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alrightieaphroditie · 18 days

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wipe my tears away | j.m.

*:·ﾟ✧ series masterlist | previous part!

pairing *:·ﾟ afab!reader x joel miller wc *:·ﾟ6.6k warnings *:·ﾟ18+! minors please do not interact!! talk of period pain, hormonal emotions, crying, kissing, some manhandling (if you squint), sad attempt at dirty talk, period play (lightly), fingering, maybe some degradation (not really sure), clit stimulation, overstimulation, multiple orgasms (f receiving), squirting/messy cum, p in v penetration (not protected, do better!), one mention of blood… please let me know if i’m missing any major ones! an *:·ﾟthis is for the girlies who get over emotional during their periods (they are me, i am them). this is a bit longer than intended, but once i got in the zone i literally couldn’t stop, so i hope y’all will enjoy it! kind of unedited, so if anything major jumps out feel free to comment lol. i also wrote this with correct capitalization, where all my previous fics were lowercase bc i couldn’t be bothered to turn on auto caps, so let me know if y’all prefer this format! check the series masterlist for the series tags!

synopsis *:·ﾟ joel comes home to find you laying in bed, crying because of period pain. he may not be a full gentleman, but he wouldn’t let you suffer when he has a trick up his sleeve to help sooth the cramps.

The pain that begins in your lower abdomen, the feeling that radiates throughout the rest of your lower body with enough force to make you wince, isn’t entirely new. It’s a monthly occurrence, actually. One that you feel like you should be used to by now, considering it’s plagued you for more than half your life.

But the outbreak had already happened when you first got your period as a teen, and for a while, your body wasn’t receiving the nutrients it needed to sustain that kind of function. It was a double-edged sword, the way you were appreciative that you haven’t had it this bad your entire life, while ruminating on the losses that occurred due to the infection.

Because it was a different story, now.

Now, you were eating more than you could ever remember before. Jackson was a thriving community, after all. And you were beyond blessed that you were one of the lucky ones who got to reside within its gates. Now, your body was properly fed and being taken care of for the first time in years, and that double-edged sword reared in your mind again; thankful for the safe space you’ve landed upon, but God, at what cost? Your period pain took you out for days each month, making you feel like a burden even though you physically couldn’t help it.

Your toe stubbed against a chair in your living room as another cramp worked its way through your body, causing you to cry out for more than one reason. Tears filled your waterline, and a heavy sigh escaped past your lips. The rough material of your jeans was digging into your waistline, your hair felt heavy against your neck and each strand that brushed against your cheek made you want to cut it off, and you just felt so useless. Some logical part of your brain realized this wasn’t really you feeling this way, it was just the hormonal shift, but that didn’t provide any sense of comfort as the tears continued to glide down your face.

In some ways, you were lucky, as today had been your day off from helping around Jackson. Otherwise, that sense of being a burden to everyone would’ve increased tenfold. You couldn't stop feeling like a burden to yourself, though. You had made a perfectly organized to-do list that was hanging on your fridge of things you wanted to tackle today.

Your sheets needed to be washed. The floors needed to be swept and mopped, especially after the rain, as Joel and Ellie continued to trek mud through your house by accident. Maria had given you some of the spices that grew in abundance, and you wanted to make one of those simmer pots on the stove that she kept mentioning.

But doing those chores was the last thing on your mind right now, as another cramp racked its way through your body. Now, you just wanted to go lay in bed wearing nothing but Joel's shirt that you had thrown on earlier and cry while hugging a pillow.

And so, that’s what you did.

Your vision was watery as your fingers swiftly worked to unbutton your pants, your feet carrying you out of the living room and into your bedroom before you really even realized what you were doing. Once you hit your bedside, you tugged the jeans down your legs, letting them pool at your feet and leaving them on the ground as you crawl into bed, feeling about as pathetic as you probably looked. Curling up on your side, you reach out blindly and grab onto Joel's pillow, tucking it against your body and letting it provide you a false sense of comfort. After that, the tears start flowing freely.

You didn’t know how long you laid there, didn’t know how long the sound of your sniffles had filled the room or how long you pressed the pillow against your abdomen. The cramps were still relentless, and it wasn’t like you even had any medicine you could take; expired Tylenol did absolutely nothing anymore. You wish you were more used to this feeling, this pain. But it seemed like the longer you were at Jackson, the worse the symptoms became each month. You had yet to figure out the remedies that were foolproof for this feeling.

Continuous tears turned into lonely, stray droplets as you held onto the pillow. The room was silent except for the occasional sniff. You had zeroed in on an undone thread on the pillowcase, not paying attention to your surroundings, so you didn’t hear the sound of the front door being pushed open, or the sound of Joel's work boots stomping across the wooden floors. In the corners of your mind, you recognized the voice that was muttering to himself outside your room, but your eyes stayed focused on that singular thread.

The thought of it being lonely, being apart from the other threads holding the fabric together, made your eyes water again. You could put yourself in its position, the ever present fear of being alone daunting you even now, and that was enough to send the tears over your waterline, racing down your cheeks and onto the pillow once again. The hiccup that came from your inhale was the noise that had the footfalls move towards your room, and through your blurry vision you saw the outline of Joel standing in the doorway.

“What's wrong?” Through your sniffles, you could sense his urgency, his rough voice filled with nothing but concern, and maybe a little worry. His gaze swept over your body, checking for any possible injury. This was the first time he’d seen you break down to this level, and the sight of you curled into a fetal position, tears streaming down your face with his pillow in your grasp… he prayed to God that another person wasn’t involved with making you feel this way.

It would be a shame to lose his good reputation amongst Jackson because he had to beat some fucker up.

Your gaze swung up to his face, and you made yourself blink harshly to expel the lingering tears. His face came into focus, the worry lines on his forehead becoming more clear to compliment the frown on his full lips. He had a spot of dirt streaking across his forehead, and his clothes were dirty from spending the day working outside. For whatever reason, the fact that Joel had been out working in the heat for most of the day while you couldn’t even manage to get up and wash your bedsheets made your emotions spiral even more. What is wrong with me? you wondered, hugging the pillow tighter to your body.

The sound of his work bag hitting the floor echoed through the room, soon followed by the shuffle of his boots being kicked off his feet. His hands were gently pulling the pillow away before you could even register that he was in front of you now, but you felt the bed dip under his weight as he perched himself at the edge. His broad hand rested on your elbow before sliding up your arm, gently caressing your skin until he reached the side of your face. The calluses on his thumb scratched against your skin as he swiped the digit under your eye, wiping away the tears that had pooled.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” his voice was softer this time, comforting you in a way that had you feeling alright for the first time today. You leaned up on your elbows, and Joel helped guide you into a sitting position across from him, your hands holding on to one of his while his other cupped your face, thumb swiping against skin. The action of sitting up had your cramps rearing their ugly heads again, and your wince was subtle but extremely obvious to Joel, evident by the furrowing of his eyebrows.

“My uterus is what’s wrong,” the scratchiness of your throat had you coughing slightly, and you worked to clear it before trying again, voice nearly as weak as you felt. “I'm on my period.” Joel's eyes widened in surprise at your admission, but he quickly schooled his features.

This wasn’t his first rodeo; he’d been with you for awhile now, but noticed that each month your symptoms were different. Sometimes, your sudden anger at everything gave away the fact that it was that time of the month. Other times, it was your sweet tooth and your cravings that gave it away. Rarely was it your tears, though, and his heart lurched at this new response.

When your hands went to wrap around your stomach, applying pressure lightly to help ease the throbbing, his free hand came up to the other side of your face. “‘m sorry, darlin. Know that ain’t the best feeling in the world,” his thumbs were doing a stand up job at wiping away the tears on your cheeks, and soon the only sign that you had been crying was the red glaze surrounding your pupils.

And the occasional sniffle.

You leaned into his touch, eyes closing at the surprising amount of comfort that you felt from a pair of hands. You always felt at peace with Joel, though, so you weren’t surprised that his hands had this effect on you. You focused on the rough pads of his skin against the smooth texture of your own, taking in big breaths of air through your nose as your crying spell passed through you. Now you were thinking a little more clearly and felt a little embarrassed by the fact that Joel had walked in on you crying over a thread on a pillow case. Not that he’d ever know that’s what you were crying about.

“It's okay. I'm sorry if i scared you or anything,” you started, opening your eyes to meet Joel's dark gaze. You offered him a small smile. “I really just need to learn how to deal with these cramps without them taking over my day. They seem to be getting worse and worse each month.” Your hands trailed up to grip his forearms, squeezing them affectionately as a wave of exhaustion flitted through your body.

Joel's eyes squinted slightly. “Cramps, huh?” he mused, the corner of his mouth quirking up ever so slightly. In the far corner of his mind, he recalled a younger Tommy swearing by a foolproof activity that helped one of his girlfriends with her cramps when medicine didn’t cut it. He wasn’t sure he believed Tommy then, or even now, for that matter. But he knew how much you struggled with the pain, and he’d feel like a real jerk if he didn’t at least give this a go.

“Think I know somethin’ that could help with that.” He pulled your head forward, pressing a chaste kiss on top of your forehead before dropping his hands and pushing off of the bed. You were slightly dazed, partly at the display of affection but also at the quickness in which Joel was walking to the bathroom. When he came back into the room with an old towel, you couldn’t help but look at him suspiciously.

“Joel…”

“Do you trust me?” He asked, tossing the towel on the bed and leaning down to look at you, eye to eye. His demeanor was calm, but his eyes shined with a hint of mischievousness, and the smirk on his mouth was nothing but trouble. It made him look younger, almost. Like the gray in his beard and around the temples of his hair was there prematurely. You wondered if he was like that more before the outbreak, and you reveled in this glimpse of his past self that he was allowing you to see.

“Of course I do.” Your answer was absolute, eyes showing no signs of distrust or wariness as you maintained contact with Joel’s. He reveled in the sureness of your answer, in the fact that it didn’t even take you more than a second to respond to his question. The smirk became a full blown grin, and you couldn’t help but mirror it on your own face as you wondered what the heck this man was thinking.

“Good. In that case, I'm gonna go clean myself up,” his lips pressed against yours in a swift kiss before he backed away, fingers stretching to the hem of his t-shirt. “You’re gonna strip out of those panties, spread that towel out underneath you, and wait for me to come back. Okay?” One of his eyebrows notched up, awaiting your response.

“Sir, yes, sir,” you teased, sending him off with a mocking salute. It earned you an eye roll, something he had been picking up more and more from Ellie's influence, no doubt. The sound of your giggle followed him into the bathroom, where he quickly worked to discard his dirty clothes and rinse off. The thought of you laying in bed with just his t-shirt on had him adjusting himself underneath the water stream.

Meanwhile, you were working at a slower pace.

You gingerly took the threadbare towel between your hands, kneeling up on your knees to place it where you thought would work best. You were starting to get an idea of what Joel was planning, and while you’ve never done anything like this before, you weren’t absolutely hating it. After you had smoothed the fabric out, you climbed back against the pillows, hooking your thumbs under the waistband of your panties and sliding them down. The pad on the inside showed slight signs of blood, so at least you weren’t bleeding too heavily right now. Usually that came after a day or two of the cramps.

You were combing your fingers through your hair when Joel walked back into the room, pausing at the threshold while you both took each other in. His hair was damp, droplets of water occasionally dripping on his forehead, brushed back at the edges and the tops to keep it out of his face. He had been growing it out a little longer, though you knew when summer fully came around, it’d be time to clip it.

He’d changed out of a plain, gray t-shirt into another plain, gray t-shirt - clearly a staple in his wardrobe - and you had to admire the way he was filling it out. The sleeves hugged the middle of his biceps, straining against the pure muscle that had been building up. The shirt fit loose around his chest, but you could see the way it was snug around his tummy area, the small pouch of his stomach highlighted by the thin material.

You weren’t the only one who had been eating better since arriving at Jackson; Joel was starting to bulk up and you were loving it.

Having ended his workday earlier, and foreseeing spending the rest of the day in bed with you, he had pulled on a pair of flannel pajama pants that clung to his thighs and offered very little to the imagination when it came to the thick imprint between his legs. The sight of him had your thighs clenching together automatically, heat racing through your body like a fever.

And he knew it, too. You could tell by the smirk on his lips, the way his gaze strayed from your eyes to your legs. He loved having that affect on you, loved seeing how needy you became by just the thought of being with him.

He walked to the other side of the bed, his eyes focused solely on you in his red shirt, the way your legs were crossed at the bottom, giving him just the smallest peak of bare skin underneath. You listen to him so well, he couldn’t help but admire. You gave him your trust so easily, and that was one of the few things that Joel considered to be precious in this world. He'd never make you regret that choice.

Leaning up on your elbows, your body naturally turned towards him when he finally settled himself on his side next to you. One of his arms slipped behind your head, tucking you into his body as the other came up to guide your face to his. His lips were soft against your own, and all the tension you had felt from crying earlier completely disappeared.

Your hands clung to his arm as he kissed you, a soft sigh escaping through your lips. Joel took the opening to deepen the kiss, sliding his tongue against your bottom lip before dipping it into your mouth. Your mind was growing fuzzy, and you simply let Joel manipulate you how he wanted, eagerly offering yourself to him.

His mouth stayed on yours, your noses brushing against each other with every tilt of the head, but his hand strayed from your cheek. It paved a path to the collar of the t-shirt, where he fisted the material and tugged it towards himself, halfway pulling you on top of him with the movement. Your hands flung out to his chest to stop yourself from completely crashing into him, and a groan sounded against your mouth as Joel felt the tips of your fingers dig into the skin.

He soon abandoned the collar, letting his palm slide down the expanse of your torso and bunching the shirt up a little before settling it right over your lower abdomen, fingers splayed out wide against your bare skin. The heat radiating from his palm on your skin was like your own personal heating pad; the soreness that ebbed from your cramps seemed to dissipate the longer his hand rested against your skin, the action making your head spin as you focused on breathing through your nose as Joel’s tongue traced along yours.

Joel’s mouth trailed from your lips down to your jaw, down to your neck. The stubble growing on his face scratched at your skin when he nuzzled himself in the crook of your neck, causing a combination of a laugh and a moan to flutter past your lips. You could feel him smile against your skin before nipping at it gently, using his lips and tongue to ebb the slight pain away. You could feel him sucking at your skin, and you knew in the morning you’d regret the red and purple marks that would litter your skin, but right now, the feeling was absolute heaven.

“Spread those legs for me, baby.” The words were whispered against your skin, accompanied by a quick tap to your thighs. You didn’t hesitate to obey; your left leg fell to the side while you rested your right leg on top of Joel's. His hand slipped from your stomach to your upper thigh, gripping the fleshy inside as he helped adjust it higher on his body.

The cool air from the fan had you shivering as it made contact with your bare skin, emphasizing the wet slick that had formed between your legs. Joel's mouth found itself back on yours, his kiss turning punishing, almost, as his hand slowly moved down your inner thigh; his teeth were biting and pulling at your lower lip, his fingers were digging into your skin as he kneaded and gripped your thigh.

“Joel,” you mewled, stretching up slightly to angle your hips closer to his hand. You were settled in the crook of his elbow, and his arm came up to bare against your throat ever so slightly. He essentially had you in a headlock, and you were helpless to anything he administered. Goosebumps prickled along your skin, and you whined once more when his fingers brushed against the crease of your leg.

“Shh, s’okay, baby. Let me take care of you,” his words were soothing, soft. A complete contrast to the way he was handling your body, and it was all you could do but nod in response, eyes wide and trusting as they held contact with him. His pupils were so dilated that you could barely see the rim of brown, even this close.

Another sharp tap to your inner thigh had you gasping, and Joel's mouth formed into a smirk as his calloused fingers eased the spot. You’d like to blame the hormones fluttering around your body for the desperation you were feeling for Joel, but part of you knew that he simply just had this affect on you. You always grew so needy for his attention, for his touch. Being with him was the only time your brain truly shut off and allowed you to feel safe, relaxed.

His fingertips were stroking the inside of your thigh like it was the strings on one of his guitars, a slow but firm sensation that had you humming; he was playing a different kind of instrument with you. You could feel yourself growing slicker, the bubble in your chest expanding as he teased you, touched you.

“Joel, please…” you trailed off, turning your head to the side and bumping the edge of his jaw with your nose. His gaze had slipped to where his fingers were caressing your skin, basking in the suppleness of your skin that so vastly compared to the roughness of his. You felt like a dream.

“Such pretty manners,.” he mocked, grinning to himself before meeting your eyes once more. “Since you asked nicely, though…” The kiss he pressed on your nose was soft, but your focus was on how his fingers were finally crossing over the crease in your thigh, finally trailing down to your core.

The first swipe of his fingers through your folds had a small moan emit from your mouth, and a curse came from Joel’s as he felt how wet you were already. “Shit, baby,” he muttered to himself more than anything, watching his fingers as he lifted them up into the light to see the shine. Chest heaving, you watched as he brought his fingers up to his mouth, watched as he placed them on his tongue before closing his lips around the digits and sucking on them while he pulled them out.

His fingers were now wet with his spit, evident by the thin strand of saliva still connecting his mouth to his fingers. The sight alone had your toes curling against the mattress, your mouth open slightly as you watched him bring his hand back down to your pussy. Your breath left you as his second swipe was firmer, the tips of his fingers passing along your clit for a brief moment before moving back down.

His forearm flexed slightly against your neck, his free hand moving down to brush against the top of your chest. One of your hands moved to grip his arm, nails digging into skin ever so slightly as Joel’s fingers brushed your entrance, swirling around slightly to gather the wetness that had formed. A soft sigh left his mouth as he felt you, and the next moment, two of his fingers were swiftly pushing inside of you.

“Joel!” You gasped out, back arching into his touch as he pumped his fingers into you once, twice, three times before pulling them out. Joel huffed out a laugh at your whine from the loss of contact, glancing down at you to see your reaction to him circling your clit with the pad of his thumb. He was rewarded with the softest of sighs, and the sight of your eyes rolling shut while your mouth parted open.

He didn’t hesitate to capture your lips with his, his mouth against yours as firm as his thumb on your clit. The kiss was quick, and Joel’s nose brushed against yours as he pulled back ever so slightly. “Such a pretty girl, achin’ for me to fill you up. My fingers feel real nice against your pussy now, don't they, baby?”

A short and snappy nod was your form of a response, as you were solely focused on the way Joel’s middle finger was circling your clit now. Your hips bucked up as waves of pleasure wracked your body, Joel’s expert fingers bringing you relief you so desperately needed. The action had Joel smirking above you, had his hips grinding slightly against your thigh in a sad attempt at getting some friction for his now hard cock.

Joel pulled back from his admissions on your clit, sliding his middle finger through the center of you before slowly inserting it back inside you. The gasp that left your mouth was music to his ears, and he began moving it in and out, curling it up once it was fully inside your wet pussy. Head falling back against Joel’s arm, your legs widening even further as Joel picked up a steady rhythm with his one finger.

“So good, Joel,” you rasped, voice breathless as Joel’s finger curled against the spongy part inside of you that had your body jerking in response. Licking your lips, you pulled the bottom lip into your mouth, teeth sinking in as the pleasure continued to build up in your body. Your right hand moved to rest on his wrist, while the other stayed gripping his left forearm.

Basking in your praise, Joel withdrew his middle finger and, when he pumped it back inside, added his ring finger. The addition had you groaning, feeling his two fingers stretch you out slowly as he pushed them inside and pulled them out. You felt Joel’s lips press against your forehead as he worked to pick up the pace, and soon all that could be heard in the room was the wet sound of your pussy being fucked by his fingers.

“God, I could listen to you all night,” he mumbled, curling his fingers in a “come here” motion inside you and marveling at how drenched you sounded. “So fuckin’ wet for me, sweetheart. Haven’t even taken my cock yet, either, you needy thing.”

His words only sparked the fire inside your chest even more, and soon you were moaning his name over and over again in some kind of sick prayer as he filled you with his fingers. Your mouth dropped open as his thumb moved to glide against your clit, pleasure radiating throughout your body.

Your fingers dug half-moon indentions in Joel’s tanned skin as the waves of pleasure finally crested.

Your body went rigid in his hold as your orgasm peaked, his fingers never ceasing in motion as your hips began to shake against his hand. He muttered soft praises as you came, moving his arm from across your chest and intertwining your fingers with his. You gasped for air as you came down, thighs twitching ever so slightly as you soon became putty against Joel’s body.

Only then did he pull his fingers out from inside of you. He kissed your forehead once more, cupping your drenched pussy with the palm of his hand. Your chest was heaving still from the orgasm, body feeling tired once more but for a completely different reason. Resting your head back on Joel’s arm, you glance up at him, expecting him to move his hand away and maybe help you clean up.

Instead, Joel’s dark gaze was solely focused on your pussy again. Instead of moving his hand away, he slowly moved it up your center, stopping only when his middle finger brushed against your clit. He moved his hand to the side slightly, letting the tips of his other fingers brush against the sensitive nub, before sliding it the other way. His action was slow, methodical even.

“Joel,” you ventured, squeezing his hand that rested in yours. His jaw twitched, but that was the only response you got. He leaned up on his elbow, your hand moving up along the mattress as he did so. Now, your interlaced hands rested above you, on the pillow, as Joel’s upper body hovered on top of yours.

Ever so slowly, Joel resumed the movement of his hand, sliding to one side before moving it to the other. His fingers all brushed against your clit, and the overstimulation you felt had your thighs closing together.

“Keep ‘em open, baby.” Joel admonished, his grip on your hand tightening slightly. His free hand pushed away your left leg before returning back to your clit, and you swore you could feel the wetness lingering on your skin from him doing so. The roughness of the towel underneath you prickled at your skin as your hips twitched from the continued pleasure.

“Joel,” you ventured again, this time more of a plea than anything. Tears formed on your waterline when he picked up the pace, his hand firmly rubbing against your clit each time he moved it. That bubble of pleasure formed more quickly in your chest, the feeling fiery and almost suffocating as Joel’s movements were relentless.

