, rabid, and oddly lovable Rutger. HAS A GIRLFRIEND?? I mean, he is good, I can’t deny, but the boy acts like he runs on Red Bull.

“Judging by your face your surprised. He’s a sweetheart, trust me. He is hyper, though.” She says, giggling. Hyper doesn’t even explain the specimen named Rutger.

Just then, the boys come out and start doing drills. Kayleigh informed me that Luke was number 43, which I mentally noted. They all stop after drills to discuss drills with the coach before starting what I assume is the equivalent of a scrimmage.

“Hey, you want to move closer to the glass. You’ll see the ice a lot better that way?” Asked Kayleigh. I reluctantly agreed as we moved behind the glass behind the benches.

Seeing everything up close puts into perspective the difference between our two sports. It’s very high contact, and I cringe whenever someone contacts someone. Amidst all this, I see how passionate Luke is about his sport, just like I’m passionate about mine. His demeanor completely changes when he gets in his defensive position. During the play, he sees me, and I make a small wave and see his mood change again.

It's hard to see through the cage, but I see that lopsided grin again before Luca comes and makes a hit on him.

“Oh my God! Is he ok?!”

“He’s probably fine, but that did look bad.”

“EYES UP HUGHES!” yelled the coach from the ice.

He was slow in getting up, but overall, he looked fine. I could see his neck glowing red above his jersey's neck. I hope I didn’t embarrass him.

The rest of their practice went smoothly. I completed a good amount of my homework and could relax for what felt like the first time today. Kayleigh and I got to know each other better, and she helped me understand some of the hockey terminology and the game's overall play.

At the end of their practice, I did like Luke said and waited for him by the locker room when he finished his shower. I then realized I didn’t give Luke any contact information. Not even socials. How would I bring that up to him? “Hey Lia! I’m done now, so let’s get you home,” said Luke, freshly showered from the locker room. His curls were still a little wet, but thankfully, it was a bit humid outside, so maybe he wouldn’t get a cold.

“Hey, Luke. Sorry about you getting hit. I didn’t mean to distract you,” I said, avoiding eye contact because I felt terrible.

“Hey, it’s alright, please don’t feel bad. The guys just chirped me a little, but that’s all. I like it when you distract me.” I look at him, and I see that he means it. He didn’t hesitate to rephrase it, either.

“Well, I’m glad you're okay,” I said as we left the arena. We bid goodbye to the last of the guys and made our trek back to our dorms. The sky is a mixture of red and pink, signaling evening has come upon us. The breeze picked up a bit; Luke noticed this and gave him his Michigan hockey jacket. “Take this as a repayment for the pencil during class today.”

Luke would never admit it, but he loved seeing his jacket on her. It fueled the underlying feelings for each other, but it was too early for either to announce it.

The rest of the walk is silent but peaceful. Just like the day before when he walked her home. They were enjoying each other’s company. As they approach the dorm rooms, both take a chance to make the first move in their friendship.

“We have a few home games coming up. If you’d like, I can put in a good word and get you good seats in the student section,” said Luke, scratching the back of his neck.

“I think I can do the same for my games. Since I’m captain, I’ll try to convince Coach Z.” He chuckled at this.

“And if you ever need a place to study, you can always come to the arena, and I can walk you home only if you want to! Or we can meet in the library-“ “I’d like that. All of that.”

There’s that lopsided grin again.

We reached the dorm rooms quicker than expected, which was my chance to make the first move.

“Is it ok if I get your number or socials before you go? So that we can talk more outside of class and coordinate schedules?”

“Oh yeah, sure. May I?” I hand him my phone, and he types in his number and pulls up his Instagram so I can follow him.

“Thanks. For pretty much everything.” “Like what?”

“Orientation day, class, your practice, and just being helpful as I settle here. It’s comforting.”

His face turns red at my words as he scratches his neck and tries not to show a smile.

“Well, goodnight Luke. See you tomorrow,” I say, giving him a small smile before heading inside.

“Good night, Lia.”

I had a hard time sleeping that night thinking about today's events. It was a fantastic day. I hear my phone buzz beside me. I look at the glaring screen to see that Luke followed me back. He also sent me a message.

Lhughes_06: here’s our schedule in case you want to see us play

Lia.li.23: thanks, here’s ours too (picture attachment)

Lhughes_06: thanks! I’m glad you stayed for the whole practice. Luca didn’t hit me too hard. I’m too harsh for that.

Lia.li.23: haha sure! Get some sleep. We have a practice tomorrow, too, so if you have time between classes, drop by 

Lhughes_06: for sure. Good night Lia

Lia.li.23: good night, Linguine

Lhughes_06: Luca saw that, and now I won’t live it down.

#luke hughes #devils lb #nhl imagine #luke hughes x reader #nhl #new jersey devils

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emsgwenstan · 10 months

Text

Personal or professional?

Chap 1 | chap 2 | chap 3

Larissa Weems x fem(carpenter/joiner) named reader.

Words: 2k

Warnings: bodily issues, swearing.

Note: imma b honest I’m filling In for the parts I want to write. I’m not there yet. Just know there will be a few things coming within the next few chapters! Xx

———

Just as I was thinking about how ridiculously bold it was for me to put my number on that cup, I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket once I returned home.

‘Meet me at the weathervane in your lunch break tomorrow?~Larissa’

My eyes went wide as I re-read the message over and over until I realise that she can see if I’ve viewed it, I quickly replied.

‘Sure, 12:30? Are you sure you have time?’

Immediately it was seen and I waited in anticipation once the three little dots popped up.

