#It's just a hurt and scared stick surrounding by their injured friends

[knightmareaceblue]

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[briefalpacashark]

~Darkest fear~

The boys of 141 find out your darkest fear.

Warning: Swearing and mentions of needles.

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How well did you fit in with the boys of 141. Too well. From day one you and Soap instantly connected. Price called you Soap 2.0. Why? Because your sarcasm and wit had you and Soap bantering for hours on end. Everything you two would say would just feed and complement the others. And God help whoever you were making fun of that day. One time Gaz had to endure two hours of back and forth. You had worked with Price before, and you were already close. Gaz you become quick friends with. And Ghost, well although slightly intimidated by the giant you came to respect one another, and the specialist abilities you both held. 

After all, you were respectful and kind. You always wore a smile and they would never admit it but to them you were like a little ball of sunshine. Or like a cute little puppy.

One day, about two days before your next mission you walked into base. Into the shared common area. To your surprise you found Gaz, Soap, and Ghost all standing around the far side of the table.

“What's going on?” you asked. Hearing the door shut behind you. You glanced back to see Price locking it and then placing his body in between you and the exit.

“You alright captain?” you asked hesitantly seeing his nervous look. 

“Damn cap, you look like you're trying to shit a brick,” Soap commented with a bemused chuckle. He wore a smirk that showed he was far too happy to be there.

“She can't be that bad,” Gaz shrugged, gesturing to you.

“What am I bad at?” You asked with a confused chuckle.

“Alright love. Now I want you to be calm,” Price raised his hands like he was talking to an injured animal. Love, it was a nickname all the british lads used. 

“Calm, what you on abou-” Your words trailed off as you spotted the syringe in his hand. It was a shot. A vaccination of some kind. Instantly you scooted away from him moving around the table. Your blood ran cold as adrenaline filled your every being. You were scared of needles. Scared to the point where you would do anything to keep away from them.

“The fuck is that cap?” You asked lowly.

“Wait, you're really scared of needles?” Soap chuckled at your reactions as you hide yourself behind him.

“Love, come on now,” Price was really trying his best.

“Price, I told you. I fucken told you. You drug the fuck out of me and then that's when you give me the fucking shot,” You had a plan, one Price knew about and had done before for quite a few of your shots. You would take a sedative and that's when they would stick you. Was it ethical, no in the slightest. but it was the only way of giving you a shot without anyone getting hurt.

“I know, but this one needs to be taken when you're conscious. Something bout side effects or what not,” he explained calmly.

“I told you how I get cap,” you mumbled, pointing an accusing finger at him as you shifted from side to side.

“I know, that's why I got the lads here,” he said, nodding to them. You looked at the three that surrounded you with betrayal.

“You're in on this?” You asked. “Come on lass, it's just a little needle,” Soap smirked loving the ammo he was receiving to tease you later with. "I thought you Australians were supposed to have nerves of steel?" he joked.

“I don't think you guys understand the severity of this. I turn feral ok. I once almost bit a doctor's finger off, ok,” You admitted honestly.

“Almost?” Ghost asked.

“It doesn't matter. Cap you can't do this alright. Let's just do it tomorrow yeah?” You said as you went to slip out of the little corral they had you in only for Gaz to hold up his hand to stop you.

“Grab her,” Price gave the order. 

“Eat a dick Price!” You snapped. Gaz was the first to reach for you. With a cocky and bemused smirk, he went to grab you. A cocky smirk that was slammed against the table. Everyone's eyes went wide at the movement. You had ducked under his hand taking ahold of it and grabbed his neck slamming his face onto the table. It was a reaction; one you had no control over. 

“Oh my god, I'm sorry,” You rushed out the words shocked at your own actions. Soap was the next one to reach for you, well more like tackle. You crouched sliding to your left through Ghost's legs.

------ 

A few other soldiers on the base stared in confusion at the barrack building. What sounded like a bar fight was happening inside. The sounds of breaking furniture and shattering plates filled the air. 

There was a shocking amount of swearing and a few choice sentences before you slammed through the window. Shattering it upon impact and landing from the three story building in a tuck and roll.

And then you legged it. Like the devil himself was on your heels. There was another commotion before the three men stumbled out of the room, Pierce with a busted nose, Gaz holding his head, Ghost dusting the remnants of a broken glass of his shoulder and Soap still laying on the floor inside curled up in the fetal position. His hands clutching his family jewels. 

“How the fucks did she do that?” Price muttered in confusion as they watched your disappearing figure.

The boys in all their wisdom beside to treat giving you the shot like a mission. On the thoroughly planned and scoped out before enacting. Little did they know it would be one of their hardest missions yet. They tried to administer the shot 29 times. Every time they would come up with a different plan. They had tried everything, bribery, outsmarting you, trapping you. None of it worked, you always managed to get away.

“Macgyver!” You bloody froze as you heard your call sign. At that very moment you sat perched up in the very high corner of an aircraft hangar. Had you scaled the walls to get there, yes, was it your greatest idea, no. But you weren't thinking logically. You knew it was stupid how frightened you got but you just weren't able to control it.

“We know you're here,” they called again. You peeked around the large beam spotting only Ghost in the entrance. Instantly you looked for the others. Were they trying to trap you again? 

“Come on Sargent,” He was your Lieutenant. You should have listened to him. But you kept your mouth shut happily perched in your little hidey hole. 

“It's fine. Just so you know Gaz it hurt. Idiot sprained his ankle running afta ya,” He informed. Instantly you felt guilty, and a little worried for your teammate. You wanted to get down and help, but you also knew the possibility of it being a trap. Ghost waited a few moments before cursing under his breath. He began to search the hanger. Under every trap inside every plane. Around every corner. He looked like he was about to give up. Then out of sheer luck for him, and anything but luck for you he looked up. Instantly the two of you made eye contact. He stared for a moment truly grasping the situation, trying to forget about how exactly you got up there. 

“The fuck you doing up there?” his gruff voice asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

“Thought it looked like a comfortable place to sit,” you shrugged nonchalantly. Ghost took in the awkward sit/balanced crouch you had going on.

“Oh yeah, it looks real comfortable,” he said.

“Well I am,” you stated.

“Right, well come on now, fun's over,” he nodded for you to come down.

“Respectfully sir. Suck a dick” Ghost propped an eyebrow at the insult. With your apologetic expression he knew you didn't mean it, but he had to admit. It was refreshing to see someone who was willing to insult him. “Fine, well it's either you get down yourself or I come get you,” he gave you the ultimatum.

“You're right, Let my just give up now and come down. Just like you said,'' You pretended to get ready to descale the walls.

“Thankyou,” Ghost was actually genuinely thankful. He thought by some miracle you were actually going to listen to him. 

“Yeah you know just let me,” Quickly snapping back to your original position you flipped him off. He stared for a few bewildered moments.

“That's just childish,” he said.

“You're a child,” you snapped back.

“Right,” Ghost huffed, walking up to the beams. You watched him as he struggled to scale the walls. After all he was a big man, he was carrying a lot of weight. As he finally reached the beam you were on he turned to look at you. Only you weren't there. He frowned looking down to see you sliding down a beam and hitting the ground. 

“Fuck,” he quickly did the same. Hearing the thunderous footsteps of Ghost feet would be encouragement enough for anyone to run for their lives. To you it was a reminder that you not only insulted your lieutenant but you flipped him off and called him a child. You had just made it outside of the hanger. 

Now you were fast, the fastest on the team when it came to running. You could have outrun him. Only when you stepped out into the open did you feel a sharp pain hit your left ass cheek. 

“Fucking Ass!” you came to a small hopping stop as you looked for the culprit. A little red feathered dart had been plugged into the soft tissue of your ass. 

“Did you just shoot a dart at my ass!” Your bewildered and angry yell was directed to the general direction of where it had come from. Price sat on the roof of a nearby building, dart gun in hand, Gaz by his side with a pair of binoculars.

“Direct hit,” GAz announced.

“She's pissed,” Soap commented as they watched your little tantrum. 

Later that night you stood outside on your little makeshift patio area. You hand rubbing the still stinging spot on your ass with a permanent frown. Hearing the door open you snapped your head around to glare. Ghost silently walked out and stood beside you.

“Using Gaz was a low blow,” you grumbled. Ghost silently looked over you, your cute little frown. It reminded him of a toddler that wasn't allowed to have chocolate. 

“Then what do you call kicking Johnny in the balls?” he asked.

“Tactical,” you grumbled. You were surprised to hear the softest huff of a chuckle come from Ghost. It was times like these you wish you could see his expression. But you were sure you saw the side of his mask where the edge of a smile would be, tilt upwards. The idea of Ghost smiling had you chuckling.

“What's so funny?” he asked.

“All this, I'm a medic you think I'd be comfortable with needles,” you chuckled.

“That ain’t funny. Soap getting kicked in the balls. That's funny. Fucker deserved it,” Ghost said. You chuckled again. Ghost glanced over at you, he liked your laugh. It was always a true honest one.

“Well I guess I should apologize about the disrespect I've shown today,” With a deep sigh you stood at attention. “I apologize for the disrespect I showed and not listening to orders,” You said with an embarrassed smile.

“So what will be the punishment, Lieutenant?” You asked. This was the first time you had done anything wrong with the boys. While they seemed ok with it, you were used to the military hierarchy. You had insulted a higher ranking officer once. It didn't go so well. You expected Ghost to be no different.

“Not gonna punish you,” he shrugged. You let out a relieved sigh closing your eyes. “But,” when you opened them again, Ghost was standing directly in front of you. On instinct you stepped back, hitting the pole you had been leaning on. Ghost closed the distance. You swallowed as he stepped close enough for you to feel his body heat, your neck craned back to make eye contact with him. 

“Don't ever call me a child again,” he stated his voice dropping into a serious tone. You quickly nodded with an awkward chuckle. It was meant to be intimidating, Ghost had used his size to intimidate before. While you were intimidated there was one thing that kept your attention. You could have sworn you could see a smirk under that mask. 

“Um, yeah sure,” You muttered. Leaning down he hovered his head by your ear, his hot breath faint through the mask but you could still feel it. You felt your heart jump. skip a beat and then rattle the back of your throat. Why was he so close?

“I promise you love I'm no kid,” he whispered. You were barely able to frown at his comment when something pricked your thigh. 

“The fuck was that?” you asked at the small amount of pain giving Ghost’s chest a soft shove. He stepped back holding his hand up that held an empty syringe.

“You bastard,” you whispered. Now you were sure he was smirking. You could see it in his eyes.

“Price thought it best not to tell you about the second shot,” he shrugged nonchalantly. Wow, so he basically just gave you a mini heart attack just to give you a shot.

“Next time I need to take blood from you I'm gonna miss your veins so many times,” you threatened half heartedly.

“Good thing I'm not scared of needles,” he said, his eyes shining smugly.

“You..” You glared at the tease. He simply turned towards the door. 

“Fuckers,” you grumbled as you watched him walk back into the barracks.

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--COD Master List Here--

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[rxdidz]

✧･ﾟ: relationship headcanons

✧･ﾟ: lo’ak x reader, neteyam x reader, kiri x reader, na’vi reader

❥ neteyam

definitely protective of you, even if you can defend yourself.

you two met at a ceremony and he was smitten fr

he would smile to himself while watching you from afar until lo’ak told him to stop being a wimp and to ask you out

you’re gonna have to listen to him rant about him being the oldest child and how he feels ab it

just sit and listen and you’ll be alright! 🤗

after talking about it he’s gonna feel bad though so he makes you talk about you

very worried if you hurt yourself even the slightest it’s cute

his parents think you’re good for him and his siblings love you, especially tuk

he loves forehead kisses fr

hold. his hands. he has very pretty hands.

watch the stars with him please

his love language is definitely words of affirmation, compliment him, praise him literally anything and he’s head over heels.

overall he would be a very sweet and protective bf :)

❥ lo’ak

childhood best friends to lovers !!

very shy when you first start dating, bro was terrified while asking you out because he was scared you’d stop being his friend, he loves you romantically or not

his mom and dad love you, you keep him in line.

his siblings of course love you, neteyam teases lo’ak whenever he’s around you, and tuk treats you like her sister fr

“she’s trying to take you away from me 😞” he would whine to you about his 7yr old sister.

hold his face in your hands. he loves it. he’ll do the same to you.

touch starved lowkey

wants you to braid his hair because he’s too lazy to do it himself 🙄 (he likes you touching his hair)

likes to admire you, because you’re just so pretty and when he gets caught he gets embarrassed

he pulls you’re tail because he’s annoying.

very sarcastic and flirty when he wants to be i love him sm :(

❥ kiri

you guys were really close before you started dating so everyone thought you already were 😭

she’d always stick up for you, sometimes she won’t even stand up for herself, only for you :(

she’s shyer than usual when you two have you’re first kiss, she keeps giggling and covering her mouth and it’s so cute

cheek kisses >>

she’s like a mother whenever you get injured, she’ll be worried yet cursing you ☹️

smiles to herself while staring at you because she’s so in love

you two babysit tuk a lot and she’s grown to love you

she makes lots of sassy comments to people and you’re usually the one apologizing for her

she loves to fly around at night on her ikran, just to go to a random place in the forest

she loves when it’s just the two of you in a field or surrounded by nature

you’re relationship is really sweet in general <3

[thebearer]

Okay, I feel like Teddy would have broken bones throughout her childhood for sure. But like, imagine Carmy and reader being so worried when Teddy gets hurt each time, and like the one time when she breaks or injures something and she needs to have surgery for it how freaked they are about it and like Tina, and Richie and everyone is there waiting for her. And Teddy would totally beg Marcus to make her all the desserts for her while she recovers. Thanks! I got a little carried away, lol.

i feel like teddy, yes. like ofc she's accident prone (she's literally just a ball of energy lol) but imagine this... it's willow.

like willow is so calm and sweet, but she's so clumsy too. and for some reasons she's always the one getting hurt. mainly bc teddy is so rough with her, not even intentionally, like she's just more fearless and wild.

they're jumping on the trampoline, and teddy is going absolutely insane bc a trampoline??? fuck yeah. and she's bouncing with little four year old willow, who's trying to keep up but her sister (in classic older sister style) has double bounced her like seven times. there's a net and you're watching, warning teddy each time she gets too wild, but then it happens- in seemingly slow motion.

teddy bounces willow, who flies for a second, before falling back on her side, extending her arm to brace her fall. you hear the pop! and then a shuddered breath before willow is wailing, her arm hanging by her side, bone sticking against the skin.

you're nearly lightheaded, screaming for carmen, trying to get willow off the trampoline carefully. teddy is scared to death, of course, and is sobbing too. and carmen is so overwhelmed, walking out frantically to your scared tone and two sobbing babies.

you spend your night and most of the morning in the er, each holding a crying child trying to console them. they tell you willow's break was bad and she'll need surgery, which makes you want to cry now too. carmen looks like he might genuinely pass out because the thought of his baby going to surgery???? he's horrified. needs his emotional support pepto asap.

they get her in pretty easily, and your family and friends (most from the bear) come to see her, bring her gifts and things afterwards. willow is terrified, bright eyes just wide and skittish when they tell her she's going to take a nap and come back with a cast.

carmen opts to be the parent in the waiting room, agreeing to follow all the procedures just to keep her calm until they get her under because willow would not go back there without him.

you're smothering her face in kisses. "daddy's gonna go with you, and he'll be with you the whole time, wills." you coo, smoothing a hand down her hair. "you'll get a pretty blue cast on, and then me and teddy and everyone can sign it for you. and marcus will bring you cupcakes. how's that sound?"

willow is sniffling, shuddering breaths that have your heart breaking but agrees. carmen hugs you and teddy good bye before going with them.

you're thankful richie is there, a sentence you never thought you'd say. your thankful he brought eva to keep teddy distracted, and that he could talk to a fucking brick wall if he had to. thankful he was there to keep you distracted so you didn't keep checking the time.

willow comes back, still asleep, all bandaged and wrapped up in a sling. carmen looks like he might need to throw up, which he does, but he's relieved.

willow spends the next night in the hospital, surrounded by toys and balloons and flowers- and of course, marcus brings her cupcakes.

she gets her cast eventually, and carmen draws on it for her with a sharpie. it wasn't very good, in his opinion, a little difficult to sketch with the cast material and a sharpie but willow seems to love it. giggles loudly when he shows her the various animals he'd drawn for her.

teddy enjoys it too. especially because with the influx of "get well soon" toys, she gets to play with them too. opting to "help" willow, of course, since her arm was broken. willow doesn't seem to mind, playing with her free hand with her sister, and you're just happy she's feeling better.

[collectivecloseness]

what’s Steve like when you accidentally get a bit of an injury?

(Long post so under cut)

Steve’s mama bear mode gets activated. He worries, but like he always is when he’s protecting his friends, or you guys are fighting upside down monsters, he’s remaining controlled enough to get what needs to be done, done.

“No, no no babe- BABE! Hold my shoulder, please, come on.” Steve tries to get you by his side without sounding like he was snapping. You bumped your head after falling because Robin was chasing you around with a worm on a stick. A bit childish some could argue, but you two were having fun, well, Robin more than you. Even Steve was laughing, while chiding Robin for being stupid, until you tripped over your leg, and a THWAP sound made everyone’s heart freeze.

Robin stood still, and Steve felt like it took him an eternity to get off the steps of his front lawn, even though it only took a full second, before he was walking over to check up on you. He could see your hands pushing up against the pathway surrounded by grass, of course your face had been the part to fall on the concrete, so he knew you were okay, even as you groaned. But as you managed to flip yourself over, holding your stomach, Steve’s eyes shot white when he saw the trickle of blood on your forehead.

He ran the rest of the way then, an “Oh my God!” From Robin behind him as she ran into action too, landing by your feet, while Steve skidded his knees falling to your head. He was too afraid to pick you up, blood running cold, but he placed his hands over your shoulders. “Oh God y/n. Where does it hurt?!” While his body was working on autopilot, shaking fingers moving your hair slightly out of the way to look at the cut on your head, shaking because he was scared to touch or infect it, his other hand worked on stroking your cheek. Even in his subconscious, Steve cared about comforting you.

You swallowed thickly, before moaning, your hands still clutched at your middle. “My stomach. My stomach hurts Steve.” You whimpered, and his eyes and hands ran to it. “Think I winded myself.” You spluttered a little.

An almost splutter of his own left Steve’s lungs, one hand gently on yours atop your tummy, as his other kept a grounding touch on your shoulder. His voice soft as he checks you there. “Your stomach baby?” He gently looked over it, even though there was obviously nothing to see, his hand soft on yours that laid atop your stomach, watching you stay grimaced on the ground. That trickle of blood above, slow. “You’ve got other things to worry about. How’s your head?” He winced, going back to check on it. Steve felt his cheeks twitch at how he hollowed them in a hiss, that cut was going to be surrounded by a big bruise very soon.

“Oh god. Y/n I’m so sorry.” Robin starts up from behind you. Steve can feel her grabbing your ankles, but when you move your neck to try and see her, Steve moves you back.

“I didn’t mean to! Are you-“

“Not now Robin.” Steve flatly interrupts, keeping his eyes on you. Partly feeling bad because he knows he shouldn’t snap at Robin. He can feel her shrinking behind him. It just came out a bit more... rushed, than he meant. He was just worried about you. Especially when your eyes began to widen worriedly. “My head? What’s wrong with my- oh... Owwwww Steve!” You grasped your hands out to his now, panic clearly turning into tears in your eyes as you realise. You almost wish he hadn’t said it, because now your head hurt.

Steve nodded, taking in deep breaths as he watched that pain start to fall over your face. You clearly weren’t immensely injured. You only had tears pricking in your eyelids, you weren’t crying yet, but every time Steve looked at your cut, it worried him. He just kept his reassuring look on you, looking into your eyes and encouraging you to do the same, having to breathe steadily because hopefully then you’d mirror him. Steve always had to stay the strong one. “Okay baby, I’ve got you, I’ve got you. You think you can stand up?” He asks unsure. Really he just needs to know if he can lift you, if he’s okay moving you.

“Yeah.” You nod, Steve nodding back, and your assurances helping calm each other. “Yeah I can, my back doesn’t hurt or anything.”

“Okay. Okay great. C’mon then.” Steve wraps his arm underneath your neck, his other around the crook of your back. Steve gives you a second, before slowly lifting you. Knelt at his knees as you sit up, he waits another second as your arms wrap around his neck, and he sees you’re okay. Then he stands, trying not to jiggle you too much as he readjusts you in his arms, cradling you to his chest, bridal style.

Robin’s close behind, shadowing Steve as he lifts you to his car, grateful to be useful when he asks her to grab his keys from his pocket. Unlocking the car and opening the passenger door for you two. Instead Steve shakes his head, and Robin feels her throat tighten and get watery, like it does when she thinks someone’s disappointed with her. “No, Robin you sit in the back with y/n. Help keep them alright.” Steve plans out, and Robin nods happily, rushing to open the back door, where Steve starts laying you inside.

She can’t hear every well, but gentle words reassuringly spill from Steve’s throat, as he ducks his head in the car while he gets your seatbelt on for you. “Yeah!” Robin gladly adds on, shuffling into the middle seat on the other side, closing the door behind her. “I can make sure they don’t vomit or anything.” She says, more to Steve than you, but clearly you’re not that out of it, by the fact you groan and clutch your stomach again. “Robin, don’t mention throw up.”

“Sorry! Sorry.” She quickly responds, taking your shoulder and asking if you’re okay. When you choose not to respond, in favour of clenching your eyes shut to try and stop a moan, Robin tilts your chin up with her fingers, lightly. “Hey? You gonna pass out on me there?”

“Robin do not let them pass out!” Steve works with her as he gets into the drivers seat, taking a big breath as he starts the ignition.

“Yeah yeah, I’ve got it.” Robin promises, knowing that, as she presses the back of her cool hand to your cheek. You open your eyes, meeting Steve’s worried ones immediately in the rearview mirror, before they flash quickly into those determined ones again, trying not to worry you. Then you look to Robin, feeling a little bad everyone was so worried. “Guys, I-“

“Hm?” Steve interrupts quickly, looking at the rearview more than the road, as he pulls out of his driveway. You shake your head, only a little. “Guys I really think I’m okay.” You swallow, noticing the pain isn’t actually that bad. You think it was more the shock. Steve remaining controlled as ever as he acted out his plan, probably helped you a little too. “I really think I just might’ve cut my head as I fell. You know, I don’t think I like, cracked my skull open or anything.”

You couldn’t see the corner of Steve’s mouth twitch as you said that, but you could see the veins on his hands as he crushed the wheel, turning in the road on his way to the hospital.

Robin nodded beside you, taking your hand up in her own. Wondering if she should get some tissues or something for your head, or leave it to the doctors. You noticed she was staring at it more than you, her worried smile not as easily hidden as Steve’s looks. “Okay. Well that’s good.” She smiles again, very very tenderly stroking your hairline, to clear up your marking without touching your cut. “That’s great. But we’re still gonna take you to the hospital, just to check you out. Right Steve?” She looked up to her best friend, able to see him as he briefly turned his head back, noticing that his smile remained worried when he looked back at his own best friend, although his true nature got smoothed out when he looked back at you. Who he was obviously not trying to show that he was a little scared. “Yeah. No exactly, Robin’s right. I’m still gonna take you to the hospital y/n.”

There were a few more seconds of silence as Steve had to stare at the road, his hand remaining on the headrest of the opposite seat, so he could turn and look back at you whenever he needed. Which he did after those few seconds, only calming as you nodded back at him with an “Okay.” At least your voice sounded steady.

Robin desperately wanted to tell Steve that the bump on your head was swelling. It was turning into a proper bump. But she was worried about freaking you out. Until you asked for air. Clearly you were just a tiny bit out of it, even if it was only because you were freaking out a little at the situation, because you thought to ask instead of doing it yourself. But Robin leaned over your lap to wind your window down anyway, of course. Stroking the back of your head soothingly, as she watched you breathe in the cool wind, the sound surrounding your ears as Steve was going fast. Even though you didn’t stick your head out the window. Dustin did that once, and Steve shrieked, so none of you have tried it again. But as Robin watched you, she took the opportunity to use her spare hand that wasn’t in your hair, to rest it on Steve’s shoulder. And she leaned forward a bit while you had the wind in your ears, to whisper to him “Y/n’s head has a bump.”

She didn’t want to freak him out. But she knew he had to know. And she watched her friends arms tense, as he gripped the steering wheel, before he turned his head to nod, close by her own. Both able to read each others eyes, and they knew they’d be okay, that you’d be okay.

Steve gave a quick look to you, able to see the red discolouration not from blood, marking your bruised bump now. And he saw your eyes open, but tranquil, as you just took in the air. Knowing your head wasn’t out the window, he could go back to the road. Stepping on the gas just the tiniest bit more. His chest was pounding, he couldn’t help it. It wasn’t just you being injured now, it was remembering you injured in the upside down, thoughts that it’ll probably happen again, that it may be worse, even though he doesn’t know how bad things could be right now, one day you could be hurt worse. It made a sort of anger thud in his chest. He never wanted to let you get hurt.