“Give me one more,” his voice was rough, distant. “Just one more.” His hand dipped to cup your pussy once more, gliding up through your folds and moving the wetness from there up to your clit. The added lubrication and friction as Joel increased his pace had you crying out, body arching forward at the onslaught of pleasure.

Your orgasm approached much faster this time, and you could feel your slick dripping down your skin onto the towel. “Oh my God,” you whimpered, your hand painfully holding onto Joel’s while the other, which had moved to rest on his hip, gripped his t-shirt. “Oh, God.”

This time, when you came, the bubble dropped from your chest and to your stomach and your body went limp as soon as your orgasm tore through you. Your mind was a haze of euphoria, and if you were more cognizant you would have been embarrassed at the feeling of your wetness squirting out from you, would have felt heated at the way Joel praised your body. Instead, you were blissfully gone, basking in the sensation that only Joel’s fingers knew how to bring you.

Joel’s hand slipped from yours as he pulled his arm up from underneath you, and before you were even aware of the shift, he was up on his knees, moving in between your legs and tugging his flannel pants down. “Gotta fuck you, baby. Jesus Christ, you came so good for me.” His hands bracketed your head as he leaned up against your body, the head of his leaking cock pressed against your wet slit.

You hummed at his praise, wrapping your weak arms around his neck as you shifted your thighs a little wider to accommodate for his hips. You weren’t entirely sure you could handle another orgasm, but you knew you were desperate to have him inside of you. His head ducked down to yours, and you enthusiastically pressed your lips against his, enveloping his hips with your legs in consent.

With a nip at your bottom lip, he slowly pressed the tip of his cock in between your folds, gathering the wetness that had accumulated near your entrance before moving his hips even further. The head of his cock pushed into your pussy, stretching you out even more than his fingers did previously. Joel groaned into your mouth as he pumped his hips slightly, pulling out of you before sinking just the tip inside you again.

“Fuck, sweetheart. My fingers didn’t stretch out your pussy enough, huh? S’fuckin’ tight as hell around my cock.” One of his hands came to brush aside your hair, cupping the side of your face gently while his hips snapped into yours. You cried out against his mouth, the feeling of being filled so suddenly causing you to wince slightly. You welcomed this pain, however, as it quickly gave way to pleasure the more Joel rocked his hips against yours.

Joel rested his hips against yours for a moment, his head falling down to your chest as he reveled in the tightness surrounding his cock. His breaths came out in short pants, the hand laying next to your head turning into a fist against the mattress. Your hips move up slightly, seeking out the pleasure even after coming twice before, and it brings Joel in further, causing you both to curse.

“So desperate for me to fuck you,” Joel’s words are accented by short, quick thrusts up inside of you. He pushed up off of you, your arms falling to the bed beside you while your legs fall open as they untangle from his waist. His hands grip the inside of your thighs, and he leans his weight forward a little, pinning your legs to the bed.

“I am, Joel. P-please fuck me,” you beg, gripping the sheets between your fingers as your hips meet his thrusts. Joel starts off slowly, implanting you fully on his cock before slowly pulling back until just the tip presses against your pussy. His bruising grip on your thighs holds your legs open while he works himself in and out of you, eyes cast on how your slick coats his cock, the occasional red streak coloring his flesh.

A stray curl of hair falls from his previously brushed back hair, and you itch to swipe it back into place, but his pace quickens and your hold on the bed keeps you from banging against the bed frame. The sound of his cock entering your wet pussy fills the room, the indecency of it causing your skin to flush with heat. Joel’s groans start to find time with your whimpers, and soon the noises of sex are emitting throughout the bedroom, throughout the house.

Joel’s hands move away from your thighs, traveling up your stomach and pushing up his red t-shirt to see your boobs bouncing with each thrust. He admires the peaks of your nipples, the way goosebumps arise on your flesh as it’s exposed to the cool air, before bringing both hands to grip onto them. His thumbs and forefingers pinch at your nipples, the pain mixing in with the pleasure seamlessly.

Your eyes fall shut on a moan, body arching into his touch as you clench around Joel, causing him to curse. The familiar sensation of heat fills your body, that third orgasm floating slightly out of reach. You move one of your hands down to your pussy, resting it on your mound. Your fingertips brush against Joel’s cock every time he withdraws, and you moan at how slick he feels before bringing your fingers to your clit.

“That’s it, baby. Make yourself come on my cock,” Joel encourages, gaze focused on the way your fingers nimbly play with your throbbing clit. His hands squeeze your breasts roughly one last time before he leans up, gripping your ankles and bringing your legs to rest on top of his shoulders. Your thighs press against his cock as he fucks you, adding in another level of pleasure for him as he fights back his orgasm.

“Just like that, Joel. Just like that…oh!” Your cries fill the room as he pounds into you, your fingers increasing the pace against your clit. Your movements are shaky, not precise in the slightest, but you’re still sensitive and wound up from your previous orgasms that it doesn’t take much to get your third one going. With a few clumsy swipes of your middle finger against your clit, and Joel’s cock ruthlessly hammering in and out of you, your final orgasm floods through your body.

Joel curses as he feels your pussy clench around him, making his movements stagger with how tight you become. He gives a few more deep thrusts, his own movements becoming shaky and less precise, and he soon slips out of you, rubbing the length of his cock along your pussy lips as you gush with your orgasm. With a grunt, he follows soon, his own cum spurting out of his red cockhead and on to your lower stomach.

Your legs fall meekly to the bed again, and Joel’s body sags forward a little before he props himself back up with his hands. The sound of you both panting is all that can be heard as you both come down from your orgasms; you, eyes closed and mouth open. Joel, eyes open and mouth closed, nostrils flaring slightly as he regulates himself.

It takes a moment before you both get back to yourselves, but when you do, you become increasingly aware of the wet feeling underneath your lower body, which causes you to giggle. “Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t get around to cleaning my sheets today, huh?”

A snort comes out of Joel, his head shaking slightly as he moves to brush back his hair. He takes in the sight of you, freshly fucked and thouroughly spent, and can’t help but grin. He might be older, but he relishes the fact that he can still please you like this. That you actually want him to do so. Makes him feel like a god among men.

He sees the tears around your lash line from your last two orgasms, and he leans forward slightly to wipe them away with his thumb, triggering in his mind the conversation you both had before this all started. “Feelin’ alright?” His gaze moves around your body, checking to see if he hurt you in any way. He notes the red marks against the side of your neck, the cum on your lower stomach and the beginnings of many small bruises along the inside of your thigh from where he gripped them to keep them open.

He’d be more worried about those if he didn’t know how much you loved having him mark you up.

“Just peachy,” you grinned at him, propping yourself up on your elbows to take in the mess below you. Joel leaned in to meet you, his kiss soft and soothing as his lips slid against yours. After a moment, he pulls away again, awkwardly shuffling to the edge of the bed before standing up. Hiking up his pants, he moves to the bathroom to get a washcloth to start cleaning you up.

After wiping away his cum and your wetness, he gently helps you off the bed, holding your arm as your legs fumble when your feet hit the ground. His pride grows then, and you smack his arm playfully when you catch sight of his grin. “Sorry,” he mutters, pressing a kiss against the side of your head before moving to gather up the dirty towel from the bed. He tosses it into the hamper before leading you to the bathroom.

There, he draws you a hot bath, guiding you in the tub and before pulling his clothes off and joining you. It’s a cramped space, the bathtub not technically suitable for two, but you make it work. You lean your head against Joel’s shoulders, sinking into his body as his arms wrap around your middle. You know you should do something with your bedding soon, should make sure you have the guest room set up so the two of you can sleep somewhere remotely comfortable tonight, but for now, you bask in his presence.

“Thank you for taking care of me, Joel.” You say softly, closing your eyes and letting the hot water ease away any lingering soreness your body has. His arms tighten around you as you trace mindless shapes against his thighs. He tilts his head to the side, kissing your forehead before resting his on top of yours.

“Anytime, baby.” His breathing evens out with yours, stubble rubbing against your forehead as he speaks. “I’ll always be here to wipe your tears away.”

taglist *:·ﾟ @hiroikegawa

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mylostloversbookmarks · 1 year

Note

thank you!! My request is: Joel x female reader. Age gap. They met after Joel and Ellie arrived in Jackson, they started to know each other, at first they kept it a bit like a secret but then, when things started to get more serious, they didn’t hide anymore. Things got so serious that after a while (not immediately, like a year or two) Joel asked reader to move in with him and Ellie.

Ellie loves reader and she’s more than happy that Joel found his special someone. Could you add a scene where reader is with Ellie one afternoon and they see Joel with a woman, acting really intimate, which connects to reader’s thoughts about Joel being a bit weird the previous days. She thinks he’s cheating on her, also because the woman is really close and intimate to Joel in that situation.

She wants to leave before he sees her but Joel notices her presence, tries to talk to her but doesn’t deny the accusations at first, (so a lot of angst!!!) which makes reader think she lost the love of her life.

They don’t talk for a few days and try to ignore each other when possible, despite living together. Ellie is sad and suffers from this situation. Joel loves reader too much to ruin things so he puts his pride aside and tries talking to her. They eventually talk it through, he was not cheating (choose whatever the alternative to that is!!) maybe a little fluff at the end or also something else? You choose!

also, if you have any rules or have triggers about something that I requested please let me know and change the story how you need to.

And I’m extremely sorry if this request is too long and detailed.

thank you!!!

Guiding Lights - a Joel Miller one shot.

Characters - Joel Miller x Reader

Word Count - 8.7K

Warnings/Tags - 18+ only Minors dni. Typical canon language, Swearing, Angst, Fluff, Alcohol consumption, , Sus!Joel, Soft!Joel, insecurities, suspected cheating, no actual cheating, I think thats all?

A/N - @addictedtotlou This is my first ever fic request and I cannot thank you enough for sending it through, and also for dropping into my inbox to let me know it was you that requested it! I'm sorry it took so long but I hope you enjoy <3

Feedback, Reblogs and comments are always appreciated!

You often find yourself reminiscing on the day you met Joel and Ellie, it feels like forever ago now, though it has only really been a few years.

The winters in Wyoming were never kind, but that year, Mother Nature had been particularly cruel. Strong winds and vicious snow blizzards reduced visibility to almost nothing. You had heard those posted to the lookout stations talking over lunches and complaining about how bad the conditions were getting.

So in a bid to keep the good folks of Jackson safe, Tommy and Maria decided to double the number of patrols around the commune in an attempt to keep an eye on the horizon for any potential threats who could be hiding just beyond their sights.

Needless to say, it had been a rather slow work day in the Tipsy Bison, with the usual counting and re-counting of stock, checking on the latest brew of beers and whisky, ensuring everything was going as planned, and cleaning of the already immaculate bar, all finished in record time.

Expecting the usual after-work rush that never came, you sent the other two bar staff over to the mess hall to see if the kitchen needed any help with preparations for tomorrow's meals.

As the two said their goodbyes over their shoulders, you heard one of them mumble a shocked "What the hell?"

With your interest piqued, you stepped out from behind the old wooden bar and crossed the floor to the large square windows at the front of the building. Your eyes followed their gaze and watched as the afternoon patrol crew filed through the large wooden and steel-clad gates of the commune.

You waved as a few of your regulars passed you, a few tipping the brims of their ten-gallon hats. You quickly realised what had drawn your colleagues' attention when your eyes landed on two new faces in the middle of the crew.

The first newcomer was a man; he wore a thick brown winter coat and jeans that looked like they could stand up on their own, and you could see the toe of his work boot was mended with what looked to be duck tape. His eyes were sharp and focused, darting around him as if in search of someone or something.

Instantly, he gave you the impression of someone who had been on the road for quite some time. Having been there yourself, you felt a surge of sympathy for him, but you were still wary of him, not knowing why he had been brought inside the walls.

The second was a girl, whom you assumed to be the man's daughter; she was small and looked to be in her early teens. Strands of her tawny brown hair peek out from under her winter hat. big, bright eyes, taking in her surroundings in wonder, while the man stared straight ahead. The girl seemed to be unaware that all eyes were on her, from those who stood on the street to others standing in shop windows, just as you were.

You followed the other barstaff out to the porch and offered the girl a small smile as your eyes met, she quickly looked away without returning it. It wasn't often that Jackson took in new people, opting to keep off the radar to try and protect what you had here. Maria was on this afternoon's patrol and had no doubt made the call to bring the two into the commune.

As the crew passed, heading further into the small town, you saw the man's head snap to the left, and he opened his mouth.

"Tommy!" he shouted, his deep, booming voice ringing in the silence. In an instant, he was off his horse and running in the direction of the scaffolding that had been put up to repair some of the damage to a neighbouring building.

You watched on in stunned silence as the two men ran towards each other, unsure of what the newcomers intentions were, but before you had made it down the two steps of the porch, the man wrapped his arms around Tommy and began laughing, disbelief colouring the sound.

The two men stood embracing each other, both breathless from laughter, and you knew immediately who the newcomer was. This was Joel, Tommy's brother.

Tommy had spoken of him before; usually after one too many whiskies at the bar, he would open up to you about how guilty he felt about staying off the radio. He would say things like, "It's only a matter of time before he comes looking for me, Y/N; what am I supposed to do? Turn him away?" and "One thing about my big bother is that he's persistent."

You had always offered words of understanding and comfort and almost always cut him off and sent him home after those conversations, knowing that no good could come from him drinking any more alcohol.

Part of being the town's main bar tender was also being a listening ear whenever someone needed it, but with Tommy, it was different. He and Maria had become your closest friends, and you would always be there when either of them needed you, working or not.

You always got the sense that something had happened between the two men that couldn't be fixed. As you watched the brothers reunite, you realised that the thought couldn't be further from the truth.

Maria caught your eye as she dismounted from her horse and jerked her head to the side, beseeching you to join her. You nodded at her and crossed the road to where she was standing, hitching her horse to one of the many posts dotted around town.

"Maria, is that who I think it is?" You asked her quietly, not wanting to draw attention to the conversation.

"Yeah, it is," she spat. "I don't know how the hell he found us out here." She continued, venom dripping from each word.

You knew that Maria had never actually met Joel, but from the stories Tommy had told you both in the early years, she knew what he was capable of and decided then and there that she did not like him. You, on the other hand, had a more objective outlook on things.

You were not involved in the same way Maria was, of course; she and Tommy were married after all, so you could understand her reservations when he opened up about his past with his brother and the things they had done and what they thought they needed to do to survive.

The problem was, Maria had been in Jackson longer than you and Tommy and therefore had less of an idea what a brutal hellscape it was outside the walls. Maria wasn't stupid; she knew that it was dangerous, but it had been so long since she had to live like that, to really be surviving, not trusting anyone you met along the way, not knowing where your next meal was coming from, or if you were going to make it to worry about the next meal.

You, on the other hand, had lived that life for longer than you would like to remember, and though you didn't have innocent blood on your hands, they were far from clean. So you could sympathise with Tommy and the demons that clearly kept him up at night. So you felt the hatred that Maria has for Joel was a little unfounded.

"I'm happy he found him again," you admitted, unable to help the undercurrent meant by your works. What you really wanted to say was "This should have happened a long time ago if you had let him respond to Joel's calls on the radio" Meeting her narrowed eyes, you saw a flash of anger in them. No doubt you will get an earful for that comment later.

You knew what she was going to say: that Joel wasn't going to fit in here in Jackson, that Tommy was better off without him, and that you should keep a safe distance from him. But she didn't have the opportunity, as Tommy was already walking towards the two of you.

Joel had walked back to where the girl waited on her horse; a worried, almost disappointed expression crossed her face as he gestured towards Tommy. You watched as he gently helped her down from the animal, making sure she was steady on her feet before the pair followed behind Tommy.

"Y/N, Maria, ah… this is my big brother, Joel," Tommy announced, his tone a mixture of pride and nervousness.

"Hey, it's good to finally meet you; I've heard a lot about you." You smiled kindly at him; he nodded once in response, his expression guarded.

"I'm Ellie! It's nice to meet you," the girl chirps cheerily before shoving her elbow into Joel's ribs. "Joel, say hello," she all but hissed at him, which makes you chuckle.

"It's lovely to meet you, Ellie." You beam.

"It's, uh, good to meet you," he managed quietly.

Two years later...

A loud knock at your front door startles you. Your hand flies to your heart as you curse under your breath. Who the hell would be calling on you at this hour of the morning?

You pad down the hallway and open the door to find Joel standing there, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. He seemed keyed up, and your heart drops to your stomach; something must have happened.

"Hey, is everything okay? Did something happen? Is Ellie alright?" You squeaked at him, the panic rising in your chest causing your voice to go up an octave.

"Yes, darlin, everything's fine, Ellie's good; don't worry; I just need to talk to you about something, that's all," he assured you in his thick Texas drawl.

"Everything's good… but you need to talk to me about something at 6 a.m." You questioned him dubiously, arching an eyebrow at him.

"I promise everything is fine; I have morning patrol and was hoping I could catch you before I head out," Joel explains, the ghost of a smile playing on his plump lips.

"Ah, okay, that makes sense, sorry; c'mon, handsome." You laugh as you open the door for him to enter and close it after him.

He follows you down the hall into the small kitchen, lingering in the doorway and studying you. You can feel his eyes roaming your figure as you pour him a cup of coffee. Strong, black, no sugar—just the way he likes it.

Turning with the mug in your hand, you let out a breathy laugh at the sight of him. He looked wired, far too awake for this hour of the morning. Was he sweating?

"Joel, baby, are you alright?" You ask curiously as you hand him his coffee and take your usual seat at the end of the dining table.

"Yeah, I just…I wanna ask you something but I don't know how" he confessed sheepishly, his large hand coming to scratch nervously at the back of his neck.

"I'd like to think you know me well enough by now to know you can ask me anything." You said it with a smile, hoping to calm whatever was causing his nerves.

"Yeah, no, I know, I just don't want to freak you out; there's no pressure, and I understa-"

"Just spit it out, Joel." You interrupt him. In the two years you had been with Joel, you had never seen him struggle for words with you, and it was making you anxious.

"Okay," he huffs out, pulling the dining room chair out so he could sit facing you. He takes a long drink of coffee before continuing, and the suspense is killing you.

"So I was speaking to Ellie, and you know we both love you; hell, sometimes I think she likes you more than she likes me!" He chuckles fondly: "Look, we've been seeing each other for a while, and now that everyone knows, I think it would be good, you know, f-for Ellie if she had a…I dunno, like a mother figure on a more permanent basis." The words were falling out of his mouth like an avalanche. He desperately hoped he was making sense, but you still weren't understanding.

"Permenant basis? What do you mean?" You ask, confusion clear on your face, making him laugh again.

"Yeah, like on an everyday basis," he enphasises. Urging you to grasp the meaning of his words.

"Okay, um, I mean, yeah, I think that's a great idea. I love that kid. I will tell her about making an effort to hang out every day." You promise him sincerely and are touched that he thinks of you as a mother figure to his daughter.

"That's not really what I was thinking, baby; I mean, on a permanent basis, like you would live in the same house." He husks softly, his eyes searching your face for your reaction, and his heart sinks to his boots as he watches your brows knit together.

"Did you have another fight?" You ask him, reaching your hand up to stroke the side of his face, your thumb lingering on the heart-shaped patch of his beard where the hair refused to grow. "Ellie's always more than welcome to stay here when she likes, but Joel, I don't think her moving in here is the answer."

He takes your hand from his face and holds it between both of his; he huffs all the air from his lungs and slowly takes another deep breath. Straightening in his chair, he locks eyes with you.

"I knew this would be an easy ask, but I didn't imagine you making it this hard on me," he says exasperatedly, huffing out another loud laugh.

"I don't understand." Confusion layers your tone, and you are sure your face is doing the same.

"I'm not asking if Ellie can move in with you; I'm asking if… if you would like to move in with us Y/N" He admits. His brown eyes are soft and lingering on your face, and his thumb is tracing small circles on your wrist.

This was not the conversation you were expecting to have over your morning coffee; your brain was barely functioning, and your mind started to race. The last two years of your life, with Joel and Ellie passing by before you in a blur of colours and memories.

You had sympathised with Joel's struggles to adjust to life in Jackson, and given that you worked in the only bar in town, he quickly became a familiar face. You ignored Maria's warnings to stay away from him; after all, she didn't know him from Adam, and you felt it was unfair to judge someone on the things they had done as the world fell apart overnight.

So, slowly but surely, you found yourself at work, hoping each night that he would stop in so you could get to know him better, and he always did. Always opting to sit at the bar, despite there being plenty of more comfortable booths to sit at.

At first, it was always you who initiated the conversation, asking him how his day was, how the patrol had gone, and how Ellie was fitting in, and you listened tentatively to what little information he would give you. Until eventually, after a couple of months of the same routine, he started to open up to you.

He would ask you how you were, how your shift had been, if you had a good day off, and on occasion he would let slip that he "missed you yesterday" when he called in for a drink on his way home from patrol, only to be disappointed that you were nowhere to be found.

It made you giddy; he was on your mind constantly; it made you feel like there was a swarm of butterflies in your belly, but you thought it was only harmless flirting as there was a considerable age gap between you both, with Joel being in his fifties and you in your early thirties, you didn't think Joel would be interested in a relationship with you.

But how wrong you were! After a couple of weeks of late-night drinks after the bar had officially closed, Joel had bitten the bullet and asked you out, though he asked if you wouldn't mind keeping it between the two of you as he didn't know how Ellie would react to him seeing someone and you gladly accepted.

You understood that Ellie was and always would be his first priority, and you admired his unwavering dedication to her, especially after finding out that Ellie wasn't his blood relative; he had taken her on as "cargo," as he affectionately put it. As a way to get one step closer to finding his brother, but she had worked her way under his skin, much like she did with everyone she met. It was so difficult not to like her. With her quick wit and foul mouth, she never failed to make you laugh. She was definitely his daughter, blood or no blood.

The thought of Ellie brings your mind back to the question at hand: should you move in with them? Was now the right time? Was Ellie even okay about this? Did she even know Joel had asked you? Each question raced through your mind until your mouth found one it could form words around.

"What does Ellie think of this?" You asked Joel intently, reading his face for any signs of worry or panic at your question, but there were none to be found.

