#OOF this one turned out much longer than i planned

[jobean12-blog]

Can't Keep my Hands to Myself

Pairing: Pre!Outbreak Joel Miller x reader

Word Count: 1,922

Summary: You and Joel have been flirting and dancing around each other for months but neither of you have made a move so Tommy decides to take matters into his own hands and plans a night out.

Author's Note: Here is my second story for Kinktober! One of my favorite things ever are a man's hands and Pedro and his hands are like porn so here we are. I literally just melt when I see them. It's real. LOL Thank you so much for reading! Much love always! ❤️❤️❤️Divider by the lovely @firefly-graphics thank you Daisy! 🥰

Warnings: flirting, teasing, tension, pet names, light praise, mentions of a-l-co-ho-l, light di-r-t-y talk, semi-pu-b-li-c s-e-x, f-in-ger-in-g.

PS the way he fucking rubs the arm of that chair. IS HE FOR REAL?!?! WTF PEDRO. How am I to live? Anyway, enjoy <3

Kinktober 2023 Masterlist

Joel Miller Masterlist

“Why do you keep checkin’ the door?”

Joel’s question makes Tommy pull his eyes away from the entrance of the bar as his lips spread into a wide smile.

“No reason big brother.”

Joel’s eyes narrow as he grinds his teeth.

“What are you drinkin’?” Tommy asks him, ignoring Joel’s gruffness.

“Whiskey. On the rocks.”

Just as the bartender finishes pouring the amber liquid and Joel lifts the glass to his lips he catches movement by the doorway. It swings open and you walk in.

You don’t see him yet but he can’t take his eyes off you. He watches over the rim of his glass as you scan the crowd with slow steps.

“I didn’t know she was comin’,” Joel mumbles before downing the rest of the whiskey.

“That a problem?” Tommy asks with a smirk.

“No,” Joel states. “Course not. Why would it be?”

Tommy and Joel stare at each other, an unspoken challenge in their eyes, until you shout Tommy’s name and launch yourself into his arms.

“Hi Tommy!”

Tommy wraps an arm around your waist and kisses your cheek.

You slip from his grasp and turn to Joel.

“Hey Joel,” you say, more quietly.

You lean in to kiss his cheek, missing how his eyelashes flutter closed and his grip tightens on the drink he’s still holding, the glass dwarfed in his large hand.

“Hi darlin’,” he replies.

You start to catch up with Tommy and order a drink, the whole while feeling the weight of Joel’s eyes on you.

“Do you want another?” you turn to ask him, eyeing the empty glass still clutched in his hand.

Your gaze lingers on his hand longer than it should and Joel clears his throat.

“I’m good,” he answers, still watching you intently.

After Tommy finishes off his third drink he excuses himself to the bathroom and you find yourself at the bar alone with Joel.

“I’m going to have one more,” you state, more to yourself than him.

You lean over the bar and try to get the bartenders attention. As you’re doing so, a body knocks into you, throwing you off balance and into Joel.

With an ‘oof’ you practically land in his lap, your palms pressed to his chest and his hands planted firmly on your hips.

“Oh my god,” you breathe out as your body instinctively moves closer.

“Are you alright darlin’?” he murmurs, still holding onto you.

“What?” you say, blinking at him.

“You ok?” he asks again.

“Um…yeah. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean…that guy is drunk and…”

“It’s ok,” Joel says.

Your hands slide up his chest and onto his shoulders as you right yourself. He still doesn’t let go of you. The man behind you teeters again and bumps you, causing you to slip between Joel’s spread thighs.

“He’s really drunk,” you whisper, your face only inches from Joels.

“Seems that way,” Joel grumbles. “Sure you’re alright?”

“Fine,” you assure him, not wanting to move.

Joel’s eyes drag away from yours as he looks over your shoulder. The drunken man is still wobbling on his feet so Joel slides his arm around your waist and pulls you into his side, getting you out of the way.

When he removes one of his hands from your waist and rests it on his thigh your eyes are drawn to the gesture. Your skin heats as he spreads his thick fingers and rubs his jeans.

“If he doesn’t move I’m going to make him,” Joel growls.”

Your eyes lift and you meet his gaze. “Hmm?” you ask.

Joel studies your face. “Sure you’re ok princess?”

“Princess?” you repeat, glad to have his solid body keeping you upright.

The corner of Joel’s mouth lifts slightly and his eyes sparkle.

“Totally fine,” you whisper.

When the drunken guy doesn’t leave Joel stands, keeping you tucked safely into his side as he shifts his body protectively in front of you to block you from any more harm.

You feel Joel stiffen when the man knocks into him and just as he’s about to tell him off, the man’s friend rushes over and pulls him away from you both and the bar.

“I hope he has a ride home,” you mutter.

Joel just grunts, his body still pressed to yours as he cages you against the bar.

Tommy returns from the bathroom with a satisfied smug.

“What’s goin’ on here?” he asks, raising his brows as he looks between you two.

You and Joel stare blankly back before quickly separating.

“Nothin’. All good,” Joel mumbles, sitting back down on the barstool.

“Some guy was drunk and kept bumping into me. Pretty sure Joel was about to kick his ass but luckily his friend saved him.”

You giggle and look at Joel, grinning when he winks at you.

“You never got your drink?” Joel says as he waves down the bartender.

He orders for you and gets another whiskey for himself.

While you wait for the drinks Tommy fills you and Joel in on his latest dating escapades. You’re listening, trying to focus, but when Joel starts to mindlessly smooth his hand across the bar top it distracts you and you find yourself drowning in thoughts of what his hands would feel like on your bare skin.

“Babe?” Tommy says, snapping his fingers in front of your face.

“Yeah! Hi!” you squeak. “What did you say? I missed that.”

“I could tell,” Tommy teases before repeating his question.

You don’t dare look at Joel because you can feel his eyes on you.

You manage to stay involved in the rest of the conversation but then Tommy gets a phone call and walks outside the bar to take it.

You fiddle with your empty drink glass and avoid meeting Joel’s eyes.

“What’s goin’ on with you princess?” Joel asks.

He mimics your movements, twirling the whiskey glass between his long fingers. You watch the action instead of answering.

“Can you stop?” you ask, a bite in your words.

“Stop what?” he counters, leaning into your space.

You huff out a sigh of annoyance and cross your arms over your chest.

“Why do you keep staring at my hands?”

Your mouth falls open and then you close it abruptly.

“I am not!”

“Yes,” he murmurs as he takes the edge of your stool and pulls you and the seat between his spread legs, “you are. Wanna tell me why princess?”

“I’m not a princess.”

You press your lips together and raise your chin defiantly. His lips curl slowly upwards as he lifts his hand and ghosts it along your thigh, his touch so light it makes you shiver.

Your breath rushes out in a sigh and you drag your teeth over your bottom lip.

“You have hands!” you blurt out, feeling flustered.

He stops moving his fingers and presses them into your skin.

“You’re right about that darlin’,” he smirks. “I do have hands.”

“Joel!” you huff. “What I meant to say…”

You trail off and look for your drink but you finished it a while ago so instead you grab Joel’s whiskey glass and throw back the last sip.

“You have really nice hands and your fingers are so…so…”

After you say the words you dip your chin and settle your gaze on his fingers pressed into your skin. “They’re so big.”

When you lift your face to look at him his jaw is clenched, the muscles flexing as he holds your gaze. Your eyes drop to his mouth and then wander over his beard.

“See somethin’ else you like princess?” he simpers.

Your fingers reach out, hovering just centimeters away from his lips and your breath hitches when you feel his grip on your thigh tighten. The air between you crackles with electricity and it feels like your skin is on fire.

He murmurs something you don’t quite catch, tilting his head closer as his calloused fingertips slide over your silky skin.

The moment is broken when you hear your name being shouted over the noise of the crowd. Joel’s eyes snap up and he pulls back. Your turn to see your friend coming toward you. Her excited hello breaks you out of your haze but you barely have time to say anything to Joel before your friend whisks you away to the bathroom, going on about how great it is to see you and how she has something to tell you that absolutely can’t wait.

After giving her as much attention as you can muster without being rude you excuse yourself and sneak out of the bathroom, wanting nothing more than to get back to Joel.

Before you can turn the corner of the dimly lit hallway a strong hand wraps around your arm and you’re yanked into something hard.

You gasp but sag in relief when you lock eyes with Joel’s dark brown irises, feeling his chest brush yours with every breath he takes.

“Where’d you go?” he asks, tension radiating off his entire body.

“Missed me that much?” you counter, batting your lashes.  

His eyes darken at your cheekiness and your eyes light up in victory. He carefully backs you up toward the wall, trapping you against it with his body.

“Think I’ll keep you all to myself for the rest of the night,” he whispers, his voice hot against your ear.

With an arch to your back you press closer, lowering your lashes as your fingers dance up his chest. When you hear your name, a whispered plea on his lips, you comb your fingers through his hair and tug on the soft strands.

His hand slips around the back of your neck and draws you closer, his mouth so close you can feel his warm breath.

You lift a challenging brow and he growls, squeezing your neck harder as his free hand smooths down your curves, teasing the hem of your dress.

He dips his head, inching closer and at the same time his fingers move higher, grazing between your legs. You tremble in his arms.

With a hiss he runs a finger over your soaked panties. His touch is teasingly light and you spread your legs, opening them in a silent invite.

“Good girl,” he praises, pushing your panties aside and sliding his finger through your wetness, gathering it before he circles your clit.

“Tell me princess. What do you want?”

“You…your fingers,” you whimper as you circle your hips. “Fuck me with your fingers.”

His groan is guttural and in sync with your wanton moan as he slips a long finger inside you, pushing deeper when you beg for more.

It isn’t until you’re chanting his name and quietly pleading that he adds a second finger, fucking you in earnest.

Your eyes flutter closed but he slides his hand from the back of your neck and settles it at the base of your throat, putting light pressure before his thumb presses under your chin and he pulls your focus to him.

“No, keep your eyes on me. I want to see you come for me.”

You’re instantly on the edge, teetering so close that the slightest stimulation will make you shatter. With a swipe of his thumb across your clit he pushes a third finger inside you, the stretch bordering on pleasurable pain and you come hard, crying out his name.

He draws out your bliss, fingers still buried deep inside you as he growls in your ear, “you’re going to remember just how much you love my hands with every step you take tomorrow.”

@lorilane33 @hiddles-rose @littleseasiren @pedritosdarling @kmc1989 @blackwidownat2814

[amongemeraldclouds]

better than revenge | chapter one: falling for me, dear?

Lorenzo Berkshire x Slytherin!reader (ft. Ex!Mattheo Riddle)

Series trope: Fake dating

Chapter one summary: While trying to hide from your ex-boyfriend Mattheo, you run into a potential ally and the scheming starts.

Warning: Swearing, allusion to cheating

Author's note: I prefer using I instead of you to refer to the reader. Feel free to comment if you’d like me to tag you when the next one goes live.

Aahh I'm so excited to publish this! It's my first time writing fan fiction and doing a series. I used to write fictional one shots years ago when I was 15. Anyway, enjoy reading! Happy to receive feedback.

main masterlist | series masterlist | chapter two: practice?

What is Mattheo Riddle doing in the library at this hour? He’s supposed to be in class.

I close my book and grab my bag. Trying to tame my racing heart, I sneak off to the shelves. He can’t see me, nope. He no longer has the privilege to interact with me in any way, not since he broke my heart.

I curse inward, walking back, further down the shelves. My eyes dart from him and the exit, mapping out my escape plan. If I wait for him to pass the next five rows of shelves, I can—

“Oof,” I drop my book as I hit something behind me. No, not something. Someone.

I nearly fall but then strong arms catch me. “Falling for me, dear?” I hear a deep, playful voice. Lorenzo Berkshire, we knew each other casually but he and Mattheo are rivals despite being half brothers so I never had much opportunities to speak to him when we dated.

“Ha, funny Berkshire. Maybe if you didn’t randomly stand by shelves, then people wouldn’t knock into you,” I say grabbing my things off the floor and composing myself.

He raises an eyebrow, “maybe if you didn’t walk backwards, you’d actually see where you’re walking.”

“Maybe if your brother stuck to his schedule and he was where he needed to be then I wouldn’t have to go sneaking around the damn library at my damn school. Like I’m the one who did something wrong,” I reply.

“First of all, it’s half brother. And second—what?” His eyebrows knit together.

“Why are you avoiding Mattheo?” His voice softens.

I look away from him and my cheeks burn. “I just don’t want to see him,” I whisper, trying to keep my voice steady. It’s been three weeks yet the memories felt fresh in my mind. A night of forbidden kisses and broken promises. I can feel my eyes sting and it takes everything in me to hold it all in. 

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but knowing Mattheo, it was definitely his fault,” he says. I look at his grinning face and smile back. 

“Listen,” he leans in conspiratorially and holds his arm out to lean on the shelf.

Footsteps grow louder as Mattheo approaches, watching you smiling up at Lorenzo while he stands intimately close to you. “Get a room!” He chides.

Lorenzo smirks at you then turns to face his brother, “stalk much? If you missed me, brother, you could have just called.”

“Fuck off, Enzo,” Mattheo bites out. “I heard a thud and had to see what is was about.”

“Always looking for trouble,” Lorenzo tsked. “You know what? I’ll take your advice. I’ll fuck off and we’ll get a room.” He turns towards me, “what do you say?”

“I think that’s a great idea,” I take his hand and force a smile, looking at Mattheo for the first time in weeks. God, I missed his brown eyes and those dark curls.

I inwardly slap myself to stay focused. “Thanks for the advice, Mattheo,” I say sweetly. I hold my head high and leave the library with Enzo, my sadness transformed to anger.

“Thanks for the save,” I bump my shoulder against Lorenzo’s once we’re far enough away from the library. 

He bumps my shoulder back, “any chance I can annoy Mattheo is a great opportunity in my book.”

“So listen,” I start, an idea forming in my head. “What if we continue to annoy him?”

“And how do you propose we do that?” He asks.

“By continuing this” I point between us. I didn’t expect it but I felt courageous speaking to Mattheo earlier when I was with Enzo. It felt good.

Lorenzo smirks, “darling, if you wanted to date me, all you have to do is ask.”

I hit his shoulder playfully, “fake date. Honestly, I’m still getting over Mattheo. It wouldn’t be fair. I’m not yet ready to date for real.”

“Let’s do it!” He agrees enthusiastically.

“Wait,” I stop walking. “You agreed too easily, what’s in it for you?”

“Aside from the kindness of my own heart?” He smirks. I roll my eyes.

“Fine. Here’s a tale as old as time: my father wants me to marry a pureblood. Given my dating history, he doesn’t trust me to make the right decision so he’s been setting me up with his friends’ and allies’ daughters this past year. Now normally I don’t mind wining and dining with beautiful ladies, but at this point, I’m exhausted,” he sighs.

I frown, “Shit, that’s a lot of pressure. But why? We’re still young.”

“Right, but he wants to have a strategic marriage that will keep our social status or even elevate it,” Enzo explains.

I catch on, “My father is influential in the political sphere so it would definitely help you.”

“We don’t actually have to date, don’t worry. But it’s enough to keep him off my back just until we graduate and then I’ll have more room to breathe.”

“So that’s why Mattheo was annoyed earlier! If we date, he’ll think you might marry me and then his ex-girlfriend would be his sister in law,” I realize. 

“Exactly, it’s a win-win situation,” Lorenzo grins then looks at his watch. “I have class in ten minutes. Meet me at my dorm later so we can go over the details in private?” I nod in agreement.

Lorenzo leans closer, “can I kiss you on the forehead?”

“Why of course, fake boyfriend,” I whisper with a small smile, finding an odd comfort in his proximity as he places a gentle kiss on my forehead. A few students around us whisper, witnessing something new to gossip about. 

Fake dating, what could go wrong?

main masterlist | series masterlist | chapter two: practice?

[lightlycareless]

omgggg, that Toji x reader (*plus* Naoya) was incredibleee, ignore me if you want, I know you made Toji chosing to keep distance from reader and Megumi permanently BUT what if one day he ends up finally seeing Megumi, either personally or by pictures/videos 🥺 We know Megumi it's the spitted image of him, I mean, Gojo's face when he saw him for the first time said it all 😅 And also knowing his baby has the Ten Shadows technique (I cant stop thinking about how proud he was in the canon manga/anime 🥺 he always KNEW from the start Megumi was blessed/gifted, since his first breath, the fact Toji named him is not random) making the entire Zenin clan eat their shit

Heya anon!!

I'm so glad you liked it heheheheheheh a oneshot that I didn't intend to write but it just happened!! aren't we glad it did? lol

I didn't mean to ignore you, I was only focusing on other things first 😅 oof, I still have lots of request to go through, which I plan to do it slowly but surely...

Anyways, I might've not gone down that route, however... why not something angsty? I mean 😏I've had this in my mind so... yeah 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

Warnings: mentions of infidelity. Pregnancy. Naoya is, unfortunately, a prick. this is the oneshot anon is talking about. 100% read that first hehe. this is an AU from that, so the second part doesn't count??? I guess. excuse the proofreading. also I haven't written toji that much so please excuse my oocness as well ahahahahha :')

Happy reading!

As much as the three hoped to ignore the bases of your pregnancy, behave as it didn’t rise from an adulterous act, a direct transgression to the principles of the Zen’in, and keep it a secret, it wouldn’t take long before the guilt in each other’s mind began to weight heavy on their mind, ultimately betraying them and revealing the truth to the light, excusing the angered elders to finally get rid of two birds with one stone.

“Where—Where does this accusation even come from?!” You gasp, blood turning cold at the implication—at the notion of the truth. “Do you know the gravity of such words?!”

“Better than you of the act, it seems.” Another accuses. “We were quite aware of the rumors surrounding your ill-fitting behavior, but we never believed it would actually extend to this point!”

