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meangirls-imagines · 3 months

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Rest and Relaxation

"who's that?"

"that is the queen bee regina george. do not look her in the eye. she can smell fear."

cady rolled her eyes at damian giggling. in the small amount of time that she had known him, he had been very dramatic. janis also rolled her eyes. "she can't smell fear. but he is right, don't look her in the eyes." cady watched as the blonde girl walked up to her table holding cheese fries, sitting next to the girl that damian said "has hair full of secrets".

there was a thud as the trio turned spotting a girl struggling to carry her backpack, books, and lunch. the girl looked over at the trio, noticing janis and damian and shyly waved. they all waved back and watched as she stumbled past them.

"who's that?" damian shook his head. "that's y/n, regina's girlfriend." cady looked at the two shocked. she didn't think regina was gay. "really? she's so...shy." janis nodded as they watched y/n finally make it to the plastics table. regina's face lit up at the sight of her girlfriend. y/n smiled back and sat next to the blonde, unloading everything on the table. regina pulled y/n into a kiss, making the girl blush.

"hi baby. how is your day going?" y/n blushed deeper at the petname. "its going fine gina. i just have a lot of work to do." y/n was a nerd in the best sense. she had the highest gpa of the whole school, she was a mathlete, and she was in all advanced classes. she also had a really bad habit of overworking herself. regina hated watching her girlfriend burn out so she did her best to step in before it got bad.

"how about you come to my house with us after school? we can do a spa day for you. get you to relax a little. i know how stressed you've been." y/n's heart melted at her girlfriend's worry. as much as she wanted to do that, she had a mathletes meeting after school followed by sat prep until late at night.

y/n shook her head. "i wish i could gina, but i have mathletes until 4 and then sat prep until 8 and then i still have to finish my essay." regina sighed, scooting closer and scratching y/n's back to get her to relax a little. their moment was ruined when y/n's brother shane walked up to them. "ladies, nice to see you guys today. y/n, chris was wondering if you could possibly look over his history paper and see if its good enough for at least a b minus."

regina was about to speak up when y/n beat her to it. "yeah, just give it to me before i go to mathletes and tell him i'll have it back to him by tomorrow morning." shane smiled and ruffled his sister's hair, placing a brief kiss on her head. "thanks sis. i'll let him know." y/n smiled as her brother walked away. regina looked at her girlfriend worriedly. y/n shook her head. "it's fine gina. i'll be okay."

the bell rang, dismissing lunch as y/n stuffed all of her things in her backpack, kissing regina and heading off to her next class. gretchen watched regina deflate as y/n walked away. she put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. "she'll be fine regina." the blonde sighed. "i hope you're right."

y/n sighed as she opened her locker the next morning. she didn't get home until late last night and woke up earlier than usual to go with shane to football practice to give chris his essay and finish up any homework she missed the night before. she was exhausted and just wanted to go home. unfortunately for her, the world doesn't work like that and it was only going to get much worse.

for backstory, regina and y/n had been friends since 4th grade. regina had been very protective over the girl since they first met all those years ago. they met when regina stepped in and stopped a few boys from shoving y/n around. and since then, nothing had changed. regina was just as if not more protective over the girl. they had come out at the end of 8th grade which just boosted the protectiveness. ever since they came out as a couple, less people picked on y/n, though there were some who just didn't get the message.

enter ian. who had harbored a major crush on regina even after she came out. he was the stereotypical high school male. he was the captain of the basketball team, he was ripped, he was hot and every girl in north shore (except the plastics and y/n) wanted him. he felt like he was a better match for regina than y/n was and never failed to make his opinion shown every once in a while.

regina and the plastics hadn't made it to school yet and shane was in the locker room so this was his perfect opportunity. he and a couple of his friends walked up to y/n, who was reading over her ap chem homework and not paying attention. "hey there nerd. i see your guard dog isn't here." y/n rolled her eyes. "no ian, regina isn't here yet. can i help you with something?"

that was apparently the wrong thing to say as ian slapped the papers out of her hand and shoved her against a the locker next to her. at this point, people had started recording on their phones. y/n winced at the impact as the group of boys started laughing. "you don't get to have an attitude with me nerd. i think you forget where you fall on this food chain. allow me to remind you."

he brought his fist back to swing at y/n but the punch never came. the only thing y/n saw of her savior was pink nails before she was let go and ian was flying the other way. y/n looked up to see an angry regina flanked by an equally angry karen and gretchen. the two obviously weren't as close to y/n as regina was but they also had a protectiveness over her.

ian looked up scared as his friends fled the scene. karen and gretchen helped y/n pick her stuff up and dusted her off. ian shrunk in fear as regina towered over him. "i don't think you understand where you fall on this food chain, but allow me to remind YOU. you do not compare to y/n. she is so far above you that you don't even exist in her world. that being said, if i ever see you mess with her again, you will be finished."

he nodded and scrambled away. regina looked at the crowd that had formed. "anyone else have a problem with my girlfriend?" the crowd scattered as everyone went back to what they were doing. regina smirked victoriously before pulling y/n into an empty classroom, karen and gretchen standing guard outside.

regina looked over y/n for any injuries before y/n's grabbed her shaky hands and kissed both of them softly. "i'm okay, gina. just a little shaken up." regina let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding before pulling y/n into her arms. "i'm so sorry i wasn't there. i couldn't find my keys before we left so it put us behind-" y/n pressed her lips to regina's. the blonde instantly calmed as the two kissed, y/n being the first to pull away. "breathe babe. i'm okay. he's not going to mess with me again."

regina nodded and pulled y/n into another kiss, this one quicker than the last. "will you please come over after school today? i wanna take care of you. it's the weekend so you can stay the whole weekend while i help you relax. please." y/n nodded. "if it will make you feel better, yes." regina smiled and pecked y/n's lips. "good. i wasn't taking no for an answer. now, let me walk you to class?" y/n nodded and the two made their way out of the room.

regina stood against her jeep, waiting for y/n. karen and gretchen had hitched rides from shane so that way regina could take her girl straight home.the front doors to the school opened to reveal an exhausted looking y/n. regina's heart broke at the sight of the girl, she looked more exhausted than she did when the blonde saw her at lunch.

y/n shuffled to the jeep, regina grabbing her backpacks and throwing them in the backseat (carefully of course) before helping y/n into the passenger seat. regina walked around and got in, holding y/n's hand and kissing it. the girl sent her a sleepy smile and leaned her head against the window.

regina made it to her house in record time. she left the girl's bags in her car, making a mental note to ask her dad to grab them later. she helped y/n in the house and to her room, gently laying her on her huge bed. "stay right here baby. i'm gonna go run us a bath." y/n sleepily nodded, nuzzling into regina's pillow.

five minutes later, regina came out in a fluffy, pink robe, gently shaking y/n awake. "come on baby. let's get you in the bath." y/n stirred and nodded. the blonde helped her to her feet, gently pulling her into the bathroom. from there, she slowly took y/n's clothes off, head to toe. regina then got into the tub and guided y/n in, holding her to her chest.

the couple stayed in the bath for about half an hour before regina decided to get them out. luckily, y/n had been over to the blonde's house enough that she had her own little section in regina's massive closet. regina grabbed a hoodie and a pink pair of boxers for y/n and a hoodie for herself before getting them both dressed and into the bed.

y/n sunk into the soft mattress as regina gently maneuvered her to lay her head on her chest. y/n kissed regina's jaw and nuzzled into her neck. regina began scratching her nails down y/n's back. "take a nap and then when you wake up, i'll make you some dinner, and then maybe followed by dessert and a massage?"

y/n nodded before fully drifting off.

a few hours later, y/n woke up to the smell of her favorite pasta. she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched, getting out of bed and heading downstairs. she found regina cooking dinner with her "y/n❤️" playlist playing softly from her speaker. y/n smiled at how soft the queen bee looked before walking up and wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist.

regina smiled at the feel of her girlfriend snuggling into her back, turning the burner off and turning around. "hi baby. sleep good?" y/n nodded, pressing her lips to regina's. "what's for dinner?" regina smiled and pecked y/n's lips before explaining. "i made your favorite, cacio e pepe, some salad and garlic bread, and for dessert i made a lemon tiramisu. and after we are done eating, i am giving you a massage to get the stress of the week and especially today out of that sexy body of yours and we are going to cuddle up on my bed and watch some love is blind and you are going to sleep for more than five hours."

y/n smiled at her girlfriend, already feeling the stress of the week melt away. regina always took care of her when she needed it and she couldn't be more grateful to have her as her girlfriend. "god, i love you." regina blushed and kissed y/n's cheek. "i love you too. now, let's eat."

after they ate dinner and dessert, regina ordered y/n to take off her shirt and lay face down on the bed while she slipped in the bathroom. y/n did as told and winced a little before tossing the shirt off to the side and laying down. regina came out and lit a few candles before dropping the oil and bruise cream on the bed. she straddled y/n's lower back and gently ran her hands down the girl's back.

she leaned down and kissed y/n's shoulder gently. y/n sighed at the feel of the blonde's lips and whispered, "i love you gina." regina smiled, grabbing the bruise cream and started applying it to the newly forming bruises on y/n's back. "i love you too baby."

after a very, very, relaxing massage, y/n laid in between regina's legs as they watched "love is blind". regina had her fingers running through y/n's hair, scratching her scalp with her acrylics. y/n was drawing shapes on regina's stomach, the blonde girl shivering every once in a while. after a few episodes, regina asked y/n if she wanted anything to drink before realizing y/n was asleep. smiling, she carefully reached over to the nightstand to grab her phone, taking a picture of y/n.

she took to instagram to post the picture, smiling at the amount of cute comments their friends were leaving. she put her phone back and gently guided her and y/n into a more comfortable position. once comfy, she placed a gentle kiss on y/n's forehead, slowly drifting off.

#regina george imagine #regina george x reader #mean girls imagines #mean girls 2024

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angelkhi · 1 year

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santa's little helper - j.m

pairing: joel miller x reader

summary: you get more than you bargained for being santa’s little helper.

warnings: SMUT 18+ (minors DNI), thigh riding, fingering, dirty talk, some cursing, unprotected sex in an apocalypse (big dumb bitches), creampie (even bigger dumber bitches), pet names, age gap, low-key feral joel, a little bit of pining if you take off your glasses and squint. idk i’m writing this post crimbo dinner prep i’m tired.

word count: 2k

a little note: the logistics of when the breakout started and when the reader was born do not make sense but that is not my fault i'm not a scientist and i'm bad at math. anyways here's my singular christmas fic. to anyone that celebrates merry christmas, and to those who don't, have a lovely december 🫶🏾 (also not proofread i’m tired and it’s christmas)

Christmas is one of the few traditions kept alive in Jackson, with handmade paper decorations about the houses, small Christmas trees nursed to health with the help of Joel, children running around singing festive songs you'd missed for so many years. You felt truly alive for the first time in a long time.

Joel's smile is light, barely visible behind the beard curated from yarn, but you’re close enough to see his upturned lips. His eyes flick over your outfit, a green t-shirt turned dress, some striped tights and a stroke of damn near magic with long expired makeup transforming you into Santa’s little helper.

"Cute as a button." He mumbles. A steady stream of children enter the makeshift grotto and you don't get to enquire. Not that you would. Your whole body is ablaze with nervousness, Joel's comment striking deep, so deep in fact you probably could've foreign caking deep pink out of date blush to your cheeks. He’s one of the few good men left in this world, and his rugged looks are an added bonus, so it’s no wonder you keen for his approval.

The day goes off without a hitch, the smiles on the children's faces when they got to meet the Father Christmas, the endless amounts of crayon covered decorations each kid got to design, the supply of sugar cookies that dwindled far too quickly. You almost felt bad for the sugar rush their parents would have to deal with later on in the evening. But they wouldn’t care. It’s Christmas.

By the end of the night you’re beyond tired. A few stranglers help with some off he menial tidying, but you send them on their way, your morning plans of self indulgent cleaning spree at risk of being disrupted.

The town is quiet, but brightly lit when you lock the double doors, and you use the rare moment of peace and quiet to appreciate all that you’ve endured.

"Let me walk you home." You yelp quietly, the voice from the darkness unexpected. Though not unwelcome when you spy Joel's broad shoulder leaning against the old barn.

"You scared the shot out of me" You pause to catch your beating. He looks apologetic and for a moment you're worried you upset him "You don't have to do that."

"Walk you home or scare the shit out of you?" You chuckle.

"Not scaring the shit out of me would be nice, but you don’t have to walk me home Joel." In fact you can see your home from where you’re standing it’s so close.

"I know. I want to."

Joel fears that's about as close as hell get to a confession. He admired your normalcy in a world far beyond it. He admired you, albeit secretly.

The two of you walk in silence, until he’s walking up your porch stairs and you’re panicking about the once welcomed silence, filling it with an invitation into your home. He accepts with a quiet smile, taking in the festive lights and handcrafted decor.

You guide him through the small hallway into a tiny living room, filled with random trinkets and furniture that’s worse for wear. Its more homely than his humble abode, and it screams you, warm and inviting.

He leans back into the worn sofa, his legs spread. Even in the Santa Clause get up you're not sure how to place yourself. It's Joel Miller for heavens sakes. A part of him secretly enjoys your nervous energy as you hover in front of him, not sure what exactly to do with yourself.

"Here come sit." Joel pats the faded velour, "tell me what you want."

He suggested it without thinking, and of course you comply. You’d walk into a building full of infected if he asked. Something shifts when you find yourself in his lap, you wonder if he notices it too, the way the air in the room suddenly grew thicker filled with something you’re not sure you’d ever be brave enough to act on. Your palms grow clammy. Breathe.

Joel is dumbfounded at just how perfect you look in his lap. He’d keep you there forever if he could. His hands rest on your thighs, thumbs guiding a small driving small patterns into the striped tights. He dips his head low, trying to meet your downcast eyes.

“I want you Joel.” The admission has your cheeks tingling in slight embarrassment and an underlying fear of rejection.

"That's it sweet girl. Use your words and i'll give you anything you want."

Those hands slip beneath your dress, a wide palm cupping your warm cunt. He holds your gaze, watching and waiting.

“I want you to fuck me.”

“That so?” He hums, eyes raking over your almost innocent face, then down to where your hips meet his. Two fingers tap your thigh and a commanding ‘up’ is spoken. You raise your hips as he asks, you’d do anything he asked in that moment. Joel’s hands snake around the back of your thighs, pausing for a brief moment before gripping the scratchy tights and pulling with vigor. They split easily under the force, exposing you to him. He thumbs the edge of your panties for a moment, the small creases in his forehead deepening when he takes you in.

"Red lace? Where on earth did you get these?" His tone is light, punching through the heavy thickness in his throat and he tries to collect himself, just for a moment.

"I don't scavenge and tell Mr Miller." You chide playfully.

“Don't care where you got em from as long as I get to keep em."

"Then earn them." Joel smiles, not one to back down from a challenge, giving you a small and simple nod.

He’s so gentle when he places you on the sofa you’re lost for a moment, then he’s on his knees in front of you, hands on your thighs spreading you open. His thumb traces over the wet gusset of the almost transparent lace, a perfectly harsh pressure building when he rests on your clit. He doesn’t bother wasting time taking off the pretty underwear opting to pull them aside instead.

All of that sweetness, all of the hesitation flies out of the window when he finally catches a glimpse of you, so ready for him. Joel’s sharp tongue is sweeping against you in a bruising rhythm, nipping and sucking on your exposed clit. He’s impatient and determined, losing himself in how good you taste, showing no mercy when you grind yourself against him, gasping when your clit swipes against the soft bump of his nose. Your hands swipe through his salt and pepper waves, pulling him closer and he decides then that he’d happily die between your thighs. Your soft whimpers grow louder until they’re high pitched whines whilst you chase the orgasm he’s so desperate to give you.

“Fuck Joel.” Your fingers tighten around his soft hair, his rough fingers curling your weeping hole. All it takes is on hooked finger pressing up against that spot, one more soft drag of his tongue and you’re finished. Joel’s hips buck up at nothing when you cum on his face, making those pretty noises, hips clean off the couch cushions as you ride out your orgasm. But he doesn’t let up, fingers moving at a languid pace.

"Gimme one more. One more and i'll fuck your pretty cunt so good you'll feel me for days." Cocky bastard.

You’ve clearly lost all sense, because you nod like you have anything left to give.

He doesn’t stop, not until you’re thighs are practically shaking around his head, and you can barely keep your head on your shoulders. He looks so proud of himself when you find the energy to open your eyes. Like he could walk away untouched, your release giving him all the pleasure he needs.

He manoeuvres your pliant body back into his lap, hands cupping your jaw, thumb stroking your cheek.

"I ain't gonna be sweet on ya." Lies. He's already more than sweet on you, half way to smitten and too much of a coward to confess. If he were one for making rash decisions he'd be on one knee begging you to marry him and making you cum on his face. Though he wouldn't need a rash decision for the latter.

"Don't want you to be soft on me Joel. Please." You grind your hips into his growing bulge, shuddering breaths drowning out your weak plea. You make quick work of pulling down the handmade red trousers, hesitating only for a moment when your fingers rest on the waistband of his boxer shorts.

Joel’s chest heaves a little when your soft hands grip him, dragging the shiny pink head of his cock against your wet cunt, slipping him into your sopping hole with ease.

“That’s it. Take what you need.” He rests a guiding hand on your hip, until your flush against him, taking him to the hilt.

“So good for me.” This man and his fucking mouth.

He presses his mouth against yours, kissing you and claiming you all at once. His lips are surprisingly soft, a heavy contrast to the way he’s gripping your hips, pulling you flush against him. It’s not lost on you that he’s doing all the work but there’s not a single thought left in your head, just Joel and how he feels and sounds.

"Got you nice and full don't I?" You try to speak, honestly you do, but all that comes out is a pathetic whine. "Too fucked out to speak. Look at ya', so perfect all for me."

There is nothing that could pry you away from each other in that moment, your panting breaths, the slight tinge of sweat, burnt sugar and pine in the air. Joel's illicit grunts and your soft screams.

He finds some restraint and pauses, somehow placing you flat on your back, the soft couch cushions moulding around your body, worn out springs creaking beneath the weight of you both.

He cages you in, relishing as you practically melt into the worn leather sofa. His fingers hook under your knee, lifting your thigh higher, the small amount of strain forgotten when he sinks back into you hard and deep.

He takes almost as much as he gives, driving his hips in a harsh rhythm chasing his release, watching the way your body responds to him. Pretty lips parted, eyes closed so tight, pussy clenching around him. Nothing will ever feel this good. Joel thumbs at your clit once again, and he completely surrounds you. He’s so deep you can just about breathe, his deep grunts and guttural moans floating about your once boring living room.

He gives you your third orgasm of the evening, and you feel everything but nothing all at once. There’s nothing but him and you and the knowing that you’d never felt this good before and nothing would ever come close again. His thrusts are relentless, your wet cunt clenching around him sending him over that perfect ledge. Your name is the only thing on his lips when he cums so deep, you’re not sure where he ends and you begin. He’s completely still, muscles taught goading himself through his orgasm, the feeling nothing short of euphoric.

Joel’s hands find your face again, that softness ever present and he melts into your body, your lips.

“Honey you with me?" He asks after a short moment, his voice hoarse. You nod at first, but he’s looking for words, words you’re struggling to find with what little bit of energy you have left.

"I'm with you. Seeing fucking stars but i'm with you." Joel's shoulders grow less tense at your reassurance. He nods, calloused fingers exploring your cool skin all over again. You gasp in unison when he slips out of you, tucking himself into his boxers and pulling your panties back into place.

"So. Did I earn my keep?" The elastic twangs against your skin and the pair of you share a breathy laugh.

"Sure did. I'm all about giving, in the spirit of christmas of course." He smiles, more triumphant than cocky, though it morphs into a look of pure determination when you speak again.

"Did I mention I have them in black too?"

#smut #tlou smut #tlou #tlou hbo #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller smut #joel miller x reader #pedro pascal joel miller #pedro pascal smut #the last of us smut #the last of us hbo #joel miller x reader smut #christmas fic

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olderthannetfic · 2 months

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A question a bit out of the usual ones, but do you have any free resources on sex ed and female pleasure?

Like, i try masturbating and i know the parts work, but I've never been able to Like, get anything more than a little stimulation. Never orgasmed, really want to

Lots of sex ed books I've seen recced are paid ( and I live in Europe and can't exactly hope to get them here) and everyone I've ever talked to is like " just wait for the right person, pleasure ks related to feeling" which, while not wrong, I don't want as my only option, especially since the same ppl told me to wait since sex isn't all that's cranked up to be

So, any advice/ resources you might know?

I don't have specific book recs since everything I read was on paper and from the 90s.

I also think women's masturbation isn't all that well covered even by otherwise great books. Men's habits are covered everywhere, up to and including hilarious websites like JackinWorld. Women? It's usually just advice about vibrators.