"I mentioned to Ellie a few months ago that I thought it would be nice if you were around all the time, and she agreed, and then I sat her down yesterday and told her that I was thinking of asking you today, and she was all for it. I don't want you to feel pressured in any way, though; it's okay if it's too soon; you can say no, and we won't be offended in the slightest!" Joel assures you, his voice is low and genuine.

He lifts his right hand to the side of your face and gently brushes the hair out of your eyes, his calloused thumb stroking back and forth as you lean into his touch, allowing your eyes to fall closed. Taking a deep breath, you throw caution to the wind.

You close your eyes, taking a deep breath, your voice drops to a whisper. "Yes, I'll move in."

Suddenly your body was moving, and not by its own volition; your eyes were still closed, so your brain was having trouble registering what was happening. When your eyes flashed open in surprise, you were caught up in Joel's arms, spinning around your small kitchen with your feet no longer planted on the floor.

"Joel!" You squeal through breathy laughter, placing your hands on his broad shoulders to steady yourself.

"Are you sure, baby?" He asks, his eyes sparkling with delight.

"Yes, I'm sure handsome, but I have one condition!" You warn him, arching a fluffy brow.

"Name your price, sweetheart," he smirks at you through the whiskers of his full moustache.

"I get to tell Ellie," You beam back at him, your hand rests on the back of his neck, fingers scractching lightly at the curls that have formed there.

"I think she'd like that," he ghosts against your lips, lightly brushing his nose against your own until you lean up and crush your mouth to his.

Three years later...

It has been a hectic few weeks for the community in Jackson, working through yet another savage winter. You were just through the middle of it, and the end was in sight. The snow storms were not as frequent and the winds were not as wild.

Work has been keeping you busy. You are still the main bartender at the Tipsy Bison, but much to Joel's dismay, you have also picked up a few patrol shifts to lend a hand to Tommy as a few of the older patrol crew stepped back into other work duties due to ill health.

It has felt like months since you and Joel have spent any quality time together, despite living in the same house and working in the same community. Whenever you were both home, he seemed distant and preoccupied, as if there was somewhere else he wanted to be. You tried to engage him in conversation, but he would only give you short answers before retreating into his own thoughts.

At first, you thought that he might just be stressed out from work duty or the weather, as bad as it has been, but as the days turned into weeks, you started to feel a growing sense of unease. You have never seen Joel act this way before, not with you at least, and you don't know what to do.

You miss his closeness; the late-night conversations at the bar while you finished up your shift—all of that has stopped, and no matter how many hours you spent trying to figure out why, you always came up blank.

So needless to say, you were looking forward to spending some quality time with Ellie this evening to help take your mind off your worries. You had stood under the shower for longer than you intended, just enjoying how the steaming water rolled down your tense frame.

With a sigh, you shut off the water and wrapped yourself in your towel, headed into your bedroom to get dressed, and you couldn't help but feel a surge of gratitude that the house had heating, an especially rare commodity with the world's current condition. Jackson really was a paradise of sorts.

"Ellie! C'mon kiddo, we're going to be late for the movie!," You shout from the bottom of the stairs, shrugging into your winter jacket.

Movie night Fridays have quickly become a tradition for you and Ellie, especially now that the winter has rolled back around and it's too cold to spend much time outdoors.

"Alright, I'm coming; Jesus, keep your hair on!" Ellie mutters as she makes her way down the stairs, where you wait for her.

"We only have 20 minutes before the film starts, and I know you're going to want to get snacks, so we've got to make tracks." You laugh as she rolls her eyes at you.

"Alright Mom," she mocks, sarcasm dripping from each word.

"You're such a little shit, you know that, right?" You tell her fondly with a warm smile.

"I know, it's all part of my charm," she grins.

"Ah, I see, and does Dina know all about your charm?" You playfully jab her ribs with your elbow, wagging your brows up and down.

"Ugh, you're so annoying; you know that, right?" Ellie counters, always so quick-witted.

"I know, it's all part of my charm," You repeat her words back to her, earning another eye roll.

The two of you leave the house and trudge out into the snow; thankfully, the blizzard has calmed, and now fat, fluffy flakes of snow flurry around you like something from a movie scene.

As brutal as they can be, you have never seen anything more beautiful than Jackson in the winter. It was like something you would see on a postcard of a ski village in the French Alps, all timber buildings and string lights illuminating the small town.

On Friday nights, the mess hall was turned into a makeshift movie theatre for the youth that lived in the commune, offering them some respite from the grind of daily life. It was complete with candy, drinks, and, of course, pop corn.

At first, Ellie hadn't seemed all that interested in going, not knowing many kids her age, but after a lot of coaxing and the promise that if she didn't like it, she didn't have to go again or even stay for the full movie, Though she quickly found her feet with Dina, the rest was really history.

"Where's Joel tonight? I thought he was going to come with us." Ellie asked curiously.

"Oh shit, I meant to tell you earlier; he said Tommy asked him to cover the evening patrol tonight, so he can't make it." You explained, not really sure why Tommy needed him to cover after already doing the afternoon patrol, but it must have been important, so you didn't give it a second thought.

You and Ellie walk in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the peaceful walk through town. You were about to ask her how she was getting on with her work detail when she came to a standstill.

"I thought you said Joel was on patrol tonight?" she demanded, her face contorting in confusion.

"Uh yeah, Ellie, I just told you that." You confirm, your own confusion mirroring hers.

"Then what the fuck is he doing in the bar?" She fumes, gesturing behind you to the window of the Tipsy Bison.

Sure enough, there he sits at the bar with Jenna. Joel was nursing a whisky, and she was playfully peeling back the homemade label of her beer bottle. They are sitting in the corner booth by the window, leaning towards each other to the point where their heads are far too close to be appropriate.

In that moment, your breathing stopped. Your stomach sank to the floor, and an overwhelming sense of panic and dread began to claw viciously from your chest up your throat, resting heavy on your tongue.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asks nervously, not really sure what to do or say in this situation. It could be nothing, but even to her, it definitely looked like something.

"Y-yeah, I'm good. Ellie, why don't you go on down to the mess hall, and I'll meet you there in a few?" You tell her more than ask, your eyes never leaving the window.

"No way fuck that I'm staying with you!" she demands, her eyes growing wet around her long lashes.

"No, Ellie, I need to talk to Joel; I will catch up with you in a few, okay?" You meet her eyes and nod in the direction of the mess hall. She only nods in response; your tone is final as she turns on her heel and storms towards the makeshift movie theatre.

What the fuck is happening right now? You trusted Joel; it never bothered you when the ladies in Jackson would bat their eyes at him or when their glances lingered a little too long. You took it as a compliment; hell, if you were them, you would stare too.

Your relationship was built on a foundation of honesty and trust from the very beginning. You have told him things you have never shared with another living soul, and he has done the same with you. Never in your life did you think you would be lucky enough to share a connection with someone the way you have with Joel, let alone after the world had ended.

And now here you stand in the middle of town, watching the man you love cosy up with another woman in plain sight, not even having the decency to try and hide it from you.

You stand there for another few minutes, watching how he leans across the table to talk to her, laughing and caressing his arm in response. It sets fire to your blood, and you can feel it moving like molten lava in your veins.

You're moving before you realise you have made the decision to do so, your feet carrying you furiously forward, up to the short creaking steps and through the entrance to the bar, and then there you are, looming over their table. Your eyes bore holes into his skull. He jumps in his seat and scrambles frantically to hide the notebook that was sitting open on the table between them. You didn't pay it a second glance.

"I didn't realise the bar needed patrolling this evening," you state pointedly at him, ignoring Jenna, who is doing everything she can to avoid eye contact with you, fidgeting in her seat, and clambering to get her things together. Grabbing her coat and scarf from beside her.

"Hey darlin, I thought you and Ellie were heading to the movies." He asks, his voice rough with his attempts to hide his nerves.

"We were on our way there when she saw this cosy scene from the street." You gesture with your hand towards the table, your voice icy as you let your hand drop to your side with an audible slap, which made Jenna flinch.

"I think I'm going to head out…" Jenna murmurs in a small, quiet voice, still avoiding your gaze.

"That is a wise decision" You agreed without taking your eyes of Joel.

She throws Joel a cryptic glance before clambering out of her seat and quickly making her way to the door, shooting Joel an apologetic glance over her shoulder, which only fuels the rage bubbling up in your throat.

"What the fuck?" You growl at him, doing your best to keep your voice under control. The last thing you wanted was to cause a scene. Especially not at your workplace, regardless of whether you were on shift or not.

"What's wrong with you?" he asks, genuinely confused by your anger.

"Please tell me you're joking," you seethe.

"What? I can't have a drink with a friend." He scoffs, incredulous.

"Seriously Joel? Since when have you had to lie about working to have a drink with a friend?"

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?" he countered, avoiding the question.

"No, I really don't think I am. How could you do this? How could you do this in front of Ellie?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Joel huffs back at you, his eyes never leaving yours.

Your eyes begin to prick with anger fuelled tears; the feeling of betrayal rips through you, leaving you exposed to his hard gaze. You can't take any more of this. It feels like the room is closing in around you. That you will suffocate if you don't leave right now. You look at him once more, and the fact that he hasn't denied it or assured you that this is anything other than what you fear it to be ,allows your world to crumble around you.

"Alright," you manage in a broken whisper that comes out as a choked sob.

With that, you turn and bolt for the door, desperately gasping for air but unable to get enough to fill your lungs. You have to brace yourself on the railing of the porch. You can feel his eyes on you as he watches you leave from where he sits frozen at the table, but he makes no move to follow after you.

Willing your legs to move, you push off the railing and slowly make your way to the mess hall, slipping in just as the movie is starting. You can see Ellie is sitting in the middle of the crowded room, and she has saved you a seat beside her.

You make your way to the restroom, taking in your reflection for the first time that evening. Your face is red and splotchy from crying, your eyes puffy, and your lips swollen from your teeth worrying at them. With shaking hands, you reach out to turn the tap on, splashing the icy cold water over your face as you try to make sense of what has just unfolded.

You knew Jenna; she is one of the few people trained in blacksmithing in Jackson, but you had never been especially close with her. She would frequent the bar and chat with you about her work day and vice versa, but that was the extent of your relationship with her, and you have never seen Joel interact with her. It just didn't make sense; why would he throw everything away for a fling with someone who lives in the same commune? Did he really think you wouldn't find out?

You do your best to shake the thoughts from your head, focused on spending the rest of the evening with Ellie, you will do everything in your power to shelter her from this. So with a deep breath, you put a smile on your face and left the restroom, smiling and waving politely at familiar faces as you made your way to your seat, stopping by the makeshift concession stand to grab Ellie some popcorn and a soda on your way.

"Hey, I've got you some snacks, kiddo." You whisper to her, not wanting to interrupt the film.

"Thanks, are you okay?" She murmered with a small smile. Taking the snacks from your outstretched hands.

"Yes, of course everything's fine; there was a mix-up with the patrols, so Joel didn't have to work tonight after all." You reassured her softly.

It cut you to the bone to have to lie to her to cover up his indiscretion because you didn't want her to think any less of him. He is her world, and she is his, and you wouldn't be the one to jeopardise that.

You weren't really sure what movie was even playing tonight, so lost in your thoughts that it was just a blurry hum in the background. Ellie had to nudge your shoulder several times to tell you that the movie had was over. Glancing around to find a steady stream of people filing out of the mess hall.

"Sorry, Ellie, I'm just a bit distracted tonight; work has been so hectic recently, and I have so much to do when I open tomorrow." You do your best to laugh it off. Hoping that she will let it go and that she wasn't being as observant tonight as she usually is. The girl misses nothing.

"It's okay, the film was a repeat anyway," she shrugs, not pressing you on the matter, though you know all too well that the questions will come eventually.

"Shall we head home? It sounds like it's getting pretty rough out there," you noted, as another howl of wind wipped around the wooden building.

"Sounds good; I want to have a shower before Joel uses all the hot water again," she ribs in a peel of bright laughter that sends warmth radiating through your now hollow chest.

When you reach the house, you find it in darkness. Joel hasn't made it home yet, and although you are beyond angry, you can't help but worry about him. Of course he can look after himself, but it isn't like him to be out this late if he wasn't on patrol.

The seething voice in the back of your head reminds you that he could be with her. You try to push those thoughts out of your head, but they linger like a dark cloud, casting a grim shadow over what was your perfect - or as perfect as it could be - life.

"I'm going for a shower and then head to bed, you okay?" Ellie asks, once again pulling you from your thoughts.

"Yeah, of course, kiddo, no worries. Do you need anything? You want some tea?" You offer as you head to the stove and place a pot of water on to boil.

"No, I'm good. Thanks though, g'night!" She calls over her shoulder, and then you are alone in the small kitchen.

"Night kiddo," You call quietly to her as you reach for the herbal tea blend that you and Ellie grew in your little garden last summer.

As you wait for the water to boil, your mind starts to race with worry and anxiety. You can't help but think of all the possible scenarios that could be keeping Joel out this late, and the thought of him being with another woman makes you want to break things. You have tried to push those thoughts out of your head so many times this evening, but they keep creeping back.

A few hours later, you are sitting in one of the armchairs in the living room, desperately fighting to keep your eyes open, but in the end you give up, gently placing your book on the coffee table and removing the blanket from your lap. You look at the clock on the wall, and it's just after 3am.

You pad into the kitchen and leave your mug in the sink, too tired to wash it now; that's tomorrow's problem. Heading up the creaky stairs to your bedroom and crawling into the cold sheets. It feels wrong going to bed without Joel by your side, but he is god knows where right now, so you lean over, turn the bedside lamp off, and sink into a restless, uneasy sleep.

You wake to the wintery morning sunshine seeping through your bedroom window. Instinctively, you run your hand across Joel's side of the bed; it's unmade but cold, so he did come home last night, but he was up before you, which is unusual.

Instinctively, you run your hand across Joel's side of the bed; it's unmade but cold, so he did come home last night, but he was up before you, which is unusual.

Slowly sitting up in bed, you stretch your tired bones, sore from your restless few hours of sleep, and swing your legs out of bed. It's only 7 a.m.; you don't usually open the bar until midday, so you have plenty of time to get ready.

You slink down the stairs, careful not to wake Ellie as you do so. Heading into the kitchen mid-yawn, you stop in your tracks as you find Joel standing at the stove, hovering over a pot of boiling water on the closest ring to him.

"Mornin'," he husks without turning; he must have heard you yawning with his good ear to the doorway.

You ignore him, knowing full well that it's petty and childish and ultimately will not resolve anything, but with the way he behaved last night, you feel the cold shoulder is justified.

You both continue with your morning rituals in silence. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but you didn't know where to begin broaching the subject, and the more you stewed over it, the more you felt he should be the one to open the conversation with an explanation, but if you were being totally honest with yourself, you were beginning to worry that you may have jumped to conclusions.

But when you thought about the way they were huddled together, her hand on his arm, and the way she tipped her head back in laughter at each thing he said, the pit in your stomach grew. As did the silence between you.

Things went on like this for days, with the two of you skirting around each other and avoiding eye contact. Only speaking to each other when absolutely necessary, like dinner times, and giving each other your work duties for the week.

You could see the effect this was having on Ellie; she has been especially quiet the last few days, so once Joel leaves for work, you sit with her on the couch and try to get her to open up.

"Ellie, is everything okay?" you ask, trying to keep your tone light.

"I don't know. You and Joel have been acting weird lately, and it's making me tense." She shrugs, not meeting your gaze.

You take a deep breath, knowing that you can't keep avoiding the issue. "Yeah, we've been having some problems. But it's nothing you need to worry about, kiddo."

"It doesn't seem like nothing," she retorts. "You guys haven't spoken in days. It's not like you."

"I know, Ellie. I just don't know how to fix it." You sigh.

"Maybe you could start by talking to him," she suggests.

"It's not that simple, Ellie. There's a lot going on." You shake your head.

"Well, maybe it would help if you talked to me about it," she offers.

"Thanks, Ellie. But it's not something I can really discuss with you. Just know that Joel and I are working through some things and we'll get through it." You smile softly at her, grateful for her kindness.

She nods, not looking convinced but not pressing the issue. You sit in silence for a moment before she stands up. "I'm gonna head out for a bit. Need to clear my head."

"Okay, kiddo. Be safe," you say, watching her leave.

You're left alone in the quiet house, the weight of your problems still heavy on your shoulders. You know Ellie is right; you need to talk to Joel. But the thought of confronting him is daunting, and you don't know if you want to hear what he has to say.

What if he doesn't want you anymore? What if he's not happy and hasn't been for a while?

You decide that enough is enough. After work this evening, you are going to speak to him and attempt to clear the air, hear his side of the story, and try to move forward, if not for the sake of your relationship but for Ellie. It's not fair to have this weighing on her shoulders; it's not her fault, and you hate seeing her unhappy, and you know that Joel will feel the same about his if nothing else.

The workday drags on uneventfully; the only thing standing out was that Jenna had come to the bar for the first time since that evening. She gave you a small smile, and you returned it with a polite nod. You were at work after all and took it upon yourself to remain as professional as possible.

Jenna approaches the bar and orders her usual, which you pour for her without issue, though it makes your skin itchy to be this close to her.

"Have you spoken to Joel yet?" she asks quietly. Wiping her fingertips across the bartop.

You stare at her blankly; the audacity of this woman boggles your mind.

"No," you respond curtly.

"Okay, well, when you do, come and find me. We'll have a lot to discuss." She states matter-of-factly, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

Before you have the chance to give her a piece of your mind, she is walking away from the bar, her long auburn hair swishing to her lower back. What the fuck is her problem?

You try to get through the rest of your day without dwelling on the conversation you had with Jenna, focusing more on the impending conversation you are going to have with Joel this evening. Thinking about what you were going to say to him, how you were going to explain how you felt, and how hurt you have been over the last few days.

You lock up the bar and head towards home for the evening, taking a little more time than you usually would, feet dragging, dreading the fight that would likely ensue once you had spoken to him. You tell yourself you will keep a level head, but you know deep down your temper would not allow that to happen if he gave you some bullshit excuse.

As you approach the small, snow-covered pathway that leads to the back porch of your home, you pause there, unable to bring yourself to go inside. So you take a seat on the second step and watch the flurries of fluffy snow as they make their way through the air to join the pillowy blanket that covers everything in sight.

You sit there for what feels like hours. Jackson was always quiet; it needed to be in order to keep what you have here safe, but as you sit in the darkness, the only light coming from the dim porch light and the light seeping through the thin linen curtains from the living room, it feels eerily silent and still. The sound of the backdoor creaking open made you jump. The heavy footsteps that followed, however, were all too familiar.

"You gonna stay out here all night?" He asked quietly, his voice low and soft.

"No, I was just… well, I don't really know what I was doing." You offer a small laugh, void of any humour.

Joel takes a few steps and groans loudly as he lowers himself to join you where you sit. He is quiet for a few moments until he finally speaks.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the other night and how it must have looked. I'm sorry for not explaining to you then and there what it was; I didn't want to tell you, and I still don't really. But I promise you on my life that it is not what you think it is, Darlin," he says softly, regret heavy in his tone.

"I don't understand Joel; I just want to understand what the fuck has been going on," you pleaded, hating how desperate your voice sounded.

"I know, baby, and I'm going to tell you. I just didn't want to ruin the surprise. I also didn't want to tell you without speaking to Ellie first, but I spoke to her at dinner, and now she understands." He assures you, his hand coming up to brush your cold cheek for the first time in days, and it was impossible not to lean into the heat of his palm.

"Okay, so now everyone knows but me, why were you all cozied up with Jenna? Why did you lie to me about going to work?" You challenged him, removing your face from his touch.

"Hold on," he huffs, shifting his weight to one hip as he fishes for something in his back pocket before continuing. "It will make more sense once you see this, or I hope it will at least," he offers as he hands you a beaten-up, leather-bound note book.

"What is this?" You ask him, you remember seeing it on the table in the bar the other night.

"Would you just open it?" he sighs, rubbing his hand through his patchy whiskers nervously.

You do as he says and open the notebook, and what you find takes you aback. The notebook is filled almost front to back with little sketches of rings and little notes about different metals and gems in his familar handwriting and another that you don't recognize.

"Wh-what is this?" You repeat, stunned. So many thoughts racing through your mind and you are beggining to realise that you have completely misread the situaiton the other night.

"I know I was going to have to tell you about it eventually, you know for your size and all but I was planning to do that after I asked you…but then with the other night I wasn't sure what to say and I was kind of pissed off that you where angry at me, I didn't stop to think that you weren't in on the secret and what it must have looked like to you," Joel's hand came to rest on your knee squeezing reassuringly as he explained the circumstances that lead to what you saw in the bar.

"I have been meeting up with Jenna over the last few weeks, she's the only blacksmith in Jackson that used to make jewelry…specifically engagement rings," he paused allowing his words to sink in before finishing his explination.

"We've been trying to figure out how to make you one, what metals mix well from what I have found on supply runs, whether to hold off if I could find a stone or a gem, or if we could make it without one,"

You stare at him, a mix of astonishment and disbelief washing over you. The pieces start to fall into place, and you realize the truth behind Joel's actions. The anger and hurt that had consumed you begin to melt away, replaced by a flood of emotions, the most promanent being embarrassment.

"You were planning to… ask me?" you stutter, your voice barely a whisper. The weight of your accusation hangs heavy in the air as you struggle to comprehend the situation.

"Yeah, I was. I've been saving up for months, looking for the right opportunity, and I wanted it to be a surprise. Jenna's been helping me because she's skilled at crafting intricate pieces. I wanted to make something special for you, something that would last a lifetime." Joel nods, his eyes filled with sincerity.

Tears well up in your eyes as the realization of your mistake dawns upon you. You reach for Joel's hand, intertwining your fingers with his. "Oh, Joel, I'm so sorry," you say, your voice trembling. "I jumped to conclusions without knowing the whole story. I never thought…I feel like such a peice of shit, I'm so sorry"

"It's okay, darlin'. I should've communicated better, explained everything to you beforehand. I understand why you were upset." He squeezes your hand gently, his thumb caressing your knuckles.