As Robin moved back, she could see that some of your hair wasn’t blown back by the wind, but that’s because strands were stuck in your bloodied cut, even though it was only a smallish cut, as it was starting to dry. Robin just kept stroking the back of your head, her ringed hand tender as she watched the road. Trying to read the signs just like Steve. She knew you’d be fine, so did Steve. But it didn’t stop them worrying that an mri machine was going to prove them wrong, or that you were going to pass out any second, then never wake up.

Steve’s worried boyfriend mode doesn’t quit when you’re in the hospital though. Robin and Steve both try to get their arms around you when you’re in the parking lot. Even when you assure them you don’t need it, you really just think it’s only a cut, you still let Steve hold your waist and walk you to the front desk, as you keep your arms around his shoulder. Mostly because Steve steadying you actually helps a little. Not that you’d tell him that outright, because you don’t want to worry him. But not that Steve doesn’t already know that in the first place.

Steve’s brown eyes are jumping up and down your entire body as a nurse and doctor come help you out. He tries not to bite his nails, but he finally lets his worry show on his face as someone else takes care of you. Someone better equipped to help you than he was. He stops himself from ripping out a nail as Robin stands by his side, her own breathing worried that Steve can clearly hear. But her side touching Steve’s as they both watch you, helps him take a breath, run his hand through his hair, and calm down. Just sticking close by Robin, and her, Steve, as they watch close by.

When you’ve been patched up, Steve stands in the corner with his arms planted over his chest, as the doctor informs you of everything you need to know. Luckily you weren’t concussed, something Steve neeeds a squeeze of your hand or a nudge from Robin to not contest the doctor with. And with an ice pack in hand, and a message of make sure you take some painkillers, and make sure your friends don’t let you go to sleep till much later, you’re free to go. With a brand new piece of guaze over your cut, as a fancy accessory.

Steve goes to work through all the necessary stuff, like usual, but Robin pushes him towards you, saying she’ll go sign you out, he should just sit with you for a sec. Steve’s pretty thankful for this, remembering that now he can just be with you, without having to worry or be in charge or anything like that.

Robin apologises to you yet again, only soothed from her anxieties as you promise you’re alright, with a squeeze of her hand in yours, and a smile. As she takes a shaky breath through her own smile, looking between you and Steve, she gets a finally and truly relaxed, relieved, and warm smile from both her friends back. And she can go do all the boring paperwork stuff to help you out, like a good friend. Maybe she’ll get you a hospital balloon too, something funny, on her way back up.

Steve gets comfy wriggling into your hospital bed with you, actually able to smile as he wraps his arms around your shoulders, picking up your hand that he entwines with his by your collar, and as you settle your banged up head on his chest. Steve makes sure you’re okay, his other hand pressing your icepack to your head, even though his fingers were numb, and water was trickling down his wrist, moving it whenever you told him it was too cold, or you needed the cold somewhere else, or that spot was too painful for the pack. And once you’re laughing with him again, because Steve made you laugh, he’s smiling into your head, lips upturned against your warm skin, as he promises there’s lot of painkillers, and chocolate, and ice cold milkshakes that are gonna be picked up on your drive home. As he spends the entire day just kissing your poor head. Again, and again, and again

[dapper-shipping-forever]

YOU. tell me the most scary gillvash moment, where they were terrified they were going to lose each other. why’s THAT the moment that sticks out to you? what makes it more dire than any other moment? is it THE climax or is it jst another moment of drama??

ALRIGHT HERE WE GO BBY ! There's two that come to mind right away, each with the other feeling the HORROR of thinking that like the person they adore might not have made it lol

First, it is after a climax, it's spoilers for episode 12 of season 1 of T.rigun S.tampede and I'm going to try to be kinda vague to not spoil the show. Anyway it's like, Vash has just had his boss battle versus Knives, and in the destruction that fight left his friends aren't sure if he survived. When Gill saw Vash seemingly about to basically sacrifice himself she SCREAMED; the most fucking throat tearing guttural sob of just his name and Wolfwood had to hold her back from trying SOMEHOW and SOMEWAY to help him. Then after that fight she REFUSES to believe he hadn't survived, she is immediately searching for him. She is frantic, and she insists she knows he's alive, she can just feel it that's he's alive, while her breathing is erratic and her eyes are wide; when their friends start to believe he can't be found, she continues to search for hours upon hours. Then she finally, finally, finds him, injured and unconscious, but alive. She kneels at his head and holds him and just sobs from relief. It's like, she's seen him get hurt many times, but it's the first time to the pit of her stomach she worried he might not survive. Her belief in Vash the Stampede is unshakable, but she'd never been scared for him like that. She's just glad he's good.

Later in the Canon, I imagine another scene. The reveal that Gill is a plant involves fighting Knives. The team like finds him somewhere, and basically Gill tries fighting him and he just like grabs her in his knife appendages and lifts her into the air. He remarks how soft Vash is and how he seems to have not an insignificant amount of weakness is centered on this girl, "just look at your face right now. Are you that invested in someone this insignificant, Vash?" And he knows she's a plant and he would like her involved in his plan, but if she is insisting on interfering and disrupting his ability to get at and have Vash in his plans, then she's simply nothing more than an inconvenience to get rid of. He slices her body to ribbons. His blades constrict and slash everywhere surrounding her where they are holding her. Vash watches her fall to a bloody pile on the ground. She's not moving, and there's blood pooling everywhere fast all around her. He's scared. He can't stop staring at her form laying on the dark floor. He screams, and he screams at Knives, they argue and begin fighting. He's just got a roaring in his mind and he's caught between glancing at her and not wanting to look because she hasn't moved but he can't believe she hadn't survived. Then basically, she faintly hears Vash fighting, and she unconsciously uses her plant abilities. She weakly says for Knives to stop. The fighting stops as they turn to her, Knives surprised and Vash frozen. She starts to stand, telling Knives to stop again, and to not hurt him. Her body begins to glow with plant markings. Her wounds seal. She's a plant. It's obvious to everyone, as obvious as the sand inhabiting the desert. Then she like fights Knives, he leaves. But then Vash is relieved, but he's confused. Then he sees the absolute confusion, no deeper, the pure panic in her eyes as her whole identity is shattered and memories are returning and she can't see them fully because she's seeing memories breaking into her present, and babbling names and places that aren't near them and she can't recognize or understand what's real and where she is currently. He WANTS to help her but FUCK what can he DO right then? She's obviously panicking in confusion, but he can't think of anything to help her. Then, Lyric appears. He grabs Gill, and Vash raises his gun, but Lyric says only he can save Gill from her memories as she SCREAMS. Her fear just gores his chest it feels like, and he's afraid. He's afraid he can't help her, and he won't just let Lyric take her but what if there isn't a way they can save her themselves. Lyric holds her in his arms princess style while Vash feels just helpless. Then he takes her. And he's afraid he failed her and won't be able to reconcile that mistake. It's the initial fear of thinking his own brother murdered his best friend and then the fear that he's going to let her slip from his grasp as Lyric told them he's going to wash away her memories and make her not the Gillisn they've known again.

[call1me2awesome3]

Rivalry (Robaire x Aaron Z)

A/N: my first ever fanfic writing!! don’t come at me, if it’s bad:)

The entire 4*town gang was on the tour bus heading to L.A. They stopped at an public amusementpark, and wanted to meet and greet fans there. “Why so we need to go? Leave my beautiful paintings, and amazing clay artwork? Just for some fans? Do you guys not care about my hard work? All the effort I put into it? Do you guys ... Hate me?” Jesse dramaticaly asked and fake cried, as he made puppy eyes. The entire band all knew by now that Jesse hated paparazzi, and was just getting an exuse to go to the mall instead.. Robaire: “You can stay here if you want, you know”. Jesse: “And wait for y’all to come back? No way! I’m going to the mall.” Tae: Please, hyung?” Tae asked while making puppy eyes. Jesse: “Ugh, fine. You’re lucky Tae’s cute.” Aaron T: “Oh, but if I told him, I wanted to go somewhere, he’d immediatley say “no”, without me finishing my sentence, and tell me to go and ask Z.” Robaire: Guys, whatever -” Robaire was cut off by Jesse yelling when he saw the fun games from outside the window. Jesse: “LET’S FUCKIN’ GOOO!!!!” Aaron T: “Wait for me, old fart!!!” As the two ran out the door, Aaron Z decided to stay. Not that he was a stick in the mud, but that he had something in his mind he really wanted to just let out. Since the rest of the band would be out, no onw would hear him right? Wrong. Aaron Z: “I’ll stay.” Tae: “What!! Why?” Aaron Z: “Just. go have fun, you two. I’ll be out later.” Robaire: “I’ll stay to keept him company.” “Isn’t that T’s job?” Tae wittily remarked. Robaire: “Shut up, cutie.” Tae: “What?” Robaire: “What?” Tae: “Whatever, bye!!” Rob and Z: “Bye, Tae” Robaire sat down where Z was sitting, and was about open his mouth to start a convo, when Z got up and left to sit somewhere else. “Rude” Robaire thought, than just shook it off, and followed him. “Uh, Z?” Robaire asked, but got no answer from Z. Instead Z stood up again, and went to sit somewhere else, when Robaire held his hand back just in time, making Z turn around and glare angrily at him. Robaire, just like everyone, thought this was really intimidating, and so, just let him go. He pulled out his phone, ans started to text Jesse.

Ro: i’m scared

Jesse: of wut ?

Ro: of ur ex’s best friend’s bf!!

Jesse: dude, wtf?

Ro: ur ex: tae, tae’s bestie:t, t’s bf:z

Jesse: wtf is wrong w/ u, bro ??

Ro: no, seriously, im scared of z!

Jesse: isn’t everyone?

Ro: this isn’t a time 2 joke rn, old fart, why would he glare at me that way? did i do something 2 him?

Jesse: wait, wut ?? he glared at u ??

Ro: yea, and he just seems 2 not want 2 b around me. he keeps moving 2 diffplaces whenever i just sit next 2 him

Jesse: maybe he’s mad abt somethin’. ima ask him, and tell u wut he told me.

Ro: d’accord, merci

Jesse: wut?

Ro: au revoir

Jesse: ima just guess that means bye

Jesse imediatley took out his phone and texted Z

Jesse: yooo!

Z: wutup

Jesse: wut’s w/ u and ro? r u upset? yk u can talk 2 me?

Z: i’m - no

Jesse: wut? ur wut?

Z: I’M JUST JEALOUS OF HIM, OKAY!!!??? I’M SO FUCKIN’ TIRED OF HIM BEING MR.PERFECT, AND HAVING EVERYTHING I DON’T!!!!! U WENT 2 ART SCHOOL, TAE FOSTERS INJURED DOVES, AND HE SPEAKS FRENCH!!! BUT WUT DO ME AND T DO??? WE’RE JUST “SUPER TALENTED TOO”!!

Jesse: woah. Z. is.. is this how hurt u r by that ?? and wut does he have that u don’t ??

Z: He’s good w/ words, and knows wut 2 say all the time. He has all these fans drooling all over him. He’s born in heaven, and is literally so perfect, and it’s... just not fair

Jesse: Z?

Z: wut?

Jesse: yk ur great. do u?

Z: i don’t

Jesse: u should, and fuck those fans 4 chosing us over u. and for not letting me just simply play the game. i was literally surrounded w/ fans and ppl asking me 4 autographs, i couldn’t play the amazing game i saw out the window. 

The witty remark made Z chuckle, and Robaire heard it, but didn’t go to see.

Z: it all just rlly, well... i ust take it 2 heart, and thinking abt the fact that there’s nothing different abt us other than our looks is...

Jesse: making u feel like the fans have favoritism just from looking at the outside?

Z: yea.

Jesse: well, again, fuck them, and wut they thing doesn’t even matter, cuz we all love each other 4 who we r.

Z: thanks jes

Jesse: hey, it’s nothing. ily.

Z: adios, viejo

Jesse: bye, kid

Jesse goes back to texting Robaire

Jesse: so, he said he’s ... jealous of u

Ro: wut? why?

Jesse: yk, the fans favor u, and he thinks u have things he doesn’t. he thinks.

Ro: things like wut?

Jesse: words, looks, talent, fame

Ro: wut ?! all i see in him is an amazing person. more responsible, mature, and understanding than me. and 4 someone who is the leader of a band, i kinda envy that.

Jesse: maybe talk 2 him?

Ro: i’ll try

Jesse: bye

Ro: bye

Robaire walks over to where Z was sitting, and puts an arm around him, which catches Z off guard, and as he is about to move away, Ro grabs both his arms, and keeps him down in the seat. Robaire: “Before you sit somewhere else, or move away again, I want to tell you, I’m Jealous of you.” Hearing this, Z’s expression imediatley changes from calm to really confused look. Z: “W-Wut did you say? Z askes, slowly, (kinda like how Mei asked her Dad what he said, when he said “This happened already?” But, whatever, back to the story) Robaire then goes on and explais to him what Jesse told him, and that he understands how Z feels. Robaire: “Why didn’t you just tell me this before?” Z: “I’m not good with words remember?” Robaire: “I know that, but it’s not like you ever try to show it. Like, you know what I mean, you always act like you’re cool with me, when we’re not alone, just you and me?” Z: “That’s ‘cause we’re never alone, with just me and you. ... I always think.. well, I just find myself boring.” Hearing that, from his friends mouth, Robaire did the only thing that made sense at the time. He wrapped his arms around Z, and pulled him in a tight bear hug. Robaire: “You’re not boring, Z. You’re amazing. You’re awesome at basketball, and the most supportive person, and you stand up for every single one of us in interviews, and the way you defended me, when I said I was bi, and some viewer cussed me out, was absolutely amazing!! You’re also really great at roast battles, and sooo much more stunning things about you, that I can’t even name!! You. Are. Awesome, Z. You know that, right?” Robaire was huging Z tighter at this point, and both had teary eyes. Z: “I . . . do. Thanks, Rob. And, sorry for-” Robaire: “Don’t apologize. You have every right to be mad ‘cause of what the fans are saying, and all. I love you.” Z: “I . . love you too.”

Aaron Z and Robaire went out the tour bus, and went to the amusement park, and greeted the others, who joined them, and as they were waiting on the line for the ride, rambled about hat happened and what they missed

Byee, thanks soo much for reading this, if you had!!!

[obeythedemons]

When his heart first skipped a beat [Obey Me! Headcanons]

Obey Me! Masterlist

--

Lucifer

"No," MC stood their ground in front of him. He narrowed his eyes and told them to move once more. "I'm not moving, you need your rest." They spread their arms out as if their body would be enough to stop him. "I'm going to take care of your brothers, you go to bed."

"Who do you think you are ordering me around? You don't have a pact with me," he lowered his voice in an attempt to intimidate them.

"Your friend," MC replied, not at all scared of him. Instead, they looked up at him with a look that made him want to take a step back.

He felt his heart squeeze and his eyes widened at the sensation. He shook his head. Perhaps the exhaustion was giving him heart palpitations.

"Fine," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "But once I wake up, things had better be in order."

Mammon

"I don't want to make a pact with him like this, Levi," he heard MC talking in the kitchen. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to eavesdrop.

"I want my money back, MC," Levi whined. "If you make a pact with him you can force him to give it back to me."

"But forcing someone to do something isn't right," MC protested.

"If he forms the pact with you, then that's his fault!"

"But holding Goldie hostage?" Mammon's eyes widened at the thought of his credit card being found. He peeked around the corner, seeing MC chipping away at the ice block surrounding his precious card.

"Just do it, MC," Levi said with a roll of his eyes.

"I don't want to use Mammon like that," MC murmured, sadness evident on their face. He felt his heart squeeze at the sight of someone not wanting to treat him like the scumbag he is. Taking a deep breath, he sauntered into the kitchen. Maybe he'd let them think they'd form a pact with him just for Goldie.

Leviathan

"Hey Levi!" he heard MC's voice from behind his door. He rolled his eyes and shared a look with Henry 2.0.

"Password?" Levi called back, going back to gaming.

"I-I don't know it," he heard MC mutter. "I-sorry, I just wanted to see if you wanted to watch some anime from the human world with me?"

His fingers froze as they were keying out commands to his character. With a sigh, he paused the game and dragged himself to the door. He looked at them, expecting them to laugh at his face.

"Human world anime?" he questioned.

"Uhuh," MC grinned and held up a disc set. "It's my favorite one."

"W-wait!" Leviathan took a step back. "You like anime?"

MC tilted their head to the side. "Well, yeah?"

He gulped. His heart skipped a beat before pounding away heavily.

Satan

"Just put it on, MC," Asmo cooed. "I promise he'll love it."

"I don't know," MC sounded reluctant.

With a sigh, Satan looked up from his book to Asmo's closet where the other two were. "What are you trying to make MC do, Asmo?"

"Oh hush!" Asmo stuck his head out of the closet. "You'll see in just a second!" Asmo winked at Satan before heading back in. "Just wear it, MC! Please!"

He heard MC let out an exasperated breath of air followed by Asmo's cheering. Asmo sauntered out of the closet with a wide grin on his face, but when he looked at Satan that grin turned mischievous.

Satan narrowed his eyes at him. "What did you do?" Before Asmo could answer, Satan's attention was diverted to the soft footsteps of MC leaving the closet. His eyes widened, his heart skipped several beats to where he was wondering if he was dying, he felt a rush of heat spread across his face.

"Do they look stupid?" MC questioned, adjusting the cat ears they were wearing.

"They look fine," Satan answered quickly, burying his face in his book, but unable to read with the image of MC stuck in his face.

Asmodeus

He smiled seductively at the camera before hitting a snack. After the photo was taken, he hummed with content as he looked it over. Perfect angle. Perfect lighting. Perfect model. It was a perfect photo, but for some reason, he had no desire to post it on Devilgram. Not, his desire was to share it with one person.

"And send," he spoke, sending his selfie to MC.

It only took a few seconds before they responded.

MC: !!!!!

MC: It's not fair how beautiful you are!

Asmo chuckled before typing away.

Asmo: Let me see how cute you are <3

It took a couple of seconds before a photo popped up. Asmo let a snort come out. He hid his face with his hands from the rather unattractive noise that just came out.

He peaked at the photo of MC making the most unattractive face possible. He burst out laughing, his heart dancing about happily.

Beelzebub

He had just gotten back from practice and starving was an understatement. He was sweating, his hands were shaking, he felt nauseated, he felt like he was going to die from his hypoglycemic episode. He stumbled into the kitchen, searching desperately for food.

"Beel! Perfect timing," he faintly heard MC's voice call, but he couldn't see them. His vision was getting blurry. "Beel?" Their voice sounded concerned. He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus, but the hunger was becoming too much.

"Food," he managed to get out as he put most of his body weight on the kitchen counter. He was getting dizzy.

A couple of seconds later, he felt something press up against his lips. He opened his mouth and swallowed whatever it was. There was more. This time, he noticed it was sweet and he chewed it. It was crunchy.

His vision started to focus back. He looked down seeing MC frown up at him. They held a batch of cookies in their hands.

"Are you okay?" they asked quietly. Beel nodded his head, eyeing the other cookie. MC let out a breath of relief before they handed him another. He happily ate it, savoring the sweet taste. "Do they taste okay? I baked them just for you?"

Beel's heart thumped heavily. "Just for me?" he questioned with his mouth fool. He swallowed the cookies and smiled happily. "They taste amazing!"

Belphegor

"Belphie," he heard a distant voice call to him. Although, this voice didn't seem to be too distant, just in the realm of the waking. "Belphie, if you sleep here you'll catch get cold."

Belphie reached his arms out and tightly gripped the person shaking his shoulder. They yelped as he brought them close to him. His arms wrapped around them.

"Then keep me warm," he retorted. He buried his face in their chest. He froze when he inhaled. It wasn't the sent of his brothers, but someone else.

He peaked his eyes opened, seeing MC close to him. His heart thumped heavily at MC's bewildered expression. With a yawn, he sat up, acting like he wasn't affected by MC's scent. It was comforting, warm.

Diavolo

MC was sitting at his desk while he finished up some paperwork. He had expected to be finished with them by the time MC got there, but alas, here he was.

"Lord Diavolo?" MC questioned, drawing the demon prince of Hell from his work.

"Yes, MC?"

"Do you like being called Lord Diavolo?" He looked up at them, seeing them look off to the side, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"I suppose if I had friends, I wouldn't want them to call me Lord Diavolo."

MC pouted, their lips sticking out. "You don't consider us friends?"

Diavolo's eyes widened. A painful sensation burst from his heart, though he wouldn't call it unpleasant. In fact, he wanted to feel it again.

"I would very much like to consider us friends."

"Good, Dia," MC grinned widely at him, making his heart flutter once more.

Barbatos

He was looking everywhere for the human. Somehow, they had gotten separated at the market. Something had caught his eye and he wandered off, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the same thing also happened with MC.

"Help!" he heard the human screech. His eyes widened as he sprinted to where the scream came from. A demon was towering over their form, salivating at the sight of the human's soul.

With a flick of his wrist, the demon was sent flying through a wall. Barbatos grabbed MC's hand and dragged them away from the alleyway they were trapped in.

"Are you hurt?" Barbatos asked once they were a distance away. His eyes trailed over MC's form, looking for any scratches or bruises.

"No," MC mumbled, looking down shamefully.

Barbatos frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I..." MC sighed. "I ruined our trip to the market together, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Barbatos shook his head. "All that matters is that you're not injured."

MC gave him a weak smile. "Thank you, Barbatos." They paused for a moment. "Oh! That's right." They dug through their bag. "I bought this for you. It's not much, but I wanted to thank you for bringing me here today." Barbatos's eyes landed on a bouquet of lilacs. "They're flowers from the human realm! I was surprised to see them here."

Barbatos felt his cheeks heat up and his heart dance about. Lilacs, the flowers indicating the first sign of love.

Simeon

"And how have you been adjusting here?" Simeon questioned as he took a sip of his tea. He smiled kindly at MC. "I know it's been a couple of months now, but a lot has happened since then."

"It has," MC nodded. "To be honest, I was surprised to actually meet some demons and a couple of angels, I didn't know what to think. Humans have some pre-conceived notions on angels and demons, but seeing as I've never met one, I didn't want to let that cloud my judgment."

Simeon chuckled. "That's a very diplomatic way of seeing things."

MC shook their head. "I didn't do it to try and protect myself or get anything from any of you, I wanted to get to know all of you for who you are, not what you are. And after I got to know you, I wanted to be your friend!"

Simeon smiled brightly at MC, loving the feeling of his heart skipping a beat at their kindness.

Solomon

"Just hold still for a moment," Solomon warned as he glanced at his book. "Alright, let me just...." He trailed off into muttering the encantation. His eyes flickered off from the book to where MC was standing in the circle. "How are you feeling?"

MC blinked at him. Their eyes drooping shut. "Tired." Their knees buckled and they started to fall forward. Cursing, Solmon rushed forward and caught them in his arms before they could hit the wooden blanks below.

"Are you okay?" he questioned, manipulating their body so he could look at their face.

They gave him a lopsided grin. "Just need...some sleep. But the encantation should help with insomnia," MC yawned. Their eyes drifting shut. "But maybe not with relaxing, this is a bit...too much." MC turned and buried their face in his chest. "Protect me while I sleep?"

Solomon's face turned a bright red. He adjusted MC a bit so that he was able to hold them tightly against him. "Of course, I'll always protect you." He ignored the wild hammering in his chest, opting to look after his fellow human.

[dracowars]

Really love your draco ficsss 🤗🤗🤗 i was wondering if you can make one before the war where draco obliviated reader then looks for her after the war aaaa would love to see your take on ittt tag me

remember me | draco malfoy

pairing: draco x reader

word count: 1,8k

summary: where draco obliviates y/n

a/n: while doing research for this one i didn’t even know that when you use obliviate, you can’t reverse it anymore if you’ve used the wand for another spell :o i guess you always learn something new lmao @belladaises i hope you like it! <3

warnings: angst, mentions of blood

universe: harry potter

Footsteps and screams echo through the dark corridors of Hogwarts as Draco finds himself in one of the hallways after apparating there mere seconds ago. Getting to the right place at the right time, he immediately gets hold of some of the Slytherins, including his friends, whom he pulls with him, informing them about his – or rather Lord Voldemort’s – plan. Draco knows what he has to do, but he also knows the consequences his actions will have.

His hands are shaking, and he is having a difficult time to breathe after they walked from one side of the castle to the other, wands drawn and always at the ready in case there are any emergencies or incidents on their way. What Draco did not expect, however, is that he will find you along his way.

With a pained expression on your face, you lean against one of the cold brick walls, about to lose your footing and to fall to the ground when Draco is already at your side and catches you in his arms before you can hit the hard floor. Previously, he quickly ordered Blaise and Goyle to move on without him and wait for him until he is done here. Carefully, Draco sinks to the ground with you and places you close to him in order to be able to take a closer look at you.

