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daydreaming-in-letters · 3 years

Text

Assumptions

10/01/2021

Pairing: Manuel Neuer x fem!reader (3rd person)

Word Count: 6,018

Warnings: rpf, mentions of age gap (not between reader and Manu and nothing illegal) and strong opinions on that, banter, jealousy, infuriation, fluff and cuteness

Summary: The reader finally catches her long time crush Manuel Neuer alone on her uncle's birthday. Things are quickly starting to get heated—sadly it's not the kind of heated she would have liked it to be.

A/N: Most of you probably don't know Manuel Neuer. He is the goalkeeper and captain of Bayern Munich as well as the German National Football Team and every once in a while I find my thoughts drifting towards that adorable and amazingly talented manchild. This story has been sitting in my drafts for far too long and I wasn't sure whether I felt comfortable with publishing it in case it ever got finished. But I found that there is an intolerable lack of Manuel Neuer x reader fics on here, so here it is. I tagged everyone from my general tag list, but I understand if this is not what you signed up for. So sorry in advance and please feel free to ignore this story at your leisure.

Picture found on Pinterest

If you like my story, you are very welcome to like, comment or reblog. Please don’t copy, repost or share my work on other platforms.

It was only a few minutes to midnight and still the dance floor was as filled as ever, an enchanting mixture of young and old people alike. The bass rolled deep in his stomach, making him even queasier than he already was, and the lights, flickering across the mass of moving bodies in sync to the rhythm of the music, didn’t help either.

Suddenly a figure broke through the outer wall of bodies and made her way over to his table. A small smile crawled over her lips, a little shy but genuine, yet he didn’t feel like returning it. He had hoped that she would change her mind upon the disgruntled look on his face, but much to his dismay, she did nothing of the sort and sat down right next to him, just as a waitress passed the table with a tray of colourful shots. The woman next to him stopped her, before she turned to him.

“Care for a drink?”

Did he care for a drink? He yearned for one.

“No, thanks. I’m not really fond of drinking.”

“Shame,” she shrugged, her smile growing a bit wider when she took two shots from the tray anyway. For a second he thought she might actually force him to drink with her, but then she placed down the two glasses in front of herself. Raising her first glass to him, she gulped it down in one swig, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand afterwards.

“Do you care for a dance then?” She nodded over to the dance floor, her eyes and body inviting him to take the offer.

He found that he somehow couldn’t hold her gaze when he answered, “I’m afraid I’m also not very fond of dancing.”

Her forearms resting on the table, she leaned closer, obviously not taking the hint that he just wanted to be left in peace and quiet.

“Then what are you fond of?”

“I think you know pretty well what I’m fond of.” To his own surprise he sounded even harsher than he had attempted to, but the last thing he needed right now was an eager fan trying to engage him in a conversation.

“I do,” she retorted undeterred, “but that’s not what I wanted to know. See, you might not have noticed through all your sulking, but I was actually interested in you as a person, not as a footballer.”

He huffed, although he wasn’t sure she had heard him above the music.

“And you might have noticed that I am not interested in talking about private stuff to complete strangers.”

Sure, he was being massively impolite, but at least he hoped that this would do the trick now. But instead of finally leaving him alone, she shot him an amused look.

“Ooooh, grumpy, aren’t we?”

Now it was him who leaned in closer, making sure she could hear him properly. “Look, it’s nothing personal, okay? I just...it wasn’t such a great evening for me.”

Unintentionally his eyes wandered over to the dance floor for a split second, where a very young, very blonde girl was dancing happily among his teammates and their wives and girlfriends. Cursing himself, he looked over to the woman by his side carefully, hoping she hadn’t noticed. But of course she had, her eyes still fixed on the girl.

“Ah, I see.” She turned to him and the glint in her eyes made his stomach turn. “Puberty is a bitch, eh?”

“Excuse me?” he spat, equal parts bewildered and stunned.

“You heard me alright.”

Who did she think she was? Impertinent woman.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” The volume of his voice must have slipped his control a little, as he noticed a group of elderly men standing nearby turn into his direction. Still the woman’s smile never left her face, appeasing the men who turned away again.

“Really? After all I have to sit here with a pissed thirty something man who refuses to acknowledge he let his hormones get the best of him.”

“Whoa! Okay, first of all, it was you who decided to come and sit at this table and second, again, none of your goddamn business.”

Her answer was a simple grin, still not fazed by his anger in the slightest. It almost felt as if she was enjoying to get him riled up.

“You’re right.”

“And?”

“What do you mean ‘and’?”

He rolled his eyes heavily. Why couldn’t she just leave?

“You know, that phrase usually goes with an apology. Like ‘You’re right. Sorry I assumed you’re having a mid-life crisis and bang a chick that is 15 years your junior to boost your fragile ego.’”

“Do you?”

Inhaling deeply, he tried to calm himself a little. After all, he couldn’t afford to yell at her again, not that he didn’t want to, but causing even more unwanted attention was not in his plans for tonight.

“I didn't say that.”

“Well actually,” she looked at him triumphantly, “you kind of did. I never said you were having a midlife crisis or that you need her to boost your ego. Those were your words. And seeing that my assumptions caused a reaction like that, I’m afraid I can’t really say I’m sorry either.”

All right, that was it. Enough was enough.

“Look, I think I have an assumption for you too, lady. I’m starting to assume that you only came over here to rile me up further. And guess what, mission completed. So why don’t you do us both a favour and head off to pester someone else now?”

She was quiet for a moment and for the first time, the cheeky smile left her beautiful, burgundy lips. He had expected her to be a bit shaken at least, maybe even as pissed as himself, and yet the next words were spoken with such dignity that he couldn’t help but admire her a little for it.

“Oh, I would love to say you’re right again, but I’m afraid I can’t this time. And since we seem to have warmed up to each other quite a bit by now, I feel it’s okay to be completely honest with you.” She paused a second, simply for the effect, he guessed and her warm eyes never left his. “I came to sit with you because you looked miserable. Still do, by the way. And I thought you might need an actual grown up to talk to. But it seems I was wrong. You’re just a pouty manchild, like the rest of them.”

She waved her arm, pointing over at the dancing crowd of his friends and their spouses. His eyes followed her gesture and when he laid eyes on the heart of the matter, a hot flush of rage began to swirl through his veins, making his hands clench into fists. Fully set on giving her a piece of his mind, not caring who might hear him at this point, he turned to her again. But the familiar figure that had somehow entered the picture without his notice made him stop in his tracks.

“Here you are, sweetie.” The man cooed, laying his large hand on her shoulder in a protective gesture. “I almost got the feeling you were hiding from me since I made you promise to dance with me tonight.”

She twisted her slender neck to look up at his gentle face, her attention making him smile sweetly at her.

“You know I’d never do that to you, Uncle Hans, especially not on your birthday. I just thought your no. 1 goalkeeper here was in need of some mature company, but clearly he is perfectly happy with the way things are.”

Bewilderment flickered behind the coach’s gaze as he looked between his niece and one of his best players and Manuel was sure that this might not be the last time they would speak about this matter.

“So then, may I have that dance now, sweetheart?”

“With pleasure.” Manuel watched almost transfixed as she gracefully took her uncle’s hand and stood up. It was only now that he noticed how perfectly her dress showed off her voluptuous curves. He was almost certain that she would leave without another word when once again she proved him wrong. Turning on her heels, she grabbed the remaining shot and gulped it down in one large swig before she looked down at him, almost as regal as a queen.

“Have a pleasant evening, Mister Neuer. I’m sorry I can’t say I enjoyed our conversation more. Oh, and just in case you should ever feel in need to talk to a grown up, don’t call.”

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

She could still feel his piercing look on her back as Hansi led her through the crowd and away from him. They had just begun to dance when the song changed and a much slower tune echoed through the large room. With a smug grin, her uncle pulled her closer, bringing his hand to the small of her back. Cheek to cheek he swayed her to the beat and she could feel that her mind was almost beginning to slow down, when he decided to pick up a conversation.

“Will you tell me what that was all about?”

She bit her lip like a little girl that was about to be scolded. “Do I have to?”

He chuckled deeply, the vibration rumbling against her chest and she could easily imagine the self-satisfied grin on his face.

“I’m certainly not going to force you. It’s just, you know, I always thought you kind of liked him.”

Instantly, she could feel her face heat up. How could he possibly know that?

“True. Liked, as in past tense. And besides, it’s not that I actually know him, personally, I mean. You could perhaps say I admire his talent, at most. And he also may be kind of easy on the eyes.”

She had become more and more quiet while she spoke, merely mumbling the last sentence. But he had heard her nonetheless, her silliness making his lips twitch in amusement.

“Hm. I clearly remember your aunt begging me to invite him over for a barbecue party last summer, telling me that you wouldn’t shut up about his quiet reserve, his amazing performance on the field and his stunning smile. Sadly he didn’t have time.”

She gulped audibly, tensing up a little in his arms, which made him enjoy their little talk even more. “So, what changed your mind?”

“He did,” she said a little too quickly, before she sighed so heavily that her uncle almost regretted bringing this topic up after all. “It’s just, I don’t understand his choice in women. I mean, he could choose literally anyone, so why her? I mean, she clearly doesn’t make him happy.”

“And how do you know that? You have spoken to him for what? Like five minutes?” He turned them around, making her face the gloomy goalie once more, before he went on. “I might be wrong, sweetheart, but I think you’re just jealous.”

Over his shoulder her gaze met Manuel’s for a split second before his eyes shot to his right, where the blonde teenager stepped into the picture, blocking him from view. She sat down on his lap, her arms dragging around his neck possessively, as her lips met his in a feverish kiss. Averting her gaze immediately, her eyes darkened and her heart clenched heavily in her chest.

“If by jealous you mean disenchanted, you’re right.”

Her bitter words made him loosen his grip on her so that he could see her face, and the hurt in her eyes pained him more than he cared for.

“I know you probably won’t believe me, but he really is a good person.”

She scoffed while her incredulous eyes landed on her uncle’s soft, blue orbs. “Well, he certainly hid that pretty well.”

He gave her a tight lipped smile. “I think he’s just lost his way a little at the moment.”

“So you think I’m right then?”

The excited sparkle in her eyes made him regret his honest words a little.

“I didn’t say that.” He protested strongly. In the end it was not for him to judge his players’ private lives. “After all he is a grown man and he can decide for himself.” He could see her face fall again and so he was quick to add, “Nevertheless, I don’t think you’re completely wrong either.”

He was very pleased to see that his words had caused a small smile to crawl back to her pretty lips. He almost felt like a proud father and when she finally leaned back in a bit closer, her forgiving gesture almost made him a bit bold.

“So, uhm, one more question, sweetheart. In the unlikely event that he should after all need a grown woman to talk to, can I give him your number?”