"But why did you lie about going to work?" you inquire, still wanting to grasp every detail.

"We thought it would be best if we kept it a secret until it was ready. And I didn't want you to suspect anything. I wanted the proposal to be a surprise, and I was afraid if I told you I was hanging out with Jenna, you'd figure it out before I had the chance." He shrugged.

"Joel, I can't believe you're doing this. You've put so much thought and effort into making something special for us. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve you. I have been so awful to you over the last few days," You let out a shaky breath, your heart filled with a strange mix of relief, shame and joy.

A soft smile graces Joel's lips as he brushes a strand of hair from your face. "Don't say that, sweetheart. You deserve the world, and I want to give it to you. I love you more than anything, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Tears stream down your face now, but they're tears of happiness. You lean in and rest your head on Joel's shoulder, feeling the warmth of his presence envelop you. The weight of the misunderstanding lifts, leaving behind a newfound sense of trust and appreciation.

"I love you too, Joel," you whisper, your voice filled with sincerity. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch and for overreacting. I should have known you'd never do anything to hurt me."

"Hey, we all make mistakes, darlin'. It wouldn't be the first time I've got pissed at you for something I misunderstood now is it?." he chuckles quietly, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head.

"I guess no ones perfect," you echo his laughter leaning into him further.

As you sit together on the porch steps, surrounded by the beauty of the snowfall, you realize that the snow isn't the only thing that's melting. The icy barriers that had formed between you and Joel are slowly thawing away, leaving behind a comfortable quiet.

"So, now that the cats out of the bag, will you…?" he asks his deep voice thick with emotion.

"Will I what handsome?" You look up at him teasing, your eyes twinkling.

A playful grin tugs at the corners of Joel's mouth as he meets your gaze. "Will you marry me, my beautiful, stubborn, and occasionally misunderstood partner in crime?" he asks, his voice laced with a mixture of nervousness and hope.

Your heart skips a beat at his words, and a surge of excitement courses through you. You pretend to ponder his question, a mischievous glint in your eyes. "Well, I don't know, Joel. I mean, after all that's happened, can I really trust you with my heart?" you tease, a smile playing on your lips.

Joel feigns a look of hurt, placing a hand dramatically over his heart. "Oh, come on now. I've endured snowball fights, kitchen mishaps, you and Ellie ganging up on me and even your questionable taste in movies. If that's not true love, I don't know what is."

Laughter bubbles up from within you, and you lean in closer, pressing your forehead against his. "Joel, you are my love and my rock. Of course, I'll marry you," you say, your voice filled with so much love.

In that peaceful moment, wrapped in the calm of the snowfall and the safety of his strong arms, you realize that there will be silly arguments, misunderstandings and cold shoulders, but you will always find your way back to each other. You let out a sigh of contentment as Joel presses silent kisses against your head, happy to sit here forever wrapped up in him.

Knowing that Joel and Ellie will forever be your guiding lights.

#joel x reader #Joel miller x reader #joel x female reader #joel miller x female reader #joel x f!reader #joel miller #ellie wili #joel and ellie #joel x you #joel x y/n #Pedro pasca #tlou fanfiction #the last of us #tlou fic #fic request #mylostloversbookmarks

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mewtwoevolution · 8 months

Text

The program stared at the egg incubator, the display having been replaced with a heart monitor. The machine working in a pinch on the tiny thing inside.

The humans were talking with an engineering facility a couple cities over for a more specific model to be made for the ‘fetus’ as they kept referring to it. He didn’t think that was right based on the definitions it could search. This was already born and seemed wanted no matter how small and fragile the poor think appeared. They tried to zoom in more but the cameras were at the farthest they could go. It was so small that some details were lost. It was green and white much like it’s parent.. it’s father? Yes father. He was still one, the brother of the clones.

He looked to One, the medications had tinted the liquid a strange tint of yellow in the usually mostly clear suspension liquids. Meant to keep the surgical stitches clean and extra sanitized the very wet environment. The mewtwo was looking much better in just mere hours of the removal of the organ and child that had been causing the nutrient drain. His avatar flicked an ear towards the microphone that heard the humans talking to Nine.

The Humantwo reiterated again that Donor was unable to reproduce, that this was unexpected and they eventually should have the med ward see if the rest of the two clones had this odd organ after this situation was stable. It wasn’t exactly a uterus but it also was, it was explained again, no it didn’t have human relevant ovaries. The organ had been sent for study at the Pokémon reproduction and evolution building. Maria was going to handle the majority of the records for them…

He noted all he heard. This would be important for helping the mewtwo but… immediately it was of no help for One, this organ was removed and no longer a possible threat to his weak health. That didn’t rule out being existent in the others and this new tiny life.

The baby got his attention again. It was so small but kept twitching, the oxygen rich tank keeping its tiny wheezes and unpracticed breathing enough to sustain it.

Nine finally told the others to just monitor One and he’d try to get through to Donor, he listened to Nine mumble to himself. He logged that away to the file he had on Nine, “Is there anything I may be of help for?” He asked Nine directly from a smaller screen speaker near him.

The humantwo jumped a bit, his fur fluffing up a bit before he called, “Damnit, I’d almost forgotten about you. Don’t you dare report any of this to Travis or his team.”

That caught him off guard. That was exactly the opposite of what he’d been first told… “I must follow directives given by my admin.”

“Ugh, of course you would. Look, at least don’t tell him anything until we’re ready. Nothing makes sense just yet, it’s all hypotheticals at most. Now what was it you wanted?” Nine sounded tired and irritable. Understandable as it was nearing midnight…

“I wanted to know what help I could be at the moment,” he repeated for him.

“Uh, I don’t know. Just see what you can gather I guess. You’re here anyways and don’t need sleep,” Nine rubbed his face, “Sorry for snapping. I don’t like Travis, none of us really do. He’s nosey and has only ever made things worse for our facility with his grand ideas…”

He noted more for the private file and hesitated… was that true? He should check back on past reports when he gets the chance, “Of course. Anything to help. Thank you, I appreciate this.”

Nine looked up at the screen the avatar floated on, “Appreciate?” He asked confused before adding with a bit of curiosity, “Was that a programmed response?”

“… No,” he answered honestly, “Tyler taught me that.”

The human two looked thoughtful a long moment, “Alright… be careful what you pick up Ai. Not everything you’ll learn is good. But that one is….” He turned to go.

“You left your personal tablet over by One’s tank,” he let Nine know before he was too far.

“Huh? Oh, thank you…” Nine went to grab it and headed off.

His attention was drawn back to the incubator. Noting the teeny paws had moved over the delicate eyelids… so it had started to sense light. That was positive… no, that was good. It was very good. Showed responsiveness. His rarely expressive face cracked a small smile for a few seconds.

This little life was good… He had hope it would pull through its struggles… A camera focused on One again… They both would…

#mewtwo oc #mewtwo #pokemon #ask blog #mewten crew #mirage program #9 mewtwo #one mewtwo #sprout mewty #just a little interaction update

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cypherverze · 1 year

Text

CHAPTER SEVEN

Hardest Part of Ending is Starting Again

an avengers x john wick crossover fanfic

You can access the previous chapter here: Chapter Six | Series Masterlist Access

PAIRINGS: avengers x teen!reader (platonic) , tony stark x niece!reader , john wick x daughter!reader , peter parker x female!reader

SUMMARY: After arriving in Venice, Italy to meet the one and only Nick Fury who had asked for your assistance in the current mission, you find it really hard to trust the person that you’re helping.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: hello! here’s chapter seven. sorry it took some time to be posted, i was just not really feeling well. not feeling well in life and general, i had also decided to cross post this on my wattpad account. the next chapter will be taking a long time to be posted since i’ll be posting the rest of the chapters on my wattpad account. if you want to check it out in wattpad, my username is @/cypherverze. i tweaked the movie, if you had noticed. i think that this will be a long series story, since a lot of stuff will be happening.

please excuse the typos if ever you found any. likes, comments, and reblogs are very much appreciated. thank you so much for liking and supporting my work!

REMINDERS: this story is pure fiction. i do not own the characters of avengers, spider-man, and john wick franchise. this work is originally written by the author (me), please do not copy or repost my work in other platforms.

WARNINGS: foul language, mention of guns and death

WORD COUNT: 5,600

You bid Happy goodbye and stepped out of the private jet, you had your cases and duffel bag with you, and you’re already wearing the mask that Tony had made. Happy will be going back to New York for the meantime, leaving you in Italy with Fury’s guidance. But he made sure that you’ll call him the moment that the mission is over, since he doesn’t want to face Tony’s wrath. You made your way towards a corner, in one of the alley, and saw Fury waiting for you.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Fury said, looking at you unamused.

“Isn’t this a SHIELD agenda? You remember that I don’t want to get involve in any other way with your business. So if I’m going to be assisting you with something, the mask stays.” Fury nodded at you, “So what do you need me for?”

“We can discuss it further later on. Follow me, and let’s get you settled in. We need to pick someone up right after.” You nodded and followed Fury in an alley, leading into an underground cave.

“Huh, it’s cool that you had built a makeshift camp here. Looks so neat.” You looked around the cave in fascination.

When you entered, you saw Maria Hill and Dmitri nodding at you as a greeting. You dropped your stuff on the ground, and you noticed a person that’s wearing a golden armor with a pink cape and a fishbowl helmet, which is you find a bit odd. You tilted your head a bit, looking at the weird person, until the fishbowl helmet came off, revealing a man. He walked towards you and Fury, introducing himself to you.

“Hi, I’m Quentin Beck, you can just call me Quentin.” He held out his hand for you to shake.

Somehow you got the feeling that this man cannot be trusted, you feel iffy about him. Your intuition is never wrong, you always go with your intuition and never doubting it. But for the sake of humanity’s safety, you’ll give this man the benefit of the doubt and just keep everything to yourself for the meantime. Besides, you can’t really accuse him of something without any proof, you’ll look like a fool if you accuse him of being suspicious as your reason, but nevertheless, you’re onto him. He’s a good looking man, you’ll give him that, but you’ll be watching him like a hawk.

“Thalia.” You said as you grabbed his hand and shook it.

Like hell you’ll tell this man your real name, he already gives you an off vibe. There’s no way in hell this man would find out your real name. Fury had also smiled softly at you, he knew very well how little you trust other people, especially people that you had just met that had set you off in a not pleasant way.

“You can take off your mask.” He turned to you.

“Thank you, but the mask stays.” Fury can’t do anything about it, so he respected your decision and just nodded.

“Thalia here will be assisting us on this mission and will be helping me in bringing in the last person that will help us.”

You got settle in and fixed your things in a corner, you loaded up a few gun and tucked them under your coat. You had also been briefed of what is currently happening and what you all are up against—elementals. After the quick briefing, Fury had called for you, and motioned you to follow him, the both of you exiting the cave and heading to towards the boat that you’ll be riding to pickup the person that he metioned earlier.

“Here, you’ll be needing this.” Fury said as he handed you a tranquilizer gun and grabbed it, placing it inside your coat.

You both arrived at the hotel and head down the boat, you two entered the hotel where Peter and the rest of the class had been staying in. The hotel was kind of a bit flooded inside, where anyone can possibly get a leptospirosis if someone is stupid enough to walk barefoot inside—you can’t help but shiver at the thought. You were able to get across the water by walking on the wooden plank that had been placed by the hotel’s management.

There was no sign yet of the class being back, so you assumed that they’re still outside exploring the area. The person at the reception area hadn’t noticed you coming in as well since the person was too busy doing something to notice you, probably noting that you’re a guest that had been checked in. Fury already knew which room that Peter was staying in, and he had motioned you to unlock the door, both letting yourselves inside.

Fury sat on the couch that was near the door and you stood beside him. The area where the couch was placed is a bit dark, so no one will notice the both of you when people come in. You were just observing the room, taking in the slightly dingy place, when you heard series of voices right outside of the room, notifying you and Fury that they are already here.

“What are you gonna do about the water monster?” The voice was a bit muffled, but you knew that it was Ned talking.

“Nothing. It’s dead, and besides, that Mysterio guy’s all over it. Look, I just wanna spend some time with MJ. We were talking about Paris, and I think she really likes me.” Peter’s voice became louder as he and Ned approached and entered the room.

“That’s nice. Reminds me of when Betty and I first fell in love. I had just finished my fruit cobbler, right, and-“

Before Ned can finish what he’s saying, you had shot him right in the neck with the tranquilizer, causing him to immediately fall on the floor. You put back the tranquilizer gun inside your coat.

“You’re a very difficult person to contact, Spider-man.” Fury said, as Peter turned towards the both of you, eye widened in shock.

“You’re Nick Fury…and your agent just shot Ned.” Peter said in disbelief.

You walked towards Ned and lifted him up, with Peter helping you and placing Ned right on the bed. You didn’t notice that Peter had recognized your watch, the watch your father always wear, and now you always wear—that’s when he realized that it was actually you. You went back to Fury’s side and just stood there, staring at Peter.

Peter wondered what you were doing—being with Nick Fury of all people. He’s aware that SHIELD knows you, but he doesn’t know how deep that goes and the close bond you share with Nick Fury. He knows very well your stance against being involved with anyone, especially the avengers, and now with SHIELD.

“Thalia, meet spider-man. Spider-man, meet Thalia.” Fury introduced you both, and you nod at Peter. “Thalia had shot Ned with a mild tranquilizer, he’ll be all right. It is good to finally meet you.”

“Uh, you too.” Peter replied nervously.

“But enough with the introductions, I know that you know me, and the important thing is you’re here. I tried to bring you here but avoided me, and now you’re here. What a coincidence.”

“Wait. Was this a coincidence?” Peter looked at Fury, an eyebrow raised at him.

“I don’t really appreciate it when someone dodges my calls, especially knowing that the one’s dodging my calls is a high school kid. Let me give you a quick run through of what had happened—a week ago, a village in Mexico was wiped out by a cyclone, witnesses say that the cyclone had a face. Three days later, a similar event in Morocco. A village was-“

Fury was cut off when someone knocked on the door, you quickly pulled out your gun pointing it at the door. This time, it was not the tranquilizer anymore, but already an actual gun that can really kill. You kept your gaze remained at Peter, and you saw the panic flashed in his eyes. The one who opened the door was Mr. Harrington, peeking his head inside the room.

“Just making the rounds, see if anyone needs any counseling after today’s traumatic events.” Harrington said.

“No, we’ll be okay! We’re fine. Thank you.” Peter quickly said.

“Great, because I’m not qualified to actually…” He turned his attention towards the bed and saw Ned already sleeping, “Oh, he’s passed out. I’m not qualified to do it anyways, so good night.” Harrington decided to leave and closed the door.

“That was my teacher. Sorry about that. You were saying?” Peter let out a nervous laugh.

“A village was destroyed by what may well be another world threatening-“ Fury was cut off again. Your gun still pointed at the door, never once put it down.

“Babe, you still awake?” You had recognized the voice, it was Betty Brant. “You’re not answering any of my texts.”

You can’t really miss that voice, especially when it’s the one you always hear when you arrive at school and walking along the hallways. The voice was a bit muffled because the sound is being blocked by the door, but you can hear it clearly enough to recognize the owner of the voice.

Who the hell is she calling babe? It’s certainly not Peter.

Then you turn your gaze at Ned’s passed out figure, your eyes widen at the sudden realization.

“Umm, he’s asleep, Betty.”

Betty was calling Ned, babe?! Since when did those two got together?!

“Oh, already?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” You heard Betty leave the door.

“That’s why it’s imperative-“ Fury was cut off, again. You can already feel the frustration radiating off of him, he’s about to flip the fuck out, but you held back his shoulders with your free hand.

“Hey, boys. So that canal water today was filled with dangerous bacteria.” This time, it was Mr. Dell.

“Another person touches that door, Thalia won’t hesitate to shoot them, and you and I are going to end up attending a funeral.” Fury finally having none of it, and stood up. “Suit up.” He firmly said.

“Let me know if you develop vomiting.” Mr. Dell had retreated from the door.

Fury opened the door, and as you were about to follow him, you felt Peter gently grabbed your wrist, and stopping you from following Fury.

“(Y/N), please help me out. I promised myself that I won’t be doing any superhero stuff while on this trip.” He pleaded, “Please. I just really wanted to enjoy this trip without being Spider-man, and I want to seize every moment with MJ.”

You deactivated your mask and stared directly at Peter’s eyes for a while. Goddamn those cute brown eyes—but you quickly snapped yourself back to reality, trying not to get cave into those brown eyes. You do really want to help him out, but you can’t. It’s you versus Nick Fury, and the best choice is that you should pick is Fury. You don’t want to be on the man’s bad side.

“Peter.” You firmly said and sighed, “I’m really sorry…I really do want to help you and be able to enjoy the trip with MJ, but I can’t help you on this one, my hands are tied. Just do what Nick asks of you, and if you do it, the sooner you can finish and spend time with MJ. But until then, you have no choice but to follow him.” You look at him one last time and activated your mask.

You closed the door as you exit the room, and leaned on one of the walls, waiting for Peter to get suited up. Fury was already downstairs, waiting for the both of you by the reception area. You snapped your attention towards the door and saw Peter came out, you motioned him to follow you. You both walked down the flight of stairs towards the reception area in silence, not uttering any word to each other.

The both of you quickly followed Fury towards a boat that was waiting for the three of you by the canals. Fury took control of the both as both you and Peter sat at the back, by the edge of the boat. You deactivated your mask to get some fresh air and maybe enjoy the view that Venice offers during the nighttime.

“Didn’t know you work with SHIELD now.” Peter initiated a conversation.

“I’m not.” He looked at you in confusion, “You do know that I sometimes lend my assistance to the avengers, and that also counts in Fury.” Peter nodded at your reply.

“What’s with the mask and Nick Fury calling you Thalia? Is that kind of your superhero name now?” You laughed at Peter’s response.

“You know very well that I’m far from being a superhero, Peter. I asked uncle Tony to make me this mask, he doesn’t really know the purpose of the mask that he’s making for me, but he knows that I’ll use this mask to get those people that are all after me off of my trail. I’ll be using this as well whenever someone from the team or Nick Fury asks for my assistance. Double purpose.” You chuckled.

“As for Thalia? Hmm, it’s really because of this mask,” You showed Peter. The mask can also be activated without it being attached to the face, “This is the mask of comedy, I assume that you have a knowledge of it. Mask of comedy and tragedy are a symbol of theater—the mask of comedy is known as Thalia, she’s the-“

“The muse of comedy and idyllic poetry. Never really pinned you as a theater girl.” Peter turned and smiled at you, “And with a bit of few stuff that I knew about you, I was expecting for you to pick mask of tragedy.”

“Well, what can I say? There are still a lot of stuff you really don’t know about me, Peter.” You said as you look softly at him.

“In the months that had passed of getting to know you, I do know the basics—how Mr. Stark is your uncle, that your parents are no longer with you. But other than that, I don’t know other deep stuff about you. Why’s that?”

“Why is what?” You looked at him confused.

“Why do you keep people at arm’s length.”

“Ah. It’s better if you knew little stuff about me and you know, less is better. Besides, can’t let people be too attached to me. You don’t have to worry though, you’re a good friend Peter.”

You scoffed at the word friend in your head. You knew that Peter has a lot of questions, but before he can ask them, Fury had announced that you already arrived at the location. You placed back the chip behind your ear and activated your mask. You two followed Fury off the both and walked towards the alley where you had just been earlier, walking through the corridors of the underground vault.

“You can lose the mask, everyone has seen you with it.” Peter looked at you, but you are already looking at him, knowing that Fury was talking about him and not you, “You’d be feigning anonymity and breathing through spandex for no good reason.” You chuckled, you certainly aren’t the one wearing a spandex.

“Piece of advice, don’t trust someone too much because I know you tend to do the a lot and getting hurt right after.” You whispered at Peter, and catching up right after Fury. He just looked at you confused, didn’t know the meaning of what you had just said.

Peter stopped on his tracks and removed the mask, you can’t help but notice the exhaustion masking his face. He began examining the makeshift camp that had been put up by Fury and his team, before Fury calls for him. Deeper inside the cave, the place was loaded with a bunch of spy equipment, hardware, computers and whatnot. It’s basically sort of a special operations covert spy base.

“Over there, we have Maria Hill.” Fury began introducing the team to Peter, and Maria was operating a computer, sparing Peter little attention, “This is Dmitri,” Dmitri, the Russian that was sitting next to Maria, had cocked a crossbow. You noticed that Peter got scared a bit, causing you to let out a quiet chuckle.

“And this is Mr. Beck.” Fury had pointed to a man clad in a gold armor with a pink cape.

“Mysterio?” Peter asked in confusion, he was wondering why Mysterio is there.

“What?” Beck replied.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s just what my friends have been calling you.”

“Well, you can call me Quentin.” Beck stretched out a hand towards Peter and shook their hands, “You handled yourself well out there today. I saw what you did with the tower. We could use someone like you on my world.”

As the two of them converse, you can’t help but observe Beck intently. The odd feeling that you had felt inside of you before, came crawling back again to resurface. You really can’t find any reason at all to trust the man.

“Thanks.” Peter said, but suddenly realizing what Beck had said, “I’m sorry, your world?”

“Mr. Beck is from earth. Just not yours.” Fury explained.

“There are multiple realities, Peter. This is earth dimension 616. I’m from earth 833.”

Beck had positioned himself behind a table, Fury and Peter following him. You just stayed behind Fury, listening silently in the conversation. You just leaned on the wall, observing everything, noticing a bit of mannerisms from every person that is with you in the room, and taking a mental note of it. Those mannerisms can be useful when things go wrong and can use it to your advantage.

“Sorry, you’re saying there’s a multiverse? I thought that was theoretical. That changes how we understand the initial singularity.” Fury and Maria turned towards Peter, a bit confused.

You smiled softly at Peter. You really like it when he babbles stuff, it’s kind lf endearing for you whenever Peter get a bit excited and began spewing information that you even have no idea of. You like watching Peter be in his element where he thrives, you always learn new things through him.