“Y/N! Y/N, what happened?”, he asks you with concern in his voice and already reproaches himself internally for not being here to fight by your side. But he knows that he can’t. After all, you are on the opposite sides in this terrible war.

Slowly, you raise your head and do not seem to recognize him at first, until your vision clears, and you look directly into his worried face. You immediately push yourself closer to him, his closeness bringing you some calmness and making you feel protected and safe, although walls are blown up around you while wizards and witches give their lives in the bitter fight for Hogwarts.

“D-Draco? You are here”, you breath out, your voice rough and strained from your previous screams. You had split up into groups to face the Death Eaters, but you were separated from them when a part of the ceiling fell down, several pieces burying you beneath them. The hope that is now reflected in your eyes upon seeing him, here and with you, breaks Draco’s heart. You really think he is on your side.

It is only when you groan in pain that Draco realizes that you are clutching your leg, which is covered in blood.

“Come on, I will get you out of here”, he whispers to you and helps you straighten up, the guilt plaguing him. You are badly injured, and he was not here to prevent you from getting hurt. Carefully, he puts your arm around his shoulder so you can move faster together than if he would carry you. Since it is not anything than safe here right now, Draco hurries to get you out of there as fast as possible.

“It is not as bad as it looks. I promise”, you try to calm him down, but once your foot touches the ground you twitch in insufferable pain and pull your foot back with a hiss, your hand immediately going to your tigh where it hurts the most.

“What happened?”

“I was careless and then a part of the ceiling buried me beneath it.”

The shock on Draco’s face is enormous when he realizes what could have happened, how it could have ended with you laying under masses of bricks with no one knowing. That he could and still can lose you in this bitter war for life and death. Briefly, he carefully inspects your leg – broken – and without any hesitation, he picks you up in his arms and carries you to a safer place. The safest place would probably be where all students, who do not fight, are hiding, but if Draco asked you about it, he would have to pass this very important piece of information on. And thus, he would also leave you to a terrible fate.

“You are safe here. For the time being”, he finally says as he places you at the end of a staircase that no longer leads to where it originally should, and kneels down in front of you, stroking his hand over your cheek lovingly. Shaking, you place your own on top of his and press his palm to your skin to feel its warmth.

“Draco, if we make it to the seventh floor then-“

“Do not tell me. Please”, he almost begs you. His pleading leaves you puzzled and slowly but surely makes you doubt why he is actually here. Gently, Draco takes your hand in his and places a delicate kiss on your knuckles. You sadly watch him until you bring up the courage to ask this one question that burns on your tongue.

“Why are you here, Draco?”

The realization hits you like a train, much more painful than the pain in your leg, when he just looks at you with glassy eyes and fails to give you an answer. Tears well up in your eyes when you notice that you no longer have your loving boyfriend in front of you, but your enemy.

“Why, Draco?”, you ask him desperately, the first tear already finding its way down your cheek, but Draco does not have the heart to look into your eyes, too scared to see the pain and disappointment in them. Sighing, he shakes his head, letting it sink.

“Everything will be fine, I promise”, he manages to say while his heart contracts in pain. Suddenly, he perceives voices that are still far away, but he hears them coming closer. With trembling hands, he reaches for your wand, which is sticking out of your boot as he has made his final decision. Confused, you look back and forth between him and the wand in his hand.

“What are you going to do? D-Draco? You do not have to do this”, you stutter out as he looks directly at you with his gray eyes which seem much darker now. Gray eyes that once shone with so much affection and now only radiate a tremendous coldness that makes you shudder.

“Now listen carefully to what I say, Y/N. You have to promise me that you will not use your wand anymore”, Draco explains to you, but you can only look at him speechlessly while tears run down your cheeks in waterfalls, not knowing what he will do next.

“I am so sorry”, is the last thing he says to you before casting a spell. “Obliviate.”

With these words, Draco pulls any memories you have of him out of your mind. Every shared laughter, every shared grief, he frees you from all of it. He frees you from the burden of ever knowing him.

With one quick movement he puts your wand back in its original place and quickly stands up, watching how your face loses all emotion as you abruptly stop crying over nothing. Before he can regret his decision, he turns away from you and looks into the corridor from which he previously heard the voices. At the other end of the corridor, he discovers Neville Longbottom, who is running through Hogwarts with some students. Clenching his fists, Draco walks in the middle of the corridor, facing them from afar.

“Neville!”, Draco shouts as loud as he can, immediately gaining Neville’s attention, who now comes running towards him with his wand drawn, ready to attack. Draco swiftly runs back to where you still lean against the wall, but just as Neville turns around the corner, Draco disapparates to another part of Hogwarts.

You are safe at last.

════════════

Surrounded by nothing but rubble and ashes, Draco wanders through the last remains of Hogwarts alone. His clothes are torn apart, and his face is soiled – all signs of the bitter fight that took place here before. But now it is over. They lost.

But Draco does not care who won or lost. He chose to switch sides in the end anyway. All he wants now is one more thing: to find you and to make sure you are okay. Every time he trips over a lifeless body on the ground, he looks away in fear that he may recognize your face in one of the corpses. Pressing his hand against his aching left shoulder, he walks into what is left of the Great Hall and a glimmer of hope builds inside of him as he recognizes Neville standing in the middle of it.

Quickening his pace, Draco walks towards him, his gaze fixed on the people he is currently talking to. When Draco gets to them, however, his heart sinks and panic pervades him as he does not see you. You are not here.

Desperately searching for any signs of you, he looks around, his pulse getting faster by the second, until Neville finally taps on his shoulder and points to somewhere behind him. Draco turns around immediately, only to see you limp into the Great Hall with the help of Ginny Weasley, improvised stabilization around your broken leg.

Tears of joy well up in Draco’s eyes and he cannot help but run up to you and close you in a tight hug that almost knocks the both of you off your feet. Draco exhales in relief, clutching his arms around your fragile body, glad to hold you in his arms again, until he notices that you are trying to push him away.

Realization his Draco and he abruptly moves away from you.

“What was that supposed to mean?”, you ask him reproachfully, irritated as to why Draco Malfoy almost suffocated you in a hug.

“I- Well-“, he stutters, but the fact that you actually do not know him anymore is driving an ache through Draco’s chest again. “Where is your wand?”

“Excuse me?”, you huff out, the confusion evident on your face, but Draco quickly reaches for you wand before you can react, which pokes out of your boot, as always. Internally praying that you listened to him and did not use it when he was not by your side, he reverses the Memory Charm and watches a white streak touch your temple, piercing through your skin before vanishing completely.

You blink once, then a few times rapidly, adjusting your eyes to the light and when your gaze falls on Draco, tears well up in your eyes right away.

“Thank God”, Draco sighs in relief and hugs you tightly, but this time you actually return the hug. Weeping, you claw your hands into his shirt, your tears wetting the fabric, whispering what an idiot he had been and that he should never do this to you again. But at this moment nothing else matters.

You survived and found each other again despite the difficulties and obstacles. And from now on nothing and no one will separate you again. Ever.

[praxeus-13]

Hello! So happy to see a new fic blog, especially one that has fics for the Master! May I request a fluffy Dhawan!Master x reader in which the reader is the doctor’s companion but doesn’t want to admit she’s in love with the Master? And you can choose the circumstances, but maybe the master “captures” and hypnotizes her in front of the fam and she accidentally reveals it? Thank you so much! I loved “warmth” a lot. 🥰🥰🥰♥️♥️♥️

Thank you so much! I absolutely loved this request as I was already planning on writing something along these lines. I couldn’t find a way to get the hypnotism to work but everything else is there so I hope you enjoy!

Well Kept Secrets

Pairing: Dhawan!Master x fem!Reader

Word Count: 2800

Summary: (what the ask says)

For: @agentmalfoy24601

Warnings: None

You really hadn’t meant to fall for The Master, but intention never seemed to stop anyone when it came to falling in love.

When you first met him, as O, you weren’t quite sure what to think. He was a bit strange, but still sweet - and while he wasn’t your type, you couldn’t deny that he was very attractive. However, there were a few moments when you would look at O and see someone else, and that person interested you. Looking back now, you knew that you had seen his persona slip, even if just for a second, and that had been what had drawn you to him.

When he had revealed himself on the plane it had only drawn you in more. Of course, you had been terrified in the life or death situation, but you had also felt a buzz of excitement and intrigue. If he hadn’t have left you to die on that plane, you know that there was a chance you would have gone with him.

Then The Doctor had sent him off to the Kasaarvin’s dimension and you had lost hope of ever seeing him again, only for him to show up two weeks later.

The Doctor had taken you all to some market planet, given you a credit stick and told you to go off and explore. Originally, you had been wandering around with Graham, but then you had gotten sidetracked and lost sight of him. You had also lost sight of anything else that you recognised so you had started to amble around in hopes of finding someone or something to help.

At first, you hadn’t even seen The Master, so focused on your surroundings that you almost walked right into him, and you barely understood what was happening when he grabbed your arm and dragged you down a quiet side alley.

When you had finally recognised who he was and what had happened, you had been to shocked to stutter out a full sentence. That had caused him to smirk and cockily ask if he was the only one who could leave you speechless, which only made you more flustered.

Once you had finally managed to compose yourself you asked how he was alive, a question that he had ignored in favour of pushing you up against the closest wall and kissing you. It took your brain a few seconds to catch up with the fact that he was actually kissing you before you started to kiss back. Then he had swiftly broken off the kiss and told you that he’d be seeing you, before walking out of the alleyway and back into the bustling streets.

By the time you had finally made it back to the rest of the group, you had managed to get your brain back to its normal working order. Though, when your friends asked you where you had been you told them you simply told them that you had gotten lost after spotting something interesting, resolving not to bring up The Master at all.

True to his promise, he had shown up again about a week after that, kissing you senseless yet again and leaving with little explanation.

After this happened a few times, always when you got separated from the group, you started to have proper conversations with each other. A first they were only about whatever trouble he had caused on the planet to distract The Doctor with, but soon you had started to talk to each other more and more about your lives. He wasn’t as stingy on details as The Doctor was, but you could tell he was still keeping quite a bit of information from you.

Then he started showing up at your apartment, which was a little bit concerning, but he always knocked rather than just bursting in like you knew The Doctor would, so you didn’t really mind. Soon enough your relationship had changed from just meeting up and making out for five minutes, to meeting up and talking for a few hours. Though it was slow, you felt yourself start to fall in love with this strange alien man.

Of course, this caused a lot of internal conflict, especially considering you were still travelling with The Doctor and the rest of the fam. You knew that they were your friends - practically a second family at this point - but you feared that if they ever found out about your relationship with The Master you would loose them. So you kept quiet and tried to pretend that you weren’t secretly dating the man who had tried to kill you all. Every time the two of you met up on one of your trips with The Doctor was both exhilarating and frightening, and while you loved seeing him all the time you were always worried that one of your friends would catch you with him.

When The Master invited you to travel with him instead of The Doctor several months into your relationship, you didn’t quite know what to say. You knew that you loved him, but you had never been able to say it aloud, and you weren’t even sure if he loved you back. As well, it wasn’t like you didn’t like travelling with The Doctor and the fam; it was brilliant, even if you did end up running for your life on most adventures, and you weren’t sure if you were ready to leave them just yet.

Unfortunately, you had taken too long to give The Master an answer, and he ended up storming off without stopping when you cried out his name, not caring to listen to any explanation you had to give.

That had been a month ago and you hadn’t heard a word from him since, which had only upset and worried you. Even if you weren’t ready to travel with him then, you had hoped that you could still be in a relationship with him. You knew that your friends had noticed your mood, and they had all tried to talk to you about it, but you reassured them that you were okay and didn’t say anything more.

————

Now you were on another adventure with your friends, using it again to distract yourself from debating whether you and The Master had broken up or whether he was going to randomly show up and pretend that nothing happened. The planet that you had landed on was overrun with nature, and the ruins of whatever civilisation had been there previously were barely noticeable.

Somehow The Doctor had managed to find a very large cathedral-like building that was still mostly in tact, which was what you were currently exploring.

Without any warning you were grabbed from behind and pulled into someone’s tight grip, causing you to yelp and try to struggle away. Then you noticed who exactly had a hold of you and you stopped struggling as much, making a conscious effort to not relax completely into the hold that you had gotten so used to after the last few month.

Your friends had turned around at the noises and their faces were now a mix of anger and concern, glaring at The Master.

“Let her go.” The Doctor told him, her tone indicating her worry.

“Well, I would, but I think (y/n) is quite comfortable in my arms Doctor.” He spat his response at her, tightening his grip further, but still making sure not to hurt you.

You were trying to resist looking up at him, because you knew you wouldn’t be able to hide the love that your expression would hold.

“No, you’re scaring her, now let her go and I might consider giving you whatever you’ve come here for.”

In your chest your heartbeat had started to pick up speed, you could see that The Master was trying to let onto your friends about your relationship, and you only hoped that he wouldn’t actually say anything.

“Hmm, seems I know your companion better than you.” At this comment you finally looked at him, hoping that he would see the look in your eyes and just walk away without saying anything.

He didn’t look down at you though, and just stayed glaring at The Doctor.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The Doctor was starting to sound irritated, but there was a hint of fear in her voice as well.

Still trying to stop him from revealing your relationship, you squeezed his hand and tried to get his attention. Unfortunately, he continued to ignore you, and you started to feel much more anxious.

The Master let out a hysteric sounding laugh at The Doctor’s question, and it wasn’t anything like the soft laugh you had grown used to. Though you hated to admit it, he was starting to scare you.

“You don’t even have a clue of what I’m talking about.”

Looking back at the four of them to gauge their reactions, you could see that Yaz and The Doctor were very close to piecing it all together, and Ryan and Graham wouldn’t be too far behind. Instinctively, you pressed further into The Master’s hold, trying to feel some semblance of comfort or safety. Obviously he knew what you were trying to do, he had gotten used to you snuggling close to him whenever you watched a scary movie or had a nightmare, and, either consciously or unconsciously, he started to stroke the back of your hand with his thumb.

“No…” The Doctor’s gasp could barely be heard, but it still caused your gaze to fall to the floor in shame.

You knew that you probably shouldn’t love him, but you did, and now you were going to face the consequences. All you hoped is that after loosing your friends, you wouldn’t loose The Master too.

“Yes.” The Master replied gleefully.

“You can’t- you must have hypnotised (y/n)! She wouldn’t willingly enter a relationship with you.”

“Well, clearly she would, because she did. I haven’t hypnotised her, or threatened her, or drugged her. (Y/n) is with me by choice.” The Master was very clearly pissed off at the implementation that he would do anything to injure you.

Honestly, you were slightly annoyed at it too, the only time he had ever come close to harming you had been on Barton’s plane, and you had gotten out of that alright in the end. You squeezed his hand for comfort again, and this time he squeezed back, calming you down slightly.

“Stop playing games and give (y/n) back.” The Doctor’s voice sounded almost dangerous now, and you were starting to worry for both your safety and The Master’s.

However, The Master seemed unfazed as he ignored her and continued to hold you, “You know it’s true, I can see it in your eyes, but if you’re still having trouble believing it then why don’t you just ask (y/n)?”

Of course he would put you on the spot, you had known him long enough to realise that this whole setup was coming from a place of vulnerability. He was worried that you were going to leave him, that you didn’t care for him anymore, and instead of talking to you about it he was lashing out. It was something that you had been trying to work on with him, but after your hesitation to answer his proposal of travelling with him, he had jumped to conclusions and this was the result.

The silence after he had told The Doctor to question was so deafening that you swore your frantic heartbeat was echoing around the abandoned building. You forced yourself to look up, to look at The Doctor in the eye, and it seemed to be the push she needed.

“(Y/n)?” She didn’t need to ask the question, it was already hanging in the air.

“I chose to be in a relationship with him, he didn’t force me into it.” And then, much quieter, you added on, “I love him.”

Part of you had hoped that no one would have heard what you said, but the room you were in had been dead silent. The Master’s grip on you relaxed in shock, holding you as though you were fragile enough that you could shatter like glass. You tilted your head towards him so you could see his reaction, still slightly worried that he wouldn’t reciprocate.

He seemed to be staring down at you with awe and love, and you couldn’t quite believe that he was looking at you like that.

“You love me?” He asked you, his voice impossibly soft.

You simply nodded in response, unable to form any words. The Master bought one of his hands up to cup your face lightly, as though he was still afraid of breaking you.

“I love you too.” He was almost whispering when he said it but a smile immediately formed on your face.

He leant in to kiss you and you kissed him back eagerly. Unfortunately the kiss was cut short by a not so subtle cough from the direction of your friends.

Still comfortably in The Master’s hold, you turned to face your friends again, feeling your face heating up as you blushed.

“Okay, am I the only one who’s really confused?” Ryan asked, looking around at the rest of your friends for confirmation.

He got a chorus of ‘no’s’ in response and if it wasn’t such a strange situation you might have laughed.

“Yeah, how come you’re in love with the guy who tried to kill us? Cause I feel like I’ve missed a lot.” Graham asked, as clueless as he usually was.

“I’m pretty sure that (y/n) has been secretly dating The Master.” Yaz piped up, and you were slightly glad that she had answered for you.

“Yeah that’s basically the gist of it.” You laughed awkwardly, yet again squeezing The Master’s hand for comfort.

They seemed to mull over this for a few minutes, before The Doctor finally spoke up again.

“(Y/n), are you sure that you want to be with him?” She asked you, and for once it was a question that you could answer easily.

“Yes, I am.” You smiled at her, and you knew that The Master was probably smiling at you.

“Then I suppose I can’t do anything to stop you from loving him.” Then she turned her focus to The Master, “but if you hurt her expect serious consequences!”

He rolled his eyes, “I wouldn’t expect anything less, but I won’t hurt them.”

The Doctor and your other friends then proceeded to interrogate the two of you (though they were mainly focused on The Master) about your relationship. Even if it was slightly annoying, you appreciated their concern and protectiveness over you. During the ordeal The Master constantly acted as though he was extremely annoyed and offended at their interrogation, though you could tell that he was glad you had such good friends - even if one of them was his best enemy.

Eventually the six of you made it back to the two TARDISes, and you all paused outside. He hadn’t bought up the question of whether you would join him in his TARDIS since the first time, and you were still slightly worried that you had missed your opportunity.

Then he turned to you, still holding on of your hands even though you were no longer in his hold, “Want to travel with me?”

He asked with such hope in his expression that you felt your heart melt, even after you had rejected him the first time he was still holding out hope.

A wide grin formed on your face and you nodded, “I’d love to.”

He grinned back and pulled you in for another kiss, much to the disgust of your friends.

The next thirty minutes were spent packing up your possessions and moving them from The Doctor’s TARDIS to The Master’s. That was then followed by teary hugs as you said goodbye to your friends and made promises to call and meet up with them whenever you were all on Earth at the same time. The Doctor made sure that you knew to call her if anything ever went wrong, promising that she’d be there immediately.

Despite the grief that you felt leaving your friends and that chapter of your life behind, you were eager to start travelling with The Master and to see how your relationship would develop. The Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz had definitely become a second family to you, but you knew that this wasn’t going to be the last time you saw any of them.

Holding The Master’s hand, you let him pull you into his TARDIS as you waved goodbye to your friends, before turning around and beaming at him. As soon as the door was shut he pushed you up against it and kissed you senseless - reminding you very much of your first kiss with him.

“Where to first, love?” The Master asked as he brushed a stray piece of hair away from your face.

“Anywhere, as long as it’s by your side.”

[lightlyblooming]

The Mighty Nein React to a Scared Reader

Mollymauk

As the Mighty Nein settles down and creates camp for the night, the wind picks up and the leaves of the surrounding trees rustle. Scared, you take the first watch with Mollymauk, only to prolong having to lay down.

For the first hour or so, you two sit in complete silence, glancing at the surrounding scenery. The wind picks up and you jump as a branch creaks.

Molly's first reaction is to laugh, but when he sees how genuinely scared you are, he sobers. He distracts you by telling you stories of his time in the carnival and recounting all of his misadventures.

Soon enough, your fear wanes and your watch comes to an end. Just then, the wind picks up. However, before your fear could overtake you, Mollymauk brings you into his tent and promises to not let any stray beast (humanoid or otherwise) harm you.

Caduceus

Walking through a forest with the Mighty Nein, you tag along near the back of the group with Caduceus. The shadows of night are growing longer and strange sounds seem to emanate from the greenery around them.

It doesn't take long for Caduceus to notice your fear. Instantly, he jumps in, explaining all the plants and harmless animals that could be causing the noise.

He steps behind you, a large firbolg pillar, and promises to intervene with any animal that should wish you harm.

That night, when the Might Nein finally decides to take their rest and set up camp, you and Caduceus choose to bunk together. When sounds grow again, and your fear rises, Caduceus steps in to tell you stories of the forest and the animals in it, recounting his recipes for tea and food alike, distracting you until sleep could no longer be pushed aside.

Caleb

While travelling down the endless roads of the Empire, you and Caleb were both placed into the back of the cart as a safety precaution, since the two of you were the most physically weak out of the rest.

Everything was going well until there was an attack on the cart, supposedly by some bandits that saw how well-guarded it was and thought that there was something worth fighting for inside. Unused to battle, you cowered in the cart, overtaken by fears at the shouts of pain coming from friend and foe.

Seeing your fear and not wanting a loved one (however secret his true emotions were) getting hurt, Caleb got up and very bravely fought for your and the other's protection, not letting anyone get close enough to lay a single hand on the cart.

Afterward, shaken by the whole encounter, Caleb sits down next to you and silently orders cat Frumpkin onto your lap, where he curled up, purring. Lulled into comfort, you and Caleb spend the rest of the day's trip in companionable silence.

Fjord

On a trip to the Menagerie Coast, the Might Nein takes a detour to the ocean. Having lived on the mainland for your whole life, you had never seen anything so vast before.

Everyone else, save for Nott, seemed excited to go into the ocean and feel the water. Especially on such a hot day. Everyone, once realizing that Nott would rather die than go in the water, started goading you to go in. Having never been near a large amount of water, you had never learned how to swim.

After everyone backed off, you quietly admitted this to Fjord. Expecting him to joke about it like everyone else you'd told had, you were surprised when he was very understanding about it, despite everything.

Still scared to swim, he guides you into the water and stays by you the whole time, explaining to you the different sea plants and sea life that you come across so that you don't get too scared by the unknown.

Jester

Walking through the crowded streets of Zedash, you nearly get parted from the Mighty Nein multiple times. However, Jester is right there, keeping track of you and grabbing onto your hand to guide you through the thicker sections.

Overwhelmed by the huge, bustling crowds, you stay quiet, sticking next to the group and following them around, wanting nothing more than for the crowds to thin or for the day to end.

As you get exhausted, your fear starts to take control, and you worry about getting separated from everyone, despite Jester sticking to your side. Quickly picking up on this switch of emotion, Jester guides you away from the crowds to somewhere less crowded.

There, the two of you find a nice bakery, get a large, lovely amount of sweets and sit down on a bench. You eat the food that Jester had bought you as she talks endlessly about her life in Nicodranas and all the jovial pranks she'd played.

Beauregard

In the midst of battle, you find that all your spells are used up and, being quite injured, you don't trust yourself going further into the fray, lest someone deals you a death blow.

Standing back and watching, one of the enemies sneak up on you. Even though you could handle yourself, you paralyzed by fear. Seeing how they looked at you, leering, dangerous, unstoppable.

Right before the enemy was able to deal a blow that undoubtedly would've killed you, Beau jumped in front of you, engaging them in battle and pushing them away. Everyone else was struggling, but Beau couldn't handle losing you. The one person that truly understood and knew her.

She shouts over her shoulder, "You looked fucked," which wasn't really incorrect. For the rest of the battle, Beau stayed close to you, guarding you with her life. Later, still stunned from the fight, you lay, unable to sleep. Beau begrudgingly stays up all night to guard you, though you could see the pride she took in the position.

Yasha

With nowhere else to stay, the Mighty Nein are forced to stay at a very seedy tavern, full of people that keep leering at you and flirting with you, no matter how many times you ask them to stop.

In the bedroom which you bunked in with Yasha, you were stuck awake, worried that one of the people that had flirted with you were going to come through the door.

Hesitantly, you wake up Yasha. She responds harshly at first, reaching for her sword and lurching into a defensive position. The surprise passes soon and Yasha instantly starts scanning the room, searching for the enemy. Quietly, you explain why you were scared.

Not wanting another person she cared for to get hurt, you and Yasha then switch positions on the bed so that you're up against the wall and she's facing the door. It was a little squished, but seeing (and feeling) Yasha there, protecting you, took away your fear and put you to sleep.

[shadowgeist-stars]

Ren x Gakushu: Nightmares

Ren was standing in the Chairman's office, watching the man pace around him, Araki, Seo, and Koyama with practiced, measured steps. His words were almost entirely unintelligible, but his voice was just like always. The same eerie, low tenor that made his skin try to crawl off his body, like he suddenly had some kind of flesh-eating disease.