“I—I won’t tolerate neither of you disrespecting me!” you cry. “Nor will Naoya for that matter!”

But calling for his aid would no longer prove sufficient, for Naoya, too deep in his own insecurities by that point, had come to the disheartening conclusion that this situation had gotten way out of hand for a simple diversion.

A supposed act of mercy.

He shouldn’t have let this happen in the first place, should’ve respected what you and your marriage represented, what meant to him, and discard his pity for Toji—the man has been alone most of his life, what difference would that make that now?

But he didn’t, he allowed you to go to Toji—no, he handed you over to him, thinking he was doing something right for his cousin, or perhaps something deep inside him was allured by the sick idea of you being with another man and now, he was suffering the consequences.

Consequences he did not like, not one bit—because it got too real for him: you were now pregnant, with Toji’s child, and not his.

And this only highlighted what he considered the pitfalls of this relationship, a strike against his ego and the supposed inability to beget children, a rumor that grew bigger and bigger by each passing day, spreading like wildfire to the point where even outsiders became aware of it.

Which, for a prideful man like Naoya, was only a nightmare.

He loved you, he really did—Naoya never envisioned spending the rest of his life with anyone else…

But he loved his pride more, and when his clan began to actively confront him about it, he couldn’t take it anymore.

And thus….

“…Naoya?”

“This marriage was broken before it even started.” Your husband would say, unexpected words that pierced straight to your heart. “My family advised me well in avoiding you, but I falsely believed I could achieve differently.”

“What—what are you even saying?” you breathe. “What do you mean by—by differently?”

And… where does everything you lived with him stand?

The time you spent with him, the sweet nothings he’d whisper into your ear, to love you both swore to one another, reminding each other that there was no one else that compares…

And that you were the only woman who has ever made him feel this way—loved— and would do everything in the world to make happy…

Was it… all … a lie?

All for… nothing?

Or were you the only one that actually believed the other’s words?

“I cannot look past these transgressions.” Naoya continues. “You’ve left me no choice.”

“But you—you made me do this!” you gasp. “I never—I never wanted to be with anyone else! All this time, my heart only belonged to you!  How could you—how could you abandon me after all we’ve gone through together?!”

Naoya doesn’t say anything else anymore, instead, he simply turns around, exiting the room to leave you in the hands of the vengeful elders who did not hesitate to do what they had long desired—banish you from the estate.

Swiftly yet cruelly, you wouldn’t be able to take anything with you, not even a change of clothes or even money (you didn’t even ask for much, just enough to survive the week) as you were forced to face a new life of your own—alone, pregnant.

Going back to your family was also out of the question; the shame that you’d bring upon their name was one the Zen’in didn’t not waste time to remind them of—at the end, there was only so much your father and siblings could do against the invasive ways of the elders, and perhaps, a part of them deep inside, were also disappointed that you’ve succumbed to such foul thing.

And so, you were tossed onto the street, with nothing more than the clothes you were wearing, whatever you had for savings throughout the years, managed to take it out before either clan could close your account—but most importantly, with a broken heart you believe will never heal, not after the grave wound your husband’s indifference inflicted on it.

The pain you couldn’t even mourn properly due to all the things you had to worry about now.

The first thing you did was search for a place to stay, though getting one was proving to be an almost impossible task.

Thankfully, you were allowed to keep one other thing, maybe it eluded their minds when all this was happening, but you’re not going to question why when it was going to help you pay for a roof.

Naoya’s ring, your wedding ring, was something many would consider expensive, the kind of flashiness expected from a prestigious family like the Zen’in.

You remember a time when any kind of ring would’ve been enough for you to marry him. You didn’t need anything extraordinary to commit your life and heart to him.

That’s nothing but a far cry from what you felt now.

It still hurt to pawn it, but it was the only way you could accommodate yourself and the unborn child inside you, in the only area you could afford with what you got, for even then many suspected that your ring… well, had dubious origins.

When was the last time you even had to worry about the costs of living? Food, clothes, water…?

Many years—it had to; ever since you got together with Naoya, he’s been the one that took care of you.

You just had to say the word and he’d disappear all of your worries—even from the simplest of wants, Naoya indulgingly obliged.

It was a happy life you eventually considered for your child—imagining how happy they’d grow to be without a single worry, solely focusing on what they’ll have to play that day, or how to escape their over doting parents.

A long-gone dream, tossed to the side as a nightmare quickly took its place.

…

Did Naoya ever mean the words I love you?

Or was he doing all this just to keep you there, complying, just in case someone better came along, just like his clan wished would happen?

There mere thought of his devotion being nothing but an act tightens your heart with sorrow once more, gifting you the tragic notion that perhaps, all this time, you never knew your husband…

Maybe ex-husband, by this point.

All that was left from those moments, the slightest semblance of that marriage was this baby, created from what you thought your unconditional devotion to him, turning out to be your very own downfall.

The only one that would know of these struggles would be your baby, the one to accompany you through the darkest point of your life, hopefully to a brigther dawn.

And yet… you’ve never felt so alone.

Time surprisingly, went quicker than you anticipated, though not as easy as you would’ve wanted.

Life in your new home was still very difficult to get used to, even when it’s been months since… that.

But with the job you managed to get (whatever place hired pregnant women—they’re supposed to be at home, some would say, you didn’t care.) and some extra jujutsu work you did on the side, you managed, enough to give you a, not exactly comfortable, but just enough lifestyle.

As long as you sacrificed all the things you once considered granted and turned them into luxuries: such as warm showers, take out, and the sweets you liked to indulge once in a while; your pregnancy has been horrible because of that, and that’s without considering the medical bills you’re struggling to pay as well.

But if that wasn’t enough, your noisy neighbors presented issues of their own as well.

You’re not going to deny that your presence there was like moths to a flame, starting from your somewhat suspicious acquisition—all cash—of the small house you were living in.

From there, your loneliness, alongside your pregnancy; single mothers were unheard of, or rather, highly criticized, thus, all eyes were on you, down to your smallest movement.

Yet, even then, as annoying as they were, you were ok as long as it meant you never get to see those that hurt you ever again.

However, what you want isn’t necessarily what’s going to happen, and that would be reminded of one fateful night with an unsuspecting knock, just after you were getting ready to go to bed.

It wouldn’t be the first time someone came to bother you, but it would be the first time someone did so at this hour, and with such insistence that far from worrying you, it made you angrily storm at the entrance, ready to demand who’d be so inconsiderate enough to visit you so late at night!

And you’d get your answer soon enough, in the most shocking, horrifying, if not sorrowful manner you could’ve possibly anticipated, prompting you to close the door as soon as you saw his face, or attempted to, his reflexes much faster than yours.

“Get—get away from me!” you shrieked, hands trembling as you did your best to hold the door shut against his overwhelming strength— but even your husband has admitted that in terms of power, he excels like no one else.

“Y/N—” he breathes, somewhat amused that you’d been able to hold him off as much as you could, though eventually he was able to break free from your grasp and enter your home, you step away from him soon after.

“What are you even doing here?!” you gasp. “No—that doesn’t matter! I don’t want to see you! I’m not going back!”

“I’m not here to take you back” He quickly responds, eyes falling down to your stomach, making his face soften at the subtle bump evident through your clothes—with this sight, he knows he can’t take you back.

“Then—then why are you here, Toji?”

Perhaps Toji needed to see through his own eyes, what the whispers went on about at the estate regarding your absence.

He wasn’t there when it happened, promised himself to be far away from you as soon as your pregnancy was announced to the estate.

Toji would’ve normally taken this opportunity to act on retribution against his family, rub it on their face that the future of the clan came from him, a low life.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do so when you cheerfully paraded around the halls, happy to finally be forming a family with your beloved husband, even though it wasn’t of his making.

For the first time in his life, he thought himself to be too cruel for having planned such atrocities against the only person that has never been rude with him, always welcoming him with a smile on your face, or at least whatever you permitted when not following Naoya around like a lost puppy.

And the baby… well, he won’t deny that he was glad that his child would have a vastly different life from his—with you as his mother, it couldn’t be any other way.

Or so he believed.

Even when promising to keep away, he still attempted to check in on you, especially now that you were pregnant, whenever he had to go to the estate that is. That day was no be no exception, begrudgingly coming back to see what else he could scam out of his family to ensure his living outside.

Toji’s slyly scanned the hallways for your figure, the briefest indication of such, either through your giggle, staff, or even his cousin’s annoying voice—there were moments where he imagined how delightful it must’ve been to have you by his side, instead of Naoya’s; to be receiver of your laughter instead of that man who clearly didn’t deserve you.

But even if it was with him, he still found comfort in the fact that you were around, there.

Not like now, gone from Naoya’s side.

In fact, you were nowhere to be seen! Not with your staff, not eating by the gardens, or even indulging in one of your husband’s idiocies.

Nothing.

And no one had seen you either.

Or more like didn’t want to say, that much became evident when he stomped his way towards a nearby staff member, demanding your whereabouts, only to be responded with a fret falsely feigning ignorance, or foolish diplomacy.

At the prospect of your disappearance, Toji felt his blood run cold, almost like the estate lost whatever little warmth it had, worsening each time he asked another servant, and he’d get the same answer.

The implications behind your absence were growing heavier in his mind, to the point it sunk his heart to his stomach…

And propelled him to the one person who would undoubtedly know where you were.

“Naoya—Where is Y/N?!” Toji commands the moment he sees the heir, the young man instinctively flinched at the sight of his angered cousin, almost as if he knew what was running through his mind and attempted to make a run for it, only to be stopped by the collar, dead on his tracks. “Do not run away, coward! Answer me!”

“She’s—she’s not here anymore.” Is what Naoya manages to squeak, but Toji doesn’t need to be reminded the obvious.

“Where. Is. She.” He hisses, the worst of his assumptions slowly becoming a reality. “What have you done to her?!”

“What—what needed to be done!” Naoya gasps. “I—I couldn’t allow it!”

Toji doesn’t remember much after Naoya told him that the clan decided she was better off on her own—only that the heir was on the floor, bloodied and whimpering while attempting to cover his face, either trying to control the throbbing of his skin, the blood from spilling anywhere else, or perhaps even shame.

No. It couldn’t be the last. To have done something like what he did required a shameless man to do so.

Nonetheless Toji didn’t bother to find out nor to be reprimanded, quick to assert what needed to be done and heading out the estate; he couldn’t even bother cursing those that had done nothing but the worst after the worst, each time a new low, for his mind solely pertained in finding you.

It took him a while to do so, as expected, but he knew it was only a matter of asking around for a woman that simply didn’t fit to do the job—and such, here he is now.

“I want—needed to see you.” Toji takes a step closer.

“Get—get away from me.”

“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“You were fine doing that before—what’s so different from now?” You spat.

“This is different, Y/N. You’re alone—and you need me.”

“I’m not alone—I don’t need you.” You gasp. “Get away from me or I’ll—I’ll call the police!.”

“If you don’t need me, then the baby does.”

It’s like he struck a nerve with his words, because soon after tears would begin to fall down your cheeks, revealing that the sight you attempted to portray, the strength you so fiercely put up against him, was nothing but a façade, a way to hide the fact that indeed, you needed help.

Exhausted from facing all these uncertainties on your own, afraid.

But not anymore, not when Toji was here, more than willing to step in, as seen in the way he swiftly holds you in his arms when he sees you almost faint from distress, attempting to comfort you as you continued to cry.

“Get— get away from me…!” you’d say again, still fighting against his hold. However, he doesn’t fight it, he simply allows you to vent, taking in all the pain and hatred your heart harbored from the moment you were kicked out of the estate. “Don’t touch me!”

“I’m not leaving” Toji insists, he feels you trying to squirm your way out from him, but his strength doesn’t allow it. “You can struggle all you want, but I’m not leaving you on your own—”

“What difference does it make to you? Your family abandoned me to my luck! And even forced my family to do the same!” you breathe, Toji’s eyes widen—he did not know that; his fury for the Zen’in grows, but this is not the time to deal with that. “They don’t care if I die on the street!”

“I know.” He murmurs, holding you tighter against him.

“And I—And I tried my best to—to move on, but I can’t! I can’t do it!” you sob. “I’m so alone, and scared, and—and ashamed! I don’t want to live like this anymore!! I don’t want to die!”

“…I know.”

“Why—why is this happening to me?! All I ever wanted was for—was for Naoya to love me. I never wanted anything else! I never wanted money, I never wanted to hurt anyone either! I just—I just wanted to live a happy life with him, to make him happy!

But then he—he tossed me away, at one thing he didn’t like, he acted like I didn’t even matter! He didn’t even put up a fight to defend me! he just—he just let them hurt me, like what we had was—a lie!

 Did he never—did he even love me?”

Speechless, all Toji could do is continue holding you as you kept on pouring out your feelings, hearing the heart wrenching sound of your sobs that just kept reflecting how wounded you were by Naoya’s betrayal, the transgressions of his family, and the disappointment of yours.

And all because of something you didn’t even suggest in the first place. It was him who made his way into Naoya’s mind, and eventually, it was Naoya who pushed you into it, regardless of what happened later.

He wanted to do it; you know?

He wanted to go back there and murder them for all they’d done against you.

But when he left that place one last time, he promised he would stop thinking about himself, and start doing what is right—what was needed.

If Naoya wasn’t to step up and be a man, then he would.

Toji would gladly throw away his own pride, his own anger and thirst for vengeance, just to see you safe and happy once more.

Things your husband, could simply not—but he… he’d do it in a heartbeat.

“I promise you.” Toji would reassure you once carefully placing you down to the bed after tiring yourself from crying, followed by a gentle kiss on the top of your head.

 “I swear, Y/N— I will not let my family do the same things they’ve done to me to our child. Even if it costs me my life, I will do everything in my power to keep the two of you safe.”

And unlike your husband, he means it.

Yes, a second part is coming :) just gotta put this one out first hehe.

Anyways, it's not exactly what you asked but I think it's going there??? I mean Toji STEPPED UP and was like OK imma take care of my baby mama. also, here Naoya .I. put it where it fits. ugh, can't say we're done with him...

agihajkgksa I'm excited for what's to come, I haven't written this level of angst in a while!! oof!!!

Thank you so much for your patience and for sending this ask :> I'm super happy you've like my oneshot so much!! I hope you'll be able to like this too!!

Take care, and see you soon! ❤️❤️

[justabigassnerd]

Making You Proud

Pairing - Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell x daughter!reader

Word count - 6,671

Warnings - major character deaths, grief, angst, mentions of being shot down, funerals, just a whole lot of sadness okay? bit of fluff at the end

Summary - you lose the one person you thought you'd never lose and have a hard time coping

A/N - hey y'all it's time for a new fic isn't it? this was an anon request that I absolutely loved like I read it and was like 'this is the most angsty thing I've ever read... I love it!' so I really hope I've done the idea justice. I won't ramble but as per y'all, please send in requests, feedback and enjoy!!!

Growing up, it had just been you and your dad against the world. Your mother hadn’t wanted a baby and so handed you straight over to Maverick almost the second you were born and forfeited any parental rights. You loved your dad; he was the best dad he could possibly be for you. He loved and protected you unconditionally. He also brought his best friend and RIO Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw into your small family along with his wife, Carole and son Bradley who was but a year older than you.

When you were little, you, your dad, Goose and his family all relocated to Miramar after your dad and Goose’s training at Top Gun. The two men were offered permanent positions as instructors at the highly regarded Navy school. They accepted, mostly so they’d have a more permanent place to call home but insisted that they still got to go on occasional deployments since their love for aviation was too much to consider giving it up. So you grew up in Miramar, with Bradley as your best friend and a loving group of people surrounding you, especially with the inclusion of your dad’s Top Gun classmates, Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky and Ron ‘Slider’ Kerner.

Not long after you turned eighteen, your dad and Goose were given a new deployment, according to the brief it wasn’t going to be any longer than a couple of months and with you due to go off to college just after Maverick’s return he was even more determined to get back on time. With you being eighteen, and Carole just down the road if you needed her, Maverick was fully comfortable leaving you in charge of the house while he was gone. He stocked up the fridge before he left and made sure to leave you some extra money for the next food shops you need to do.

“Alright squirt. I’ll see you in a couple of months.” Maverick said with his ever confident smile as you stood on the pier along with all the other families bidding goodbye to their loved ones.

“You’ll be back in time to help me move into college, right?” You ask looking up at your dad as he softens.

“y/n, nothing is going to stop me from being there. I’ll fly back from the carrier if I have to.” Maverick promises, bringing you into a gentle hug and rubbing a hand up and down your back. When you’re released from the hug you move to hug Goose goodbye, throwing your arms around him as Carole and Bradley move to say goodbye to Maverick.

“You’ll look after him for me, won’t you?” You quietly ask Goose, looking up at him as he nods.

“Been doing it for this long and I don’t plan on stopping.” Goose assures, squeezing you in the hug a little before releasing you. You hear the call for all the Navy personnel to begin boarding the carrier and look at your dad who smiles.

“That’s us.” He says, glancing over at Goose who nods, both men picking up their bags and turning to head over to board the carrier.

“Dad, wait!” You call out, rushing over to your dad as he turns back to face you before hugging him tightly, eliciting a small ‘oof’ from him upon impact. Maverick, of course, did not hesitate to hug back, pressing a kiss to the top of your head as well.

“I love you.” You whisper, hugging him a little tighter.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” Maverick replies, a smile on his face as he presses one last kiss to the top of your head before releasing you to join Goose and board the carrier. After keeping you dad in your line of sight until he disappeared into the aircraft carrier, you watched as the carrier pulled out into the ocean and began its journey across the seas. When the families began to disperse, you turned to face Carole and Bradley.