‘That’s fine, even if I don’t I will always make time darling.”

I didn’t know exactly what to reply, so I just turned off my phone and threw it on my bed, I could feel my face flushing at the thought of her. I stripped off and got ready for a shower, the chill of the room raising goosebumps along my skin, the tile floor of the bathroom freezing the soles of my feet, stepping in, I let out a hum at the hot water encapsulating my body finally letting myself relax against the wall, ridding myself of the day, not that it was so bad.

Once out, dried off and dressed, I jump into bed not bothering with dinner, being far to exhausted to cook or order anything, I snuggle into my thick duvet and flick on the tv to half watch and listen to another true crime story. It isn’t always ideal to watch this stuff when I live alone, especially as a woman, but there’s something oddly calming about it, even if I get slightly paranoid. After a while I fell asleep at around 8:00pm, but woke at around 12 to turn the tv off.

———

The next morning I woke up earlier than usual to perfect my simple make up, applying a layer of foundation and mascara, the smallest bit of matte pink lipstick and to be sure to have every hair on my head in place held in a slicked back ponytail. ‘I just hope this will last for at least 8 hours, the next 4 don’t matter.’ I thought.

Throwing on my black jeans and fluoro pink work shirt, as well as a baggy pink and black work wear jacket, I glance at myself in the floor length mirror, every time I do I see nothing I like, nothing pretty, nothing special, I feel like I must be such a curiosity to other people, my job, my height, my weight, my strange mix of masculinity and femininity, I know I’m not skinny or thin but I’m not that big either, anymore at least. The stretch marks on my stomach, thighs and breasts are the things I try so hard to cover up. I can’t help but wonder why anyone would want to be with or associate around someone like me, even if I personally don’t discriminate against what people look like. That also brings me to ponder why Larissa asked to have lunch with me today.

I think my collar bone length, warm blond hair is probably the only thing I change often or really take care of, I try to do my nails and keep them clean and presentable, always painted in a nude pink, which is ironic considering i don’t actually like the colour. I change the studs in all of my piercings, rotating the gold from small hoops to diamonds. My hands are scared and calloused from 22 years of working with rough materials as well as my legs and forearms, I guess I’ve no need to be jealous or overthink about others body’s or physique’s I’m a grown woman after all, but the insecurity is always at the forefront of my mind.

After traipsing out of the house, I finally made it into work at 5am, turning on all the lights and compressors and the radio I listen to until 9, it goes off once my boss turns up. “No music in the factory Violet.” He’d say, which is bullshit, it’s so fucking boring without it. Walking into the shop’s kitchenette, I flick on the kettle to make my morning tea in a travel cup and tap my fingers on the bench in waiting. It’s already freezing today, the cold seeping through my layers of clothing and apparently the concrete walls, yesterday was warm enough to wear shorts and go without a jumper.

Consulting with my boss about the order needing to be placed for the cupboards going to nevermore was nauseating, It took a lot longer than usual because of all the questions he asked about yesterday afternoon. “So how was going to the school for strange kids yesterday?” He asked sarcastically, not looking up from his computer. “Their not strange, their just different to you. And it was fine, obviously got all the information we need.” I said annoyed. “Right.” After a long pause he spoke again. “Miss Weems seemed to enjoy your presence, she didn’t shut up about the stuff you showed her.” I was perplexed and rolled my eyes. “Well at least someone appreciates it.” I said under my breath looking down at my thighs picking bits of lint and sawdust off the material. He was quiet after that.

12:15 rolled around, I grabbed the keys to my personal car and popped back into his office to tell him I’m going on break, it was so nice on the short walk in the sun. I jumped in my black Mercedes sports car and made my way down the street, turning a few corners I parked outside the wethervane and locked the car before entering the cafe. Larissa wasn’t there yet, so I took a seat in a booth next to the large window with my back turned to the door.

Staring out the glass and watching the towns people walk about, some in tandem with each other holding hands, some parents with young children or strollers, a few elderly people walking in groups giving the impression of being friends for years going for a walk with their wife’s arms wrapped around there husbands. One in particular caught my attention, a young man who looks to be in his early 20s exiting the florist bearing a bunch of white roses, his demeanour riddled with nerves, he sat at a park bench close to the other side of the road, pulling out a little black box, he observed it for a moment before snapping it shut, than stood smoothing down his hair and blazer before walking away. A small smile crept on my face hoping all goes well for his next obvious destination, but it quickly faded in a realisation, which I wish to forget.

A hand on my shoulder ripped me out of my mind, turning my head around I see her. Larissa. A huge grin took over my face clearly out doing her small smile. “Afternoon violet.” She greeted. “Hi.” I responded sounding so high pitched I internally cringe at myself. Larissa placed her purse on the surprisingly unsticky table and takes a seat in front of me. “How are you darling.” She asked removing a black leather glove. “I’m alright, not particularly busy today which is pretty good but that just means the day will drag a lot longer, better now I’m here with you though.” I said, staring at her beautifully red painted nails. “Oh that’s horrible, you must get lonely in there by yourself no?” She stated. “It’s nice, but sometimes I wish I had someone to talk to. Don’t you get lonely? Being in your office?” I asked wondering why she’d worry about me when I’m sure she’s in the same position. “Not at all, I have teachers, students, parents, groundskeepers and just about every other kind of person in and out all day, sometimes it gets so frustrating I put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on my door just for at least five minutes of peace.” She exhaled slightly rolling her eyes at the thought, I nodded in understanding, chuckling softly at her annoyance.