“Certainly not,” she insisted with a steady voice, but when she looked at him, the adorable grin on her face left no doubt that this was the biggest lie she had ever told.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Manuel was furious as he watched her leave towards the dance floor with the coach. How could she dare call him out like that and then leave without giving him the chance to set her straight? His eyes fixed on her, he watched as Flick pulled her closer, his eyes following her uncle’s hand to the small of her back. Being the gentleman he was, his hand had found the only spot on her back that was actually covered by the dark red fabric of her dress. And for a second he imagined what it might actually feel like to let his hand wander upwards until it covered her bare skin. Or maybe he could let it slip down a few inches, until his fingers would grasp the soft flesh of her behind. He had just been able to fully picture the exact feeling of her body pressed up to his when he could feel the man who actually held her in his arms catch his indecent look on his niece’s back. Immediately he sat up straight, averting his gaze, completely missing the amused smile on the other man’s face, and when he turned back to face him, he almost lost it when he found her sparkling eyes instead.

He was still trying to figure out what had happened, when he heard a familiar voice calling him.

“Hey, babe.” The high pitched noise made him flinch and instinctively his eyes shot to his right, just in time to pull his arms away before she slumped down onto his lap clumsily. She laid it on thickly as her arms wrapped around his neck.

“I missed you on the dance floor, honey bun. Why don’t you come dance with me?”

And before he even had the chance to answer, her lips crashed down on his mouth almost painfully, her tongue forcing his lips to open. The stench of alcohol filled his mouth and he pushed her drunken form off of him determinedly. Before she even had the chance to protest, he lifted her up and placed her in his chair.

“I don’t think dancing is a good idea in your condition.” She glared at him, but then she seemed to have forgotten what for and her lips turned up into a sheepish smile.

“Whatever you say, babe.”

“Look, why don’t you just stay here and I get you a nice, big glass of water to sober you up a little?”

She began to nod, but then her eyes lost focus und she stared past him at god knows what.

“All right, I’ll be back in a sec. Don’t go anywhere.”

Quickly he made his way over to the counter and ordered a whole bottle of water, when he felt the slap of a hand on his left shoulder.

“Wow, you look even more frustrated than after our knock out at the World Cup in 2018. What happened?”

“Don’t ask.” He sighed as he turned around to face his friend. Manuel hoped that he would accept his wish, but when he saw the apologetic look on Thomas’ face, he instantly knew that he wouldn’t drop the topic.

“Too late. I just did.”

With a dramatic roll of his eyes, the next words were spoken more to himself than to his teammate.

“Great, just what I need. Another pain in my ass.”

“Another? Who was the first then?” Obviously Thomas had taken no offence and sounded a bit too cheerful for Manuel’s liking.

“She.”

He looked over at the dance floor, where the impertinent woman was just sending her uncle the most beautiful, cheeky grin he had ever seen.

“Who? Y/N?” his friend asked incredulously.

Y/N. So that was her name.

“You know that annoying woman?”

“I do, although I can’t really say she’s annoying. Met her at the coach’s home once. She seemed rather sweet and intelligent to me.”

“She certainly hid that pretty well,” Manuel growled under his breath, earning him a surprised frown from Thomas.

“Are you gonna stand here and stare daggers at her or are you gonna tell me what she did to make you throw a fit?”

“She approached me out of nowhere to tell me that I’m dating a teenager to compensate my inability to commit to a partner on eye level.”

Thomas let his words sink in for a while.

“That doesn’t really sound like her. I mean, what reason would she have to come at you like that? She doesn’t even know you.”

Manuel sighed, thinking about the way she had somehow coaxed the statements from him instead of making them herself.

“Well, she might have phrased it differently,” he admitted meekly. That seemed to spark Thomas’ interest even further and he could feel his expectant look on him, pressing him to finally tell the whole truth.

“Actually she didn’t say it like that. She only made an allusion and made me somehow say those things myself.”

“Mhm. And exactly what allusion did she make?”

Manuel rolled his eyes again, his ego still fighting to repeat her words out loud.

”She said puberty was a bitch, clearly hinting at the fact that she thought my girlfriend was too young for me.”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence when Thomas’ roaring laughter filled the air.

“Now that does sound more like her.”

He needed a bit to contain himself when he suddenly looked up at Manuel with an unusually serious expression on his face.

“And I have to admit, Manu, she kind of has a fair point there.”

“What?”

Manuel could not believe his ears.

“Come on, man. It’s what everyone thinks. She just said it out loud.”

“Fuck you.”

But instead of rising to his expletive, Thomas just looked at him sympathetically. Pushing himself off of the counter, he pat his shoulder in an attempt to encourage him a little, ready to leave him to his self-denial.

But then he stopped. “You know, I personally didn’t have a problem with it. You’re an adult, you can make your own choices. As long as you’re happy, right? But the truth is, Manu, I don’t think you are. Not anymore.”

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

“See, I told you he wouldn’t be here. No need for all the panic beforehand.”

She narrowed her eyes at her cousin, shooting her a dirty look.

“Yeah, and I hope it’ll stay that way. Oh, and for the record: I wasn’t panicking at all, it was just you and your sister’s sudden eagerness to lure me here that got me suspicious and nervous in the first place.”

“We didn’t lure you here,” her other cousin piped up a little offendedly. “We simply wanted to spend some time with you. Come on, it’s been what, like 4 months now? Since you moved to Munich three years ago, we hardly get to see you anymore.”

“You and our father,” her sister added quickly. “So it seemed the best option to kill two birds with one stone and bring you along. After all it’s called a family day, right?”

Y/N sighed, not fully convinced, but finally ready to let the topic go.

“Right. Let’s just hope for your sakes that there will be no surprises today that might prove your guilt after all.”

“How are my girls doing?” she heard a familiar voice from behind her back, turning towards her favourite uncle with a beaming smile. What she didn’t see, however, was the brief look that was exchanged between her cousins as soon as she had turned her back, proving exactly what she had suspected all along.

“We’re good, dad. Actually, we’re more than good, we’re excellent,” the older cousin chirped.

“Great.” He paused a moment, but it was clear that he had more to say. Rocking back and forth on his feet, he looked from one woman to the other. “So,” he began carefully, before a huge Cheshire grin spread across his face. “I hope you all reserved a dance for me tonight.”

“Oh, no, daddy, not again.”

“Please, don’t make us do this.”

“There will be dancing here? If you had told me that beforehand, I certainly wouldn’t have come.”

“Of course there will be dancing. I thought that was obvious.” He had to try very hard to look a little slighted, while he actually drew a horrendous amount of amusement from their antics. “Remember, girls, we have a tradition to uphold. Whenever there is some dancing at a party, you have to reserve at least one dance for me. That’s the rule.”

And with that he turned and left them on their own again.

“Ugh, why does he always have to do that to us?” her younger cousin whined.

“Oh stop it, silly. You’re the one who likes it the most and everyone knows.”

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

She had been the first to pay tribute to the family tradition and after a very exhausting Discofox dance session, luckily one of her cousins had taken over from her. Kicking off her heels, she welcomed the feel of the cool grass underneath the soles of her feet. Walking over to one of the empty tables, she slumped down heavily into one of the comfortable looking chairs. With a contented smile she let herself fall back against the backrest, closing her eyes and breathing in the mild air of the warm summer night.

“Care for a drink?”

His voice made her jump, sitting up straight immediately, eyes shooting wide open. And there he was, two shot glasses in his large hands and grinning down at her, obviously very satisfied with the slight scare he had just given her. He looked amazing, the smug bastard, in his casual jeans and white shirt, two buttons undone, topped with a sporty black jacket. She highly doubted that she had ever seen a finer man in her entire life. Luckily that didn’t make her lose her sharp tongue.

“And here I am thinking that you weren’t fond of alcohol. What happened?”

He smiled sheepishly, only one corner of his mouth tugged up, when he handed her her drink. He took his time, grabbing a chair and positioning it opposite hers, then sitting down carefully, not wanting to spill the shot all over his chest. She had already come to think that he was trying to avoid her question after all, when he locked eyes with her and finally began to speak.

“Hm. It’s been a while since I last saw you. A lot of things happened, you know. Maybe it was finally time for me to grow up.”

“Hear, hear.” With a mischievous smile she raised her glass. “To your coming of age, then.”

He rolled his eyes playfully. “If you insist.”

His magnificent blue eyes never left hers while they chinked glasses, and a second later she could feel the more than welcome liquid moisturising her suddenly very dry mouth.

With a thud, their glasses landed on the table, both of them chuckling like giddy children when their eyes found each other again and then, for a moment, there was nothing but silence. The world seemed to have zoned out, leaving behind nothing but his aquamarine orbs and the wild smile on his face.

Just gradually, the world seemed to set back in again. There was the monotonous clitter of the crickets, overlaid by the muffled sound of the music that was carried over by a soft breeze, and loudest of all she could hear the beating of her own heart against her chest.

“What else has changed now that you are a proper adult?” she heard herself ask, not having the faintest idea where those words came from and how the hell she managed to deliver them so smoothly when her whole body seemed to have gotten out of control.

He took a quick look over his shoulder, his thumb pointing in the same direction.

“If you mean the dancing, I’m still not very fond of that.” Her face must have fallen a little because he was quick to add, “Except...”

“Except what?”

His eyes landed back on hers and she almost choked on her hitching breath.

“Except I think I could make an exception for the right partner.”

From the corner of her eye she registered a movement between their bodies, but she was hesitant to let her view stray from his captivating appearance. At last it was something in his eyes that looked at her expectantly which finally made her snap out of her trance.

Looking down at his hand sheepishly, it took her a while to fathom that he was actually asking her to dance with him.

Slowly her eyes wandered up to his again, asking a silent question, which he answered with an almost imperceptible rise of his eyebrows. And before she knew what she was doing, she laid her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet.

He had just turned towards the source of the music, when she suddenly held him back.

“No, wait.”

With a puzzled look he did what she asked of him and let her twist him back around.

“Why don’t we just stay here? The music is loud enough anyway.”

A gentle smile curved his lips. “Sure, if that’s what you want.”

She nodded softly, her teeth biting down on her lip in excitement.

And before she knew what was happening, she found herself secured against his chest by his firm grip. It felt like being pressed up to a hot furnace which she would usually have appreciated any other time, but on a sweltry night like this and in a place she had wanted to be in for so long, it was pure torture. And as if this wasn’t bad enough already, his strong fingers pressed down on her lower back, threatening to scorch her even through the fabric of her blouse as he pulled her an impossible inch further into him. He was so close now that she could sense the heat radiating off his cheek as well, bringing along a whiff of his enticing scent and she couldn’t help but close her eyes as she inhaled deeply and her head began to spin. It was odd, but her mind was completely blank by now, blank except for one thought and her lips spread into a blissful smile as she repeated it in her head again and again, relishing in the feeling that if either of them moved just the tiniest bit, their cheeks would inevitably touch.

Slowly they moved and despite the unhurried shift of their bodies her heart was beating so violently that she thought it pondered jumping out of her chest to meet his. There was no chance he wouldn’t be able to tell from the way he held her, and when he finally drew away a tad to look at her, she fully expected him to call her out for it.

But he didn’t. Instead his sinfully soft lips curled into a reassuring smile before he spoke.

“You were right.”

“I beg your pardon?”