Suddenly the monster struck. A huge fleshy mass with eyes so big that they overlapped one another on its face. A mouth so wide and sharply fanged that it could swallow anyone whole and shred them apart in its jaws anyway. Before he knew it, there was an agonizing sting at the back of his head and the better part of his back. Ren was somehow thrown against the wall, pain tearing against his sternum and surrounding ligaments making it nearly impossible to breathe. The others were no different, as if they were flung just as woefully unprepared into the same MMA fight that he was in.

Then he realized all of their bodies hadn't even moved.

For all intents and purposes, their minds had been violently punted from each of their bodies, leaving them as empty shells that did nothing but chant an insatiable desire to kill E-Class. If Ren didn't have trouble breathing before, he was all but suffocating now. It only got worse when Gakushu reentered the room, only to call out to Ren and the others in horror. The mix of anger, disgust, and outright fear with which he stared at his father and his pet beast nearly wrenched his racing heart clear out of his chest.

“Gakushu, please… I'm right here…”

He forced his ghostly form to stand up. Dizziness spun his vision every which way. His shaking feet didn't feel anything close to steady as he tried to stumble toward his friend. The monster over the principal's shoulder only pounced again, painfully crushing his throat in its clawed grip as he could only face that menacing, unnatural grin. Darkness was beginning to dot his vision as it blurred with tears. He reached helplessly for his best friend with whatever vanishing strength he had left, as it all went cold and dark and --

Ren's eyes shot open with a gasp, heart pounding and breathing as if he'd just endured one of Gakushu's soccer games. He lay frozen and tense in his bed, clutching his bed covers and staring at nothing but his own bedroom floor as he slowly willed himself to calm down.

After he finally deemed himself calmed from the nightmare, (and telling himself that No, panic-brain, my blazer that I keep hung on my door is not a monster that's here to kill me) he sat up in his bed and checked the time on his alarm clock.

Only a few minutes after 3 o’clock, in the morning.

Ren grimaced to himself, running a hand through his stupid bedhead. Either Seo or Koyama would probably laugh about some kind of joke related to the time that he’s almost certain he’d rather not hear. However, he just thought it was too darn early to be up, even with something like a very graphic memory/nightmare to blame.

The principal monster from his nightmare flashed behind his eyes, in its own twisted "speak of the devil." What better way of being told by one's own brain that going back to sleep at that moment was not an option?

…Maybe a cup of tea or something warm (and uncaffeinated) would settle him down enough to help.

With a sigh, he got out of bed, pulled on a shirt, and headed to the kitchen.

He knew the house well enough that he didn't have to turn on the lights. He knew every place where the floors creaked, exactly where to stick to the walls and where to simply keep a light foot. The tiny nightlights in the halls kept it just visible enough that one didn't have to stumble around in complete darkness.

Many years ago, traversing his house at night was a game to Ren. One where his eyes sported beams of light to help him see. A game in which the dark wasn’t a monster to fear, but his playmate.

When he reached the kitchen, he breathed a soft sigh of relief. He grabbed a mug from the dish cabinet, but before he could do anything else, he noticed a light.

Light that was coming from the living room TV, partly shadowed by a figure on the couch.

Ren had a feeling he knew who that was. Guess I’m not the only one having a rough night.

With that in mind, he grabbed a second mug before pulling the jar of dried chamomile from the back of a different cabinet, fixing some tea with it.

The person on the couch didn’t respond to any noise he made, which meant one of two things: he was either quite aware of his presence and simply waiting for Ren to reveal himself, or he was out of it to the point of somehow not noticing the brunette was even there.

With someone like Gakushu Asano, there was no in-between with those two possibilities.

The moment the tea was ready, Ren poured it into the two mugs, a small voice in the back of his mind reminding him to put some sugar in Gakushu’s mug. He likes his tea sweetened a little. It’ll help him calm down more easily if he’s tense or had a nightmare, and right now he's possibly both.

He glanced at whatever he was watching on TV, which was turned down so low he couldn’t quite hear it. A documentary: his go-to for calming down from a bad dream. Crime or historic ones usually mean something relatively tame. But this one’s a nature documentary; he only goes to those things when it’s really bad.

The taller boy took a deep breath before heading over, humming a familiar tune and making sure to seek out the one floorboard he knew would creak. A word of advice from a friend, so as to not scare him once in his line of sight.

The redhead made an almost unnoticeable jolt before bright purple eyes met his. (So he really was out of it to a point he didn't know I was there, or at least hyperfixating on the TV.) He was wrapped in a throw blanket and had his legs laid across the length of the couch; he was probably planning on sleeping there if he was able to calm down enough.

“Ren… How long have you been up?” he asked, shifting around to sit properly on the sofa.

He chuckled, setting down the mugs on the coffee table until he was sitting down beside his boyfriend. “Obviously not as long as you.” His smile became a frown when he got no snarky response. “Nightmares keeping you up, too, huh?”

The shorter boy only nodded once, taking his mug when it was offered. “I hoped to be able to sleep again, after getting my mind off of it… And I didn’t expect to be discovered."

Ren hummed, sipping his own beverage. "…It was the brainwashing incident on my end… Araki saying it felt like an out-of-body experience was pretty accurate."

The ginger didn't seem too surprised. "…It was partially that exact incident for myself… and also the immediate aftermath of the pole-toppling match. I still find it hard to forget how badly Kevin and the other exchange students were injured, because of him… it was so severe that they all had to return to their home countries, once they'd recovered enough to do so."

The others didn’t hear much of that when it happened beyond when the paramedics showed up at the school. At the time, they all knew better than to ask while the wound was still fresh. Then again, it wasn’t like he would’ve been coherent enough to elaborate on the situation anyway, given how he fell asleep on the ride home.

"Least they don't have to worry about him hurting them again now…" he replied finally, "or anyone, to be honest. Especially not you." He pulled the strawberry blond boy into his side. "I think you remember well enough… how worried I was when he hit you in front of everybody."

The shorter boy’s exhale reverberated with exhaustion as his head drooped on his lover’s shoulder, followed by the sound of him emptying his mug. “Not as much as I wish I did… but at the same time more than I care to admit. It’s exhausting just thinking about it.”

The brunette smiled sadly at the sheer amount of fatigue in his tone, giving his shoulder a squeeze before finishing his own drink. "All the same, we can say that we're safe from him, and that in itself means a lot… By the way, I would've been alright with you coming over to my room after you woke up from your nightmare."

That only earned him a sleepy, yet sour look. "Why would I do that? I'm not a toddler, Ren."

The brunette snickered, using a thumb and index finger to get the other to face him. "Maybe not, but it's not childish to be afraid or need someone else, even for just a little company. Haven't you felt any better since I came out here?"

Gakushu tried to avert his face. "I suppose you could say that…"

Begrudging victory; I'll take it.

He smiled as he leaned in to kiss the shorter boy. He slipped his tongue in easily, tasting the chamomile's aftermath and practically feeling the remnants of Gakushu's tension and traces of his own nightmare disappear into the documentary's white noise. The ginger all but melted into his arms, the long and lazy kiss bearing down on his eyelids with sleep in a wave of honeyed warmth. Pulling away showed a pair of hazy purple eyes struggling to open again, on an adorable, blushing face.

“I love you, Gakushu; sweet dreams.”

The shorter boy gave a slow, cat-like blink, snuggling further against the taller boy. “Hmm… love you too… Ren…”

Ren chuckled at his slurred speech as he took Gakushu's empty mug from his hands, placing it and his own mug on the coffee table. Afterwards he turned off the TV, pulling Gakushu along as he shifted them around, until they were now both laying sideways on the couch, with a red-haired head on his chest. He managed to resituate the throw blanket over them both, draping long arms over his beloved; one settling across his waist, the other scratching his scalp in rhythmic circles.

He leaned into the crevice between the couch cushion and backrest with a contented sigh. With the weight and warmth of his boyfriend in his arms and the steady whispering breeze of breath in his ears and over his chest, the image of the former principal and the big-eyed monster was nothing more than a fading memory. They were both safe here, in this homey little bubble. Pressing a final kiss to his boyfriend's crown, he laid his own head down and closed his eyes, letting sleep carry him away on a far more welcoming cloud.

It wasn’t the first time they had such nightmares, and it may well be far from the last, but for now, they could sleep without fear, and that was enough.

[ao3komorii]

About Time (Timeskip Dimitri/Reader)

Decided to start transferring my works over, starting with my oldest oneshot from ao3 with Dimitri! It’s technically Dimileth since I like the Dimitri pairing from Byleth’s position, but it’s fully in 2nd person and I don’t use any names for Reader or anything. 

This oneshot was entirely born from having a thought of “what if Dimitri accidentally saw Byleth’s boobs and then freaked out.” Also, this one is set after Dimitri comes out of his emo phase, but before the final battle in the BL route. Just a note, there is sex at the end. Enjoy :)

----

You did not find yourself in over your head much anymore these days, but you also had a talent for finding new trouble.

You had been backed into a corner by multiple soldiers, and a horrible giant beast. The beast’s jaw opened slowly, revealing its gleaming teeth, dripping with a black substance as the soldiers by its side advanced, lances drawn and all pointed towards you. The Sword of the Creator at your side was growing weary, and you knew that it would not be enough to defeat the enemies in front of you.  

You knew that your former students were on the battlefield somewhere, but you couldn’t see them beyond the great beast that caged you in by the wall. Either way, this was too dangerous a situation for them anyways. You could only hope they would stay away. Use the chance to escape while this creature feasted on your flesh and gnawed on your bones. You didn’t want to die, but you would not allow yourself to be the cause of any of your students’ deaths. It would break you. If anyone had to die, it should be you.  

You held up your sword, ready to fight back, but the onslaught still overwhelmed you. You were able to quickly take out a few soldiers with the last remaining swipe of your mythic sword’s power before their lances got too close to you. You had no time to bask in your small victory as your sword refused to spring into action after your first swipe, only functioning as an average sword, and a dull one at that, as it lost all its power. And with its elongation use now locked away from you, you would only be able to defend yourself from close range.  

This immediately proved deadly for you, as you swerved to avoid the creature’s teeth, but found yourself on the receiving end of an enemy’s lance as it sunk in and out of your shoulder. You screamed with pain and shock as you sunk down to your knees, dropping your sword to press a hand over your wound. It hurt so badly, and you looked up as a shadow loomed over you to see the monster and remaining soldiers all radiating with the satisfaction that they were about to snuff your life out. You couldn’t even gather the strength to pick your sword back up, the pain in your shoulder was too great. Even moving your hand sent unbearable jolts of pain up and down your arm. You could do nothing but watch, eyes drawn to the lance of the soldier that had stabbed you, what must be your blood dripping off the tip and onto the ground.  

You felt all hope leave your mind as the abomination’s jaw opened wide, preparing to blast you with fire. Too weary to continue looking up, you turned your head down in defeat, hoping that your death would at least come fast. You heard a loud shout, but it was not enough to keep you from falling on your side, no strength left in your body to allow you to remain up. Your eyes slid closed, and death felt imminent.  

You felt like you were fading, and the sounds around you faded along with your hazy consciousness. There were sounds of screams and horrible growls, but you didn’t know what they meant, and couldn’t really rationalize anything but the extreme pain you felt. There was so much screaming and so much pain. It was hard to even think at all.  

“Professor!”  

A voice broke through your haze at about the same time you felt the pain lessen by a small fraction. You heard your name called, with more insistency, and you felt annoyed. You just wanted the pain to end so you could sleep. The pain was so great that in that moment you didn’t mind dying if it would end the pain.  

“If she falls unconscious, we won’t be able to save her!” You heard a soft-voiced woman assert.  

“Professor!” the calls of your name and title got louder, and more insistent, and your forehead felt wet as one voice rang out louder than the rest. “Please, Professor, I can’t lose you too...”  

The pain lessened a little more, becoming less all-encompassing, and you allowed your eyes to open. You found your vision blurry until a warmth took over the feeling of pain in your shoulder. A call of your name focused your attention directly above you.  

Dimitri was crying. It was the first thing that struck you as you gazed up at him, tears freely flowing from his uncovered eye. His eye lit up when you looked at him, and you felt the world beneath you shift.  

“Dimitri!” an airy voice angrily broke the quiet. “Don’t move!”  

You were confused, and moved your head, unintentionally shifting your shoulder and sending a wave of pain through it as you went limp against Dimitri’s lap, where you found yourself realizing that your head was resting in. You closed your eyes tightly in response to the return of extreme pain, much worse than you had ever felt before.  

“Professor, not you too! You must not move!” the woman insisted.  

Your mind felt clearer once the pain faded again to a dull ache and the warm feeling took over. You realized at once who that voice was, and you opened your eyes to look at Mercedes, who was by your injured shoulder sending healing magic into the wound. That explained the familiar feeling that you couldn’t place. She met your gaze, unable to form her usual smile as she turned back to focusing on your wound. That confused you, and you turned your head ever so slightly to look at your injury without agitating it again.  

You understood Mercedes’ current urgency. Your shoulder looked horrible. There was a large rip in the shoulder of your cloak, likely ripped further by Mercedes in an effort to get better access to the wound. There was so much blood, it matted the ripped fabric around your wound to your skin, making the area feel sticky.  

Most worrying was the blood nearest to the wound, if it was even your blood, was bleeding an oily black. Mercedes wiped a hand over the wound, clearing it to reveal a patch of gray skin surrounding the stab wound.  

“What is that?” Came Ashe’s panicked voice.  

“The enemy’s lance was poisoned, clearly,” Felix stated with a short glance behind him.  

You looked beyond where you were to realize that the area behind where you lay was covered in the bodies of the enemies that had just been closing in on you. The great beast was killed with no mercy, some of its limbs meters away from its actual body. You couldn’t stand to look at what was done to the Imperial soldiers; some with deep slashes, charred, or with arrows sticking out of their heads. It looked horrible, but not unusual for the battles you regularly faced.  

“But poison couldn’t work this fast!” Annette protested.  

“I’ve heard of weapons being enchanted with poison before,” Ashe explained.  

“Enchanted with poison...” Dimitri echoed, expression tense. “What does it look like to you, Mercedes?”  

Mercedes looked up from your wound to meet Dimitri’s eyes, but quickly looked back down. “Her wound isn’t responding to my magic. If we don’t do something, I fear she may die.”  

Mercedes looked sad and scared, but Dimitri’s growl brought your attention back to him in an instant.  

“There has to be something we can do to save her!” His desperate gaze morphed into one of hatred, one you thought you had seen the last of after Rodrigue’s death. “Tell me who I must kill and I will do it.”  

“Spoken like a boar,” Felix interjected. “You think she has the time for you to go on a murderous rampage?”  

“Felix...” Ingrid protested lowly and sadly.  

“Then what would you have me do, Felix?” Dimitri replied, anger clear in his voice. “She is dying, you can’t expect us to do nothing!”  

“I expect you not to-” Felix started.  

“Stop it!” Annette cried. “You guys need to listen to Mercie!”  

Mercedes nodded toward her best friend as Felix and Dimitri reluctantly went quiet. “There is one way to save her, but we will need everyone’s help.”  

“Me and Mercie came up with a plan!” Annette smiled softly at Mercedes, expression belying a reluctant confidence. “Healing magic can’t touch it, but regular magic should be able to negate its effects enough for healing to work on it again!”  

“And the only magic strong enough to fend off this dark poison is Annie’s fire,” Mercedes explained. “Annie will burn off the infection, and then I will heal the wound.”  

“You want to burn her?” Sylvain implored, shocked. “I know she’s tough, but...”  

“We don’t have the time to think of any other solution,” Ingrid said sadly, gesturing towards you. “Grey is spreading down her arm.”  

Everyone’s eyes shot over to your arm, and you lazily swept your gaze over as well to see that the grey skin tone had travelled down your arm, halfway towards your elbow. The grey patches looked rough, and unlike any affliction you had ever seen before. You wondered if the Imperial army had been exploring darker methods to kill than simple weaponry and monsters. It didn’t surprise you, but you should have seen it coming.  

“What do we do...?” Ashe asked quietly, as if he wasn’t ready to hear the answer.  

“You all must hold her down while Annette burns the infection away,” Mercedes answered. “It will be very painful, but if she moves, she could get hurt, so you must keep her still.”  

Dimitri looked torn as he brushed some stray hairs from your face. Even through the excruciating pain, the gesture embarrassed you. Dimitri looked to be mentally weighing options as a stray tear slipped from his chin to drop on your neck. The tear was a momentary relief, a distraction, but Mercedes couldn’t keep you from feeling all the pain in your shoulder, her healing magic seemingly less and less effective by the second as the pain began to grow stronger.  

“Professor,” Dimitri said, trying but failing to keep emotion out of his voice. “What do you want us to do?”  

You didn’t trust your ability to talk at the moment, and so you kept eye contact with him and nodded the best you could, which ended up being two slow rises and falls of your head. You could only hope that he understood what you were trying to say. He stared at you for a few seconds before he broke eye contact.  

“Dedue, Felix, take her legs,” he instructed, and the two men moved quickly towards your lower half. “Ingrid, Sylvain, take an arm each.”  

The four requested students each their place at one of your limbs, and Dimitri slowly let you out of his lap, your head now resting on the ground as he made his way over to Annette and Mercedes by your injured shoulder. “I will ensure she does not move her shoulders.”  

“Um...” Ashe spoke up hesitantly. “It’s not much, but I brought along a book I’ve been reading, and she might need something to bite down on, so she doesn’t bite off her tongue.”  

He offered the book to Dimitri, who accepted it gratefully, and with no choice, you bit down on it when Dimitri brought it to your mouth. You would have been embarrassed if you weren’t so anxious about the somehow worse pain to come. At Dimitri’s signal, your legs and arms were restrained, ensuring that you could not move them at all. When he checked that everyone had a secure hold on you, Dimitri put one hand on your uninjured shoulder, and one on your upper chest, just above your breasts. His head was just above yours, his long hair tickling your cheeks.  

“Just keep looking at me,” he whispered, voice then rising in volume. “Annette, now.”

Annette didn’t reply, but she didn’t have to. Seconds after Dimitri’s words, you felt the worst pain you have ever felt in your entire life, putting the extreme pain from before to shame. You wanted to scream, but you knew you shouldn’t, even in your haze of pain. You just bit down on the book as hard as you could to compensate. Someone held one of your hands and you squeezed their hand as hard as you could, which must have been painful, but they didn’t pull away or let go of your hand.  

A whisper of your name had you looking back up to Dimitri’s face. He looked fairly upset, but the intense levels of pain you were experiencing kept you from being able to reassure him. He smiled, a clearly forced smile, but didn’t look away from you at all, which gave you no insight into how it was going with your shoulder aside from the momentous pain, which was so hot that it now felt cold. The pain was so white hot that you had to close your eyes, teeth digging into the book’s cover.  

“You’ll be alright, professor,” Dimitri said quietly. “We can’t lose you.”  

You knew that your students would be destroyed if you died here. You knew that they would all fall apart. So you endured the pain quietly, you had no other choice. You couldn’t leave them alone after all you had all been through. You tried to stay still, but suddenly the brutal pain increased tenfold. You screamed around the book, trying to thrash your limbs, but your students remained steadfast, restricting your movement.  

“Annette!” Dimitri barked, taking his gaze from you but not his hands, which kept you pressed down.  

“I’m sorry, it’s... it’s fighting against my magic! Professor, I’m so sorry!” she replied tearfully.  

“We have to keep going, Annie,” Mercedes’ voice broke through the panic. “She has no chance if we don’t keep trying!”

With that, the incredible pain returned, and you once again regained the unpleasant taste of the book cover in your mouth as your teeth sank into the dents you had made previously. Everyone was so quiet while Annette and Mercedes worked that you could hear everyone’s breathing, and Dimitri sounded close to hyperventilating with how heavy his breaths sounded. You looked up at him, but he was looking over at your injury, not at you. He looked like he was about to cry again, and it being due to your strategic negligence was weighing on you at the moment.  

He wouldn’t look at you and looked openly panicked. You thought he would eventually feel your eyes on him, but he didn’t. He just continued to stare at the work being done on your shoulder, which you couldn’t see yourself because Mercedes and Annette blocked your sight of it entirely. You were getting used to the horrific pain at this point, so you managed to remain still. Maybe Sothis helped with your pain tolerance, since you knew that even with the pain levels you had experienced in your life, an average person could not possibly remain as still as you were able to during this kind of a procedure.  

“Mercie!” Annette cried.  

At once, the burning started to fade, as the familiar feeling of Mercedes’ magic took over, engulfing your shoulder in a light so bright that you turned your head away from it and closed your eyes. There were gasps and murmured words all around you and all at once you had a range of movement in your limbs again as everyone released their tight holds on you. Dimitri, however, kept his hands where they were, and you assumed he would wait until he knew that you would be okay.  

Annette and Mercedes finally backed up from your sider, allowing you a glance at your shoulder. There was nothing, not even a scratch, or the third-degree burns you were expecting from the fire magic. The grey patches of skin had receded entirely with Annette’s eradication of the strange poison magic. You were in awe of Mercedes’ magic, but you were far from the only one who was.  

“Remind me not to get too far away from you on the battlefield, Mercedes!” Sylvain joked.  

Sylvain’s words brought Dimitri out of his stupor and he finally released his hold on you as you reached a hand up to remove the now soggy and dented book from your mouth. You weren’t sure what to do with it since Ashe would clearly not want it back now.  

You sat up as everyone else began standing up, your muscles screaming in protest. From the pain that riddled your shoulder from all that had been done to it to the soreness in your limbs from being held down by people who put all of their strength into keeping you still, you were in pain, but not deathly pain. You waved off the chorus of worried voices asking if you were okay; you were just sore, not dying!  

Ignoring their protests, you slowly stood up, only for an arm to slide around your waist. Ready to scold Sylvain for choosing now of all times to flirt, you looked over to see a stubborn Dimitri gazing back at you, frowning with concern. It wasn’t like he had no caring before you were able to bring him out of his ten-year thirst for revenge, but he almost went overboard with how much he showed that everyone mattered to him now. And with that knowledge, you knew you weren’t about to win whatever argument he was about to start about your safety.  

“Be careful, Professor!” he chided, refusing to let go of your waist even as were found you were able to stand properly. Not without soreness, but properly enough. “You can ride back to the monastery with me.”  

You could walk just fine... probably. Your hesitation to accept must have shown on your face, because it started another bickering war.  

“She’s fine without you being a mother hen,” Felix stated dryly.  

“Felix!” Dimitri admonished, not removing his hold on you. “She was barely alive moments ago, and you want her to walk all the way back to the monastery?”  

“In case you haven’t noticed, her shoulder is fine. Do you think she wants you to baby her when she spent months trying to get you to behave like a person and not an animal?” Felix retorted.  

You would rather try to walk, to help preserve your pride, but you didn’t have the chance to speak up before the two started fighting. You weren’t sure how to break up this fight before it got worse, but luckily it was resolved for you.  

“And you two think arguing about this is going to make her feel better?” Ingrid said angrily, making her way over to you. “She will ride back with me.”  

Felix scoffed and turned away, while Dimitri went silent, allowing Ingrid to put your arm around her neck as she led you over to her waiting pegasus. You would have time to thank everyone for their help later. The whole experience and then the arguing had tired you out, and you just wanted to rest. So you got on the pegasus ahead of Ingrid and allowed her to take you back to the monastery, where you could get some sleep and recover.  

You were pushing yourself too hard and you knew it. You were still unhappy with how you had fared in the battle with Imperial troops a week before.  

And here you were, a few days later, training in the rain in the forest just outside the monastery. You had been swarmed by the students worrying about you, and your sword hand was itching to get back into practice. Nobody would agree to train with you due to your being in recovery, and Dimitri had insisted that you rest immediately, somehow even more protective of you than he had been when you were actually injured. You understood their worry, but it was getting tiring being told to rest, so you went to practice outside of the monastery to avoid everyone’s worry.  

Just your luck that it was raining, but there were battles still to be fought, so you couldn’t slack on your training. You were going stir crazy, and so you found a dead tree and began practice. The dead tree was considerably more dead looking several hours later, now bearing many stabs and slashes across it. You finally took a break and sat against the tree, surrounded by bark that littered the ground around you, dislodged from your training.  

You swiped a hand under your bangs with disgust. You hadn’t realized how sweaty you had gotten, but it felt nice to do some solo training the way you used to before you became a teacher. You were tired but felt assured that you were maintaining your sword skills even after sustaining such an injury. The rain was pouring even harder now, though you hadn’t noticed until you took a break. It must have been evening now, but with the harsh weather, it was hard for you to tell at all. The rain didn’t bother you, so you continued to lean against the tree, clothes totally soaked, but feeling at peace in that moment.  

You knew you couldn’t stay out there forever, and so you finally sheathed your sword and stood up. Casting one last glance at the dead and beaten tree, you set back off towards the monastery. Nobody else was outside due to the awful rain, and even the merchants had temporarily closed shop. The gatekeeper, determined to do his job regardless of weather, was just under the archway and greeted you with surprise, noting your soaking wet form. You gave him a smile and reassured him that you were alright, and then continued on your way back to your room to rest for the night.  