I had my first orgasm while doing math homework. It occurred to me that I'd never had one and that this was rather silly since I masturbated every day and had for as long as I could remember, so I tried a different technique.

Frankly, orgasm isn't the be all end all of sexual pleasure, especially for women, though I'm sure it depends on the person. But yes, it makes sense to figure out how to have one.

If you're on any heavy-duty medications, it's possible they're making it harder to come. In the absence of anything like that, it's probably just a lack of strong enough, lengthy enough, or a specific type of stimulation.

People telling you to wait are morons. Even a partner you really like will be better in bed if you can tell them what kinds of physical sensations you enjoy. And experimentation by yourself is one of the best and lowest stress ways to figure that out. There's no pressure to get a move on or to worry about another person's pleasure while trying to sort out your own frustrating body.

One thing that often works (though not very well for me personally) is a strong vibrator with a good variety of settings that pulse in different patterns. Even if you've tried a vibrator, if it was some namby pamby weak one or if it only provided one consistent stimulation and not a varying pattern, it may not have been enough. (There's a reason vibrator advice is so overrepresented in what little sex ed stuff there is about female masturbation.)

However, another problem I've seen is that it seems like people assume that all men masturbate basically one way and thus women must be similar. I suspect men are more varied than that stereotype, but women are much, much, much more varied. Vibrators get a relatively large amount of attention, as does using fingers on one's clit. Using a dildo shows up way more in pop culture than its actual frequency in the masturbation habits of women I've known. Some people use water (like from one of those flexible shower heads). There are many options. The one that is by far the most common among women I've talked to shows up basically never in pop culture. The only example I can think of is in Secretary. That method is grinding on the corner of a pillow or the heel of your own hand or similar.

If what you're doing currently just isn't working, try a totally different method.

It sounds like you just aren't getting enough stimulation, but it could also be the opposite: stimulation that's much too strong can just make you feel kind of numb.

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learnyouabiology · 2 years

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Fun Fact: Hagfish Suffocate their Predators with a Cloud of Slime!

(This week featuring my own art, bc I got a new thing and I wanna USE IT)

Sometimes, I come across an animal that makes me go: “Huh. That seems like a fictional monstrosity, fit only for tabletop roleplaying games and fantasy novels. Except I guess this one is real! Weird!”

The hagfish is one of those animals.

Hagfish are quite spooky to behold: Rather than looking like a fish, hagfish look more like scaleless, leathery-skinned worms with little tentacle-like things called barbells around what appears to be their mouth.

Except the polite little opening that you can see in the drawing above is not its mouth. That’s its nostril.

This is its mouth:

**SCREAM**

(ok that’s technically a tongue that has teeth on it, but it’s mouth-adjacent so I STAND BY MY STATEMENT). (drawing based on this picture from this paper)

THIS IS THE STUFF THAT NIGHTMARES ARE MADE OF (and I, for one, love it!)

You don’t need to worry too much about the hagfish’s nightmare mouth, though, since hagfish are pretty much only interested in eating things that are already dead (except maybe a few fish, so if you’re a fish, watch out, I guess).

Plus, they can go more than 6 months without eating and can survive without oxygen for 36 hours, so that’s nice.

(it’s hard to tell, but this is 2 hagfish eating a dead rockfish, plus a third hagfish possibly taking a nap. They’re having a lovely time!)

These guys love a good whale carcass.

Hagfish are a type of jawless fish which are categorised into the class Myxini. They are the only known animals with a skull but no vertebral column and possess 4 “hearts”: a systemic heart in the usual place, a portal heart that’s beside the 1st heart, a cardinal heart in the head, and a caudal heart near the tail. Technically, only the first 2 are considered “true hearts”, but Whatever! x

All of these things are very strange and wonderful, but the weirdest thing about hagfish, in my opinion, is possibly their most distinct feature.

They possess weaponized slime.

Remember that time a bunch of hagfish stole a car were dumped onto a highway in 2017? Everyone (human) was fine, but the slime was REAL (source: x).

This slimey car crash occurred because hagfish excrete slime when disturbed (they caused the slime part, I mean. The crash itself was something else’s fault). Considering the fact that a single hagfish can excrete a maximum of 24 litres of slime (given ideal circumstances) and that there were roughly *checks notes* 13′000 hagfish in the truck, you could end up with around *does some math*... 312’000 litres of slime!

For reference, that’s equivalent to approximately 1’560 bathtubs full of slime.

(my rough math can be found at the bottom of the post, if you’re curious).

That said, this crash probably didn’t feature 312′000 litres of actual slime. What the hagfish excretes is a relatively small amount of a substance which is a combination of mucus and long, thin proteins reminiscent of super-fine silk threads.

When this substance is mixed with water, it immediately expands 10′000 times its original volume!

The resulting slime is 99.996% water (source x). So, unless the truck was also carrying 312′000 litres of water to transport the hagfish in (which is doubtful), the slime probably wouldn’t have been able to reach that volume. (assuming they didn’t try to clean the mess up with water, which is... fully possible)

For my favourite demonstration of this, here’s an (admittedly old & grainy) video of someone transforming a beaker of water into a beaker of slime using a itty bit of mucus scraped from a hagfish.

(it’s cooler in the video, tbh)

What is all this slime even for? Well, mostly to protect the hagfish from predators!

Imagine if you bit into a sandwich and then 24 litres of slime suddenly exploded into your mouth. That would suck. A lot. You probably wouldn’t even finish the sandwich! Probably. I don’t know your life.

Understandably, predatory fish also hate to have a mouthful of slime, except it’s even worse for them, because the slime quickly gets tangled in the fish’s gills, which are important for gas exchange (aka being alive). It is for this reason that hagfish generally don’t get eaten, it seems!

(Ha! That’ll teach you to try to eat in the ocean! i love this paper tbh)

As far as I have been able to research, there are no recorded instances of hagfish being successfully eaten in the wild (though we have seen predators make unsuccessful attempts, resulting in them having an extremely bad time!)

(Thriving. Moisturised. In their lane. x)

While the slime sticks to the predator, the hagfish has an easy way to get the slime off its own body: they simply tie themself into a knot, wiping away the slime, and then goes about their day, unphased.

This has been Fun Fact Friday, bringing you nightmare fuel in this, the fine season of Halloween!

I know that it’s September, but if the dollar store can say that it’s already Halloween season THEN SO CAN I DANG NABBIT.

(bonus of that fish getting pwned, just bc I LOVE those pictures:

(Corrected) math under the cut:

3′400kg of hagfish in the truck (source)

each adult hagfish is around 180-260g (source)

3′400 kg/0.260 kg = ~13′000 hagfish

one hagfish can produce “a teaspoon” of slime (~5 mL), which can expand “10′000 times” its original size when it hits water (~50′000 mL -> 50 L) (source)

This^ is wrong! It’s actually 24 L, max (new source x)

one average bathtub can hold ~200 L of water (source)

(24 L x 13′000 hagfish) / 200 L = 1’560 bathtubs

#hagfish #halloween #marine biology #science #biology #fish #fun fact #sciblr #science side of tumblr #adhd in STEM #STEM #fun fact friday

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charliedawn · 1 year

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How would the slashers or the Hannibal family react to their partner being stressed due to college?

When you came home and almost collapsed in the living room, Hannibal Jr. caught you in his arms.

He was worried about you and laid you down, patiently waiting for you to wake up.

When you finally did, you didn't notice when you started crying until you started talking—your voice shaking by the amount of stress you were under.

"...I'm so tired. I'm not sure I can keep it up. The endless sleepless nights. The tests raining on my head. The days I can't even get up because I'm so tired my whole body shuts down. I am so very tired...I can't do this. I'm not strong enough."

He gathered you in his arms and shushed you softly before placing a kiss on the top of your head.

"You are strong enough, love. I promise you."

He never felt such stress for school because he usually always aced all of his tests with high honors.

He even used to think that the reason some people were struggling was because they didn't work enough.

But, now that he saw how difficult it was for you ? He is starting to reconsider his opinion on the matter.

He'd help you and make you revise and give you all the advice he can give you on how to study efficiently.

You *smile widely as you come back home with a good grade* : "I DID IT !"

Hannibal Jr. smiled up at you and invited you to seat on his lap while you pointed all of the nice comments your teacher had written on your paper.

He watched as your eyes brightened and your whole demeanor seemed so different from a few months ago.

He rested his chin on your shoulder while your voice started to fade away and before he knew you it...he was asleep.

Looks like studying with you had taken its toll on him as well...You noticed and smiled before settling back and started dozing off as well.

When he saw you crying, Norman's heart did a somersault.

He immediately asked what was wrong and when you told him you were tired of school, he pulled you into a tight hug.

"You succeeded in getting there. Plod on, darling. You'll get there. I'm sure of it."

He doesn't like to see you cry and would try his best to comfort you.

Norman did go to college and attended management classes to get better at his job as hotel manager.

It took a lot of time and energy for him to get through all those years of intense training. So, he'd understand—but encourage you to do your best and keep going.

He'd also try to help you by studying with you and helping you remember the most important things.

He'd also cook for you and make sure you get a nice quiet place to study.

Norman would make sure you succeed and tell you every minute of every day how proud he is of you and give you all the love and affection you need.

Norman *humming to himself while waiting for you to get home*

You *slamming the door open and running in to hug him from behind* : "I DID IT, NORMAN !"

It took him a second or two to realize what you meant and once he understood, he smiled and hugged you back.

"I am so proud of you, my little monster."

"Stop overthinking things. It ain't good."

He told you, but you ignored him. You had work to do and didn't want to be disturbed.

Freddy would normally understand and leave you alone, since he knows it's better to stay away when you got work to do.

But, he didn't this time around.

"We going to party tonight.", he told you and you frowned.

"Freddy...I got work to do."

You reminded him, but he shook his head before closing your computer.

"Let me rephrase that. Either we go out and have fun—or I find myself a nice bunch of nice innocent virgins and make a blood sacrifice to...me."

You glared at him again, but finally conceded with a sigh. You knew he was only trying to cheer you up.

"Fine...But, I ain't paying for you. I got enough worries as it is.", you warned him before grabbing your bag on your way out and Freddy grinned victoriously.

"I'm treatin'. Now, stop your yapping and let's get drunk."

Worse case scenario ? He'd get you so drunk as to accept to quit your studies and become a stripper.

He would maybe be your only client, but as he can literally summon money from dreams, you'd have an endless source of income...

School ? That's what you were so concerned about ?

Myers didn't understand, but Michael did and decided to start reading about your subject.

Finally, he decided to help you and it was a lot easier when you were both working on it.

You explained things he didn't understand and it helped you have a better understanding of your subject as well.

Michael *points to something he didn't understand on the book you were reading*

You *start explaining it to him with a smile*

Him *focused on your smile rather than on your words and smiles as well*

He would make sure that smile never fades, no matter what...

He helped you and every time you had a test, he was there to pick you up and listen to you about your day and wherever had happened—that it'd be good or bad.

You *smile up at him* : "...Michael."

Him *looks up at you and sees you with tears in your eyes and immediately worries*

You *run into his arms* : "Thank you...Thank you so much."

He relaxed when he realized you weren't hurt and wrapped his arms around you.

Jack woke up and prepared himself a cup of coffee at 6 am and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw you there—your computer on your lap and glassy red eyes staring at the screen.

You slowly looked up at him with tears in your eyes and offered him a weak smile.

"....Would you get me a cup too ?"

Your voice was so soft and weak, Jack felt his heart squeeze.

"....Aww, honey." He crouched in front of you and lightly stroked your arms up and down—feeling your cold asking underneath his fingertips. "You can't stay up like that. It's not good. That's just nuts."

You were on the verge of collapsing and it seemed Jack's touch was the one things needed for you to break.

You suddenly fell forward and Jack caught you on his arms.

"Ssh...Come on. Let's get you to bed, darling."

He then picked you up in his arms and glared at your computer.

He was going to have a serious conversation with your teachers and the administration. Jack may use his few connections in the academic cycle to get a few things straight with that college of yours.

He'd also help you if your subject is anything related to the literary world.

You *come back from your next test with a bright smile on your face* : "I...I did it, Jack. I did it."

Jack's eyes widened as a smile crept on his face—but he quickly hid it behind a very exaggerated cough and a nonchalant shrug.

"Yeah yeah...I always knew you could do it."

"You' in college, Y/N ! Can you imagine ? How cool's that ?!"

Lester would be in awe. The man never even left Ambrose. He'd bathe you in praises and tell you how proud he is of you.

He'd also give you all the moral support you need and even bring you and pick you up from college everyday just to see you smile.

He'd be there for your worst and your best—no matter what.

You *come back home crying* : "...I failed."

Him *hugs you immediately* : "Doesn't matter. It's OK, doll. It's only a bad grade. I'll ask Bo or Vinny to help ya'. I'll...I'll ask around for sum' private teach' or sumthin'. Just...Please. Don't cry."

Lester would do anything for you. He maybe wouldn't be able to help you with your studying, but he'd find some other way to help.

Lester *phones every single teacher out there to give you private lessons*

He'd also have a meeting with your teacher and ask them if there's anything he can do to help you. Lester may not be the brain of the Sinclairs, but he's definitely the heart.

You *the day of the final results* : "Lester..."

You uttered his name so softly, he thought you hadn't succeeded and was about to give you all the comfort you needed when you looked up at him and smiled.

"...I passed."

It took a moment for Lester to realize what you had just said and he immediately ran to hug you tightly—spinning you around as you giggled gleefully.

"YOU PASSED ! YOU PASSED !"

He was so happy for you.

"Fuck me. This is b*llsh*t. How can you even read that sh*t ?!"

Bo would just throw every insult known to man at your lessons and curse the whole school system in colorful 'damns' and 'f*ck y'alls'

He might not be able to help you, but he'll be sure to complain and despair alongside you.

He'd sit next to you—his leg bouncing up and down with each second passing as he tried to make head or tail of your course plan.

"I swear I'd have quit the whole thing a long time ago if I were you. I mean...Look at this ?! Is this even fuckin' English ?!"

Seeing Bo actually even more upset on your course than yourself made you feel a lot better and even laugh.

"Wha—?! What's so funny ?! I'm serious !"

He'd spend nights studying with you and let you knock his ears off about your studies while working at the garage.

"BO !"

He looked up at you and thought you were upset at him for some reason, but you then grinned wildly before showing him your grade.

"I FUCKIN' DID IT !"

Him *blinks twice before giving you a matching grin and opening his arms wide to catch you when you hugged him" : "I KNEW IT ! I FUCKIN' KNEW IT ! THAT'S MY GIRL/BOY !"

Pennywise is street smart, not book smart. He never went to school.

School didn't even exist when he was born, even less college.

But, he'd try for you.

But at the end, he'd help you cheat instead.

During a test: transforms into a fly and flies to the best student's shoulder to get a look at his answers and they whisper them to you when no one is looking.

Or, he'd just give a little visit to your teacher the night before and give them a little reminder of what happens when Pennywise is angry...

Yeah. Don't worry about grades.

As long as he's here, you'll always have someone to help you and watch out for everything that might hurt you.

He wouldn't let you down and would encourage you the best he can.

"...You impress me, kid. Even when things get tough, you keep walking forward. That makes you tougher than any of us—even me."

"....Ah."

Kevin never had that problem, because he had Orwell and the moment school was too much, he would appear and do the work.

So, Orwell would help you.

Orwell *looks at the paper in his hand and looks at all the corrections before smiling* : "Ah...I see. Come. I'll explain it to you."

Orwell *starts helping you and scoots a little closer to show you each of your mistake and take the time to make you correct them or rephrase*

Orwell wouldn't let you leave unless you've memorized every single word on your next lesson. He'd make sure to help you until the end and become personally invested in your success.

Orwell *waiting for you outside of your school to see you and ask how it went*

You *smiling and running to hug him* : "Thank you so much for helping me. I knew every answer on the test."

Orwell *stunned because no one ever hugged him* : "You're...welcome" *pat pat on the back*

Orwell would be very proud inside and the other personalities would congratulate you too.

But, Orwell would then ramble on how you hadn't yelled at him when you were studying together and actually listened.

Even Kevin had never been so attentive.

It would earn him some taunting from the other personalities.

Patricia *smiles knowingly* : "You really like them, don't you ?"

Hedwig *gasps loudly* : "MISTER ORWELL HAS A CRUSH !"

Dennis : "Be careful. It could be a trap."

Jade *rolls her eyes* : "Stoooop it, Dennis. For once, glasses shows feelings. Respect that."

Kevin *smiles sheepishly* : "N...Nice. I'm sure they like you too."

Orwell *blushes and shakes his head before trying to cover his ears*

"Huh...Let me get back to you when I've got an answer."

Two days later: news started spreading that your school had 'mysteriously' caught on fire.

You waited for J to come home and when he did, he was carrying a flamethrower and was covered in ashes.

"So...I thought a lot about it and found the perfect solution."

"....J." You pinched the bridge of your nose in exhaustion before J sighed and threw the flamethrower on your shared coach.

"Before you say anything, you're welcome."

You looked up at him with narrowed eyes and asked.

"...Was anyone inside ?"

"...Would I get in trouble if I said yes ?"

Your brow furrowed and he chuckled before shaking his head and cupping your cheeks to look you in the eyes.

"Relax, sweetheart. Smile. No one was inside. I made sure of it...I just gained you a little bit of time to spend with me."

You finally relaxed under his touch and smiled.

"...You're crazy."

He knew you were joking and chuckled before pressing his forehead against yours.

"...Yeah. I'll get back to you when I've got a solution for that one too."

You finally laughed. J was maybe crazy, but somehow...You had managed to get him all wrapped up around your little finger.

#fandoms #imagine #fanfic #michael myers x reader #jack torrance x reader #bo sinclair x reader #lester sinclair x reader #pennywise x reader #norman bates x reader #hannibal x reader #hannibal jr #freddy krueger x reader #the horde x reader #orwell x reader #the joker x reader #slashers au #slashers

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corroded-hellfire · 1 year

Text

Big Brown Eyes - Eddie Munson x Reader, Part 3

Summary: Eddie comes to join you for lunch, being his flirty usual self. It leads to late night phone calls, sharing hard parts of your lives with one another, and maybe an official date, finally? You can read part two here!

Note: Not a whole lot of Everett in this chapter, but there are reasons. Also, the amount of people who have replied, sent asks, and/or commented about this story has made me the happiest Eddie fangirl in all the land. I see each and every thing you guys say and it makes me happier than I can describe. Thank you.

Warnings: language, mentions of death, talk of unsupportive parents, insecurity, lots of Max being her sassy self, I think that’s it?

Words: 7.7k

[Part 4 | Big Brown Eyes masterlist]

Not having to get Everett ready in the morning leaves you with a little extra time, which you decide to use by staying in bed a few minutes longer. Your arms reach up towards your headboard, the muscles of your back stretching out as sunbeams peeking through the curtains splash across your face. With a content sigh, you turn on your right side and face the empty side of the bed. A smile tugs at your lips as you imagine Eddie there. His hair probably gets all tousled and messy in his sleep. He probably has the cutest, most peaceful face while he’s dreaming.

You run your hand up along the cold sheets to the empty pillow. The only people who have ever slept on that pillow are Everett and Max, the time she had a big blowup with her mom and needed to get out of the house for the night. Your fingers scratch at the soft threads, lazy smile still hanging on to your mouth. Closing your eyes, you imagine being nose to nose with Eddie. Feeling his breath ghost across your face and his body heat radiating over to you. You almost don’t want to open your eyes again because you know his large brown ones won’t be there looking back at you. But you have to get up and get ready, so you do.

Pushing yourself out of bed, you go through the motions of getting ready, thoughts of Eddie never leaving your head. Thinking about Eddie brushing his teeth while you’re doing your hair. Of Eddie pouring cereal for Everett while you grab the milk out of the fridge. The thought of a cozy little family makes your stomach feel fuzzy, but you stop yourself. You haven’t even been on a date yet. But it’s exciting to have feelings for someone. The thrill of a crush was always fun in school. Seeing if they’d look at you during class or talk to you at lunch. Only, you’re not in school anymore and you have a son to think about as well. It’s one thing if you and Eddie can hit it off well. It’s another thing entirely if Everett and Eddie can hit it off.

Work is as slow as usual for a Tuesday morning. Summertime usually brought children being tutored or participating in community activities to the library, but those were mostly in the afternoon. You spend the morning checking books back in, eyes trying to avoid the clock as much as possible. A watched pot never checks books in quicker, or whatever the saying is. No familiar faces come in to occupy you, which is more of a school year thing. Hawkins High was technically still in school until tomorrow, but final exams had all passed already, so no students needed the library. Even though you wouldn’t say it out loud, you were glad Mike was able to finish his Pride and Prejudice paper without you. He would’ve distracted you from the work duties you should have been doing.

When one o’clock finally rolls around, you feel yourself starting to get fidgety. Your mind is trying to mentally calculate how long it will take Eddie to wash up for lunch, then get in his van, then drive to the library, then walk inside. Will that all take ten minutes? Fifteen? How long until you can start to worry that he’s not going to show up?