A cute chuckle escaped his mouth, leaving the corners of his eyes crinkled in the most beautiful display of amusement.

“About what you said at your uncle’s birthday party.”

“Oh.” She had said a lot that evening, words that she had come to regret later and remembering them now set her cheeks on fire. “About what exactly?”

“About everything,” he admitted without hesitation, yet he couldn’t hide the spark of misery that flitted across his sea blue orbs. “Didn’t take me very long after that night to finally see things clearly.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” It was true. Although she knew that she probably sounded like a madwoman after everything she had confronted him with back then, at least the frown on his forehead seemed to confirm that. “I truly am. I really would have liked to see you happy.” Even if it was with that girl.

She was glad she had managed to keep that last bit to herself. She had no idea why she had said that she was sorry in the first place, but judging by the wild smile on his face it must have been the right words after all.

“Well, I certainly am happier now than I was that night.” He shrugged. “So, thank you, I guess.”

She huffed. “For what? Making absolutely inappropriate remarks on your relationship? I shouldn’t have done that. I know that now. So it should be me who is sorry here, don’t you think?”

She could feel his fingertips press into the soft flesh of her back.

“Don’t be. I guess you were exactly what I needed.” It took him a second before he realised what he had just said. “I mean it. It was exactly what I needed.”

His eyes snapped to the left and she was thankful that he couldn’t see the grin that decorated her lips as she watched the treacherous colour creep into his cheeks, spreading all the way to his ears. For a while he didn’t say another word, probably still trying feverishly to figure out a way to take back his slip of the tongue. And when he finally spoke, she wished he hadn’t.

“There is one thing though that I have gone over and over in my mind. But no matter how long I think about it, it just won’t make sense.”

She already knew that she wouldn’t like where this conversation was heading now, but she found herself asking nonetheless.

“And what is that?”

His head turned without a warning as his eyes searched her gaze and for the blink of an eye his lips came so close that she couldn’t say if they had actually brushed along hers or if her needy heart had just imagined their brief touch. He didn’t answer her question right away, his breath blending with her own in the narrow space between their faces and suddenly she wasn’t so sure anymore if she had really only dreamed up their fleeting foretaste of a kiss.

“Why did you do it?” Panic rose in her chest. She hadn’t done anything. After all it had been him who had turned his head. But as he went on, she realised that he wasn’t referring to that at all and the suffocating distress eased away bit by bit. “I mean, we didn’t even know each other when you decided to come at me like that.”

Now it was her who had to avert her gaze.

“I think I don’t really want to answer that question.”

“Why not?” His voice was so soft and gentle, making it even harder to answer him.

“Because the truth might be kind of ugly.”

“But the outcome wasn’t, so I think I’ll take that risk.”

Her feet stopped their mechanical movements as a violent shiver ran down her spine. So this would be it then. It would be over before it had really begun. Pity. But at least she would have the memory of these few minutes, of his genuine smile and the way he had held her tight against his chest. With a deep sigh she bid their daydream of a dance goodbye.

“I could tell you now that it was for some noble reason, but at the bottom of it all I think it was nothing more than jealousy that drew me to your table that night. I had been unable to ignore you all evening — ignore her. The way she behaved like a spoiled brat, drinking and losing control, not caring in the least that she not only made a fool out of herself but of you as well. God, I hated her in that moment, for having everything I ever wanted and riding roughshod over it. And when I saw you sitting there, looking so utterly crestfallen, somehow I couldn’t help it.”

An undefinable silence settled between them and the only sound that remained was the beat of the music wafting over from the party that went on behind his back. The faint whisper of the melody seemed to push itself up between them and tear them further apart, exactly as she had expected. And just like the bass, her heartbeat slowed until it died away completely.

It was over and everything she wanted to do was let go of his hand so she could do him the favour of leaving, but to her astonishment he refused to set her free. And rather then releasing her from his grip, he squeezed her hand, briefly and just once, but it was enough for her to find the courage and face him. But instead of finding a frown or a scornful pair of eyes, his blinding smile made her forget to breathe for a moment.

“I had hoped you might say that.” And with that he pulled her into his arms again and continued swaying her to the music as if she had not just revealed her repulsive self to him. Her brain still a step behind, she couldn’t do anything but stare up at him stupidly.

“What? Why?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” And when she shook her head like a petrified imbecile, an amused chuckle rumbled through his chest. “Because even though your behaviour was extremely infuriating, I have to admit that I like you. And asking you out on a date will be so much easier now that I know you like me too.”

With a violent jolt, the useless muscle inside her chest started to beat again, its heavy pounding filling her ears with white noise as the world around her started to spin. Unable to stop the motion, she felt herself leaning in, her nails digging into the undoubtedly expensive fabric of his jacket as she desperately tried to gain control over her unruly body.

“So, will you go out with me?”

It seemed like an eternity until she finally mustered the strength for a mechanical nod. Neither had she noticed in her struggle that he had stopped dancing, nor that the priceless look on her face had made his eyes and heart go soft for her.

“Great. That’s settled then. When are you free?”

It was only when he took a step back, taking his warmth with him as his hand slipped out of hers, that she snapped out of her trance.

“Now.”

“Now? Like right now?”

More like now as in before she could screw everything up again.

“Yes, why not? I know you have a busy schedule, so finding a date when we are both free might be tough. And above that, it is a beautiful summer evening.”

Had all those words really fallen from her mouth right now? Embarrassed about her lack of composure, her hand flew up to her mouth, making him smile again.

“I guess you have a fair point there.” And just like that, his hand was there again, fingers entwining slowly with hers like they had never been meant for anyone else. “All right then, let’s get out of here.”

***

Tag List: please let me know if you want to be removed or added by either ask or DM - thank you!

@summersong69 @myloveforhenrycavill @dorothea-hwldr @omgkatinka @ashesofblackroses @amberangel112 @madbaddic7ed @icarusblinders @zealoushound @asuni921 @endofalldays01 @nerra75 @indigosaurus @nowyouseeme098 @cap-just-said-language @miss-rebel-without-applause @wheretheriversrunintothesea @maan24 @mochionly @introvertedmouse @sofiebstar @kebabgirl67 @marytudorbrandon @littleone65

#manuel neuer x reader #manuel neuer x you #manuel neuer fanfiction #manuel neuer #football au #manuel neuer fanfic #manuel neuer fic #manuel neuer imagine #manuel neuer rpf #assumptions

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eveningstar1516 · 3 years

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Rise Of The Demon King ~ Chapter 1

Rise of the Demon King

Fic: Multi Chapter Paring: MC x Everyone (Mostly Lucifer) Type: Angst with a Happy Ending Total Word Count: 26,758 TW: Major Character Death, Reader gets stabbed with a sword through their chest so..., Abusive Parents, Past Child Abuse, Demon Hunters, Loss of Control Summary: You’ve done it. You’ve finally done it. You’ve managed to anger the demon king. Now you hold your head high as he hands down your sentence. AO3 Portal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065362

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So I've been meaning to post this on here and I finally am. I'll be posting a chapter a day but the completed version is up on my Ao3

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

CHAPTER 1 - Awakening Day (1,526 words)

It’s been a few years since the exchange program ended. It was such a great success that Lord Diavolo had passed a law allowing inter-realm travel between the Devildom and the Human realm so long as you are approved with the proper paperwork of course. You were one of the few with a special pass to come and go as you pleased while skipping all the procedures. The day you visited was a special day. It had been the day the Demon King “Abandon” would awake from his slumber and return to the throne until he deemed Diavolo fit to rule as a permanent king instead of an heir. After much debate, you convinced your 7 demons to allow you to attend the ceremony. As they were high ranking Lords, they had to be present by Diavolo’s side while you stayed within the crowd with Solomon.

Awakening Day

“So what’s the Demon king like?” you asked the group on your way to the palace.

“Well, we’ve never actually met him. We came to the Devildom while he was still asleep” Satan answered.

“I heard that his aura is so powerful that even if you didn’t know him, which is impossible, that you would both fear and respect him on instinct. It’s rumoured that he is the only being in existence that could possibly challenge the Celestial realm and stand a better chance than we did!” Beel inquired.

“Well if Diavolo got any of his looks from him then he might be one of the most handsome beings in the three realms, after me of course!” Asmo added.

“Remember all of you, King Abandon is not like Lord Diavolo. Lord Diavolo might take enjoyment from your little escapades and shenanigans but His Highness will not tolerate any of that. You are all high ranking Lords, the “Rulers of Hell” I expect you all to behave yourselves and at least try to act the part. That means no inappropriate jokes, going off to steal something, sleeping at inopportune times, constantly snacking, or having your nose buried in a book or console. Our behaviour will reflect on Lord Diavolo and I will not have any of you tarnish it.”

“Oi! We can behave if we want to! Besides this is the King! We’d have to be absolute morons to try and do anything to him!”

“Well Mammon, we’ll just have to keep an eye on you, our moron of a brother,” Asmo said while ruffling Mammon's hair.

“HEY QUIT IT!”

“All of you enough! We will be arriving soon. Remember best behaviour-”

“Alright, Lucifer, you can relax. We’re not crazy enough to invoke the King’s wrath.” Satan said in an attempt to soothe over the eldest concerns.

“Y/N, are you absolutely sure you will be alright with Solomon?”

“Yes, Lucifer I’m sure. I’ll stay right next to him the entire time. I promise.”

With that, we arrived to see Solomon and a few other high-ranking Demons waiting outside the palace courtyard to be allowed in. Upon seeing us, Solomon walked over, extending greetings to each of the brothers before turning to me. Before he could do anything I gave him a big hug.

“How’s my favourite wizard?”

“Hehehe, nice to see you too Y/N. Are you ready to see the King?”

“Yes! I’m so excited. Reading about him just isn’t enough. Have you ever met him?”

“No of course not! I’m not that old!” Solomon replied between laughing breaths.

“We will be heading inside to meet with Lord Diavolo before the ceremony. I trust that you will keep Y/N safe right, Solomon?”

“Of course Lucifer. I love them as much as you guys do. Besides if I don’t you’d all just kill me and I for one enjoy my life.”

With that, the brothers bid me goodbye turning to head into the palace leaving me and Solomon waiting with the other demons for the ceremony to take place.

A little while later, the courtyard is packed with demons and sorcerers of all ranks, waiting to welcome their king back.

“Nervous?”

“A little but who wouldn’t be? I just hope that things won’t change so drastically now that the king is ruling instead of Diavolo.”

“I won’t be so sure, from what I’ve heard, he rules with an iron fist and is much harsher than Diavolo when it comes to his court. As Diavolo’s right hand, Lucifer will be very busy in the upcoming days. I imagine he will be even more stressed making sure his brothers stay in line.”

“Wow, you didn’t need to dump everything on me all at once…”

“It’ll be alright, you’ve handled worse, this’ll be easy in comparison. As long as you don’t anger him or anything like that.”

“Trust me, I don’t plan on doing any of that. Although things never go as planned for me huh?”

“No, they usually don’t do they?” he answered with a chuckle.