“I say we get some ice cream. On me.” Bradley says with a grin, looking from you to Carole as you roll your eyes jokingly. Getting ice cream after seeing your dad and Goose go out on a deployment became a tradition when you and Bradley were young, and you never wanted to let it go.

“Oh the ice creams are on him, Carole! Is this part of becoming a fancy college kid? Being able to afford ice creams now.” You joke as you follow Bradley and Carole to Goose’s bright blue Bronco. Your words caused a light laugh from Carole while Bradley laughed sarcastically. Bradley had just finished his first year at college and was back home for the summer, he had wanted to join the Navy straight out of high school, but Carole and Goose had urged him to try college first, to see if he finds something he likes more and to just get a degree under his belt in case after he graduates, he can’t pursue a career in the Navy.

“Just remember, you’ll be a fancy college kid in a couple of months.” Bradley grins as he ruffles at your hair, laughing as you swat at his hand, laughing yourself. The three of you climb into the Bronco and Bradley drives to the ice cream parlour you had frequented in your youth.

“How are you feeling about college, sweetie?” Carole asks, her ever soft smile on her face as you eat a spoonful of the small tub of the ice cream.

“A bit nervous. I’m going to be so far away from here. It’ll be weird not seeing everyone.” You confess, glancing down at the table, eyes fixed on a stain that clearly no amount of cleaning would get out.

“You’ll be okay, sweetie. You’ll be able to visit, or we’ll come and visit you. Either way you’ll get to see us. You’ll end up having so much fun anyway.” Carole says, smiling as you nod lightly at her words.

“Trust me, you’ll have a great time. You’ll make so many new friends as well. As long as none of them replace me.” Bradley says, sending you a wink from across the table as you let out a soft laugh.

“I promise none of my new college friends will replace you if you promise none of your college friends can replace me.” You bargain, getting a nod from Bradley instantly as he holds out a hand to shake on a deal.

“Seems we have a deal. None of my friends could hold a candle to you anyway.” Bradley says, smiling at you as you smile back. After finishing your ice creams, you spend the rest of the day spending time with Carole and Bradley before heading home in the evening to get some sleep.

Over the weeks your dad was away, you spent time with Bradley and Carole, as well as spending some time with some of your school friends to make some memories before you all head off to different colleges. You didn’t get much communication with your dad, only getting rare phone calls when he was granted one. But you had been counting down the days on the calendar that sat proudly on the kitchen wall, you’d been crossing off the days as they passed as they inched closer to the day that had ‘DAD HOME’ in bright red letters.

Four days before your dad was due to come home, you received a knock on the door. Thinking it was Bradley, Carole, or one of your friends you turned the tv off and went to the door. However, when you opened the door, you were greeted by two men in Navy uniform, both with solemn expressions on their faces. The smile you had on your face dropped the moment you registered who was stood in front of you. You were staring at Viper and Jester, your dad’s old Top Gun instructors.

“Please tell me he’s just in hospital.” Your voice came out as nothing more than a whisper as you looked up at the two men, eyes quickly becoming cloudy with tears before you blinked them away rapidly, determined not to cry yet.

“May we come in?” Jester asked, watching carefully as you nod, stepping aside and holding the door open wider so the two men can enter before closing the door behind them and leading them into the living room where they urge you to take a seat on the armchair while they perch on the sofa.

“We regret to inform you that your father, Lieutenant Commander Pete Mitchell, was killed in action earlier this morning.” Viper says solemnly, heart breaking as he watches your eyes become teary, bottom lip quickly being clamped down on so it doesn’t wobble. Viper had flown alongside your grandfather in the Vietnam war and saw him get shot down and now he had to report of Pete Mitchell’s death to his daughter.

“How?” Was all you managed to get out as tears begin dribbling down your cheeks and your arms wind around your middle as if you were shielding yourself from further harm.

“They say the bandit came out of nowhere. Your dad was scouting ahead, checking for anything that may come the carrier’s way. Either Goose or Maverick must’ve only spotted it moments before it struck because I was told your father attempted to report something in before his signal cut off. Chipper couldn’t get there in time to save them. By the time he shot the enemy down…” Viper couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence, from what he had been told, the image alone of the jet plummeting into the sea in a fiery blaze was too much for even him to handle, let alone Maverick’s eighteen year old daughter.

“Does that mean that Goose is-” A sob cut you off before you could even finish the sentence you were dreading to ask. After wiping your eyes fiercely with the back of your hand you look back at the men and see Jester nod.

“It happened too fast, neither man made it out. There will be an attempt to recover the bodies but we’re trying not to get too hopeful.” Jester says carefully, watching you carefully as more tears work their way down your cheeks, your eyes squeezing shut momentarily to free the tears that are stuck.

“The Navy will take care of any funeral arrangements and are willing to offer you as much support as you need. You can come by whenever if you’d like to clear your dad’s belongings out or if you’d rather someone else can do it and bring them here.” Viper continues, wanting to make sure you don’t feel like you have too much pressure to figure everything out alone. When he saw Maverick’s next of kin list consisting of only your name, he felt awful. He thought to himself that no kid deserves to go through all this alone. You merely nodded at Viper’s words, unable to form any kind of response.

“Do you have anyone who could come over and be with you right now?” Jester asks cautiously, neither man wanted to leave you alone after receiving news this devastating and wanted to get someone to come and be with you for a while. You didn’t respond to Jester’s words, just silently sobbing and hugging yourself. You couldn’t even bring yourself to begin to think of someone who might want to check in on you. Jester and Viper exchanged a worried look when you couldn’t respond, and they started thinking of anyone who may be able to sit with you and check in on you until two people come to mind.

“What about Iceman and Slider? I know your dad was close with Iceman.” Viper then offers, watching you carefully as you give them the slightest nod, giving Jester the ‘okay’ he needed to find the phone and call Iceman’s number. It broke Jester’s heart to stand near the calendar as he dialled the number, noticing the bright red writing on the date four days from now. His heart broke further when his eyes drifted to a day less than a week after Maverick was due to return with, ‘y/n moves into college!’ written undeniably in Maverick’s handwriting. Jester was suddenly shaken out of his thoughts when he heard the voice of Iceman on the other end of the phone and asked him to come over as quickly as he can, and to bring Slider with him.

In the time it took for Iceman and Slider to come over, you excused yourself to go upstairs to the bathroom and to have a bit of privacy. After splashing your face repeatedly and quickly realising it wasn’t going to help the way you were expecting it to, you decided to slink into your dad’s empty bedroom to let out more tears in private.

When Iceman and Slider got to the house, they had been anticipating seeing Jester at the house but seeing Viper as well, both men donning their uniform, set off warning bells in both Iceman and Slider’s heads. The two entered the house and listened carefully as Viper and Jester explained everything about the accident and the deaths of both Maverick and Goose. Iceman and Slider felt their hearts drop at the news.

“Where’s y/n?” Was the first thing Iceman could muster the courage to say, eyes darting around the room in search of you.

“She went upstairs to the bathroom not long before you two arrived.” Viper says, watching as both Iceman and Slider’s eye’s drift to the hallway where the stairs are.

“Can we check on her?” Slider asks, glancing back at his superiors who nod.

“We’ll leave her in your care for now. We called you both over so she wouldn’t be alone. Keep an eye on her and if we can help in any way, let us know.” Jester then says, both he and Viper making their way over to the door while Iceman and Slider follow them, seeing them off before heading upstairs in search of you. Walking past Maverick’s room, both men paused outside the door when they heard the sound of muffled sobs coming from the other side of the door. Slider gently pushed the door open to reveal you curled up on Maverick’s bed, curled into his pillow as you sobbed into it. Both men exchanged a brief worried glance before entering the room. Both of them perched on the other side of Maverick’s bed gaining your attention the slightest amount as you glanced at them out of the corner of your eye before burying your face further into the pillow, inhaling the faint scent of your dad’s cologne that still clung to the pillow.

“You should go and check on Carole and Bradley.” Was the first thing you said, voice muffled by the pillow and thick with tears, but they heard you regardless.

“No, we’re here to check on you. We don’t want you to be alone right now.” Slider says, shaking his head at your words the moment they left your mouth.

“We’re going to help you through this, okay? You’re not alone.” Iceman said softly, hand reaching to rest on your shoulder as his thumb began to rub soothing circles on your shoulder. Inside, Iceman was screaming. He was having to comfort the daughter of the man he had secretly harboured feelings for, since the moment he saw Maverick in the bar before training officially began. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He wasn’t supposed to be comforting a grieving daughter. He was supposed to be watching Maverick drive with you to your college ready for move in day. He was supposed to finally get the guts to confess how he had really felt after all these years.

“How am I supposed to keep going without him?” You question, another wave of sobs washing over you as Iceman continues to smooth his thumb over your shoulder.

“We’ll help you. You don’t have to be alone.” Slider repeats what Iceman had said just moments prior, doing his best to support you.

You continued to sob and didn’t speak another word to the pilot and RIO duo. You sobbed and sobbed until you cried yourself to sleep, still clinging to Maverick’s pillow. When they had noticed that you had fallen asleep, they exchanged another worried look before Iceman took a deep breath before speaking.

“I’m going to stay. I can’t leave her alone right now. You can head home.” Iceman says, speaking soft enough to not disturb you. Slider nodded lightly, both men standing as Slider grabbed the blanket that lay folded at the end of the bed and carefully draped it over you before the two left the room, heading downstairs and congregating by the front door.

“If you need any help or anything, call me.” Slider says, attempting a gentle smile for his friend but he was sure Iceman could see right through it.

“I will.” Iceman says, patting his friend on the shoulder and watching him leave the house. The second the door closed, Iceman let out a small sigh, eyes drifting back to the stairs before heading into the living room.

When you woke up, at first you were confused as to why you were in your dad’s room but when the memories of a few hours prior returned you were once again holding back sobs, wiping the tear stains from earlier off your cheeks. As you wiped your cheeks, you heard birds singing from their tree branches and you wanted nothing more for them to shut up. How could they be so cheerful when you had just lost the most important person in your life? It was the cruellest irony to have the day be so sunny and cheerful when you had just learnt of this irreplaceable loss.

When your stomach grumbled, giving away your hunger, you debated not even getting up at all. You wanted to just wither away in bed and never see the light of day ever again. Just as you were in the motion of tugging the blanket over your head, Iceman gently pushed the door open, a tray of food in hand.

“y/n/n, I brought you up something to eat, kid.” Iceman says gently, approaching the bedside and setting the tray down on the cleanest of the two beside tables. Why Maverick needed two bedside tables when the room was only occupied by one person, Iceman would never understand.

“’M not hungry, Ice.” You mumble from beneath the blanket, making Iceman sigh lightly and perch on the bed once more.

“I think you should eat something, even if it’s a little.” Iceman gently encourages, watching as you begin to poke your head out of the blanket, looking over at the pilot who offers you a small smile to encourage you out further, like you were a cat he was trying to win over. Before you could reply, your stomach rumbled angrily, giving away your desire for food and Iceman just handed the food over with a raised eyebrow. He watched you like a hawk, making sure you ate.

“I know this is probably not what you want to hear right now but we should probably think about where you’re going to live.” Iceman starts, trying his best to approach the subject. He knew it was better to talk about it now rather than later.

“Where I’m going to live? Here. Dad bought the house if there’s a chance, I get the house I’m keeping it.” You state as if it’s the most obvious answer in the world.

“y/n, you’re going to college in a couple of weeks. Paying for this house would probably be a bit above your pay grade right now. If your dad left the house in your name maybe you could rent the house out to people until you’ve finished college and in a good enough financial place to afford living there. In your breaks from college you can always come to mine if you want. My door will always be open to you.” Iceman says, and deep down you knew he was being logical, but you didn’t want any help. You were sure you’d be able to get through this without the help of Iceman.

“Ice, I’ll figure it out. You don’t need to do this.” There was a slight bite behind your words as you glared over at Iceman.

“But you don’t have to be alone. We want to help you.” Iceman tries to get through to you, not wanting you to feel like you had to do everything alone.

“I’ll be fine Ice. You can go now. Go and check on Carole and Bradley.” You, however, were sticking to your guns and weren’t backing down. Iceman knew you weren’t intentionally being mean. You were going through a lot right now and Iceman was sure he had unintentionally pressed you a bit more than he expected. Respecting your request, Iceman stood from the bed and glanced over his shoulder at you.

“If you need me, I’m just a phone call away.” He says softly before exiting the room, making his way downstairs and leaving the house.

A week later, you were burying an empty casket for your dad. Any attempts to recover Maverick and Goose’s bodies were unsuccessful so you were forced to bury an empty casket. A bunch of Navy personnel had showed up to the funeral, wanting to honour your father. It killed you to see Iceman punch his wingman’s wings into the casket. But the pain was made ten times worse when you were handed a folded flag with a copy of your dad’s dog tags on top. Your dad had given his life for the Navy, and all you got back was a flag. You had slipped the dog tags on as soon as you could. And you let out every tear you had attempted to hold back when you saw the fighter jets flying over in missing man formation. Every step of the funeral was proving to you more and more that you weren’t going to see your dad ever again.

After the funeral, as people began to disperse, most of them made the effort to share their condolences for your loss before moving on. As you glanced around the large military graveyard, you caught sight of Bradley with his arm wound tightly around Carole as she sobbed into his shoulder. You’d seen them at Goose’s funeral a couple of days prior in the same exact position they are now. Like at Goose’s funeral, you couldn’t bring yourself to go over and talk to them, so you just watched them from afar, tears in your eyes as you did. Bradley lifted his gaze and made eye contact with you from across the graveyard and you couldn’t do any more than stare back at him. Talking to Bradley and Carole meant having to remember all the times you’d spend together with them, and your father and you weren’t ready for any of that. Eventually, you tore your gaze away from him when Viper approached you with his condolences and when you looked back, both Bradley and Carole were gone.

A couple of days before you were due to move to college, you had been working hard to ensure everything was ready for when you left. After getting confirmation that your dad had left the house in your name should anything happen to him, you worked closely with an estate agent to put the house up for rent, insisting it doesn’t get sold because once you finished college and got a job you wanted to move back to Miramar and the house. You’d sold some items of furniture and other things you didn’t need but kept most of your dad’s stuff. Anything that wasn’t going to college with you was put into storage until you moved back into the house. You only spoke to one person during this time, and it was to ask Iceman if he could keep an eye on your dad’s beloved motorbike while you were away for four years. You were taking your dad’s car with you, but you couldn’t bear to sell the bike.

As you were packing up some of the last stuff you were taking to college you heard a knock on your door. You didn’t answer it, knowing it was more than likely a member of your dad’s team wanting to wish you well or check in on you. In the days leading up to your departure, you were constantly getting knocks at the door and you didn’t want to see anyone. You just wanted to get out of Miramar and would only get in contact with people when you felt good and ready. You remained silent as there was another knock at the door, when you didn’t answer again, you heard a slight thud as if someone had put something down outside your front door followed by the sounds of footsteps getting further away and the sound of a car pulling away. Curiosity getting the better of you, you crossed to the front door, pulling it open and finding a box sat outside your door.

“What the…?” You muttered to yourself as you picked up the box. It wasn’t heavy, and it felt like there was just a lot of paper or something similar sliding around. You brought the box inside, set it down beside you as you sat on the living room floor and lifted the lid off. On top you found an envelope with your name on it. You recognised the writing instantly to be your dad’s. Only your dad had handwriting that scratchy yet legible. Lifting the envelope out, your eyes were drawn to the pictures below it and you placed the envelope alongside you so you could pick up the pictures. There were pictures of Maverick with Goose, Iceman, and Slider, as well as the rest of his team. Then there was pictures of your dad with you as a baby, as a kid, and as a teenager. Tears filled your eyes as you shuffled through the pictures as you began to realise that this box was filled with stuff your dad must’ve kept in his locker at work. You then noticed patches that must’ve been off his flight suit, and you held them, flipping them over in your hands and running your fingers over the embroidered lettering. After going through the whole box your eyes drifted back to the envelope that sat alongside you and you picked it up, sliding your finger under the sealed flap and easing it open before pulling out the letter inside, opening it carefully and beginning to read.

y/n,

If you’re reading this, then I can only assume the worst has happened and I have died and left you behind.

I’m not the best with words, you know this, but I’ll try here for you. I love you so much squirt. You’ve been the light of my life since I first held you in my arms. I know it’ll seem so hard, but you can get through this kid, I know you can. You’re so strong and I want you to go out there and make me proud like you already do every day. You’ll take this world by a storm I just know it.

I am so sorry for leaving you. Just know I’m with you every step of the way in spirit. I’ll make my presence known, promise.

Show the world what Mitchell’s are made of.

Love,

Dad

You were unaware of the tears that had fallen until you noticed the tear stains on the bottom of the letter, and you were immediately moving the paper away from the line of fire from your tears and wiping your cheeks harshly to get rid of the tears that fell. You then folded the letter up and put it back into the envelope for safe keeping before lying back on the carpet to regain control of your emotions.

When the time came for you to begin the drive to your college. You loaded the car up, sparing one last glance to your house as you closed the door.

“I’ll be back. Promise.” You whisper to the house. It felt weird, promising a house that you’d be back but you had grown up in this house. You wanted to come back to it when you could. It was a way to keep your dad with you a little more. After bidding the house goodbye, you climbed into the car, glancing over at the passenger seat where you’d laid your dad’s jacket proudly over the seat as your hand reached up to the dog tags that sat around your neck.

“I’m going to show them what Mitchell’s are made of, dad.” You whisper, a soft smile on your face as you turn the cars engine on, pulling out of your driveway and beginning the journey to your next step in life.