At seven minutes after one, Eddie strolls in, bright smile on his handsome face, a black band tee and light blue ripped jeans adorning his figure, and a fast-food bag clutched in his hand. Your mind hadn’t even calculated that he might stop to get food, yet he’s here before you expected him.

“Hey, beautiful,” he says. He places the bag down on the library desk and leans forward onto his forearms.

“Hey yourself,” you say as you lean in towards him as well. “I didn’t expect you so close to one.”

“I may have checked out for lunch a few minutes early,” he says with a shrug. “Can’t keep a pretty girl waiting.”

“Then you better go and see her,” you tease.

“Hmm,” he hums. “Don’t act like you’re not the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

It’s a good thing you haven’t eaten yet, or the food may have come up with the way your stomach flips at his words. Eddie grins as your face flares up with heat, and part of you likes that he finds your flustered state cute. You get that way more times than you’d like to admit.

“Come on,” you say, nodding your head towards the employee area behind you.

Eddie slips around the desk and follows you into the “lounge.” It’s not much, but there are a few tables to eat at and with minimal employees at the library, you always had lunch time to yourself.

“Now, I wasn’t sure what you like,” Eddie says as he slides into the chair across the small table from you. “So, I bought one chicken sandwich and one burger. What’s your pick?”

“Oh,” you say with a pleased smile. “You didn’t have to buy me anything.”

“You cooked for me last night.” Eddie shrugs. “This is basically the extent of my cooking.”

You chuckle and point to the chicken sandwich. He slides it to you, and you accept it with a thank you. Both of you take your first bites and you groan in satisfaction.

“Okay. This is much better than the turkey sandwich in my bag,” you say.

Eddie smiles and pulls out a carton of fries from the bag and places them in the middle of the table.

“How’s your day been so far?” Eddie asks.

You nod your head as you finish the bite of food in your mouth. “Pretty good. Better now. How’s the garage?”

“Loud,” he says. “But it means I never really have to make small talk, so there’s that.”

“I’m awful at small talk,” you tell him. “But then I start to think about what I can talk about instead and then get all stressed out.”

“Okay,” Eddie says as he wipes his hands off on a napkin. “I’m full of weird topics to talk about. Should we talk about the fact that Star Wars is better than Star Trek, how awkward our middle school years were, or how you get your hair to be so shiny? Sorry.” He smirks, not looking the least bit sorry. “Had to get that into the conversation somehow.”

“Are you this big of a flirt with everyone?” you ask through a smile. It’s a genuine question and though you get the sense that this is how Eddie is with everyone, you want it to be just you.

Eddie tilts his head from side to side, considering the options. “Charm? Yeah, that just seems to exude out of me,” he says with a wink, to show he’s joking. “But no. I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever flirted with someone as much as I’m flirting with you.”

The buzz from three cups of coffee has nothing on the feeling that Eddie gives you. You can’t help but squirm in your seat, which Eddie notices with a twinkle in his eye. Resting your elbow on the table and your chin in your hand, you lean in towards him.

“Oh yeah?” you ask with more bravado than you feel. “And why’s that?”

“Well, I already mentioned that you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” Eddie says as if it’s obvious to anyone with the use of their eyes. “But you’re…” he trails off, eyes narrowing as he looks at you.

“If you say ‘different than other girls’, I know you’re taking this from some D-class romcom,” you say.

Eddie chuckles and shakes his head. “I mean, you are. But that’s not what I was going to say. You’re fun and you’re sweet. I like how you can keep up with my goofiness.”

“I like your goofiness,” you tell him. “It adds to the charm you exude.”

The rest of the lunch hour passes just as quickly as dinner had the previous evening. Time with Eddie sure seemed to move differently than time leading up to seeing him. You know that no one will get on you for being a little late back from lunch, but you also know Eddie is new at his job. He seems reluctant to leave though, which gives you a rush of satisfaction. You walk with him out to his van, relishing every moment you have left in his presence. He leans against the side of his vehicle, reminiscent of how he did outside of Dustin’s house the first time you met. He slowly reaches out and takes one of your hands in his. You link your fingers with his and he smiles in response.

“So, as you may or may not be aware,” Eddie says. “We haven’t been on a proper, official date yet. But I’d like to change that, if you would?”

“I’d like that a lot.”

Eddie’s responding grin is enough to make your heart stutter. He steps forward so he’s gazing down his nose at you. You peer back from under your eyelashes and the moment freezes around the pair of you. The air is thick, and you fight the urge to swallow as Eddie’s eyes dip down to your lips before looking back into your eyes.

“Do you like to swim?” Eddie asks softly, as if not to jar you both out of the moment. “Because I heard Hawkins has a pretty nice lake.”

“Lover’s Lake?” you ask, raising an eyebrow.

He gives you a sheepish grin. “I knew that’s what it was called, I just didn’t want to sound like a complete tool by suggesting we have our first date at a place with a name like that.”

The smallest touch of pink dusts Eddie’s cheeks. It’s nice to have the shoe be on the other foot for once.

“I do like to swim,” you tell him. “And Lover’s Lake is beautiful in the summer.”

“When are you free?” Eddie asks, gently squeezing your hand that’s in his.

You purse your lips as you try to think of the different schedules that determine if you’re free. Obviously, it would have to be a day you aren’t working, and preferably it would be a day that Steve isn’t as well. But you weren’t above seeing if someone else could watch Everett so you could go out with Eddie. Mom deserves to have some fun.

“Well, I know you have your game with Dustin and the gang on Saturdays. So, what about Sunday?” you offer. Steve may or may not be working that day, but you’d deal either way.

“Sunday works,” Eddie says. “Noon-ish? I could bring food for a picnic. Not fast food this time.”

“Ooh, a picnic? And not fast food? You’re spoiling me,” you say with a smirk. “That sounds really good, Eddie. I can’t wait.”

He ducks his head, looking down at his feet for a moment before lifting his eyes back to yours. “Would it be okay if I called you before then? I might go crazy with not talking to you until Sunday.”

“Of course,” you squeak out through the excitement crawling its way through your system.

“Good,” Eddie says, a look of relief washing over his features. He lifts your hand to his lips and presses a kiss to your knuckles. “I’ll talk to you later, then.”

“Okay.” Your eyes stay on your hand the whole time. From being lifted to his lips, to Eddie slowly bringing it back down and letting go.

“Bye,” he whispers, and you meet his eyes again.

“Bye.” You give him a small wave as he gets into his van. You stay in the parking lot until he pulls out of his parking spot and exits down the next road, where you lose sight of him. With a happy sigh, you turn to go back inside and finish your day at work.

“I don’t wanna!”

You toss the towel in your hand over your shoulder and let out a huff, placing your hands on your hips. Realizing it’s a very “Steve” thing to do, you drop your arms and raise an eyebrow at your son.

“Everett Steven Harrington. You know it’s time for your bath,” you say. “It’ll be over sooner if you stop whining about it and get in the tub.”

“But,” Everett says in a small voice, “I took one.”

“Did you now?”

He nods. “At Daddy’s.”

“Is that so? So, if I call Dad right now and ask him, he’ll tell me you took a bath there today? Or are you lying to me?”

His little hands begin to tug at his Mickey Mouse shirt, and he looks at the rug underneath his feet. Silence settles in the hallway as you wait for an answer. Everett had been caught lying twice in the past few weeks, and neither you nor Steve were having it.

“Am I calling Dad?” You take a step towards the phone and Everett gasps. The phone rings, startling you and sending Everett running into the bathroom.

“I didn’t before! I’ll take it now! M’sorry!” he calls over his shoulder.

With a sigh of relief, you pull the phone off the receiver and put it to your ear. If it really was Steve, he must’ve sensed the issues happening on the other side of the parking lot.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I’m looking for this girl I’ve got a date with this weekend.”

At the sound of Eddie’s voice an involuntary smile curls your lips. Everett won’t cause a fuss now that he knows he’s been caught in a lie, which gives you a few precious moments to lean back against the wall and tease back and forth with Eddie a bit.

“Hmm,” you hum pensively. “Maybe. What’s she like?”

“Me, hopefully,” he says, causing you to let out a loud peel of laughter.

“How could she not? You sound super funny. Not to mention gorgeous.”

“She must’ve told you about me!”

You smile to yourself and wrap your arm around your middle. “She did. Unfortunately, she told me she has to give a stubborn toddler a bath right now. Can she call you in about half an hour?”

“Tell her I’ll be waiting with bated breath,” he says.

“You should watch out. You sound so cute, I might not even tell her you called and keep you all to myself.”

“Oh, no,” he feigns exasperation. “Please don’t! I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since I last saw her. She has to know I can’t get her out of my mind.”

The smile on your face grows even further, and you cover it with your free hand. Your joy slightly dims when you hear Everett knock something over in the bathroom.

“I suppose I’ll give her your message then. You can expect her call soon,” you say.

“I look forward to it, very much,” he answers.

“Bye, handsome.”

“Bye, gorgeous.”

After you click the phone back in place on the wall, you yank the towel off your shoulder and stride to the bathroom.

Everett manages to be on his best behavior during his bath, knowing he already had one strike against him with his lie. He makes the quick decision of wearing his dinosaur pajamas over his puppy ones and climbs into his bed. Stuffies are scattered around his blanket, and he grabs his horse one as he climbs in between the sheets. His favorite book - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - only needs to be read to him twice before his eyes are drooping closed. You press a kiss to his forehead, slide the book back on the shelf, and turn off his light before tiptoeing your way back into the hallway.

There’s five minutes until the time you told Eddie you’d call him back, but you know he’d understand if you were a few minutes late. Everyone knows how toddlers can be at bedtime, after all. But you want to make sure everything in the apartment is taken care of first. There are only two cups in the sink, and they can wait until morning, so you skip to washing your face and quickly changing into your pajamas. It’s earlier than you normally get ready for bed, but you have a feeling once you start talking to Eddie, you won’t stop until one of you forces the other to hang up and get some sleep. He may just have to be that responsible one tonight.

Pulling back the quilt on your bed, you slip in and grab the phone off your nightstand. Holding the receiver in your lap, you punch in Eddie’s number and settle back against your pillows. The phone only rings twice before he picks up.

“Hello?”

“Well, hey there. I got a message that you were looking to talk to me?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I heard you had to wrangle an adorable little boy into getting clean.”

“Oh, yes,” you sigh out. Tugging your blankets up higher as you lay back, you close your eyes. “A certain little troublemaker has figured out how to lie and he thinks it can get him out of his least favorite activities.”

“Boy, oh, boy,” Eddie says. “I remember the first time my mom caught me in a lie. I tried telling her that my neighbor’s dog ate my report card.”

“And I’m guessing he didn’t?” you ask.

“Well, it would’ve helped if I remembered that particular dog had died the week before,” he says.

You let out a laugh, slapping a hand over your mouth so you don’t wake Everett.

“I should not be laughing over a dead dog,” you say through your giggles.

“Then laugh at the fact that my mother got her punishments mixed up and she washed my mouth out with soap.”

“Yuck,” you groan. “That happened to me first time I dropped the F bomb in front of my granny.”

“That’s what it’s typically a punishment for!” Eddie says. “But if I got in trouble for swearing, the town would’ve run out of fucking soap.”

“Does your mom still get mad at you for it?”

“Nah,” Eddie says with a sigh. “She died when I was a kid. And she would’ve known it would be an uphill battle trying to keep me from cursing with my dad raising me.”

“Oh Eddie, I’m so sorry,” you say.

“Eh, what are ya gonna do?” he asks. “We’ve all got hard points in our lives.”

“Why don’t you tell me about a happy point?” you offer.

“I’d tell the story about meeting you, but you were kind of there for it,” he says, and you just know he’s smirking. “Hmm, let’s see. Oh! In high school, my band and I played six straight sold out shows at the crappy little venue in town. It might not sound like a lot, but-.”

“No, that sounds amazing!” you say. “Sold out? That’s the stuff bands dream of.”

“Yeah, we weren’t half bad,” Eddie says. “Some covers, some originals, and people seemed to like both.”

“Girls must’ve been all over you guys,” you say, immediately not enjoying the visual of Eddie getting swarmed by pretty girls vying for his attention.

Eddie let’s out a bark of laughter that confuses you. “Shit, sorry,” he says. “I keep forgetting you didn’t know me in high school. No, there were no girls. Like…at all.”

“Not even groupies at the shows?” you ask.

“There were some,” he admits. “Mostly a little older than us. Mostly a little drunk. But you probably don’t want to hear about them.”

“Eddie, I know there have been girls in your life before me. I mean, I have a son, for crying out loud.”

“The coolest little dude on the planet,” Eddie tells you.

“Yeah, he is,” you say with a smile. “Even when he’s a pain in the ass.”

“So, he’s like most guys,” Eddie says.

“Pretty much,” you agree.

“Can I ask about you and Steve?” Eddie’s voice is quiet, like he’s treading on dangerous ground.

“Of course,” you tell him. “There’s not much to the story, honestly.”

“Tell me?” Eddie asks, voice soft and silky, and you know you couldn’t say no to that voice even if you wanted to.

“I knew who he was day one of high school. He was a year ahead of me, but one of the most popular guys in school. Basketball player, ladies’ man, class A douche.”

“I see why you fell for him,” Eddie says, making you smirk.

“Yeah, he wasn’t the greatest guy for a while. He really changed, actually, after Nancy broke up with him. He likes to say that she knocked some sense into him. And it’s true. After that, he befriended a lot of people he never would’ve even looked twice at before. Me included. He and I became really good friends, actually. One of the best I’ve ever had. That’s when I started to have a crush on him. So, neither of them has ever admitted to me, but I’m pretty sure our friend Robin gave him the idea to ask me out. Steve swears it was all him, but I have my doubts. But he did ask, and I said yes. We were together a while. Almost a year, if I remember correctly. We never fell in love though.” Your eyes drift over to a collage photo frame on your wall, pictures full of all your favorite people. There’s one in the middle of you and Steve outside in the snow. Between you is a tiny snowman that barely reaches your knees. It was the closest thing you had to a pregnancy announcement. Steve had built the body of the snow baby, and you had built the head. It was draped in a light green scarf and a bright yellow hat, careful not to give people the impression either way if the baby was a boy or girl. You both hadn’t even known until he was born.

“We just stayed really good friends with benefits, basically. It never emotionally got past that,” you explain. “It wasn’t fair for us to keep each other from finding someone who we could love. So, we broke up. But there wasn’t a single day, not even the day of or after our breakup, where things were awkward between us. We just went right back to being best of friends.”

“I’m guessing Everett was already a bun in the oven when you broke up?” Eddie asks.

“Yep, he was cooking away in me already. I didn’t notice anything was up until I started not being able to walk into where I worked, which was a Mexican restaurant. The smell instantly made me sick. I ended up having to quit because that sensitivity stayed the whole pregnancy. I don’t think I’ve even been back since. But anyway, that was my first clue something weird was going on. Then I realized I was really tired all the time for no reason. The third strike was when I started crying at the stupidest shit. There was a commercial for adopting animals from the shelter and I just burst out crying in the middle of my living room. My parents looked at me like I had three heads. Finally, things clicked together in my brain, and I went to the next town over to buy three pregnancy tests. I wanted to make sure I got an accurate result, no chance for a false positive or negative. And I also wanted to make sure I didn’t run into anyone I know while buying them.”

“You had to be so scared,” Eddie says, and his tone melts your heart. You could tell he was really listening to you, not just waiting for a moment to say “uh huh” as you droned on. He really wanted to know this. To know you.

“I was,” you admit. “Especially when all tests came back positive. Thought I was going to pass out. But I got in my car and went straight to Steve’s. As soon as he answered the door I broke down in tears. That right there scared him, because like I said, I didn’t do that before. We went inside and I told him. Eventually. It took a little while for me to get it out. Steve was shocked. Pretty sure he thought I was playing some kind of trick on him at first. But no, I had the tests with me to prove it. We both had a collective breakdown and freak out, but then we calmed down and talked about it. To this day, I’m pretty sure it’s the most mature either of us has been. He said I should come live with him and his parents, but that wasn’t going to happen. His dad can be scary and his mom, though I absolutely love her to pieces, can be a lot to handle sometimes. Being pregnant? Yeah, no way I could’ve handled them. Or Steve all the time either, honestly.”

“What about your parents?” Eddie asks. “How did they react?”

“Not great,” you tell him. “They didn’t disown me or anything, but they weren’t happy. And it kind of pissed me off that they couldn’t see why I was kind of happy. I mean, yeah, I was terrified of about a million different things. But there was a baby in me. My baby. And it’s like my parents expected me to be upset about that and I just couldn’t be. I didn’t want to be. So, when I got enough money together, I moved out. Steve’s mom is a realtor and found us the apartments we have at a really good price. Then I moved in here, and Steve across the lot. I don’t see my parents that often now. They reach out here or there, but it’s like they don’t care they’re not a big part of my of Everett’s lives.”

“I may have only known you for less than a week, but I can say with complete certainty that it is their loss, and they’re missing out,” Eddie says.

“Thanks,” you say, a shy smile on your lips. “Sorry I went on and on.”

“No! No, don’t apologize. I’m the one who asked you about it. I want to listen to you.”

“Okay, you’ve got to come with a catch,” you say.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asks.

“You’re kind, you’re funny, you’re charming, you get along with my kid, you’re ridiculously handsome, and you want to listen to me? Where’s the catch?”

Eddie laughs through the phone. “Oh, I’m sure there’s a million of them,” he tells you. “I play DND with high schoolers. I will quote my favorite movies out loud when I’m watching them. I smoke way too much. Not just cigarettes, either. I’ve been told I snore. And that’s all I can come up with right now. See? I’m a handful.”

“Oh please,” you say. “I’ll take all of that in a heartbeat for all your good qualities.”

“And what were those again?” Eddie teases. “I’m not sure I heard them all the first time.”

“Nuh uh, I don’t need you getting a big head on you, now. Then you’ll be aware you can do better than me,” you say.

“I wish you wouldn’t say things like that,” Eddie says. There’s no humor at all in his voice, which is odd to hear with him. “You’re by far the most amazing person I’ve ever met. And I guarantee that opinion is only going to grow stronger the more I get to know you.”

“How do you do that?” you ask.

“Do what?”

“Make me feel so special.”

“That’s what you deserve,” Eddie says. “You are special. And it’s a shame if no one has told you that before.”

“Eddie Munson, you are a sweetheart.”

“I could say the same thing about you, babe.”

It’s way past the time both of you should have gone to sleep when you finally say goodbye. But neither of you would hang up without the promise of talking again tomorrow night. And that you did. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night were all spent on the phone with Eddie. Friday even longer, because Everett was staying with Steve, and neither you nor Eddie had to get up for work in the morning. You did have your brunch with the girls though, so you had to say goodnight to get some sleep at some point. But again, it was much later than you should have.

Saturday brunch with the girls was always one of your favorite things to do. You all tried to do it at least once a month if you could, but it was hard. Sometimes there wasn’t a Saturday you could get anyone to watch Everett, or maybe Max or Robin had to work, or like this week, El was out of town. It felt different without having her there to join, but your group also had to adjust every time Nancy went back to school.

“I’m starving,” Robin says as she picks up her menu.

It was a relatively new bakery on the edge of town, but they served the best brunch any of you had ever tasted. Dustin had introduced your group to the small family-owned business when he got a part time job there back at Christmastime. Saturdays he always had off though, because of the DND games every week, so he wasn’t working today.

Max leans back in her seat and purses her lips together as her eyes scan over the listing of items. You kick her foot gently underneath the table.

“Want to get the French toast and I’ll get the waffles and we’ll share again?” you ask.

“Perfect,” she says as she slaps her menu down on the table.

Nancy squirms in her seat the whole time as the waitress comes to take your orders. You raise your eyebrows at her as Robin orders her chocolate chip pancakes. Nancy gives you a smile and shrugs her shoulders. The two of you haven’t gotten to talk since you’d seen her earlier in the week when she pulled up in the car next to you and Eddie while he was changing your oil.

“What’s up?” you ask her once the waitress walks away.

“So, how’s your car?” she asks with a smirk.

The grin slides on your face even as you playfully roll your eyes at her. “You’ve been waiting excitedly to ask me about my car?”

“Do you have a date?” Nancy asks.

“Ooh, what’s this now?” Robin asks, leaning forward on the table.

“Yes, I have a date,” you answer Nancy, a small flush coming to your cheeks.

“Hold on, with who?” Robin asks. “What have I missed?”

“I met a guy,” you say with a shy shrug.

“And he’s hot,” Nancy adds.

“The way you two have the same taste in men is strangely funny,” Max says.

“Yeah, how did y/n and Jonathan never date?” Robin asks Max.

“Where are you guys going?” Nancy asks, ignoring the other two.

“Lover’s Lake,” you say. “A picnic and some swimming.”

“When?” Robin asks.