Idle conversations flowed between the two of us before we were politely interrupted by a waiter handing over two menus. “What are you having.” I asked her. “A chicken Cesar salad. You?- Oh and I’m paying by the way… you bought me things yesterday.” She stated. “There’s no need really.” I answered. “I insist what would you like.” She pushed. “Probably just a grilled cheese.” I said. “No. Don’t think I don’t know that’s the cheapest thing here, get what you want sweetheart.” My pulse skipped then ran faster at her new term of endearment, I felt like I was melting from the inside out. “Fine I’ll just have the same as you please.” I settled, displaying a shy smile. I didn’t care about the food really, I don’t plan on letting her see me as a naive and difficult thing who can’t pay for myself or play her as a fool, I guess that’s just what happens when you’re completely independent for a long period of time. “Are you sure? you can have anything.” She asked again. “Positive, thank you.” Larissa waved over the previous waiter and ordered for the both of us, we ate once our meals arrived and sat in comfortable silence.

Larissa did in fact pay, she left no room for argument and we both walked out together into the fresh, crisp air and warm sun. “Do you need to go back just yet?” She asked. “No I think having a break over half an hour would be fine considering how much overtime I do that I don’t get payed for.” I chuckled trying to come off lighthearted, but it sounded more bitter than I intended. “What do you mean? What are your allocated hours?” Larissa stoped the slow pace causing me to walk a little in front and turn around to face her concerns. “Allocated… 7:30 to 5, but I usually get to work around 5 and finish at 7.” I said furrowing my brows. “Why?” I ask. Larissa was silent for a moment. “So your telling me you work 12 to 13 hours every day? When your only supposed to be doing 9 and a half?” She asked incredulously. “Yes.” I said almost immediately realising that wouldn’t seem right or normal to anyone else who doesn’t know what it’s like to do my job. I laughed at her, not in a rude way but at her worry. “How do you do that!? You work almost 70 hours a week!” Her eyes growing widder with the facts she’s coming to know. “I’m fine. I manage.” I simply said turning to walk a bit more for her to follow, at this point there is no destination.

“You look gorgeous today, channel right?” I asked, pulling my hand out of my pocket to point at her outfit, a ploy for a change of subject. “Yes, thank you. How did you know that?” She asked. “Just like I know your heels are louboutins, your watch is Valentino, your bracelet it Cartier and your broach is probably the hardest to guess I’m not quite sure about that one, but I know your necklace is personally made. Oh and your pearl earrings are vintage Tiffany & co.” I stated proudly hoping I wasn’t wrong. “You continue to surprise me Violet. First your this strong independent woman who can build an entire house and the interior with you bare hands and now your a fashion expert, what else don’t I know?” She said with an amuse smile. “There is a lot you don’t know about me Larissa, but what ls the fun in letting you in on all my secrets just yet? Who knows, I could be very boring.” I giggled. She shook her head gently and placed her gloved hand on my arm. “You are the most interesting person I’ve been around for quite some time darling, I don’t believe you could ever be a bore.” At that i blushed furiously letting out a foggy exhale.

Larissa was the epitome of ethereal, the way her eyes look so piercing in the sunlight almost as if they were so blue they could be mistaken for white, her porcelain skin illuminated as well as her platinum hair. Right now her nose and cheeks are flushed red and her lips displaying the same shade she had painted on herself, I hoped anyway, their a little swollen due to the cold. “Hey, can I ask you a random question?” I asked timidly hoping it’s not to weird. “Of course you can.” She said. “Do you…ahhh, do you have…someone, like-.” I struggled to spit it out. “A girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife, partner?… no sweetheart.” She continued on, laughing at my shy state. “Right… that what I was trying to say, and how is that, wouldn’t you have plenty of people lined up for you? surely.” I exaggerated. “So your a flatterer to I see.” She gasped feigning herself from being to serious.

About two seconds later Larissa looked away and her attention was taken by the front of the Jericho book shop and Library, she moved so quickly to snatch my wrist and drag me in the direction of the entrance. “Woah, you could have just asked me to come with you.” I just about snorted. “I’m sorry come on I haven’t been in her for ages, please!” The sparkle in her eyes showing unwavering hope. “Of course I’ll come I love books to ya know.” I grinned. “Well that’s another thing I just learned about you.” She said holding the door open for me.

It was so warm and cozy inside, the smell of a vanilla candle that was placed next to the register and the scent of paper was almost nostalgic, I hadn’t been in here for a while either. Larissa ended up in-front of me and I don’t think she realised she held out her hand behind her for me to take. After mild contemplation I took it, Larissa immediately tightened her grip, pulling me along with her to a section she clearly has been down before. She let go of my hand a crouched to the wooden floor removing her gloves again so she could feel the spines of the books.

Larissa was in her element, completely enraptured in her own world. I let her be and scanned the shelves above her, taking an interest to one that was a royal blue colour with gold embossed lettering, I placed my palm on her shoulder to stabilise myself and stood on my tip toes to reach it, admiring for a moment before I could read the blurb, Larissa gasped in excitement. “Yes, I found it!” She exclaimed. “What is it?” I asked. “I hid this book almost a year ago because I didn’t want to buy it at the time.” She said looking up at me. ‘she’s so bloody adorable.’