“Your crush is showing and you’re drooling.” Maria said and smirked at she passed by you.

“I am not!” You whisper-yelled at Maria.

“We’re talking about an eternal inflation system. How does that even work with all the quantum? It’s insane.” Peter noticed that Fury and Maria was looking at him with exasperation, “Sorry. It’s really cool.” He apologized quickly. Noticed that he got a bit excited.

“Don’t even apologize for being the smartest one in the room.” Peter smiled broadly at Beck, a bit flattered. Fury scoffing faintly.

“Anyway.” Maria said, as she triggers a holographic projection of the elementals and their origins.

“They were born in stable orbits within black holes. Creatures formed from the primary elements—air, water, fire, and earth. The science division had a technical name. We just called them elementals.” Beck began explaining.

“Versions of them exist across our mythologies.” Maria added.

“Turns out, the myths are real.” Beck supporting what Maria had just said.

“Like Thor. Thor was a myth, now I study him in my physics class.”

“These myths are threats.” Fury chimed in on the conversation.

“They first materialized on my earth many years ago.” A holographic 3D model of Beck’s earth flashed, “We mobilized and fought them, but with each battle, they grew, got stronger. I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them.”

A wave of fire being shown on the holographic slowly engulfed the planet’s surface, rendering it a barren and charred wasteland.

“All we did was delay the inevitable.” Beck added.

“The elementals are here now, attacking the same coordinates. Our satellites confirm it.” Maria said.

“So thanks Mr. Beck for destroying the other three. There’s only one left—fire.” Fury said.

“The strongest of them all. The one that destroyed my earth. It’s the one that took my family.” Beck said with sadness in his voice.

You rolled your eyes at Beck’s piss poor story, which surely you’re not buying at all. You literally can see through the man, you had taken note of the mannerisms that you had observed from Beck that he does unconsciously, and the wedding ring on Beck’s ring finger was not helping at all.

“I’m sorry.” You heard Peter say.

“It will be in Prague in approximately forty-eight hours.” Maria updated.

“We have one mission, and that is to kill it.” Fury firmly said, turning his attention towards Peter, “And you’re coming with us.”

“I’m sorry, did you say Prague?” Peter glances at you, then at Maria. He’s uncertain whether he had heard Maria right or not, “Um, Mr. Fury, this is all seems like bigtime, you know, huge superhero kind of stuff. And I mean, I’m just a friendly neighborhood spider-man, sir.”

“Bitch please.” Fury was having none of it.

“Sir come on, there’s gotta be someone else you can use. What about the avengers?” Peter turned to look at you, asking silently for some help, but you just shrug your shoulders.

“The avengers are all unavailable right now, they are away on a mission. They can’t be on both places at once.”

“Sir, look, I really wanna help. I do. But if my aunt finds out I left my class trip, she’s gonna kill me.” Peter explained, “And if I’m seen like this in Europe, after the Washington Monument, my class will figure out who I am then, and then the whole world will figure out who I am, and then I’m done.”

“Okay. I understand.” Fury said, which made Peter a bit taken back.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Why don’t you get back before your teachers, who miss you, become suspicious.” Fury smiled knowingly, “Thalia, Dmitri. Take him back to the hotel, please.” He turned to you and you nodded. You straightened yourself, walking towards the exit of the cave, waiting for Peter. Dmitri had already exited the cave, preparing the boat.

“Thank you, Mr. Fury, and good luck.” He prepares to leave, walking past Beck.

“See you, kid.” Beck bid him goodbye.

“Yeah, see you.” Peter replied, “Bye, ma’am.” Bidding goodbye to Maria as well.

Peter walked towards you and you both went out. Heading towards the boat, you sat at the end of the boat again, with Peter sitting right beside you.

“You do know that I can’t help you guys on this one, right?” Peter began speaking, you just listened to him, “I only get one shot to be with MJ, one chance to level up my relationship, and I don’t want to mess it up. I have been planning it the whole trip.” He sighed.

“I know, you’ve said it a bunch of times now, Pete. So many times that my ears are about to fall off.” You joked, “Nick won’t ask for you if you can’t handle the situation. He trusts you, y’know. He sees your potential.”

“I really do want to help, but I can’t.”

“Yeah. You’ve alredy made that clear back at the camp, we can’t really do anything about it now, huh.”

The boat stopped right in front of the hotel. You watched Peter as he got up from the seat and prepared to leave the boat, when he looked at you. Following his actions, he opened his arms, motioning you to go in for a hug.

“I guess I’ll be seeing you soon, probably when we get back in New York.” Peter said as he break the hug.

“Yeah. You go ahead now, have a good night, Peter.” He nodded, “Good luck with MJ.” You sat beside Dmitri as he drove back to the place.

You knew very well that Fury was planning something under his sleeves the moment you saw him smiled. Peter may haven’t noticed Fury’s smile, but you did. You know damn well that Fury won’t take no for an answer, you can confirm that he’s cooking up something for sure.

The whole class was now waiting outside of the hotel for the teachers, they are now getting ready to head to their next country for the school trip, which is Paris—the one that Peter had been looking forward to the most.

“Hey man, are you sure you’re good?” Peter checked up on Ned, following the recent event that happened last night.

“Oh, dude, I’m fine.” Ned assured him.

“Okay. Nice.” Peter was still worried about Ned.

“Okay, don’t worry. Seriously—getting tranq’d in the neck by Nick Fury, probably the coolest thing that ever happened to me anyway.”

“It was his agent that shot you.”

“Still, the orders had been from Nick Fury. So it still cool.”

“It is pretty awesome. Yeah. I’m happy I don’t have to go to Prague.” Then the both of them perform their high-five combo.

“Seriously.”

Mr. Harrington walked out of the hotel, walking past Peter and Ned, and gathering all of the students.

“Good news. We’re going to Prague, huh?” Mr. Harrington announced.

“What? What?!” Peter grasped his hair in frustration.

“Yeah. Tour company just called, and they upgraded us. You should’ve heard me on the phone with them. I really gave them hell.”

“All I heard was crying.” Mr. Dell chimed in.

Mr. Harrington had guided the class towards the direction of where a bus was waiting for them. Dmitri and you are waiting by the entrance of the bus, just waiting for the whole class to board. You were standing there, with your arms crossed on your chest, and wearing your usual whole black outfit—black turtle neck, pants, trench coat, and combat boots. You saw Peter looked at you in disbelief.

“Look at our upgraded ride.” Mr. Harrington said excitedly and you heard a few amazed comments from the students.

“I’m impressed, Mr. Harrington.” Mr. Dell said.

“Oh, come on.” Peter said in exasperation, Ned turning to look at him.

“Peter, w-what’s going on?”

“I think Nick Fury just hijacked our summer vacation, and that’s the one who shot you.” Peter whisper yelled at Ned, and pointed at you.

Mr. Harrington had walked towards you and Dmitri. Introducing himself, but Dmitri remained stoic, but you decided that you’ll be doing the talking to make everyone feel at ease, it’s already weird enough that you’re there with your mask on. The students began piling up inside the bus, it didn’t take any long for the bus to be filled, and you were the last one to enter the bus, following Dmitri. You had sat on the first seat, and began talking to Dmitri a little bit, but your conversation was in Russian, to avoid from being eavesdropped. The both of you would sometimes talk back in the underground camp in Venice, he’s a nice guy, and he has became a brother figure to you.

“Yo, what’s up, Flash Mob? It’s your boy, the big F, cruising through the Alps with my private driver, Dmitri and bodyguard, Thalia.”

Flash had been on livestream ever since the school trip began, and now that you had witnessed it yourself, Flash had never failed to annoy you so much, even back in school. You had been holding everything back from punching his throat to shut up.

“Этот парень когда-нибудь затыкается? Этот парень действительно раздражает меня до чертиков. Я хочу проткнуть ему горло.” You murmured, making Dmitri laugh.

“Почему бы тебе не попробовать, ребенок?”

“Я бы буквально хотел, но не хочу оказаться в тюрьме.” You shrugged, Dmitri just chuckled and turned his attention back on the road.

Meanwhile, Peter was reading an article called “Top 10 Romantic Places in Prague” at his seat, and occasionally glancing at MJ then at you. He wants to move seats, beside you, to ask you what had just happened. He thought that Fury had already understood and agreed that he won’t be able to help on this mission, which he had already made clear a few times. After a few hours of being on the road, Dmitri stops at a gas station.

“Petrol and toilets. Ten minutes!” Dmitri opened the door of the bus, you got out first and the students followed. He motioned you to wait for Peter to come down and direct him to the house that he needs to be in.

“Except you, big guy. You go through there.” You immediately grabbed Peter’s shoulder as soon as he stepped down of the bus.

“W-What?” You put an arm around Peter’s shoulder and walked with him towards the house, opening the door and gently shoving him inside.

You distanced yourself from the house, standing by the bus entrance and watching the house where Peter was in. You saw that Brent Davis had accidentally opened the house that Peter was in. You quickly went towards the house, standing behind Brent unnoticed, you were also able to hear the whole ordeal. Brent had just taken a photo of Peter, almost naked and had threatened Peter that he’ll show the photo to MJ. When Brent had turned around, he collided with your figure. You were standing behind him, arms crossed on your chest in an intimidating stature.

“She deserves what truth?” You eyed him, you voice had intimidated Brent.

“N-Nothing.” You put your hand out to him, motioning him to give his phone to you, “W-What, you can’t do that.”

“I can. You has just taken a photo of someone without their consent and had threatened them to send it to someone. If I were you, I would hand in the phone.”

Brent handed you his phone in defeat, he doesn’t want to anger you any longer. Which is a good choice, because it certainly won’t end well, you don’t want to choke hold or threaten the boy with a knife to his throat. You went through Brent’s phone gallery and deleted the photo of Peter almost naked, and deleted as well the photo from the deleted photos section. You also did a quick background check in case he had stashed a copy of the photo. Once it is cleared, you handed the phone back to Brent, and he quickly left to go back to the bus.

Peter was already looking at you, and he thanked you silently, you nodded back at him. You closed the door, this time you’re guarding the door to avoid what had happened earlier from happening again. Both teachers had called for the students, ten minutes had already passed, ushering them back inside the bus. You were the last one again to enter the bus, turning towards your usual seat, you saw that Peter was sitting on the vacant space on your seat. You tilted your head at him, wondering what he’s doing in your seat, and gave you an awkward wave. You sighed and sat beside him.

“What are you doing in my seat?” You said in monotone.

“H-Hey, I just wanted to thank you for what you did earlier with Brent.” Peter scratched the back of his neck.

“Yeah, it’s no problem. Who would want their photos to be taken without any consent and be used as a threat.” You shrugged, “Even I wouldn’t want that.”

“Y-Yeah.” Peter muttered, “Thanks again.”

“Well you go enjoy the trip while it last, because as soon as we arrive in Prague, real shit will start.” You leaned back in your seat and decided to closed your eyes and get some rest.

“Do you mind me sitting beside you until we arrive?” Peter turned to look at you, but you just remained in your position.

You were about to ask Peter if he can go back to his original seat, but you don’t want to be rude, and he had beat you to it. Besides, it’s the closest that you can get with Peter.

“Sure, knock yourself out. Just don’t get your drool all over me when you fall asleep.” You chuckled.

After another hour of being on the road, the bus stopped at a luxurious hotel where the class are designated to stay for the whole duration of the trip, or maybe at least Peter had finished the mission. Everyone had exited the bus, except for you and Dmitri, you’ll need to report back to Fury, make sure that everyone had arrived safely at the destination. Peter was the last one to exit the bus, he looked back at you.

“Aren’t you coming?” Peter asked, “Y’know to keep an eye on something?” He added, and you chuckled at him.

“Nah. We need to report back to Nick, and besides, I’ll be seeing you later again in a few hours. Make sure to answer their call this time, Maria and Nick will be checking in on you.” You said.

“A-Alright then.” Peter got down on the bus, looking at you one last time and waving goodbye before following the rest of the class.

“Ребенок, это тот мальчик, о котором ты упоминал раньше? Мальчик, в которого ты влюблен?” Dmitri turned to you, as he closes the bus.

“Да, но это просто глупая влюбленность. Он смотрит на другую девушку.”

You shrug and just sat on one of the seat, looking out at the window. Dmitri decided not to comment on it anymore and just drove back to where Fury had set his camp.

TRANSLATIONS:

“Этот парень когда-нибудь затыкается? Этот парень действительно раздражает меня до чертиков. Я хочу проткнуть ему горло.” - Does this guy ever shut up? This guy really annoys the shit out of me. I want to punch his throat.

“Почему бы тебе не попробовать, ребенок?” - Why don’t you give it a try, kid?

“Я бы буквально хотел, но не хочу оказаться в тюрьме.” - I literally would, but don’t want to end up in jail.

“Ребенок, это тот мальчик, о котором ты упоминал раньше? Мальчик, в которого ты влюблен?” - Kid, is that the boy you mentioned before? The boy you’re in love with?

“Да, но это просто глупая влюбленность. Он смотрит на другую девушку.” - Yeah. But it’s just a silly crush. He has his eyes set on a different girl.

TAG LIST:

@sirimiripetrichor @nimo-jay @preciousbabypeter @graysonmalik2550 @khaleesihavilliard

85 notes · View notes

almdragonrend · 3 months

Text

I found another old conversation I had, here it is, but I warn you, it's long...

! Yes another reaction! Im really happy we getting more of it!

But please remember OG Katarina's Good deed's not only the Bad ones

And please PLEASE for the Love of Akatosh don't trie to justify Katarina's Exile as if it was anything but in act of complete and crulety!

I have nothing more to say and hope to read more soon

StrangerWager on Chapter 1Sat 01 Oct 2022 02:00PM CEST

As a person who haven't read much of the manga nor the Light Novels, and only with prior knowledge from the anime, I have zero clue of what was OG Katarina's deeds that were not bad. I would appreciate it if I were to be enlightened with some of these facts I do not know about.

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Sat 01 Oct 2022 02:24PM CEST

Okay thank you for asking ^_^ i'd love tell you !

First of when Katarina was younger Baron sherry came to house Claes to force Anne in to a Forced Marriage that played out In OG Fl

The same way it did in they Anime,what you may not know is that the Mann he tried to marry her of to was already above 60 years! And known for committing Domestic Violence on his previous Wifes,So little OG Katarina stood up to protect her lowly Maid who is nothing more than a Commoner point from a grown ass scary looking Adult,

She also never bullyd Sophia despite the rest of Sociar Nobility Children doing it

She even told her own grown clique to leave Sophia alone as she was the little sister of her fiances best friend

Which is more than Geordo ever did for the Ascards,

She encouraged Sianna Nelson daughter of the lowest ranked Noble family in all of Sociar after seeing her hard work

And Sianna became Katarina's best friend despite being just one single step about a Commoner in her status

Which shows that even OG Katarina cared more about a persons personality than status when choosing friends

She only gets on trial in the routes were Maria tries it with either Katarina's Fiance or adopted Brother or both

And that with the Alan was just a miss translation when the Harem route was meant

Ps:I hope this was helpfull,please tell me ^_^

Last Edited Sat 01 Oct 2022 02:27PM CEST

StrangerWager on Chapter 1Sat 01 Oct 2022 02:37PM CEST

You have my deepest gratitude. Thank you for the new found knowledge that shall be used for this work.

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Sat 01 Oct 2022 02:43PM CEST

Im the one who should thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain ^-^

But there is also something else...

It's just a rumor so i didn't include it in my explanation,

Do you wanna hear it ?

StrangerWager on Chapter 1Sat 01 Oct 2022 02:44PM CEST

By all means go ahead, I'll fact check it along the way.

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Sat 01 Oct 2022 02:57PM CEST

Thank you ^_^!

Well there actually two rumours

First of,apparently no matter which route you choose Maria's actuall first crush was Katarina even in the FL time line

Second the more obvious Katarina only behaved the way she did in the Game because of Raphael/Sirius dark magic

Please let me know what you think or know about that ^_^!

Thank you ^_^!

Well there actually two rumours

First of,apparently no matter which route you choose Maria's actuall first crush was Katarina even in the FL time line

Second the more obvious Katarina only behaved the way she did in the Game because of Raphael/Sirius dark magic

Please let me know what you think or know about that ^_^!

StrangerWager on Chapter 1Sat 01 Oct 2022 03:29PM CEST

Well, that certainly is something, I'll still see if whether or not this may be used or not.

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Sat 01 Oct 2022 03:32PM CEST

Thank you ^_^!

Im already hiped for the next chapter ^_^!

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Sun 02 Oct 2022 12:57PM CEST

Hold it... the dark magic thing makes too much sense.

Since OG Katarina's exagerated actions towards OG Maria were out of character for her if what you said is true.

It would also explain why an trained swordsman like OG Geordo would Kill OG Katarina instead of disarming her despite being (probably) skilled enough for it...

OG Keith magic going crazy is more easily believable.

So...everything bad that happened with OG Katarina can be traced back to Sirius (well...traced to the mage whispering in his ear but still).

I already have great sympathy for both OG Katarina and OG Maria.

if both rumours are true that scaled even higher...

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Sun 02 Oct 2022 02:46PM CEST

Yea i used to hate OG Maria,ans she certainly is a coward but...

After hearing about it i most say it turned the whole thing in an even greater tragedy...

Can you imagen your first love being killed for being mean to you...?

Also Katarina only tries to kill OG Maria in the Bad ending

Meaning she is already sentenced to Exile = death for a spoiled Duke Daughter

Meaning even Dark Magic can only bring Katarina to kill Maria if Maria has already become the catalyst for her own demise not before....

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Sun 02 Oct 2022 03:50PM CEST

I think dark magic was involved from the beginning.

OG Katarina being mad at OG Maria in Geordo's route makes sense ( and it's completly fair), but it makes little sense in the Keith's route.

OG Katarina disliked OG Keith and OG Maria wasn't the first woman he courted, so it still is out of character for her.

And the Exile ending has Keith/Geordo print all over it, because they both disliked OG Katarina and i have a hard time beliving OG Maria resented Katarina's treatment.

Also i would not go as far as to call OG Maria a coward, after her magic manifested she had no positive human interaction at all...

The people of her village avoided because of her magic, her supposed existence because of an affair or both.

Her father left and her mother couldn't even look at her in the eye.

So she had a combo of critically low self esteem and affection starved.

Also the only routes that OG Maria was in the wrong in my opinion are Geordo and Alan (since both are betrothed to another)

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Sun 02 Oct 2022 06:28PM CEST

That is really worth a tought,

Bout if the s the One she "actually loves" is Katarina is truth?

Id asks alot of questions

Like maybe she got only on with Keith/Geordo because of their connection to Katarina?

Also Maria is suposed to "see" dark magic

Something is of here....

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Sun 02 Oct 2022 10:42PM CEST

Since the choice is player based we can only speculate.

About the 'see dark magic thing', Fortune lover is a video game and Raphael/Sirius is an hidden capture target.

I don't know how the route is unlocked, but if it's supposed to be hidden maybe OG Maria needed to unlock a certan skill level or achieve something that allowed her to see dark magic.

If it was that obvious it would be a pretty on the nose hidden route for a video game.

My theory is that OG Maria 'persuit' of the capture targets was more on her need to have an good human connection (aka out of loneliness and desperation).

So i assume the hidden route would apear when she achieved enough self confidence/resolve to do so.

I don't see the OG Maria that would hide behind a capture target as having that conviction.

The Isekai Maria on the other hand confronted Sirius alone by her own will power (Bakarina's kindess gave her the confidence boost) and that Maria is the one that we are sure can see dark magic.

Because of that i belive that OG Maria needed to make the other capture targets lives and selves better without losing to her loneliness, then she would be able to truly help Raphael. (but that is just my theory)

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Sun 02 Oct 2022 11:08PM CEST

Also, since we are sharing theories.

Three things that always made me scratch my head:

- All routes have a single rival (except Katarina that apears in two)

- All routes rivals share their element with the capture target (except Katarina[earth] in Geordo[fire] route)

- In 'Verge of destruction' another rival apears and is interested in Geordo and acts like what one would expect from a villainess (Noelia[fire])

I have a theory for that (again i treat Fortune Lover as a video game)

I think in the test/beta version of the game Katarina is the rival in Keith's route and Noelia is the rival in Geordo's route.

But since Katarina would be the sister rival it would overlap in base concept with Sophia and Nicol, and the somewhat similar stage presence of Villain Katarina and Villain Noelia would create another redundancy,

so i assume the developers scrapped Noelia as an character and transfered some of her dialogue to Katarina.

Noelia doesn't apear in the Base isekai because Bakarina apeared before the game started, but she apears in the Verge of destruction because the game already started and Bakarina's apearance glitched the game back to the Beta because it needed someone in the Villain role.

Just a theory

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Sun 02 Oct 2022 11:31PM CEST

Might be

But That stitl dosen't explain the "Katarina = first love"part

Also i highly doubt That anyone but Katarina can give Maria the necessary confidence

Than again its sometimes suggested That someone Isekaid from Sociar to Katarina's RL

And their maid FL....

BUT Please Explain What do you Think about the Katarina part?

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Mon 03 Oct 2022 02:06AM CEST

That is a difficult question, but i will do my best.

Warning it will be a long comment...

Lets start with a simple but complicated question: what makes people fall in love?

- Do they treat you different form everyone else?

- Do you admire something about them?

- Do you just enjoy their company more then usual?

- Do you share a connection with them?

- Do they complete you in a significant whay?

With those questions in mind:

- OG katarina kinda fits on the first, others where moved by envy, self importance or self steem issues , Katarina might have seen OG Maria as a threat to her future, so she was the first to take her seriously and more than just a cute face with undeserved magic.

- That is easy to answer, OG Katarina AND Bakarina are so unapologetic themselves that someone like Maria that works hard to be accepted can admire they carring their hearts on their sleeve.

- That is a hard NO, i fear.

- They have the contrast connetion, Katarina is a proud high rank noble, but has weak magic and worse academics, Maria is a shy humble commoner, but has a rare and powerful magic and excells academically, in short they don't fit exacly in their expected envioment.