“Tomorrow. But we’ve talked on the phone every night this week.” The smile on your face grows and all three of your friends can see the sparkle in your eyes.

“You really like him, don’t you?” Max asks, but it doesn’t sound like a hopeful question.

“I do,” you say, eyeing her suspiciously. “Why do you sound sad about that?”

“No, no!” Max says. She sits up straighter and shakes her head. “I’m happy for you. Really, I am! It’s just that I was going to tell you about this guy who moved in across the street from me. I met him and immediately thought that he was perfect for you.”

“She’s not getting married to this guy,” Robin says. “What’s his name, anyway?”

“Eddie.” With the name, an involuntary smile spreads across your face.

“Wait, really?” Max asks, eyes wide.

“Yeah. Why?” Her odd questions make your brow pinch in confusion.

“Eddie is the name of my neighbor,” she says. “Does he have long hair?”

Now your eyes widen. “Yes. Curly? Big brown eyes?”

“Holy shit,” Max says with a grin. “I was right! I knew you two would be great together.”

“He lives across from you?” you ask in excitement.

“Yeah! Moved in a few weeks ago. Wait, how did you guys meet?”

“Eddie plays DND with the guys and I met him at Dustin’s. Did Lucas not tell you about him?”

“No,” Max huffs. She rolls her eyes and leans back in her chair again. “Though, to be fair, I never listen when he talks about that damn game. So maybe he did.”

“This feels like a John Hughes movie,” Robin says.

“You drove Max here, right?” you ask Robin.

“Yes, but you can take her home,” Robin answers with a smirk.

“He might not even be there.” You shrug, but you can’t ignore the butterflies buzzing around your stomach at the prospect of seeing Eddie in a few hours.

“DND was cancelled today, wasn’t it?” Max asks. “I may not listen to Lucas about it, but I do remember something about skipping a week when Will goes out of town.”

“Huh, you’re right,” you say.

“Oh, look at that smile on her face. I’ve got to see this Eddie dude,” Robin says. She turns to look at Max. “You think he’s hot? I’m not sure how reliable these two are when it comes to guys. They’ve both slept with Steve.”

“Hey!” you and Nancy say at the same time.

“Max thinks Steve is hot, too,” you add, to which Max nods her agreement.

“Ugh,” Robin groans, slouching down in her chair. “Still. Thoughts on Eddie, Max?”

“Yeah, he’s hot,” Max says. “Nice, too. Weird. But in a good way.”

“He plays DND with the boys,” Nancy says. “He had to be a little weird.”

“Has he met Everett yet?” Max asks.

“Technically, he met Everett before he met me,” you say. “When I first saw Eddie, Everett was talking his ear off.”

“Really?” Robin asks. “He wouldn’t talk to Vickie the first three times he met her.”

“I know,” you say. “I was shocked. But he was talking to him, looking at the rings he was wearing, and gave him a high five goodbye.”

“That’s a good sign,” Nancy says.

“How many dates until they get to spend actual time together?” Max asks.

You take a deep breath and rest your hands on the table in front of you. “I’m already trying not to get ahead of myself. We haven’t even had our first date yet and I already like him so much. So, I’m trying not to think about that yet.”

“I’ve never seen you like this,” Robin says. “Not even when you had a crush on The Hair.”

“That’s because she always gushed to me about Steve,” Max says with a playful smile. “But Robin’s right. You never lit up like this when you talked about him.”

Nancy leans over and squeezes your arm. “I’m so excited for you. You deserve this.”

“Thanks,” you say as you eye the waitress appearing with the food for your table. “I hope you keep that in mind when you and Steve try to battle Ev into a bath tomorrow.”

“Shit!” Max grabs onto the handle above the car door, her other arm bracing herself against the dashboard.

“Sorry.” You wince as you pull out onto the highway. You’d always been a cautious driver – even more so when you became a mother – but with the prospect of seeing Eddie, you suddenly had a lead foot.

“I’d like to survive to walk across the stage at graduation next week, thank you very much,” Max says.

“Oh relax,” you say as you watch the speedometer lower to a more acceptable speed.

The thoughts in your brain were traveling faster than your car. What if Eddie isn’t home? What if he is? Will he think it’s weird that you wanted to come by and say hi? No, you tell yourself. He would’ve done the same thing. The fact that you’re so sure about that causes bubbles of excitement in your stomach and an unavoidable smile to appear.

“I like seeing you like this,” Max says.

“Hmm?” You look over at her as you reluctantly pull up to a red light.

“Happy,” she says. “I mean, I’ve seen you happy a lot. You’re generally in a good mood. But this is something different. Something extra.”

The smile on your face grows as the light turns green and you venture forward.

“It’s kind of scary,” you say, smile never faltering. “Like, a million ‘what ifs’ go through my head all the time. About him, about us, about me.”

“You think too much,” Max says. “Just…relax.”

“Oh, thanks. Now I’m perfectly at ease.”

Max ignores your sarcasm and adjusts her position in her seat now that your driving is no longer scaring her.

“I just mean that you don’t have to worry so much. You became a mom at eighteen. That’s how old I am now. Could you even imagine me doing that?” she asks.

“You could,” you tell her. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. But you want to go to college, so I don’t recommend you and Lucas get into anything like that.”

“Okay, first of all, no. No babies for like, ten years at least for me. Second of all, yeah, I could do it. Now. You know why? I saw how you did it. I saw you take care of things I never even thought that you’d need to do. You knew Steve was there for you, you knew we were all there for you, and you let us help when you needed it. Eventually, anyway. You were stubborn at first.”

“That shouldn’t have been surprising,” you interject.

“Shut up,” Max says fondly. “You ignored the stupid people at school who threw mean looks your way or decided to open their big mouths. Even the teachers and their sly remarks. The way you handled it was amazing.”

“Because I knew I had you guys in my corner,” you tell her. “I had my gang behind me to always have my back. There’s no way I could’ve done any of it without you all.”

“Okay, but you still have us. So, see? If you can have a baby at eighteen, you can date a guy.”

“Why does the dating seem so much scarier?” you ask.

“Well, you already conquered being a new mom,” she points out with a shrug. “That was the scariest thing then. I remember because you told me so.”

“Yeah, but the baby wasn’t going to judge me,” you mumble.

“You really think Eddie is going to judge you?”

You sigh and drop your head back against the headrest.

“Not judge, I guess. I don’t know. I guess I’m just feeling…”

“Insecure?” Max offers when you don’t finish. You nod and Max reaches over to squeeze your shoulder. “Don’t be. I know, easier said than done. But you have no reason to be. You’re smart, you’re sweet, you’re beautiful, you’re a kickass mom, and one of the best people I know. If he doesn’t see that he’s the biggest idiot. But it kind of sounds like he does see it, from what you’ve said.”

You give her a bashful smile as you turn into the trailer park.

“How are you so smart?” you ask.

“Oh, please,” Max says with a snort. She crosses her arms over her chest and looks out the front windshield. “That’s nothing new.”

With a chuckle of agreement, you pull your car to a stop in front of Max’s place.

“I was afraid to look,” you say, keeping your eyes straight ahead. “Is his van there?”

Max leans forward to look around you and smirks at what she sees. She turns your car off and pulls the keys out of the ignition. You turn to look at her and she tosses the keys in your lap.

“Take a look,” she says. “You’ll like what you see.”

Your stomach does a little flip before you turn your head in the direction of Eddie’s trailer. But it’s nothing compared to the giant swoop your stomach endures when you see Eddie, shirtless, working on a motorcycle. His hair is tucked up in a low ponytail at the base of his neck, just as it was when he worked on your car. It’s a hot June day so there’s a light sheen of sweat on his naked torso, bringing glistening attention to the tattoos adorning his skin. You’ve seen the ones on his arms from the previous times you had spent together, so your eye is drawn to the ones that have been hidden from you. From a spider near his collarbone, your gaze drifts to what appears to be the head of a demon, inked right over his heart. Eddie turns his body to reach for something on the other side of the black motorcycle, and it gives you a perfect view of the muscles rippling down his back.

Across his shoulder blades there’s a tattoo of a disjointed musical staff, notes dotting along the different lines. The music dances along his skin as he continues his work on the bike. Lower on his back, close to his right hip, there’s a tattoo that you have to squint to get a better view of. Your eyes strain to see a bolt of lightning shooting down, wrapped in barbed wire. From there, your eyes can’t help but keep going further down, landing on his ass, clad in tight black jeans.

“You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“What?” you whip your head away from Eddie to look at Max, who looks like the cat who ate the canary.

“You’re going to cut yourself on your keys.” She nods down to your lap where your hand is gripping your keys so hard that each little groove leaves a deep dent in your skin. You drop the keys and realize most of the other muscles in your body have tensed up as well. With a deep breath, you attempt to calm your whole system.

“Okay, come on,” Max says, grabbing her door handle and pushing the door open. “Don’t think, just get out.”

Not giving yourself a chance to think, as Max said, you climb out of your door and close it behind you. Eddie doesn’t turn around, but you didn’t expect him to at the simple sound of a door slamming shut.

“Hey, Munson!” Max calls.

Well, that’s one way to do it, you think.

Eddie looks over his shoulder, eyes widening as they land on you. He turns his whole body to face you and he instantly drops his wrench and heads towards you. The closer he gets, the more you can see how his face is lit up, your head getting fuzzy from the sight.

“Look who I found,” Max says. She walks around to your side of the car and leans against the rear door. He barely spares a glance at her, making her smirk as she watches the two of you be infatuated with one another.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks with a grin. He opens his arms to you, and you see the hesitancy in his eyes as he realizes he’s sweaty. You don’t give him a chance to rescind the offer though, as you go in and wrap your arms around his bare waist. His arms encircle you as you rest your head against his shoulder. Should the smell of him all sweaty be gross? Because it’s not. It’s actually really hot.

“Driving Max home,” you tell him. “Didn’t know your neighbor was one of my best friends.”

“Mm, you’re friends with Red, huh?” you both pull back and he’s smirking at you. “Good. She could use a good influence in her life.”

Without turning around, you know Max is flipping him off. Eddie looks at her and chuckles, confirming your suspicion. He presses a kiss to your forehead, and you close your eyes to savor the sensation. His lips on your hands those times before felt amazing, but having them against your face? You’re not sure how you’ll survive when he finally kisses your lips.

“I didn’t know you rode a motorcycle,” you say.

Eddie turns his head to look over his shoulder at the bike before looking back at you.

“Yeah, got it a few years back. Didn’t work very well back then but now she’s at the top of her game,” he says.

“It looks good,” you say. The heat is already crawling up your face before you speak the next sentence. “And so do you.”

His smirk causes the red in your cheeks to deepen, and you wish you knew if the pink flush on his face was from exertion being out in the heat, or because of what you just said to him.

“Thanks, beautiful,” he says.

“You know,” you say as Eddie reaches down and takes each of your hands in his own. “Max was kind of bummed when she heard I had a date tomorrow.”

He frowns and looks over at her.

“What?” he asks. “Why?”

“She said she was bummed because she wanted to set me up with her neighbor,” you say with a giggle.

“How was I supposed to know you already met?” Max asks with a shrug.

“Well damn,” Eddie says. “Nice to know the universe had a backup plan if I didn’t meet you at Dustin’s. You’d make a good wingman, Red.”

“She knows her friends really well,” you say, smiling at Max over your shoulder.

“Alright,” Max says, pushing herself off your car. “I’ve had enough heart-to-hearts for the day. I’m heading inside.”

You let go of Eddie’s hands to give Max a hug. She hugs you back and pats your shoulder as she pulls away.

“No making out on my lawn, please. And for the love of God, use protection. I can’t babysit Everett and a baby sibling of his.”

“Max!”

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #Eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fan fiction #bbe

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miamochi-writes · 1 year

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hihi! can you write vash being with an artist and them needing to finish a commission since they're running low on money and ends up pulling multiple all-nighters, not really taking care of themselves and vash like forces them to take a break? (college is killing me rn :,)) thanks !!

A/n: Ooo I can sort of relate to this, just mainly the all-nighters :’) Also hope you don't mind Vash giving the reader some much needed TLC ❤️Enjoy!

A Break from Perfectionism

“Ugh, why does the chin look weird?”

“Now the eyes aren’t leveled,”

“Hands are the worst to draw!"

"Why do they still look wonky? They shouldn't look like this!"

You kept muttering to yourself as you tried to sketch on your drawing pad. You were limited on supplies, so this drawing had to be perfect. You already used up most of your supplies at the last town with your previous commissions. You already spent most of your double dollars to restock on the set of charcoal sticks and sketch paper you used. Just like clothes, art supplies were expensive to buy in No Man's Land.

However, you managed to get one commission that would cover all your future expenses. One of the townsfolk noticed your portfolio and wanted a portrait of themselves. When they told you how much they were willing to pay, you nearly passed out from the amount of double dollars they held out in front of you. Of course, you couldn't say no to this commission and promised to work on it immediately. Usually, you would have finished this commission quickly since it was your only one. The only problem is, your perfectionism was getting in the way of making any progress. You needed this commission to be perfect. One second it would look great at a glance, but after five seconds, you would find a flaw upon closer inspection. Thus, you would fix the mistake with some erasing, sketching, or shading until you were satisfied. This process would repeat itself until you lost track of time. You were currently working on the face until you heard someone come inside your room.

“Y/n, you there?” A familiar voice asked. You didn’t need to look up. You recognized that voice from a mile away. You couldn’t afford to look away from your sketch as you were shading in the shadows of the person you drew.

“Yeah I’m here, what’s up Vash?” You asked as you started finishing up the last shade of the cheek. It wasn’t good, nor terrible, but it would do for now. After all, you were going to fix it again for the umpteenth time.

“I’m just checking in on you. How's it going with the artwork?” Vash asked as you could hear him walk closer to you. When Vash first asked about seeing your drawings, you were such a nervous wreck about him seeing your work. Now, you've grown used to him seeing your portfolio after you started dating each other. He was your muse whenever you had an art block. The way Vash expressed himself and his little mannerisms were perfect for you to draw.

"Wow, that looks amazing Y/n! This is probably your best one yet!" Vash complimented as you sighed.

"Thanks, I wish I could see this the way you do. It's not nearly finished. There are so many things wrong with this piece that I need to fix. The shading is all wrong on this part, and the face looks wonky at certain angles," you whined as you looked at the sketch again and started zoning in on all the flaws. The more you looked at the piece, the more you felt the urge to crumple up the paper and start over.

"Hey, don't be so harsh on yourself. You're a great artist, and everyone knows it. Why don't we take a break from this and work on it later?" he suggested, putting his hands on your tense shoulders.

"Vash I can't! I have to keep working on this. I need to finish this soon. I promised this person I would have it ready before we leave in a few days!" you argued.

"Y/n, you need a break. This isn't healthy for you. Besides, when was the last time you took a break? Did you even eat?" Vash persisted as you thought about how to answer those questions without worrying him.

"Uhhh...I took a mini break when Meryl checked in on me sometime ago. And I had a snack not too long ago," you answered vaguely. Before any of you could answer, your stomach growled loud enough for five seconds. Long and loud enough for Vash to hear. You immediately turned red at that moment, cursing your stomach and its terrible timing.

"Y/n, when exactly did you last eat something filling?" Vash asked. When you looked at him, you saw his glasses were glinting at you. This was not a good sign, as you knew he was dead serious if you couldn't see his pretty blue eyes anymore.

"When we all ate together?" you answered quietly. You then felt two strong hands on your waist. Next thing you knew, your feet were no longer touching the ground. Vash was carrying you over his shoulder with his prosthetic hand. It was at this moment, you knew there was no escaping your boyfriend if he had you in his prosthetic grip. You knew how strong he was with that arm in particular as he adjusted his grip on you.

"Vash please! I promise to take a break and eat later! Just please put me down!" you begged.

"Y/n, I can't believe you haven't eaten a proper meal in days! You're not leaving my sight until you eat and rest," Vash argued as you whined in defeat. Vash took you out from your room as you were covering your face in shame. You felt embarrassed being carried like this, and it didn't help people were going to see you and Vash like this.

"Wolfwood, make sure Y/n doesn't go in this room unless I say so. We'll be back later," Vash requested. You then saw Wolfwood waiting outside your room and placed his weapon in front of your room. He told Vash he'd watch over the place as you were in complete shock. Now there was no way you could sneak back into your room and continue working.

~*~

Vash brought you down to the hotel's dining room. You were a blushing mess when you saw a couple of people lounging there. It wasn't every day that Vash carried you over his shoulder, let alone in a public space where people could see. He finally set you down at a table for two where Meryl and Roberto sat. They then left once they saw Vash as the both of you took a seat. You could see two plates of freshly cooked Thomas meat in front of the two of you.

"Vash, is this for me?" you asked as he nodded.

"How? This must have cost a good chunk of our funds!" you added, feeling bad just looking at this meal.

"Y/n, you deserve to eat a warm meal. Plus, I don't mind spending money on you if it means sharing a meal with you like this. I haven't seen you in days since you started working on that piece," Vash explained. Oh how a wave of shame washed over you. You didn't realize how much time and energy you spent working on this commission. When you thought back to how Vash checked in on you earlier, you didn't even bother to look at him.

"I'm sorry Vash, I didn't mean to ignore you like that. I got so invested in working, I didn't realize how much time passed. I'll make it up to you somehow," you apologized.

"No I understand, just promise me to take breaks every now and then okay?" he replied with those sweet blue eyes that held so much love and kindness for you every day. You nodded your head and began to dig into your meal. The meat was succulent and tender with each bite you took. Your mouth was overwhelmed with flavor as your stomach was finally getting fed actual food.

"Vash this is so good! Thank you for getting this," you chimed as Vash smiled at how content you were.

"I'm glad you like it! Eat as much as you can, you need all the energy you can get for later," he replied before taking a bite of his meal. You didn't realize how hungry you were until you finished everything on your plate. Even Vash managed to wipe his plate clean as there were no scraps left behind. Once you were finished, Vash led you to his room while holding your hand with his warm cybernetic arm. Once you entered, he locked the room and led you to his bed.

"Y/n, when was the last time you slept? Be honest," Vash asked. Guilt-ridden, you averted your e/c eyes from your boyfriend. You already knew you didn't get a wink of sleep when you saw your dark circles in the reflection of your silverware earlier. Vash exhaled as he knew more or less the answer to his question. He then pulled you over to him as he held you close. Vash then caressed your cheek as his blue eyes locked on to yours. His eyebrows were furrowed with a small frown apparent on his beautiful face.

"Please take better care of yourself next time. I know I'm not great at taking care of myself, but I don't want you catching my habits too," Vash spoke. Your heart sunk as you rested your hand on his right cheek.

"I'm so sorry Vash, I will. The last thing I want to do was worry you. But you better take care of yourself too. We both can't be neglecting ourselves or each other. Promise me we'll both take better care of ourselves and each other?" you offered as Vash nodded with a smile growing on his face. His eyes gleamed as they crinkled from his smile that you loved ever so much.

You then kissed Vash gently on the lips as he pulled you closer to him. He rubbed small circles on your back as you melted into the kiss. Once you pulled away for air, Vash stared at you in such adoration as he slowly brushed his thumb on your cheek.

"I missed you so much Mayfly," he said as he laid down and pulled you with him. You loved it when he called you by your nickname. That name never failed to warm your heart as you showered Vash with butterfly kisses.

"Aw I missed you too my angel. I wished I was commissioned to draw you instead. I love to draw your beautiful face any chance I get," you cooed. Afterwards, Vash's cheeks were turning slightly pink as he wore a shy smile on his face before covering his face with both hands. He was a blubbering red mess the first time he heard you call him that. When you explained why you called him that, Vash nearly passed out from the overwhelming love and compliments you showered him with. When you first met him, you mistook him for an angel, because there was no way a human could look that pretty 24/7. When he saw your portraits of him in your sketchbook, he was in awe of how you drew him. How you perceived him in all your work was how Vash wanted to see himself in the mirror. Whether it was him smiling, laughing, or gazing, you always drew Vash in all his beauty. Plus, you always left little comments about how ethereal he was in your work that he practically melted. That nickname always turned Vash into absolute putty in your hands.

Vash then snuck a peak at you with his beautiful eyes as you chuckled at how childlike he was. He then grabbed your wrists and started massaging them slowly. All the pain building up from all the late night sketches and awkward positioning of your wrists was finally alleviated.

"How's that Mayfly?" he asked as he continued massaging you from your wrists to your hands and lastly to your fingers. Every little rub and massage he did brought so much relief to you. Your muscles and joints were slowly relaxing with each touch. You had no idea you were so tense earlier. If it wasn't for Vash, you probably would have gotten carpal tunnel syndrome much earlier. Once Vash finished, he planted kisses on both hands.

"How did you know?" you asked him.

"You were stiff when I first saw you today. Plus, your movements were rigid when we were eating earlier. Did my massage help?" he asked as you kissed him once more.

"More than you know," you replied as Vash brought you to his chest and kissed your lips and cheeks.