I helped her off the floor and we moved back to the register. “So what do you have?” She asked. “Um I think it’s a book of poetry, I flicked through it and read one, I like it.” I said. “You should read me one.” She smiled. Before I could respond a little lady with grey hair and a long green cardigan came walking behind the counter from what I assumed was the ‘back’. “Oh Larissa! How are you dear!?” She said surprised. “Francis! I’m well how are you?” She responded, it would be silly to think they weren’t aquatinted. “I’m doing ok, finally got that hip replacement back in may, working like I’m a teenager again.” She said. I quietly chuckled. “That’s wonderful.” Larissa replied placing her book on the counter. “And who’s this lovely lady with you?” She asked. “Oh forgive me, violet this is Francis, fran, this is violet, she’s making the new classroom cupboards for nevermore.” Larissa was almost proud to be able to introduce you to someone. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I said holding out my hand for her to shake, instead she took ahold of my palm with one hand and placed her other on top. “Like wise dear. Your a hard worker I see.” She stated observing my hand. “Thank you?” I said unsure of how to respond.

Larissa stood to the side waiting for me to pay for my own book. “Oh this one’s good, perhaps you can read some to your girlfriend over there.” Francis said talking about the book and Larissa. My eyes were just about bulging out of my head at her words, I was rendered speechless. “Hush now Fran! I see your still cheeky as ever.” Larissa hissed. The elderly lady chortled at her with a shit eating grin. “Don’t you forget it. When you get old you tend not to hold your tongue.” She initially spoke to larissa than back to me. All I could do was stand there awkwardly, but praise her for not giving a fuck, I like her.

We exited the shop bidding the woman farewell and set off to back to our cars. “Sorry about that, I’ve known Francis since I was 14, she can be very brazen sometimes.” She said. “Don’t worry about it shes cute and hilarious… so you went to nevermore when you were at school?” I asked. “Yes, every weekend I’d go to the library part of the shop and sit for hours, than we’d exchange opinions on the books I’d read over a cup of tea.” She expressed clutching the book tighter to her chest. “That’s so sweet, I wish my childhood was that simple, I would have loved to have the freedom to Sit and read until I was to exhausted.” I said. “Well it wasn’t all that easy but I didn’t have to many friends to mingle with I suppose.” I felt a tinge of sadness at her confession, understanding what she means. “Nor did I, but I guess that’s why it’s so important to you now as headmistress right? To ensure all the kids are happy and safe?” I wondered. “Exactly.” She said pulling out her car keys while I simultaneously did the same. We both hit the unlock button to find we were parked right next to each other.

To our surprise we both had the same car, except hers was red. “Nice car.” I said. “Like wise.” She laughed. “Well I suppose this is goodbye.” Larissa said looking at me slightly saddened at the fact. “I suppose it is.” I retorted. Larissa stood peering into my eyes, her expression turned confused. “What?” I asked. “Your eyes…they’ve changed colour, I thought that yesterday, but now I’m sure.” She said hoping she didn’t sound to insane. “Yeah they do that, I don’t really know why, they go from blue, green, grey to blue grey to green blue, it’s weird but I find that when I’m tired my eyes are really blue and when I’m happy or focused they’re really green, almost like a mood ring.” I laughed. Larissa own eyes flickered between my own causing me to become short of breath. “It’s very interesting, very unique.” She said. “What are they now?” I whispered, Larissa seemed to be closer than I thought. “Green on the outside with a little bit of blue in the centre.” She matched my tone of voice. Closing my eyes I took a deep breath and tilted my head down before exhaling and returning the gaze.

“So when will I see you again? Apart from the obvious work reasons.” I asked. “Would Friday night be ok, I could take you out for dinner?… if your not interested then that’s ok we could-.” Yes yes yes yes yes. “No! I’d love to just text me with plans yeah?” I wished I didn’t seem to overzealous. “Really? Alright than I will see you Friday.” She said. “Of course I’ll see you than.” And only than I did something I wish I could take back, something so stupid, so unprofessional. I leaned in a little closer and kissed her cheek, not like it was hard or strained, not even a millisecond went by for me to not look at her after, I all but ran to my car and shoved the keys into the ignition and turned it on ripping the gear stick into reverse to get the hell out of there. I did spare her a glance and and idiotic wave before practically speeding away.

Larissa stood there on the footpath shocked, blushing like one of her students, she returned the wave and set to get in her own vehicle. Sitting in the drivers seat hands clamped to the steering wheel, she let out a chesty giggle and a smile reaching her eyes. It was Larissa’s turn to feel like a giddy little girl. On her way back go nevermore I was the only thing on Larissa’s mind, by the time she arrived through the gates it was just after 2 pm, she would spend the rest of the day in a haze hardly concentrating.

Later that night she dragged a chair in front of her fireplace with a blanket adorned over her lap with her new book in hand and a glass of wine placed on the floor next to her, a relaxing evening to go along with an eventful afternoon. I was much the same, unlike the previous night I had enough energy to make something for dinner while standing in the kitchen with my own book, reading passages from it whilst stirring the food on the stove.

the eyes

are portals to

different worlds

this is why

we shut them in

beautiful moments.

Let’s just say both of our dreams that night were of each other and the next morning consisted of thoughts for Fridays dinner.