Before I could answer, we heard what sounded like fanfare and the crowd quickly quieted down. At the front of the courtyard stood Lord Diavolo in his demonic form with Lucifer at his right and Barbatos at his left also in demon form. The rest of the brothers and a few other high ranking elders and demons stood behind in their demonic glory in accordance with their rank. Diavolo then addressed the crowd.

“Denizens of Devildom! Thank you for coming out today to welcome my father His Highness King Abandon back to the Devildom. I will not keep you here so without further wait, HIS HIGHNESS KING ABANDON OF THE DEVILDOM!” As soon as Diavolo introduced his father, a tall dark man resembling Diavolo stepped up from the shadows in his full demonic glory. His demon form surprisingly simple and modest but still elegant enough to be fit for royalty. His horns unlike Diavolo’s curve upwards from the side of his head and onto the top forming a crown-like shape with gold swirling around it and admonishing the tip. His eyes like golden lava glowing in the lighting and you were convinced that he could set anyone ablaze with just his eyes and little thought. His upper body much like Diavolo’s is full of tattoos symbolizing his royal status. He brandished 4 large black leather wings with golden tips and blood-red accents. While he didn’t have a multitude of accessories like his son, the few he wore complimented his attire greatly making him look even bigger and more regal. He presented an aura that screamed for you to have the utmost respect when in his presence. As if on instinct, everyone present immediately bowed down taking a knee with their hands on their hearts along with those on stage. The kings’ eyes swept over the crowd taking in the different ranks all present for today when you felt a gaze settle on you, the only non magical born human here. I didn’t dare to raise my gaze or move, keeping my head down and as still as possible until I felt his gaze avert from my figure. Sensing my tension, Solomon risked a glance towards me without moving his head and I returned it with a slight smile to try and reassure him that I'm alright.

“RISE!”

At once, all that were present stood at once. Those on stage adopting a soldier-like pose with their hands behind their back, expressions betraying nothing. If this were any other situation, I would've sent them a smile and thumbs up. I wasn't used to seeing them like this and was impressed by their behaviour; though now was not the time for that.

The king then started addressing the crowd. Taking the opportunity, I studied him a little closer; never meeting his eyes and keeping my gaze as respectful as possible. During his speech, he raked his eyes across the crowd and would rest his gaze on mine more than once. Each time he did, I suppressed a shudder as his gaze looked like he was picking me apart and looking right through me. Solomon sensed my discomfort and squeezed my hand to assure me that he’s got my back should something happen. After he finished, everyone bowed their heads with their hands over their hearts as he left the stage along with everyone on it by ranking order. Soon after he left, everyone buzzed back to life talking among themselves about their king and leaving to get ready for the ball happening that night in honour of the king. As Solomon and I were leaving, Barbatos appeared by our side.

“Hello Y/N, Solomon”

“Hello Barb, is everything alright?”

“Yes, all is well. The king requests your presence is all. I’ve been sent to get you.”

“Oh,” I felt a pit form in my stomach. I’ve never interacted with royalty other than Diavolo and I didn’t know how to act when it came to the king.

“Alright. Sorry, Solomon, I’ll see you tonight right?”

“Of course. See you tonight.”

With that, he said his goodbyes to both Barbatos and I, then left. I took a deep breath and followed Barb into the palace.

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luvksj · 3 years

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Yandere! Undisputed Era: Don’t Try Me

author’s note: so... i’m trying to create a masterlist so you can find all my stories much easier but i have no freaking idea where to start so... if anyone knows how to... please help me out. hope you guys are enjoying my stories so far and sorry if anything is confusion or goes suddenly off-topic, i try my best to remain consistent as possible. anyway, here’s another yandere! undisputed era story because i love them so much (not as much as the shield). again, thank you for supporting my stories and i’ll never stop expressing my gratitude for how much each like means to me.

plot: ever since pat mcafee ambushed your boyfriends, the undisputed era, he has been consistently taunting you, making incredibly rude comments all because your boyfriends weren’t here to protect you. you decided to prove why no-one should ever under-estimate you.

“You can talk the talk... let’s see if you can walk the walk, hmm?” you said.

Ever since Pat McAfee ambushed your boyfriends, you’ve been the target of his consistently rude comments. The results of his attack left all four members unconscious in the hospital while you spent majority of your day talking to doctors for daily updates.

The final straw came when Pat McAfee declared that you were hiding from him because you can’t fend for yourself since he gave your boyfriends a one-way ticket to the hospital.

Marching angrily inside, you ignore everyone’s stares and climb inside the ring, demanding Pat McAfee to come out. He cockily walks out, slowly getting inside the ring. “How dare you say that I can’t fight. Just because you put my boyfriends in a hospital gives you no right in making rude comments about me. If anything... you’re the pussy here, darling.” you spit.

His cocky demeanor flickers slightly, “You had to ambush them because you don’t have the balls to fight them face-to-face because you knew that they would whip your ass. While you’ve been running your mouth, I’ve been looking after my boyfriends because that’s what a girlfriend does.” fans were cheering as he grimaces.

“Enough is enough. I’m here to challenge you and prove that I’m one badass motherfucker with or without my boyfriends here.” you start off, staring towards an NXT Takeover graphic as his eyes follows.

Fans cheers become louder with each passing second, “You can talk the talk... let’s see if you can walk the walk, hmm?” you said. Fans excitedly chant, pressuring Pat McAfee, he clearly didn’t expect this and hoped you’d admit everything he’s been saying was true.

But, you were different than the rest.

“I challenge you to a Steel Cage match at NXT Takeover.” you announce as fans scream excitedly while glaring Pat McAfee dead in his eyes. “There’s no Undisputed Era to protect me, I’m all alone but rest assured... I’m going to drag you through absolute hell! And... that’s Undisputed.” you finish.

Pat McAfee looks rather impressed by your confidence, “Feisty one I see, no wonder the Undisputed Era likes you.” he said. Watching blankly, your anger had reached boiling point but he didn’t need to know that since it would inflate his ego. “I will show everyone that you’re nothing but a weak, little bitch who needs her boyfriends to protect her. At Takeover, I’ll make you my bitch.” he taunts.

You launch yourself at him, screaming in anguish. Referees tried pulling you away but that didn’t prevent you from landing a Superkick, watching him recoil in pain. “At Takeover... I’m not becoming your bitch... you’re becoming my bitch.”

[time skip]

You trained hard each day for this match. You were warming up backstage, you stared at a photo of the Undisputed Era with a soft smile, knowing they were cheering for you... despite not knowing anything about this because you hadn’t visited them in so long.

Dressed in your custom ‘Undisputed Era’ wrestling gear, you admired yourself before heading out where Pat McAfee awaited inside the steel structure. “AND HIS CHALLENGER, FROM [Y/H/T], WEIGHING IN AT [Y/W] (author’s note: y/h/t means your home town and y/w means your weight), REPRESENTING THE UNDISPUTED ERA, Y/N!” Alicia introduced.

You pull the Undisputed Era hand sign before the most anticipated match of NXT Takeover officially began with fans cheering loudly.

[another time skip]

The match has been going on for hours, neither of you wanted to give up. Blood gushed down from your face; the ring was littered in broken tables, bent ladders, snapped kendo sticks, and dismantled chairs.

You were just Suplex into two ladders but managed to kick out. Pat McAfee had dragged you to the top of the cage, hoping to hit another Suplex but you avoided it before connected with a Tornado DDT from the top of the cage. Commentary was going insane, fans couldn’t believe it and you pinned him for the win.

“AND THE WINNER, REPRESENTING THE UNDISPUTED ERA, Y/N!”

You had no energy to even get up as the referee tries holding your hand up, you had lost too much blood, slowly losing your consciousness as Pat McAfee was already unconscious. Paramedics raced to the both of you, loading you hurriedly onto stretchers with a cloth pressed firmly onto your open wound causing this much blood loss.

Groaning, the doors were slammed closed with a paramedic demanding that you remain awake but the heaviness of your eyes overpowered everything.

[two weeks later]

You woke up a couple days later, completely out of it. You couldn’t remember a thing from the night apart from fainting inside an ambulance, even though your injuries were quite severe, that wasn’t what was worrying you.

What was worrying you was the reaction your beloved boyfriends would have when they discovered that you competed in a match without their knowledge and ended up inside a hospital.

Tonight, after being cleared by doctors to make an appearance, you would be making a surprise appearance to review the match considered by many as ‘one of WWE’s most iconic matches’. William Regal had informed you earlier that Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch were banned from ringside during your segment.

Fans cheered as you slowly got into the ring, it felt weird being here without your boyfriends standing protectively behind you. “Two weeks ago, I competed in a match to prove that I’m not that girl who can’t fight their own battles and relies on their boyfriends to protect them. I know they can’t always protect me and that’s okay because I also proved that I’m one badass motherfucker.” you stated.

You continued talking about the match people have dubbed ‘one of WWE’s most iconic matches’. “Before I go...” you take a deep breath before continuing. “I’d like to apologize to my boyfriends. I’m sorry that I competed in a match behind your back but I could not just sit around while Pat McAfee made insulting comments towards you, the WWE universe and me. I could not just let this slide by anymore... and like people say... karma’s a real bitch.” Fans cheered as you tried leaving.

Yeah... tried. Because the next moment, ‘SHOCK THE SYSTEM’ resounds before Roderick and Adam walk out looking emotionless but you could see the mixed emotions swirling around in their eyes. You tried walking back but bump into the chest of Kyle and Bobby.

Bobby immediately pins your arms (lightly) behind your back before hearing that awful handcuffing sound. “Do you know what it feels like to have your girlfriend, the only person who accepts us for us, to be hospitalized because of a match you had no idea about.” Adam starts off.

Oof, they were beyond pissed.

“We came back, hoping that our girlfriend would run into our arms and everything would be alright. But... we come back and get told that you were in the hospital because you competed in a STEEL CAGE MATCH with someone twice your size. Do you know how we felt?” Kyle added on.

You bit your tongue as they scolded you, “Are you finished because do you know how I felt when Pat McAfee insulted me because I couldn’t fight my own battles. I needed to prove to that dickhead that I am more than capable of fighting back. He sexualized me, said I’m weak and you weren’t here to protect me. I’m sorry daddies if I’m being rude but I couldn’t sit there no more and let him do that. So... I made him my bitch.” they looked impressed.

“Although... we’re actually proud and pleased... you still need to be punished for breaking the rules, sweetheart.” Roderick said before being guided to an awaiting car where you were squished between Adam and Bobby while Kyle drove off.

Yeah... in conclusion, everyone learnt their lessons.

#WWE NXT #wwe imagine #wweimagines #wwe x reader #nxt fanfiction #nxt #undisputedera #yandere imagines #YandereAU

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party-gilmore · 4 years

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19 year old Dean sneaking out of the motel with clumsily smudged eye makeup and lipstick that Rhonda assured him via text would actually be pretty perfectly on brand and her sequiny borrowed clothes hidden under his dad's big jacket.