"Good, you deserve it after working so hard," Vash added. He then caressed the back of your head. He then slowly and gently ran his fingers through your hair. Furthermore, he rested his other arm on your back as you rested your head on top of his right chest. You loved hearing his heartbeat as it always calmed you down.

"Can we stay like this for awhile Angel?" you asked him.

"As long as you want Mayfly," he answered.

"Good, I think I'll take a quick nap on you if you don't mind," you added.

"Go ahead. I'll be right here. Sweet dreams my Mayfly," Vash wished as he planted one soft kiss on your head. Your eyes slowly got heavy as you drifted off to the sweet bliss of sleep. Once Vash made sure you were asleep, he slowly rested both his arms on top of your back and stared fondly at you. Oh how he missed having you in his arms these past few days. Vash loved and adored you every second. He knew how much this commission was stressing you out when he realized how important it was to you. Vash isn't the type to bother you while you work, but after not seeing you for days, he mustered up all the courage he had to knock on your door. The blonde was touch starved for days and missed seeing his favorite person. After all, you were his safe haven in this cruel world.

~*~

You woke up to see the sun setting. You looked to see Vash sleeping next to you as he held you by the waist. The minute you moved, Vash slowly stirred since he was such a light sleeper. Then those beautiful eyes slowly blinked at you as a smile crept on his lips.

"Sleep well?" he asked as you nodded.

"Good," he replied as he pecked your lips. Vash looked at the window and realized the time. He then walked you back to your room and allowed you to go back to work. Except, you would have to sleep with him later tonight, which you happily obliged. Wolfwood moved his weapon away as you walked inside. Once you settled in, you looked at the sketch you did and started redrawing the areas that bothered you. Once that was done, you started shading and outlining the prominent features with your charcoal sticks. Then, you started adding little touchups to the smaller details. Finally, you looked at the outcome of your work. You couldn't spot any mistakes after giving it a good look. Finally, you were done with this piece!

You immediately grabbed your things and ran to Vash's room. He was excited to see you once you knocked at his door. Once you changed clothes, showered, and brushed your teeth, the both of you got comfortable in each other's arms in bed. Despite how stressful the past few days were on you, you were grateful to have Vash intervene and take care of you. After today, you were not afraid to take a couple of much needed breaks. Especially if it meant Vash would be spending time with you during those said breaks.

@daschstuff @bunnigrimm

#vash x reader #vash x y/n #vash x you #vash the stampede #vash the stampede x y/n #vash the stampede x you #vash the stampede x reader #vash reboot #trigun stampede #trigun fic #trigun x you #trigun x y/n #trigun x reader #trigun #miamochi writes

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that-fanperson-meg · 6 months

Text

After three weeks of development, I am proud to finally reveal one of my longest writing projects to date, with over six thousand words:

How Twilight Knight Convinced His Father that Their Best Friend Isn’t a War Criminal!

I hope you enjoy! :D

(also heads up this is extremely Dusk & TK centered lol-)

Even by Twilight Knight’s standards -a void-astral with a family tree so confusing that trying to explain it all would take more than two hours- the day had been weird.

First off, they’d almost lost in a sparring match against Mace Knight which never happened, and then proceeded to get in an argument with the knight over the fact that they used a flail not a mace.

With a feeling of annoyance in the back of their mind, he applied bandaids to the places where Mace’s flail had scraped past their armor and left decent size cuts. Though speaking of those scrapes, the knight began worrying that his armor had been damaged. He removed one of their pauldrons and hoped that the worst hadn’t happened.

Of course the universe wasn’t that kind- Twilight Knight’s heart dropped to the floor when he found that the emblem on their right armor piece had a tear that went right across the center of it.

Apparently he’d been staring at it for long enough that the fellow Meta-Knight ahad noticed.

“You good, Twilight? I’m sorry that your armor got dinged up, I could get Javelin to fix it for you!” The knight offered, but they turned his offer down.

With a small sigh, the void-astral pushed the emblem back against the pauldron hoping that the copious amounts of tape that he’d added over time would restick.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s all fine.” They lied, keeping his dual colored eyes on the emblem.

From the dejected tone in the knight’s voice, Mace could tell that it wasn’t ‘all fine’ like Twilight Knight said, but didn’t press it. Instead they gathered their mace and started walking down the hall, leaving the void-astral alone in the training room.

Though before they could fully leave, Mace had to mention something to the knight, “hey, don’t forget about the banquet we’re going to later at Castle Dedede!”

It was at that point that the day had turned from bad to worse. Because it just so happened that he had entirely forgotten about the autumn equinox banquet that the king threw every year.

In an instant, they had -mostly- forgotten about the pauldron situation and began going towards his room to hopefully make themself look at least half decent for the banquet -or really the party, there wasn’t much difference between the two in King Dedede’s eyes.

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

Of course, it was his fur that gave them the most problems, because why wouldn’t it? It was almost like the universe was determined to put him through the wringer today.

Though soon enough, they worked out the knot in his navy fur that’d been refusing to cooperate. Which only left one last thing that they had to deal with; his emblem.

It hurt them to look at, if he was honest.

One of their most precious keepsakes, torn, damaged, battered, like it was nothing.

“I don’t think tape’s gonna fix this one…” he joked to themself, examining the rip closer, and he was right.

The original paper emblem had been coated in well over ten layers of tape, and to try and remove the original to fix it, would only do more harm than good. Back when they had originally put the tape on, he’d thought that they’d been protecting it, but now, he’d been wrong.

The thought of that hurt Twilight Knight more than him than they would’ve expected. That emblem was the only thing that he had to remember their best friend by, Dusk had made it for him the day before…everything went wrong.

Memories began replaying in their mind, all far too vivid.

Though the sprint down memory lane was fortunately ebbed when there was a knock on the door. “Hey TK! Could you help me brush my hair?” A voice that he recognized as their younger sister, Selene, asked through the door.

A moment later, he pulled their mask over his face and opened the door to the sight of a young astral holding a hairbrush in one hand and looking up at the door expectantly.

With an amused smile, Twilight Knight waved their sister into his room and she promptly sat on the bed waiting for them.

“So Twi, are you excited for the party? Pretty much all of Dreamland’s gonna be there!” Selene asked, as her brother started to brush out her snowy fur.

The void-astral thought for a moment, “yeah, I am pretty excited actually. It’ll be nice to spend time with you, Ades, Fy, Dolly, Sailor, Bandee, Kirbs, and well…everyone!”

Selene giggled, “we sure do have a giant family, don’t we?”

“It’s bigger than ‘giant’ at this point.” He nodded while working through a small tangle.

The two maintained relative silence after that, thought it was the type of silence that was comfortable, not the type of silence that would come before Estelle-

Pulling themself out of his thoughts, the knight hadn’t noticed that they yanked on the brush at the last second. ‘Why did that memory have to come up now’ was the main thought going through his head, but there was no answer to be found.

“Uh, Twi? Is everything ok?” Selene asked, turning around to face her sibling, who started to apologize.

Once again, that silence had come back but more tense this time, like air was made of glass and talking would only cut the both of them. Even though a cacophony of emotions and half thought out questions were still whispering like embers from a fire in his mind, he was somehow able to brush through Selene’s fur.

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

Like most landings the Halberd went through, it was less than smooth, and left a section of Twilight Knight’s bookshelf fallen onto the floor. Which actually was good, because if Meta Knight had been piloting, everything in their room would’ve been on the floor.

“We’re here!” The younger of the two siblings announced, seemingly unfazed by the landing of the ship into the hangar.

A moment later the two were walking down the hallway towards where the gangplank to the ground was, however the two had a better idea of getting to the ground.

“We go on three, ok?” The knight told Selene, keeping a steady hand on the balustrade as the two looked over the side of the Halberd, the ground of the hangar seeming thousands of miles away.

The younger astral nodded with enthusiasm, and pulled the goggles that always rested on her head over her eyes.

With a small laugh, the void-astral began counting down, “one, two, two and a quarter, two and a half…” they dragged out much to Selene’s annoyance.

“…three- GO!” Twilight Knight exclaimed, catching his sister off guard and then jumping off the railing and diving towards the ground.

The wind whistled in their ears as the void-astral went as fast as he could, before opening up their wings to act as a parachute and prevent him from splatting on the ground.

Selene appeared beside the knight a minute later, a pout forming across her face, which somehow made her look even cuter than she already was.

“Hey! You had a head start!” The astral protested.

They shrugged, “I said go and I went! That’s not a head start; that’s just called paying attention- something you need to work on.” The void-astral teased without any spite.

However the two sibling’s argument was soon put down as Sailor Dee walked down the gangplank. “Hey guys! How's it going?” The Waddle Dee asked the two.

“TK cheated!” Selene said, not letting her brother get one word in.

The knight in question scoffed with fake hurt, “as if! Sailor Dee, as your favorite sibling-”

“Bandee’s my favorite sibling.” She deadpanned.

“As your oldest sibling-” they revised.

“Isn’t Pleiades immortal?” Selene interjected.

“You two are a nightmare to work with.” Twilight Knight said with a groan -though internally laughing at their antics-.

After a moment of looking at each other, the two sisters started to giggle to themselves. However, looking around them, the knight realized that all of the other Meta-Knights had already started walking towards Castle Dedede without them.

Though he truly didn’t mind this, as now it had become something that the void-astral liked almost as much as flying; racing people while flying.

“Sail’, Selene! We gotta get moving or else the others are gonna beat us to the banquet!” They informed his two sisters, who realized this fact as well.

Ever enthusiastic, the astral gave a smile and asked, “are we gonna race ‘em?”

Matching her excitement they nodded, “hey Sailor, are you fine with a piggyback ride?” Asking despite already knowing the answer.

A moment later, the Waddle Dee was situated on their back, and three were off flying towards the castle.

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

Obviously, Selene, Sailor, and Twilight Knight had arrived at the castle before the rest of the Meta-Knights, but then found that they weren’t the first people there.

All across the room, ribbons, bows, and floral arrangements were scattered about tables while Waddle Dees worked in teams to decorate the room. The siblings were amazed by it all, but their awe was cut short as a bandana wearing Waddle Dee walked up to the three of them.

“Hey guys! How’s it going?” Bandee greeted the trio.

The three all gave their individual greetings before the Waddle Dee looked around expectantly. “Where’s Meta Knight and the Meta-Knights? I thought you all were coming in together.”

“They’re just behind us, I’m sure! We wanted to go ahead of them and wanted to lend a hand.” Sailor Waddle Dee answered.

Bandee’s chocolate colored eyes held a smile, “that’s real kind of you all, but we almost got it all finished.”

“I think the only people that need help would be Fylass and Taranza, they’re doing the floral arrangements.” They went on to explain, and without second thought, Twilight Knight offered to help them.

Looking to their sisters, “you guys go on and enjoy the party, I’ll catch up with you two later.” He told them, silencing any would be objections.

The knight wadded through a traffic jam of Waddle Dees before arriving at a table in the back, where a chimera and a floralian stood looking through an assortment of flowers on the table.

“You’re sure that there were enough of them?” The void-astral’s sibling asked the spider-like floralian beside them.

Continuing to look through the flowers, the older of the two responded, “I’m positive, I double checked and triple checked- I don’t know what could’ve happened to them!” Taranza affirmed to Fylass.

Nervously stepping towards the two, the knight gave a small wave, “hey guys, is everything ok?”

Turning to face them, the chimera gave a sort of tired smile, “good afternoon, Twi- and everything isn’t alright. Somehow, we ran out of the focal flowers we were using and we still have arrangements left to do-”

“I could go get you guys the flowers you need.” He cut Fylass off and a smile grew across both their and Taranza’s face.

Two of the floralian’s floating hands shook his own, “you’re a lifesaver, Twilight Knight!” He thanked them, formal as ever.

“We’re missing these; white anemones.” Fylass explained, grabbing a flower with pearly white petals and yellow center from another one of the flower arrangements on another table.

Taranza followed up on what the chimera had told him, “there’s a patch of them not too far from here over by Cappy Town, if I’m not mistaken.”

With a nod, Twilight Knight started for the exit of the Castle, navigating through the waves of Waddle Dees as they put up the unused decorations, and passing their father and the rest of the Meta-Knights on their way out.

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

All other days, the streets of Cappy Town were bustling with people hawking all manner of goods ranging from fresh grown produce, small stuffed toys that children begged their parents for, and even the occasional suspicious magical item that was definitely taken from Halcandra.

However, the only indications that the town wasn’t deserted were the sounds of children playing in their backyards and the few people that the knight passed as he walked down the street.

It was almost so quiet in fact, that Twilight Knight could hear the sounds of a Capsule J2 off flying. However, the more they thought about it, that didn’t sound like the engines of a Capsule J2.

To him, it sounded almost like…a Star Ship.

Though immediately the knight’s brain shut that line of thinking down. There were no Star Ships in Dreamland, they had just been hearing things.

But just to be safe, Twilight Knight began walking faster towards where he’d been told the field of flowers was. Besides, the party was going to start in a couple minutes, they had to get back with the flowers as soon as he could.

In no time at all, the knight had found themself on the side of a windswept hill with flowers, all hues of the rainbow, sloping gently down to the beach with crystal clear water.

However finding one specific flower in a field where well over a hundred flowers grew, was proving to be more challenging than he thought it would be. Everywhere they turned, a flower with pearly white petals and yellow center was there, taunting him.

The time they had before the party was to begin was dwindling down and still he was empty handed. However, just as they were preparing to turn back to the castle and apologize profusely to his sibling; right at their feet was a white flower with slightly pointed petals and yellow center, aka the exact flower he’d been searching for.

A wave of relief fell across Twilight Knight, and they reached down and cut a few of the flowers from their stems. “I can’t believe I was gonna let a bunch of flowers beat me.” The knight laughed to himself, opening their wings and preparing to fly off-

“Lycio..?” A voice said, terrifying the knight with only one word.

Barely anybody knew him by that name anymore. Everyone knew them by Twilight Knight; he was a Meta-Knight, they were brave, he was somebody that people looked up to.

While Lycio?

Lycio was sad.

Fighting their newfound fear, the void-astral turned to face whoever was talking to him.

Behind them was an astral, they had light blue fur, with a mop of golden hair that sat between two horns, their warm pink eyes stared into his own, but it was the mask that rested on their face that told the knight that he knew them.

“Dusk…” they said the name more as a statement rather than a question.

Of course he knew it was Dusk, they’d be a sorry excuse for a friend if he couldn’t recognize them -but then again they were a sorry excuse for a friend for a few other reasons.

For a moment, the world felt like a dream.

He had imagined so many scenarios where the two would find each other again. Though now that it was real, every fiber in them was screaming for a lot of different reasons.

The knight began searching for words to say, but Dusk beat him to it.

“M'not mad, if dat's what yer wonderin’.” They said, staring straight at them.

They paused, “ye I mean - I wuz mad when I finally realized ya bailed on me but-” Dusk admitted, as they reached for their mask, “god's, Twilight I- y'know I can't stay mad at ya.”

The void-astral was torn, part of him wanted to run to Dusk, hug them with all their might and finally be back with his best friend. Though the other half of them was terrified, he was the reason that the astral got hurt, they should just leave.

However he didn’t do either of those things and instead stood their ground, “h- how did you..why did you ... I mean, Dusk is that really you...?” He took a step backwards, acting on instinct.

“I- I mean ye’, it iz me, I hope it’z me ya’know..?” Dusk let out a shaky laugh, “iz -iz it really you? I didn'- couldn' sense ya on dis planet-”

The astral stepped forward towards him and they moved back, wings flicking, ready to lift him into the sky and run at the first hint of something wrong

“Please, if you’re going to-” they began, but Dusk cut him off.

“I would neva’-”

“Why shouldn’t you?” They bit back, and he was right. They had every right, every reason, every excuse to be mad. Though that was the thing, Dusk wasn’t, and that didn’t make sense to him.

Twilight Knight searched for the words to say for a minute, but found that they didn’t need to, as Dusk rushed up to him and wrapped their wings around him.

“Because I missed ya’, ya’ big dork! I haven’ seen ya’ in ages an’- an’” the knight’s word’s faulted for a minute, “I was worried ya’ neva’ made it out!”

He could tell that Dusk was holding back tears, and truth was, they were as well. “I-I-I wuz so worried and ya’ just ran out on me- what were ya’ thinkin’?!”

That was the thing, Twilight Knight hadn’t been thinking. He’d been completely moved by their own fear, the memories of that day still lingered in the back of his mind, always reminding them of his own failure. It was their fault everything fell apart, it was always his fault one way or another.

Dusk pulled back from the hug for a moment, and he could see that they were blinking back tears- and the void-astral was doing the same.

“Why- how are you not mad..? I let you get hurt I-” they stuttered out.

The astral seemed taken aback by that, “Wh- no! A’course I ain’ mad! We got attacked, Twi. If anythin’ I’m mad dat ya’ didn’t eva’ reach out! ‘Ve been looking fer ya’ this whole time!”

A feeling started growing in Twilight Knight’s chest- it was his heart breaking and coming back together a hundred times over.

“Yer my best friend, Twi. I could never be mad at ya’. ‘M sorry it took so long fer me ta’ finally say it.”

He got pulled into the hug again, and practically melted into Dusk’s hold. “I’m not mad. It wuzn’ yer fault, Twi. So, please…don’ run from me, then I’d be mad.”

“You promise..?” They mumbled out into Dusk’s light blue fur.

“I do.”

With a shaky breath, “alright, I won’t.”

The two stayed like that for a while, and the world seemed to seep away into a distant memory.

Though a moment later, the knight remembered why he was out there in the first place.

“Oh dear Nova I’m late!” They exclaimed, pulling away from the hug startling Dusk.

The astral looked at him confused, “what’s going on, Twi?”

“I have a party going on with literally all of my family!” He told, checking over the flowers in their hand. When suddenly he got an idea, “Dusk would you wanna come to the party with me?”

Their friend gave a nervous laugh, “Twi, ya’know I’m not really the best ‘round a lot of people…”

“Oh alright then, I can just drop off the flowers and tell them I had to leave. I could also probably sneak you out some food if you want-”

Dusk Immediately perked up at the mention of food, “they’ll have food there?”

“Yeah it’s a banquet, of course there’s gonna be food.” He shrugged.

“I’m in.”

And without another word, the two were headed off towards Castle Dedede, ready for food and somewhat worried at the idea of Twilight Knight having to introduce Dusk to all of their family.

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

Like clockwork, the universe had begun to mess with him as soon as they arrived at the castle and found that Bandana Dee was already welcoming guests in.

As inconspicuous as they could be, Dusk stood out of the line of sight of the Waddle Dee while Twilight Knight went up to their sibling.

“Oh hey Twi! We were beginning to worry about you, how far did you have to go to get those flowers?”

Playing along, the knight shrugged, “all the way out to the Floating Islands- it was a pretty nice view though! Anyways, do you know where King Dedede is?”

The Waddle Dee sighed -despite not actually having a mouth- “the great king is in his room- he still can’t decide which robe to wear.”

“Of course he is,” Twilight Knight rolled their eyes, “thanks, do you think you could run these to Fylass an’ Taranza?” He asked, holding out the flowers to the Waddle Dee who nodded and went down the hallway.

After Bandee turned their back, the knight gestured for Dusk Knight to follow them while they had an opening.

“So, who’s that?” The knight asked as they rounded the corner.

With a slight smile he answered, “oh yeah, that’s one of my siblings. Their name’s Bandana Waddle Dee, though we all just call them Bandee.”

They looked at him for a moment, “how many siblings do you have?”

“Seven I think? We’re not blood related if that’s what you’re wondering.”

An awkward silence then filled the hall, one which neither dared to break. Until they finally arrived at the king of dreamland’s bedroom door.

With a knock on the door, the moth-like knight began to talk to the king on the other side, “heya Dedede? Can we talk for a moment?”

Much to the knight beside them surprise, a penguin that towered over both of them wearing a red robe opened the door a second later.

“Twilight, kiddo! S’nice ta’ see ya! What can I do for ya’?” He asked, seemingly not noticing Dusk.

“There’s a friend of mine that wants to join the banquet, though they weren’t invited so do you think that they could join?”

Without sparing a second thought, the king nodded, “ ‘course they can! We have more than enough food to go ‘round and if they’re a friend a’ yours, they’re a friend a’mine.”

From behind his mask, Twilight Knight smiled as they thanked the king. Before turning back to Dusk and winking, “alright now, we have a party to get to!”

Though as the two knights walked back down the winding hallways that would eventually lead to the grand dining room, a conversation sparked.

“So…how do ya’ know the king a’ this planet?” Dusk questioned.

The second knight gave a small chuckle, “he’s one of my dads- he’s a really great guy, super nice and has an appetite that can match Kirby’s.”

Dusk stopped in their tracks, “YA’ GOT ‘DOPTED BY A KING WHILE I WUZ GONE?” They exclaimed, making him laugh.

“I wasn’t just adopted by the king, Dusk.” They said as nonchalant as he could, as the two came face to face with the grand dining room.