- Again OG Katarina and Bakarina have the confidance that Maria lacks, they are proud of themselves despite many believing that outside of their title there is very little to be proud of, Maria has a lot of skills and despite having them she still does't fell that is enough.

Or Maria would fall in love for no reason a all, love is weird.

That wall of text tries to explain why OG Maria would fall for OG Katarina.

But now as to why OG Katarina was the first:

All capture targets didn't take OG Maria seriously, they were dismissive ( Geordo[the see everything grey 'perfect' prince], Nicol[way to focused on his sister], Alan[self steem issues]) or saw her as another petty face (Keith[the flirty playboy]), OG katarina took her seriously, BAD seriously but still.

Because they took longer to open up to OG Maria, any points that require them showing their stories delayed the love route, BUT OG Katarina basically roars what she is about with little regard for anything.

On the begining the "enjoy company" part is on the negative for everyone (including OG katarina) so no point for anyone

Again BOTH OG Katarina and Bakarina are open books, aka easier to understand and relate than the others.

Put all that with OG Maria's unhealty lack of human affection...it's possible.

TL,DR: i belive that is possible that OG Katarina would be OG Maria first crush, not a very healty one but still.

Does that answer the question in a decent way?

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Mon 03 Oct 2022 10:14AM CEST

Yes it dose answer it,

But,if we assume just for moment That it is a fact rather than theory

How exactly would That make you feel emotionally?

And how do you thing OG Maria was feeling about it after everything was sad and done ?

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Mon 03 Oct 2022 09:09PM CEST

Hmm...

There are two Capture targets (Geordo and Keith) and two Endings (Exile and Death)

I will answer both questions depending on the combinations.

-Exile(General)

Disapointed in OG Maria, she doesn't look like the kind of person that would want OG Katarina exiled(or even resent her for that matter), but probably let it go because either she was convinced by her current lover or didn't want to risk put her current situation at risk, but i really belive she will feel guilty(specially in Geordo's route) and really worried for Katarina.

Very Worried/sad for OG Katarina, she got her life ruined and now has to survive in a place she doen't know, since she is a spoiled noble that cant end well. As a bonus, if there was dark magic, it wasn't even her fault at all.

-Exile(Keith)

Angry at OG Keith, while he had fair reasons to hate OG Katarina, saying he went overboard is an undestatment, since he actually had worse before the Claes took him in. And OG Katarina probaly treated him bad because she saw him as proof of her father's infidelity and causing indirect pain to her mother( both undestandable since she was 8 and i belive her mother encoraged her to it).

IF dark magic gave him a push then i feel kinda bad for him too.

-Exile(Geordo)

JUMP OFF A CLIFF, OG Geordo is implied to have little to no care to anyone until OG Maria apeared, aka he used OG Katarina as a tool and i belive that her exile in this case was more to break the engagement without a hit on his reputation and not because of her treatment of OG Maria(because again i dont think Maria would want this).

Even if there was dark magic, he was using and manipulating OG Katarina before any interaction with Sirius, so i repeat...JUMP OFF A CLIFF.

-Death(general)

Feel really bad for OG Maria, she was alone for most of her life, found a first love in OG Katarina that despised her (fairly in Geordo's route), saw said first love DIE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER by the hands of her present love after the former tried to KILL HER, so she will blame HERSELF for Katarina's death, and now her present lover goes in a self imposed exile leaving her totally ALONE AGAIN.

(put that girl on suicide watch, therapy of both geez)

As a bonus (since the murderer left) she will have to endure the repercutions of the nobility alone.

Do i even need to explain OG Katarina...poor girl watched her life being ruined little by little, tried to kill the reason her life was ruined(in her eyes) and said murder atempt wasn't really her choice (dark magic) and then DIED FOR IT. Hope she finds peace...

Death(Keith)

Conflicted between furious and sad for OG Keith, if my memory serves right OG Katarina was killed because he lost control (maybe had dark magic involved) when trying to protect OG Maria.

Dude was tortured in his original home, got a new one where the mother and the older sister didn't treat him well and now he killed his sister and he didn't even mean it. Now he leaves the only one that actually treated him well out of guilt (kinda a dick move on Keith's part but still)

Death(Geordo)

do i even need to go in detail...

Be honest Geordo, you wanted Katarina gone, just not like that because it would reflect bad on you, are you leaving out of guilt or because you are fleeing the consequences.

As a bonus you are leaving Maria behind to deal with the repercution of YOUR actions.

Forget the cliff...JUMP ON A VOLCANO

I guess my opinion in OG Geordo is showing...

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Mon 03 Oct 2022 09:25PM CEST

That is a very good analysis

And that was what I love,it sounds exactly how I think they would feel,

And yea poor OG Katarina

She really is a good girl at the core

Couldn't blame OG Maria for falling for the Girl

If OG Maria ever becomes so powerful in light Magic that she could see all 3 timeliness from her own Birth to 100 after in one moment, how would she feel about it than ?

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Mon 03 Oct 2022 09:38PM CEST

What do you mean?

OG Maria when?

Before the academy, before the endings or after the endings?

What do you mean?

OG Maria when?

Before the academy, before the endings or after the endings?

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Mon 03 Oct 2022 09:44PM CEST

Both,

I really liked to here you thoughts about how she'd feel looking both forward and backward

As i like to talk about such things,

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Mon 03 Oct 2022 10:28PM CEST

What the hell...i will do them all ( i think there are 4 timelines)

Before the academy

- Maria would be horrified to see what would happen because of her. But also would know both Keith and Katarina need her help.

She maybe would try to at least clear the air about Keith being Katarina's half brother, then Katarina could apologise, and Maria would try to protect Katarina from Geordo (poor girl needs it) i don't know if katarina would listen to her. I don't see this Maria going for Geordo, she maybe would try her luck with Keith, Katarina or both.

One detail Maria lacks confidence to do it, but she both cares about them and feels like she owes it to them to do her best, and Maria is a hard worker.

Before the endings(Keith's route)

- This time she would try her hardest to convince Keith to leave Katarina alone, or at least not insist on the exile. And would still try to save Katarina from Geordo. I don't see her relationship with Keith being afected in a meanfull way, but i am not sure if she will try to become friends with Katarina, both because she knows Katarina deslikes her now and because she feels like she does't deserve to become katarina's friend.

Before the ending(Geordo's route)

- Again would try to save Katarina, but this time i dont think she herself would feel save around someone like Geordo, even if he does care about her, not sure if the relationship would end but she would be weary of him at least, maybe even try to hold him back on his more malicous tactics to protect others from him.

After the ending(Keith's route - Exile)

- She would try to convince Keith to help her find Katarina or go herself, to at least see if she is ok and if not would assist her even if Katarina refused. Maria would be sad if Keith didn't try to help his sister, but she would understand (and would help Katarina alone)

After the ending (Geordo's route - Exile)

- Again would try to find Katarina, Geordo hardly would help and more so to apease Maria. This has a high chance to put a strain in their relationship. Since this Maria now knows that Geordo didn't gave Katarina the respect she deserved, and now sees a side of the prince she doesn't like.

After the ending (Keith's route - Death)

- Maria would be in a bad place,with extreme guilt and alone, but she would try to find Keith because she knows he is also in a bad place and she feels like she owes to at least stop him from doing something stupid, someone died because of her, she won't let another.

After the ending (Geordo's route - Death)

- By far the worst case for Maria's mental health, Katarina died because of her, and all because she fell for a man that didn't really deserve it.

This Maria has little to fight for now for and needs urgent therapy.

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Tue 04 Oct 2022 10:33PM CEST

Good analysis 👍

But I would have liked it more if you had gone more in to how Maria would have feeld about her possible relationship with Katarina in the other timeliness

And yes BURN IN HELL OG Geordo YOU DESPICABLE DISAPPOINTMENT OF A HUMAN BEING AND WASTED MATRIAL OF THE FLAME OF LIFE!!!!!!!

And yes I clearly can se that Maria would try to rescue Katarina and Winn her over no matter the cost...

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 12:18AM CEST

Oh...my bad, i assumed you meant the game timelines.

Assuming the other timeline was the isekai one.

General

Maria would be confused with some key differences between Bakarina and OG Katarina.

Before the academy and before the Exile endings.

She would try harder to save/befriend OG Katarina because she now knows a more friendly and kind person is in there (since i belive OG Katarina and Bakarina ARE the same person just raised differently and in different envioments)

Still would help OG Keith and maybe score both.

OG Geordo will get some help from her in this case, because now she knows a the is a version of Geordo that can be better person.(Still don't think she would end up with him though)

The biggest impacts (emotionaly wise) would be in the death's endings.

OG Maria would feel even worse than in my other analysis.

In Keith's route - i am not sure if she would try to help OG Keith in his exile here because now she knows she took all the wrong choices and maybe she is now too terrified to make things even worse.

In Geordo's route - This somehow is worse than the previous one. Because now she knows:

1 - OG Katarina was an extremely kind person inside and had things been different would be an amazing friend or maybe more (and died because of her bad choices).

2 - OG Geordo HAD a possibility of becoming a better person and he got worse (again her choices didn't help there)

3 - The rest of the Isekai harem could have become good friends and companions to her (not in this continuity)

In short, knowing what could have been (and won't because of her) would break what is left of OG Maria spirit.

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 03:23AM CEST

Oh ! I should have been more clear on that one !

With the 3 time lines i meant Fortun Lover,Verge of doom, sorry

And i agree her soul and generally Personality are the same,

She just hasn't 17 extra years of maturity

And how could the death ending even happen if she has this knowledge before the start

Or even before Katarina's trial Hamefur Maria loves Bakarina

It isn't very clear in verge of doom but in both setting's Maria is definitely happier with Katarina around

Than in all good endings of FL,

So i refuse to believe she would be willing to damned the Woman who is the only one she ever truly loved in all possible timeliness

As the happy ending's in FL don't make her seem all that happy....

But what do you think....?

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 04:34AM CEST

I don't discont the death ending because there is a dark mage lurking in the corner.(maria isn't aware of them)

And yes, she is happier with Katarina around indeed.

I think the exile is more of fault of OG Keith ( verge of doom Keith shows his deslike of her, and if dark magic was involved then it would take much)

The Exile in OG Geordo's route had the prince's print all over it, even without dark magic, heck in verge of doom the first think that comes to his mind when Katarina 'changed' is "I can still use her"(...Fk you Geordo...)

The Verge of doom characters the same as the Game counterpart until Bakarina changed them.

As for the endings i don't think "happy" is the right word for OG Maria.

She went from being bullied and alone to finally have a person that cares for her (up from zero) and said person is most likely protecting her from the bullies.

Her life overall improved, BUT only 1 person cares for her so she still lonely and the Katarina issue makes her sad.

So less 'happy' and more 'content' in my opinion.

Its like if someone survived with only water and bread their whole life and now has milk and buttered bread, its and improvement and their are 'content' (but still less than ideal)

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 08:25AM CEST

I get what you mean

But I'm still pretty sure she woul go after Katarina

After learning so much,

And I said she saw everything about all 3 time lines at once

Meaning she has to be aware of Sirius

Because he's clearly shown atleast in Hamefura

Also I'm pretty sure she'd avoid Geordo after knowing what kind a guy he is

Am I wrong?

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 08:42AM CEST

Oh, i though she only saw her perspective of the events.

Not sure about the avoid Geordo part, there is a good chance of that or she could try help him become better(she will not date him though)

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 11:02AM CEST

No I mean she's seeing all the events from outside

She does not get to see their thougt but everything else

And yea,who would want to date that Bastard?

I make a revelation now

I'm a Big Marikata fun so I'm a bit biased

Sorry I should have mentioned that before....

But I really want to hear which kind of Action you think Maria would take,....

I mean I'm pretty sure knowing everything she would be dead set on the Katarina Route, but what do you think....?

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 05:50PM CEST

I can't judge, Maria is my favorite pair with Katarina too.

I also believe she would go for Katarina given the chance.

Now i must also confess my bias.

Maria and Keith is my second favorite pair for Maria (katarina is the first).

So she scoring both is a victory triangle for me.(i also enjoy Keith and Kata)

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 07:18PM CEST

Would you consider a triple Marriage?

Maria,Katarina,Keith ?

I confess i actually dislike Keith a lot

Given what i already told i think you can gues why ?

Given Keith is desperate for love to such a point

And he think's of Maria as the only one who can save him and that he has so many rivals

If she in the middle of it all declared privately that she be willing to choose over all other's but under one condition

He's most likely to accept any condition even if that condition is to make his scorned adoptive Sister a part of the deal.....

That also had the effect that Katarina would still be under the Protection of house Claes

Which would make Geordo unable to harm her in the same way he did with the trial

Something else are now constantly having a discussion in Stranger Wager's comment section

So the least we could do is ask her if she want to take part in or if she even is okay with it,

Do you agree?

R (Guest) on Chapter 1Thu 06 Oct 2022 11:36PM CEST

I would

I didn't notice to be frank, you mentioned Keith directly in one comment prior to this...

Yes he is affection starved as well, and according to Bakarina:

"When he grew up he became quite the playboy in order to bury his loneliness and when he entered the academy, he met the heroine. The heroine healed his lonely heart and became the first person Keith ever truly loved..."

Hamefura Chapter 2

It's not like Keith believed that Maria would save him, it's more like she saved him and them he fell for her.

But i agree that he would accept Katarina in that cenário for three reasons:

1 - Maria saved him so it would be hypocrite of him to not let her save Katarina.

2 - If the misundestanding is cleared and Katarina apologised, he is capable of giving her a chance (verge of destruction shows that).

3 - That would make Maria happy, and maybe that is enough.

I agree with the last part too (this is the longest dicussion i participated in that didn't involve the autor lmao)

AlmDragonrend on Chapter 1Fri 07 Oct 2022 12:36PM CEST

I just informed the Author

I'm happy we can go with that

Assuming Maria successful used her knowledge to get Geordos engagement with Katarina broken and get engaged to both Claes siblings how do you see it go from there?

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melishade · 10 months

Text

Attack on Prime Peaceful Timeline: Ymir's Cybertronian name

Main Story

Peaceful Timeline Pilot

Herbalist Name: Solveig

Because I can't stop talking about the Peaceful Timeline, because its the only time anyone can really be happy.

So! If you remember from this ask, I gave Maria a Cybertronian name called "Firelight". However I've been struggling to give Ymir a Cybertronian name of her own. But with some tremendous help from @letslipthehounds and @legitconcrusher Ymir's Cybertronian is going to be *drumroll*

IronSpark!

Seriously, you two, thank you so much for providing me with the help. I appreciate it.

So! How did Ymir come up with that name?!

Well, backtrack to Maria picking out the name Firelight for herself. Ymir sees how excited Maria is, and talks to Optimus and Megatron when Maria's gone to bed. She explains that she wants another name for herself, a Cybertronian name. Because Ymir isn't her real name. When she was taken from her home, she was forced to forget her name and was only called 'slave'. Once she had value, the king gave her the name Ymir, and his last name Fritz.

Which by the way, pisses the fuck out of Megatron! Frag, he wished he could've killed him!

Optimus keeps his own emotions in check for Ymir and offers to help Ymir find a name. However, no matter how hard she tries, she can't find one for herself. It sends her for a loop. Kind of makes her feels worthless in a sense. She hates the fact that her identity keeps getting tied back to him and she doesn't want that. But it takes too long for her to figure out something that's right and...she kind of gives up on it for a while.

And Megatron confronts her on it, because the two end up seeing each other as kindred spirits. He bluntly asks her why she hasn't picked a name for herself, and Ymir explains that she can't do it. She just can't. Megatron retorts by saying that she can. She's just limiting herself.

But Ymir retorts by saying that she just can't decide. She's not like her daughter. She's not like her strong-willed, passionate, daughter, who looks at the world with such life. She doesn't believe herself to be strong. She still sees herself as weak.

"Maria, albeit strong, is also innocent," Megatron reminded, "And between the three of us, it's better to keep her innocence as long as possible."

Ymir turned her gaze to the outside, watching Optimus entertain Maria. He was trying to teach her how to be gentle with some of the ladybugs flying in the area, holding a ladybug on the tip on his fingers.

"Meanwhile, you were given a terrible situation, but you were able to muster up the courage to leave," Megatron proclaimed.

Ymir shook her head, writing in her notebook and showing it to him. "I had power beyond my understanding, but instead of leaving when I got it, I served someone who only saw value in me as property and mistook it for love. I wasn't able to leave until Optimus showed up."

"Perhaps," Megatron agreed, "But you were no doubt a child when all of that happened to you. You had no one and nothing to begin with. Optimus didn't force you to come with him. He offered you a choice, and you mustered up the strength to go with him into a life of uncertainty and freedom. That's more courage and strength than I've seen out of the few humans that I've interacted with."

Megatron placed a hand on Ymir's shoulder. "You chose to forge your own path and freedom, and despite everything that's happened to you, you still find it in your spark to be kind. You shouldn't discredit yourself like that."

Megatron made a slip up when he said spark, but it does reignite Ymir's passion on the topic and gives her ideas. She stays up at night and comes up with the name 'IronSpark': strength and a strong heart. The next morning, during breakfast, Ymir slips Optimus a simple piece of paper, and Optimus opens it to see that it's the names she's chosen for herself. Optimus is a little bit confused, but he sees how nervous Ymir is, drinking her tea from her cup. Optimus takes her hand in his own and speaks.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, IronSpark,"

And Ymir starts laughing a little with relief, because it just felt like home. It was a piece of herself that she had managed to regain. Her own independence.

Now a few things:

-Unlike with Maria, where Optimus kind of differentiates between the two names, Optimus just straight up called Ymir 'IronSpark' in the house, because its the name she chose and it wasn't forced on her.

-Megatron praises her while Maria is just excited and thinks her Mama's new name is so cool.

-The whole 'Cybertronian name not allowed in the village' rule still stands, and everyone's not happy about it. But rules are rules.

But seriously, thank you Slips and Legit! You guys really helped me out you are the best! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to write about Oshern and Ymir finding love again because no one has asked me about it, so I gotta write about it myself! It's been sitting in my head for months!

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alessiasfreckles · 2 months

Note

Hannah thank you so much I loved that fic so much and for you to take the time to write it means the world.

So many of the things you write were so accurate like ‘It was busy, and the noise was draining - the clanking of cups, the hiss of the coffee machine, the sound of cutlery scraping against plates’ is so true. I love coffee shops but they are so loud for no reason also car horns like what the actual fuck who made them that loud cuz I will find them lmao

The part when they approach reader and start talking whilst turning her head is so true like honestly nothing annoys me more like, sometimes you can use context clues to fill in the gaps but sometimes it’s just like how do u except me to read your lips if I can’t see them lol. But it’s ok cuz they didn’t know yet lmao

Mapi using sign made my heart melt like even if it wasn’t the correct language the thought is really what matters and I just loved that part so much. Also the gossiping in sign so people can’t understand is the truest shit the amount of times i do that is unmatched. Plus they are the hottest people ever so they weren’t lying

“Oh, that’s so cool!” Mapi grinned. “I wish I could turn my hearing off sometimes.” “Maria,” Ingrid admonished her, looking slightly embarrassed. “You can’t say things like that.” “Why not?” she asked, turning to face the Norwegian.

^This made me giggle so bad lmao. Mapi is definitely the type of person to say shit without thinking and Ingrid having to keep her in check.

once again I just want to thank you for writing this story it has truly made my week and I feel like I can’t express my appreciation enough

-🦋

aw yay i'm so glad you liked it!!! i'm sorry it was quite short, i wanted to write more but i knew if i did it would be at least another few weeks until it was out so i thought i'd post it and then maybe i'll write a part two :) but yeah i'm so so glad you liked it!!! 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

#hannah asks

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loveanotter · 3 months

Text

a mini guide book to get to know me more. ♥︎

hello! my name is kin, an INFP who goes by she/her pronouns and a capricorn who is already on her legal age.

fun facts about me:

• i’m a huge fan of movies, especially thriller, crime, true crime documentaries, mystery, horror, comedy, action-comedy, romance and romcom.

• i also love watching cartoons and barbie films. some of my favorite cartoons are oggy and the cockroaches, tom and jerry and spongebob. for barbie films, my favorite is barbie princess charm school. the others are barbie the princess and the pop star, barbie in a mermaid tale, barbie and the three musketeers, barbie a fairy secret and barbie in the pink shoes.

• i watch youtube literally everyday, my comfort youtubers are kennedy walsh, sydney serena, thewizardliz, nessie judge (i love her true crime contents so much)

• i love listening to music and my favorite singers and bands are avril lavigne (i listen to her music since i was in elementary school), taylor swift, troye sivan, melanie martinez, olivia rodrigo, the marias and iron maiden.

• i’m also a bookworm, i love reading books so so so much! some of my favorite books are call me by your name by andré aciman, love and gelato by jenna evans welch, kisses and croissants by anne-sophie jouhanneau, the love hypothesis by ali hazelwood, the notebook by nicholas sparks, the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde and twisted series by ana huang.

• i really love and adore animals! i love cats and dogs so much! i own 7 cats, they have been my friends for 5 years (and still counting) now. there is also a dog that always come to my grandparents’ house everyday, and i called her “shira” and i usually play with her every week.

• i also love sanrio too. guess who's my favorite sanrio character(s)? yup, it's cinnamoroll, kuromi, my melody, wish me mell and cogimyun.

dnf list:

1. likes to join fanwar.

2. problematic

3. salty.

extra notes

• i usually tweet a lot about my rl stuffs. so if you’re uncomfortable with that, feel free to bub me.

• i’m very very slow on dms, i don’t open my dms too often. so if you have something important to say to me, please do mention me on timeline and ask me to check on your dm.

• if somehow you make me feel uncomfortable with you, i will soft-block you. no hard feelings.