He doesnt understand why she told him to dress like this, but the panties thing was pretty nice, so he's willing to trust her... it helps that Dad was so damn wasted he knew there's no way he'd wake up while Dean was on the way out. Getting back in might be a different story, but he's got a change of clothes stashed in the Impala if he needs to swap out before sneaking back in.

Once he gets there, once Rhonda shows him a world he didn't even know existed right under his nose, it becomes more of a tradition. In fact, it becomes the only tradition he feels like he can share with these other people, these... these other queer people.

It's the only connection, the only experience, the only part of his strange hunter's upbringing that he feels like lines up with their own stories. The only part of their culture he feels like he can share, like he can actually be a part of.

Sneaking out, flashy skimpy gender bending clothes hidden from overbearing parents under layers upon layers, changing somewhere along the way or even in the tiny little restrooms of whatever skeevy dive is playing the movie in tonight's town of choice, sharing That Look with the other boys swapping their getups in the same dingy toilet, the confidence building as he strips layer after layer, tearing down his own defenses of Flannel and Denim and Dad's Jacket to raise a wall of freedom and expression and self love, and it always scary every time but in a good way, the way he feels at the top of a roller coaster, gripping the lap bar and so, so ready.

Then after, lingering in the afterglow of the camaraderie and companionship, the same feeling of mutual dread creeping across the little gaggle of young adults he finds himself drawn to as they start the slow trudge back to real life. The layers going back on. The Flannel. The Denim. Dad's Jacket.

The envy as they watch a lot of the older folks and even some of the younger ones - a little bit more every year, as time goes by - laughing and smiling and sparing a quick moment for a mournful but understanding glance in the direction of those who have to build their walls back up before getting into their cars. Heading back home as they are.

Unafraid not to change back.

He never talks about it. Not even when Sam mentions offhand about a show he attended once in college. Just makes a snarky comment about corsets and Tim Curry that has Sam punching him hard in the arm with a reprimand about being bigoted. That's fine. Dean would still rather that than have people know the truth. Not yet, anyway.

He doesn't talk about it to Cas, either. It's not just because it doesn't seem like it would be up the guy's alley, although he was admittedly tempted when putting together his list of things show the falling angel all of what humanity has to offer. He doesn't doubt that even if it's not the guy's cup of tea, Cas would still find it to be beautiful in some way. Probably like, as a tableau of humanity at its purest, most free, or some sappy shit like that.

No, the reason Dean doesn't tell Cas is because it's still too intimate of a thing for him, and with this... whatever it is that's been slipping between, growing stronger with each pass around, he's afraid that letting Cas into that part of his life would leave him tumbling to quickly, too recklessly, into something he knows he's not ready for. Besides, he hasn't been to a show in years anyway. Not since hell.

But then one day.

One day Jack is sitting at the kitchen table, nervously admitting that he's been talking to some kids in town, and he really likes them, and... and not just the girls. Not just one of them either. The whole group. And he doesnt know if that's weird or not and he doesn't know what to do and he doesn't know if that's normal... do other people feel this way? Are there other people out there who are... like me? Or is this... a nephilim thing. Am I the only one.

And for a moment Dean wonders if it would be weird, taking his kid to go see it. But then he thinks about some of the older couples he'd met and talked too, who'd been excited to introduce their kids around Dean's age. Like taking your kid out to a bar for their 21st. A moment to show them a world they could be a part of, as they grow into who they are. To help them find their place in it.

Dean rarely ever let himself wish for things to be Other Than They Are, trying to be enough of a realist to not get stuck in wistful what ifs and maybes. But in those moments? Those moments he found himself wishing for a parent like that. Not that Rhonda's introduction to it wasn't pretty damn great, but the thought of it being a parent, a... a dad, showing him a world he could be a part of and saying 'it's okay, I'm part of it too, go enjoy it but know that I'm here with you when you need me,' it was... well.

Dean clears his throat, realizing just how long Jack's anxious silence had gone on while his brain rattled around in the past.

"Hey kid, how uh... how about we catch a movie tonight? That older theater, the one that's... not the Regal, what's it called... uh, whichever. They're playing Rocky Horror tonight."

Jack's head tilts at the apparent subject change, in the way that reminds Dean so much of Cas, and for a moment he almost calls down the hall to invite the angel along.

But no, he settles back into his original plan. This is a Him And Jack kinda thing. This time, at least.

"A horror movie?"

"Haha, no, not quite," Dean grins, standing and ruffling the kids hair. "C'mon. I know none of my old stuff fits me anymore, so I'll need new gear anyway. I'll take you to pick out an outfit. Bring your ID."

#supernatural #bi dean winchester #queer jack kline #i just have a lot of feelings about rocky horror and what it means for me okay?#dean winchester #jack kline

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tchallasbabymama · 4 years

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M’Baku’s Love- Chapter 6

Here’s the next chapter of M’Baku’s Love. Check out my masterlist HERE to catch up and read my other stories. Let me know what you think or if you want to be tagged. Hope y’all enjoy!

Word count: ~6100

When M’Baku picked Niecey up for their date, the first thing they both noticed was that his dark brown tuxedo with gorilla fur sash clashed with Neicey’s low-cut black sequin dress. The two of them obviously hadn’t discussed what they were wearing and it showed, which irritated Niecey to no end. M’Baku really couldn’t care less, but she was seriously upset about how they’d look together in pictures.

“You couldn’t find a black tux?” she asked him just before they walked in after seething in the car the whole twenty minute ride over.

“I had plenty of options, but I wore this because it reminded me of formal Jabari attire.” he fought to keep his eyes from rolling.

“Ugh fine, hopefully we won’t look too bad. Come on.” she walked ahead of him as he handed the valet his keys and they entered the gala. People mingled about, eating and drinking and no doubt opening their pocketbooks. Even the dance floor had a decent amount of people swaying to the jazz music coming from the live band.

However, nothing could have prepared M’Baku for how beautiful Monae looked that night. She happened to be looking towards the door at the moment he walked in and their eyes met from across the room. She had paired a spaghetti strap bronze silk gown with a split up her left thigh with strappy nude heels that made it look like she was walking on her tiptoes all night and her favorite delicate gold drop earrings that dusted her collarbone. They held each other’s gaze for a little too long, and both of their dates noticed but chose not to say anything.

M’Baku and Neicey made their way through the crowd, stopping periodically to speak to their colleagues. She tried to avoid Monae by ignoring that side of the room entirely, but M’Baku eventually steered them right in her direction.

“Monae, Darrin. How are you two this evening?” he asked as they approached the couple.

“It’s actually Derrick-”

“Oh, my apologies.”

Monae fought to keep a laugh in.

“I’m Neicey,” she inserted herself in the conversation with an attitude that rubbed both Monae and M’Baku the wrong way.

“Nice to meet you Neicey,” Derrick responded before taking a sip of his champagne.

“Thank you... Derrick, was it?”

“That’s me. So do you work here with these two?”

“I do, but we’re in different departments. Although I guess M’Baku doesn't really have a department,” she laughed and Derrick was the only one that joined her. The two of them continued to get acquainted while M’Baku and Monae tried to avoid each other's gaze. However They were unsuccessful and ended up locking eyes across Derrick and Neicey’s conversation, but when Derrick looked up to bring in M’Baku he saw the look of adoration on the man’s face as he stared longingly at Monae. Derrick couldn’t believe this man was so bold as to stare at his fiancee like that right in front of him..

“Hey man, so I hear you’re only in town for a short while. When are you leaving?” Derrick asked with a certain gruffness in his voice.

“Derrick, don’t be rude,” Monae whispered to him, shooting an apologetic smile M’Baku’s way. Derrick brushed her off and continued his line of questioning.

“I’m just curious. When are you going back to Wakanda?”

“I will be here two more months,” M’Baku stood tall. “And you?” He threw back.

“We’ll be moving in a couple weeks actually,” he looked down at Monae as her jaw clenched. “Monae’s still not happy about it though, are you Momo?”

She gave him a forced smile, “We don’t need to talk about that right now, let’s just have a good time.”

“There you are! Damn, y’all clean up nice.” N’Jadaka said as he and T’Challa made their way over to greet M’Baku and company. Both Udakus had on black tuxes with silk scarves draped over their left shoulders, the prince’s a shiny gold and the king’s a bold purple.

“Thanks, so do you two,” Neicey responded.

“I wouldn’t be brave enough to rock a scarf like that.” Derrick added.

“Yes, well you-“

“Look nice in your tux,” T’Challa cut off M’Baku, shooting him a look. “Actually Derrick we were wondering if you would give us some, uh, legal advice. We have a few questions about opening a pro-Bono legal clinic.”

“That’s not my specialty, but sure.”

“Fantastic!. We need you to meet some people. Monae do you mind if we steal him away from you?”

“By all means…”

The three men walked away as M’Baku caught Shuri’s eye across the room. She and Nakia were slowly making their way over to them, but kept being stopped and roped into conversations with various prospective donors.

“So, Monae. Where are you moving to?” Neicey asked, hoping it was somewhere far, far away.

“That’s a complicated answer right now-“

“So you’re staying?”

“Like I said, it's complicated,” she deadpanned and grabbed another flute of champagne from a passing waiter, placing her empty one back on the tray.

“I guess.” she shrugged before turning back to her date. “M’Baku let’s get a real drink from the bar, not this bubbly mess.” She tried to pull him towards the bar, but he didn’t budge.

“Monae, would you like to join us? I do not want to just leave you here all alone,” he offered as Shuri and Nakia came up behind him.

“Thank you, but I’ll let the two of you spend some time together,” she said with a sarcastic tone that only M’Baku picked up on. “Besides, these gorgeous ladies just showed up to keep me company.” She gestured to the royalty in their presence and M’Baku turned around to greet them.

“My Queen, Princess, you both look lovely this evening.”

Nakia wore a floor-length eggplant gown with a sweetheart neckline with matching opera gloves and emerald jewelry. Shuri surprisingly had on heels with her black jumpsuit that was covered in gold embroidery. They both looked regal, even more so than usual.

“Thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself. And Monae, this bronze is stunning! Did you two come together?” Shuri asked, accidentally stirring the pot. M’Baku could feel Neicey seething on the other side of him.

“No, we did,” she said as she grabbed onto his arm.

“Oh I’m sorry, I just thought with the outfits- nevermind. I love the sequins.”

“Thank you.”

An awkward silence followed, but Nakia broke it before it could go on too long.

“How has your class been going? I hear great things from the kids,” Nakia asked, declining a flute of champagne from a passing waiter.

“Oh they’re a dream to work with. Have you seen their latest project? Last week I taught them about revisionist history and they’ve been researching real historical facts and performing skits based around their subject. You have to come by and see it. They’re so good!”

“I’ll stop by on Monday for sure,” Nakia responded. “Since your class is so popular I’d love it if you could come with me to talk to some of our donors.”

“Sure but M’Ba-“

“He’ll be fine. Plus I think the Princess needs him for something anyway.” Nakia led her away from her date and over to the only group of rich Black folks in the room.