A hundred sounds and smells met the two and Dusk was in awe. Like second nature, Twilight Knight grabbed their friend’s hand and guided them through the room toward the opposite side, where a table that ran the length of the room was filled with all kinds of food and desserts.

Even though a mask obscured the knight’s face, the void-astral could tell that Dusk’s mouth was watering.

“Twi, I think this iz heaven. I’ve died an’ heaven iz full a’ the best food I’ve ever seen.”

The knight in question laughed at his friend’s reaction, “no Dusk, this isn’t heaven, it’s Planet Popstar- I’m gonna go get you a plate.”

Leaving Dusk to marvel at the food, he found two plates for the both of them, but was stopped by a chimera only slightly taller than them.

“Twi, you’re back! I was starting to think you were going to miss the party.” Fylass joked.

The void-astral smiled, “nah I just got a bit…sidetracked. Is everybody sitting at the main table like we planned?”

The chimera nodded, “yeah, Dolly and Ades showed up not too long ago, and Selene, Sailor, and I have been hanging out! It’s been super nice catching up with all of them.”

“Nice! I’ll be there in a minute, also don’t tell the others but there’s someone I wanna introduce to you guys.”

Fylass gave a sort of curious look, but didn’t ask about it further and instead walked back to the table at the head of the room where he could see glimpses of the rest of their siblings there as well.

Navigating back to where he’d left Dusk, they found them a minute later and the two then proceeded to pile their plates up with all of the food that they thought looked good.

Though before the knights could go sit down, Twilight Knight stopped Dusk. “Hey before I go and introduce you to them, I gotta tell you that my family’s probably gonna ask you a bunch of questions, and if you don’t feel comfortable or something just give me a look and I’ll make ‘em stop.

Dusk gave a small smile and nodded, and with that the two of them found their way through the lavish room and found the table where all of his family was waiting for them.

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

They would be lying if Twilight Knight said he was worried about how everyone would react to meeting Dusk- because in actuality they were absolutely terrified.

It was an unspoken rule in his family to not ask about anybody’s past, unless they opened up about it first or it was a life or death situation- and Dusk was a person wrapped up in his past.

As the two approached the table, the void-astral assessed what all of their siblings were doing. Selene and Fylass were sitting facing each other busy talking, while Dolly was carrying on a one sided conversation with Pleiades who smiled while listening to the doll, and Bandee was sat beside Kirby who eyed the Waddle Dee’s food like a puppy begging for food scraps.

Practically dragging his feet, the two were now stood next to one of the empty chairs, plates still in hand.

Though before he could get a word out, from down the table Pleiades noticed Twilight Knight’s presence.

“Greetings TK! It’s nice to see that you finally made it- what happened to your pauldron?” Their older brother asked, inadvertently grabbing the attention of everyone else at the table.

Immediately being reminded of the situation with his pauldron he quickly said the first thing that came to mind, “uh- training. But nevermind that- everyone I want to introduce you to my best friend in the entire universe, Dusk Knight!”

They announced, moving Dusk in front of him who offered an awkward wave to the unlikely group of siblings.

Eager and friendly as always, Dolly was the first person to greet the astral. “Hi there! I’m Dolly! It’s super nice to meet you, Mister Dusk!” The doll greeted a wide smile across her face.

“Uh- Iz’s nice t’ meet ya’ too, Dolly.” Dusk said, somewhat caught off guard by the kid’s kindness.

The rest of the table soon went around to introduce themselves, and it was at that point that Twilight Knight thought Dusk’s head was spinning from the amount of names that had been thrown at them.

Though that was only the beginning, as upon them sitting down at the table, questions started coming from everyone. It took longer than either of them thought, but eventually the two had sorted out all of the arbitrary questions, and could do what the title of a banquet entailed; eat.

Sparse conversation filled the spaces between where serene silence fell away. The knight hadn’t had something so…wholesome in quite some time. A long time ago, he’d longed for something like this; to sit down with their family; to be able to leave all of his worries behind if only for a few minutes; to have a real family.

They convinced himself that it was just a childish hope, something that they deemed impossible.

Though he did have a habit of proving themself wrong.

“These cookies are ‘mazing, oh my Nova-” Dusk said through a bite of a cookie decorated with orange frosting.

He smiled, “well thank Fylass! They’re the one that made them.” To which the chimera gave a sort of embarrassed grin.

“I know nuthin’ ‘bout most a’you guys, but Fylass; yer the best person on this planet.” The astral said without hesitation.

Twilight Knight scoffed at Dusk, “I’m right here ya’know!”

“You’ve neva’ made me cookies though.”

From the opposite side of the table, the chimera laughed, “we don’t let Twi in the kitchen for a reason. They burned water once- water.”

However, the lighthearted conversation was cut short as two more people joined the table without any fanfare.

“Hey guys! How’s the party treatin’ all a’ ya?” King Dedede asked the group, taking his seat at the head of the table.

Despite everyone talking over each other, the general consensus was that the party was fun. Though the king’s attention was soon shifted over to the knight on his right.

“Meta, I was wonderin’ where you’d run off to!”

Dedede announced the knight’s name, startling the table with his sudden presence. From where they sat, Selene and Sailor Dee gave their father a smile -or in the Waddle Dee’s case, the look that she was smiling.

A second later, the knight began, “apologies it took me a moment to find my way through the halls, mi rei. Greetings everyone, happy equinox everyone.”

Almost choking on one of the cookies in their mouth, Dusk nudged the knight beside them, getting his attention.

“Twi- why is Meta Knight here? Ya’ neva’ told me that Meta Knight was gonna be here-”

Somewhat confused by the astral’s nervousness they explained, “oh yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you. The rest of the Meta-Knights are also here, as well as the Halberd, which is actually where I live.”

Twilight Knight’s last comment made Dusk do a double take, but whatever they were about to say had been cut off by Dedede.

“So Twi, ‘s this the friend ya’ were talking ‘bout?” The monarch asked the knight sitting to his left.

They nodded, “yeah this is them- Dedede, meet Dusk Knight my best friend.”

“Iz’s nice to meet cha’ ya’ highness- or iz it ya’ majesty- or darn it.” The astral stuttered, ultimately giving up.

Dedede waved Dusk’s apparent nervousness away, “eh don’t worry ‘bout it.

Yer TK’s friend- ya’ can call me Dedede, and if ya’ need a place t’stay for the night, the castle’s always got vacant rooms.”

“That’s real generous of ya’, thanks, Dedede.” They said with an air of what sounded almost like surprise.

Much to the void-astral’s confusion, everything was actually going alright for once. Nobody had asked questions that cut too deep into the past, him and Dusk were finally back together, and their siblings actually seemed to like the astral well enough.

But of course the universe wasn't kind enough to let him have one mostly good day. As a moment after the conversation had died down, Meta Knight had his own set of questions to ask.

“So Dusk Knight, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened to the village on the planet you were stationed on?”

‘Just like him to get directly to the point.’ Twilight Knight thought to themself.

All eyes turned to the knight in question, who remained silent while looking at the tablecloth like it was the most interesting and important thing in the galaxy.

“It wuz…burned down.” They muttered pausing in the middle of the sentence for no apparent reason, making it almost sound like it was a question rather than a statement.

From out of the corner of his eye, Twilight Knight could see Fylass shoot Dusk a look with wide eyes for a second before burying their gaze into the tablecloth.

Meta Knight looked them over for a second, “it was a Nightmare Beast, correct?” He asked, but something in the back of their mind felt like his father already knew what they were going to say.

Dusk was quick to confirm, “uh- yeah that’s what ‘appened.” Though their tone was less confident in that story than he would like.

The bat-like knight had a look of pensiveness in his eyes -which wasn’t that much different than how he regularly looked to an untrained eye- and wordlessly communicated to the knight across from him that they had to talk.

A feeling of dread began to build in the void-astral’s chest, almost like he had to tell their father that he got a bad grade on a test -or at least that’s what they imagined it would be like, he’d never actually gone to school.

“I’ll be back in a minute, don’t worry about me.” Twilight Knight assured the astral, as he got up from the chair walking around the length of the table

feeling the eyes of their family locked on them.

The sounds of the banquet gradually faded away, and he was stunned by how quiet the rest of the castle was. From one of the windows that reached the floor, they could see the bright light of the harvest moon spill into the hallway.

A pair of piercing yellow eyes stared at him as they walked into the hall.

The feeling of dread in his chest had snowballed into a chasm, “so…what do you wanna tell me?” Twilight Knight asked, doing his best to keep the worry out of their voice.

“I do not think Dusk is telling the truth to us.” Meta Knight said point blank.

The knight was taken aback by the statement, “what do you mean? Dusk’s my best friend- they wouldn’t lie to me.”

“I’m not saying that they’re lying to you.”

“Then what are you saying? And what was that about asking them about a village?”

The older knight sighed, “just after the second Dark War ended there were several reports of something that burned down a village. Most thought it to be a NME monster, but the most anyone ever saw of the perpetrator were horns.”

Immediately he knew what their father was insinuating.

“There’s plenty of creatures in this universe that have horns, you know- and I know Dusk better than anyone! They wouldn’t do that- and if they did I’m sure that they had a reason!”

Meta Knight now held a soft look in his eyes, “ay hijo, you know I believe you, but protecting Planet Popstar comes first. If Dusk Knight really did set that village ablaze, then they could very well be a threat to Dreamland.”

Though as Twilight Knight listened, the lights in the hall suddenly grew brighter before dropping back down to the same dimness they were a moment ago.

It was then that something in them broke.

“You were there though- you saw Dusk risk their life to protect me!” He exclaimed holding back a sob, “they could’ve died! I just got them back- I- I’ve missed them for so long- I don’t wanna lose them again.”

The hallway grew quiet again, the same quiet that always came before something bad happened, and the knight began to worry if their cries had been heard by anyone in the dining room.

There were only a handful of times that he’d actually opened up to Meta Knight, and even fewer times that the inverse had happened. Which put the knight on edge not knowing how their father would react.

“Twilight- I hear you- I won’t do anything brash, just…” he trailed off trying his best to comfort him. “Dusk can stay in Dreamland, but please mijo, keep yourself and your siblings safe.”

A smile grew across the void-astral’s masked face as they moved in for a hug with the most powerful knight in the galaxy.

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

The rest of the night went on without incident, and soon enough everyone had started to go home. All except for Twilight Knight’s siblings who moved into the games room of the castle, and started up a game of Monopoly.

Thankfully Sailor and Bandee had decided to drop out of the game and instead chose to watch the family fall apart.

“One, two- I’m safe!” Selene exclaimed as she moved her piece across the board.

“That’s actually my property.” Fylass snickered, watching the hope leave their sister’s eyes.

She turned to the knight, “TK, can you ask dad to unadopt Fylass?”

“At this point I am on board with that.”

Fylass scoffed, “hey! That’s no fair-”

Though before the chimera could get out the words Dolly interjected, “It’s mister Dusk’s turn!” She announced handing the knight the die.

Dusk looked over the board, coming up with some master strategy- “I roll t’ rob the bank.”

Or not.

A second later the die clattered around and landed on one. “You failed, go to jail.” Selene said with a smirk, pointing to the cardboard box with small slits that acted as jailbars.

“Does that mean I can leave jail now?” Pleiades asked from inside the box.

Though Selene objected, “Nuh uh! Prisoners don't get to talk!”

But before Dusk could be banished to the makeshift prison, they grabbed the die again. “I ROLL T’ ROB THE BANK!”

Once more the die jostled around, and..!

It landed on one.

Laugher rang out from all players as Dusk grabbed the die again getting the same result the third time in a row.

“I roll to rob the bank!” Twilight Knight said, rolling the die jokingly.

A moment later, the die rolled around before landing on a six. Somehow, they started laughing even harder, as the knight began to cheer and take the money from the center of the board.

The night went on and in the end, Fylass ended up winning the game while Selene came in last -a fact which she heavily disputed saying that Pleiades was actually in last because he was in prison.

But sooner rather than later, everyone started feeling sleepiness creep upon them.

Which of course, called for a blanket fort to be made.

After a while, the fort had been made -mostly by the efforts of Pleiades, Fylass, Twilight Knight, and even Dusk- it was cramped and solely relied on the couch for support, but it was the best blanket fort that the knight had ever seen.

Typically cuddle piles this lage were reserved for traumatic events, comfort, or in an attempt to get another sibling asleep. Though the one he was in right now was an exception.

Selene and Dolly had fallen asleep on Pleiades, locking the immortal in place (where hopefully he’d eventually fall asleep as well), Kirby and Bandee were both asleep with the young astral sprawled out over the Waddle Dee, and Sailor Dee and Fylass were leaning against the other sharing a blanket.

Which only left Dusk and themself.

“Hey Dusk, you up?” The knight whispered to their friend.

“Yea’ what’z up?”

The void-astral whispered back, “I just wanna say that I’m so happy to have you back.” He wasn’t entirely sure if it was just sleepy sappiness but small tears started forming in the corners of their eyes.

Without any words, Dusk pulled him into their grasp holding him in a hug. “Same here Twi, I missed ya so much. ‘M glad I fin’lly got ya back.”

They leaned into the touch and before he knew it -surrounded by friends, family, and their favorite people in the entire galaxy- Twilight Knight fell asleep.

Finding that in the morning, that the emblem on his pauldron would inexplicably repair itself.

Now for tags!

Dusk Knight by @aesthetically-meme

Selene by @moon-mage

Fylass by @george228732

Dolly by @ilikesillythingswooo

Pleiades by @loaflovesdoodling

I’m so sorry if these guys are OOC :[

#twilight knight oc #kirby oc #kirby original character #kirby #meta knight #King Dedede #bandee #sailor waddle dee

58 notes · View notes

pigeonpeach · 9 days

Text

Something Happens and I’m Head over Heels

Dehya x fmab! professor reader

A/n: so I’ve done this dehya x fmab professor reader stuff in alot of compilations so i decided to do a actual piece dedicated to this idea! Its not my best work because i kinda rushed it but i promise I’ll do better!

Also suggestive themes!

You were smart and independent. A beauty in looks and brain, and also incredibly diligent. Your students admired you as you always seemed so refined, the ideal, the dream. You gave extensions for the exhausted and extra credit opportunities. That is to say you were a beloved professor of the Akademiya. Loved for your contributions and efforts, but behind it all you were human. As depraved as any could come. That mostly came in the form of Dehya, a Eremite you had hired once for a expedition you took with students, ending with a one night stand you couldn’t seem to shake off. Now friends with benefits. You had no qualms about Eremites, just pay them and everything is fine. Besides, crime is bred by poverty so rather than viewing those from the desert as less like a unfortunate amount of scholars did, you saw them as mistreated. You were always looking for charities to support and help educate and offer more opportunities. That’s why Dehya liked you.

“You have a brain but also a heart.” She said. “Both around the same size, you don’t sacrifice morality for knowledge but also you don’t sacrifice knowledge for morality in the right circumstances.”

She truly knew how to butter you up. You didn’t think so. No one is truly confident after all. Everyone is a little insecure… right? Everything was.. too perfect. It made you worry. When would it fall? Would they find out about Dehya and you rendezvous?

But also… just what were your feelings towards her. You thought she was the hottest damn woman in all of Sumeru, but was it love? You liked her, you liked talking to her, she was challenging in the right way. She sometimes was frustrating and stubborn but you had come to understand her more. Her stubbornness had initially infuriated you on expeditions but you had come to trust her. When she said not to go out today on the desert you obliged knowing she had a better sense for the coming storms than you.

The events of today were running through your head. You dissected every detail like it was a paper to grade.

“Hmm.. Collei is a diligent student so its certainly not her lack of effort. It is hard to learn literacy at her age. She’s not too interested in kids books is she.” You pondered. Tighnari sat across from you. You were at Pupsa Cafe discussing Collei’s curriculum.

“Unfortunately not. She seems embarrassed by needing them despite my efforts to assure her. She struggled with big words the most.” He commented. You pondered. Your students were young yes, mostly freshman but those were teenagers at the youngest. Teenagers who had read hard and advanced books before.

“Maybe we could write her a book. Nothing too fancy, just a visual dictionary to help her remember big words. I’m sure Kaveh would love to do the drawings.” You offered.

“That’s not a bad idea actually. I’ll collect a list of the words she struggles with the most and we’ll work from there.” His tail wagged slightly, you knew he’d been stressed over this topic for awhile.

“Do my eyes deceive me? Its my favorite little professor! And Tighnari? Its just my lucky day isn’t it!” A familiar voice caught your ears. Dehya. Tanned and fresh from a job, sweaty and all. The proud smile that a big wage would bring her.

“Oh Dehya its good to see you.” Tighnari responded politely. She sat next to you as if it was natural.

“You too. I actually was looking for you. There was this book on ancient flower species my client found but he wasn’t interested in. Figured you or Collei could use it.” She smiled. “And for you my dear professor I have a gift for you.”

“A gift? You didn’t have to Dehya really I- what is that.” Your excitement dropped upon seeing a long, huge feather. No doubt from the remains of a consecrated beast. You shivered just imagining that thing.

“Ran into one of these big fellows and dealt with him. Figured it’d look good in your classroom.” She smiled proudly.

“Its uh… nice but I usually don’t decorate my space. The teachers often share classrooms that’s why.” You answered.

“Welp itll look good in your office then.” She corrected.

“Rather impressive kill if I say so. Say what region was this specimen in, if I recall you were still in the jungle yes? It would concern me if consecrated beasts started showing up here.” Tighnari inquired.

“Hmm the barrier between the deserts and the jungle actually. It probably came from the desert. But it was nowhere near your region so don’t worry too much. I’ll keep an eye out though.” Dehya concluded.

“I’ll make sure to. By the way is there any recommendations you might have for collei? She’s still struggling to learn to read.” He asked.

“Oh collei! Oh i miss that little squirt! Hmm.. I say you reward her more for good grades. Like maybe take her to dinner if she finishes her books in time and such. Although that might fuel her fear of failure more.” She pondered. You couldn’t help but eye her sweaty body though, she absolutely smelled horrendous but your depraved mind could only think of how she smelt that way after a passionate night where you would be left gasping for air usually pinned or tied up in someway as she’d grin at you. Saying some cocky phrase like ‘now you’re quiet? You were so chatty before~’ to make you tense up and blush. God that thought made you tense as you shook your head to clear it.

“Are you okay?” Tighnari asked.

“Hm? Oh yes, just was thinking of those papers to grade. I’ve had alot to grade recently so I cherish the breaks i get, as well as the existence of coffee.” You held your cup to the skies like a prayer jokingly and took a sip.

“So you’re pretty worked up huh? I always know a few relaxation methods you and I could try.” She winked while Tighnari’s ears folded in annoyance. You tried not to show your embarrassment.

“I’m fine, I’m not done yet with them, but back to our main topic of Collei.”

From then the conversation was as usual. Eventually the idea of Collei getting a library card was formed and Tighnari left. You excused yourself to go back to the office to work. Although your papers weren’t helpful. You sighed. You were glad you had a week off, that way you would have plenty of time to finish grading. You looked back at that feather, you had placed it on your bookshelf that held many personal items, you smiled subconsciously before going back to work.

A knock at your door interrupted your peace. “Come in.” You said, expecting a student or colleague only to see none other than Dehya. “Oh dehya! What brings you here?”

“Well, Candace wanted me to deliver a thank you present from Aaru village. I heard you are helping fund the library Kaveh was helping to build. Course I know you helped out more than just that but Candace wanted me to ensure you got this.” She placed before you a mural similar to one you would have seen in temples or ruins. Of course it was a recreation, in which it depicted the schools of Deshret, with the teacher being similar to yourself. You smiled.

“Its a lovely gift I must say. Do tell her I don’t need anymore though. I simply just like to help others, I don’t need payment anymore than seeing their smiles.” You said. Dehya smiled at you with a warm and fond smile, one you had seen when a old man would look upon his wife as she came from the market. It made you a bit flustered yourself.

“You already know you’re my favorite scholar, but I really do hope the students you’ve taught end up like you. The world needs more people like you.” She said, you felt even more flustered at such a compliment. “I-in other words I wanted to also personally thank you for always being so supportive to the desert people!” She cleared her throat.

“I really do appreciate that sentiment though miss Dehya, I really do.” You said.

“Thank you so much miss! I promise I’ll do better on the retake!” Layla seemed so relieved.

“Its nothing. Just go over the study guide to see where you went wrong and see me in my office in a couple of days.” You smiled sending her off. You watched her leave as you felt exhaustion take hold. You had spent a entire week of endless grading and teaching, with only the little treats you would buy yourself to aid in your work. You had to do something otherwise you knew you would spiral into despair. Immediately what came to mind was the tavern, and Dehya.

“Must’ve been a tough week huh.” Lambad said in response to your order. You sighed in agreement.