———

Just wait for the dinner;)

@lex13cm @im-a-carnivorous-plant @barbarasstar @giogwensversion @sabraaabra

#larissa weems #gwendoline christie #principle weems #wednesday #larissa weems x y/n #larissa x reader #gwenchrist(ie)#wlw fanfic #larissa weems x reader

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pistachiolattesstuff · 1 month

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Things i’ve manifested #back to school edition

Because YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!! 🫵🏼

1. Moneyy

Context; last week I went thrifting and I was so ashamed cuz I didn’t have much money left, I was feeling restricted with shopping and there was still some things I wanted to buy for my back to school then I said in the store out of nowhere « of course I have money wtf, I am a money magnet » while going on with this belief and forgetting about it, then my mom’s friend came and because it was his last day he said « I didn’t gave you a present in your birthday, here 50$ (50€ cuz I’m European but I think it’s practically the same)

2. Money again ?

So I was happy that I finally have money again but I knew it wasn’t enough for the things I needed for school and the new pair of shoes I wanted cuz I basically have just one pair of sneaker and one other for P.E , the rest is like a pair of mary janes, platform boots , and flats with a small heel (also manifested <3)…

Anyway, I affirmed « don’t worry you already have all you need » then I forgot about it because I went to sleep and when I woke my mom said « I made a budget of 250 $ for your back to school I’ll take you out tomorrow, like this you can buy the things and there will have some money left for the shoes you wanted » my jaw literally dropped…

3. Makeup!!

So I absolutely wanted the KIKO glosses especially the shade 44 and the 16 or 22 and a new navy blue mascara and a normal one.

Today my mom took me out and I bought the KIKO glosses I didn’t find the shade 44 but in the back of my head I was always like « it would be cool if they had the shade 44 with the silver packaging » and I only realize now that I got almost the same shade in a silver packaging and ofc got the shade 16, I also found in another store the two mascara colors I wanted for the price of the one I wanted so I’m happy !

4. Shoes !!!

The shoes I wanted were the adidas superstar XLG in light pink but it was sooo hard to find them on the internet and the price would go over my budget so I went in a store and the guy said it was a limited edition and it was probably too late if I wanted them but I didn’t mind cuz the first I wanted were the OG black and I found them on the internet with my SIZE and less pricey !!

I can’t wait to receive them!!!

Just to say YOU CAN DO IT TOO POOKIE!!

And if it’s not exactly what you wanted it’s something better and maybe for it to be something even better after !

777🪷

#loassumption #loassblog #loa tumblr #loablr #loa blog #loa success #loa #manifesting #manifesation #angel numbers #lucky

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estrellami-1 · 1 year

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Steddie Week 2023

May 27th Prompt: True

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 7

@steddie-week

“True.”

It’s something they had started a while ago, when Eddie had first awakened in the hospital after an unsure week. He hadn’t remembered much, what he did remember was jumbled around, and half the time the only parts he could voice were random phrases.

Steve had begun answering in one of two words: true or false. Eddie’s face told him if he wanted clarification, but for the most part he was content with just knowing what was true.

Now, it had settled into their daily vernacular. Sometimes it’s something silly, sometimes it’s something a bit heavier.

But always, always, they tell each other the truth.

“Grape’s better than cherry,” Steve says, grinning, teasing, holding up his drink.

Eddie makes a face. “False.”

Steve laughs, takes a swig. No matter what Eddie says, they both have both flavors in their fridges, and Steve doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.

“You hate Hawkins,” he says suddenly.

Eddie looks steadily at him. “True,” he says quietly.

“You want to leave.”

Eddie closes his eyes. “True.” He takes a breath. “You’re staying. For the kids.”

I’d come if you asked, Steve thinks, but says, “True.”

“You won’t miss me.”

Steve locks eyes with Eddie. “False,” he says, choking on the sincerity.

Eddie’s eyebrows furrow. He jokes weakly, “You’re trying to make this harder for me.”

Steve can’t joke, doesn’t answer, just looks away and takes another drink. Hopes it’ll stave off the tears in his eyes. “I should go,” he finally says. “It’s getting late, I’ve got a shift-”

“False,” Eddie interrupts, hand latching on to Steve’s wrist. “Robin was complaining today about having to open tomorrow. Steve?”

Steve doesn’t look at him. Can’t. “What do you want me to say? That I don’t want you to go? That I’d never stop you from leaving? That I’d follow if you asked?”

“And what am I supposed to do?” Eddie whispers back. “Because you know I’d never tear you from the kids. You know the town hates me. You know leaving you, leaving the kids, is gonna tear me apart. But the town might literally tear me apart if I don’t leave.”

“We’re doomed,” Steve says softly.

“True,” Eddie says sadly, tugs gently on Steve’s wrist. “But maybe not tonight.”

Steve looks at Eddie. Smiles through his tears. “True,” he agrees, and lets himself lean in. Lets himself have what he never dreamed he could, if only for a night.

The next morning, Eddie smiles at Steve. “Fuck the town,” he says quietly. “Ask me to stay.”

Steve’s eyes light up with barely-repressed hope. “You’ll stay? For me?”

“True,” Eddie whispers, and leans in.

#steddieweek2023 #stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #prompt: true #I think this is originally from hunger games but I don’t remember #I wanted to add misunderstandings but I’m not sure this would qualify #starambles

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ladykailitha · 1 year

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If I Rescue You, Will You Rescue Me, Too? Part 12

Woohoo!! I managed to get it done today. Again no promises on tomorrow, but it’s coming along great. I think I have another couple chapters to go, but I’m not sure exactly how many yet.

RIP Eddie’s poor little mind.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

Eddie leaned into the mic and said, “This is for Chrissy and the victims of Hawkins.”

He sat down on the stool and Kirk gave him a thumbs up and then ran to stand next to Steve.

“Just how good is your friend here?” Kirk yelled for Steve to hear.

Steve just grinned.

Then Eddie started the opening chords. It started slow and then gradually ramped it up.