Shuri turned to wink at M’Baku and tried to slip away before Monae could notice her escape since she had turned to talk to one of her art teachers and his wife, but Monae caught her at the last second..

“So, princess, quick question-“

“Princess? You know I’m just Shuri to you, Monae.”

“Not when you look like that you’re not. Did she say yes?”

“Yes! She’s right over there mingling with some of the other tech nerds,” she pointed to a short, shapely, bald girl in a jumpsuit just like Shuri’s. “Her name is Tae. Isn’t she just the cutest?”

“Absolutely adorable,” M’Baku smiled at his friend, happy she had finally been able to make a move.

“Well, I should go mingle some more. I’ll catch you two later! Again, love the matching outfits,” Shuri said as she skirted away. She picked up a champagne flute, but before she could even bring it to her lips, her brother came out of nowhere and snatched it from her grasp.

“You’re too young.”

“Oh come on, I can drink at home!”

“This isn’t Wakanda, and you’re not 21. We have to present a good image for the donors-“

“We don’t even need donors, we have more than enough money to fund the center.”

“Yes, but people want to have a say in what goes on in their communities and rich people like to throw money around. Who am I to deny them that right?”

“You just like taking colonizer’s money,” she whispered to him and he responded with a wink before sipping from the confiscated champagne flute.

“You’re starting to get it.” He walked away with a smug look on his face to find his wife in the crowd. Shuri rolled her eyes and went to go keep Tae company.

Meanwhile, Monae and M’Baku finally got a moment alone.

“You look absolutely beautiful tonight. This dress is very distracting.”

“Thank you. You know, sometimes I forget you’re a chief but right now you really do look like royalty. Hell, all you Wakandans do.”

“You say that as though you do not look like a queen yourself.”

Monae blushed and he held out his arm towards her.

“Want a real drink?”

“God, yes.”

He laughed and led her to the open bar, ordering them both whiskey, his neat and hers on ice.

“How did you know I was a whiskey girl?”

“I did my research on your home, too. I figured Jack Daniels was a safe bet.”

“And the ice?”

“You ask for extra ice on everything, so I just assumed-“

“Correctly.”

They smiled at each other and continued flirting back and forth by the bar until they caught the eye of a jealous lover. Derrick stormed over to the bar and stood between them.

“Are you having fun?” he asked Monae, back turned to M’Baku.

“Derrick stop being rude, we were in the middle of a conversation-“

“Yeah I saw. I’m ready to get out of here, let’s go.”

“We haven’t been here that long-“

“I said let’s go.”

M’Baku didn’t like the tone of voice he used when speaking to her, so he stepped in, squaring up with Derrick

“I think the lady-“

“Did I ask you?” he raised his voice as he turned to face the chief. “No, I didn’t. Monae, let’s- fuck, where’d she go?” When turned back around she was gone.

“I will go find her.”

“Nah big man, you’ve done enough. I’ll go find my girl.” And with that, he was off, leaving M’Baku at the bar alone. He threw back his drink right as N’Jadaka approached.

“Yo what’s up with you?”

“I am going to kill him.”

“Who, Demarcus?”

“Yes. He is too controlling of her.”

“Well it’s not like you’ll have to deal with him much longer.” The prince said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Hey where’d your date disappear to?”

M’Baku shrugged and N’Jadaka chuckled before something caught his eye.

“There’s your girl.” He nodded towards the entryway, and M’Baku turned around to see Monae and Derrick having what looked to be a very quiet heated argument. As luck would have it, Neicey reappeared at that moment.

“Hey cutie, miss me?” She clung to his arm and he felt his blood pressure rise. She noticed the tension in his shoulders. “What’s up with you?”

“Monae’s fiance is being a dick,” N’Jadaka answered for him, prompting Neicey to roll her eyes.

“Again with all the Monae talk? I’m so tired of hearing about that bitch-”

M’Baku’s head had never turned so fast, and N’Jadaka was seriously concerned for Neicey’s safety for a moment.

“What did you just call her?” M’Baku asked for clarification, making sure he heard her right.

“How about we all chill out. Neicey, wanna dance?”

“Sure, why not. It’s not like he was gonna ask me anyway.”

N’Jadaka gave M’Baku a look that told him to relax before escorting Neicey to the dance floor.

M’Baku looked back up to find Monae and she was nowhere in sight, so he made his way towards the doors to see if she had maybe gone outside for some air. She hadn’t, they had just gone around the corner to argue in peace. Yet again, he caught the tail end of their disagreement.

“You never want to support anything I do, Derrick. I’m tired of it.”

“Well I’m tired of you flirting with that chief guy.”

“That ‘chief guy’ has a name-”

“Do I look like I care? Look, we’re leaving for LA in two weeks. Do you think you can keep your legs closed until then?”

Monae was stunned, mostly because she had no comeback. She had already opened her legs for M’Baku, but Derrick didn’t know that. Thankfully he took her shock for offense and tried to backtrack.

“I didn’t mean it to sound that way-”

“Yes you did.”

“Monae, I-”

“No. Derrick I’m tired of doing this back and forth. You don’t respect me and you never have. I can’t keep doing this-”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying we’re done, Derrick. You can go to LA and be this big, successful entertainment lawyer all you want now. I’m done.” She took the ring off her finger and handed it back to him.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, waiting for a response.

“You think you can live the life I could provide for you on your teacher’s salary?” his voice was low and full of rage.

“Oh honey, I make way more than the average teacher. They actually pay us here, so I’ll be fine. You’re not needed.”

He was fuming.

“Fine! Don’t come crawling back to me when he leaves you behind.”

And with that, Derrick turned and left the gala.

M’Baku wasn’t sure of what to do, should he go to her or give her space? He heard her sniffles and quickly made up his mind.

“Monae-”

“What?!” she yelled before she could register the voice that was speaking to her since she kept her back towards the door so nobody would see her tears.

“Monae, I am sorry.”

She broke down upon really hearing his voice.

“It’s not your fault, it was bound to happen anyway. It’s just hard to let go of so many years, you know?”

“I understand, I have been there. I am still sorry for my part in this and how it led to hurting you.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“Yes, she broke my heart so I had to let her go, but the situation was very different. Can I get you anything?”

She smiled through her tears at his attempt to be helpful.

“No I just need to clean up, and get back out there.” she pointed to the restrooms. He waited for her while she went in to dry her tears and fix her makeup. As he did, he caught sight of N’Jadaka and Neicey sneaking out together and let out a chuckle. At least that situation was taken care of, now he could focus all his energy on Monae.

When she emerged her makeup was once again flawless and M’Baku couldn’t help but stare at her beauty.

“What? Did I miss a spot?” she panicked

“No, just taking it all in,” he said with a whimsical smile on his face.

She blushed and reached to grab his arm before stopping herself.

“Where’s Neicey? I don’t want her chomping my damn head off for being within a 5 foot radius of you.”

M’Baku laughed. “Oh, she will not be a problem anymore, I just saw N’Jadaka take her home for the night.”

“Of course he did,” Monae wrapped her arm around M’Baku’s large bicep. He led her back into the gala just as T’Challa was finishing up his speech.

“-and to the donors, we raise our glasses to you for your continued support and interest in bettering the community. We couldn’t do this without you.”

Shuri scoffed and Nakia fought to hide a smile, nudging her sister-in-law to keep her quiet.

“Please, continue to utilize our open bar and try some of the hors d'oeuvres our wonderful wait staff are carrying around the room. Enjoy your night, and we appreciate your generosity.” Nakia added.

Everyone clapped as the three royals exited the stage.

“Where the hell is N’Jadaka?” T’Challa asked M’Baku when he made his way over.

“Oh he’s busy with Neicey.”

“N- ohhh. That’s great!” he noticed Monae's confused face and dialed it back a little. “I mean, good for him.”

Monae could tell something was up, but she’d get it out of M’Baku later.

“Nice speech, T. I can already see the money rolling in. You know, rich white folks love easing their guilty consciences.”

“Thank you, Monae. The more they give us, the less we have to put up, and the more centers we can open and do the same thing all over again.” T’Challa said softly through a fake smile as some of those rich white people walked within earshot of the conversation.

“Have you looked at other locations?”

“We have, it is difficult to narrow down cities. We want to stay in the US for now, but eventually we could become global.”

“You should look into Nashville. It’s crawling with gentrifiers, and North Nashville has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. For Black folks, of course.”

“Really? I was unaware of that. North Nashville, you say... I am assuming that is a Black neighborhood?”

“Not for much longer,” she said with a deep sadness in her face that the king took note of. “But an Outreach Center could really help the community.”

“I will keep that in mind, thank you. So….” The king looked on expectantly.

“Sooo…?” Monae asked back before he gestured to the two of them. She playfully rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”

M’Baku chuckled at both of their antics.

“I’m sure you don’t…” T’Challa said as he walked away to go mingle with the crowd some more.

“How long do these things usually last?” M’Baku leaned down and said with his lips grazing her ear.

“I don't know, this is my first gala. Why, tired of it already?”

“Honestly, yes. I would much rather be on my couch right about now, the collars on these button up shirts are extremely uncomfortable.”

“Let’s go then. I’m not in the mood to deal with people, and that couch sounds real good right about now.”

-------

Had she been thinking, Monae would’ve run home real quick to change, but there she was barefoot in an evening gown in M’Baku’s kitchen going through his fridge to find something to eat.

“We should order in, those hors d'oeuvres weren’t enough.”

“What do you have a taste for?” M’Baku rounded the corner in grey sweatpants and a black tank and it took everything in Monae to not jump him right then and there.

“Honestly? You, but I’m also not in the mood. You can’t just walk around looking like that, it’s not fair.”

He cornered her against the counter, arms on either side of her.

“And you walking around here in this gown is unfair to me, yet here you are.” he looked down at her erect nipples, stiff from the chill of his loft. He had turned the thermostat up to 70 for her, but that was as high as he was willing to go.

He kissed her forehead and backed up, trying not to stare too hard at her heaving chest.

“M’Baku, I might need some time. I’m still kind of in a weird headspace right now and-”

“I understand, which is why I have a surprise for you.”

Her face lit up like a kid at Christmas. “What is it?”

“You will have to come over here to find out.” He said with a chuckle, walking towards the living area and plopping on the couch. She joined him shortly after and he picked up the remote. When he pressed play tears came to her eyes as she heard the twinkling sounds of the opening to her favorite movie.

“You remembered?” she asked through the couple tears that had escaped her eyes. One day during their many lunches, she had mentioned that her favorite feel-good movie was The Wiz and since he had never seen it, she vowed to change that. Now here he was, pulling out all the stops.

“Of course I did, I have been making my own ‘Captain America’ list.”

“So have I! It’s on my phone, I’ll grab it after the movie.”

They decided to order pizza and she settled into the couch, but couldn’t get comfortable in her dress.

“Let me get you a change of clothes. It might be a little big-”

“A little? I’m like a foot shorter than you, I’ll be swimming in whatever you give me.”

He chuckled and motioned for her to follow him. She paused the movie right as Toto ran into the snowstorm and got up, trying not to trip over her dress since she no longer had on her heels.