“Its testing week so believe me I’m swamped right now.” You took your cup and downed it. Usually Dehya just materializes from somewhere when you’re like this. Somehow that woman can just smell the pathetic lust on you from a mile away. “I just need a little night of fun that’s all.. then i can get right back to work.” You grumbled. He chuckled pouring you another glass before heading off to deal with something else. You even instinctively ordered food, specifically Dehya’s favorite, Charcoal cakes and Skewers. You liked them too but your first thought was that she couldn’t resist a free meal. You sighed, when had you been this impatient? Where could she be? Well she hadn’t gone on a mission, she informs you of those things usually because you like to book her for stuff, she also is almost always at this tavern at this time.

“Boo!” A voice came from behind as you jumped in your seat, relaxing only when you recognized the familiar face. “Gotcha good huh?” She said sitting right next to you. You felt a bit more relaxed.

“I was wondering where you were at this hour.” You admitted. There was no point in hiding it.

“Figured, you didn’t order your usual but instead mine so I figured you were trying to summon me huh?” Her playful nature was just what you needed at this hour. You took a swig.

“Yep. I needed a distraction so I came here.” You said.

“I’m guessing that distraction is me isn’t it?” She joked. Maybe it was the wine kicking in but you just nodded rather than your usual defensive responses. Even Dehya seemed a but surprised at how relaxed you were being.

“You know it. What more could a pathetic lass like myself need to numb the pain.” You groaned. Dehya’s normal cock demeanor changed as she seemed worried.

“I-is everything okay?” She asked more seriously.

It wasn’t. You were loved by all but ultimately regarded as a background. To your students you stopped existing once they left the classroom, your colleagues would go on without you like always, but what stung the most and was the most bitterly painful was the loneliness that home presented. You had considered getting a pet but you worried about managing it. Even your crush Dehya was a conflict, you couldn’t expect her to wait at home for you, you knew she was a mercenary at heart, that she always loved adventures and the outdoors, you could never bring yourself to make her stay if she didn’t want to.

“Just feeling more lonely than usual. Works been keepin all my colleagues busy and my mood is in the dumps. I just need something you know?” You minimized your pain but you were still technically honest. Dehya seemed more concerned than excited like she usually was. Lambad didn’t seem to notice the shift in mood as he brought the food, but Dehya shot him a look to leave you be.

“There, enjoy your meal girls!” He said leaving to do something else. You sighed, taking another swig as Deyha observed you.

“Come on you don’t have to lose anything by telling me, archons knows I won’t tattle on you to any sages.” She said. You shook your head.

“Its not that important.” You dismiss again, but Dehya is unsatisfied.

“If you say so.” She says, but beneath her false acceptance is a plan to do something.

“Its cold outside, why are you taking me out in the wilderness at a time like this?” You whined a bit drunkenly. Dehya’s hand guiding you through the night. It was only a bit out of the main road to the city. The night was absolutely beautiful, your eyes were caught in the beauty for a moment as Dehya guided you to sit on a log while you were awestruck. The stars were reflected in the river below the cliff like a mirror, there was fireflies floating around, as if they were stars in the air that had fallen from the sky. You forgot everything for a moment.

“Beautiful right?” Dehya asked. You nodded. “You have something on your mind though. I can see, Tighnari, Kaveh, even Collei could see there was something you were bottling up. Sorry to go behind your back but we all were getting mighty worried you would end up like one of those teachers who died of stress.” She said. You were taken abakc, reminded of your circumstances.

“Its not actually because of work alone..” you paused, there was no reason to lie now,” I’m lonely Dehya. I’m a scholar, a teacher, an idol, and a inspiration who is ultimately never seen as anything other than that. I love the admiration but just once I wish someone looked upon me with more than admiration for my work but for my personality, desire, love.. I’m a helpless romantic with the worst love life imaginable.” You sighed.

“That’s.. really? Your colleagues don’t flirt with you or anything?” Dehya said.

“Nope. I know its a technically a good thing but… is it so wrong to want to be desirable? To be someone outside of my reports, my work, my job. I want to be somebody who is seen as a lover rather than just s scholar. I appreciate the respect yes, I love my job yes, I love helping people yes, but ultimately there’s no one to come home to. I am lonely, I am human. And humans are some of the most social creatures ever, they go insane without it. I tried to spend more time with friends but my work has gotten too much and… I just can’t take it anymore…” you tried not to cry. Years if insecurities veiled behind a genius mind were coming to light. “I want to be a person beyond my intelligence. I want to be loved, to be held, kissed, fucked, whatever! I just want someone to value me for something beyond than what i can do for them.” Dehya didn’t say a word, just sat by you tryng to judge your feelings.

“I-i didn’t know you had felt that way.. to be honest I’d assumed you could have just about anyone if you tried.” Dehya said. You sniffled, her ears perked as she realized you were crying. The stars illuminated your tears like the shine of a knife.

“I.. i love you dehya.. i know its not going to work. I know your heart wanders the lands and I know neither of our futures align well.. but goddamnit can you blame me? I haven’t had someone look at me the way you do in years! I haven’t hooked up with anyone but you, you push my buttons and boundaries and suddenly it does not feel wrong when you do it. When your hand touches me in areas I’d cover I don’t feel uncomfortable but rather I feel excitement. You provoke feelings in me I cannot handle and ultimately will never be able to satisfy.” You let out. “I understand if you’re uncomfortable with that.. but its how I’ve felt… i never wanted to let you know.. i didn’t want you to be uncomfortable. Selfishly, I just wanted to cling to the only source of love I could get.. even if it was just for benefits.. because I love you…”

The air grew still. You felt embarrassment and shame as all those frustrations were gone, leaving you to wonder if you really should’ve just kept shut.

“You know.. its not impossible for us to be together right? I mean, I’m not saying either of us give up our jobs.. I’m just saying that plenty of Eremites have a family at home waiting. Not always in the Aaru village you know?” Dehya said awkwardly. But it wasn’t certain enough to alleviate your anxiety, it just made you feel guiltless for assuming that.

“Could you be more specific about what you mean?” You asked. Dehya sighed.

“I do love you too.” She said. You felt your heart stop, all thoughts and emotions completely ceased. “Hello?” She said with a concerned look. You felt yourself go limp and fall onto your lap as if your spine had been removed that instant.

“I feel like a idiot.” You mumbled as you felt boneless. The exhaustion of the stress and anxiety taking over.

“What was it you said? There’s a idiot in every genius? Something like that?”

“I said that every Scholar has their weaknesses in education and knowledge, but that’s close enough.” You sighed. Dehay hovered over you still concerned.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes I’m just exhausted is all.” You sighed slowly. You truly are your worst enemy. A moment of silence passed as you regained your thoughts, Dehya trying to judge what next to say.

“Do.. do people really not flirt with you? Like.. you aren’t just oblivious right?” Dehya asked.

“I’m a teacher, that’s like the most unattractive profession. Scholars at least explore more possibilities, I rarely get the chance to do experiments on something that hasn’t been done for the past 10 semesters.” You whined. “But that’s not the point.. you like me too?”

“I think the word ‘like’ here is a little underestimating don’t you think? I mean we are grown women here, I’ve seen you naked and we have had sex. I think Love would be a appropriate term would it not professor?” That cheeky grin on her face would infuriate you normally but you were more stunned at her blatant reciprocation.

“But like.. is it just the sex? My body?” You pryed for details as she just smiled.

“Ma’am. Have you not paid attention to any of my compliments? You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met but you’re still so compassionate. As someone from the desert and a eremite I always get judgemental looks or viewed at like some primal savage just because I don’t know as much as they do!”

“That’s because the education in the desert wasn’t as good as us city folk have it, it doesn’t make you dumb or lesser then when you never had the opportunity to be more than average. If given equal opportunities then-“ dehya smiled at your oh so familiar statement.

“Exactly! See! You have compassion that most of your higher ups lack! You don’t write off people as dumb you work to help them! You don’t write me off as dumb just because I’m a eremite! I don’t see people like you very often. Interesting, compassionate, a little stuck up, but ultimately you’re a wonderful person! You care so much for others even if you don’t always show it as much. You aren’t just adored by your students for your intelligence but for your compassion. And for me, its a bit deeper than that. I love hearing you ramble and complain about your colleagues, i like laughing with you about petty workplace drama, i like how charitable you are, i like how you’re always willing to learn more and change your tatics, I like your smile, i like your laugh. Goddamnit I love you!” She sat closer go you now. You sat up, turning to face her more, a strong blush on your cheeks as you were left wordless, but also smiling.

“Y-you can’t just say those kind of things.. they always leave me so.. stunned.. i never thought anyone would love me if I’m honest… I.. i love you too dehya.. i want to live my life with you.. but how would it work?” You asked.

“Simple, I’ll just have to take more jobs around the jungle instead. I mean I’ve already been here lots of times, i’d just focus less on the desert unless its a very lucrative job. I’ll be home when I can as usual. Maybe we could even align it wit your work schedule. I mean its worth a shot at least?” She said, you noticed she was a little hesitant. You smiled.

“Its worth a shot.” You replied.

#genshin imagines #genshin x y/n #genshin impact #domestic fluff #slightly angsty but not really #dehya x reader #wlw #fem reader #not my best work but i have to get rid of one of these drafts damnit #suggestive themes

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simplywghost · 16 days

Text

He's just a ghost (part 1?)

After Johnny's death everything changed within you, around you and even in the world, nothing looked as colorful anymore, your family was not as happy and everyone felt the absence of your brother.

Time went on slowly, every week felt like hell because how do you really get over a loss? And people were nice, they gave you hugs and words of encouragement that were filled with nothing but good intentions, but you doubted you could ever recover from this, he was your family, your role model and the light of everyone who knew him.

On the other hand, your family and your home was not the only place where absence paid a visit, it also walked through the barracks and his captain's office, it hugged his teammates and although everyone was painfully used to losses... this one was different, it felt more heartbreaking.

Ghost hated to admit it but his mind wandered to memories of his mate, of that accent that he repudiated and now tried to reproduce in his mind, of the jokes that did make people laugh but he never allowed himself to laugh, which felt bad now. He was a nostalgic man, he lived in the past although he did not like to relive those moments.

And he felt alone, maybe that's why he was encouraged to open the letter you sent him under another name with fingers numb from the cold and assumed that the person writing had already sent letters to members of the army, his full name was written next to his unit. He ran his fingers all over the paper that had been crumpled a little from the stack of other letters, it was kind of cliché but it was the best way to communicate when there was no signal.

“I don't really understand how to start a letter, in fact I have never known, even though I have written so many, I didn't study the reason very well either.

Maybe I feel alone, I don't know, what I have known for quite some time is that I am sad and writing makes me forget a little how monotonous and gray my life has become.”

Ghost looked at the window for a moment, his hand reaching for the old wood of the cabin where they spent the night, thinking for a moment that the feelings of the person who wrote to him coincided with his own, his vision was lost for a moment in the darkness and the snow before returning to the letter.

“Is the army as depressing as they say? I can't come to grips with the reality that blood and death is a lifestyle that people choose by choice, it's selfish, your loved ones worry and fear for your well-being while you flee from the tranquility of a comfortable life."

Simon had to stop to chuckle. “I have no loved ones, darling.” He muttered as he shook his head slowly and settled on the floor as best as he could, his back resting against the wood that creaked with every movement and the musty smell was seeping through his mask into his lungs, how was it possible, with so much snow?

“What I want to say is that I don't understand how you can carry the weight of death on your shoulders without it driving you crazy, it's too much and I get exhausted just thinking about it.

Maybe I need help, for you to allow me to see with your eyes to see if I learn to cope with what I feel now.”

He bit his cheek, his eyes lowered to the end of the letter, where there was a mail address just in case he wanted to respond and the initial of a letter that he deduced was random.

Ghost let out a sigh, it was early morning and his eyes hurt, burning from the amount of time he had spent awake, his body was numb from the cold despite all the layers of clothing that covered his skin, however he managed to stand up and lazily look for a piece of paper that was in decent condition to answer.

It didn't matter who he was, what mattered was that he had an address to send the response to and that he too felt the loneliness eating away at his brain like a virus, he felt exhausted and hopeless, Soap's death had been so unexpected... well, like everyone else's, it was part of the job.

There was a piece of paper in one of the kitchen drawers and he grabbed it along with a pen that looked about to give in, but trying was what he should do and he doubted it, he had not written a letter for a long time and although he did not consider himself a bitter old man, he never had much to say.

“The army is often not only an obligation but also an escape for many who do not find a home in their house, it is sinister at first, I am not going to lie. There are daily situations that make you wonder if you want to continue there and even if you feel like you are made of iron, many things change you forever.

Time gets you a little used to all the mess and you find yourself unable to feel the same level of terror that you felt as a newbie, which is worse because it often led me to wonder what was I becoming.

I could never spend too much time thinking about whether I feel alone or scared, it's probably what caught my attention the most about the job, it doesn't stop for anyone, it doesn't let us stop to think if it's what we want or not".

His hand hurt from writing so fast and he dropped the pen once he finished, it was a little short but he wasn't used to sending letters, he didn’t have a big family, he wasn't a lover, a son, a father, he wasn't anyone, just a ghost.

He walked slowly back to the window and collapsed on the floor, letting out a sigh and feeling the heaviness of fatigue, closing his eyes. He would sleep badly and wake up sore, but that was better than not sleeping.

The next morning they all left the cabin to a place a little fuller of civilization and he was able to send the letter by mail to the address you left him. He didn't know when it would arrive as it was never a quick process, but he found himself longing for the response. It was the only way he had to feel connected to the outside, so he limited himself to asking questions that might make you simply not answer anymore.

And just as Simon imagined, the letter was in your hands fifteen days later, you read it with tears in your eyes because although his personality and Johnny's were not even remotely similar, he reminded you of your brother, because the 141 was part of him and his essence.

That was precisely the reason why you were talking to him through letters, because you needed to feel connected to someone who was no longer there and your only connection right now was Simon, it was strange, not him but this whole situation, you had met Ghost only once and you felt intimidated, his cold gaze under that mask was so hard and emotionless, he really lived up to that nickname, he was like a ghost.

You sighed, sitting on the kitchen chairs and looking out the window, the weather outside was merciless, the snow was destroying everything in its path and you could no longer see the floor, that weather reminded you of your childhood, the layers of thick snow covered the cars and yet the discomfort of humidity was more present than the cold.

You got lost in thought with the letter in hand before looking at it again, praying that this mysterious man would return safely from deployment, you imagined that he, like you, had felt the loss, so now part of you and of your pain was with him.

#cod #cod mw2 #ghost cod #cod x reader #call of duty #simon ghost riley #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #simon ghost x reader #ghost #ghost fanfiction #john soap mactavish #soap cod #141

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moonstruck-poet · 5 months

Text

His Brave Girl

Pairing - Tom Hiddleston x reader!

Summary - You are a NCA Investigator and have an ongoing case to rescue women and children that have been kept captive. The mission of course isn't as easy and can also prove to be life threatening. But with an incredibly supportive husband and a strong team, it doesn't seem all that impossible.

Warnings - blood, fighting, curse words, assault and harassment, mentions of death.

This was a light introduction to the story, things will surely get interesting soon. Hope you like it <33

The elevator dinged as the doors opened and you heaved a sigh before getting in and leaning your back against the wall, eyes closing briefly due to exhaustion.

"Does this thing get slower every day?" You muttered to yourself after getting off and pulled out the keys from your pocket while also holding the stack of papers in one hand.

You walked inside, placing the key in its usual place and dumping the sheets on the dining table with a loud thump.

"A new case then I take it?" Tom entered the living room, a small smile on his face on seeing you as he walked closer.

"Yeah," you couldn't help but smile yourself upon seeing his homely appearance. "Missed you today, love".

"Ditto darling," he whispered and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close against his chest and breathing out heavily. "God was it tiring today," his face turned down a fraction before you kissed that frown off, making his lips twitch.

"It's okay," you murmured in his ear and played with the strands of hair on his neck, "I'm so proud of you".

He merely tightened his hold, glad that you had understood him so easily. No wonder he had known you were the one from the minute your relationship bloomed.

"Is it okay if we go out for dinner? I wanna take a walk with you," he pulled back, hands still on your waist as he stared into your eyes.

"Of course, Tom. Let me just get freshened up and we'll leave immediately," you kissed his cheek to quickly go and wash.

After a quick but soothing warm shower, you decided to wear a simple pair of black skinny jeans and a beige button down. Tying your hair in a ponytail and putting your phone in your back pocket you were ready to leave.

"Let's go then," you switched off the lights, him smiling appreciatively at your simple outfit as you two walked out, locking the door and then entwining your hands.

"Why didn't you put on a jacket? It's cold," he said the minute you stepped out in the dark.

"It's fine, Tom," you replied and he took your tangled fingers, placing them in the front pocket of his coat making you laugh. "So what's the current mood? Chinese or Indian?"

"Indian," the two of you said simultaneously and grinned at each other.

"I think you're starting to rub off on me," he chuckled and squeezed your hand. "My spice tolerance is quite high now".

"That's a pro of marrying an Asian, and especially an Indian, my dear," you said happily, swinging your hands like a child.

You entered the cozy Indian restaurant and ordered some starters, wanting a quick bite before moving on to the main course.

"What's the recent case about then, love?" He questioned, adding quite an amount of the spicy green chutney to his dish making you smirk.

"Oh recently we got the news that about 30 females, both girls and women have been abducted right from the streets, probably for slavery. So we gotta track those motherfuckers and play tit for tat," you said and he noticed your jaw clench with anger.

While Tom's heart sank. He was used to hearing such cases every other day, especially since his own wife was a crime investigator but it hurt him every damn time.

"Don't worry," you took his hand in your own, rubbing circles on the back. "We're gonna rescue them, every single one of them".

"I know you will. But still it just hurts, to know that every three days, somewhere in this country a woman dies, all because of violence. How do people even think of committing such sins, such atrocities?! The humanity is dying and it feels like nobody even cares anymore".

You pressed your lips together sympathetically, agreeing with every statement of his and just being so glad that you had such a passionate husband.

"I'm gonna do my best, we're gonna catch all of them and make them suffer," you said firmly and he nodded.

"I'm there with you through every step of the way," he said softly making you simply stare at his beautiful face before smiling widely.

The rest of the dinner was quite peaceful, with only small talks made here and there as you both actually enjoyed the silence.

"Ice cream?" He asked immediately once you stepped out of the restaurant.

"Sure," you laughed at his excited face and wrapped an arm around his torso and him swiftly pulling you close by the shoulders and pressing a kiss on your head.

You two were chatting, about his work, about your work. The past week had been quite busy. What with you attending meetings about the recent case and him shooting endlessly for the Night Manager.

"I really can't wait to see you all decked up in a suit on the big screen," you grinned, all giddy inside while he let out a noise of surprise.

"But you've seen me in a suit numerous times, that too right in front of your own eyes," he raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know the magic you show on the screen, Hiddleston. It makes me go insane," you said, turning a little red making him chuckle as he too blushed.

A sudden shout interrupted his next comment and you two stopped, frowning at each other before finding the source.

"Oh shit," you muttered and his eyes widened at the scene in front of him. There was a man, forcing his way on a young lady who looked no more than 20 years of age.

"Come on sweetheart," the creep said, a sinister smirk on his face as he pressed his forehead against her's, making her thrash uncomfortably.

A furious rage built up inside of you as you saw random citizens watching the scene with interest and not bothering to move a muscle.

And immediately your footsteps quickened as you almost sprinted forwards with Tom hit on your heels.

"Hold this," you pressed your phone into his hand and before he could utter another word, you had pulled your sleeves to your elbows and ripped the man off of the girl.

"Get away from her, asshole," you said, your voice deep and cold and your husband felt himself freeze upon seeing you in action.

"Uh yeah? And who the fuck are you to tell me to get off?" He said coyly. "You're a fiesty one, yeah? I like those type," he said and stepped closer daringly.

Tom had never before felt such violence inside him but he held himself, knowing you had the situation under control. You wouldn't want him to get in trouble, whereas you, you had legal permission.

"And I like catching people like you," you retorted, smirking and within a few seconds you had pinned him on the ground, your knee pressed to his chest as you lounged on him casually.

"You done now? Cuz me and my husband would really like to get some ice cream," your eyes narrowed and he groaned when you pressed down hard.

"You okay?" Tom went to the terrified young lady while also maintaining a respectful distance, knowing she must be scared.

She couldn't fathom anything and was shaking violently while he watched helplessly, not wanting to cross any boundaries at all.

So he resorted to words, "You're safe now, don't worry at all. My wife-" he gestured towards you, halting midway after noticing the criminal's awfully bleeding nose and your deathly expression and grimacing slightly.

"Um are you alright? Did he hurt you anywhere?" He asked again gently once she had calmed down.

"N- No he didn't," she shook her head and fixed her rumpled clothing. "You- You were just in time, thank you so much".

"Hey no, there's nothing to thank about," he smiled and they noticed a police car coming closer.

"There comes your ride," you said and pulled the grunting man to his feet. Your face shining with sweat and slight blood coating your right cheek.

"Goodness love," Tom muttered, wincing at his terrible state but looking hella proud at the same time.