True to your whispered promise. You showed your college what a Mitchell can do. You aced all your classes, majored in psychology, and graduated with top grades. On graduation day, you looked into the audience of proud parents and wished above all else that your dad could’ve been there to see you graduate. You had no doubt he would’ve been the loudest parent there. You could picture him alongside Goose, Carole, Iceman, Slider, and maybe Bradley as they cheered you on, hugging you once you met with them after the ceremony. Instead you were alone, awkwardly dodging parents and graduates until you decided to just leave the ceremony.

After graduating, you moved back to Miramar, becoming a therapist within the Navy. You served as support for veterans, serving members, and family members of any Navy personnel, serving or retired, alive or dead, you’d provide help the best you could. You even reconnected with Iceman and Slider, apologising for the way you had treated them prior to you moving away but they dismissed your apologies, hugging you tight as they told you how good it was to see you again. You first moved into a small apartment to save up money before you got into a good enough financial place to be able to move back into your childhood home. You visited your dad’s grave at least once a week, filling him in on everything that had happened in that time. Despite everything you had achieved, you often wondered if you made your dad proud.

About twelve years after you graduated and moved back to Miramar, you were still happily working for the Navy. You had just finished a long day of seeing client after client, having particularly been affected by a girl that was brought in by her father after her mother died on a deployment. The girl was a similar age to you when Maverick died so after finishing up for the day you needed to go for a walk around the nearest park to clear your mind. As you stepped out of your office, you saw a person stood outside. The first thing that stood out to you was the man’s Hawaiian shirt, not many people wore shirts like that. When the man looked at you, you could’ve stumbled back in shock, he looked so much like Goose, sandy blond hair, moustache, everything. And when you squinted slightly, you realised who you were looking at.

“Bradley?” You questioned, stepping closer to the man, and stopping when he smiles softly.

“Hey y/n.” He replies, his voice quiet and soft as he watches you. He had grown up so much since you last saw him. He’d filled out with more muscles; he started sporting a moustache like his father’s, but he was still Bradley. You longed to hug him, but you felt you didn’t deserve such a greeting after going no contact with him for so long. Bradley could see the conflict within you and held his arms open, raising an eyebrow with a smile, giving you an invitation that you accept instantly, walking into his outstretched arms and hugging him tight as he winds his arms around you.

“I’m so sorry Bradley.” You whisper against his shoulder, tears stinging at the corner of your eyes as you cling to him.

“Don’t apologise.” He says, resting his chin gently on the top of your head.

“But I stopped talking to you. I never checked in.” You say, squeezing your eyes shut to fight off the tears.

“Hey, communication is a two way street. I could’ve reached out, but I didn’t. I think after what happened with dad there was just too many memories and I backed out any time the thought crossed my mind.” Bradley says, assuring you that there was no bad blood between the two of you. After hugging for what felt like forever, you finally pulled away, smiling up at your old friend.

“How did you find out I worked here? You haven’t been stalking me, have you?” You quip as Bradley lets out a breathy laugh.

“You wish. I’m stationed here now at Top Gun. I completed a mission a week or so ago and it really shook me up and one of my teammates recommended I see you. The second I heard your first name I knew it had to be you.” Bradley explained, his grin never fading.

“So you are a Navy man now. Making Goose proud I bet. Who recommended me? Just out of curiosity.” You ask, wondering which of your clients it could be.

“Hangman. He spoke highly of you.” Bradley said, making your eyes widen slightly.

“Jake’s here too and he hasn’t bothered to come and see me? I have some strong words for him when I next see him.” You had gotten along with Jake well; you were able to see past his strong bravado and help him navigate the loss of a wingman pretty early on in his career in the Navy. The two of you had formed a strong friendship and you tried to check in with him when you could.

“So, you joined the Navy after college. What’s your callsign?” You ask, looking up at Bradley as he takes a breath before speaking.

“Rooster.” He says, watching as you nod.

“It suits you, Rooster.” You say, testing the callsign out.

“Do you want to join me for a walk? If you have stuff to do it’s fine the offer is there though.” You then say, watching as Bradley debates the offer before nodding. You lead Bradley to the park, the two of you chatting the whole way before you settle down alongside each other on a park bench to continue talking.

“How’s Carole? I completely forgot to ask.” You say, the thought hitting you violently.

“Oh… she passed away a year after dad died.” Bradley says and you immediately feel like the worst person on the planet.

“Bradley, I’m so sorry I didn’t know.” You apologise quickly, without even thinking you reach out and give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s okay. She wasn’t doing great after dad died, I thought it was a temporary illness but one day I got a call saying her heart gave out. I think she died of a broken heart.” Bradley says, making tears fill your eyes.

“She’s with Goose now, and the two of them are watching over you and they’re so damn proud of you I just know it.” You say as Bradley smiles over at you.

“They’re with Mav I bet. And I bet he’s so proud of you as well.” Bradley says, his words bringing your smile back to your face.

“You know, the mission we flew the other week, our instructors kept talking about your dad.” Bradley says, making your eyes widen slightly as you watch him.

“Talking about my dad?” You prod gently, wanting answers.

“It was a rough mission. We thought someone wasn’t going to make it home. Our instructors kept talking about how your dad would’ve been a perfect person to teach or lead the mission. No one understood missions like that the way he did.” Bradley explains, making you nod lightly. Your dad had been reckless within the Navy, but he used his recklessness to do what others were afraid of doing, which put him above the others in the Navy.

You continued to talk in the park with Bradley, catching up with him on everything until the sun began its descent over the horizon, the golden glow dancing through the tree leaves.

“I’m glad I found you. It’s been great talking to you again.” Bradley says, his gaze fixed on the glow filtering through the trees.

“It’s been great talking to you again too Bradley.” You reply, smiling over at him and admiring the way the golden glow of the sun illuminated his face perfectly. Had he always been this attractive? Or were you just noticing it now? Before you could get lost in your thoughts, Bradley turned back to you.

“We should probably head home before it gets dark.” Bradley says, eyes drifting back to the sun before looking back at you.

“You’re right.” You mutter, upset that this moment has to end.

“So, where are you living now? I’ll walk you home.” You didn’t expect that response from Bradley, and it had your eyes wide in seconds.

“Bradley you really don’t have to worry about it. I’m not too far from here anyway.” You say but Bradley was on his feet, helping you up and looking down at you with a raised eyebrow.

“I was brought up to be a gentleman so let me walk you home, okay?” Bradley says, his soft expression melting you down in seconds.

“I live exactly where I used to when I was younger.” You say and Bradley’s eyes light up, remembering the house all too well.

“Let’s go!” He says enthusiastically, practically bounding along like a golden retriever as he walks you home. The two of you continue to talk until you end up outside your front door.

“Well this is it. Hasn’t changed much.” You say sheepishly, thumb rubbing your wrist in nervousness as Bradley grins.

“Still a great house. I’d love to come by one day and see what you’ve done with the place if you’d let me.” Bradley says, making you smile softly before a sudden wave of confidence overcomes you, making you hold your hand out.

“Give me your phone. I’ll put my number in and then we can arrange a time for you to come round.” You say and Bradley instantly dug his phone out of his jean pocket and handed it you, waiting as you made yourself a contact and sent yourself a message so you could add Bradley’s number into your phone. When you handed the phone back to him, your fingertips brushed against his and you could’ve sworn you felt sparks travel up your arm.

“Goodnight, y/n.” Bradley says, bidding you goodbye with one last quick hug.

“Goodnight, Bradley.” You reply, releasing him from the hug and watching as he walks down the driveway before entering the house, sending him one final wave when he glanced over his shoulder. As you entered the house, you made yourself something for dinner before heading upstairs to get ready for bed, exhaustion quickly overtaking you as you clambered into bed, looking over at the picture of you and your dad that sat proudly on your bedside table.

“Goodnight dad. I’ve got a hell of a story to tell you when I next visit. I hope I’m making you proud.” You whispered to the photo, your eyes slipping shut as you allowed sleep to take over.

Little did you know, Maverick had been watching over you ever since his death and as you whispered your little mantra of hoping you made him proud every night, he’d always respond with the same thing.

“You make me proud every damn day.”

[aestheticpearl]

Can you do one and they surprise Y/N by coming home early from a mission? Xx

hello again my love, i apologize for how long this took forgive me <3

— ‘oh you’re back…YOU’RE BACK!’

characters. rooster, hangman, phoenix, bob, payback, fanboy, coyote

themes. fluff

[summary] they surprise you by coming home early from their deployment

[warnings] not proof read (i’m lazy)

❥ bradley “rooster” bradshaw

it had been a whole day since bradley had last texted you and he had missed your routine phone call that is always scheduled for seven so needless to say you were worried. you texted him asking if he meant to miss the phone call and he only responded a hour later with ‘busy.’ which provided no comfort whatsoever.

you were doing your best to distract yourself by folding laundry when you came across one of his old sleep shirts. it was a concert tee that he had gotten at the first concert you went to as a couple, you could help but stare at it for a little too long when your eyes started pooling with tears. gosh why is being always from him is long still so hard? you should be use to it.

“we should go to another one of their concerts, i still really like their music” you know that voice, you body moves on it’s own as you turn away to see him standing there smiling like an absolute idiot at you in the doorway.

“surprise!” he drops his bag and opens his arms for you and you happily run into him, only crying a little totally not sobbing. “aww baby you miss me that much?”

“you missed our scheduled phone call you dick” you laughs at your remark.

“i was hoping this would make up for it”

“only a little” he shakes his head and holds your face in his hands while you kisses you.

“i missed you”

“okay you’re forgiven” you are a sucker for coming home kisses.

❥ jake “hangman” seresin

exhausted didn’t even begin so describe how you felt after your shift at work, it’s like there isn’t even a busy season it’s just always busy. you open the front door after struggling with the lock for longer than you care to admit, it’s empty since jake is still deployed over seas. you throw your bag and jacket on the couch and it responds with an oof.

“shh i have a headache” you responded without thinking too tired to register that your couch just talked— well made sound not really talked per say. wait couches don’t talk. “wait..”

“did you just shush me?” jake asks turning on the light next to the couch. you turn around and try to process the fact that he’s here in the house like right now with you not over seas. you run to him and basically pin him down to the couch with your body as you hug him tightly.

“you’re home. you’re here like actually here” you say burying your face into his neck.

“thought it would be a nice surprise. i’m a little concerned on how long it took you to register that someone was in the house though.”

“long day, you’ve made it so worth it”

“aww pumpkin” he kisses you gently while you hold his face. “i missed you too”

❥ natasha “phoenix” trace

you never realize how much you hang out with someone till they’re gone and you know that sounds like natasha is dead, but she might as well be she you don’t get to see her. honestly it sucks having an amazing pilot as a girlfriend cause she’s always busy when deployed cause she’s the best. curse her incredible skill and hard work.

as sappy as it sounds you love looking through your photos with her when she’s away, sure it makes you feel sad but also makes you look forward to seeing her again. when she’s away you like to try to plan a date for when she gets home and when she told you that she’d be coming home in a couple of months you wanted to getting started sooner rather than later.

so after you come home from your quick trip to the store you find natasha standing in the house with flowers in hand smiling that beautiful smile right at you and at first you’re truly too stunned to speak.

“surprised much?” she places the flowers down on the table beside her. “i just missed you so much i had to come home early” you’re still in shock, then you snap yourself out of it and run into her arms.

“i am so surprised, i missed you so much”

you hugs her tightly and you both fall into a comfortable silence once she kisses the side of your head. until you break it with a gasp.

“i didn’t have time to get all the ‘welcome home’ date stuff” she laughs.

“i can wait a little longer for the ‘welcome home’ date”

❥ robert “bob” floyd

bob is awful at keeping secrets and even worse at executing surprises but he was determined to have this surprise for you be successful, so much so that he had natasha get you out of the house just a little so he could set up flowers he bought down the street and some romantic candles.

you were a tiny bit confused on why natasha asked you to go grocery shopping with her but you had nothing else to do and you love her company so you didn’t mind in the end. little did you know that natasha had to make up an excuse to get you out of the house for at least and hour or two so bob could set up and the first thing that came to her mind was grocery shopping. she didn’t need to go grocery shopping yet here she was standing with you in the produce section wondering which apples to get.

“so granny smith? no no macintosh” you roll your eyes. you love hanging out with natasha but she was really hung up on which apple to buy and it had almost been a half hour.

“nat, it’s an apple”

“okay but they’re all so different” she replies back praying in the back of her mind that bob is almost done and by the grace of the almighty she receives a text for the all clear.

“you know you’re right this is a waste of time who needs food let’s go” she takes your arm and drags you out of the store entirely to your surprise.

“wait what i thought you needed to—”

“let me bring you home” you are baffled at your friends out of character actions but let her do her thing anyhow. when you get home your jaw is on the floor with everything that bob has set up.

“ta da! how’d i do? i kept a secret for once.” he smiles at you happily. you run into his arms and hug him tightly.

“oh my god baby you actually surprised me” he laughs and kisses you gently while waving off phoenix who was standing in the doorway.

❥ reuben “payback” fitch

reuben wanted to see how long you could go without noticing that he was home, not one of his brightest ideas really specially since you had just watched a horror movie the previous night.

he arrived back early in the morning and unlocked the door to your house quietly and went to the hall closet to put his things out of sight so you wouldn’t see them and instantly realize he was home. before long he heard you wake up start to make your way downstairs. he carefully placed down some flowers in the kitchen table and hide behind the door.

you woke up with an awful headache and just felt in your bones that today wasn’t going to be good, nevertheless you walked downstairs to the kitchen to make some breakfast alone. being half asleep you didn’t even notice the roses placed on the table until you turned around and reuben was behind you.

the scream you let out could’ve broken glass.

“baby baby relax it’s just me!”

“REUBEN!” you tried to calm your breathing. “i am going to kill you”

“i’m sorry i’m sorry!” he feels awful but he can’t help but laugh at your reaction a bit. “baby i’m sorry” his hand takes yours as you scowl at him. he kisses your cheek multiple times while apologizing.

“you are so lucky that i missed you”

❥ mickey “fanboy” garcia

believe it or not mickey decided against surprising you in a big way, he was far too tired. when mickey got home to you it was very late at night and he just wanted to hold you. placing his bag quietly down on the edge of the bed, he stripped off his uniform and glances over to you sleeping soundly in bed.

“my love” he whispers softly has you feel him climb into bed with you.

“mickey?” your voice is scratchy then you expected.

“hey baby” he pulls you into his arms. “i’m sorry i took so long” he kisses the side of your head and then your nose.

“i missed you”

“i missed you too, now go back to sleep you can process that i’m here in the morning”

“mmm okay” you feel sleep take hold of you once again as you close your eyes. you think about how mickeys finally home and a warmth spreads across your chest. he’s home with you.

you move your hand to hold mickeys and squeeze it gently before kissing it softly. he chuckles quietly.

“goodnight honey”

❥ javy “coyote” machado

“javy?”

“ta da!” javy stands in the doorway with his arm opened.

“javy!” you shout booking it across the living room into his opened arms. “you’re back so early!”

“i wanted to surprise you of course” he squeezes you tightly and takes in your scent.

“you smelling me again weirdo?”

“..no” you laugh at his hesitation. javy has always had this weird thing about how you smell, he says it’s comforting and he wishes it was a candle that he could light. you call him a weirdo.

“you weirdo!”

“okay okay, yes but i missed you and you smell amazing!” you chuckle at him.

“i missed you too” he pulls away to look at you and moves some hair out of your face to kiss you gently. his kisses always have made you feel weightless. gosh you missed his kisses so much and him i guess.

before you can be completely lost in your own thoughts javy scoops you up to take you to the bedroom so you can show him how much you truly missed his kisses.

please reblog to show support ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

.love always <3 pearl

.masterlist

[j4c3r0s3]

Flu Shot (Bucky Barnes x GN! Reader)

Fluffy Fluff!

Word Count: 862

AN: longer than an actual drabble. sue me.

His piercing stare and clenched jaw didn’t faze you. “Bucky, I don’t care if you’re scared or pissed. You are still going to the doctor.”

“I said I’m not going.” Bucky practically whined.

“Yes. You. Are. You need to get a flu shot.”

“I’m not even that sick.” He continued to argue.

You inhale and then exhale trying to calm yourself. Opening your eyes just to narrow them at Bucky. “Do. Not. Make. Me. Tell. You. Again. You are getting that flu shot!” Your voice and demeanor try to stay adamant; while dealing with Bucky, the manchild.

He scoffs. “How’re you gonna make me?” He asks, his tone almost challenging.

You get frustrated, and ultimately pinch the bridge of your nose before trying to approach in a different direction. “Bucky, fine. You don’t have to get a flu shot. But… can you at least go with me when I get mine?”

“I’ll do that.” He agrees. His tone is still annoyed, despite having agreed. “Why’d you want to go together anyway?”

“We’re a couple.” You say nonchalantly.

He raises an eyebrow, trying and failing to hide a small smirk. “We are not.”

“Not officially, but everyone practically thinks we are.”

“I don’t know where they’re getting that idea.” He shrugs, still trying to resist smiling.

–

You're sitting next to Bucky in the medical room waiting for the doctor to walk in. Bucky’s arms are crossed, he looks annoyed and bored. He’s tapping his fingers on his leg with a blank look on his face.

“Calm down. I already said you aren’t getting a flu shot. This is for me.”

“I know. I’m just… like, bored.” He shrugs again, leaning back on the chair as he continues to wait. He sighs. “How long until the doctor shows up?”

“I don’t know. Can I have your jacket to wear? Doctor’s offices are always so cold.”

He sighs again, but holds his coat out for you. “Fine. But you have to give it back when we’re done here.”

“Okie.” You smile. As Bucky’s flesh arm was now exposed, your plan was falling into place. The doctor walks in a few moments later and you quickly give him the signal. Your next move is rapid. You pull Bucky in for a randomized passionate kiss. As you do the doctor quickly gives Bucky his flu shot.