Your route back to your room took you through the entryway where you were greeted by various students and members of the church alike, who all noticed your current condition. You walked by them with a smile, brushing off their questions, until you passed by Dedue, who was just outside the dining hall. Or you tried to, as he casually stepped in your way, causing you to stop short to avoid bumping into him. You looked up at him, confused.  

“Professor,” he greeted. “Are you alright?”  

You nodded, not sure where this was going as you went to go into the dining hall, and he moved to block your way again. “His Highness has been looking for you.”  

“...why?” you asked. You had seen Dimitri earlier, so what had happened in the past few hours that he needed you for?  

“No one has been able to find you for the past eight hours,” Dedue answered. “His Highness is worried.”  

Past eight hours? It had only been a few hours... at least, that was what you had thought. You had been told before that you got really focused when you trained, but you didn’t think you had taken four hours, let alone double that time!  

You thanked Dedue for the information, and he only moved out of your way when you agreed that you would go meet Dimitri immediately outside your room, where Dedue told you the king had decided to wait for your return. Heaving a mental sigh, you crossed through the crowd of people getting a late dinner and made your way to your room. Just getting to the block of rooms, you noticed the broad figure with unruly blonde hair right where Dedue said he would be. Looking at his figure, you remembered your initial shock at his transformation, but it had been overpowered at the time with relief that he was still alive after five years of war. As if he could hear your footsteps over the sound of the rain, he turned his head to face you as you made your way over to him.  

“Professor... where were you?” he asked, and you couldn’t think of what to reply, so he pressed onward. “You think me reckless, but you go out to train in the pouring rain when you are not yet fully recovered?”  

You were surprised; how did he know?  You must have looked startled because his serious expression melted away with a genuine laugh as he reached a hand out to brush along your hair, or so you thought. He brought his hand away from your hair to show you and you stared at the twig that he held in his hand, the bark of the twig rotten and dead, much like the tree it had come from.  

“I can’t think of any other activities you would do in the rain with your sword at your side and end up with this twig in your hair,” he remarked. “You know, it usually is the professor that lectures their students about working too hard.”  

“You haven’t been my student in a long time,” you mused.  

“You may not be officially our professor, but we all rely on you for so much,” he replied thoughtfully. “You cannot expect us to not worry when our professor works herself to the point where she is liable to pass out from exhaustion in the woods without telling anyone where she has gone.”  

You immediately felt sheepish. He really had you there. You wouldn’t be able to face them if you had been abducted or killed when you had told nobody where you were going or what you were doing.  

“Please don’t look like that,” he implored you. “I am not mad. We just don’t want anything to happen to our favorite professor.”  

It seemed like they would all keep calling you professor, even though you were all equals now. You had some really stubborn former students, you mused with a smile. Dimitri then reluctantly allowed you off the hook so you could get some rest. You both said your goodnights as you went into your room and Dimitri left for his. As you stripped yourself of your heavy, wet cloak and armor and climbed into your bed, you resolved to be a little less reckless with your training. You also wondered how long you could keep such a promise in times such as this.  

It was hot. So hot. It was all that consumed your mind and body. Suddenly you realized that you had woken up. And you were only wearing a top and shorts, but you were burning up. With a groan, you assessed the situation. You felt sluggish, and so, so warm. Your throat felt sore and sitting up in your bed made you feel nauseous, so you quickly laid back down. You had to face facts; you were clearly sick.  

You knew it had to be the rain. You were outside in the rain for eight hours and overexerted yourself. The combination was a bad idea, but unfortunately you did not see it like that at the time, so here you were. Sick and feeling miserable, unable to get out of bed for fear of throwing up. You didn’t even know what time it was, but you knew that being awake was doing you no favors. You didn’t feel like being awake in this state anyways, so you had only one choice. Gardening and tea parties would have to wait until you didn’t feel like you had just drank poison.  

The feverish heat you felt kept you from sleeping however, which made you even more miserable. Feverish and now irritated that you couldn’t get to sleep, you decided to just remove your top and chest wrappings, your shorts taken off as well for good measure. You had never slept in just your underwear at the monastery before for fear of someone barging in your room without knocking, but at this point you didn’t care. Seteth’s lectures about propriety be damned. You just wanted to be less overwhelmingly warm, and so you laid back down in just your underwear, not bothering to put the blanket back on and curling up in the hopes that sleep would finally come.  

“I’ve had that one before! Remember when we had that visiting professor at the sorcery school? I think she made these for us!” Annette exclaimed excitedly.  

Mercedes nodded as she flipped the page of the new sweets book they had purchased at the market, and they both stared curiously at the next page.  

“Ooh, I always wanted to make some of those!” Annette said, pointing at the colorful pastries that were illustrated on the page.  

“Me too, Annie! We really should make some to share with everyone,” Mercedes replied.  

Their excited chatter was interrupted as Dimitri strode by their table in the dining room for what Annette estimated was likely the fifteenth time that day. He had hardly eaten what would be considered a basic nutritional amount of dinner before he resumed his cycles around the monastery.  

“Dimitri!” Annette called out to him as he was about to pass them to leave the dining hall, and he stopped in front of them. “ Mercie and I were thinking of making some sweets and having a little party with everyone!”  

Dimitri seemed distracted as he responded. “Oh, Annette... that would be...”  

“Are you alright, Dimitri?” Mercedes interjected. “You look like you have something on your mind.”  

“Oh...” Dimitri replied stiffly, coming out of his thoughts for a moment. “Has the professor been by here?”  

“No,” Mercedes shook her head. “I haven’t seen her all day.”  

“Is she okay? Do you want us to help look for her?” Annette pressed, sweets book all but forgotten in worry.  

“She should be fine...” Dimitri trailed off. “Sorry for bothering you both, your idea sounds wonderful.”  

And before either woman could protest, Dimitri exited the dining hall in a hurry, not even glancing behind him, cape fluttering with his movement. Mercedes and Annette could only watch in a haze of confusion and concern, their questions unanswered.  

If you were out training in secret again after overworking yourself in the rain the previous day... no, Dimitri dismissed the thought. He had already looked in the forest and located the tree that you had cut to ribbons the day before. You could have gone farther into the forest, but he thought that unlikely as well. You had seemed regretful when the two of you had spoken at your door the night before, and he thought it unlikely that you would immediately break a promise to him, especially after he had told you how much you and your health mattered to all of them.  

It occurred to him just then that he had neglected to check your room. It should have been the first place he checked, but it had slipped his mind. He would have to go check now. You may have decided to relax in your room for the day, and then he would have been worrying for nothing. Although he knew that you had a healthy appetite, but nobody had seen you in the dining hall at all, which was very strange.  

There was nobody at the dorms, or if they were, they must have been inside their rooms. Dimitri was able to arrive at your door with no hassle, but he couldn’t hear any sounds from inside. He knocked politely, but to no response at all.  

“Professor?” he called out as he knocked again, louder this time.  

There was still no reply, which vexed him. If you didn’t want to see anyone, you would have replied to inform him of that. Which left only one thought running wild in his mind; you must have gone out to train and been injured. Or been injured yesterday and were now in too bad or a state to even talk. Once the thought entered his mind, he was consumed with worry. Reaching out and finding the door locked, he did not spare any thought before he slammed his shoulder into the door, bursting open the lock. Without a moment to spare, he thrust open the door and rushed into your room.  

“Professor-” Dimitri exclaimed, but his eye widened in shock as he took in the scene in front of him.  

The room looked fairly normal , a similar state of cleanliness to what it had been the last time he had visited you here for tea. Your blanket was half draped on the end of the bed and half on the floor, but none of your sparse belongings were out of place.  

Dimitri found you immediately, and his cheeks immediately felt hot. You did not appear to be injured, and he was easily able to discern this because of your lack of clothes. You were curled up on your bed... in only your smallclothes. Dimitri’s mind went blank as his focus was drawn to your bare breasts. He didn’t know what to do, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He knew what breasts looked like, but he couldn’t remember seeing any bare but yours at this exact moment. He was transfixed, even though every instinct of his was telling him he had to look away, to protect your modesty.

And then you moaned and brought him out of his stupor. Now that he thought about it, you did not look very well. Still unsure if he was making the right decision, he closed the door behind him before making his way over to you. He removed a glove and placed his hand on your forehead, having his suspicions confirmed. You were burning up, clearly sick from training in the rain for so long the day before. He presumed that you had not left your room the entire day, which did not seem good, considering you must have spent the entire day unconscious and fevered.

He wanted to cover you up, for the sake of his waning composure, but you didn’t have the time for that and he didn’t want to overheat you further. He would have to try to disregard his embarrassment for the moment, because you needed his help, and he didn’t know how to explain to one of the women around the monastery that he had busted down your door and found you nearly naked. And you would never forgive him if he had others see you compromised like this. It was already bad enough that he had seen you like this.

He quietly left your room, glancing around to confirm that nobody was around to see him coming and going from your room so late. It was a cold night, but it did nothing to calm him down at all. Your body was beautiful, and he couldn’t get it out of his mind as he fetched a small bucket of water and a cloth before returning to your room. He mentally braced himself before opening the door to find you in pretty much the same position you had been in, laying on your back.

Prioritizing his worry for you over his shyness, he closed the door gently behind him and walked over to your bedside. He carefully wet the cloth, wringing some of the excess water out before moving your bangs to the side and placing the cloth on your forehead. You exhaled loudly but evenly in your sleep, which he took to be a positive sign.

He ended up not getting a lot of sleep that night. He stayed in your room for quite a while into the early hours of the morning, dunking the cloth in the cold water again whenever it began to be overcome by your body temperature. He never felt his lack of sleep at all, practice, he assumed, from all of his sleepless nights spent longing for revenge. He had never slept as well as he had since he had allowed himself to be free of the burdens of his dead loved ones. Not free from his obligations to them, but now he would channel his resolve into freeing Fódlan from Edelgard’s tyranny as opposed to the mindless bloodshed that he had surrounded himself with for the majority of the past five years.

You were such a comfort to him, one he thought he had lost a long time ago. You had supported him and been by his side, and he was too consumed to appreciate it until after he lost Rodrigue. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Not with you and all of his former classmates and friends surrounding him. They did not want him to be consumed and lost to revenge, and now he understood that the dead did not want that either. But he was not free from the choices he knew he would have to make soon, it was something that weighed on his mind. He did not want to kill his stepsister, but as he went to wet the cloth again, he was glad you would be with him when he made that decision. He needed your support, and he resolved to support you as well as he could, especially given your recent hobby of being reckless with your own health and safety.

Feeling your forehead, he was relieved to discover that your fever had finally broken. You may not have been fully healthy again, but if you were at least a normal temperature now, then he knew that he had done his job. You were still nearly naked though, and he would likely be an unwelcome sight when you woke up, and so he took the cloth and bucket and stood up. Better that you did not know he had been here; it would spare at least you of the embarrassment. But as he quickly fixed the lock back into place before opening the door and closing it behind him, he knew it would be a difficult feat to erase the sight of your uncovered body from his mind any time soon. You were so pretty, and it was all he could think about the entire way back to his room.

You woke up slowly, eyes still closed but aware that you were now awake. Your middle of the night wakeup felt almost like a dream compared to how you felt now. You felt somewhat bad still, your throat not fully better and limbs still feeling a bit heavy, but the incredible fever you had felt earlier had all but faded. You must have really been doing poorly, because a glance outside the window told you that it was morning.

You supposed that you might as well get up; there was no way to assuage worry except going to interact with everyone. You would feel better eventually. You knew that the students would worry about you. Getting up and checking with your calendar, you discovered that you had spent an entire day and night in bed.

You slowly put your clothing back on, happy to discover that it had dried all the way, pretty much a given as it had lain in a heap for over a full day on your floor. You probably looked awful after your high fever, so you headed out of your room and towards the bathhouse to freshen yourself up. Just as you went to enter, Ingrid was leaving, her hair obviously wet, and you exchanged smiles as you passed by each other.

The bathhouse was almost completely empty, save a few women, but none of your students. It made sense that there weren’t a lot of people up this early in the morning. There had just been a big battle, and there were still more to come. Everyone worked so hard, so you felt that they more than deserved to sleep in if they wanted to. But you were more than happy to finally be free from your bed, and so you stripped down and got into the water in just your towel.

You took your time to wash your hair and body, happy to not feel gross for the first time in a while. Only after scrubbing yourself to your utmost satisfaction did you relent and get redressed, leaving the bathhouse behind and feeling fully refreshed. Stifling a yawn, you decided to head over to the dining hall as your stomach yearned for food after so long without.

“Good morning, Professor,” Mercedes greeted you as you both entered the dining hall together. “Did you also hear that they would be including sugar scones in today’s breakfast menu?”

You hadn’t heard anything about menus at all, but any food sounded good to you at this point. You couldn’t remember if you had eaten sugar scones before, but they sounded like something you would like. You and Mercedes walked up to the front of the hall together, both accepting a plate of assorted muffins and colorful scones that were sparkling with sugar.

“Oh, I just love these!” Mercedes spoke cheerily as the two of you found a free section of table and sat down across from each other. “Have you had sugar scones before, Professor?”

You shook your head no and she giggled. “Well, I would recommend spreading some Albenian berry jam on them,” she informed you happily, gesturing to the small dish of red jelly that was situated in the middle of your plate. “These are one of Annie’s favorites, so I thought she would be here by now…”

As if on cue, Annette burst through the doorway to the dining hall, almost tripping as she skidded to a stop just in time to turn and rush towards the dining hall staff for her tray of breakfast sweets. She waved happily at you and Mercedes as she passed you to get to the front. The two of you watched, amused, as Annette was scolded by the head chef for running in the dining hall. She sheepishly apologized and received her tray of sweets, which brought a smile back onto her face as she turned and made her way over to you, taking a seat next to Mercedes.

“Sorry I’m late! I thought scone day was tomorrow!” Annette explained as she took in the sight of her breakfast tray.

“You’re so forgetful, Annie,” Mercedes teased with a smile.

“Well at least I got here in time!” Annette huffed, wasting no time in smearing jam all over one of her scones and taking a big bite out of it.

“That is true,” Mercedes agreed, before turning her head to look at you. “Do you like them, Professor?”

You had tried a bite while they were talking, spreading the jam like Mercedes had suggested, and found that you did like them. You must have missed it when these had been served in the dining hall before. You had eaten an entire scone by the time Mercedes had asked the question, and you were interrupted before you could answer her.

“Mind if I join you ladies?” Sylvain asked from behind you.

“Of course, Sylvain,” Mercedes replied, and he slid in right next to you with his own plate of food that he placed down in front of himself.

“I feel like I missed seeing your pretty face around here the past few days,” Sylvain said, popping an entire scone in his mouth as he looked over at you.

“You never change, do you?” Ingrid said wearingly as she sat down on your other side. “You think that she hasn’t had enough of your behavior already?”

“Ingrid…” Sylvain groaned. “She got a hole cut out of her not that long ago, I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“And you thought your flirting would heal her wounds?” Felix raised an eyebrow as he sat down next to Mercedes. “You delusions never end.”

“Hey, why is everyone turning on me?” Sylvain complained, and you laughed. “Not you too, Professor! You wound me!”

Now Annette and Mercedes laughed, while Felix rolled his eyes and Ingrid smiled and shook her head. You all ate your breakfast while chatting, slowly adding Ashe and Dedue to your midst. Even when Dedue didn’t appear to be coming to sit with your group, Annette called his name and beckoned him over to join your table, while Ashe was convinced as soon as he saw your group all together. It was very lively, and almost made you forget that there was a war looming over you all. But just because you would soon have to kill or be killed yet again did not mean that you couldn’t enjoy the company of your lively house members.

“Hey, shouldn’t Dimitri be up by now?” Annette wondered out loud.

“That’s true,” Ingrid agreed. “He’s never been one to sleep in.”

“I can go and check his room,” Dedue volunteered. “If he is not there, then he may-”

“No need!” Annette replied. “I see him now! Dimitri, over here!”

The tall blonde king had just walked into the dining hall, and looked your way at Annette’s call, noticing your entire group all sitting together and walking over to approach you all. Before anyone could stop him or insist that he didn’t have to, Dedue was up from his seat to grab Dimitri a plate of breakfast from the cooks at the front. Some other people stopped Dimitri to talk quickly or greet him, and so he arrived at your table just as Dedue had brought back a plate for him, which he accepted gratefully, knowing better than to try to dissuade his friend from performing errands without being asked by this point. He sat down next to Dedue, and Annette got up to bring over some tea to share with everyone. It was the most cheerful that you all had been during this time of war, and you could not recall a time when you had been happier.

You talked with Ingrid about how her pegasus was doing, and she happily invited you to come flying with her if you would like, to which Mercedes and Annette chimed in that they would love to fly with her as well. Meanwhile, Sylvain on your other side informed you that his horse was available for riding lessons as well, to which Ashe mentioned that he wanted to improve his riding skills, and Sylvain looked marginally defeated. You were having so much fun talking with everyone that you didn’t notice anything amiss with Dimitri at all.

“Are you ill, Your Highness?” Dedue said, with no intentions of being discreet with his volume management. “You have not touched your food.”

Everyone paused their conversations to stare at the king, who had been staring at his plate until Dedue had spoken up to him. He looked up at the sudden silence, surprised to see everyone’s eyes on him. He gave Dedue a small smile, assuring him that he was alright, which Dedue reluctantly accepted, but it was not good enough for Ingrid.

“You don’t look very well, Dimitri,” she insisted, leaning forward a bit to get a better look at him. “Have you been sleeping alright?”

He looked over, meeting your eyes for a very brief moment before immediately looking at Ingrid, ignoring your confused stare. “I am fine,” he said reassuringly, shaking his head with a laugh when Ingrid gave him a hard look. “Really, Ingrid. I am alright.”

“If you don’t sleep, you’re just making it easier for the enemy to cut you down,” Felix said sharply.

“I bought some tea at the market that is supposed to help with sleeping problems if you would like to try some,” Mercedes offered.

“I promise you all that I am alright,” Dimitri insisted with a smile.

Sensing that a change of mood was in order, you offered the last remaining thing on your plate, a Dagda fruit muffin, to Sylvain. You found that you did not like Dadga fruit tea, and so you figured that it would be better to give it to someone who would appreciate it more. And it didn’t hurt as a conversation swap either.

“You don’t want it, Professor?” he asked, blinking at you, surprised.

You shook your head, holding the plate a little closer to him, and he shrugged, grinning at you. “Who am I to refuse you? Thanks for the muffin.”

Sylvain ate the muffin in a few bites as Dimitri finally began to pick at his own tray. You tried again to catch his eye, but he was determined to stare down at his plate. Conversation began to pick up again as Annette started to tell a story from back when they were all students. The conversation took a nostalgic turn as everyone then began sharing stories from their school lives five years prior.

“Not to be rude, but I thought you hated us at first!” Annette told you, blushing slightly with embarrassment.

“I must confess that I felt the same at the start,” Ashe agreed, quickly adding, “but we couldn’t be where we are now without you.”

“I do remember calling you beautiful and you just stared at me... I thought you didn’t hear me for a second,” Sylvain recalled.

“How is that any different from now?” Felix sneered.

“That is true,” Mercedes agreed. “Just the other day I saw a village girl just turn around and leave without saying anything.”

“Mercedes!” Sylvain’s jaw went slack. “You saw that?”

“I see your success rate hasn’t changed,” Felix scoffed.

Sylvain really had no comeback for that, and you were far from the only one at the table to laugh at his plight. Giggling, you locked eyes with Annette, who you noticed had also finished her plate. Nodding at each other, you both got up from the table to take your empty plates back.

“I feel like I’ve got my muffin fix for a while!” she joked as you handed your empty plates to the dining hall staff.

“What are your plans for the day?” you asked her, and she smiled.

“Don’t tell Mercie, but she was talking about how she missed these sweet ginger cakes we had when we were younger, and I was going to make some to surprise her with!” she whispered excitedly.

You were glad that Annette was such an endless supply of joy and kindness. You knew how much everyone appreciated any distractions from the mounting scale of war you were faced with, and so you also would have to do your best to keep a happy demeanor about yourself. Annette’s eyes drifted from yours as you both got back to the table as she stared ahead.

“Hey, where did Dimitri go?” she asked.

You looked over to where Annette had her eyes set and noticed that your table was missing its blonde king. You both must have looked incredibly confused, because Dedue decided to put you out of your misery.

“His Highness… had something to attend to.” Even Dedue sounded puzzled.

“Yeah, he just said that he had forgotten to do something and left…” Ingrid added, her eyebrows drawn together.

“Maybe he just had a bad reaction to the muffins?” Sylvain suggested, but one look at Dimitri’s plate told you that he hadn’t eaten a single thing from his plate.

He was acting weird, but he didn’t seem to be sliding back into his darkness again. Even so, you would have to check on him later, just to make sure. You had abandoned him for five years, even if it wasn’t by choice, and you would never leave his side again until the day came when he no longer needed you. You wouldn’t lose him again, not when everyone, when Faerghus, needed him.

Dimitri walked briskly to the cathedral, taking up his usual spot in front of the rubble that had once been a proud altar. He knew that he was clearly acting off, and his friends would eventually come and make sure he was okay. And he knew that he was not doing well, but it was not the type of problem that he imagined that they thought that he was dealing with. He had never dealt with anything like this before, and he didn’t know what to do. And so, he stared at the rubble, but too lost in thoughts to take in the scenery.

He couldn’t sleep at all the night before, and he didn’t know how he would get any sleep tonight. Seeing your mostly nude body had awoken within him feelings that he had kept himself from feeling for so long. He had been so focused on revenge for the entirety of his developing years that he had never allowed himself to think of romance as more than a faraway concept. He had sheltered himself for so long, and now the reality of his situation was hitting him with the full force that it would have had he allowed himself when he was a teenager. Instead, he was an adult man who was only now realizing the depths that his feelings could reach. He loved you, and it scared him.

He knew that he couldn’t avoid you forever. You had a war to win, and he couldn’t avoid his closest ally, even if he happened to just discover his feelings for you. He wanted desperately to be near you, but even with your widening range of emotions, he had seen no indication that you had any romantic feelings towards him. And besides, you would never talk to him again if you found out that he had stayed in your room while you were not fully dressed, even if it was to help you recover from your fever. He would live with his shame and hide his feelings, and would channel his energy into the war. Although that still didn’t resolve how he was going to sleep tonight, since he knew that every time he closed his eyes that night he would see your perfect breasts or your kind smile.

He had spent the last few hours of the night after he had returned to his room staring out of his window into the night sky. He had wrestled with his longing to go back there and tell you how he felt, kiss you… but you were sick. You needed rest. And you certainly did not need to have to deal with this new revelation of his. He relied on you for so much that he would crumble without your support, and so he just had to accept that your support would never be that of a wife’s to him.

He felt like a preteen boy. He couldn’t even stand to meet eyes with you in the dining hall earlier. He was so focused on staring at his plate that he could barely hear what anyone else had said. He had met your eyes for only half a second and even that was too much for him in his current state. You had looked worried for him, worries that he didn’t feel that he could assuage. He would have to keep his distance from you until he could resolve this within himself.

He must have been lost in thought for a while because eventually, he realized that Dedue was by his side. He gave Dedue a nod and then turned back to face the rubble, but a call of his title had him looking back to his stoic friend.

“Is everything alright, Your Highness?” Dedue asked simply.

“I…” Dimitri was not sure what to say.

“When I pledged myself to you, I intended to ensure that no harm came to you,” Dedue explained. “If anyone has been upsetting you, or you are suffering a cursed ailment, you need only to tell me and I will scourge whoever dared to curse you.”

Dimitri could never have a normal conversation with him during this war, could he? There were so many threats to his life, he was willing to admit, but Dedue never ceased to worry, even when everything was stable for the moment. He knew that Dedue cared about him, but he always thought the worst of things when it concerned his king.

“I have no injuries or curses, my friend,” he told Dedue who looked entirely unconvinced.

“If it is something that you feel that you cannot tell the others…” Dedue’s offer was implied. He was concerned, that much Dimitri could tell easily.

“For now, it is something that I must handle on my own,” Dimitri said, not meeting his friend’s eyes.

It took some convincing, but Dedue finally relented in his insistence that he walk the king back to his room, despite the fact that they were on entirely different floors. He also rebuffed Dedue’s offer to stand guard outside his room the entire night to defend him from attackers. Dedue had finally, reluctantly relented and allowed Dimitri to finally return to his room alone. He was careful to check that he hadn’t been followed; Dedue had done it before, after all. But he saw no signs of anyone following him and arrived on the second floor of the dormitories, not meeting anyone on the way down the hall and to his room.