M’Baku found a t-shirt for her to wear and got to looking for pants when she stopped him.

“This should be fine, you’ve already seen everything and this’ll be like a dress on me anyway.” she said, undoing her side zipper and letting the gown fall to the ground before reaching for the shirt. He snatched it away from her and held it up high, forcing her to either climb him or jump for it. She chose the latter and he was too distracted by her bouncing breasts to keep the shirt out of reach. She snatched it from his hand and threw it on, sticking her tongue out at him in the process.

“Do that again, and I will find a much better use for your tongue.” he warned her as they made their way back to the couch.

Monae blushed and plopped down next to him, tucking her legs under her and leaning into M’Baku. He put his arm around her so she could lean in closer and his hand rested on her waist while his fingers mindlessly traced patterns into her side. They stayed like that until the pizza arrived and got right back into position after they ate.

She knew every line and lyric, and M’Baku found himself watching her more than the movie. She was beaming the whole time except when sang along to “Home” through her usual tears.

“Why are you sad?” he asked, wiping them away. She smiled at his concern.

“I’m not sad, it’s just an emotional song. It always gets me” she spoke while dabbing her eyes with a clean napkin. “Ready to see my list?”

“I was born ready.”

She grabbed her phone from the charger while he grabbed a notebook off the coffee table. When she returned, she got right back into the same position tucked into his side and turned her phone on to see several voicemails from Derrick. She rolled her eyes and unlocked her phone, going to her notes app and pulling up her very own “Captain America List”.

“Ok, you go first!”

M’Baku opened his notebook and flipped through the pages for a moment before he found what he was looking for.

“Well I can cross off The Wiz. It is an excellent movie by the way, but I already knew you had good taste,” he said cockily. She nudged him in his side. “This is what I have so far: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Lemonade (but not the drink), spades, Roots, The Color Purple, and Friday.”

“Ok, ok, good start. Here’s some more, and this is not an exhaustive list. I will be adding more.” She cleared her throat, “So far I have: The New Jim Crow, Homecoming, “the cookout”, the Harlem Renaissance, Kindred, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Pose, and T’Challa’s Black Jeopardy sketch.“

M’Baku scribbled it all down as she spoke, and she was tickled by his intense concentration.

“Anything else?”

“That’s it for now. Where did you get yours from?”

“N’Jadaka and Deontae. Tell me about what’s on your list.”

“Well first we have The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. It’s a really depressing book, but if you want to understand white supremacy in this country and how it still operates today, this is a must. Homecoming because not only is it a flawless performance by Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter-”

“I believe I have heard some of her music, she is very talented.”

“Oh-ho-ho, just you wait. It’s not just about her though, you’ll get a feel for the HBCU experience and that’s important. You have to go to a cookout at least once. I’m gonna try to convince N’Jadaka to throw one at his place, I can’t describe in any other words than Black as fuck. The only thing that beats it is a family reunion. Next we have the Harlem Renaissance which is a whole time period of Black creativity. Authors, artists, musicians, you name it. Kindred is one of my favorite books, it’s sci-fi and has time travel but as I’m sure you can guess, that doesn’t work well for Black people in this country.”

M’Baku could listen to her talk for days and almost got lost in her lips until she caught him and shocked him from his daze.

“Are you listening?”

“I-I am sorry, you are just so beautiful. Please, keep going, I want to hear more.”

“Where was I?” she asked as a heat crept up her cheeks. “Oh, um, right. So, Alvin Ailey because I’m a dancer so obviously I would pick that, and Pose because it’s a really good show and you’ll learn some about the AIDS crisis and how Black and Brown queer and trans people are treated here. Newsflash: not that good. Last, we have T’Challa’s SNL sketch. Oh my god, you have to watch it, he’s actually really funny. That’s all I have for now, but I’ll add more as it comes to me.”

“Tell me about my list.” he requested, continuing to stare at her lips as she spoke again.

“Your list?”

“Mhm.” he said, looking at her dreamily. It was late so she couldn't tell if he was simply tired or enamoured by her. Probably both.

“Ok, well, let me see here…” she looked over his list. “Autobiography of Malcolm X, another must. Do you know who he is?”

“Yes, I learned of him when I was researching your people’s history. He was quite a polarizing character, but I agree with his stance.”

“I actually have all of these books, I’ll bring them to you on Monday. Next up is...Lemonade! This is from Deontae, isn't it?”

“How did you guess?”

“He’s a huge Beyoncé fan and I know damn well this didn’t come from Prince Charming.”

“You think he is charming?” M’Baku asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a character from some old story...and Shrek 2. Anyways, yes, Lemonade the movie not the drink. Spades? Oh, N’Jadaka’s trying to get you killed. Black people do not play when it comes to spades. It’s a card game, I’ll teach you. Roots is a book and a miniseries about a family going through the horrors of slavery. The Color Purple...now reading the book is recommended, but you have to watch the movie. References galore, same with Friday. It’s hilarious, quotable, and about smoking weed. What more could you ask for?”

“Weed?”

A slow grinch-like smile crept up Monae’s face.

“Have you ever smoked before? Eaten an edible?”

“No, it never appealed to me.”

A belly laugh erupted out of Monae and M’Baku stared at her in confusion.

“Oh my god, you got me feeling like Smokey, but my nigga...I’m getting you high. You gotta do it at least once.”

“I will try it for you.”

Monae was giddy and although he couldn't understand where her excitement was coming from, he was looking forward to finding out.

-------

The next morning M’Baku woke up to the feel of movement on his left side. His eyes slowly blinked open as he watched Monae attempt to sneak away from him.

“Where are you going?” he asked, stretching his body and sitting up from the couch. They had fallen asleep around 4am after talking and drinking wine all night, and although the couch was not the most comfortable to sleep on, M’Baku was. Monae slept like a baby, but M’Baku’s neck would probably be hurting for the next day or so.

“As much as we drank last night, where do you think?”

“Someone is feisty in the morning.”

“No, I’m feisty when I’m trying not to pee on myself.”

M’Baku chuckled as she ran down the hallway towards the bathroom. A couple minutes later she poked her head into the hallway.

“Do you have an extra toothbrush I can use?”

“Bottom drawer.”

“Thanks!”

The chief had just finished his morning stretches when Monae reappeared and he took her place. When he emerged, she had eggs and vegetables sitting on the counter and was rummaging through his cabinets. He saw her standing on her tiptoes trying to grab a frying pan that was just out of her reach and he came up behind her to grab it for her. He handed it to her and bent down to lightly kiss her on the neck and whisper in her ear.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

A chill went down her spine as she fought to focus on the task at hand.

“Good morning, handsome.”

He turned her around to face him.

“So you think I am handsome?” he teased, leaning in closer to her lips as her arms made their way around his neck.

“Of course.” She closed the distance and gave him a soft peck, and he responded by pulling her in for a real kiss, tongue and all.

“You know…” she started.

“What?”

“I’m single now…”

“Really? I was not aware,” M’Baku said sarcastically. She playfully hit his chest and his deep, rumbling laugh filled the room.

“Ok, ok I will stop,” he grinned at her.

“As I was saying, since I’m single now I can do whatever I want.”

“Whoever, you mean.”

“Exactly, and it’s a very short list,” she gave him a light kiss. “But first, breakfast!” she pulled away, much to his dismay, but he let her turn back around towards the counter. He held her waist and rested his head on top of hers.

“You know, the more you distract me the longer it’ll take to eat.”

“I do not care,” he said, squeezing her tighter. “Unless you want help, in which case I can be an excellent assistant.”

“I’d like that, actually. Grab a knife and start cutting up the onion while I put on some music.”

The two of them danced around the kitchen to Monae’s “Good Morning” Spotify playlist, M’Baku catching everything she threw back at him and surprising her by being light on his feet. After he finished chopping up the onions, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes, he tried to reach for the pan, but Monae’s hand was quicker and beat him to it.

“Nope! I’m cooking breakfast as a thank you.”

“For what?” his head tilted to the side and he gave her a curious glance.

“For...well, everything. It’s been a good month and you’ve been a good friend to me, even though we both know you were always more than a friend...the point is, thank you for being there for me and for making me laugh and for letting me stay the night.”

“Of course, that is what friends do.” he kissed her on the neck again as he walked by to grab dishes from the cabinet. Monae took the apple slices she had just cut and covered them in cinnamon and nutmeg before tossing them in the now-hot skillet. The coconut oil popped her a little, but she was used to it since she had been cooking for years. She let the apples cook down and continued to dance on her own while M’Baku recorded her moves on his rarely-used kimoyo beads.

She put on a show for him, rolling her hips and bouncing her ass extra hard, his t-shirt flying up so that he could get a glimpse of her pussy. She dropped it low to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Cry Baby” before bringing it back up slowly and checking on the apples, which were just about done. She started sauteing up the chopped vegetables and cracked a few eggs into a bowl before whipping them up and pouring them into the skillet. She scrambled up the eggs while she cracked open an avocado and placed slices of it on toast on both plates. M’Baku watched her make herself at home in his space and he wondered for a moment what it would be like to wake up every morning to this, and not just for the next two months.

His thoughts were cut short by her calling his name.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes, I am sorry, I just...you really are enchanting.”

Her bottom lip found its place between her teeth as she handed him his plate. He dug into his honey avocado toast, vegetable scramble, and fried apples like he hadn't eaten in days. When he finished he leaned back and rubbed his stomach in slow circles.

“You are the second best cook I have ever met.”

“Second? The first better be your mama-”

He chuckled at how easily she gets riled up.

“In fact, it is. You two would get along great, she is feisty just like you.”

“No wonder you have good taste in women,” she winked at him as she got up to grab their dishes. He reached for them, but she swatted his hand away. “Aht! This is a ‘thank you’, remember? You can wash them next time.”

She put the dishes in the sink before rinsing one off and placing it in the dishwasher when M’Baku came up behind her, holding her hips and grinding into her.

“I cannot wait to thank you,” he said slowly as he kissed from her ear to her collarbone. Monae was frozen on the spot, stuck under his spell, pussy throbbing more with every touch of his lips and every whisper.

“What are you waiting for?” She pushed her ass into him, feeling his thick, juicy dick sitting on her lower back. Those sweatpants weren’t holding anything down, and she was thankful for the print she saw when she looked behind her, prompting her to turn around and grab it, forcing the chief to let out a rumbling moan.

“N-not now, I want to take you out first on a real date.”

“Ugh, then why are you doing this to me? I’m horny as fuck, M’Baku.”

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss her softly, speaking against her lips, “Because I want your body ready for me.”

She shivered as he backed away from her and left the kitchen, heading towards the dining area to finish clearing off the table.

“So about this date. When are you free?”

“I’m free all weekend,” she said as his gap toothed smile grew bigger across his face.

“Well then how about this: I take you home, then I come back for you later and we go to the festival you mentioned last night.”

She did a little celebratory dance before jumping up to kiss him on the cheek and running to his room to put her dress back on. They both slid on their shoes and were out the door in minutes, Monae extra excited to get their date started.