"Aaron," you greeted your friend cheerfully, "A new parcel for you mate. You're welcome," you added when he raised his eyebrows at the assaulter's bloody face.

"Let's get going then, bastard," Aaron gripped him tighter and offered you a full salute and you nodded.

"One last thing," you said and stepped back making the others stare warily except for the officer who didn't bat an eye as you delivered a perfect side kick, breaking the man's jaw.

Aaron laughed as he turned towards Tom who had adorned an expression of shock, "Be careful there, I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. This one can really pack a kick".

"Wouldn't dream of it," your husband chuckled lightly making you roll your eyes as the man was dragged inside the car and off they went.

You finally turned to look at the still shivering but composed girl, "You okay darling?"

She didn't say anything and fell into your arms, her being considerably shorter compared to your rather tall figure. "T- Thank you," tears flowed down her cheeks. "I was so sure I was going to die right there".

"Hey," you said and rubbed her back with your left hand that was not stained with blood. "You're safe now though aren't you? That's all that matters".

She backed off, still sobbing and wiped her tears, looking at you with such gratitude that you yourself could feel your throat burning.

"Do you live close by?" You asked and when she nodded you offered to drive her home, knowing her mental state was sensitive.

"Here's my official card, I'm a NCA Investigator so you're safe with me," she nodded and you were glad to do so, wanting her to feel as secure as possible.

"Come on," Tom guided her softly and opened the back door as she got in and he seated himself in the passenger seat.

It took about five minutes to reach her home and you parked the car in the driveway, both of you getting away and stopping after noticing that Sofia hadn't even opened her door.

"Hey," he knocked on her window and she jumped, snapping out of her thoughts and got off upon noticing that she was home.

He went ahead and ringed the bell and was greeted by a warm middle aged woman who smiled but her expression soon turned shaky after taking in the state of her daughter and she shouted for her husband.

"Oh my darling," the father gasped and took his girl in his arms and she started crying again, emotions flowing out uncontrollably.

The two of you watched in silence, your hearts breaking at the exchange and praying to god for keeping everyone suffering through such horrible experiences safe.

"How can we ever thank you," the old lady walked towards you and took your hand in hers, silent tears running down her cheeks. "You saved my daughter's life. How can I possibly repay-"

"No no don't say such things," Tom interrupted her, embracing the woman and you noticed tears staining his face too making your heart clench.

"But really, thank you, both of you," Sofia's father said and pulled Tom in a hug and shook your hand.

"She's safe, and that's all that matters," you said softly before handing them a card. "This is a helpline number that works 24/7, just give a missed call whenever you feel threatened, though god forbid something would happen again".

The woman stepped closer to you and cupped your cheeks motherly making you stutter, "And you, take care of yourself, look after you wife," she adressed Tom who nodded with a smile. "You're out there putting your life in danger for the sake of others, but be mindful of your own too".

"Y- Yeah, I will," you swallowed the emotions and gave them a professional salute and a low bow before taking their leave.

The walk to the car and then the drive home was passed in complete silence, both understanding that it was a need.

Tom only switched on the dim, yellow lights, bathing the room in a warm glow before turning to look at you properly.

"Love?" He asked softly, standing in front of you and placing his palm on your cheek. "You're okay, aren't you?" His eyes scanned yours, eyebrows drawing in closer in worry.

"Yes, I'm okay. I deal with this pretty much everyday, you know".

"You've hurt yourself," he looked at your badly bruised knuckles as he examined them.

"I handle such things everyday too".

"But that doesn't mean it hurts less," he said simply and you nodded. "Carrying a certain weight every single day does not mean that it's not heavy".

"You're right".

"Oh c'mere," he opened his arms amd you fell into them gratefully, inhaling his familiar scent and trying to take to focus your mind. "You said to me earlier that you were proud of me. But honestly, my work doesn't even come close to yours. It's me who's really damn proud to call this wonderful, strong and brave woman; my wife".

"Yeah?" You looked at him with glistening eyes, pressing your lips together.

"Yes. Not everybody can even fathom the work you're doing. I'm your husband for God's sake amd know all about what you do. And yet you saw it for yourself how terrified I was in that situation".

"You are amazing, the most brilliant woman I've met and goodness am I so, so proud of you, my love," he touched his lips to your forehead tenderly. "I already love you more than anything, but somehow you made me fall even harder".

"I love you too," you whispered and buried yourself right in his embrace.

===============================

Taglist :-

@thedesibitch

@herdetectivetheorist

@chronicallybubbly

#fanfiction #tom hiddleston x wife reader #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston ff #tom hiddleston fanfiction #female oc #strong female oc #soldier oc #girl power #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston fluff #tom hiddleston angst #tom hiddleston comfort #loki #night manager

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saltv2 · 28 days

Note

then can i have a recipe on how to properly prepare you?

As far as i know, the buttocks of a human are what’s best to eat (because of the amount of meat) but there is no way im letting you cook that.

According to cannibals, palms are the sweetest. So save those for later.

Thighs also have a lot of meat, so maybe they’d make good steak.

So yeah, chop those up and preserve them.

Make sure to wash so all the blood gets cleaned off, and do not cook cold steak.

Pat dry, using paper towels, it’ll ensure good contact between the thigh steak and the pan. Do not over season it.

Use the right cooking oil, preferably avocado oil. No, you cannot use olive oil as a substitute because it has a low smoke point.

Use the right pan at a high tempt, a skillet is best because it can hold heat, ideal for steak. Don’t worry about how often you flip, and don’t overcook it, use a meat thermometer to check temp.

And let the thigh steak cool down before serving.

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invisibleanonymousmonsters · 1 year

Text

chapter v – gust & flame

Eris Vanserra x Reader

Eris Vanserra has been a prisoner in his own home since the day he was born. He has done what he had to in order to survive and protect the few he loves. And he is playing the long game. Waiting, waiting, and waiting for the right time to make his move, to usurp his wicked father and become High Lord of Autumn Court. But things become even more complicated when a human girl drops into his life. Perhaps Eris can wait no longer to take his throne.

Word Count: 3,000+

Warnings: spoilers for entire ACOTAR series

masterlist

Y/N opened her eyes with a wince. This seemed like deja vu from when she had first arrived in the Night Court.

But now she could recognize her whereabouts. A fire was crackling at the opposite end of the room. But the smell of lavender and fresh flowers was a new addition.

She tried to sit up to investigate.

Whoever had placed her here clearly meant to lay her on her stomach, and she expected to feel a lightning strike of pain.

But there was none.

Oh, Cauldron. She had been slashed across her back with a sword.

“The healers mended your back, but your body will still be sore.”

Y/N quickly turned her head to see that Azriel was sitting in a chair behind her. Papers were in his lap and there was a large mug of tea on the table beside him.

Had he been watching over her this whole time?

“How long have I been out?” Her voice was so raspy, somewhat answering her own question.

“A couple days,” Azriel frowned.

She glanced around the room, seeing a dozen bouquets.

The Shadowsinger followed her gaze.

“Gifts from Rhys,” he answered without question. “He and Feyre will never forget what you did for Nyx.”

“He’s just a baby. Anyone would have done the same…” Y/N shrugged, belittling her own actions.

Azriel leaned forward, only sincereness found on his face. “What you did was brave, Y/N. I’ve seen 300-year-old males run from lesser. Do not discredit yourself so swiftly.”

It was strange getting such a compliment, especially from a male – and one as handsome as Azriel. She hoped her face didn’t look as hot as it felt.

To change the subject, she pointed to the handful of potted plants that sat amongst the bouquets of flowers. “And…the herbs?”

“Rhys has been…researching witchcraft. He also studied the protective smudge Nyx had in his hand.” Azriel smirked. “His way of thanking people tends to involve giving them an absurd amount of gifts.” He gestured to all the flowers and herb plants. “And this will be not be the end of his thanks.”

Y/N bit back a grin.

It was sweet, but unnecessary.

Rhysand was a High Lord – and perhaps the most powerful one at that. He needn’t waste so much money and effort doing such things for her. She was just a human.

Then Y/N remembered...

“Cassian!” She gasped, sitting up even straighter.

Azriel held up a hand, trying to calm her down. “Fae’s heal quickly,” he assured her.

And then gave her a shy smile, “Stubborn Illyrians, even quicker. Cass is already back to training the Valkyries today.”

Y/N didn’t know what Valkyries were, but she was too distracted by her relief that Cassian was alright to bother asking. Maybe she’d ask the wind later, if she even remembered.

“How are you feeling?” Azriel asked softly.

“Umm…better than I should be.” Carefully, she swung her legs off the bed to stand. “Guess I have you faes and your healing magic to thank for that.”

“Well, it appears you have even more tricks up your sleeve. Feyre was rather impressed with your salt shield.”

“And Nyx is alright?”

“Yes, Y/N.” Azriel tried to calm her. “He was shaken, but he will be fine. Everyone has just been worried about you.”

“Oh,” she muttered under her breath.

It had been awhile since anyone worried about her. There used to be. Her mother. Her sister. Her entire coven. But those days had passed long ago.

“Rhys wanted me to invite you to dinner tonight. Feyre is convinced Nyx is restless and will continue to be until he sees you.”

“Dinner?” Y/N repeated dumbly.

“Yes, later tonight, at the River House. If you are up for it, of course.”

The first time she had been to the River House was the day of the attack, to pick up Nyx. But Feyre had walked right out, not even giving them a reason to knock on the front door. If it was as magnificent on the inside as the outside, Y/N was sure she’d feel out of place.

“Umm…Yes. A-Alright,” Y/N nodded.

Azriel looked rather happy with that answer.

It seemed risking her life to save his nephew had finally made Azriel lose all suspicion towards her. (But unbeknownst to Y/N, it had only taken a few days for him not to view her as a threat to his court and those he loved.)

Azriel stood slowly and pointed to the wardrobe. “Mor picked out a dress for you. But wear whatever you wish. I will be here at 7 to take you there.” He opened the door to the hallways to make his leave. “Should you need anything, the House will get it. She’s been worried about you, too.”

Now that she was alone, Y/N slowly walked to the only mirror in the room.

The healers may have saved her back, but the bruising on her face would have to heal in its own due time. She was still mortal after all.

She had a split lip and a black eye on the left side of her face, as well as similar bruising below on her cheek, from being punched by the male.

Despite her injuries, she felt energized after getting two days worth of sleep and rest. And now she needed to get out of her room.

Y/N closed her door just as two servants were walking by. Surprisingly, there were very few of them. The House seemed to take care of a lot of things. But being the formal location for political meetings, it was still expected to be taken care of by faes.

“I will meet you after I feed the horses,” one of the females said to the other.

“Horses?” Y/N didn’t even mean to blurt it out.

The females both turned to look at her with polite and shy smiles. “Yes, my lady. They belong to the High Lord and Lady.” Then she gave her a side smirk. “But they prefer to…fly, as I’m sure you know.”

“May I come with?” Y/N asked the one who said she was going feed them.

She bowed her head slightly. “Of course, my lady.”

–––––––––

Eris was riding out with his most loyal sentries.

They knew of his plan.

Their exit was purposely planned to gain the attention of the High Lord. Eris wanted his father to see him leaving the Forest House, clearly going on a scouting voyage.

But as soon as they reached the border a few hours later, Eris would depart from his troops and winnow to the Night Court.

He hadn’t slept the past two nights, scared out of his mind that Y/N was in danger.

This morning, he had enough and rushed to his mother’s rooms as soon as he knew she would be awake.

“If she were dead, you would know it, Eris.” Leonora reassured him. "You would feel it with your entire being."

“But she was so scared and in pain. I could feel it, mother.”

Eris knew he wouldn’t be in his right mind until he saw for himself that Y/N was alive. And if she was hurt, he wanted to know how it was allowed to happen and to what extent.

So he knew exactly how much he would hurt Rhysand in return.

Eris didn’t expect to be able to winnow into the House of Wind, knowing that the entranceway was the only small area that would even allow guests to enter.

But it seemed Rhysand opened the wards especially for him, for he was standing in a different part of the house.

A servant was looking at him, and should’ve appeared more surprised to see him.

She glanced at his bright, red hair. “You must be Lord Eris,” she greeted with a bow. “High Lord Rhysand warned the staff that you would most likely visit.”

“I am sure he did,” Eris sneered.

The servant only blinked at his aggressive response, maintaining her composure. “Shall we make up a room for you, my lord?”

Eris ignored the question. “Where is…” he hesitated. “Where is Y/N?”

His question also didn’t seem to surprise the servant at all, as if she was also expecting this from him.

“She is at the stables, my lord.”

“Show me.”

His entire body was buzzing, knowing that he was getting closer and closer to his mate.

The servant finally stopped and gestured to the barn just a few yards away. She seemed to know to leave him alone to greet their other guest.

Eris only nodded his thanks, not used to being polite to the help. In Autumn, he never even looked them in the eye. That was just another unfortunate part of wearing his mask.

Now that he was alone, Eris allowed himself a moment to take in a deep breath.

Slowly, he made his way to the opening of the stables.

When he saw her, the air was knocked out of his lungs. He couldn’t seem to take in a breath.

Y/N stood barefoot, lovingly petting a black shire horse, who looked to be utterly happy with her attention and affection.

She wore a casual dress in a soft blue so often found in this court. And Eris was convinced it was actually her nightgown.

He instantly spotted the bandages that were wrapped around her shoulder and waist, peaking around the fabric of her dress. But he had yet to figure out if it was from a torso or back wound.

“You’re very a pretty boy,” Eris heard her whisper to the horse.

A soft wind passed through the stables’ corridor. And that’s when Y/N seemed to finally notice she was no longer alone.

She whipped around to face him, fear and surprise clear in her eyes.

That was when Eris could also see the bruises covering her face and the deep split in her lip.

Y/N quickly took him in, assessing his entrance.

Eris felt scrutinized as she looked at his attire up and down. He was wearing his Autumn Court uniform of fighting leathers, the colors of his court obvious as ever. He'd never looked more out of place in the Night Court.

Which was why Y/N whipped out a knife from her back.

Eris smoothly raised his hands in surrender. “I mean you no harm.” But his words sounded too harsh, too cold.

He cleared his throat. “I did not mean to startle you.” It managed to come out softer.

“You do not belong to the Night Court,” she pointed out, once again eyeing his uniform.

But before Eris could properly introduce himself, another gust of wind came. This time, it only seemed to swirl around Y/N, making her hair frame her face ever so beautifully.

“Eris, son of Beron, the High Lord of Autumn Court,” Y/N spoke as if she were responding to the wind and not him.

Eris tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “The wind has a peculiar way of following you around.”

The acute observation only made Y/N even more uncomfortable and she held up her knife higher.

But then she squinted, seeming to only be able to stare at his red hair. “You were there that day. I saw you…before…before I…” She shook her head. “You. You were the one who brought me here.”

Before Eris had a chance to respond, shadows jumped in between the two of them.

Azriel appeared out of nowhere. No, out of the shadows.

“Why you here?” He spat at Eris.

“You know why,” he growled right back.

“Azriel?” Y/N questioned him with such innocence.

Eris took note of the protective and close stance the Illyrian had toward his mate. And it took great power for him not to growl at him to stay away from her.

Azriel only slightly turned to her, not wanting to let his guard down with Eris. “Mor offered to help you get ready for dinner. Perhaps you should return to your rooms.”

When Y/N didn’t move, he fully turned to her and made sure to rid himself of the glare he was giving Eris. “I will be there soon to take you.”

Y/N eyed him a moment longer before finally leaving.

She did not lower her weapon as she passed Eris, and she put an egregious amount of space between them as she did.

But Eris didn’t take his eyes off her as she did so. Even with the distance, he could still see her y/e/c and he took in her scent for as long as he could. Was that a hint of lavender?

Once fully past him, Y/N quickened her steps and disappeared back into the winding hallways of the House of Wind.

“What happened to her?” Eris growled.

Azriel’s nostrils flared at question. “She was out hiking in the woods with Cassian and Nyx when they were attacked.”

Eris stepped closer. “By whom?” He hissed.

“We do not know. But they wanted Nyx. And Y/N risked her life to protect him. When Rhys arrived, he was blinded by his rage, and killed them all. There was no one left alive for me to question.”

Eris gave Azriel his most belittling look. His voice lowered as he muttered, “Unfortunate your High Lord still lives. He broke his vow, after all.”

“It’s unfortunate your High Lord lives, as well. Otherwise you would not need to hide your mate in a court that is not your own.”

With the word ‘mate,’ Eris lost all composure.

In one swift motion, Eris unsheathed the knife at his thigh and swung it with the intention of slitting Azriel’s throat.

But the Shadowsinger caught it.

“Enough,” a voice said behind Eris.

Azriel glared at his High Lord over Eris’ shoulder, but still shoved the male away.

Eris turned to face Rhysand.

Before he could speak, the High Lord explained, “I asked Azriel to invite you to dinner, but I doubted he would be able to do so before trying to kill you. Seems I was right.”

He offered his hand to Eris, “Come.”

The two of them winnowed, leaving Azriel behind.

They appeared in front of a manor along a river. It was large, but looked lived-in. Somehow both grand and yet still homey. It was unlike any other home of a High Lord that Eris had ever visited.

“Feyre is waiting for us in the office,” was all Rhysand said before opening the small iron gate and walking up the stone path to the front door.

But just before Rhysand opened it, he turned to Eris. “This is our home. Do not make me regret bringing you here.”

Eris only gave a curt nod, but still glared.

When they entered an office, Feyre turned to face them quickly.

As soon as Rhysand closed the door, giving them privacy, Eris broke the tension.

“Evidently, the bargain failed to kill you. So, there’s no need to be obsequious.” Eris rolled his eyes. “Bringing me into your home, inviting me to dinner with your family…it’s almost offensive that you believe it will make a difference.”

“We invited you to give you an opportunity,” Rhysand answered, joining his mate’s side as he picked off a piece of lint from his jacket.

“An opportunity for what, exactly?”

“Speak with your mate.”

It was no surprise that he mentioned Y/N so openly. If Azriel knew, then Rhysand and those closest to him did, too. Eris expected that they would figure it out eventually.

Eris surprised them by looking at the ground as he carefully asked, “Does she know?”

“No,” Feyre answered. “I doubt she even knows about mates. Most humans don’t.”

Eris gave a curt nod before adding, “She must never know.”

“I can strongly advise from personal experience that it is not recommended,” Rhysand said with a smirk.

But Eris only scowled in return.

Rhysand took in a deep breath. “None of us will speak of it to her. I can assure you.”

Eris gave another nod. “I should be on my way.”

He had promised himself to bring the same pain to Rhysand that Y/N had suffered. But being in his mates presence, looking into her eyes, taking in her scent...it had jumbled his thoughts in a way that made it hard to think clearly.

“But you’ve only just arrived,” Feyre argued.

“We invited you to dinner,” Rhysand reminded him, as if they would be offended Eris left now.

“I should not linger,” Eris told them.

Rhysand stepped to him. “You promised Autumn’s loyalty for her. Do you not wish to see who it is you are protecting? The person you so blindly offered your court for?”

Eris seemed to have a storm brewing in his mind.

Rhysand could tell Eris had trained to protect his mind from his daemati abilities. But the turmoil was still so evident to him. Perhaps because he once stood exactly where the male was now. The torture of knowing one’s mate, but staying away with the belief that they would be happier, safer.

“Fine,” Eris snapped.

“Please, make yourself at home in the drawing room,” Feyre told him.

“I plan on helping myself to whatever spirits you have lingering about,” Eris snapped before walking out of the office and slamming the door behind him.

Feyre tried to hold back her smile as she turned to her mate. “Why do you treat him so generously now?” She squinted. “Do you truly see yourself in him?”

“Feyre darling, you do not know what it feels like…"

He shook his head at the memories.

"I was aware you were my mate, and you hated me. But at least you knew me. Yes, there was a time when I felt you were out there, before we ever even looked into each other’s eyes. But I do not think I would have had the strength to stay away from you like he is doing.”

To his surprise, Feyre seemed to give him a look of understanding. “It seems I pity him, too.”

“I cannot say I expected that,” Rhys smirked.

“I think one day we will see that Eris has a mask of his own. Perhaps one not so different than your own.”

“Being mates does not always equate to love,” Rhysand stated darkly. “My parents are proof of that.”

He sighed, “If I see them going in that direction, I will put a stop to it. And Y/N will continue having a place here.”

Feyre leaned into her mate. “This dinner is going to be a mess, isn’t it?”

He smiled. “I will be disappointed if it’s not.”

And then placed a kiss to her head.

–––––––

let me know if anyone is reading this. send me a message 😔👉🏻👈🏻

how do you think dinner is gonna go?

what do you think Y/N will think of Eris?

chapter vi

#eris vanserra #eris fic #eris x reader #eris vanserra x reader #feyre archeron #rhysand #autumn court #acotar #a court of thorns & roses #night court #feysand #eris vanserra reader insert #eris vanserra fic #eris vanserra's mate #eris acotar

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