It was early in the night, he discovered as he returned to his room. It was earlier than he usually went to sleep, but being awake for closing in on thirty or so hours was wearing on him. With getting some rest potentially in sight, he sat on his bed and began the painstaking process of removing his armor. He let out a tired sigh as his leg armor came off, and he carefully placed it aside before repeating the process on his upper armor, removing his cape and furs as well when he had taken his armor off. He was left in just his long black undershirt and black pants, which was all he wore when he slept these days. Although he did recall that he had previously pushed himself to the point of collapse when in his full armor before, and waking up from that had never felt pleasant on his body. But given his state of mind at the time, he simply got up and continued to do the work he felt needed to be done; being sore never kept him from the slaughter. But as he was now, he appreciated that he could take his armor off at the end of the day and rest. He never knew how nice it would feel to let down his last layer of defense and truly be himself around his friends with nothing to hide. Well, he thought, nothing to hide but his attraction to you that refused to wane.

He would try to sleep; at least now he was in his room, where he was not likely to run into you. His onset affection for you was so strong that he didn’t think it would go away, and he did not know if that was a good thing or not. He took off his shoes, setting them down before laying down on his bed and closing his eyes in the hope that sleep would find him.

You had spent your day talking to the other occupants of the monastery, doing your best to confirm that everyone was doing alright. You knew that this war weighed on everyone’s souls, and if you could do anything to help, you would. And so, you did some light training with Felix, went to the marketplace with Ashe, and ended up helping Annette do some baking for Mercedes, which did not result in any kitchen disasters for once, which was a relief. You had seen Dimitri in the cathedral earlier, in that same place he had always gone before he had broken free of his darkness. You decided to give him some space, but when you passed by the cathedral again later in the evening, he was no longer in his usual spot in front of the rubble.

Whatever was wrong with him, you wanted to give him time. You really did. But if he was sinking back into his inner darkness, then you couldn’t stand by and let it happen again. You walked around the monastery grounds but were unable to find him. As a last ditch effort, you decided to head to the second floor of the dormitories to check and see if he was in his room. You passed various people as they headed to their own rooms to retire for the night, smiling as Flayn excitedly wished you a good night as you passed by her. Finally, you arrived at what you recalled to be Dimitri’s bedroom door.

You raised a hand and lightly knocked on the door. No answer. Maybe he had gone for a late night walk and you had just missed him on your walk around the monastery. You knocked one more time, slightly louder, but still got no response. You couldn’t hear any sounds from at all from the other side of the door. Having no choice, you reluctantly decided to leave and head back to your own room. You could talk with Dimitri the next time you saw him, you reassured yourself. And so, you began to retreat the way that you had come, off to get some sleep and hopefully wake up fully free from your sickness.

“Professor…”

It was so quiet that you almost didn’t detect it, but you supposed your sensitivity on the battlefield allowed you to pick up the muted whisper of your old title. You turned your head back, not sure what to expect, but found Dimitri in only pants and a long-sleeved shirt, both in black, staring at you from just outside his room. He met your gaze with a look of surprise on his face, almost as if he had not expected you to hear him or turn back to look. You made your way back over to him, and he opened his door wider and gestured for you to accompany him inside.

He walked all the way to his window before turning only his head back to face you. His expression was unreadable, but yours certainly wasn’t, and he immediately saw the worry on your face.

“Are you okay?” you asked quietly. You knew that you couldn’t make him talk if he didn’t want to but you needed him to know that you were here for him.

“You never let up, do you?” he asked, and you vaguely recalled him saying something like that to you in the past. Before you could reply, he continued. “I could not be who I am today without your help.”

Why was he saying that now, and then why did he look so troubled? You didn’t understand where he was going with this, and were about to tell him so.

“I could not stand to lose you,” he spoke slowly, finally turning around fully and stepping slightly closer to you. “But I fear that I may if I tell you what is on my mind.”

“That is not possible,” you countered, staring him down sternly.

Dimitri only grew a small sad smile at your words. He looked to be waging a mental war on himself, but you bridged the gap that was still between you and forced him to look at you in the eyes. You looked at him with all the seriousness you could manage in an attempt to convey to him that you would listen to anything that he had to say. He broke eye contact with you almost immediately, staring at the floor as he spoke quietly.

“You had a fever,” he explained. “Nobody had seen you the day after you were out in the rain. I went to check on you, and you were not answering your door and I…”

Your eyes went wide in surprise. That night, you were…

“I am so sorry, Professor!” he spoke, sounding upset as he hung his head in shame. “I saw you in a state that only your husband should see you in and I-”

His rambling cut off and you looked at him, trying desperately to have him meet your eyes, but he continued to look at the floor, so you took a second to reevaluate these new revelations. Dimitri had not fully explained, but from what you had pieced together, he had been worried about you and came into your room, which must have been after you had stripped down to only your underwear, based on Dimitri’s odd husband comment. You felt a rush of embarrassment that he had seen you like that, but you found that you were more bothered that he had seen you looking so weak rather than the fact that he had seen you nearly naked. But you also found that you didn’t really mind that it was him that had seen you that way.

“I… I did not leave you be. I could not. I stayed with you and kept a cold cloth on your forehead until your fever broke. I should have left, but I could not just leave you like that,” Dimitri spoke up again.

He was so earnest that it was cute. Apologizing for seeing you nearly nude was one thing, but you stifled a laugh as he was for some reason apologizing for staying with you and taking care of you while you were sick. He was fiercely intelligent, brave in the face of the hardships of war, but looking at him now, he looked like an awkward teenager trapped in the body of a grown man. You could no longer help yourself, and you let out a quiet giggle.

“Professor?” Dimitri uttered as he looked at you in shock and you laughed at his expression.

“You’re so cute,” you told him, and watched as your words sent a pink flush to his cheeks as he stared at you in disbelief.

You knew that you should do something to put him out of his misery, but you weren’t sure what. You reached a hand up to cup one of his cheeks, and he looked at you unsteadily, closing his eye as he leaned into your touch. You weren’t sure why you had decided to reach out for him physically, but staring at his handsome face, so close to your own, you felt the most comfortable and safe you had ever felt. You closed your eyes too to bask in the moment, but then he said your name, not your title, but your actual name. You opened your eyes again and the two of you stared at each other and he raised his own hand to cover yours that was still on his cheek. He had an urgency in his eyes that you could not place.

“I need to kiss you,” he said, not breaking eye contact, unwavering under your surprised look.

You really shouldn’t have been as surprised as you were, given how physically close the two of you were now, and how emotionally close you had been to each other for so long, but you hadn’t had the time to think that this was even a possibility. Overpowering all of your mind was the sense that this was all that you wanted in this moment. He was different than he had been when you had reunited with him, but he had broken free of his darkness, and had become the kind, strong leader that his people needed. That you all needed. He was your dearest friend, but right now you wanted him to kiss you more than anything, and so you nodded.

He didn’t waste any more than a few seconds before bending down and connecting your lips as your eyes slid closed as the same time. You adjusted your chin so you would be better locked together as your other hand weakly grasped at the material of his shirt, just above his chest. The kiss felt so effortless, as you both adjusted to the other’s rhythm and Dimitri’s other hand came up to rest on the back of your head, keeping you close together.

The kiss stayed simple, but it was making you feel lightheaded with the intensity that you were both putting into it. You pulled away, not confident in your ability to breathe at the moment and he followed, gently steering you back until the back of your knees hit his bed and you allowed him to push you back down onto it.

You found yourself laying on your back as Dimitri hovered over you, his legs on either side of you. He was upright with his knees pressed against your upper thighs, looking at you with want but unsure of how to proceed. While he sat there in a daze, you shrugged your coat off and gently removed your gauntlets, letting it all fall down in a heap by the bedside, and as you did, you noticed a pile of Dimitri’s own clothing and armor only a few feet away.

When you looked back up, you noticed that Dimitri had been following you with his gaze, but he still looked unsure. You had no idea what was going on in his head or what had happened to his confidence, but you decided that you would have to make it abundantly clear that you would like this to continue. And so, you lifted your torso up from the bed and wriggled out of your shirt, throwing everything that covered your upper body onto the floor and watching Dimitri’s eye widen and cheeks turned red as he once again took in the sight of your bare breasts. You were just happy that you were conscious this time so you could enjoy his very honest reaction.

He was still staring, this time he had switched back to look you in the eyes and you couldn’t help but tease him. “Dimitri, your shirt…”

He finally relaxed a bit and smiled so sweetly down at you. “I suppose I should make it even.”

You had never seen him shirtless before, but the scars on his body told you what he could never bring himself to about what had happened to him over the past ten years. He gave you no explanation, and did not give you the time to fully examine all of his scars as he lowered his head down and kissed you again, feeding in your boldness as he supported himself with one hand, bringing his other hand up to feel one breast. The shock of his sudden movements had you moaning in surprise, and the kiss transitioned further as you both allowed your tongues to meet as well.

You cradled his head in your hands, bringing one hand through his hair, so much longer than it had been five years earlier. Finding yourself wanting to be even closer to him, you brought one leg out from under him and wrapped it around his hip. The position allowed you to grind up against him, and he met your hips excitedly as you kissed and you felt a shiver go down your spine as you realized how much he wanted this, your hips so close together that you could not miss how hard he had become in such little time. The friction was exactly where you wanted it, but it began to not feel like anywhere close to enough.

He pulled back from you by a few centimeters, nose still touching yours, and his hand that was not supporting his weight drifted from your breast to brush a hand through your hair. “I love you,” he said sincerely, chuckling as you looked up at him in shock. “You did not think I loved you?”

He seemed amused by your lack of response, and in truth you did not know, you had been so happy to be like this with him that you hadn’t even considered the feelings that were obviously involved. But you could not deny how happy those words made you, and he leaned down to kiss you again as a smile lit up your face. He gave you a few short kisses before he disengaged himself from you, sitting at the side of the bed, and you hastened to join him. He looked over as you hesitantly placed your head on his shoulder, and he readily accepted the contact.

“I did not think that I would ever feel like this… that I deserved to feel this way with you. I escaped the darkness that I had been trapped in, but I know there are those who will never forgive me for the sins I have committed. But you stuck by my side when I treated you so poorly. I don’t deserve you… any of you,” he said, staring at the wall but wrapping an arm around your naked back.

“You are indispensable to me,” he said as he leaned over to kiss your hair. “I knew that I would not be here without you, but I did not realize my feelings until that night.”

You knew which night he meant, but you had taken even longer than him to discover your own feelings, but you knew now. You loved him, and there was no going back now, even if you wanted to. Which, sitting side by side in this moment, you knew that you only wanted to experience even more with this man who was so dear to you.

“I wanted to wait until after the war, until we had peace. But after that night, I could not look back at you without seeing your bare form. It is shameful, but I cannot hold back any longer, especially now that I know it is mutual,” he explained, adjusting the both of you so that you were facing each other. “I want to be with you.”

He was looking at you expectantly, but kindly. You realized that he needed you to also affirm that this was real, that you loved him as well. He believed in you, but you knew that you should put the poor boy out of his misery. You leaned in to kiss him and he reciprocated happily, pulling back after a few seconds, eyes fluttering open to look at Dimitri, who looked so content in that moment.

“I love you,” you told him, truly meaning it. “I want to be with you.”

Dimitri looked so happy, but with a glance downwards, you saw that he was no less hard. It looked rather painful, and couldn’t be comfortable for him. You were not as subtle as you thought you had been, and he caught your glance downwards on his form.

“I… it is okay, I would never pressure you. You do not have to worry about me,” he said quickly, face flushing pink.

He was about to get up and put some distance between you, but you would not let that happen. You stood up with him and spoke his name softly as you slipped your hands into the sides of your shorts, pulling them down along with your tights and slipping out of them and your boots. It was not a particularly graceful or sexy stripping of your last articles of clothing, but it got the job done. You crossed the room to where he was standing and he allowed you to begin the process of removing the clothes covering his lower half.

“If this is what you really want,” his growled words sent your cheeks aflame. “I will not hold back, my love.”

He helped you by kicking his pants and underwear off, and as soon as you were both fully naked, he picked you up, his hands grasping your thighs to support you. You hastily wrapped your legs and arms around him so you wouldn’t fall, and he grinned at you as he placed you down on the bed, following you down so he could kiss you again. Dimitri kissed you for only a moment longer as you desperately tried to keep up with his pace. You were so ready for what was to come, and you pulled back from the kiss and gazed up at him with longing.

Dimitri swallowed as he looked down at you, and you spread your legs as he reached down to his achingly hard cock. You were embarrassed to discover that you were easily wet enough from just kisses and simple groping that Dimitri was able to rub himself against you before he began to slide himself inside with ease. You let out a breathy moan as you tried not to squirm at the foreign feeling. Dimitri’s eyes closed as he dropped down to rest his head on your shoulder, his deep groan right by your ear as he pushed further inside you. Finally, your hips fully met as he was seated fully within you, and you knew that you had never felt anything like this before. You knew what sex was, your father had been too awkward to give you the talk himself and had a female village chief explain to it to you after you had saved their village, so you knew the basics. But no explanation could match up with how good it felt to be so intimate with the man you loved.

You felt his breath tickle your ear as he pulled himself back up, his eyes half lidded. “You feel so good… forgive me, but it is hard for me to focus on anything else.”

You felt the same way, but you didn’t have the patience for him to wait and adjust to this feeling, so you decided to force the issue by squeezing your inner muscles and watching as he shuddered, eye fluttering closed for a moment with a groan. He opened his eye to glare halfheartedly at you, obviously too pleased at the moment for you to believe that he was actually angry with you.

“You are so impatient,” he teased, but complied with your wishes as he pulled ever so slightly out of you before canting his hips back into yours.

He didn’t waste a second in continuing the movement, and his gentle rocking was driving you crazy. You were completely naked, and it had been a cold month, but you were so, so warm. There was a pleasant burn that was slowly ebbing away to just feel good in a way that you had never felt before. Evidently this was new to Dimitri as well, because he was in no better of a state than you were, panting against your skin as he leaned down to kiss at your neck. You were content to lay like that, your arms around his neck and feeling his hair tickle your face, but a well-timed thrust had you unexpectedly crying out with the sudden spike of pleasure.

Dimitri couldn’t suppress his own groan as he was able to reach deeper within you. And when you rolled your hips up to meet him, he almost stopped his momentum to bask in how good it felt. He once again palmed your breasts and stifled your moan as he kissed you again. He closed his eye as he kissed you because he feared that if he was to keep it open and take in the way you looked right now, this would end far sooner than he wanted. You were so beautiful like this, and his heart stuttered with every sound that left your mouth.

He wanted this to last, but he could no longer be satisfied with the current pace. He began to pull out more swiftly and push back in with a new speed and intensity. He felt pride surge up in him as you squirmed and broke the kiss to let out another cute cry. Your next cry was of his name, which set his pace on fire as you both rapidly tried to meet your ends as you both connected in a desperate clashing of tongues, both groping at any inch of the other’s skin that you could reach.

“I fear this will not last much longer, beloved,” Dimitri panted. “But we have so much more time ahead of us.”

You weren’t fully sure what he meant by that, but at this point you were so close to reaching your peak that you could do no more than moan and grasp weakly onto his neck and back, tangling one hand in his hair. You closed your eyes tightly as Dimitri held you as close to him as he could, his chest brushing against yours in tandem with his thrusting. It only took a bit more of his harsh, fast pace before you lost yourself in pleasure. Dimitri continued to move, prolonging your orgasm as you moaned and squeezed around him. He could only hold out for so long and he was finally pushed over the edge with a strained groan of your name. The two of you stayed joined for a moment before Dimitri gently moved off of you, giving you a shy smile. You went to get up with him, but he stopped you with a hand on your arm and you obeyed, laying back down, but looked at him quizzically.

“You may not want to get up. We have made quite a mess,” Dimitri said reluctantly.

He wasn’t making eye contact anymore, and you followed his gaze downwards on your body. Oh. Without the feeling to distract you, you realized just how gross you were feeling… down there. You closed your legs tightly in embarrassment, and in the hopes that you wouldn’t ruin Dimitri’s sheets. Feeling an onset of bashfulness, you also brought an arm up to cover as much of your chest as you could; despite what you had just done with him, the reality of the situation was catching up to you.

Dimitri laughed at your sudden shyness. “I will go fetch something to clean you up with,” he explained, beginning to dress himself to his first layer of clothing, foregoing his armor.

He bent down to kiss one of your flushed cheeks, and then he was gone out the door. Once the door had been closed and you were alone, you felt all of your remaining composure slip away. You and Dimitri had… you had no idea how he was so much more composed than you were, easily leaving the room to bring back something to clean you up. You felt too embarrassed to leave this room for a month, let alone right after you had been so intimate for the first time. You did not even know what to say to Dimitri when he got back, but you would dare to hope he had meant what he said, implying that he wanted to do this again. That he loved you. But for now, all you could do was wait for him to return.

Dimitri kept a relatively quick pace to fetch a cloth, although for a much different reason than the previous time. He still had a hard time believing that had just happened, that you and he were… he loved you, and he would not deny it even if being open about it was so new for him. Smiling to himself, he wistfully hoped that you would agree to spend the night in his room. He would not force you, but he could not deny that the idea of waking up and seeing your beautiful face first thing in the morning set his heart aflutter.

Dimitri had gotten to the middle of the hallway before he noticed someone waving at him just past his room, standing at the end of the hallway. Sylvain grinned at him as Dimitri walked past his own room to meet his friend just outside the redhead’s room.

“Late night walk, Your Highness?” Sylvain quipped, eyes briefly darting down to the towel in Dimitri’s grasp.

Dimitri was silent for a moment too long, wondering what to respond, and Sylvain laughed awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. “Just one thing though, you might want to noise-proof your room.”

“Sylvain!” Dimitri admonished, shocked.

“Hey!” Sylvain waved his hands in a defensive manner. “It wasn’t me! But, uh, Felix was just here complaining that you and the Professor were interrupting his sleep…”

Dimitri was not sure what to say to that, and immediately felt bad because he was sure that you would be embarrassed if you knew that you two had been heard. Dimitri turned a hard gaze to Sylvain; his childhood friend had not been known to be the most trustworthy with gossip, but Sylvain immediately knew what Dimitri was thinking, and what he was likely about to say.

“I wasn’t going to tell anyone, relax!” Sylvain stated quickly. “Just be careful, ladies don’t really like having an audience.”

Dimitri scoffed, but smiled at his friend. “I will keep that in mind, Sylvain.”

Relieved that Dimitri was not mad at him, he clasped one of his friend’s shoulders. “I won’t keep you from her, but I just wanted to say that I’m happy for you. You deserve to be happy, Dimitri. Just don’t let her get away!” he joked.

Both men having said their piece, turned to go to their respective rooms. Dimitri could only hope that you hadn’t heard any of their conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was scare you away or make you uncomfortable. But as he opened the door, he found you still on his bed, shutting the door behind him without looking back because he could not stand to look away from the smile you gave him upon seeing him return.

It hadn’t been long, but you felt happiness surge up in you at the sight of him. He briskly made his way over to you and handed you the towel he had brought, to your great relief. It would be too embarrassing to have him clean you, and so you accepted the towel gratefully, cleaning yourself as he turned his back to give you some privacy. You made quick work of cleaning yourself, feeling less of a mess immediately, other than your hair still being slightly matted to your forehead with sweat. You wanted to savor this moment, but you also wanted to know if he had really meant what he had said earlier.

Dimitri, not noticing the shift in your mood, leaned down onto the bed just as you sat up so he could give you a light kiss. He looked so happy when he pulled away from you, his smile unwavering. It was only then that he noticed how strained your small smile was. “My love…?”

“…you said we would have more time,” you said quietly, and his brows drew together in confusion, before nodding affirmatively.

“You have not figured it out yet?” Dimitri teased, reaching down to hold your hand. “I would hope that this was not the only time we would be together like this.”

You were still confused, and he noticed immediately. “I do not mean only in a carnal sense. This is a rather unusual setting, but I have no regrets. I want to marry you.”

Oh... You stared at him in shock. You weren’t sure what you were expecting him to say, only just nervous that he would tell you to leave, that this was a one-time thing. But he had gone in the farthest direction possible from what you had feared. You found that you really wanted this, you wanted to marry him, wanted to stay by his side forever. None of your thoughts made it to your face, your expression blank as you stared at him. Dimitri didn’t seem to understand what you were thinking, and got a little anxious himself.

“If you do not want to, of course…” he muttered. “I do not have a ring, yet I decided to ask this of you. I understand if you do not want this with me.”

He had seemingly already decided his fate, and you smiled softly at him. “I accept.”

“You… you do?” he sounded surprised, and you weren’t quite sure why. He was a wonderful man, and you loved him so much. He was a fool to think anything otherwise. Especially after what you had just done together, and all you both had been through.

He had finally seemed to get the message, and practically lunged towards you, connecting your lips together in a rough kiss. This war would end, you knew, and then the two of you could build a peaceful world together. You looked forward to that, but you knew that you would have Dimitri at your side for anything that came your way, and that gave you all the confidence you could ever need.

[imagines-r-s]

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 4

a/n: um, don’t hate me for this one, if it’s any constellation, i started crying as i wrote part of this, so. Also, for the purpose of this fic, pretend TK and Karly haven’t announced their pregnancy yet

taglist: @butgilinsky​ @barbienoturbby​ @sunsetholland​ @lovenhlboys​ @sortagaysortahigh​ @hockey-racing-fubol​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @iwantahockeyhimbo​ @bbbbruins​ @dreamsndior​ 

warnings:  mentions of bee’s mixtape, lots of fluff, a brief makeout session (mwah), angst

sticking it masterlist

wc: 5.8k

(gif not mine)

As the night eventually came to a close, everyone had eventually made their way back inside to head to bed - well everyone except you and Joel. Staring up at the stars, you hadn’t noticed that Joel was once again facing you, “whatcha thinking about?”

Without looking down at him, you quickly replied, “did you know that shooting stars are actually just meteoroids that burn up when they go through Earth’s atmosphere?”

“That was kinda random, but no I didn’t know that off the top of my head, so thank you for that,” Joel replied.

“Your hair is really soft,” you blurted out since you had stopped playing with his hair. 

“Thank you, I have a custom shampoo and conditioner I get that really helps me out.”

“I don’t really think I’m shocked by that fact, to be honest. I respect it,” you said. Eventually, Joel laid his head back down on your chest as you continued to run your hand through his hair. The two of you spent the next hour or so outside on the hammock, when he broke the comfortable silence once more. 

“When I drop my mixtape, do you want me to shout you out?” 

“Bee, I think both of us need to go to sleep, but yeah, obviously.”

Once he eventually got off of you, the two of you walked back into the condo; you led the way with Joel close behind you. As the two of you got closer to your door, which was conveniently right across from his, you two said your goodnights and went to bed. 

As you tried to sleep, your mind was moving 100mph. All your thoughts were racing and you weren’t sure if you would be able to sleep at all tonight. Your eyes remained open as your brain tried to decode whatever was going on between you and Joel. It wasn’t like you were opposed for something to happen, it just scared you, and when things scared you, you ran. 

There was only one thing in your life that you had never ran away from: gymnastics. The only time that you had ran away from the sport was because you didn’t really have a choice, but being here felt like you were running away from your sport. Although it was only a small thing, the constant fear of hurting yourself again was becoming debilitating and there was no way to stop that other than working. 

You had run from home when the fear of not making it got too hard. You ran from any friendships outside of the sport that you deemed a distraction. You ran from anyone who said you wouldn’t make it because the inevitable question of ‘what if they’re right’ always came looming in. And right now as things got deeper with Joel, you were debating running. 

“Now on beam, y/n y/l/n, she has spent more of this past year and a half leading up to this moment in recovery for an ACL injury. Now, there are rumors that she will be doing the dismount that was the cause of her injury once again. 

She has many solid passes and a high difficulty score, so if she does well, she will be a top contender for the Olympic team. Alright, she’s started her routine off well and her dismount is approaching,” the announcer said. 

As you went for the dismount, you made the same mistake you had made once before. “And unfortunately, it looks like y/n has once again injured her leg doing this dismount and she will not be able to compete in the Olympics.”

“y/n. y/n. Wake up, babe. C’mon, it’s just a bad dream, you’re okay,” the familiar voice that was talking to you felt like it was miles away. As you started to wake up, you became more aware of your surroundings, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Why?” you grumbled, taking in Joel’s disheveled state. 

“I got up to go to the bathroom and I heard you yelling, I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Joel asked, quietly. He noticed the way that tears had fallen down your face and how quickly you were able to calm yourself down, “how often do you have nightmares?”

“Not often,” you said, watching as he raised a brow, “um, a lot. It just depends on what’s going on.”

“Does Kev know that they’re this bad?” he watched as you shook your head, watching as you started to get up out of bed, “whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you going, sweet pea?”

“Up, I’m probably not going to be able to fall back asleep, so might as well start my day,” you said, yawning. 

“No, that’s what we’re not going to do. You look tired.”

“Thanks, Bee, you’re so kind.”

“Yeah, I try. C’mon, lay down and try to get some sleep.” 

“Bee-,” you tried to protest, but you were quickly interrupted by the man in front of you, “no, you lay down and try to go to sleep. If you need anything or want to talk, I’m next door, now goodnight.”