Steve started to bob his head. This was even more incredible than Eddie’s performance in the Upside Down because he had the bass and rhythm guitar to back him when he started. Then the drums hit and Eddie was in his element.

Steve hadn’t seen how hard he went to town on his guitar that day. But Dustin had. He had told Steve that it was the most metal thing he had ever seen. Watching Eddie now, wounded and hurting, putting all his fear and anger into that song, he could believe it.

Kirk looked over at Steve and raised an eyebrow. Steve smirked. It was only going to get better.

Eddie hit the solo and Kirk’s jaw dropped. Steve could see Eddie raise from the stool to standing. He was shredding away and the crowd was eating it up.

Steve let out a piercing whistle and Eddie smiled.

When the song finally came to an end, the roar of the crowd was deafening.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Eddie Munson!” James screamed into the microphone.

The crowd lost their god damn minds.

Kirk came back out and got the crowd cheering again. “I’m worried for my job,” he said getting a laugh from the audience.

“You can keep it for now,” Eddie said with a grin. “I’ve got my own band.”

The crowd oohed and stomped their feet.

James looked over at him. “So what your saying is not get to comfortable or your band will come for us?”

Eddie laughed excitedly. “That’s the plan, man.”

“Let’s hear it again for Eddie Munson!” Kirk roared into his microphone.

The crowd cheered. Eddie reluctantly handed back the guitar and went back to stand next to Steve.

“I’m not sure if I want to kill you or kiss you right now!” Eddie growled into Steve’s ear.

Steve laughed. “It’s not over with yet!”

Eddie gave him the side eye but turned his direction back to the concert. The rest of the concert was a smashing hit and Eddie loved every second of it.

Afterwards they had pictures taken with the band and Ozzy Osbourne who was well on his way to be sloshed as fuck. But he managed to stay upright for the photos.

Eddie could feel the adrenaline pulsing through his veins and was on top of the world. He was sure that he was the highest he could possibly go.

Until someone came up to Eddie and handed him the guitar he had used on stage. Signed by all the members of Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne.

“Holy shit!” Eddie said looking down at the instrument in his hands. “Thanks, guys. Thank you so much.”

Lars patted him on the back. “When we were told that you lost yours in the earthquake, we knew that we had to do something for you to replace it. We know it’ll never be your sweetheart.”

“But we hope it’ll carry you to wherever you decide to go,” James agreed.

Kirk put a hand on his shoulder. “When Corroded Coffin gets famous, hit us up for a tour, yeah?”

Eddie nodded, too afraid to speak or he’d start crying.

“They absolutely will,” Steve said confidently.

They stayed for a couple of drinks with the band before they set off again for the hotel.

By the time they got back, Eddie was swaying on his feet, still clutching that guitar to his chest. Steve had been given a soft case to keep it protected on the way home, but he didn’t think Eddie would let go of it long enough to use it.

Once they got up to the hotel, Steve gently maneuvered Eddie over to the couch and sat him down.

Eddie looked up at Steve, tears threatening to fall. “Stevie...”

“Hi, there, beautiful,” Steve said, kneeling in front of him.

“This was too much,” he insisted.

Steve shook his head. “Nuh-uh, do you remember what I told you?”

“That it was the perfect amount of awesome for me?” Eddie whispered.

“That’s right, sunshine,” Steve murmured. “You didn’t deserve to be pulled into the Upside Down because you wanted to you wanted to go to a concert and selling drugs was your only option. You didn’t deserve to be dragged into hell because you saw a girl who needed help and did you best.” He rubbed Eddie’s thighs reassuringly. “This was something we could do for you because the nightmares are going to come if they haven’t already. Because you’ll jump at strange noises, because the sound of something snapping will bring it all back. But you didn’t deserve that, sunshine. Any of it.”

Eddie set the guitar down for the first time and brought Steve’s face up to meet his. They kissed softly. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he breathed.

“You’re welcome, Eds.” Steve stood back up and held out his hand to Eddie. “Come on, let’s go get that bath, babe.”

They both laid in the tub, Eddie with his back, pressed against Steve’s chest.

“Hmm...” Eddie purred as the jets massaged away the tension that had built up from the excitement. “I’ve decided when I get rich and famous, I’m going to have one of these in every bathroom I own.”

Steve’s chuckle rumbled against Eddie’s back. “Yeah, this is nice. The company is better though.”

Eddie splashed him gently. “Softy.”

Steve kissed the top of Eddie’s head. “Only for you, sunshine.” He looked down. “You want me to wash your hair?”

Eddie just hummed again, which Steve took as a yes. He had put the soap and things nearby because he worried Eddie might fall asleep in the bath. It was the most intimate Steve had ever been with anyone. It was a rush. He thought sex was height of intimacy but this? This topped sex.

He washed Eddie’s hair and then ran conditioner through it. He massaged Eddie’s scalp, and Eddie let his head droop lazily against Steve’s shoulder.

“Feels good, sunshine?” Steve asked into Eddie ear.

Eddie hummed happily. “So good.”

After Steve had worked in the conditioner, he grabbed the pitcher that he filled with warm water and gently poured it over it Eddie’s head, rinsing out the suds.

Steve scrunched his hair in his fingers to make sure that all the conditioner was out.

“You ready to get out or did you want to stay a little longer?”

Eddie rolled a little into Steve’s arms. “Just a little longer. This is so good.”

“Okay, babe,” Steve murmured.

They woke up the next morning snuggling together in the king size bed. Steve woke first. He looked down at the boy in his arms and smiled. This weekend had turned out even better than he even dreamed. At best they would be heading back to Hawkins full of potential of something new. At worst, Eddie turned him down and they would have an awkward ride back. But having waking up the second day in a row in each other’s arms? Steve’s imagination wasn’t that good.