“H-hey! What- oof!” He’s a little stunned by the sudden, unexpected move, but then he feels the sharp pinch of the shot. He groans, and grips your shoulder, clutching it with one hand as he glares at the doctor, then at you. “I-I thought… I wasn’t getting one.”

“Now you don’t have to worry anymore!” You smile cheekily. “Now it’s my turn.” You sit up straight and the doctor gives you your flu shot as well.

He’s a little mad at being duped by that, but looks at you as you sit up and get your shot. “... Was that really necessary?”

“The kiss? The shot? Or both?”

He’s still clutching his arm as if he were a kid. “Both.”

“The shot was necessary. The kiss was to distract you, and it worked. Now we can go back to the compound.”

“I… I guess that makes sense.” He finally loosens his grip, stretching his arm and rubbing the spot where the flu shot was given. “You’re lucky my arm hurts too much to argue right now.” He chuckles, though he doesn't look happy.

“It’s gonna be okay. Can’t wait for next year!”

He laughs for real this time, looking back at you. “Next year? You’re planning this again?”

“I might have to distract you in a different way…”

“And what idea have you got this time?” He smirks a little as he looks at you, trying to figure out your plan.

“I don’t know yet… hopefully we’ll be dating by then.” You look at Bucky expectedly. His face lights up slightly at the thought of that. He smiles and crosses his arms, turning his head away from you hiding a blush. “Here’s your jacket back, by the way.” You hand it to Bucky, but as he grabs onto it you pull him in for another kiss.

He blushes even harder,  and is too stunned to do anything other than hold onto the jacket with one hand as you pull him over to you. He doesn’t complain about it though, not moving away despite the surprise, and he tries to kiss you back. “N- what was that for?” He ask softly, his tone full of surprise.

“I like you.” Simply put.

He blinks, his eyes wide. “Y-you like m-me?” He seems surprised by that confession, though he still doesn’t resist the kiss at all. He looks into your eyes. “I… like you too.”

“So…”

He pauses, waiting to see what you’re going to say. “... Do… Do you maybe-?”

“If you are asking what I think you are asking, then yes.” You smile softly.

He smiles too, seeming happy. He slowly leans in closer to you, not wanting to break the moment. “Does that mean… we’re… together now?”

“I think it does.” You smile more.

Bucky grins at that, and softly kisses you again.

[rozzi-splatter]

ME FIRST

rolling eyes and say something smart x reader for arthur <3

Well, not what I was expecting but sure I'll give it a go for you whoever the fuck you are

Shit Day - Arthur Morgan x GNS!Reader because you didn't specify a gender

"God damn... I'm burning up, what kinda plan was this?" You removed your hat and stood up straight beginning to fan yourself as you looked around the yellow hued swamp. "He ain't been quite right since Blackwater, why are we followin' him again, mister Morgan?" you turned to your partner in crime, watching him drop down from his horse.

Arthur as man as ever, held an unlit cigarette between gloved fingers. "Quit ya' talkin' and pass me the binoculars" he slipped it between his lips and snapped a match across his glove. It lift up like a firefly. A dying one.

"What good is going to look at a little town? Its got like four houses" You stood next to him, yanking your foot from the sludge. You held up your binoculars and let out a heavy sigh continuing to fan yourself as much as possible.

"God knows, bud, he ain't been righ' since Blackwater"

You paused your fanning and slowly turned your head. "Didn't I just say that?" you questioned, raising a brow. You fought the shiver threatening to run down your spin when sweat dripped unexpectedly on your neck.

"Didn't I tell you to quit talkin'?" Arthur replied, eyes pressed to the binoculars. He could practically hear you rolling your eyes. "Keep rollin' ya' eyes at me, maybe you'll find a brain back there... Highly unlikely though but at least ya' tryin'" he spoke loudly then slowly broke into a murmur as he leaned forward slightly to look at a specific target.

"Excuse me? You wanna say that again?" you glared at him and then looked back to the little village, smacking his chest with the back of your hand. "What are we even here for besides giving Dutch more time to think of a new plan speech?" you grumbled.

"Not any longer so yer can stop complainin' now" Arthur smacked the binoculars into your chest.

"Oof!" you grunted, grabbing the equipment. "Damn meat head, we coulda' gone for a drink, ya' know, Morgan,, eaten something other than blown to bits rabbit or left over stew..." you grumbled, stomping lightly in the swampy sludge as you walked back to your horse. "Sweatin' like a sinner in church too"

"Keep talkin', ya'll say something smart eventually" Arthur replied, hoisting himself up on to the saddle. "There's my good boah"

"I will shit in your cot, Arthur, I swear to God" You tapped your ankle against your horse's side, turning it and followed after Arthur in a light trot. Both of you soon broke into a canter down the now more dusty, dry road into the trees.

"Makes a change from Micah spouting shit"

"One drink!"

"No"

"But you drank with Lenny!"

"You ain't Lenny"

"I don't face plant in a pig pen tryin' to out run the law..."

"Don't make me come back there!"

[blackbat05]

Wingdog

Frank Castle x Reader

A/N: Really wanted to try and write one more before internship and school starts and messes me up good☠️ Comment and reblog if you can! Much appreciated!

Genre: PG-13, FLUFF and smidge of angst if you look close

Notes: I will be using Jon’s actual dog since this is so fitting. Reader is a pet store owner in this and please excuse me for the lack of knowledge with animals but I really love dogs💕 A little longer than usual!

“Woah buddy! What’s got you in a twist?” Frank twisted the leash around his wrists once more in hopes of reigning in the excited pit bull. He was pretty sure that Bam Bam would run amok if not for the new and improved collar that Karen had bought as a gift.

“We’re just getting your snacks boy.” He tries to soothe him again without much success.

Karen chuckles much to Frank’s confusion. “He must know that she’s at the shop today.”

"Haven't seen her for a while. Which reminds me, thanks for bringing Bam Bam to the store."

"No worries." Karen nods in acknowledgement. “Anyways, she hasn't been at the store lately, told me she was planning some collaboration with the Veteran Hospital.”

“She loves Bam Bam and the little champ absolutely adores her,” Karen gushes. “Or maybe… it’s because someone just wants their snacks!” She gives Bam Bam an affectionate rub on the head, causing his tail to wag even faster.

Frank doesn’t pry further and the rest of the journey goes in silence. Reaching the store, Bam Bam starts to scratch the front of the door with his paws, begging to be let in.

“Alright! Alright! We’re here already!” He grumbles, pushing the door forward. Before Frank can even close the door, Bam Bam manages to get free of his grip, bounding towards a woman in a polo tee a jeans.

“Oof! Hey buddy!” You rubbed his belly before giving a few kisses to his snout. “Missed you too! Hey Karen!” You gave the blonde woman a hug.

“I see you finally made it.” You smiled at Frank, walking behind the counter to get a bag of treats for Bam Bam. Frank cannot explain the strange feeling in his chest whenever he sees Bam Bam adjusting so quickly.

"Uh... yeah. Kind of busy lately." Frank doesn't know how he should continue. He turns to Karen who has an unreadable expression on her face. He makes a note to talk to her later.

"Hmm..." You carefully examined Bam Bam who is contented with his snacks. "He seems to have a little bruising on his belly. I'll examine him just to make sure its nothing serious if that's ok with you?"

Frank feels a hard nudge at his side, belatedly realizing that you were addressing him. He notices Karen stifling a giggle.

"Sure!" He grimances inwardly, cursing at himself for how awkward he must have sound. You don't seem to notice though, as you gently take the leash from his hand, leading the dog to the back room.

Once you were out of earshot, he returns his attention to a smug Karen.

"What was that for?" Frank tries to be intimidating but fails miserably in front of his old friend.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Karen pretends to look at the display case of fish food.

"Really?" Frank huffs. "Horns setting me up with a woman who can't differentiate Colombia and Colombo wasn't enough? And she hated Bam Bam!" He emphasizes on the last sentence.

"Fine. She was a little self-absorbed." Karen waves a hand dismissively. "But she's different!"

Frank arches an eyebrow, trying to shut out the earlier image of Bam Bam licking your face. No. He's not going to risk anyone else.

"I know what you're thinking," Karen frowns, clearly seeing her friend lost in his swamp of thoughts. "You deserve this as much as anyone else."

A moment of silence passes, with the only noise coming from the fishtank filters. She sees that he is still unconvinced, so she goes on the offensive.

"Number one green flag - she loves animals. And I mean LOVE." Karen drags him to the glass panel where they could see you examining Bam Bam who was calmly lying on the metal table. "Plus, Bam Bam adores her! You of all people should know that dogs are great judgement of character."

You briefly look up to see the two staring at you. Perhaps Frank was worried about the little angel. Giving him a thumbs up, you went back to attend to Bam Bam.

His heart skips a beat. He had not felt this in a long time. Since taking on the mantle of the Punisher. Frank sneaks another look at you and your gentle demeanor makes the doubt in his head louder. After all, he was the walking definition of blood and violence.

"I can't Karen. You know why." He's afraid of what will come if he accepts this. He's afraid of shattering you to pieces.

"I'll hurt her like everyone else."

"I get it Frank. I really do. Your need to protect people." Karen gazes into the room where you're still working with Bam Bam. "But cracks do show even in the strongest of rocks."

"She's seen a lot Frank. She's a strong woman. Maybe that's what you need. It wouldn't hurt to try again."

The door opens, signalling the end of the conversation. Karen gives him a significant look, excusing herself out of the store. Noticing the woman's absence, Frank quickly steps in, filling the silence.

"She took an urgent call. Work stuff."

"Ah, of course." With Frank's extended absence and your time split between the store and the Hospital, the air was slightly different with your most frequent customer. You decide to fill him in on Bam Bam before you say something that you would regret.

"Champ is fine. He probably got rough and had a little bruising. Just make sure Bam Bam's careful for the next two weeks or so and it should be good."

"That's great." Frank is truly relieved but he finds himself scrambling for words. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." You suddenly find the leash very interesting, fiddling with it more than usual.

Before the both of you could even register what was happening, Bam Bam moves behind your knees, giving you a hard nudge that throws you off balance.

And into Frank's arms.

“Oh shit!” You flail in his grasp slightly. “I’m so sorry.”

Only when Frank stables you, you finally realize the close proximity between the two of you. Mind going into overdrive, your heightened senses could smell the aftershave on him.

“That’s alright - down boy!” He address the overly excited pit bull who sits down at his side. Frank’s eyes pierces through yours and you decide to look anywhere else except for his chiseled features. Turning positively tomato, you fan yourself, making a fuss of the sudden increase in temperature.

“It’s hot in here!”

“Eh… the temperature’s set to sixty-six.”

You glanced at the control on the wall and wanted to run into it yourself. But you don’t know this… Frank thinks you’re adorable as you laugh a little too loudly to try and avert the embarrassment you created for yourself.

“Um… I was thinking… you free on Friday?”

You stare at him blankly as Frank rushes to fill in the gaps.

“I mean I didn’t see you for a while! I thought it’ll be goo-great to catch up. Over lunch, dinner, or if you’re just a coffee kinda gal.”

“Well, I know this great dim sum place a few blocks down. I close at eight on Friday.” You see the tensed muscles in Frank relax themselves as he finds himself successful in his latest mission to ask you out.

“Yeah, great! I’ll swing by then!” He waves goodbye with his free hand while attempting to get Bam Bam out of the store with much effort.

He finds Karen standing by the pillars, patiently waiting for his response.

“So?”

“Dinner.” Is all Frank grumbles out.

“You actually did it?” She squeals, briskly catching up with Frank. “I didn’t think you would actually do it!”

“Neither did I.” He shrugs, staring at Bam Bam who was a few paces in front of them.

“I guess I just had an awesome wingdog.”

[shejustcalledmeafish]

John Hart + 59 (absolutely no pressure but I hope this inspires you! <33)

59. "You never had the best ideas."

John had been in tight spots with Jack before, but going on three hours, and with still no sign of the manhunt above the floorboards ceasing, it was going from sexy to much less than. The hollow beneath the loose floorboard had only been designed to hold one, but John’d had no qualms about forcing himself down on top of Jack, squishing tight and leaving Jack with no choice but to allow it or else give away both their positions.

Not that Jack would have given him away. Strange as it was, Jack actually seemed to like him again. He’d agreed to come with on John’s assassination contract for a particularly fiendish demagogue, happy to make a date night out of infiltrating their gala. John was still waiting for the catch.

The first few minutes had been enjoyable. Jack had kissed him, quietly, tongue inevitably tasting the blood splattered over his lips but never recoiling. John could feel him hard against his thigh, and wished they had the room to maneuver, just enough to move a few layers of fabric and slide together even closer. But they had to settle for a lazy and very quiet rutting, never enough to come. They could have, but they both knew how unrestrained the other could be, and with heavy footsteps still racing above them, they eventually gave up in favor of simply waiting.

John was so tired of waiting. He’d never been patient, and having a hot, ready, and willing Jack beneath him he couldn’t finish off was not helping his oft-missing virtue. The traffic above had died down slowly as the demagogue’s forces had decided the assassin must have made it out of the building. But there was still several corpses, and John knew that violence on this level would attract a lot more than coroners. They would have to either wait longer for the initial investigation to die down, or take the risk of not being able to take down whatever police were still waiting for them.

“You know,” Jack said, so quiet John felt more than heard the words in the vibrations from his throat. John unashamedly had his head curled on Jack’s shoulder and had for a while. “I did say we should have gone with my plan.” John rolled his eyes.

“Bursting in guns-akimbo may work for you, immortal man, but you saw the security. My way was much neater.” John really thought it had been elegant. He hadn’t been able to bring any weaponry in, even their vortex manipulators had to be left behind. Time Agents were very much persona non-grata in this regime. But John had hacked in and made a very important change to the menu, and it had been easy to liberate his and Jack’s light but sharp steak knives that the catering had provided. He still had one, tucked inside his coat, and he was going to keep it. Lovely blade.

Point being, once inside, the guards were a lot less wary about weaponry. No one noticed a missing knife or two as the caterers rolled away their dish carts, and when the party moved onto the dance floor, it had been all too easy to send Jack to introduce his alias to the demagogue, and for John to step up behind them and slit their throat.

They hadn’t meant for anyone else to die but it all got a bit violent after that. All John did, at Jack’s request, was run. He left the murder weapon in one guard’s shoulder but then they had made it into the antechamber with the window that was supposed to be ajar. Sometimes attentive household staff were the bane of his existence. But he hadn’t extensively researched the manor for nothing, and here they were, snug as two murderous bugs in a floorboard.

“I’m just saying,” Jack said. “This was a pretty weak back-up plan.” John jabbed him in the gut and Jack let out a weak oof.

“You can let up on the insults until I can kill you properly,” John said sweetly. “I’d do it now, but you’d stink and give the whole game away.”

“How generous,” Jack teased, and turned his head to kiss John. As if to reassure him he didn’t mean it. John still found that strange.

“Like you would have done much different,” John mumbled before much longer had passed. He couldn’t actually see Jack’s face, but he could almost feel his surprise. Perks of knowing each other so long and so deeply. “You never had the best ideas.”

For a few moments too long, Jack didn’t respond, and John started to panic despite himself. He’d given himself rules for when Jack had decided to want him again, rules of how not to mess it up. Insults were a big one. He had no way of knowing when he would cross the line that made Jack decide he was no longer worth it, and so he had to play it safe. But it was uncomfortably warm and tight and as any good narration would have previously mentioned, John was not a patient person. Irritation made it that much harder to be good.

“You’re right,” Jack said, and John nearly choked on his next breath. “This does seem like exactly the kind of stunt we would have pulled back in the day after one of my plans.” John was deeply relieved Jack wouldn’t be able to see the smile that broke on his lips.

“Throwback, hm?” he purred instead, nuzzling into Jack’s neck and willing his heartbeat to steady itself.

“But now we’re older and ever more patient.”

“Not that patient,” John added, pressing a light kiss to Jack’s jaw. Jack gripped him tighter.

“No, not that patient.” One hand slipped between them, rubbing teasingly over John’s crotch. “I think we can take them. What do you say?” God, John needed to keep Jack between his thighs until they both reached some higher plain, and that required being back on their ship with no one to disturb them and out of this hole.

“Oh, you know I can take anything,” John promised. Then he pulled a maneuver he really hoped would go as fluidly as the action movie vibes demanded. He pushed upward, tossing the loose floorboard aside, then took hold of Jack, and forced him up to stand as he rolled down and took the space once occupied by Jack’s legs. “Let’s see if you can, lover.”

Jack looked at him, insulted, but only for a second before leaping out of the hole and running with a scream at the nearest adversary. John slipped the knife out of his coat, waited for a pause in the gunfire, then followed after. It would be far too unfair to let Jack have all the fun after all.

[sparklinpixiedust]

Stalking

Oof. I've had this idea since the day @uselessyellow requested a fic to be made on this prompt. Its taken me what, a month? But I finally got the time to sit down and type this out. Hope you like it.

Bingo card by @badthingshappenbingo

Next up: Infected Wound or Thrown down the stairs. Idk, like the story is going to be the same regardless, just don't know what prompt to use.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've got a bad case of the 3:00 am guilts - you know, when you lie in bed awake and replay all those things you didn't do right? Because, as we all know, nothing solves insomnia like a nice warm glass of regret, depression and self-loathing. ~D.D. Barant

------x------x----------‐-----x---------x----------x-----

Benjamin pulled his hoodie closer to his body as the cold winter breeze hit him.

Just a few more minutes he thought, before he'd put an end to this madness.

See fame , while fun and exciting with it's exclusive parties and glory , had it's own downfalls.

That being , constantly being watched through a microscope. His rise to fame had brought in a lot of attention, especially the unwanted kind.