He made his way back towards the door and got ready to close it, “Bee?”

“What’s up?”

“Uh, do you mind staying with me until I fall asleep?” you asked, watching as a small smile graced his lips. He closed the door behind him and made his way back towards you, moving the blanket, so that he could join you. You ended up laying on his chest with a leg tangled in his, your arms wrapped around him, as he played with your hair in an attempt to lull you to sleep. 

“I had a dream that I got hurt again,” you whispered, softly enough to where if he wasn’t right next to you he would have missed what you said. 

“Are you that scared that you’ll get hurt again?” he waited for a response, but you simply nodded, “look, I think you’re doing everything you can to help your recovery. PT, playing it safe at practice, whatever. But if you let the fear control your life, you won’t move forward.” 

“When did you become so wise, Beezer?”

“I’ve always been this wise, you just haven’t noticed,” Joel said, continuing to play with your hair until you eventually fall asleep. He knew that he said he would only stay with you until you fell asleep, but the comfort he felt with your arms wrapped around him and you being this close was enough to convince him to stay. He didn’t know where things between the two of you were going, but he was just happy to be with you right now. 

Glancing over at the clock, he saw that it was almost 5 and he knew that they guys would eventually come to get him in a couple hours, but right now he just wanted to stay right here. He attempted to just stay awake and he would sneak out around 6:30, but he didn’t realize how inevitable sleep was going to be at this moment. 

Travis and Karly had gotten up around the same time, Travis was going out with the boys and Karly was planning on taking you out for breakfast while the boys were out on the water. When Travis made his way out to the living room, he wasn’t shocked to see that Joel and Morgan were the only two that hadn’t made it out of their rooms yet. 

So as Travis made his way towards Joel’s room, knocking a few times, but when he heard no response he walked in, only to find his bed empty and his phone still on the charger. Travis went to the next place he thought of and checked the bathroom to see if he was in there, but with no response, he was ready to look outside for his youngest teammate. 

“Hey, baby. Come see this,” Karly’s voice rang out in the hallway. 

“No, I can’t find, Beezer,” Travis grumbled. 

“Yeah, no, I found him,” Travis turned around to see his girlfriend standing in the doorway to your room. 

“No, you’re joking,” but Travis quickly realized she wasn’t once he saw you and Joel holding each other as you slept, “oh, damn. They didn’t, you know?”

The pair eventually walked closer to you two, looking around the room for any clothes or any evidence that something had happened, but when they saw the two of you still in pajamas they let out a deep sigh. “Yo, Beezer, c’mon. We have to get the boat ready,” Travis said quietly, laughing as Joel’s eyes opened slowly and the smile that grew on his face seeing you still in his arms. 

“Before you go all protective, nothing happened, she just had a nightmare,” Joel grumbled, attempting to unlatch your arms from around him. 

Karly’s eyebrows raised in shock,”she told you about the nightmares? Oh my god. Okay, well the coast is clear for you to sneak back into your room, so I recommend doing so before Kev kills you.”

Joel eventually got up from your bed, not without you attempting to pull him back closer to you, before him and Travis left your room. “Hey, babes. Do you want to go get breakfast?”

“Yeah, sure,” you mumbled, laying back down on the pillow. 

“No, none of that. We have to get up,” Karly said, attempting to get you up once again, “c’mon, Sunshine, I believe in you.”

“Don’t call me, Sunshine,” you shot her a quick glare at the nickname she had given you and only used when she wanted to annoy you. 

“Awe, is Sunshine upset that her boy had to leave?” 

“Shut up, I love you, but shut up,” you grumbled before finally getting out of bed. You quickly got ready for the day, meeting Karly in the living room as she talked to Travis. 

“Awe, look Sleeping Beauty has woken up once again,” Joel cooed, watching as you sat down on the couch and laid down, a simple attempt to get more sleep. 

“Shut the literal fuck up, Farabee,” you said, moreso into the pillow than out loud. 

“Make me,” Joel said, without much thinking on his part, which caused you to sit up quickly, shooting a glare at him once again. 

“Farabee, I’d watch it if I were you,” Nolan said, attempting to hide his laugh, “both y/n/n and Kev look like they’re about to kill you.” 

“Yolo,” Joel shrugged. 

“RIP, Young Beezer. A good teammate and a good friend, who will be sincerely missed,” Carter said, wiping away fake tears. 

“I kinda want a better funeral speech than that, but that’s deeply appreciated, Hartsy,” Joel mumbled. 

“y/n, we have to go if we want to get back in time to go swimming,” Karly said, grabbing Travis’ keys from him and pulling you off the couch, “Bye boys.” 

…..

After breakfast with Karly, the two of you went back to the condo, assuming that the guys were done with whatever they were doing on the water, the two of you put on your swimsuits and went out back. 

“So, are we going to discuss the topic at hand?” Karly asked, watching as the boys brought the boat back towards the deck and docked it. 

“There’s plenty of topics to go around, Karls, you need to be more specific,” you said, watching as Joel jumped off the boat, only to almost fall in moments later. 

“You’re literally looking at him right now, Sunshine.”

“I swear if anyone else heard you call me Sunshine and they even mention it, I will hurt you.”

“You wouldn’t hurt a pregnant woman,” Karly said, the words taking a moment to register for both of you. 

“Preg- Karly? Are you serious? You might want to talk to Teeks about protection,” you said, quickly. 

“Sunshine, we were trying for one, I promise,” Karly said, smiling growing on her face at your words. 

“Awe, oh my god, seriously?” 

“Yeah, yeah, we were going to tell you all later, but I was going to tell you separately so that way you didn’t get all pissy about it.”

“I wouldn’t have,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“You would have,” Karly watched as Travis walked closer to the two of you. 

“Travis, you have to remember to wrap it before you tap it,” you said, quietly.

“Wha-? Oh, I thought we were going to say something later?” Travis said to Karly. 

“It slipped out in a joke and I didn’t want her to get mad at us later,” Karly shrugged.

“Oh my god. Ok, if you have a boy, he can play hockey and if you have a girl, she can do gymnastics. Or ice skating, both are cool, I guess,” you rambled causing the couple in front of you to laugh. 

“Sunshine already has it all figured out,” Karly added, laughing as you sent her another glare. 

“Are we asking her now or later about the thing?” Travis said to Karly, as the pair exchanged a few words which only confused you even more. 

“Ask me what?” 

“We aren’t doing anything crazy for it, but we want to know if you want to be the baby’s godmother?” Karly asked, slowly.

“Wait, are you serious?” you waited for a laugh or any sign that they were joking, “oh my god, yeah, yeah. Of course. I’d love to.”

“Nolan already established he’s ‘Uncle Pat’, so if you want ‘Aunt Sunshine’ it’s available.”

You simply rolled your eyes in response, looking up towards the guys getting everything into the boat for the day, when your and Joel’s eyes met. “Oh, that’s the topic we wanted to discuss,” Karly said, “one, why was he in your bed this morning and two, did you actually tell him about the nightmares?”

“Uh, he got up and heard me in my room, woke me up, I told him I was having a nightmare, yada, yada, yade. I didn’t want to sleep alone, we talked about the nightmare, he was supposed to leave, but didn’t. So that is why he was in my bed this morning.”

“You haven’t even told Kev about the nightmares and you expect us to believe you aren’t falling for the kid,” Travis replied. 

“Yes, I do.” 

“y/n/n, seriously, he’s a good guy. I know you know that, but you are allowed to have something good in your life,” Travis said, softly.

You knew that the pair was right, the two of them wouldn’t lie to you, but right now there were a lot of things to consider. You were fine with how things were, but you knew the moment that anything got serious, you wouldn’t be able to. You couldn’t afford any more distractions right now, not when you were this close. 

There was something in you that agreed with your friends, you knew he was a good guy and you knew he would allow you to focus on yourself and your dreams. You knew that he would be your biggest supporter if you gave him the opportunity, but right now you weren’t sure if you should give him the opportunity. 

“Are you guys coming or what?” Kevin yelled towards the three of you, who swiftly made your way down onto the boat.

As soon as everyone settled onto the boat, Carter started the boat down the lake. Although you had basically been everywhere in the world, you never had the time to be able to take in your surroundings, having to always look at everything through tunnel vision. 

Eventually Carter stopped the boat, so that way whoever wanted to would be able to swim. Morgan and Joel were the first to jump into the water, the rest of the guys following suit, which left you and Karly on the boat. With the lack of sleep that you had the night before, you knew that if you honestly tried you would be able to fall asleep. 

Laying down and listening to the music playing, you didn’t realize that someone had gotten out of the water until you felt a droplet of water fall on you. “Are you really about to go to sleep right now?”

“Well, I’m trying to, but someone is talking to me,” you stated, finally opening your eyes to the man towering over you, avoiding glancing down at his bare chest. 

“C’mon, babe, you’ll have plenty of time to catch up on sleep once we get back. I’ll even join you again, if you want me to,” you could see the smirk growing on his face. 

“I don’t want to go into the water, Bee,” you said, closing your eyes once again. 

“Alright, fine,” he replied and you assumed he went back in the water, but when you felt him pick you up bridal style, you knew what was coming. 

“Farabee, put me down. I swear to god,” you shrieked. 

“C’mon, Princess, it’ll be fun.” 

“No, me going to sleep seems a lot more fun,” you watched as Joel stood on the edge of the boat, seeing the amused faces of your friends as you tried to get out of his grip, “Farabee, put me down.” 

His smirk only grew, “alright, babe. If you say so.” Before you could even react, Joel had tossed you out towards the water. 

“Farabee, I swear, you’re dead,” you said, swimming towards the ladder.

“Awe, babe. It’s fine, Morgan already has my funeral speech ready,”Joel said, watching as you started climbing up the ladder. He smirked as you purposely bumped into him, back to where you sat before. 

He watched as your hands wrapped at the bottom hem of your tank top, pulling it over your head to reveal a red swimsuit top. You laughed as you watched his smirk drop. You then pulled the waistband of your shorts to show the black, high-waisted bottoms you had on. 

“The tension,” Karly whispered over to Travis as the pair watched the exchange, “damn, y/n/n, you look hot, babe.” 

“Thanks, Karls,” you smirked once you finally looked toward Joel again, “hey, Bee, you might want to close your mouth or else you’ll catch flies.”

“You’re doing this on purpose,” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, well, karma's a bitch, babe,” you said, which caused him to roll his eyes. 

“I’ll remember that. I will remember that.” 

The day at the lake went on, the group spending some time in the water, but most of it was spent just relaxing on the boat. “Who all wants something to drink?” Kevin asked, reaching into the cooler. The guys all raised their hand for beers, while you and Karly asked for a capri sun. 

“I’m used to y/n/n not getting anything to drink, but Karly? Did Teeks finally knock you up or something?” Kevin unknowingly asked, only earning a silence from the couple he was questioning, “oh?”

“Yeah, we’re going to have a baby,” Travis said, smiling.

“Travis, oh my god, you’re pregnant. Awe, you can already see a bump,” Morgan said, only earning him a knock upside the head. 

“No, dipshit,” Travis rolled his eyes as everyone around you laughed. 

“Oh my god, Teeks, when is the baby due? And it’s okay, you don’t have to show us the bump or anything right now, we understand,” Carter added, which only added fuel to the ongoing laughs. 

“See, kids, this is why we use protection, alright,” Kevin sighed. 

As the group continued talking, you made your way over to the cooler to get you another Capri Sun, you made your way back to where you sat before, only to be pulled into Joel’s lap. “Bee, whatcha doing?” 

“I just wanted to sit next to you,” he said, softly. You adjusted yourself on his lap to where you were angled to the side, your legs draped over his, still involved in the conversation in front of you. Once you had gotten comfortable, you felt Joel’s arm wrapped around you as one of his hands came in contact with your thigh. 

As heat rushed up to your face, you looked up to see Karly sending you a knowing look, while Kevin was glaring daggers into Joel’s head. As the conversation went on, you started to feel tired again and decided to lay your head on his shoulder, he found one of the blankets that had been brought and placed it over the two of you. 

You didn’t know when sleep overcame you once again, but you did feel the boat stop and the feeling of being carried, you were just too tired to open your eyes. Eventually, you felt the feeling of being set on your bed. “C’mon, babe, I know you don’t want to, but you need to at least change into something more comfortable,” Joel said, grabbing you a sleep shirt and shorts from your bag.

“Thanks, Bee.”

“Goodnight, y/n/n, sleep well,” and with that he was out of your room. As you got ready for bed, there was something telling you to knock on his door and lay down with him, you shouldn’t have. This internal debate you had going on with whatever you and Joel had was, wasn’t healthy for you - part of you wanted to give in and just enjoy the way that he made you feel, while the other was telling you to run from whatever it was. 

As you tried to go back asleep, you just couldn’t. At this point, you weren’t sure what was going on with your sleep schedule, but there was only one thing that had helped you actually go to sleep and he was next door. 

As quietly as possible, you took the short trek across from your door to his. “y/n/n, you okay?” you heard, softly from across the room. 

“Um, yeah. I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Babe, you just going to stand there? Or are you going to close the door and come to bed?” you didn’t even have to see his face to know that he was smirking, as you finally closed the door and made your way over to him, laying the same way that you had the night before, as both of you finally fell asleep. 

With there not being any plan for the third day at the lake, you all had decided to simply have a movie night and whatever you did during the day was your choice. You woke up still in Joel’s arms with him asleep beside you, only throughout the night he ended up laying on your chest with his arms around you. Reaching for your phone, you saw a few texts from Karly with pictures of you and Joel at the lake that you might have saved to your camera roll a little bit too quickly. 

Once you felt Joel stir from beside you, you knew that it wouldn’t be long until he was up. You assumed that he would get up and make you get out of bed, so that neither of you would get caught, but when he somehow pulled you closer to him, you were shocked. “Good morning,” his morning voice rang out. 

“Good morning,” you said, softly, starting to play with his hair. 

“I could get used to you doing that all the time.”

“What? Playing with your hair?” you said, which earned a hum in response from him, “your hair is just really soft.” 

“Yeah, I know.”

“I didn’t know someone could be that cocky about how soft his hair is.”

“When your hair is as soft as mine, then you can talk to me,” he mumbled.

As much as you loved this feeling, everything was starting to get too real for you. You were starting to crave the affection that he was giving you and you missed him when he wasn’t close to you. And you were starting to fall for him and that scared you more than you wanted to admit. 

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Joel asked, pulling you away from your thoughts. 

“Oh, it’s nothing,” you said simply, which only caused Joel’s brows to furrow.

“Look, you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, but it’s fairly obvious something is going on. Did you have another nightmare or something?”

You stayed silent, pondering if maybe you should tell him that ‘whatever this is can’t progress to anything serious because I can’t have any distractions and I’m already starting to fall for you, so I should stop while I’m ahead’. You couldn’t. You already would hurt him when you did tell him, but now wasn’t the time for this. “I’m just worried about gym, that’s all.”

“Hey, look, I might not know much about the sport of gymnastics, but I do know for a fact that there is no way that you aren’t going to be able to achieve your dream. The Olympic People or whoever the fuck is in charge, would be really stupid not to take you on the Olympic team,” he said, looking you in your eyes before softly pushing off of you, “I have to go take a shower, but I’ll find you later.” 

He was not making this any easier.

At this point you didn’t know what to do, so you went to the one person you knew would be able to help you out here. Quietly knocking on the door, Travis was the one to open the door, “what do you want shortstack?” 

“I need to talk to Karly about something,” you said, earning an eye roll from Travis as he moved so you could get through his door. 

“Hey, hun. Everything okay?” Karly asked, sitting up in her bed. You quickly joined her on Travis’ side, which earned yet another eye roll from him as he sat down on what was left of his side. 

“I don’t know what to do.”

“In terms of what?”

“Bee.”

“I figured. But what’s going on?” Karly asked, calmly.

“I swear if he did something to you, I will ruin his career,” Travis grumbled from beside you as he scrolled on his phone. 

“Thanks Teeks, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I, um, I don’t know how to tell him that what’s going on can’t move past what it is now,” you said, your eyes trained on your hands. 

The couple beside you shared a knowing look at each other,“ok, why can’t it move on?” Travis asked simply. 

“Because I can’t be distracted by anything right now,” you said, softly. 

“Is that it?” Karly asked.

“I don’t- I don’t know at this point,” you sighed, staring at the girl who had become like an older sister to you,”I’m falling for him.”

“Oh, she finally admits it,” Travis mumbled. 

“Shut up, Teeks. Look, y/n/n, I’ve known you quite a while and I’ve seen your habits over the years. So, I’m going to ask a quick question,” Karly waited for a nod from you before continuing, “why does falling for Bee scare you?”

“Um, it doesn’t, but somehow it does? I don’t know. It’s not scary, it’s just,” you sighed,”look, Bee is this amazing person and I want him to be happy, but I know that if this does continue right now and I don’t make it to the Olympics, I’m going to be a wreck. I can’t do it with distractions.”

“You know, considering how much you overwork yourself, it might be a good thing to have healthy distractions,” Travis added, “plus, not to invalidate what you’re saying, but everything you have going on in your life is a distraction. You have Kathryn, life in general, media always wanting something from you. I feel like there’s more to it.”

You knew Travis was right, but him pressing the topic didn’t make it easier, “I’m scared that’ll go wrong. Or that I run him off. Or media does something. Or-”

“So, the distractions in your life are what have you worried, is what I’m hearing?” Karly added. 

“Well, I guess. Not necessarily, but sure.” 

“So, you need a healthy distraction?” Travis asked. 

“Yeah?”

“There you go. There’s your answer. Now, Sunshine, stop letting your fear of everything going wrong get in the way,” Karly said. You knew the two of them had a point, but you still weren’t sure what to do about it. 

When you had finished talking to them, you decided you should take some time to think about everything, alone. You made your way back to your room after getting a snack to eat, but just as you were about to go into your room, the bathroom door opened, revealing Joel just with a towel around his waist. 

“Hey, princess,” he smirked as he saw your reaction, “you might want to close your mouth, you might catch flies.”

…..

“Ok, to avoid any disagreements, we are drawing names for who gets to choose the movie. We are only watching two, but only the first one is mandatory,” Kevin explained. 

“Why is he in charge?” Nolan said, which everyone nodded in agreement to. 

“Because I’m the adult here and you guys can’t make a rational decision to save your life.”

“He’s not wrong, but it’s still kinda wack,” you whispered to Joel, who was sitting next to you. 

“Alright, Karly, you get to pick the movie,” Kevin said. 

“Ok, sweet. Um, Tangled,” Karly said, choosing her go to movie, which caused almost all the guys to groan. The fact that most of the guys groaned made you laugh when you noticed how into the movie they got, all of them crying when Flynn died - which you and Karly were quick to get videos of. 

“Oh my god, why couldn’t he have given Rapunzel a better haircut though?” Carter asked. 

“I’ve always thought that, but I mean in the animated series her hair grows back,” you said, shrugging.

“It grows back?” Morgan questioned, quickly, “I’m going to bed, so that I can binge watch the series, goodnight.” 

“Alright, well. Who’s all staying for a second movie?” Kevin asked, laughing when you and Joel were the only ones to raise your hands, “alright, easy enough.” 

Everyone else said their goodnights and went to bed, leaving you and Joel on your own. “Want to watch High School Musical 2 with me?” you asked, quietly. 

“Yeah, of course.”

As the movie went on, Joel’s hand had somehow made its way back to your thigh like the day prior, except now he was inching it up more, “Bee, you better watch yourself.”

“I am, I am. If you tell me to stop, I will,” Joel whispered as he leaned in to press a kiss to your neck, “all you have to do is say the word and I’ll leave you alone.” His lips made their way up towards your jaw, pressing a light kiss behind your ear, causing your breath to hitch, “how’s the movie, y/n/n?” 

“It’s- yeah, it’s great. 10/10 would recommend,” you sighed. 

“Oh, really? Alright,” he said, before turning back to the tv, causing you to gasp at his actions. 

“Yeah, no, that’s not what’s going to happen,” you said, quickly, before bringing your leg over his to straddle him. When you looked at him, you could only see the smirk on his face, “you’re annoying.”

“Yeah, but-,” you interrupted him when your lips met his. You were only digging a deeper hole than you were already in, this was getting too close. The flirting wasn’t ideal, but it was fine. Maybe sleeping in the same bed wasn’t the wisest decision, but you had a nightmare and couldn’t sleep. But kissing him was going too far. Your lips eventually moved away from his and towards his neck, lightly sucking to leave some visible marks, “babe, you’re going to get us in trouble.”

“Yolo,” you said, repeating the words he had said earlier. 

“I don’t know if now is the right time to ask this, but what are we?” you stopped your actions, visibly tensing at the sound of the question you were dreading, “y/n?”

“Yeah, um,” you sighed, “you’re my cousin’s teammate that I’m friends with and I’m your teammate’s cousin.” Wrong answer. Wrong answer. 

“That’s- that’s all we are to you? Seriously?”

“Well, you never clarified otherwise. So, we’re just friends.”

“Friends?” he asked, which you simply nodded,”y/n, that makes no sense. We literally just kissed. We flirt. We- we legit fell asleep next to each other these past few nights and you want to say we’re just friends?”

You wanted to fight this. Fight for whatever was going on, but something in you was telling you to just leave it be, so you did. Keeping your eyes trained on the ground and your voice as monotone as you could, “Look, Farabee. Tonight shouldn’t have happened, the flirting is just for fun, and you were just there when I had a nightmare.”

Joel looked as if he wanted to say something more. His mouth opening and closing, as his face seemed to go through all the stages of grief in one second, “look me in the eye and tell me that, or else I’m just going to assume this has to do with everything in your life.”

You visibly gulped, raising your eyes towards his,”we’re just friends, Joel.”

Joel. His name against your tongue, leaving a sour taste. 

“Fine, that’s what you want. Alright, y/n,” he said, not meeting your eyes, before retreating back to his room.

You quickly turned off the movie and slowly made your way back to your room. You knew that tonight if you couldn’t sleep, you wouldn’t have him to go to.

As the morning finally came, you knew you needed to check if he was okay, it was the least you could do. So, you hesitantly went over to his room, knocking to make sure it was okay. But when you didn’t get an answer, you just decided to walk in, but you were met with an empty room. 

Practically running back towards the kitchen, you saw Nolan and Kevin talking in the kitchen. “Where’s Bee?” 

Kevin and Nolan exchanged looks you couldn’t exactly read, “uh, Beezer and Frost left this morning.”

“What?”

“Yeah, Joel was in a hurry and said he needed to leave, so Frost took him home,” Nolan added cautiously. Neither Kevin or Nolan knew what had happened, but it had to have happened sometime last night and you were the only person he was with last night. 

The pair watched as your breathing quickened, frantically looking around for something to latch onto, “I fucked up. Oh my god.”

“y/n/n, you need to breathe, okay? Can you do that for me?” Kevin motioned for you to inhale and exhale with him, but the commotion of what had happened drew the attention of Karly and Travis. 

“What the fuck happened?” Travis asked, quietly.  

“I-I messed things up. Me and him were fine and then, I messed it up.” 

“How’d you mess it up?” Karly asked, softly.

“I got scared and ran.” 

[refinedbuffoonery]

Looking Through A Window (5)

macriley married undercover au

masterlist.

Admittedly, this is kind of a filler/transition chapter, but I have big plans for this story, and I’m really excited for y’all to read what happens next. Expect an update every weekend this month! 

*****

The nightmare sinks its claws deeper as Mac tries to dislodge it. He knows it’s a dream, and Mac tosses and turns as he grapples for control of his mind. 

The images in his mind persist. He's back in the Sandbox, but this time Bozer is with him, and Bozer's dying from a bullet wound before Mac can carry him to safety. Mac's had the dream a million times, and it always ends the same way. 

I know you won’t let me die, Bozer says. But seconds later, his eyes turn glassy when his soul leaves his body. 

Mac’s throat closes, cutting off his oxygen supply, and for a moment he thinks he’s going to follow Bozer into the afterlife. 

It’s just a dream. He’s just lucid enough to remind himself of that. Wake up, Mac commands his body. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. 

The nightmare won’t let him. 

Suddenly a different set of claws grip Mac’s shoulders, and the voice ordering him to wake up isn’t his own. He tries to jerk away, but the claws dig in. 

Not claws, Mac realizes. Hands. Slender ones, with long fingers. Nails biting into his skin through his worn t-shirt. 

He knows those hands. 

“Wake up,” Riley hisses, and it’s enough to finally yank Mac from his dream. Mac’s eyes snap open, automatically scanning his surroundings. The bedroom is pitch black, but Mac can just make out Riley kneeling above him, her tired face twisted in concern. Her hands are on Mac’s shoulders, but not pinning him to the bed like he first thought. Her touch is light, and her thumbs make gentle sweeps across his collarbones. Mac’s own hands find Riley’s forearms, but he doesn’t push her away, nor does she lay back down. “You okay?” she asks. 