Eddie stirred. “I can hear you thinking from here, babe. Go back to sleep.”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Whatever you say, love.”

They snuggled closer and drifted back to sleep.

Eddie woke up first the second time. He had been so sure that last night had been a dream, but he was lying in Steve’s arms and from here he could see the guitar on the sofa reminding him that no, it hadn’t been a dream. This was his life now.

Once they were fully awake they decided to skip breakfast and just stop for lunch on the way back. They packed up all their stuff, plus all the loot they had gotten last night. In addition to the guitar Metallica had gotten Eddie, they also gave Eddie and Steve goody bags filled with band merch. T-shirts, posters, tour pins. It was quite the haul. They packed the car, the new stuff going on the backseat.

Eddie wanted the guitar up front with him but he couldn’t get it to fit safely, so he was forced to put it on the backseat with the rest of it. He looked back at in longing before he face forward, allowing Steve to drive away.

They merely bought some fast food and ate in the car. But it was Steve and not Eddie that insisted they stay near the guitar.

“I think it’ll be okay for twenty minutes, sweetheart,” Eddie said when they stopped.

Steve shook his head. “Things have been going so well this weekend it would be just my luck that something happens the second I look away. Nope. Can’t do it.”

Eddie chuckled and pulled him close. “If it’ll put your mind at ease, babe, then we’ll eat in the car.”

Steve’s shoulders sagged with relief. This had been a first test of sorts, if Eddie could handle Steve’s little anxieties. And he had passed. At least this time.

Steve banished that thought. He wasn’t going to sabotage this relationship before it even got off the ground.

Eddie pulled his arms around his waist and held him tightly. “Just breathe, Stevie. You’re okay.”

Steve let out a shuddering breath. “Sometimes it becomes too much.”

“I’d be more concerned if it didn’t, sweetheart,” Eddie murmured into Steve’s hair. “You have been fighting an unseen, unsung battle for years. And even though Vecna’s dead and his hold on the Upside Down is destroyed, there is still a chance that something else might happen. That could be tomorrow. Next week, next month. But maybe not for decades and you’d have no way of knowing. It’s okay to freak out about little things. Because you can control those, yeah?

Steve nodded.

“So why don’t I go grab us something to eat,” he continued. “And I’ll be right back. Then you can keep an eye on our stuff, while I’m gone?”

Steve let out another shuddering breath, this one seemed to dislodge whatever fear he had bottled up inside him. “Yeah. I can do that.”

Eddie was in and out in no time at all and they sat happily munching on their greasy burgers and slurping their sodas. Slowly Eddie got Steve laughing and relaxing.

Once they were done with their food they through away the garbage and made the last leg of their journey to Hawkins.

They needed to go to the hospital and see Dr Hathaway, but they stopped by Eddie and Wayne’s new house first.

They dropped off all of Eddie’s things and put Steve’s loot in the trunk. And once he had successfully done that, Steve breathed a sigh of relief.

Eddie gave his shoulder a squeeze in support. And then piled back into the car for the drive to the hospital. Steve had called them from the house and let them know they were on their way.

Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

Tag List: @anaibis @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @whalesharksart @nburkhardt @snapshotmaestro @shrimply-a-menace @theotalksalot @child-of-cthulhu @bookbinderbitch @cr0w-culture @punctualhowell @obliosworld @eddiemunsonswife @sharingisntkaren @dididisrespectyourbridgegoatman @lillemilly

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #season 4 fix it #ladykailtiha writes

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hauntedrain · 9 months

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Midnight rain | Remus Lupin x Slytherin! Reader|

Prompt/inspo:” Midnight rain” by Taylor Swift. Maybe a bit of “you're losing me”.

A/N: Maybe I’ll make part 2? First official fic I’ve written so might not be the best. Not edited.

Warnings: Some cussing (very little), first person POV, once again not edited, so bad grammar and potentially bad spelling. A little bit of out of character Remus and a bit of angst?

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Why are you doing this? Com’n… did I do something?”

I could smell burnt wood and chocolate off of him, he wrapped his arms around me as I continued to do my homework. Homework that I desperately needed to finish.

“No, I just need to get this done Remus. Give me a minute.” I say, I get up and out of his arms, to walk over to my bookshelf looking for a book for transfigurations.

“Give it a break Y/N.” I looked at him for the first time tonight. His hair was a bit of a mess, he also looked tired, and you could see his eyes were a bit sleepy. He was in a sweater that Sirius gave him last year for Christmas and baggy jeans, something we could only wear on the weekends of hogwarts. “You’ve been studying 24/7, I haven’t talk to you in fucking days. And if we have talked all you do is reply with one word responses.”

“Remus. I’m trying to finish this. I’m just busy, I have things to do.” I say in a bit of a snappy voice. I just needed to get this homework done so I could get the rest of the weekend and following week off. But it was difficult chasing that outcome when you were constantly bombarded with requests from others.

“You’ve been busy ignoring me. Just stop for a few hours. Come sit with me, play chess with me, something!” He exclaimed, he looked hurt, his hands were in slight fists, not in a mad way but a desperate way.

“Like I said, I need to finish this. I’ll be done in a bit, just give me a minute. Just because you have everything done and set doesn’t mean I do! Just please Remmy. Give me a bit.”

He looked at me with desperate eyes but then slightly turned away to pick up the stuff he put on the desk. “Fine. I’ll see you… I’ll see you when you’re finally done.” He looked at me one last time and then went out the door without another word.