Eyes, eyes, eyes.

On him.

Everywhere.

All.the.time.

Be it at school , at home. Mr smoothies. Everywhere he went he could feel the gazes crawl up his skin, whispers buzzing in his ears like the mosquitos from summer camp.

He appreciated his fans, he really did, but it was becoming too much lately. It surprised him how something so mundane as having a nice little queit stroll around the block had become something he craved.

However that wasn't even the worst of it all. The worst was knowing that it wasn't just the fans who knew his whereabouts, it was his enemies too.

The horror of his fame had eventually dawned on him after his mother had been kidnapped. It had become too easy to to track him and his family down.

He hoped that it was a fluke, a one time thing. But when Psyphon came to earth after some stupid youtube show made by Cash and JT, it really pushed him over the edge. Psyphon got them from space. Space!

From freaking YOUTUBE!

So over the course of the coming year he became hyper vigilante, constantly running off to end crimes. Even the petty ones because he had to nip every little thing in the bud before it spiraled enough to hurt the people he loved. And truth be told , he was left exhausted.

The daily family checks ins , the constant checking of locks and bolts around his home. Whew.

When the insomnia hit, which happened more often than you'd imagine, he'd patrol bellwood by himself making sure the city was safe.

He hadn't told anyone , but he had installed GPS trackers on all his family members too. How had he managed that? Well that's a story for another day.

Gwen and Kevin tried to reassure him that things would be okay and they'd be around for anything. While initially unhelpful, he had begun to calm down a bit after they agreed to each take turns staying up at nights.

However 3 weeks ago he came home, and behold, something was off.

Someone had been in there. At first he tried to shrug it off but when he couldn't find his grey hoodie, he knew for sure that someone had broken in. He distinctively remembered giving it a sniff that proving and tossing it on his bed. It couldn't have just grown legs and walked away.

It terrified him. Despite all the precautions, someone has managed to break into his room.

Over the coming weeks he was extra cautious. He didn't go home often and kept his distance from gwen and Kevin too. He didn't want to involve them just yet, it was his problem. He was the hero.

he began to feel the unsettling presence more and more around him, as though stalking him from the shadows.

After 3 weeks of the lingering feeling around him , he decided enough was enough. The longer this went on, the better the chance it gave his stalker to plan an elaborate attack.

So tonight he grabbed a plumber gun , put on his new brown hoodie and and tried to lure the enemy into an ally.

He could feel the footsteps behind him. The brunet began to walk faster and faster , almost breaking into a sprint. The stalker followed suite, until Ben reached the familiar ally behind Mr Smoothie. He stopped in front of a dead end, making out a dark figure in his peripheral view.

So he wasn't imagining it! It was real !

The hero slowly pulled out his gun and shut his eyes.

It ends now.

Without hesitation spun around and wildly shot at his stalker.

" Leave me and my family alone!" he yelled.

It was only when he heard the thud of the body falling falling on the ground did he open his eyes to the horror that lay in front of him.

The blood drained from his face, leaving him pale.

For in front of him lay the body of a blonde teenage girl wearing his now blood stained grey hoodie, with a bracelet that read " #1 fan"

Oh what had he done?

_____________

" this just in, after a tireless search over the past week, we have finally recovered the body of 14 year Clara Simmons at the abandoned military site Los Soledad.

We are not sure why she was there but close friends suggest she could've been sneaking around the area in hopes to catch a glimpse of her favourite hero Ben Tennyson.

Clara Simmons is known among her peers to be a Ben 10 superfan, even as far as to occasional follow him around and has even reportedly broken into his room several times before. The most recent time being a month ago as told by her best friend Susy, where she stole a hoodie, the same hoodie that she was wearing when her body was found.

There is no indication of what truly happened but Gwen Tennyson, a fellow member of Team 10 has released statement, stating the area always has high alien activity and its possible Clara Simmons unfortunately got caught in a cross fire.

Folks , let this be a reminder to steer clear of Los Soledad. There are signs stating to keep out for a reason and the let hero's do their jobs.

Guards are to be placed at the site to avoid further inciden--"

Ben switched off the TV as he hopped off of his bed.

" I'll take of it, Gwen take him home" was all Kevin had said when Ben had called them that night sobbing.

Too bad there's wasn't anything to take care of the massive weight of guilt on him.

He quietly made his way down stairs as not to wake his cousin and best friend who had decided to take up residence at his house.

He walked up to the front door and slowly jiggled it. He sighed with relief when it didn't open at his attempt.

It just never ends does it?

[thomasshelbydrabbles]

The Spy (7/?)

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Adeline Taylor (OC)

Warnings: period typical sexism, series typical violence, period typical views of PTSD, period typical racism, blood and gore, angst, sexual situations, infertility, loss of child

Summary: Adeline has a long needed conversation with an old friend, and she learns more about what happened in Birmingham during her time away.

**Note: This is a series, so you should read The School Teacher and The Messenger first if you want to understand everything.**

Word Count: 2638

Author’s Note: Oof, this one was emotional, but I kinda love it. Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list.

Birmingham, 1924

“So this, right, this is Birmingham. Definitely not kosher, no. Not that a fuckin’ goya like you would care ‘bout that, no.” 

His wasn’t the voice she’d expected to find her, but she shouldn’t have been surprised to hear it. A smile tugged at her lips. She’d come out to the schoolhouse to clear her head. Finding a dress had been simple because for all that nothing remained the same, she still knew what would make her look nearly irresistible to Tommy. Even as the thought of him choosing to ignore her in spite of the dress sent a sharp pain through her chest, she welcomed the distraction. Anything to get away from Sidney and his plans for the Shelby Foundation dinner tonight. 

“They named a foundation after me. Gonna help fund this school. Seems a bit like I’ve died before my time.” Adeline paused, turned to face Alfie. “Again.” 

“You have a habit, right, a bad habit of dyin’ before it’s time to do such things. Always getting things out of order you are.” 

“I didn’t die.” 

“Didn’t you?” Alfie asked, head tilted as though pondering it. “They feared you might have died. Died, that day at the Darby, or in the days after. What they don’t realize yet, these Shelby’s of yours, is that you did. Die.” Alfie paused. “Again.” 

“Momento Mori.” 

“Bloody hell.” 

Her eyes snapped up to him at the utter disappointment coloring the words. The deep set frown on his lips, the pinched look around his eyes, the way his fingers rubbed together at his sides - she’d seen him like that with fucking Ollie. Fuck. 

“It had to be done.” 

“Had to be done, right,” Alfie nodded slowly, absently. 

She hated his tone. Hated more how everything around Birmingham felt wrong, as though she didn’t belong here anymore. A thought she viciously ignored because if she didn’t belong here with Tommy, then she knew she belonged nowhere. It meant she might as well stay with Sidney because he might not care for her, but he had a use for her, and usefulness would keep her a live a bit longer…and that had to be better than dying of a broken heart.

“Of all the people in my life, Alfie, I thought you’d be the one to understand.” 

Alfie nodded again, stroked his beard. He took a step closer to her. “Understanding I ‘ave, pet. It’s not understanding that’s the trouble is it? Not the trouble with me, not the trouble with Thomas - ” he paused, nodded again. “You’re asking for absolution, for forgiveness, pet, and that, right, that is much more difficult to come by.”

Adeline choked back a sob because this was Alfie. The man she relied on to understand her circumstance, her choices.  

“752 days, pet. It’s a long time to be separated from your family.”

“I had to make sure you were safe.”

“Not your job to protect me, pet. Not from the likes of George Bergmann.” 

She wanted to snort at the derisive tone he used whenever he said George’s name. The way he elongated the vowels as though they’d caused him personal offense.   

“Goes by Sidney Reilly now,” Adeline said. “Seems you were right about him being Russian.” 

Alfie rubbed his beard again. Adeline frowned at the red irritated skin she could see. He wasn’t taking care of himself as he should. She walked to the base of the stairs leading to the schoolhouse and sat. 

“Whatever name he goes by makes no difference to me, pet. Still don’t need you protecting me from him.” 

“Wasn’t just you I was protecting that day.” 

Alfie nodded. “Yes, of course. Protected Thomas, protected all the lads there at the Darby that day. Lads who did a gorgeous, just beautiful job it was, at killing many of Campbell’s men.” 

“This was different.”

“Was it?” 

Adeline narrowed her eyes. She pushed up from her spot on the stairs and moved in on Alfie. “You know it is. This is bigger than a turf war in Birmingham or London. Campbell was just the opening for Sidney’s larger plan. It was him all along, pulling the strings, testing his plans.”

“And you played right into his hand. Like a puppet on a fuckin’ string you danced to his tune. Thought you were smarter than that.” 

“Fuck you.” 

“Fuck me?”

Adeline turned her head away.

“Why didn’t you leave him? I allowed you to go, right, nodded me fuckin’ head because I thought you’d lead him on a merry chase and kill ‘im, as is your right. Not fuckin’ allow him to take you with ‘im.”

Adeline whirled around so fast she knew her neck would be sore the next day. “Leave? You don’t think I thought about it? Every day I thought about it. How easy it would be to sneak out, to disappear in the middle of the night. To come back to London, to Birmingham, to fucking Small Heath. But what would I have come back to, Alfie, hm? Corpses? Would you have me come home to a pile of dead bodies? Sidney had, still does have, men watching the Shelby’s. Now I know he’s got the fuckin’ Economic League on side, and who knows how far that reach goes.” 

“Excuses, pet. Pathetic excuses.” 

“I didn’t expect you to hate me so much.”

“Bloody hell, pet. I don’t hate you. I’m angry, right, so angry I hardly know what to do with meself, but couldn’t hate you. Same as Thomas, the fool that he is, can’t hate you anymore than I can. But, anger? Oh, got plenty of that, deserved it is, too. Bloody foolish girl, right, runnin’ off, not coming home. Not lettin’ any of us help you. After all this time, I thought you’d trust me more than that.” 

“You sound just like Thomas,” Adeline began. “Talkin’ ‘bout trust like it’s all so simple.”

“Not simple. Not simple at all, but you make it difficult to help you when you run off and stay gone. Sending messages like it’s scraps from the table for bloody Cyril. He misses you, too. Pouts around the ‘ouse like a pathetic thing.”

“Sidney brought me to Small Heath,” Adeline said. “A couple of weeks after the Darby, after I thought about coming back. I snuck out of where he had us staying. Sidney caught up with me a couple of miles from Small Heath, and brought me the rest of the way into town. I saw Thomas.” Adeline smiled at the memory. “He walked down the street as he always had, coat billowing behind him. Sidney pointed to a rooftop on a building adjacent to where we stood. Hid himself fairly well, but I know a sharpshooter when I see one, and there one sat just waiting. Barrel of that rifle trained on Thomas. I understood Sidney’s message. How is Tommy supposed to defend himself from an attack like that, hm?” 

Alfie nodded. “You know, I’ve often wondered what it would take to break you. One of the most stubborn women I’ve ever met. Strongest, too. Very strong. Strong of will, of mind - not allowing anyone, anything to break her. Now, George - er, Sidney, what a fucking stupid name, if you let him, pet, he will break you. Not a shattering, not an honorable death. No. He’ll take a small piece of you at a time. So small right, that you won’t even notice it until he’s taken so many small pieces that you’re not you anymore. Right, and he’ll take those stolen pieces of you and reassemble them for you, present it as a gift he will, a fucking present for you. And you’ll take it because you won’t know to know anymore. He’ll have made you stupid. Deadly, but stupid. I fear, pet, he may have already started.” 

Adeline stared at Alfie. She could hear the blood roaring through her veins, felt hear heart beating fiercely in her breast. How much of her had Sidney already taken? Was she already lost? She feared she might be. 

“About that day,” Alfie began as though it were an afterthought. “That day Sidney brought you to Small Heath, put on a show for you, right, a bloody show. You didn’t look closely enough, not closely enough at all. Taught you better than that, but Sidney has this power over you, pet, don’t like it, not at all because had you been lookin’, you’d’ve seen on the opposite rooftop another man with a rifle aimed at the sniper you focused all of your energy on.”

“What?” 

Her voice sounded distant, as though through a tunnel. Her eyes dimmed a bit at the edges, her body swayed. Alfie caught her as her knees gave out and together they crumpled to the ground with enough force to push the air from her lungs. White noise echoed through her mind. 

“You - ”

“Faith, pet. Godless thing you are, but have some faith in me, right? I’d not let the one man, the only man, who brings the most brilliant smile to your face, right, the happiest I’ve ever seen you is when you’re with Thomas Shelby, and I’d not let the likes of Sidney Reilly take that from you so easily.”

“You saw me with him that day?”

Alfie pressed a kiss to the side of her head. Adeline allowed the tears she’d been holding since she’d come back to Birmingham trail down her face. How had she allowed this to happen? Would it have been as simple as leaving, as coming home and allowing the danger to follow her? What an embarrassment she was. Missing the signs that Alfie’d been there, just over her shoulder. She thought back to when Michael and Isaiah had shown up, how it was a friend of Alfie who offered them a safe place to meet. Did she really doubt the powerful men in her life so much? How could fear take control of her so easily?

“You must walk your own path. Don’t like it, and I think you made a damn foolish choice, but some lessons are meant to be learned the hard way. Stubborn, godless, girl that you are. Foolish, too. I’ve known where you were each day since you’ve been gone. Seemed like you had something to prove to yourself during your time with Sidney, but be careful, pet. He’s got himself nestled in your head, right, like poison. Always has. Never ‘ave figured out how he managed it with you. You’re not the same wide-eyed girl you were when the war began, when Sidney first inserted himself into your life, so don’t act as though you are still that girl.” 

Immediately, an argument sprang to her tongue, but she bit it back because she knew Alfie to be correct in his assessment of things. Damn him. He always knew. Knew her. Knew the people around her. Sidney had been in her head for so long that he’d slithered down into her heart. The realization gave her no peace, brought more tears because she didn’t know how to remove him from the small dark corner he’d created for himself. Love, hate - they swirled in an indistinguishable mess in her mind, in her heart. 

“I never should have come to Birmingham.”

“Bullshit.” 

“Alfie - ”

“I know what has been taken from you,” Alfie’s voice was thick, as though the words brought physical pain to him. “I know. And when Sidney leaves this Earth, he will languish forever in the deepest pit of Hell forever, right? Until then, it is our job, our duty to see him suffer as much as we can for the limited time remaining to him. In order, yes, in order for him to suffer as severely as he must, you need to allow me, allow Thomas to assist you in creating such misery for him that he forever regrets the choices he made.” 

Adeline looked away. 

“If you intend to continue being a part of Thomas’ family, as you had before, as Mrs. Thomas Shelby, then this duty of yours, this duty to see Sidney Reilly as persecuted as a man can be while he crawls upon the Earth like a slug, then you owe the truth of it all to Thomas, to your future husband.” 

“He can never know!” 

Alfie growled as his eyes narrowed. “And where have your secrets landed you, hm? Have they served you yet, pet?”

“This is nothing like that. You claim you know, and you know better than most others would, but it’s not something you could possibly understand, Alfie. The shame of knowing I’ll never bear children, never feel life grow in my womb, never be the mother to the children of the man I love. Tommy deserves a…whole woman. One who can provide him heirs.” 

“Did Thomas Shelby become the bloody King in the two years you’ve been gone, pet? Heirs? Do you listen to the nonsense you speak to me? Bloody heirs.” 

Alfie turned to face her, took her chin in his hand. “If I ever hear you say such things about yourself, lies about not being a bloody whole woman, I’ll take you over me knee. Any any, yeah, any fucking foolish man who dares say you’re anything less because of circumstances, right, circumstances a lesser woman would have died from I’ll kill ‘em with me bare hands. Hell pet, li’l Ollie could kill the man who would say anything so stupid about you.”

Adeline laughed at the thought of Ollie killing someone, the sound startled her enough to pull a genuine smile to her face. Alfie always made things sound simple, easy. 

“‘Course it’s easy, pet,” Alfie said, proving once again that he probably did read her mind. “Trust Thomas. He’s earned at least that from you after all of this, yeah? Any man willing to march into Churchill’s office and demand assistance locating his missing fiancée like he did, right, deserves the truth from you because he loves you to the point of madness. When he’s done punishing you because of his anger, he’ll go back to lovin’ you so much it makes the rest of us uncomfortable because we know any love we have won’t be so powerful as his. Make jealous fools of us all he does when he’s ‘round you.” 

“You sound sure he loves me as he did before.” 

Alfie snorted as he used his cane to stand to his feet. “‘Course I’m sure. Tonight at this party of his, right, he’ll see you in your dress. See the way Sidney pretends you belong to him, yeah, he’ll watch the way Sidney parades around with you on his arm even though you’ve still got another man’s ring on your finger and Thomas Shelby will not tolerate it, no. His jealousy will overcome his anger at you, and well, jealous men are dangerous beasts, are they not? Thomas will do something foolish, you’ll scold him for it, and then do unmentionable things to each other that I never want to hear a single word about, understand? Not a single word.”

Adeline laughed at the rather traumatized look on Alfie’s face. She could very well understand his position because if he had a woman in his life, she’d want him happy, but she’d also want no details about their bedroom dalliances. She stood, watched the way the streetlamp cast shadows along his cheek. 

“I hope you’re right, Alfie.”

“Hope? Hope is for children, like wishes, yeah, useless things, fickle, right, but you listen closely to me, right, listen because I’ll not be repeating myself. I’ve not been wrong ‘bout Thomas Shelby, not once since you brought him into my life, allowed him into yours. I’m not about to start being wrong ‘bout him now.”

Adeline pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Alfie.”