Mac tries to play it off. “Yeah, bad dream. That’s all.” It’s a bit of an exaggeration, considering that he’s drenched in sweat and the final and most disturbing seconds of the dream are lingering longer than the rest. He knows it’s not real, but Mac can’t quite shake the sick feeling. 

Riley exhales, and Mac finds himself mirroring her breathing automatically. Sliding a hand down to her wrist, he presses two fingers into her skin, feeling the steady thrum of her pulse. It’s faster than he expects. 

Almost as if in explanation, Riley says, “You scared the shit out of the dog, not to mention me.” 

Mac winces, feeling guilty. “Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Slowly, Riley releases him and lays back down, leaving plenty of space between them. Mac misses her touch the instant she lets go. “Want to talk about it?” 

That throat-closing feeling returns as Mac contemplates what to tell her. Part of him wants to share, but a bigger part hesitates when the explanation dies on his tongue. “Not really,” he finally says. 

“Okay.” Riley says, pausing. “You’re wide awake right now, aren’t you?” 

This, at least, he can admit easily. “Yep.” 

There’s another long pause, filled only with the soft sound of their exhales. Just when he’s about to tell Riley to stop worrying about him and go back to sleep, she says, “Come here.” 

Mac stills. That weird tension still lingers between him and Riley, causing awkward silences and stilted conversations. So this…this is unexpected. 

He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. But, her voice is soft and reassuring, and who is he to turn down a free opportunity to cuddle with the woman he loves? Even if it might be a mistake. 

As soon as Mac scoots across the bed, Riley pulls him into her side, guiding his head to rest on her non-injured shoulder. Riley’s side of the bed isn’t nearly as warm as his, but her body is soft and Mac likes how they fit together. Mac can’t help but sigh in contentment as Riley lightly scratches his scalp, and he lets an arm settle over her waist. They’ve fallen asleep together plenty of times over the years, but she’s never held him. Not like this. His heart pounds at the intimacy of it all. 

But as Mac slowly starts to relax, the pulse in his ear doesn’t slow like it should. Because it’s not his heartbeat he’s hearing. 

It’s hers.

Does that mean…?

“So,” Riley says, breaking the silence. “It’s later.” 

The realization feels like a slap to the face. That’s why her heart is beating so fast. Not because of their close proximity, but because it’s later and there’s still that unresolved thing hanging between them. Mac’s fleeting hope that Riley’s racing pulse meant something else is nothing more than a fantasy in his head. 

Swallowing his disappointment, Mac starts, “Riley, I really am sorry—” She cuts him off. 

“Stop. You don’t need to apologize again. I forgave you the first time.” Her fingers sweep behind his ear, making him shiver slightly. “It’s my turn.” Riley takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry for not listening to you. Like, really listening. Your concerns are legit, and I shouldn’t have brushed them aside and followed Matty blindly.” 

Oh. 

“I hate this situation just as much as you do, and I’m sorry if I made you feel otherwise.” Her voice catches slightly. “Also, I lied to you this morning, in the car. I knew I needed to apologize. I just didn’t know how to say it yet.” 

Pointedly ignoring the intimacy of the gesture, Mac brushes his thumb over her ribs in a way he hopes is reassuring. “It’s okay.” 

Riley tenses beneath him, and Mac freezes instantly. “It’s not, but thanks for saying that anyway,” she murmurs, relaxing again. Her fingers resume their path through his hair, catching on the occasional tangle. 

Mac doesn’t know how to reassure her that it really is okay. So instead he confesses, “Sometimes I hate this job.” 

She’s quiet for a few long seconds before responding. “Me too.” 

It’s weird voicing it aloud. They’re all painfully aware of the downsides to the job, but rarely does anyone directly mention it. Maybe Riley is on a similar page as him after all. 

Mac questions, “Are we doing the right thing? Playing along and letting innocent people get hurt just so we can take down the whole organization at once?” He needs to know her answer…needs confirmation that this whole op isn’t just one massive wrong choice. 

“I think the good we do outweighs the bad,” Riley says after a few moments. “At least that’s what I tell myself so I can sleep at night.” She shifts, and for a brief, exhilarating moment, their hips press together before she pushes her knee uncomfortably into his thigh. Mac squirms, trying and failing to find a good position, ultimately taking a chance by slotting his leg between hers. Riley inhales sharply, but she doesn’t push him away. Mac tries not to read into it. Lying like this is intimate and intense and yet so easy. So right.

Mac pushes the heady feeling aside, ignoring the way it crackles in the background, threatening to consume him. They need to have this conversation, without distraction. Even welcome ones. 

“Riley, we helped them kill people,” he says, and Riley’s hand stills in his hair. 

“We can’t save everyone, Mac." 

The thrumming in his body stops so quickly Riley might as well have dumped a bucket of ice water on him. 

His heart cracks as she softly repeats, "We just can't." Like maybe she's breaking her own heart too by saying it. 

He wants to kiss her chest—to press his lips to her heart in an attempt to soothe the ache there. 

Mac understands all too well. It’s not the countless lives they have saved that stick with him, but the few they couldn’t. Zoe, the researcher who drowned in the Arctic to save her students. Jill, who fell victim to one of Murdoc’s murderous games. Charlie, who sacrificed himself so Mac wouldn’t have to choose between saving his friend and saving hundreds of innocent people. Lasky, the nuclear plant engineer who was just doing his job. Mac’s father. His aunt. Jack. 

Riley clears her throat. "So, yeah. I think we are doing the right thing. It just sucks.” 

Mac agrees, even though he can hardly admit it to himself. But there’s still one thing he doesn’t understand. “I don’t get how Matty seemed so okay with all of this,” he says. 

“Come on, Mac. You know Matty hates this just as much as we do. She wouldn’t ask us to play along if she didn’t think it was necessary.” Riley’s fingers resume their steady, sweeping path through his hair, and Mac takes comfort in the gesture. 

He sighs. “You sound like Jack.” 

“I learned from the best. Don’t tell him I said that,” Riley warns, but Mac can hear the smile in her voice. 

He tilts his face toward the ceiling, imagining Jack looking down at them from whatever afterlife he found himself in. “You hear that, old man? She admitted to learning something from you.” 

Riley snorts, giving Mac’s hair a sharp tug. “Oh shut up.” She means it to be playful, but it sends a bolt of desire through his body. 

It’s too much, with her hand in his hair and their bodies intertwined, and the intimacy may very well burn Mac alive. Every nerve in his body goes on high alert, and his grip on Riley’s rib cage tightens automatically. 

“Sleep,” she murmurs, clearly mistaking the tension in his body as coming from somewhere—anywhere—else. Riley is one of the smartest, most perceptive people Mac knows, and yet she has no idea how he feels about her. Maybe that’s a good thing, he reasons. It’s easier that way. Less complicated. 

Although full-on front-to-front cuddling isn’t not complicated. 

It doesn't take long for the gentle pressure of Riley's fingers to win out, and Mac melts into her touch, letting his body grow heavy. Sleep beckons, and his eyelids flutter shut of their own accord as Riley wraps her free arm around his back, pulling him closer. Again, he thinks she feels like safety. 

In his last moments of consciousness, Mac mumbles, “I like this,” before drifting back to sleep.

*****

For the first time, Riley is already out of bed when Mac wakes, and he’s positive it has something to do with the fact that he’s still on her side of the bed. 

Cuddling with her was a mistake. Even if it led to the best sleep he’s had in a long time. 

Burying his face in Riley’s pillow, Mac takes a deep breath. It smells like her. He hears the front door open and close, and then Riley’s muffled voice fills the apartment. Mac can’t quite pick up what she’s saying, but he thinks she’s on the phone rather than talking to Harley. 

Suddenly getting up seems like a daunting task. 

Not caring if it makes him a coward, Mac stays in bed, taking the opportunity to study the bedroom decor. This is day nine of the op, and before now Mac never bothered to appreciate the work someone put into setting up the safe house. It’s too modern and minimalist for his taste, but he has to admit it looks nice. The bedroom walls are a soft light gray, with a handful of paintings of different sizes and framed photos of him, Riley, and Harley scattered throughout. More of the photos Bozer took are in the hallway, but Mac’s never given those more than a cursory glance. 

Across from the bed sits the single, expensive-looking dresser, with overstuffed drawers that don’t quite shut all the way. One of Riley’s drawers is completely open, and the t-shirt she wore to bed last night hangs haphazardly over the edge. 

Mac’s eyes catch on the photo sitting on top of the dresser, beside the plant he keeps forgetting to water. It’s one of the wedding photos, and it’s the only photo Mac has really paid attention to, since he stares at it every day while getting dressed. The photo is of Riley and him slow dancing, and she’s looking at him like he hung the moon. And he’s looking at her the exact same way. 

More than anything, Mac wishes it was real. 

The bedroom door creaks open, and Mac cranes his neck to see Harley’s fluffy head peek through. She doesn’t enter. Instead, Harley watches him cautiously, almost like she wasn’t expecting him to be awake and is now unsure what to do. 

Mac pats the mattress. “It’s okay. Come on.” When she doesn’t move, he adds, “I’m sorry I scared you last night.” His apology must be enough, because Harley jumps on the bed with him. She stands between his outstretched legs as Mac rakes his hands through her fur, scratching her butt the way she likes. “How about I get you a new toy to make up for it?” he asks. Tail wagging, Harley licks his face in approval, and Mac laughs. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

Riley raises her voice—she’s complaining about something, although Mac still can’t determine what—and both Mac and Harley turn their attention to the sound. 

Harley looks back at him, and Mac starts to think that he wasn’t far off the other day when he noticed Harley playing protector. He smiles softly. “Go check on her.” 

Harley jumps off the bed immediately, surprising Mac when she glances back at him on her way out the door. 

Still smiling, Mac gets up to start his day.

By the time he emerges from the bedroom, Riley is playing fetch with Harley in the living room while she’s on the phone. Surprised the call has lasted this long, Mac raises his brow, silently asking who she’s talking to, and Riley holds up a finger. One second. 

While he’s waiting, Mac wanders into the kitchen in search of breakfast. 

Riley’s next throw ricochets off the wall, and the tennis ball hits Mac’s thigh. “What do you mean he’s not in the database?” she shrieks. “Bozer, practically every criminal in the world is in that database.” 

Mac freezes midway through unwrapping a muffin. 

Riley pinches her nose. “Then run the sketch through the DMV database. The guy who tailed me has to exist somewhere.” 

He swallows. “Tailed?” 

“Hang on, Boze. Mac just walked in.” Exasperated, Riley moves her phone away from her face. “I took Harley for a walk while you were still asleep, and some guy tailed me. Don’t worry, I lost him long before returning to the apartment.” 

Mac bristles. Riley had been in danger, and he was asleep. Why didn’t she tell him where she was going? He tries not to think about all the bad things that could’ve happened. “You think this guy is part of the Patriots?” 

Shrugging, Riley says, “That makes the most sense. But it’s hard to know for sure when we don’t have personnel records.” 

That’s just one of many problems with this op—no official list of known members of the Patriots. Mac and Riley have no choice but to learn about people the old-fashioned way. 

Pinning her phone between her cheek and her shoulder, Riley retrieves the tennis ball from under the couch, her voice muffled as she asks, “Got anything, Boze?” A few seconds later, she groans, but Mac can’t tell whether it’s because of Bozer’s answer or the amount of hair now stuck to the visibly soggy tennis ball in her hands. He makes a mental note to vacuum again. “Thanks for trying,” she says before hanging up. 

Treading carefully, Mac asks, “Well?” He doesn’t need to be a genius to know that she’s still rattled, no matter how much she tries to downplay it. 

“His name is Peter Morrison, and he has three speeding tickets. That’s it.” Still holding the tennis ball, Riley’s shoulders slump as she sits on the arm of the couch. Confused why she stopped playing, Harley stands between Riley’s legs and whines, nosing Riley’s hand in an attempt to get her to throw the ball again. 

When Riley doesn’t oblige her, Mac asks, “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Riley says, but her voice is tight and she bristles when he moves closer. He knows she’s lying—they’ve both been lying a lot recently—but what Mac doesn’t understand is why. He knows why he’s lying, but why does Riley still feel the need to hide how she’s feeling from him? 

It’s like the intimacy of last night never happened. 

Mac takes the wet, hairy tennis ball from her hands and throws it for Harley. “Do you want a hug or help kicking someone’s ass?” The question earns him a small smile, one that makes Mac’s heart flutter in his chest. 

“I was thinking more along the lines of punching someone in the face, but I suppose we can kick them too,” she quips. Mac laughs, and the corners of Riley’s eyes crinkle as her smile widens. 

“Sounds like a plan.” Harley brings the ball back and drops it at Mac’s feet. “Last throw,” he tells her, knowing full well it won’t be. Turning his attention back to Riley, he asks, “How’s your shoulder?”

Absent-mindedly, Riley’s fingers trace the outline of a bruise peeking out from beneath her tank top. “It hurts. You grabbed it in your sleep last night, and I almost screamed.” 

Mac grimaces. “Sorry.” He wants to ask about last night and make sure they’re okay, but the words refuse to form. “I’m going to call Conrad and make him explain, okay?” 

“Okay.” Riley nods. For a second, it seems like she wants to say something more, but she ultimately doesn’t. Honoring her implicit request for space, Mac briefly squeezes her arm as he walks away. The gesture is a promise: I’m here.

*****

“This is unacceptable,” Mac growls at Ethan, later that day. After giving Conrad an earful over the phone, apparently Mac made a big enough fuss to warrant a visit from the leader of the Patriots himself. They meet in public—neutral ground—at a park not unlike the one across the street from Mac and Riley’s apartment. It feels wrong to use the term safe house, since it’s not as safe as they thought. 

“I’m sorry you feel that way, James,” Ethan placates. “It’s simply standard business procedure. I’m sure you researched us before formally offering your services.” 

Mac barely stops himself from making a face. Oh they researched the Patriots, all right. “Of course we did.” He really should do a better job of holding his snark at bay, but Mac lets it tint his words anyway. “But we didn’t invade individual members’ privacy or threaten anyone’s personal safety.” 

“My employee did not and would not have hurt your wife. She was never in danger, I can assure you.” 

“And how was she supposed to know that?” He’s borderline yelling, but Mac is too pissed to care. The more Ethan tries to convince him the situation is okay, the more Mac wishes they were closer to the playground so he could strangle Ethan with the chain from the swings. He snarls, “Explain that to me.” 

Ethan, it seems, is at a rare loss for words. Mac waits, forcing the other man to fill the silence. “I suppose she wouldn’t have,” Ethan finally admits, although he shows no sign of backing down. 

Mac stands. “Don’t let this happen again.” He starts to walk away, content with having the last word, but Mac stops dead in his tracks when Ethan calls after him. 

“If you won’t comply with the way we do things, then I guess we’ll just have to find someone else.” 

Mac spins on his heel. “That’s bullshit,” he spits. “You need us. You won’t find anyone better, at least not that you can afford, and we both know it. Your organization is small potatoes right now, but with our support, the Patriots could join the big leagues. So it’s up to you to decide whether you’re content with throwing your money at a pipe dream or if you want to actually accomplish something.” Ethan is taller than him, but Mac manages to look down at him anyway—something he learned from Matty. “The choice is yours. Let me know when you’ve made it.” 

Without waiting for a response, Mac shoves his hands in his pockets and walks away, praying he didn’t just ruin the whole op.

.

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[neon-junkie]

Injury

Summary: Mando is injured, so you help patch him up. Whilst you’re busy helping him, you don’t realize your arm has been accidentally rubbing over his crotch this whole time. You’re not going to let the poor guy suffer even more, are you?

Pairing: Mando/Din x gn!Reader

Word Count: 2063

Rating: NSFW

Warnings: Mention of minor blood/gore. Mentions of stitching up a wound. Tags: Nsfw, Smut, Wounds. Handjobs, Teasing, Dirty talk, Dirty thoughts, Friends to lovers

Notes: I may do another chapter if anybody asks for it. Also, the beby is sleeping in his pod for the whole of this, you haven’t managed to lose him lol :p

You were so thankful it wasn't a face injury. So. So. Thankful. Mando had been so pedantic the last time he was injured. He would literally rather die than take off his helmet, and he almost did. But this time it was his waist, so he was willingly accepting your help.

Mando was lying down in the entrance of his ship, barely making it up the ramp as he squirmed about in pain. Whatever hurt him was gone, so at least you two weren't in any more danger. You quickly shut the ship's door before grabbing your medical kit and kneeling down beside him. He had already accepted your help without either of you two saying a word. You just opened the kit up and started working on him.

You unclipped his armor, placing it aside as you lifted his shirt. His injury was a large deep gash going from the middle of his rib, down to his bellybutton. It was enough to make anybody cry. You could hear him panting and hissing from under his helmet, keeping his head back as he tried not to watch you work away on him. You focused on disinfecting him, then spraying him and trying to stick his wound back together.

Mando hissed and whined under his helmet, keeping his head flat on the floor. His hands tensed and twitched, clenching into fists as you patched him back together.

You had no idea that this whole time you'd been lent over him, your arm had been lightly brushing over his crotch. It must have been small enough for you not to notice, but Mando's senses were heightened now he was in pain and had picked up on the small accidental contact.

As his wound got better, and he calmed down, you began to untense and subconsciously pay more attention to your surroundings. That's when you noticed your arm just accidentally rubbed over his crotch. For a split second, you wanted to apologize but realized how weird that'd sound, especially in this situation.

You brushed it off and continued to work. The end was getting near, and Mando already seemed a lot better. Thank the Maker for antibiotics. But it happened again. Oops. You couldn't help that the angle was weird, but shame on Mando for getting injured in a weird place and deciding to collapse on the floor rather than a table where you could help him without coming into unnecessary contact with him.

However. you noticed that he'd let out a really soft, really quiet moan within his hoard of hisses and gasps. It was a moan, wasn't it? As in a sexual moan? Hmm. There was no harm in just testing it out to see if Mando really was getting some kind of attention whilst you were simply trying to help him out. So you did it, you lightly brushed your arm over his crotch again whilst wiping up some blood that had dribbled down his side opposite to you.

And there it was again. Another soft moan; Slightly gaspy, clearly horny.

You knew this man must get no attention at all if something as small as that was starting to get him hard. And yes, his crotch did feel ever so slightly harder this time.

You were almost done with patching him up, and gosh did you feel bad for him. Poor guy devoting his whole life to the ways of the Mandalorians, to not have any physical attention and get beaten up on the daily. Poor bastard. Would he ever let you though? Would he allow you to see an intimate part of him? Maybe play around with him? Maybe let him fuck you? Surely he must be tired of always getting himself off? Could he really deny someone in his time of need?

So you rubbed against him again, but this time slightly harder and you kept your arm there. It was lightly held over his semi-hard crotch, and he was surely aware of the contact.

Mando seemed to freeze, still hissing and whining a bit, but his body had tensed up and he was clearly trying not to move, despite the urge to squirm in pain. You could see his gloved hand trying to grip onto the floor. He must have thought you hadn't noticed. He must think this was clearly accidental and you were innocently trying to help heal him whilst he was beginning to get off on the small contact.

"I'm almost done," you tell him, taking your time to clean up the wound and its surrounding area.

That's when you felt him ever so slightly rut up against you, giving his hips a roll to lightly grind against your arm. You didn't react, pretending like you didn't know.

You pressed down on his wound ever so slightly too hard, completely accidental, which made him hiss and instinctively grab your thigh.

"Sorry.." he said instantly, moving his hand off you and placing it back on the floor. "It's alright," you reply. "Natural reaction," you say as you continue cleaning him up, totally not subtly talking about his obvious bulge.

You brushed your arm over him again, and this time it was obvious that you were aware of his hard-on. Mando's sigh this time came from behind gritted teeth, trying not to let it slip out. You stuck a large bandaid over his chest after wiping all the blood away.

"Done," you tell him, sitting up on your knees and looking down at him. "Thank you," he replies. You pause for a second, seeing if he'll follow up with anything. He didn't. "Is there anything else you need help with?" you ask him. Mando looked up at you. If his helmet was off, you were sure he would be looking both confused, scared, and aroused. "Uh.." "Anything?" you ask again whilst batting your eyelashes. Mando was definitely a shy one. "I.. Erm.." you heard him stutter. "Your wound wasn't that hard to fix," you flirt as you forwardly rub your hand over his very obvious hard-on.

Mando's head dropped back and you felt his hips push upwards against you. "I didn't mean to.. I can't help it," he apologizes. You watch his hands repeatedly clench open and closed. "Like I said earlier, natural reaction." "Your arm kept accidentally brushing over me and I jus- wait. You knew?" he cuts off, looking up at you again. "I didn't at first, but I picked up on it eventually, so I carried on." "You tease! Coming onto me when I'm injured!" he sighs as you brush over him again. "I can stop?" you half-ask, half-threaten. "No! No. Uh. I like it," he almost cuts you off, shying away at the end of his response. "Hm, I'm sure you'll like what I'm gonna do to you," you tease. "Mhm? Go on."

After giving his bulge a press, you reach down to unzip his pants, leaning forward on your knees. Almost instantly, his solid length flops out of his unzipped pants. You couldn't help but smirk; you knew he'd be big. He was a good few inches in length, not too big to the point it'd hurt, but not small, and my gosh was he thick.

You reached forward and took him in your hand. Taking your time, you slowly pumped up and down his shaft, realizing just how big this Mandalorian was. You could hear Mando breathing heavily. He went to prop himself up on his elbows to watch but gasped at the pain. You shooed him back down and told him to just enjoy the ride.

Feeling like you'd teased him enough with your long, slow thrusts, you pick up the pace, enjoying the way his body reacted. He was clearly trying not to over-react, his body going tense. One of his hands came up to grip at his shirt, his moans getting louder through the drone of his helmet.

You would give anything to take that stupid thing off and see his face. To watch how he reacted to every little move you pulled. To maybe even make direct eye contact with him as you climbed on top and rode him.

"I should get injured more often," he says, head still looking upwards, spare hand sprawled out on the floor. "And whys that?" you ask, acting oblivious to the reason. "If it means I'll get attention like this, then I'll allow myself to get injured any day." "No, Mando. I don't want you getting anymore hurt." "Hmh," he grunts.

You knew he was somewhat sulking right now, so you decided to prop yourself up on your free elbow, and dip your head down to gently suck at his balls whilst you continued to toss him off. Slowly sucking the one, then moving to the other, somewhat struggling to find them as they were fiddly to get a grip of. Mando choked on a moan as he felt the wetness of your tongue press against him. He reached one of his hands forward to grip comfortably at your thigh, giving it a squeeze every time you switched from one ball to the other.

"Let me fuck you," Mando sighs in possibly the sexiest tone you've ever heard, despite the drone of his helmet. "I can't let you do that," you flirtingly reply. "Yes, you can." "You'll end up ripping your stitches!" "Just ride me then?" "No, Mando," you begrudgingly reply. "You'll hurt yourself even more. Just wait until you're healed, then you can fuck me as much as you want." Mando moaned at your response, bucking up into your hand and rolling his head backward. You were sure if he wasn't so polite, he'd be asking you for a blowjob right now, but the stiffness of his cock suggested he wasn't going to last very long anyway.

"So, are you going to cum for me?" you politely ask him, your lips still pressed against his balls. "Oh, stars. Yes. Oh, I will," Mando sighs as he grips onto his shirt harder. Mando looked upwards at just the right time, to see you licking a long, slow line up the base of his shaft. "Fuck," was all he managed to choke out before cumming over his stomach, closely missing his patched-up wound. You milked him for all he was worth, continuing to pump his shaft a few times as he rode his high. He gripped hard onto your thigh, his hips bucking upwards uncontrollably as he sighed and panted.

"Shit." Was all Mando managed to say. You took a cloth out from your medical kit and wiped him down, tucking him away and also checking on his wound to make sure he hadn't ruined all your hard work. You weren't surprised he didn't last long; Poor guy probably only found time every now and again to sort himself out.

Mando's hand stayed on your thigh, softly keeping hold of you as he watched you clean him up. He thanked you, before slowly sitting up, his hand lightly clutching onto his wound for support. "Sleep," you softly ordered him, offering a hand as you stood up. He accepted, letting you slowly pull him up before helping him over to his pit of a bed.

"I'll drive, you rest," you told him as you sat him down, his legs off the edge. "Yes, of course," he sarcastically replied. For once, he wasn't being stubborn. You turned to walk away, but his other hand quickly reached out and took hold of yours, pulling you back over. The two of you paused, looking at each other. "Thank you," he finally said. You smiled. Your other hand slowly came up to cup his helmet, resting exactly where his cheek would be. "Don't mention it," you replied, then eventually turned and made your way to the cockpit.

Mando shuffled back into his bed, closing the door from the inside. For once, he felt safe. He slowly took off his helmet, placing it beside him as he laid down. His hands came up to brush his scruffy brunette hair that had stuck to his forehead, feeling like his skin could breathe for once. Mando took a few deep breathes, taking his time to process everything, to process you. 'I'm lucky to have them,' was his main thought.

He finally gave in to the heaviness of his eyes, and went to sleep.