• pls do not private qrt me (it causes me extreme anxiety). also, if i ever made any mistake feel free to knock on my anytime to educate me.

take notes!

do not hesitate to reach out to me first if you want to be friends, i'm always open to those who wants to start a friendship with me.

lastly, thank you so much for taking some time to read this, i really appreciate it. i hope this will help you to get to know me more. <3

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ashtoninbloom · 2 years

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i wanted to say thank you to everyone here at @hollywoodfamerp, for being endlessly inspiring and making this hobby of mine so much fun. i don’t wanna blabber too much, but seeing how much love and care everyone puts into their characters, ships and stories makes me want to be a better writer and roleplayer every day.

just wanna highlight a few people here as well that i’ve been lucky enough to write with and learn from.

@tay-hill ida, my nordic sister. i love you like toast loves butter. you’re so sweet and caring, not to mention creative as fuck. you’ve given me a few of my favourite rp friendships ever and seeing your muses on the dash makes me so happy.

@lilyjxmes alison, the emily to my calum. i don’t have words to say how much i love writing with you. you’re also such a beautiful person, always willing to plot and show love to everyone in the group.

@bellsxkhair maria ! the way you’re always willing to try anything and jump into whatever crazy plot i have in mind - i adore you. our ooc chats always make me laugh so much too.

@margseliserobbie dee, you’re pure sunshine and you spread that around everywhere. you make the dash a little brighter every time you’re around.

@knightsawsten ro, you’re so unbelievably creative and funny to write with. i didn’t know much about awsten before but you’ve made me fall in love with him and the same goes with all of your other muses as well.

@emmack - lu, we’ve only just started really talking and you’re so incredibly sweet and kind, you blow me away! i can’t wait to see what’ll happen with nick and emma ad nick, it’s such a pleasure to write with you.

@dovescamrns s, thaaank you for countless hours of obsessing over 5SOS together. legit some of my fave conversations ever !

@tylrswfts ellie, wow. all of your muses blow me away and i’m in awe of your creativity. your ariana remains one of my fave muses to read on the dash and i always get so excited when i get to write with you.

@sxoiirses marie, you’ve given me some of my fave rp friendships of all time. from sersh and flo to timmy and flo, i adore writing with you and it always makes me smile like a clown. you’re so sweet and kind as well.

@joskriv bee, you’re genuinely one of the nicest people i’ve ever met in the world of roleplay. you don’t have a bad bone in you and you radiate kindness. i appreciate you more than you’ll ever know.

@glen-pcwell jb, the glen to my nick. i can’t even remember how many times i’ve hysterically cried with laughter as i write our interactions. you’re so goddamn funny and such an incredible writer.

@itsmadelyncline mar, thank you for checking up on me when i’ve needed it and thank you for so many awesome rp friendships as well.

@srahpaulsons j, i bow down to you. seriously. you’re an incredible writer. i can’t compliment you enough on your talent, kindness and creativity.

#hfrpappreciation #| &. out of ashton | ooc

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the-other-bird · 1 year

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Finally Abe to watch episode 6, so as always by rumbles thoughts and tiny things

- I loved the scene with the couple in their cabin

- tbh I thought we would see Ellie get the bow now, when we saw the old guy's? I wonder if she will end up using one or if they leave it for season 2

- liked the detail with the dog being able to sniff out infected. I wondered a lot about how Jackson deals with that because it would make no sense for them to let people in without checking first somehow

- all the scenes with Tommy and Joel together were wonderful and Joel's and Ellie's scenes were often so cute

- Tommy is going to be a dad! On one hand I really love that for him and Maria (and also for Joel), but on the other I hope that this means they will change his path for season 2. Because it always bucked me a lot that the second game had Tommy leaving for revenge and then destroying his relationship with Maria and push Ellie towards revenge. It destroyed his whole arc tbh and I would be even worse if he was a family of his own with a kid even. It would have worked better if Tommy followed Ellie to Seattle to get her back and doesn't want her to basically become his brother.

- the moon cup was perfect. I appreciated that so much! Yeah, people menstruate in the apocalypse and they have to deal with that somehow!

- I love how Ellie is this gremlin child. So perfect. Every scene with her is golden.

- I keep wondering if we will see Joel as ruthless as in game in ep 8 and 9. I love his show version a lot and that interpretation of how he struggles. The way he's more driven by fear and it shows and less the underground rage. But the way we see him, it's hard to imagine the rather calculated not "heat of the moment" ruthlessness we get to see, when torturing David's guys and when he heads through the hospital to save Ellie. So I wonder if in the hospital Marlene and Jerry might be his only victims.

- kinda wanted to see more of the university, but that's very hard to do bc in the game it's mostly exploration.

- anyhow loved the episode once again, curious to see what happens and afraid of the left behind part

- thank you for Joel having a realistic injury

#the last of us #the last of us hbo spoilers #the last of us hbo #tlou hbo #tlou hbo spoilers

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pensat-i-fet · 2 years

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The Journalist’s Footballer- Chapter Three (Rúben Dias)

Word count: 1255

Rúben

When I finally make it to the restaurant, I’m 15 minutes late. I see Maria waiting for me and waving when she realises I’m finally there.

“Sorry I’m late”, I say, kissing her cheek.

“Oh, don’t worry. Was the traffic bad or something?”

Or something. I can’t really tell my date I was driving another woman, who I found really attractive, to the station. And that’s why I was late.

“Just work stuff”.

I then lead us inside the restaurant where the waiter takes us to the table I reserved. It’s in the most private area of the restaurant to avoid anyone seeing me there.

“So, are you enjoying Manchester?”, I ask her while we eat our starters.

“Well, I like that you are here”, she says with a wink.

That’s not really an answer, but I smile at her. We’ve been talking on IG for a while and she has finally been able to visit.

“And what about your job? Has that been good?”

“Sure”, she says, sounding very uninterested. “I mean, it’s just modelling bikinis. The same thing every day. It gets quite boring. I guess it’s the same for you, always kicking a ball.”

I almost choke on my food. Thanks for telling me what I do is boring, Maria. Appreciate it.

“I guess”, I give her as an answer.

Our conversation is really boring. She’s so different from the person in her messages. She seemed interested in me back then, but now…well, her body language shows she just wants this dinner to be over with.

I can’t help but compare her with Christina. We didn’t get to talk much but during the interview, I could see how passionate she was about her job. I bet she doesn’t think it’s boring to always ask questions to people. Or to kick a ball. I’m still hurting from that comment.

How different will this dinner be with someone like Christina on the other side of the table?

“Are you still here?”, Maria says with a giggle.

No, I was thinking about another woman. “Yes, sorry. Just got distracted for a second”.

She then reaches to touch my arm and gives me a sultry look. “Well, I hope you have better concentration skills at other times?”

I laugh to not show the reaction her words and her touch have in me.

Once this very long dinner is over, I drive her to my place.

The next morning, I’m making some breakfast for me and Maria when I see her coming to the kitchen completely dressed and ready to go.

“Are you leaving?”, I say, confused. It’s not like I expected her to spend the day with me but at least have breakfast. Does she think I just kick women out in the morning without saying good morning?

“Yes, I already called a taxi. I’m heading home today”.

“Oh, ok. I didn’t know that”.

“Yeah, well, maybe see you next time I’m in England? Or when you come home?”, she asks me.

“Sure”.

“Ok, bye!”

And with that, she leaves me in the kitchen. Very confused.

Christina

“Hey, Chris. Amazing interview. I can see this one getting a lot of views”, says Matty as I sit at the table, ready for our morning meeting.

“Thanks. I thought it was a good one too. And I got a photo to do the promo, I’ll send it to you if you want”.

“You are also logged to our IG, just post it yourself”.

So I do that. I post my photo with Rúben and tag him. Announcing to our followers that my interview with him will be up on the channel soon.

“Done”.

For the next hour, we keep on brainstorming video ideas for the channel. When I go to get my phone to add something to my calendar, I see a notification.

“Guys, Dias has followed our IG. That’s cool. His fans might see it and that’ll get more eyes on the video”, I tell the rest of the team.

“You sure?”, says Dom. “I don’t see the notification for his follow”.

“No?”, I say confused. “I do”.

To that, Lewis laughs.

“Chris babe, he didn’t follow our IG, he followed yours. That’s why you got the notification. It’s from your personal IG”.

What? Why would he follow me? But then I check my followers and yep, clear as day, the last name is Rúben Dias.

“Oh…”

“I guess you impressed him with your…interviewing skills”, says Lewis laughing.

He’s always the one to make those kinds of “jokes”. We’ve had more than one fight about it. I don’t appreciate people suggesting I only get jobs for being a woman or being pretty, instead of for actually being good at my job.

I just roll my eyes at Lewis, not wanting an argument this early in the day. But Matty gives him a death stare and tells him to stop being a dick.

We go back to discussing more video ideas when I see another notification on my phone. Rúben has liked one of my photos. I look around to see if anyone is looking at me and go to IG to see which one he liked. It’s the one I posted this morning. Me in my workout outfit making a goofy face to the camera. He liked that? Though what’s more mortifying is that he actually saw it. Oh God, he probably saw the story I posted this morning. Yes, he saw it. I groan internally since I can’t make any noises that let the guys know I’m not paying attention to them because I’m busy wishing the earth would swallow me.

When we are done, Matty asks me if I fancy having a coffee.

“Yes, that sounds good. My treat!”

“Chris…”, he says, making me roll my eyes.

“Matty…”, I say, imitating his tone. “I can pay for our coffees. It’s fine”.

Matty is one of the few people that know how hard living in London has really been. I could always ask my parents for money, I know that. But I want to do this on my own. Even if that means eating frozen fish fingers four days in a row like I had to do a couple of months ago. But things are a lot better now. I got to write for a couple of magazines and got some extra cash from that.

We make it to the coffee shop and, surprisingly, Matty lets me pay for his latte. I did notice he ordered a small one, when he usually likes to drink a bucket of coffee but that only makes me like him even more. I’m lucky to have him as a friend.

“So”, he starts. “Good interview yesterday, huh?”

“Yeah, I was really happy with the outcome. Dias was actually really easy to talk to. Made the job easier”, I say with a shrug.

He nods. “And he followed you on IG”.

“I don’t really know what you want me to say to that”, I say sincerely.

It’s not the first time I get attention from a footballer. I’ve had a few of them looking at my stories and sliding into my DMs. But they got bored when I ignored them. Rúben is the first one to actually follow me. I guess I appreciate him doing something everyone can see instead of going directly to the DMs while his girlfriend is in the room next door. Yeah, I know how footballers behave.

“You don’t have to say anything. I’ll never suggest anything like Lewis”, he says, even though he knows I already know that. “It just surprised me”.

“Well”, I say with a laugh. “It surprised me too. But I’m not too bothered about it.”

To that, Matty gives me a smile. And we got back to our typical subjects, forgetting all about Rúben.

#ruben dias #ruben dias fluff #ruben dias x reader #ruben dias imagine #footballer x reader #footballer imagine

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etruatcaelum · 9 months

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1.2 & 3.

EP 2: THE SHINING BEACON PT I

i find it funny to imagine that there was, like, an orientation day prior to the start of term where all the incoming students got shown around the campus and given a rundown on where to go on day one. and ruby just missed it because ozpin bumped another student to enroll her at the last possible minute

also rip to the kid whose spot ruby accidentally poached LMAO

like the academies need every class to be a number divisible by four. either ozpin kicked someone for ruby or added three more (which might explain jaune but also, i figure ozpin would go for kicking over adding)

i think about “energy propellant” a normal amount. like the implication here, i’ve always thought—& this is why my salem’s magic works the way it does—is that the magic isn’t stored in the dust so much as the dust is a sort of magical prism that refracts and perhaps amplifies aura. which would additionally explain why dust is so versatile! what it does exactly depends on who’s using it!

“aren’t you the guy who threw up on the ship” i love her

the fact that you can see the jaw of the rabbit on jaune’s sweatshirt under the armor right from the start is so funny to me. they waited four volumes for the punchline brhfjg

weapons culture in huntsman circles is so fucked up <3 ruby rose has never taken a gun safety class in the course of building her fuckoff huge sniper rifle scythe <3

meanwhile jaune is like “my stupid little sword is boring and lame” grhdjvjsk

ozma: i will build a society that is just, so fucked up

if jaune is from anima (as is implied in V4) then his grandfather probably fought on the imperial side of the great war. i think about this a normal amount. something about tainted legacies huh

credits bonus round: the lyrical parallelism between i may fall and sacrifice lives rent free in my head. “i may fall/but not like this/it won’t be by your hand” & “you can try, but i’m free/and you won’t conquer me/i won’t crawl/most of all/i won’t fall/for you” mirrors huh

EP 3: THE SHINING BEACON PT II

dust for dummies and other inadequate individuals. hrgrgdk

“Hey. How’s it going. So, you’re interested in Dust. That’s cool. Hmm, I’m noticing that you’re not very smart, though. Some might even say you’re a dummy. Probably think you can’t use Dust. Well, you probably shouldn’t, but you’re going to anyway. So if you are going to, you should at least read this pamphlet. That way you won’t kill anyone. Probably won’t.” im HOWLING they could have just lorem ipsum’d this but i appreciate that they did not

“wow really?!” “……no >:(“ aksbfjdj

ozpin (dissociating): hello new students. all of you suck. try to do better. thank you goodbye

more seriously, “you assume that knowledge will free you of [purposelessness], but you will find that knowledge can only carry you so far” he is talking to his own reflection! at least he’s self-aware!

he’s dissociating so much that even the girls are like. he seems really checked out idk. bfhskhsj

“there’s no such thing as a negative friend! you just made one friend and one enemy!” it amuses me so much that yang is the one who groks that the relationship maria’s getting at re: cordovan is “enemies.” yang had an arch-rival at signal im sure of it.

WHERE did blake get a CANDELABRA

“yang used to read to me every night before bed, stories of heroes and monsters… they’re one of the reasons i want to be a huntress” -> “i wanted to be the hero, like the stories my mom read to me” CLUTCHES HEAD.

“she’s a hazard to my health” in about 12 hours weiss is going to jump on the back of a giant nevermore for this girl. BRHFKGJH

#WRAPPED UP IN A LIE ( ooc. )#liveblog tag.

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rubywithin · 1 year

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World of Whim 4

I tried throwing my boomerang.....it was easily deflected I guess there is no way I stand a chance against these people! (Nyao) “You are just going to give up, what a waste”, (Ruby) “Okay Double-Rang” I tried my best to break through but not much was happening, (Mystel) “I respect the effort but this is game over!” This is bad, all of the people around are staring at us....I will keep trying but I’m just not strong enough. (Kazuya) “I just wanted people to know me.....I wanted the things I do to be appreciated. I just wanted some attention AAAAAHH”. Huh something was different with Kazuya this time, (Naoh) “I think its time for you to GOOOO LIIVE!” So this is what happened with me....its kind of weird seeing how it affects someone else. (Kazuya) “A hammer, this is gonna get me some attention, HYAH TAKE THIS”. Wow he was able to send a bunch of enemies flying! I was a bit worried but Naoh just told us to run!

(Mystel) “What a pain....someone else can take care of this, sooner or later they will enter a Musician’s domain!”. We ran as far away from Mystel as we could (Ruby) “That was crazy Kazuya....I can’t believe how strong you are!” we made it back to my place. (Kazuya) “Okay Naoh what exactly is your plan...the two of us are kind of high school students. There is no way we stand a chance against that Mystel guy....there is no way he isn’t more experienced than us!”. He had a point but it was kind of weird seeing Kazuya act more serious, (Ruby) “Surely there is more people like us....if we team up maybe we can over power him”. Both of them agreed but finding another person who has experienced the same issues as us is going to be rough. (Naoh) “Maybe go back to your normal life for a few days and see if anyone sticks out as a potential ally”.

I tried getting back into my usual school schedule, I was paranoid about train rides but luckily no music starting blaring! Also I shouldn’t need to check in with the nurse....I’m worried she outed me to Mystel because of my headache. I did not feel like talking to anyone....I can’t believe my life here was a lie, (Kei) “Oh hey Ruby we have not talked for a bit!” (Ruby) “Yeah sorry been a bit distracted lately”. I talked to him....it did not feel the same though all I can think is who is he really if no one here is their true self. (Kei) “Oh I heard this crazy bit of gossip by the way, Maria Zyuni is dating Percival that guy who wrote that Swords of Round song you are into!” (Ruby) “NO WAY that’s crazy I can’t believe someone here is able to date such a popular singer!” Haha I guess even in a fake world I can get caught off guard by something so trivial.

After school I was waiting at the train stop...I still felt a bit nervous, then I saw Maria. (Maria) “What are you looking at?” (Ruby) “Oh sorry I was just told about you and Percival today, that’s so cool I love his Swords of Rounds song so much”. (Maria) “Fair enough but personally I love h....AAAHHH” (Ruby) “Oh no are you okay, need me to take you back to the nurse?” I was worried about meeting the nurse again but Maria was in pain! (Maria) “Don’t worry my head just hurts a little, I just hate the bit of blurry vision after”. We spent the rest of the time talking about music, (Ruby) “Oh this is my train later” (Maria) “Before you go take this, just return it tomorrow”. She handed me a CD (Ruby) “Oh thanks see you tomorrow” it was kind of fun to talk to her, I was a bit worried about the headache but she recovered quickly....while me and Kazuya were out of it a bit longer! I got home and decided to play the CD!

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obsessedwithpedritoofc · 5 months

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Hɪs Wɪɴᴅᴏᴡ (Jᴏᴇʟ Mɪʟʟᴇʀ)

ℙ𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘: Joel Miller × Male Reader.

𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥: 5,8 k.

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: After saving Ellie, Joel and Ellie went back to Jackson. They established themselves pretty quickly, they even got themselves some friends —you in between them. Or maybe something more than just friends...

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤: 10ish age gap (i guess?), fluff, mentions of dead, mentions of killing, mentions of blood, shots being fired, awkward "flirting", swearing, violence, no physical descriptions of reader, no use of Y/N. (lmk if i missed any).

𝔸/ℕ: heres the second part! im fucking loving this fr. wait for the third part, its even better. enjoy <3

𝕡𝕥 𝕚: 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕨

𝕡𝕥 𝕚𝕚: 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕨

𝕡𝕥 𝕚𝕚𝕚: 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕨

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

He woke up to a knock on his door. An insistent but soft knock. He smiled at that, having grown used to it and the person responsible for it.

He got up as quickly as his knees allowed him to. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to accept that he wasn't the same young man he used to be, and his quite old body was aching like one. He opened the door as soon as he got up, already knowing who it was.

"Mornin' ", you said with a wide smile. He immediately smiled back, your happiness being contagious for him.

"Mornin' there", he greeted back. "Wanna come in?".

"Nah, 's okay. Jus' came to check on ya before goin' on our patrol. Didn't see you at the canteen and figured you'd overslept. Sorry if I woke you up, by the way".

"No worries. Had to eat somethin' anyway if we're goin' out", he headed inside and put on his jacket. "Thanks for comin', appreciate ya worryin' 'bout me", he walked out of the house. You weren't as fast as you intended and instead of moving away to leave him space, you stood still there for a moment too long. You tried to make it fast so he wouldn't notice. But he did, though he didn't say a word. "So", he continued pretending nothing had happened, "where're we goin' today?".

You started walking towards the canteen.

"Maria said somethin' 'bout a couple cabins some other group spotted yesterday. Somewhere north, I think. She wants us to go 'n check it out", you answered.

"Who we goin' with?".

"She mentioned Tommy, but also mentioned him stayin' here taking care of her", you looked at Joel with a knowing smile. "So we probably won't see him with us".

Joel chuckled.

"That bastard", he mumbled. "Really hope he'll catch a cold when he takes his damn clothes off".

Now you chuckled.

"Nah. I doubt they'll be up to much. Maria's gonna give birth in some months, Tommy's gotta watch after her", you walked inside the canteen before him.

"Hope you're right", you both laughed again.

Joel stepped in the canteen before you. You found Ellie eating with one of her friends and Joel passed by to tell her good morning, then went to grab his food.

"Gonna go on patrol with him in a while", he talked back to Ellie after grabbing his breakfast. "Be safe. And nice".

"Yeah, yeah. Have fun you two", was her only answer. As you walked away, you heard her whispering something about how Joel was being so overprotective lately. You also heard Joel scoff and mumble some curse towards the girl. That made you laugh.

You left the canteen once Joel was done with his breakfast. You said your last goodbyes to Ellie and headed off to your houses to grab the last supplies you needed.

Tommy was fixing one of the horse's saddles when you arrived to the stables. He gave you both an apologetic look and wished you good luck.

"Sorry I ain't coming with ya", he said as you mounted your horses.

"No worries, lil' brother", Joel winked at him. "Take care of your girl".

With a last wave of your hand toward Tommy, you headed off to the north with both of your horses. The two of you were silent for the most part of the way, like usually. Joel wasn't much of a talker and he understood you weren't either. At least he enjoyed every time you shared a conversation. You were probably the nicest guy he had found since breakout. What he didn't understand was how you had managed to stay so happy —if it could be called that— in a world like this. But then again, Tommy was pretty much the same, despite everything he had been through. Whatever it was that got to keep your mind together, he liked that you were good to him and everyone around you. Maybe that's what drove him to want to spend more time with you.

"Hey", your voice took him out if his train of thought. "Y'hear that?".

He shook his head no.

"Infected", you took your knife out. Joel tilted his head the other way. This time, he could hear the infected. He looked at you and nodded, taking out his own knife.

You got off the horses and walked carefully to where the sound was coming from. You were as silent as you could, praying that the sound of cracking snow under your boots wouldn't alert the infected too much. And of course praying that there weren't any clickers.

You walked around the mountainous corner and saw a group of runners, bent over their stomaches, crying. You gestured Joel to make him know there weren't any clickers, luckily for you both. Approaching very slowly, you took down all the infected standing in your way and went back to the horses to continue your way.

Right after trotting down the path, you saw the cabins Maria had told you about. It almost looked like a small village. Joel sighed, knowing it would take you both a few hours to search them all down. He tried to see the good side of it —it meant spending more time with you.

"Should we split?", your question took him back to reality, making him realize you were already down in the village.

"Let's stay together, in case we find somethin' outta place".

You nodded.