Master List

Tag List: @stevie75 @muhahaha303  @highgardenrosexx​ @dolllol2405 @allie131313 @mootiemoose

[gamergirljournalist]

From Biting Apples to Embracing Galaxies: My Switch to Samsung

For more than a decade, I've always been using the Apple eco-system. My first modern phone was the iPhone 5 in 2012 and it lasted for a couple of years until I upgraded to the iPhone 10 in 2017 after convincing my father that my phone was dying.

The proof: this photo of my phone bricking every 20 minutes when installing a new iOS when I was in university.

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As time passed, the iPhone X has survived numerous trips overseas, journalism jobs, freelancing gigs, concerts, and dating attempts. But like all tech devices, this one is about to reach its end after an incident where it wouldn't turn on properly when it was being charged.

I had two options: wait for the iPhone 15 to come out or move to Samsung. And based on the article, it's quite obvious what happened next.

One last bite of the Apple - why I love the iPhone

Moving to a Galaxy device has to be the hardest decision I've ever made. My original plan was to save $2000 for a brand new Apple product because the Apple ecosystem is pretty good. I can copy a link or photo on my phone and paste it on my Macbook. Airdrop is pretty convenient. Also, my entire family became Apple snobs ever since the release of Airpods. Also, since I moved out from home, Facetime became the most used method of communication between family members because it was instant.

Another cool feature that the iPhone has is that is very easy to customize. From having an Animal Crossing dark mode theme phone to selecting a case, the choices are ripe for the picking.

Lastly, it's just very easy to use. Unless you're planning to do some complicated stuff like jailbreaking, using an iPhone as an everyday device is very simple. Left it somewhere? Use the "Find my phone" app and annoy the heck out of those who try to steal it. Want music? Drop the file into iTunes and it will sync via iCloud. It's that versatile.

But as my phone was quickly on its final breath, as well as the cost of living crisis, waiting for the iPhone 15 was no longer a valid option anymore. So I had to say goodbye to these nifty features and swap to Samsung.

What it was like making the switch

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I bought the Samsung zFlip 4 during the End of the Financial Year sale, without realising that the zFlip 5 would be released 2 months later. Big oof. The reason I got this phone is because the 512 GB model cost $1300 AUD. The case was $10 from Telstra. I got a cuter one for $100 from Caseify.

If I were to buy the iPhone 15 (or in my case, the iPhone 14 Pro), the 512 GB model would have cost me $2400 + the cost of a case and the cable for the highest speeds. In case you were unaware, the 15 models only come with USB 2 speeds. WTF?! Also, there are the MagSafe accessories like chargers, which would cost even more.

The reason I chose to get the Samsung zFlip 4 is mostly because it's a flip phone and Samsung marketed it as "bending the laws of physics." Another reason is because of BTS. As a BTS fan, mostly a Suga stan, I learned that the K-Pop star will not hold Apple devices. I remember seeing a TikTok where a fan disguised her iPhone to look like a Samsung and the rapper was shocked until he held it on stage.

I was, however, warned about getting this Samsung model from my aunt. She told me that the battery life is bad and that Apple lasts longer. And she only uses her phone for the most basic usage - calls, text, and Facebook. But based on my experience, the battery isn't that bad… unless I use it for Pokemon Sleep.

Transferring my data from an Apple to a Samsung device is easier said than done. For starters, it nearly took a whole day for the transfer process to be completed. Second, I needed to use a wireless charger for one of my devices because it took so long.

When it came to the user interface, while it's somewhat different, some similarities made using my new phone not that difficult. It perhaps took a week to get used to the new functions and gestures.

I also liked the new camera. It's much more vibrant in my opinion. Much better than the iPhone X if I'm being honest. And there were times I did try filming like it was an old camcorder due to its flip functionalities.

If I have a complaint, it's that my game saves (except for Pokemon Go and Sleep) aren't transferable. This means all that effort I've placed in Tiny Tower for a year and a bit is gone and I would need to start over because the game is synced to Apple's Game Center. However, all of my texts since my senior year of high school made their way to the new device. WTF?

Also, not all the apps transferred to the new device, which makes sense since some of them were discontinued. But finding the APKs for them became a challenge, especially for a photo editor that I've been using for years. Thanks to the subscription model, it's been removed from the app stores.

Final Thoughts

Swapping to Samsung was probably a good decision to make. For starters, I'm no longer bombarded by my family's group chat messages since I no longer live with them. Second, I can text my boyfriend photos through NORMAL TEXT, not Facebook and discord. The amount of memes I've missed during the earlier parts of our relationship due to device differences was a massive pain and now it's all convenient.

While it's a shame I no longer have access to Siri, adding songs to a Samsung device is much easier compared to Apple since it is basically like a hard drive.

I will miss the Apple ecosystem though. iCloud and Apple Notes are super handy. Airdrop is pretty cool. And the new iOS features in the latest system look super appealing. However, these features are something that I would rarely use. I just need a phone to play games, go on social media, take photos and videos, and make phone calls. I won't be making 3D models of my room.

Looking forward to spending the next 5 years with this Samsung device until I have to make the switch once more.

[oddyssey77]

Fearless - Percy

POV Percy Jackson

"OOWWW!" I yelled.

"OOF!" I tripped.

"GAHHHHH!" I ran.

I felt a large thorn protruding from my abdomen. I was trying desperately to escape the maze. But there was no way out. No end. I cursed myself for allowing the thorn to pierce my skin. I knew it was poisonous and it was crippling through me, weakening me. Running seemed pointless. It certainly wasn't what Annabeth would do. 

She would sit down, legs crossed, and calmly think of a plan. A plan that would surely work. I felt stupid sitting down and doing nothing. Well, not nothing. I was thinking about how I could escape this poison maze. I didn't like thinking about the problem. Fighting was much more fun. 

I looked around at the tall rows of cacti towering over me. I knew that I couldn't wait this out. Just like Eurytion had told me, I was going to have to escape on my own. I thought about Nico and how his problems were probably a lot worse than mine. I felt guilty for caring more about my own situation than trying to find a way to help the kid. He had already been through so much pain. So much heartache.

Of course, most of that heartache was about me. I tried not to think about that though. Nico was over me. I had never liked him back. There was no point in feeling bad about how I treated him. And besides, Nico and I were buddies now. He was no longer cold or shy around me. I would never say this to either of them but I think this is partially thanks to Will Solace.

Will was really opening Nico up to his feelings recently, making him more comfortable with himself. They were becoming best friends. But part of me hoped they might become something more. I wasn't even sure if Will knew Nico was gay. Annabeth and I are the only people who did know. Well, Jason knew as well, before he... well... never mind.

I finally realised that I had sat down to think of a plan but ended up trailing through my own thoughts for what felt like hours. I was about to draw a mind map in the flame-red sand when the cacti shuddered. They creaked and began closing on me. I leapt up and hurried out, leaving my mind map to get squashed. 

I did not want to get impaled by another prickly thorn from a cactus. I still didn't feel poisoned. Just a little dizzy, but that was possibly from blood loss. I wasn't sure if I could die down here. Normally, you don't die in the fields of punishment but this was different. I had never died in the first place. We had just fallen through into the Underworld.

Unless... No. We didn't die. I was almost sure of that. From that point on, whenever I found a nice spot to sit down, it would soon get enveloped by the cacti. The maze wanted me to keep moving. No breaks. No rests. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to avoid the pricks of the cacti. But the one spot that I had been pricked was starting to make my brain feel like it was splitting in two. The poison was working.

"Percy!!" I heard Annabeth call. Shock overtook me as I realised that I had finally found her. I knew that she was down in the Underworld with us. I just had to find her. And now I had. A joyous grin sparked across my face and I sprinted toward the sound of her voice.

"PERCY!!" she called even louder. I turn a corner with such speed, expecting to find my girlfriend standing there. I gasped as I nearly crashed into a wall of cactus. My heart sank. I nearly cried in disappointment until I heard it again. Her voice was speaking from the cactus.

I looked closer and saw a small image shimmering into focus on the face of the cactus. It was like an Iris message. Like I was being sent this vision to further torture me. She was right there and I couldn't reach her. 

I watched as she trudged through a large, endless fjord of wheat. Calling out a name. But now that I had found her, it didn't look like she was calling my name. She was calling someone else's.

"Will!" Annabeth shouted, "Please, come back! We can talk!" She looked troubled and scared. I wanted so much to be with her in that moment it made me want to cry. Then, the vision turned a kind of purply shade.

CRASH!

Two gorgons, identical to the ones that had chased me into Camp Jupiter, lunged at her and she screamed in horror as one of them took a large chomp out of her side. I watched, terrified as the unstoppable Annabeth Chase got torn apart and killed by things as simple as gorgons. 

I sobbed and fell to my knees. I was about to just lay there and allow myself to be consumed by the maze when I heard another voice.

"PERCYYYY!!!" she screamed. It was a much younger voice than Annabeth's. I gasped in shock as I heard the sound of my little sister Estelle screaming for me to save her.

As much as I had been broken by what happened to Annabeth, I forged ahead. I had to find a way to save Estelle. She could not go the same way Annabeth had.

Once again, I only found a wall of cactus and a vision of my sister plastered on it. Like Annabeth, she hadn't been verbally calling my name, more like beckoning for my assistance. My 3 year-old sister was hiding desperately behind a rock in a large cave open to the sky and sobbing.

"Estelle!" I called helplessly. Behind her marched an army of the stone warriors that had attacked camp. They were standing in formation as an out of view woman yelled orders at them.

"My soldiers!" she boomed, "The time has come for us to claim our rightful place among western civilisation!" 

Not if I have anything to say about it I thought but I was still focused on Estelle.

"As you know. We have acquired the dove and the eagle! The diamond has fallen, taking one of our automatons with it. Our remaining targets still run rampant amongst the fields, caves, cliffs, and flames!"

I heard Estelle let out a sob. And if I could hear it, the chances are, the soldiers could hear it too. The vision shifted, it took on a slight purple tone just like Annabeth's had. As if something were changing.

"In fact, one of our targets is hiding amongst you right now!" 

Estelle was a smart girl. She knew when to run. She made for the exit of the cave. Trying with all her might to make it. But the guards noticed her and wrestled her down. She screamed and sobbed. The guards didn't flash a sign of remorse for the child as he raised his dagger.

"NOOOO!!!" I yelled. But it was too late. I had never seen such a horrifying sight. Except for when my girlfriend had gotten killed maybe moments ago.

I turned my head in despair but only found myself face to face with another vision. My mother was sitting in our apartment sobbing at the kitchen table. Trying to fit an eighth blue cookie in her mouth. 

"How could this happen?" she croaked, "How could I lose both my children at one stupid festival!" I wanted to call to her. Tell her I am here and alright. But then I'd had to tell her about Estelle. And that would've killed me.

"There was nothing you could've do-" Paul Blowfis began. I could tell he had been crying too but he seemed to be trying to hold things together for my Sally. But the vision shifted purple again. Paul sneered and stood up, slamming his chair. 

"This is all your fault!" He picked up her glass of water and smashed it on the ground. Making her yelp. It mirrored what I had done to Gabe that terrible night all those years ago. He grabbed Sally by the forearm and began yelling at her. Why would Paul do this? He was such a kind-hearted man. I thought he was perfect for my mom. 

I looked away, shattered. My girlfriend was dead, my sister was dead, and I was watching my mom get abused again. I turned back to the vision but heard about three separate voices calling me.

I ran through the maze and found a vision of Nico getting killed on an operating, a vision of Grover getting killed by a group of terrorist draiads, a vision of Rachel Dare collapsing and dying from the power of the oracle, Coach Hedge drowning with his kid Chuck, Reyna getting led to her death by a larare of Octavian, Thalia falling from the sky, and Leo getting crushed by a rock. All of these visions had the same purple shade to their depictions.

It didn't make sense to me how everyone I loved was falling in ways that I was terrified to see them die in. I shattered. Fell to the ground and sobbed. There was nothing I could've done. That's what hurt the most. I thought about Annabeth. How she would look at me and tell me...

"Get up Seaweed Brain! Stop slacking off."

"I'm sorry Annabeth," I said, "I'm useless."

'Percy, listen. This isn't real. You need to escape.'

"How!?" I cried

'Let go of your fear. Embrace the love.'

Embrace the love? I thought. It sounded like something to be written on the doormat of a hippie's caravan. But the word that she had said to me. Fear. I had to let go of my fear. Then it clicked. It's not real. No one had died.

Just like HSS torture had forced me to embrace my worst memories, I was being forced to face my worst fears; My mom getting hurt, my sister getting involved in my world of demi-gods and monsters, all of my friends getting killed with me being able to do nothing about it.

But I was yet to face one more vision.

"You failed me." a voice  chided, "We were friends and YOU FAILED ME!"

Standing in front of the cacti was my best friend. Jason Grace son of Jupiter looked down on me with a stern expression. His blue eyes bore into my soul, stabbing me with his words.

"I'm sorry Jason. I should've been there. I should've been able to help." I couldn't bear it.

"You are not worthy of the love you receive. You deserve punishment!" he yelled. I watched in tears as he knelt down to my level.

"You are not worthy." he repeated. Jason looked at the ground in front of me and spit on it. He stood up and marched back toward the wall of cacti. I thought about what Annabeth had said. Fear, Love.  I had been afraid that Jason would blame me. That he might resent me for what happened to me

But I realised that I couldn't have helped him anymore than Reyna could have. If she had failed to save him from the Dracon, I probably would have too. Jason would've understood that. The real Jason would have understood that.

Jason's ghost hadn't come to visit me in the Underworld. It was just a figment of my own worst fear. Just like the visions, just like this stupid maze.

"NO!" I bellowed, making the cacti shake.

Jason turned with shock painted across his face.

"What did you just say?"

"I said NO! You are not real. I am not afraid of you!" Jason looked like he wanted to charge at me and kill me but instead he evaporated wispily and floated away. I sat down, my face covered in a combination of blood, grime, and tears.

But the maze didn't seem interested in letting me catch my breath, it contracted towards me, this time leaving no route for escape. I didn't know what to do. Except I did. I felt Annabeth's words still ringing in my mind. Let go of the fear. Embrace the Love. My mom, Estelle, Annabeth, Nico, Reyna, Grover, Rachel, Thalia, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Coach Hedge, they all cared about me. And I wasn't afraid anymore.

"GO AWAY! I AM NO LONGER SCARED! I LET GO OF MY FEAR!" It was as if the maze was reacting to my every word. I willed it into submission and conformed it to how I wanted it. And I wanted it gone.

The entire cactus maze wisped away from me like fog, just like Jason had, leaving me standing alone in the barren wastelands of the fields of punishment. I wasn't alone however, as I squinted into the distance and saw a black little blob running toward me.

As it got closer, I recognized it as my Underworld companion, Nico Di Angelo.

"Percy!" he huffed, completely out of breath, "We have to leave. Now!" I took his word for it and ran but the son of Hades was not going to be able to keep moving for much longer.

"You're alive!" I panted. I had assumed that the visions I had seen had not been real but it was nice to have that confirmed for me.

"I ran away from the dismemberment room! But Eurytion's not far behind."

As if saying his name had summoned him, Nico and I crashed directly into the tall, buff, torturer that we unfortunately knew as Eurytion.

"Hey guys. You didn't think you could escape without facing period 3, did you?" he chuckled.

"What's period 3 again?" Nico asked, his voice going overly high-pitched from all the running.

"Duel to the Death." Eurytion stated, "Oh, and don't let me forget, you two are the ones dueling."

I turned to Nico with a pained expression, "Oh F-

This Chapter is Dedicated to Lucy

[keets-writing-corner]

are you cooking up chapter three yet

Fun fact: I work out of order a lot, just depends on the scene I feel like writing, and then the closer I get to planned "release dates" the more I zero in on a chapter. So this means, I've actually had both the beginning of Chapter 3 and the ENDING of Chapter 3 written out for quite some time. I'm still filling in the meat and cheeses and such

let's visit my friend the word counter website to check on chapter 3

oof I still don't feel like I'm even halfway, but I'd say I'm in that range 45-50%

This chapter is turning out to be longer than the previous two (actually in general each chapter has been getting longer than the last, but I suspect chapter 4 is going to break that pattern)

I'm still on track for my April 25-26th planned release date for chapter 3, it takes me about a month to write each chapter since I'm apparently CRAZY but I do have to reluctantly admit I might be behind schedule a little? My PTSD got triggered really badly at the start of the month and I'm still suffering from lingering after affects, so I haven't gotten as much writing done as I'd've liked??? granted, chapter 3 is bigger and technically it's the same size if not bigger than the previous chapters were during the same development timeline... hmmm maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself...

anyways

Chapter 3 is called The King of Hell and it's going to be the only chapter that isn't a single word title

I'm guessing you want a sneak peek >:3c here's some low stakes non-spoilery scene, sorry it's rather short. Most of chapter 3 is either pretty angsty, or plot heavy

__

The portal reopened in front of them, and out stepped Lucifer who was glowing, his form settling back into his normal one, and the portal closed behind him. 

He was missing his hat, his clothes were absolutely drenched and his hair was plastered to his face. He held his arms away from his body in a vain attempt to keep the wet from spreading further, and his face looked like a mixture of horribly surprised, satisfied, and extremely disgruntled. In spite of his wet appearance, he seemed fine. Lilith felt the anxiety immediately melt away. 

“Lu!” Lilith stood from the bed and eyed him, “You’re soaking wet.” 

Lucifer flicked more water off of his hands, “The entire damn ring IS AN OCEAN.” 

Eve lit up, “Does that mean we can go to a beach?!” 

“No! There are no beaches!” Lucifer told her, an edge of hysteria to his voice, “It’s just water. Lots. And lots. OF WATER.” He stared at the ground, “There was so much water…” He faced the girls, dramatically waving a finger in the air, “I HAD TO TURN INTO A FUCKING DOLPHIN!” 