I put the book back on the shelf and walked over to my desk, I had a bit more pages to go and then I’ll be done. I’ll talk to him tomorrow if I end up finishing by tonight.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

“Did you finish the homework for transfigurations?” Severus asked me as we walked to breakfast.

“Yea, I got it done last night. Did you do the potions homework?” I asked as we walked into the great hall, we went directly to the Slytherin table where Regulus and his friends sat.

“No, it’s not due until Friday. Did you finish it?” Severus asked, he smiled at me and continued. “I don’t even think I have to ask, do I?” He started to put toast and eggs on his plate as he talked.

“Of course. It’s better to get it done than wait. Hi Regulus.” I replied to Severus before acknowledging Regulus.

“Hi miss overachiever. How’s your guy’s morning?” Regulus asked, he looked between Sevurus and I. I laughed slightly before replying,

“My morning is nice so far, do you guys have any plans today? I need to go to Hogsmeade later so I can pick up a new book and quill, would you guys like to join me?” I asked, I finished my toast and eggs so I started to get up. I was waiting for them to reply but then I felt a tap on my shoulder that followed with a greeting. Turning around I was faced with Remus. “Oh. Hi.” I saw smiling a bit. I gave him a kiss on the cheek before pulling back. “Do you need anything?”

“I wanted to talk to you, can you come to the hall with me? Just for a bit.” He said pulling my hand a bit so I could move with him out of the great hall.

“Uh, yea sure.” We walk out of the great hall into the side corridors, it’s pretty cold in them due to it being mid winter.. “What do you need to talk about?” I ask as we face each other.

“I wanted to know if you wanted to go to dinner with me tonight,” He asked “I’m sorry for getting mad last night, I know you want to finish those things but sometimes I miss you. So will you go to dinner with me?”

I smiled before replying, “of course. And you don’t need to be sorry, I know I work a lot but I need to finish and do things like that.” I say pulling him closer. I smile up at him before giving him an actual kiss this time. I could feel him smile into the kiss as he put his hand on my waist.

This isn't something we do a lot, especially in public, people have and are very reluctant on a Slytherin and Gryffindor dating. It was hard to get both of our friends to fully accept but overall now it’s fine. But we still take precautions which means little to no PDA In Public. “I’ll see you tonight then? I can get you at 6:35?.”

“Yes Mr. Lupin. 6:35 is fine.” I say before walking away back into the great hall so Regulus, Severus and I can go to hogsmeade.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

During dinner with Remus ~

“Well I mean I don’t know… maybe just go with the flow? Settle down?” Remus said he was in an old band tee that fit him oversized. We sat in a slightly dim ThreeBroomSticks while eating dinner.

“Settle down? Like…” I said kinda surprised, we talked about life in the future before, getting married and having kids. But I thought we would wait, not something right after hogwarts. I had plans and dreams to chase, I wanted to be known, and known in a good way and not in a bad way.

“Yea, settle down. Do you not want that? I thought you did.” He said he titled his head looking a bit sad and worried. He put down his fork and looked at me with his full attention.

“Yeah I did… but like right after hogwarts? Don’t you think that’s too soon? I want to travel and work, I just think we should wait.” I said slightly confused.

“Why wait? James and Lily are doing the same, and I bet they’ll still travel and work.” He wasn’t mad when he said this, but I could tell he was slightly offended. He pulled back his body so he would lean back onto the booth chair and crossed his arms. His face was slightly hurt but more so confused.

“But that’s James and Lily. They’ve said it over and over again that they don’t have anything big, they don’t have any big goals or dreams they want to complete. I want to and need to go after my goals, I don’t wanna settle down just like that, Remus. I want to make a name for myself.” I exclaimed. For me it was clear, I had goals and priorities, I wanted to work and do something meaningful for my life, I wanted to have a life that didn't revolve around a husband and kids. I didn’t wanna be a stay at home wife or a stay at home mom, I wanted something more, I wanted to chase that fame to make myself a name.

“It’s always about the fame for you isn’t it? Why do you need to be known far and wide? Those people won’t know you for who you are, I do. We talked about this, do you really not want this? Or that? Any of what we discussed?” He said, this time it was with anger however not loud, no one was really in here with us besides the servers and the bartenders so it wasn’t causing a scene.

“I want something for myself! Why is that so foreign? It’s not like I don’t want the stuff we discussed, I just assumed that we would wait a bit.”

“Y/N. Answer me honestly. If I were to ask you right now, if you wanted to marry me, would you say no?”

Once again I was surprised. I didn’t expect him to ask that. He looked at me with curious hurt eyes, it wasn’t something you see often from Remus. He was quiet and more closed off, so emotions vivid from his eyes weren't a very often thing to see. Nonetheless I didn’t know what to say, I knew what I wanted with my life but I didn’t want to throw his “proposal” away like nothing. Everytime I wanted to say something it didn’t sound right, or it didn’t come out. Eventually after opening my mouth slightly and then closing it once again Remus scoffed.

“Say something Y/N, choose something! Come on… really?” He said desperately. He looked at me as if I just killed him after I didn’t respond. He ran his hand through his hair before he got up and walked out, he didn’t look back once. He left.

I sat there confused on what to do. Does this mean we’re done and over? Did I just ruin everything? Did I lose the love of my life or was it not going to work? Was I crazy to want a name for myself?

I got up and paid, and I started to walk out the door. It was late, extremely late. I opened the door and it was raining. Midnight rain.

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