The horses stayed outside, tied to some fences, as you started registering the cabins. Only the first one took you around half an hour. They weren't big, but you could see they hadn't been touched in years. Everything was covered in dust and spiderwebs. You found ammunition, some short-range guns and food that would probably be wasted already, but perhaps Maria would give them some use anyway. You also got some bottles of wine, but you'd keep that to yourselves.

After a couple hours, you had already searched half of the cabins down. You had spent most of time talking about your lives before breakout, like you usually did, and you stayed silent every timr you had to walk inside a new cabin, just in case there were infected inside. Fortunately, you found none of them and you could enjoy your time together.

"You still with me?", your voice took him back to the real world. Again.

"Yeah, sorry. Jus' thinkin' ".

"Fascinating. Joel Miller thinkin' ", you laughed at him. "Got you a present", you threw him a pair of boots. "Think they'll suit you?".

Joel inspected the boots. The leather seemed almost new and they were much better than the ones he had, which were all torn, the soles barely keeping holding onto the rest with some tape. He took off one of his boots and tried on the other one you had given him.

"Fits like a glove", he smiled at you. "Thanks".

"Figured you'd need 'em, judgin' the looks of those", you pointed to the old boot he still had on. "Try to take better care of 'em".

"I'll try", Joel chuckled, putting on the other boot. He put his old ones inside his backpack and continued to search down the cabin.

A while after, you arrived to the last cabin. This time you heard noise inside. Joel looked at you as you have him worried eyes. You then nodded, then started walking around the cabin, looking for a safer entry than the front door.

You made a sign with your head towards him to point to a closed window. He gave you a boost so you could open it, then you gestured back to the front door, communicating him you'd open it for him. As soon as Joel was inside, you started searching down the cabin with all your senses in alert. Though, this time you decided it would actually be a better idea if you split up. A couple infected couldn't be much trouble, right? Plus, if there were many of them, you would've already had trouble with them. Joel was the one to find where they were.

He reached the door to a room he couldn't see. He was able to hear them crying and clicking at the other side of the door with his good ear. He grabbed his knife and took a step back.

"Hey", he called out to you. What he wasn't expecting was the door to suddenly break open with a horde of infected —runners and clickers— jumping over him. It kinda made sense, right? The wood was all rotten and quite old, it had to give up at some point.

You were quick to run to where Joel was being attacked as soon as you heard the infected's screaming. He managed to take down the ones closer to him while you got rid of the rest in an attempt to get to help him as quickly as possible. You prayed that it wasn't too late when you finally killed the last one on top of him. You pushed the body to a side and immediately helped Joel up.

"You okay?", your voice sounded desperate and shaky.

"I think so", he breathed out.

"Did any of 'em bite you?", you searched his body for any signs of infection, your hands shaking as well.

"No—".

"You sure?".

He grabbed your hands and pulled you in front of him, staring into your eyes with his eyebrows slightly up.

"I'm okay", he said with a voice way more calmed than yours. "I'm not bitten. Are you?".

You thought about your response for a second too long, too busy admiring his beautiful face and how close it was to yours. If only you reached out a little, just a little peck...

"No", you mumbled after a little while.

Joel didn't say anything. He was also a bit busy scanning your features that he almost didn't hear your answer. When he looked back in your eyes and realized you were looking at him as well, he pulled away, mostly out of pure instinct.

"Good", he cleared his throat and dusted off his clothes. "We should finish registerin' this".

"Yeah", you nod and walk away. "I'll go check on the horses".

"Right", Joel answered without even thinking.

As soon as you walked out of the cabin, he released the breath he didn't know he was holding in. He looked around, taking in the view of the old furniture, since he hadn't had the time due to the sudden attack of the infected, now dead and laying on the floor.

He tried to get the thought of you being so close to him out of his head. He tried to occupy his mind with the task of searching down the cabin instead, but it was vain. Still, he was able to calm down the rising adrenaline in his bloodstream and finish registering the place before joining you back outside.

"Found somethin' interestin'?", you asked, trying to keep it cool.

"Jus' some more wasted food n' ammo. Not too interestin' but useful".

"Good", you nodded. "Let's get back, then. 'S gotten pretty late".

"Yeah".

Joel mounted his horse and waited for you to get on yours before heading off and back to Jackson. Both of you were silent all the way back, trying to keep the awkwardness away. It didn't quite work, but it did keet you from talking about how weird that moment had been, which you thanked.

Back at Jackson, you left the horses and went to Maria so you could report what you had seen and give her what you had found. She thanked you both for the job and for risking your lives, then let you go home. Joel accompanied you to your place before going back to his, even if it meant spending another while immersed in an uncomfortable silence. Despite the whole situation, he wanted to make sure you got home safe, even though you were somewhat out of danger. You thanked him for it before he walked away. And, like every day, you stood watching him through your window until he was out of your sight.

Joel went straight to his house, too. He told himself he'd go see Ellie later, at dinner maybe. His top priority by the moment was to take a hot shower and try to forget what happened back at the cabin village. But no matter how much he tried to distract himself from thinking about that, you were just too damn present. And the memory of you being so close to him, how he could almost feel your cold breath on his face, how he could just step an inch closer and he'd be kissing you—

"Joel?", a voice and insistent knocking outside his door pulled him out of his thoughts and back to the real world. It took him a moment to remember where he was and recognize that voice.

"Comin' ", he walked to the door. He smiled very lightly when he saw Ellie in front of him.

"Heya, old man", she smiled as well. Joel stepped aside to let her in, then closed the door.

"How's it goin'?".

"That's what I should be asking you", Ellie protested. "You didn't come tell me you were back".

"I know, sorry", he sat on his couch, next to the girl. "Who told ya?".

"Maria. Had to go and ask her myself", she scanned his expression. "Did something happen?".

"Why?".

"You got that face. Y'know, grumpier than usual, and almost look like you've seen a ghost", she crossed her arms. "What happened?".

"Jus' some infected at last minute, didn't expect 'em n' got spooked for a moment".

Ellie scoffed.

"Spooked?", she laughed. "You're fucking with me", she looked into his eyes. "Y'know when you say you can tell when something's off with me? It works all the way around, old man. I can read your mind...", she said the last sentence with her spooky tone. Now Joel scoffed.

"Sure", he got up. "I'm tellin' ya, nothin's wrong".

Ellie hummed.

"If you don't wanna talk about it, it's fine. But you can't try to make me think it's alright when it's not", she got up as well. "Dinner time's coming. Gonna spend the night with Cat, in case you don't see me around", she walked towards the door.

"Right", he opened the door for her. "Careful. And don't do stupid things".

"Fifteen years old, you little shit", she chuckled. "We'll be fine", once outside, she turned to Joel one last time. "See ya".

"See ya".

As soon as the door was closed again, he let out a heavy sigh. Maybe Ellie was right. He was overthinking, letting the situation take over his actions. Perhaps it was time for him to begin accepting that he wasn't the same grumpy, cold hearted old man he used to be before meeting the girl. And now you, too, were turning his heart into mush.

The sound of other people walking and chattering outside his house took him back to reality once more. Dinner time. He then remembered he was supposed to go to your place and accompany you to the canteen like every night. He sighed again and took his jacket before walking outside, praying it all wouldn't be half as uncomfortable as it had been a few hours ago.

He knocked softly on your door. A thousand thoughts crossed his mind when he heard your "Comin'!" from inside the house, one of them being you without clothes having come straight out of the shower, his knocking startling you and making you hurry up to meet him at your door. Damn, what was wrong with him? He didn't have thoughts like this, at least hadn't ever since he lost Tess. But this wasn't her. It was you, his friend, who he had met just a few months ago, someone who Joel wasn't supposed to feel something for.

"Hey", you came out of the house and quickly closed the door. Joel immediately stepped back to give you space. Your chest started to hurt as you felt the awkwardness of the situation returning.

"Hey", he answered. "Did I interrupt somethin'? Someone in there with ya?", he smiled, but not too deep inside him he was praying you'd say no.

"No! 'Course not, who d'you think I am?", you laughed. Joel laughed as well, hoping it was true. What he didn't know is that you were trying your hardest to make him believe you, really believe you, but without sounding desperate or anything. Because you weren't.

"Ready for dinner?".

"Sure", you put on your jacket. "You feelin' better?".

"Define better", he chuckled.

"Well, y'know, compared to how you were after bein' attacked by a horde of infected...".

"Oh yeah. Yeah, I'm good... Doin' good...", he trailed off. "You?".

"Good", you nodded.

The rest of the walk to the canteen was silent, and awkward. Both of you wanted to do something about it. But before you realized you were already done eating. You didn't spot Ellie before leaving the canteen, but Joel told you about her spending the night with one of her friends and that you'd probably see her next day. So he accompanied you home, again in silence.

You encountered Tommy halfway to your house. Joel stopped him and ran up to him.

"You have a moment?", he said to his brother in a whisper, so you couldn't hear. Tommy looked at him in confusion, but he nodded. Joel turned to you. "You think you can walk home on your own?".

"Sure", you chuckled nervously. "What you guys plannin', huh?".

"No evil plans, promise", Joel laughed back. "I'll see ya tomorrow. G'night".

"Night", you smiled at Joel. "Night, Tommy", you nodded in his direction.

"Night".

You turned around and walked to your house. Somehow, the fact that Joel had run to Tommy like that and then disappeared with him made you think he didn't want to walk home with you. Shit, maybe you did fuck up back at the village. Now Joel would be all uncomfortable around you for... ever, probably.

As soon as you got home, you jumped on the bed and screamed against the pillow for being so stupid. Though in the midst of all your grief, you had the hope Joel would forget about it after sleeping, and everything would be better the next day.

But Joel didn't sleep that night.

"The fuck's wrong with me, Tommy?", Joel spoke almost to himself.

"Hold your horses, big brother", Tommy closed the door behind him. "From the beginnin', what happened?".

Joel sighed.

"It was today", his voice was trembling, even though he was trying his best to keep it normal. "He and I were searchin' one of the cabins down and–", he was forced to stop and take a breath. "I got attacked n' he saved me", he sighed again. "Fuckin' infected", he mumbled under his breath.

"Alright. And?".

"And then he was so worried about me, thought I had been bitten or somethin'... He looked so... He was so close...".

"Joel, you do realize you're sayin' nothin' at all?", Tommy sat beside him. Joel sighed once more, this time more shakily.

"He... He stood there in front of me... and he was so close I could almost...", he let out a nervous chuckle. "Fuck me, I don't know why the fuck I'm talkin' 'bout this with ya".

Tommy looked at his brother in total confusion, then his eyes opened wide as realization hit him.

"No way", he held onto the armrest of his couch. "Joel, you're–".

"Jesus fuckin' Christ, Tommy. You really have to say it out loud?", Joel covered his face and sighed heavily. "I don't know what the fuck I'm gonna do...", he groaned to himself.

Tommy took a moment to think.

"You like him, don't ya?", he say in the softest way he could. Joel nodded.

"He's the first friend I've had since Tess. Since... forever", he took a deep breath. "What do I do, Tommy?".

Tommy thought again before answering his brother. And he hoped you wouldn't kill him.

"You don't be that afraid, big brother", he put a hand on Joel's shoulder. "He likes ya, too".

Joel looked at him with even more confusion than his brother before. How could he know? How could he be so sure about about it? Was it so obvious to his brother and so oblivious to him? Maybe he was turning blind with age as well.

"I'm not s'posed to say this, but he talked to me some months ago, back when you first arrived in town", Tommy sighed. "He said he liked ya even before breakout. He ever told you we were neighbors?", he chuckled.

Joel stayed static for a while, trying to process everything his brother had just said. You liked him. You actually liked him! An old, deaf, slow man like him. Damn, that was probably the best day he'd had in more than twenty years. He didn't even know how to react. Should he approach you? Maybe you wouldn't want him in that way after these months, but then why had you gone and talk to him when he got back? Maybe you did like him when you first talked that day, but you didn't see him respond after that and so you stopped liking him.

"Hell, he did", was his answer to his brother's question. He almost pulled it off automatically while he kept overthinking it all. "What do I do?", he said almost in a whisper. He was so ashamed that this was happening to him for the first time in decades and he didn't know what to do.

"First of all, don't ya go n' overthink that shit all night", Tommy said, seeming to be reading his mind. "Ellie knows 'bout this stuff, right? Why don't ya ask her?".

Joel thought about it for a moment. It wasn't a really bad idea, but it was Ellie. It was more of a matter of pride than anything else. Ellie would make fun at him and she'd be reminding him of the day he needed her help for the rest of his life. And even worse: it was a romantic urgency. If there was anything more embarrassing for him than to be half-deaf it was this kind of stuff.

"I don't know about that—".

"Shut the fuck up, put your pride aside n' ask her!", Tommy talked as if he was reading Joel's mind again. "The worst that could happen is that your big boy ego gets hurt. Honestly, if I were you I would already be walkin' outta here n' to Ellie's".

Joel stayed silent for a while again, weighing his options.

"Y'know what? Maybe you're right", he got up. "Gonna go talk to Ellie".

"That's my big bro!", Tommy palmed his back. "Growin' a pair like a big boy, you tell 'em!".

"A'right, now you're gettin' way too excited", Joel hit his brother's shoulder a little more aggressively in response. "Say hi to that wife o' yours from me", he walked to the door.

"Will do", Tommy went up to him and gave him a last good luck before closing the door after him.

Joel wasted no time and walked straight to Ellie's place. He was aware of her spending the night with her friend, but he still hoped to find her there, since his situation was of great urge.

He knocked on the door right before thinking about it all again. Maybe it was a stupid idea, a really bad one. Yeah, Ellie would spend the rest of his days left making fun of him—

"The fuck do you—", Ellie stopped herself when he saw who it was. "Oh hey", she corrected herself immediately after. "You okay? It's like midnight already".

"I should say the same thing to ya. You're goin' on your first patrol day tomorrow mornin' ", Joel tried to look angry.

"You're not here to tell me that, are you?", she smirked. Joel sighed.

"Damn, 'course not, but still—".

"Stop shittin' me, it's too late", she crossed her arms. "What d'you want?".

"I...", he sighed in exasperation. "We need to talk".

"Now?".

"Better be now".

Ellie sighed as well. Joel heard her talking with who he assumed was her friend before grabbing a jacket and closing the door.

"Alright, what is it?", she put on her jacket.

"I'll try to make it fast", he put his hands on his hips. "Remember that guy I usually go on patrol with?".

"Uhum...".

"I like him", he spit it out like it hurt him to say that. Ellie smirked once more.

"You finally realized, good job!", she said with a mocking tone.

"How do I ask him out?", Joel panicked. On the other hand, the kid seemed to be enjoying the situation.

"Forward, I like it", she swallowed and thought for a moment, crossing her arms. "How 'bout you invite him to a drink at your place of something? You have any stuff like that?".

He thought of all the bottles of wine you had found that day on your patrol. Good thing you decided to keep them to yourselves.

"Yeah", he breathed out. Why did it all seem like a perfectly planned heist? "What do I say to him?".

"I don't know...", Ellie stopped to think again. "Try telling him how you feel, but subtly. Think you can do that?".

"How the fuck do I tell him how I feel, subtly?", he used a stupid voice to imitate the girl.

"Looks, old man. It's all in the body language. The more you're babblin' over him, the more he'll see you're into him".

"Goddammit, this is so stupid...", he laughed in disbelief and pinched the bridge of his nose at the girl's words. She just shrugged.

"It works for me", she put a hand on Joel's shoulder. "Don't worry. If he likes you back, you won't have any trouble with anything".

Joel took a deep breath. She was right and he hated to admit it. The whole situation was so ridiculous to him that he felt older than he already did.

"Fine", he shifted weight from one leg to another. "Guess I'll have to try".

"That's the spirit!", Ellie hit his shoulder. "Glad I could help".

"Yeah, thanks", he scanned her upside down. "Get some sleep. You're comin' with us tomorrow".

"What?!".

"Yeah. And not a word 'bout this all or guitar lessons are over".

"Dammit, Joel", she turned around and got inside the house, shutting the door as soon as she was in.

"Thanks!", Joel shouted one last time.

You woke up to a knock on your door. An insistent, firm knock. You searched inside your memories to try and identify the person responsible for it.

He got up as quickly as your body allowed you to. Your body was still heavy from what happened last day, so you couldn't get up as fast as you usually did. You opened the door, the person behind it confusing and surprising you, making you weak at the knees.

"Joel", you smiled and tried to keep it cool, like usual. "Mornin' ", you let out a nervous giggle. The winter morning cold suddenly pierced your body and gave you chills. "Shit, wanna come in? S'cold out there".

"Nah, 's okay", he smiled back, but only for a brief moment. "Jus' wanted to tell you Ellie's comin' on patrol today".

"With us?".

Joel nodded.

"First day she's gotta stick with her old man, huh?", you put on your jacket.

"Yeah", Joel didn't react to your comment the way you expected, which made you suspect something was wrong. "I ate already, so you can go eat on your own. I'll go tell Ellie the basics for patrolling. Meet you later at the stables?".

Okay, he didn't wait to have breakfast with you. Something was definitely wrong.

"You got it", you forced a smile

"Good", he did, too. "See ya later", he walked away, not giving you time to even say goodbye back.

You spend the walk to the canteen and your breakfast time trying to find the reason why Joel was acting like that first thing in the morning. Maybe that was just his morning mood but you had never seen it because he was trying to be nice. Or maybe it all continued to be uncomfortable after last day's events. Or maybe you just didn't know him enough and that was just how he usually was.

Or maybe...

He had disappeared from your side when he went talk to Tommy that last night, and casually after that he starts acting weird. Could it be...? No, Tommy was your friend, he wouldn't do that to you. Or so you hoped.

You met Joel and Ellie at the stables like he said you all would. The girl greeted you with a single "Hi there", and then smirked at you as if she was planning something. You didn't give it much importance, tough.

"Ready?", Joel talked to you. You nodded. He then turned to Ellie. "You stay close to us at every moment. What do I always say?".

"What you say goes", she answered monotonously, as if she was used to saying that to Joel every single day.

"Good. And if I tell you to stay with him", he pointed at you; "what he says goes".

"Sure".

She mounted the horse right after Joel, sitting behind him. You hoped on your own horse and followed after them when they exited the stables and the town.

You followed the path you had gone through the previous day, though this time you skipped the village —telling Ellie a summary about what had happened and what you had found that other day— and kept going north. This time, you didn't find any interesting thing and just stayed on the horses as you cleaned the area of any infected —though there were none of them.

You went back to Jackson with empty hands, and especially you came back feeling sick as hell. Joel had been dozed off all the time, looking as if he was trying to avoid you. He barely even talked to you —he saved his voice for Ellie, only stopping to explain and show her how to do something. All that —added to the previous day's awkward events— made things clear for you: Joel didn't like you back, and Tommy had something to do with it all.

As soon as the three of you were back in Jackson and in your respective houses, you went straight to Tommy's and knocked on his door as roughly as you could.

"Comin'!", he shouted angrily from the other side. "Goddamn kids can't knock nice n'—", he opened the door. Before he could keep talking, you grabbed him by the neck of his jacket and pinned him to the wall.

"The fuck did you tell Joel?!", you spat on his face.

"Hey, calm down!", he threw his hands up.

"Why did you do it?! You piece of shit, I'm gonna fuckin'—".

"What the fuck!", Maria yelled from inside the house. You looked at her for a moment before letting go of Tommy. "What's wrong with you?!", she approached Tommy. "You good?".

"Yeah, I'm fine", he looked at you. "I told him what he needed to know".

"What 'bout what I needed him to not know?", you started walking towards him again. "You're fuckin'—".

"Don't you dare give one more step", Maria stood between you two.

You looked at her, then at Tommy. Your chest hurt and your knees were weak. Suddenly, your whole body started feeling even sicker.

"Don't fuckin' talk to me, ever again", you spat to Tommy once last time before turning around and going back to your house.

You spent the entire afternoon curled up in your bed, pressing your hands against your stomach to try and ease the pain and nausea, not even getting up to have dinner at the canteen. You hated yourself for being so stupid to even allow you to have feelings for a man that didn't want you back, and for having told someone —no matter how good of a friend he was— about those feelings. Not even after breakout had you been more fucked up than right now.

A knock on your door scared you, making you jump a little from your position.

"Not feeling' good", you shouted as loud as you could.

"It's me!", you recognized Joel's voice outside your door. You immediately got up and went open it for him.

"Hey", you mumbled.

"Ya good?", he scanned you upside down. "You didn't come have dinner".

"I know, sorry. Wasn't feelin' like eatin', my stomach hurts".

"Want me to go ask Maria for some pills or—".

"No, don't worry, I'm fine", you leaned on your doorframe. "D'you want anythin'?".

"Actually, I wanted to ask ya... Remember all that wine we found yesterday?".

You nodded.

"Well, uh... I was thinkin'... It can't go to waste more than it already is, and since we wanted to keep it a secret between us... How 'bout we drink a little?", he crossed his arms, then uncrossed them and put his hands on his back.

"Uh...", you thought for a while. "You mean—".

"Get a bit drunk. Maybe. At my place tomorrow night", he spoke rapidly. "If... that's good with ya", he stared into your eyes and scanned your features like he had done the previous day, back at the village.

"Yeah", you sounded confused at first, but eventually smiled inevitably. "Yeah, I'd like that".

Joel smiled too, even though he was trying his best to hide it.

"Good...", he giggled nervously. So did you. "Maybe we can go there after dinner".

"Sure. I'll try to wear somethin' nice", you said with a mocking tone.

"Oh, we have to wear somethin' nice?", he laughed defiantly. "You're gonna shit you pants".

"We'll see", you laughed, too. You stood a while in silence, just looking at each other with smiles on your lips. "See you tomorrow for patrol", you finally spoke.

"Actually, Ellie's gonna take my place tomorrow. Maria says I need a rest".

"That motherfucker", you bite your tongue in rage. "Fine, then. I'll go see you when Ellie and I are back".

"Right", he smiled one last time. "See ya tomorrow".

"See ya".

You closed the door and quickly went to watch through your window, like you did every day, until you lost sight of him.

Maybe Joel did like you after all.

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