Lilith just giggled at him, and kissed his wet forehead. “Where’s your hat, Love?”

Lucifer had just shaken the water out of his hair, “Oh right,” he snapped his fingers and his hat reappeared just above his head, also completely soaked, and dunked even more water on him before flopping onto his head and sagging sadly to the side. “Oopsie.” 

__

toodle-loo!

[ticklystuff]

A Fatui Reunion

a/n: hewwo anon ty for the request! this was supposed to be a drabble but it went on longer than i was planning hahaha also i didn’t put ler!capitano unfortunately but i hope it’s okay ahh

word count: 2350

summary: childe gets bullied by the harbingers y’all already know what happens

---

"Well well, if it isn't our baby harbinger?"

A shudder crept down Childe's spine at the sound of the familiar voice, knowing full well who it belonged to. He turned around to see Dottore standing a little too close for comfort, greeting him with a courteous smile as he shuffled a few steps back from that unsettling smirk. Past interactions with the scientist were something Childe would describe as anything but pleasant.

"And which Dottore clone do I have the.. pleasure of interacting with today?" Childe uttered with whatever confidence he could muster, a far cry from his usual self.

Dottore let out a hearty chuckle and Childe couldn't help but laugh himself out of nervousness. "That's no way to greet your Uncle Dottore," the older said with an amused smirk, taking a few steps forward with open arms. "Now come, give me a hug, why don't you? You've been gone so long that we've actually started to miss you."

Childe slowly backed away from Dottore and his unnerving offer, already having experienced his tricks in the past. Being the youngest of the eleven harbingers, it wasn't too uncommon for the others to mess with him, bullying Childe as they pleased. He glanced around the room, looking for an easy way out and spotted Arlecchino chatting with Columbina at the other end. His options were short, so he swallowed his pride and shot the two women a pleading glance in hopes of rescue, but only Arlecchino noticed, responding with a smirk and dismissive shrug that lacked any shred of pity, leaving Childe to fend for himself.

"Well, as much as I would love to catch up," Childe started as he side-stepped away from Dottore, just barely dodging the hug, "Pulcinella and I had agreed to meet up and I really should get going." It technically wasn't a lie. After arriving in Snezhnaya, Childe had planned on spending time exclusively with his family, holding no interest in mingling with his colleagues, but Pulcinella had reached out, wishing to reconvene and catch up. "Why don't we just catch up another ti- oof!"

In his attempt to escape, Childe failed to notice the approaching figure, wobbling on one leg after colliding with the other. Once he caught himself, Childe took a look at the figure, eyes widening he was met with Pantalones' unsettling smile, a signature of his. When did he even get here?

"Ah, Tartaglia, just the person I was looking for." Although his smile never left as he spoke, the daggers from his creased eyes easily sent a shudder down Childe's spine. "I have some questions regarding your... business expenditures."

"Ah, Pantalones, I've already sent you the itemized re-"

"Just from a quick glance, you've exceeded your monthly allowance... many times," Pantalones cut him off, taking steps forward with each step Childe took back. "You wouldn't happen to be pilfering the money for your own personal funds, would you?"

"O-Of course not!" he stammered unconvincingly. The money was meant for spending time with Zhongli and getting as close to the funeral parlor consultant as possible for the gnosis, nothing personal, was what he would tell himself every time he bought the older man dinner. 

This did nothing to sway Pantalones as he continued to make his way with the menacing grin still on his face. Panicking, Childe looked over at Arlecchino one last time, practically begging to be saved, but she instead pointed at her colleague mockingly, gesturing for Columbina to observe as well. The third harbinger put her hand over her mouth in amusement as the two women laughed together, clearly entertained by Childe's current predicament. Seeing as how no one would be coming to his rescue, Childe attempted to turn on his heel and make a bee-line for the door, yelping in surprise when a pair of arms swiftly wrapped around his upper-body from behind, holding him close.

"There's that hug I've been waiting for," Childe heard Dottore speak from behind, his voice laced with mischief. In his attempt to escape from one, the other had completely slipped his mind, and now he had to deal with both. He frantically struggled in Dottore's arms as Pantalone approached the two, clearly amused by the situation.

"You won't mind if I just take a quick look through your pockets, right?" Pantalones said, raising one of his hands and giving his fingers a wiggle for Childe to see, sending the youngest into a state of alarm at the realization of what was about to happen. He protested and wiggled around, but Dottore held his grip. "If you're innocent, there's no need to worry."

"Guy, come ohohohon, dohohont- nohohahaha!" Childe had already dissolved into giggles before Pantalones could get his hands on him, a familiar sound most pleasing to the others. 

Although the Harbingers were a feared bunch, behind closed doors was a different story. Childe would hardly regard them as friends or even acquaintances, but messing around was a regular occurence amongst the group, usually at Childe's expense. "Games" like stealing Childe's mask and tossing it to each other like a frisbee while Childe helplessly ran around the room were a common pastime. Other examples included stealing and hiding his scarf before he had to make the long trek back home, dumping slime condensate down his boots before he could put them back on after training, handing him salt when he wanted to mix sugar into his coffee. 

None, though, could compare to the gang tickling that he was often subjected to. Tickling was actually something he was quite accustomed to growing up, being one of the middle children of his family, but from his harbinger "family", it was absolutely brutal. Dottore and Pantalones were the repeat offenders, often teasing him about it to embarrass him, while Signora, Columbina, and Sandrone cooed from the sidelines, their infantilizing remarks insulting to his ego. Scaramouche and Arlecchino were the absolute worst, however, because they did not hold back nor did they have a sense of when too much is too much, usually tickling Childe to the brink of tears. Their reasoning to justify the tickling was because Childe was just the most ticklish, but Childe wasn't even sure if that was true because none of the others ever got their fair share, not that he'd ever attempt at getting back at them out of fear of receiving more tickles.

"Surely, that excess mora had to go somewhere, right?" Pantalones said as he continued to search through Childe's "pockets", his fingers prodding and poking at random areas around Childe's upper body, creating a mixture of giggles and yelps from the youngest.

"Maybe he spent it on the fancy makeup," Dottore sneered as Childe shook in his arms, referring to the red eyeliner that Childe had decided to use for today. "Or maybe... our baby harbinger has himself a girlfriend."

Pantalones tsk'd at the thought. "My my, I certainly hope you're not using the Fatui's funds to court women, Tartaglia."

"Nohoho! I-I'm not!" he denied through his laughter, shaking his head as his colleagues continued to bring up his imaginary girlfriend. It technically wasn't the truth and he wasn't even sure what his relationship with Zhongli was at this point, considering how things ended in Liyue.

"Hmm, I'm not sure I believe you," Pantalones tutted, scribbling his fingers along Childe's sides to evoke a stronger reaction compared to the quick little pokes from before. "The blush on your face practically gives it away."

"Hey, Pantalones."

Childe panted as Pantalones pulled away at the sound of his name, finally allowing him a breather, though Dottore still held tight. He looked up to see Arlecchino and Sandrone standing beside the three of them, having forgotten about the two during his ordeal.

"Make sure to check thoroughly," Arlecchino said as she walked up to the three, giving Childe a quick pat on the tummy. He protested with a whine as Pantalones and Arlecchino eyed him with a smirk, knowing full well what Arlecchino was referring to.

"Oho, you're in big trouble now," Dottore sneered from behind.

"W-Wait, guys guys gu- ehehahahAHAHA! Nohohoho! Wahahaha!" His face burned bright red as Childe was thrown back into another laughing fit, Columbina and Arlecchino's giggles mixing with his own as the two seemingly mocked him. Despite sufficient protection provided by his many layers, Childe could still feel Pantalones' fingers pressing even through his winter coat, targeting the sensitive area that was his tummy. To make matters worse, Dottore started weaving in his own tickling, drumming his fingers incessantly along Childe's upper-body, all the while utilizing his impressive strength to keep Childe in place. More irksome, though, were the tufts of air that Dottore would blow into his ears, lightly grazing his skin in a way that didn't create a strong reaction, but was enough for Childe's ears to twitch and for him to snap his head in response, clearly amusing the doctor by the way Childe could hear him snicker. He kicked his legs out as this was the only form of movement afforded to him and whined through his laughter, but this did nothing to deter the main source of tickles as Pantalones continued to prod and pinch at Childe's lower tummy and bellybutton, continuously filling the room with his high-pitched laughter.

Due to Childe's laughter echoing throughout the room, the group failed to notice Capitano and Pulcinella's arrival. The sight of his favorite being bullied by the others was not something Pulcinella would stand for and the older man was soon to Childe's rescue, pulling the younger away from the others.

"Shoo, shoo!" Pulcinella slapped away at Dottore and Pantalones, forcing the doctor to release the youngest, snickering to himself when Childe quickly put himself behind Pulcinella to create some distance between the two. "We are Harbingers, not children!"

"Ah, fun's over," Dottore retorted with a shrug when Pulcinella slapped at his arm. He stepped to the side with the others, giving space for Pulcinella and Capitano to talk.

Childe sighed with relief once freed, grateful to have been saved by Pulcinela and Capitano- wait, Capitano?!

"Capitano, sir! H-How are you?!" his voice nearly cracking towards the end with his mind racing a mile a minute. Somehow, his face felt even hotter than when he was being tickled, warming his body despite the Sneznhayan cold. "Err, sorry for all the noise! We were just playing a little game and they were just really excited to see me back, I guess."

Childe managed to keep up the nervous smile, despite the anxiety coursing through his body. Interactions with Capitano were rare and often resulted in nothing meaningful, despite Childe's best attempts at capturing the other's attention. Oftentimes, Capitano had his own business to attend to, seldom present during group meetings or times when the other Harbingers decided to mess with Childe, so of course, the one time that Capitano finally takes notice of him is when he's being tickled silly. The mask hid his true expression, but Childe couldn't help but imagine the judgmental look underneath, making him want to shrink into his coat.

"My boy, what has gotten into you?! Apologies, sir, he's usually not like this," Pulcinella huffed, fussing over the youngest harbinger as he urged him to fix his demeanor for Capitano. "C'mon, Ajax, chin up and stand straight. Capitano didn't come all the way to see you like this."

It took a moment for Pulcinella's words to register, but once Childe realized what he had said, his eyes brightened and the corners of his mouth began tugging into the smallest of smiles that he had to hold back from becoming an excited grin, a total one-eighty from before. Capitano actually wanted to see him?! "Pulcinella has spoken highly of you during your time away," Capitano said in his usual monotone voice, though this did nothing to sway the elation in Childe's eyes. 

"Attaining the status of a Fatui Harbinger at such a young age is no small feat after all," Pulcinella spoke up, a tinge of pride present in his voice.

Capitano nodded before continuing. "Yes, it's a commendable achievement. I would like to extend an invitation to spar with you one of these days. Your strength has piqued my interest."

To say he was starstruck was an understatement. Not only did Capitano finally acknowledge his strength, but he was even being invited to a sparring match. Childe could feel his legs shaking again as lightheadedness began setting in, but he managed to utter out a response despite the whirring range of emotions. "I- Yes! I accept! I'd be honored to spar one day!"

"Very well," Capitano said with another nod, "though, if you're unable to handle multiple foes at once, then I'm afraid you'll need more training."

Childe could hear snickers from behind as he realized what Capitano was referring to, but he resisted giving the others a glare. "Yes, I-I'll practice more."

"I have high expectations," Capitano spoke, before turning to Pulcinella. "We should be off."

"It was nice seeing you again, Ajax," Pulcinella squeezed Childe's arm reassuringly, turning to the others before speaking again. "Make sure to behave."

Childe watched as the two walked out the same door they came through, listening to their boots echo down the hall. The previous events still took a moment to process; in his dumbstruck state, Childe failed to notice Dottore and Arlecchino step to his side, hooking their arms around his own and holding tight when he did his best to pull away. Pantalones and Columbina soon joined the two, stepping in front of the group.He already didn't like where this was going.

"Congrats on your planned sparring match," Columbina said with a playful giggle.

Pantalones matched Columbina's small smile. "We're all so happy for you."

"But Capitano mentioned you might need some... extra training." Arlecchino winked as she poised her free arm close to Childe's side.

"And I believe baby harbinger agreed," Dottore remarked with a snide grin. "Why don't we help him with that?"

"Guys, wait- nohohoHAHAHAHAHA!"

[logarhythm-bees]

To Unearth and Back Again; ⛅Chapter 13

Chapter Twelve | Table of Contents | Chapter Fourteen

See ronithesnail's absolutely wonderful art for this story!

I've been thinking of things I don't know And I'm not about to settle with the present if my heart wants to go You've got your convictions and I've got mine But if you're trying to tame the lion in me it'll be a waste of your time

-Wild I Am, Vocal Few

Roman had been wanting his alone time with Virgil today to be in the mindscape’s collective living room and having a nice picnic. He hadn’t really planned on it being in the middle of the forest, chasing a semi-animate thread as it glowed from between the trees, but here they were.

He supposed it could have been worse. He was still alongside Virgil after all.

The trail led them through the woods, winding around trees and piles of leaves. It seemed much more…everywhere than it had been when they were following Thomas, almost tangled in how it shot back and forth in the brush. 

“It is pretty erratic, isn’t it?” Virgil said what Roman was thinking out loud. “Maybe that means we’re getting close. Stuff gets more challenging the closer you get to the goal, yeah?”

“Encountering challenges means you’re going the right way.” Roman agreed, stepping over a bramble bush. “That doesn’t make them any less challenging though, does it?”

“Not really,” Virgil agreed. His eyes lit up then with a realization. “But I have one thing that could make it easier.”

Roman looked at him curiously, and Virgil took his hands and turned his palms up. Roman blinked at him as Virgil reached for his own belt, softly gasping as Virgil laid his sword carefully in his hand, so aware not to let the blade cut either of them.

“Easier to fight with a sword.” Virgil smiled at him, and Roman smiled back, turning the sword so his hands were around the hilt. “How’s your hand?”

“Better.” Roman said, giving the sword an experimental swing. He took the sword to the brambles, allowing them to step over it easily and giving them a clearer view of the trail.

“Good.” Virgil said, and kissed his hand, which made Roman swoon a little bit.

“Supposed to be good for you, I hear,” Virgil told him, blushing but not losing his cool, as opposed to Roman, who had lost his grip on his cool like it was an ice cube and it was summer in Florida. “That’s what, uh–Patton used to tell me, anyways.” Virgil bit his lip in the same moment Roman did, words still unsettled much like the guilt in Roman’s chest. He suspected Virgil felt much the same way.

“Forget about that for now, Lost in the Hoods” Roman flipped Virgil’s hood over his cloak good-naturedly and placing a hand on his back, gently guiding him forward, “trauma later, trail now?”

That got a laugh out of Virgil, breathy and joyous, and Roman felt himself truly happy for the first time since they’d stepped into this adventure. 

“Alright, alright.” Virgil said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “Let’s go!”

Roman cleared the bushes out of their way, using care with his sword this time. He kept the brambles and what may-or-may-not have been poison ivy at bay and helping Virgil over the bushes where his longer pants got snagged. He even lifted Virgil over one of them, which made the both of them giggle.

Virgil took up the front when Roman started getting tired, clearing the bushes with his daggers. Roman offered his sword for use, and swore he saw a blush on Virgil’s face when he made the suggestion, but Virgil denied it. He was grinning to himself though when he turned back to clearing the bushes. 

Virgil stopped all of a sudden, and Roman walked into his back with an “oof.”

“You good?” Roman asked.

“Sorry.” Virgil said, gesturing Roman closer from over his shoulder. “The thread ends here,” he explained, gesturing towards the thread in question, which stopped as it wound around one of the flowers growing out of the soil.

“It’s facing that way,” Roman offered, pointing in the direction. “Maybe that’s where we’re supposed to be heading?”

“I think that’s a good guess.” Virgil agreed. Roman bounced on the balls of his feet. 

“Then let’s go!” Roman called, running ahead, and Virgil laughed as he ran after him. 

The harsh brambles and roots had given way to blossoming flora, flowers of all shades and types lining the sides of the dirt path. Their sweet smell filled the air as Virgil caught up to Roman with a playful “tag!” before darting ahead and through the trees.

“Oh, it is on!” Roman laughed.

He tumbled after Virgil, boots scuffing against the dust. The wind was blowing in his hair as he ran through the woods, chasing after Virgil as he darted through the greenery. Roman didn’t give up the chase, running fast, but Virgil was faster, his fight or flight running through his veins with gleaming adrenaline. He jumped over roots and stray flowers in the path, leaves crunching under his feet. Roman jumped over a particularly unruly tree trunk, feeling as though he was catching up when Virgil slowed down to a jog ahead. Roman put in the last shards of his adrenaline, charging ahead, and where Virgil stopped, Roman tapped him on the back, cheering.

“Tag!” Roman called. “You’re it!” He jumped ahead to take off again, but Virgil didn’t move, so Roman stumbled to a stop and turned around.

“Virgil?” He questioned.

Virgil chewed at his fingernails, chipping the paint. “I think,” he mumbled nervously,” we took the wrong path.”

Roman looked around to realize that the dirt path had brushed away into soil and grass, a spacious gap in the trees letting the sky show and giving them a little room to breath. It was just a small clearing that they stood in now, no continuation of the path anywhere in sight.

“Ah.” Roman muttered. “I see.”

He didn’t see a way to continue, which was the point.

“Can you call for the others?” Roman asked.

“I’ll try,” Virgil said, taking a deep breath before he shouted in his trademark thunder, “ELLO?”

The sound echoed through the trees, scaring off some of the birds, but he didn’t hear any evidence of a human response

“Anyone?” Virgil yelled again in tempest tongue. Nobody responded.

“I think we have a problem.” Virgil winced.

Roman screamed in frustration and threw a rock into a tree. “I’m going to kill my brother.”