On the way to Monae’s apartment, they both ignored the confused looks from the passersby as they took in the sight of a man in sweatpants walking hand in hand down the street with a woman in a shiny evening gown. When they reached her building, M’Baku held the door open for her as they entered. He walked her to her door and gave her another featherlight kiss.

“See you soon.”

She unlocked her door and stepped in, closing it behind her and taking a deep breath before leaning her back against it and letting out a dreamy sigh. She couldn’t believe it was finally happening.

Next Chapter

Taglist:

@maddeningmayhem, @theblulife, @devnicolee

#cecewritessometimes #black panther fic #m'baku #m'baku x oc #m'baku's love #black!oc #jada kingdom

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wordynerdygurl · 4 years

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Sticky, Sweet

Author’s Note: I’m so pleased to tell you that this is the first of my 1000 Followers Requests! Again, how do 1000 people like me enough to read my words? I don’t know!! But I love you all! Also, bless my beta - @sammy-jo1977 ... she lets me drag her to hell and back, and goes willingly. Lots of Love, lady! Pairing: Loki x Female Reader, appearances from many of the Avengers Tower residents Summary: This was requested by the amazing, adorable and always supportive @alexakeyloveloki ... As I hit my milestone, she was having a birthday, and this, I hope will be a gift she’ll enjoy. You deserve it girl! The request was: One with Loki and a Curvy Reader where she works in the Tower, maybe the canteen, and people are mean to her and Loki likes her for some odd reason and... smut ensues. I did make some changes, but I hope you’ll enjoy it either way, @alexakeyloveloki !! Warnings: This one might give you a toothache! There’s smut, but it’s sweet!

“Uh, yes. Might I trouble you for a chocolate croissant and… a cappuccino, large, please.”

You knew the owner of that voice without raising your eyes. Today he was wearing charcoal grey slacks with straight creases all the way down. A shirt, starched, bright white, with rolled back sleeves revealing the articulate length of his forearms. All of his dark locks were gathered over his open collar in a low man bun, which is something you had laughed at other men for doing. Somehow, the tall, trim man in front of you was making it work in a way that made your mouth water.

Flashing him a megawatt smile, full of promise, “My pleasure! Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“No. Thank you, though.”, warm and caramel sweet, his response made you melt.

Clearing your throat, struggling to maintain some sense of composure, “A name… for the order?”

“Loki… that’s L, O, K, I…”, his own grin widening at the request.

You knew his name. He’d been coming to your little dessert cart for months now and every time you asked, just like you did for all of your customers. And each time he spelled out the letters for you, as if you were taking his order for the first time. Handing back change only for him to drop it into the tip jar, you let your eyes linger over Loki just a moment more, enjoying the view.

Most of the visitors to Avengers Tower paid you little to no attention. Outside of offering a cup of joe and a giant cookie, you had no bearing on the day to day business of the super hero syndicate, and that was just fine by you. Everyone else? They all had important things to do. Meetings and appointments were near constant as apparently saving the world took a lot of planning. And, thankfully, a lot of coffee, danish and muffins.

Of all your customers, the actual, swear to God heroes were the most colorful. They were also the most loyal of your clients, stopping in at least daily, although, there were occasions where you would see Wanda two or three times in a day. Especially if you had made those little mille-feuille stacks that reminded her of home.

Thor would buy out your stash of jelly donuts, to the chagrin of the office workers in line behind him, but then divvy them up as a way of apologizing. Ms. Romanoff had a tendency to whisper her order, lest anyone realize her secret desire for a sinfully sweet White Chocolate Mocha with whipped cream. Captain Rogers? His routine was the most straight-forward. Black coffee, ma’am, Blueberry muffin, thank you so much.

Loki, from the start, had been different. Unlike Mr. Stark, Loki looked you in the eye when placing his order. He never seemed distracted by the technology buzzing around or the high ranking officials clustered in these hallowed halls. Loki also didn’t order 12 shots of espresso, steamed skim milk, no foam, and one donut hole. No, that was Tony to a t.

But Loki? This giant guy, with broad shoulders and narrow hips, always ordered your daily special. Frilly pink cupcakes, jam filled eclairs, fruity hand pies, Loki had tasted them all. And he still turned up, day after day, eager and kind. That had to mean something, right?

Honestly, it was the pinnacle of your day when, looking up from the grinder, you’d see him towering majestically over the office drones all in a row. Knowing that smooth voice would soon be speaking to you, even if it was just to get a snack on the run, was almost enough. Almost.

Letting your gaze linger after Loki’s retreating figure, you got lost in a daydream, one where you were making Loki coffee in your kitchen. His lengthy legs tucked under your tiny table, a tray of fresh cookies in front of him as he read, sometimes with his shirt on… sometimes without. Feeling your cheeks warm up at the image, you shook your head, ready to refocus on the caffeine craving customers still in line.

As closing time drew near, you began the daily task of cleaning up your cart. Sweeping, wiping, sterilizing, washing, drying. There was a rhythm to it all and you often found yourself entrained in the work, as usually there were few distractions at this time of day.

“Excuse me?”

Spinning, surprised, you barely kept hold of the carafe in your hands as you spotted Ms. Pepper Potts standing at your kiosk, “Oh gosh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there!”

Waving away your worry, Pepper took a moment to introduce herself properly before getting down to business, “I was wondering if you had ever considered catering before? You were highly recommended by a colleague and I am looking for assistance with an event we're hosting in a few weeks. What I really need is someone to help with an after hours sort of thing.”

Your heart leapt in your chest, thumping wildly, threatening to bust out of your chest. Now, you’d be lying if you said that expanding your business wasn’t part of the dream. Always hopeful that your little cafe cart could somehow be expanded into a little sweet shop or bistro bakery, you had been hard at work for the last two years, slinging lattes and refining recipes until the right moment arrived.

When you said as much to Ms. Potts, her gracious smile lit up, “Then this, my friend, is that moment.”

Details were exchanged, pricing negotiated, plans put in place. In ten days you were going to be providing The Avengers and their guests with pastries, cookies, coffee and tea. There was a select menu so that you wouldn't be running around like crazy, which would make prep time easy, but Pepper had told you to be creative. In short, you were getting your shot and the excitement of that put you on cloud nine.

As you had arranged with Ms. Potts, while the guests attended one of Mr. Stark’s lavish galas downtown, you were given access to the Avengers Suite near the top floors of the tower. Seeing the building, well past your normal 5:00 pm, was energizing. Getting to sneak a peek at where the most important people working here spent their days was overwhelming, but you were giddy at the prospect.

In a sweet spot, just inside the expansive glass doors which led to the sky rise patio, you set up your display. Feeling pretty proud of yourself, you only had to wait a few minutes before the elevator dinged on the first arrivals, including the host and hostess for the night. "Here we go!", whispering to yourself, you took an anxiously excited breath.

It was hard not to get wrapped up in the glitz of it all. Tony Stark, wearing a plum colored tuxedo, had his Rolex draped arm around Pepper. She was stunning in her black column gown, purple jewels at her throat and ears, the perfect counterpoint to Tony’s ensemble. You struggled not to stare.

More people filtered in, some went to the bar, where champagne popped regularly. A few grabbed frosty glasses of fresh beer. And for a time you thought you were invisible among all the glamour around you. Honestly, you were surrounded by the type of people who graced magazine covers and had in depth chats with Oprah. That wasn’t you by a long shot.

Then, of course was the difference in your shape and size compared to the elegant group assembled for the evening. You certainly weren’t as stately as Ms. Potts, nor as thin as Ms. Romanoff because she was trimmer in hip and bust. Carol, stately and graceful, was a sheet of well hewed muscle. All of them shone tonight, regal and lovely, while you wore your best black pants and white button down, the uniform of catering professionals world wide.

Chewing the inside of your cheek, temping your coffee pot, your mind churned. There was no shaking the idea that even though you had been invited here, hired to be here, you were woefully out of place. And just as your confidence was at its lowest, you heard it… or rather, him.

"Um… yes. May I have… well… I don't know what to have. Normally you have something special prepared."

Even over the din of chatter and softly played music you heard his baritone register. A little flustered, disarmingly charming, Loki’s buttercream smile triggered your own. Laughing, lifting a small tray towards Loki, "I am keeping it simple tonight. These here are individual peach melba pies, topped with homemade whipped cream."

"And, what’s that?" Looking like a little kid, ready to tear into a birthday present, Loki's face lit up with anticipation of what you might be hiding under the cover of a chafing dish.

"Mocha mini-cheesecakes, or-" Here you lifted the silver lid of your best party dish, "-my grandmother's chocolate chip cookies! What would you like, Loki?"

Hearing his name in your lilting voice, Loki couldn't avoid the hot blush that rolled over him, turning his cheeks pink. As if your delicious snacks weren't enticing enough, the way your shirt buttons could barely contain the bounty of your bosom made Loki's hunger real in a different way. It was true that Thor had plied him with a great deal of Asgardian mead at the gala, even as the others drank up the less potent Midgardian spirits, all getting well past tipsy.

And maybe that's why he felt so bold, flirting with you casually, teasing you about your treats. Also, he was shamelessly ogling your rounded ass in those tight black pants as you bent to retrieve a napkin. Deep down, Loki longed to know if you tasted as sweet as your sugary confections. Would you be slick like syrup? Sticky like cinnamon buns? Dark and delicious like chocolate fudge?

Shaking those long locks, which you couldn't help noticing were down and free tonight, Loki was struggling to decide among your snacks. If his thoughts were lustful, your own weren't too far behind, because it was hard not to appreciate the fine figure in front of you. At some point Loki had shucked his tuxedo jacket and the slim black bow tie that accompanied it. Again his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows making him casual and cool, red cheeked and rambunctious. Never had Loki seemed so at ease.

There was virtually no one else around, most of the remaining people were clustered by Clint at the piano singing show tunes, oblivious to you and Loki. Looking from left to right, leaning in conspiratorially, "Ya know… I could let you have one of each, then you wouldn't have to decide."

Those dark brows arching, bright eyes smiling shrewdly, "You'd do that… for me?"

“That and more.” It tumbled out of your mouth unbidden, your eyes widening in surprise at your own admission.

Leaning against your table, a lascivious smile on his face, “Do tell.”

And in the low light of the Avengers’ loft, with the soft smell of sugar filling the air, you felt yourself drawn to Loki’s aura. Biting into your bottom lip, looking at him through your thick lashes, “Um… well… I could make you a little snack bag. Ya know for later tonight…”

“Later tonight… I really like the sound of that.” And to his unending surprise, Loki really did. Maybe he’d find out about your favorite flavors in the dark of night, under the covers in his bed. And if not, if he was somehow mistaken about your interest in him, then Loki would welcome some little cake that would make him think of you while he sat in his solitary room, brooding over you.

He shouldn’t have worried. Genuinely smiling, Loki was beyond grateful to see the same look of desire reflected in your own face. As you busied yourself packing up the little box of selected snacks for the sweet toothed stud, a voice called out, "Lokes!! Get over here!! Thor says you can dance and I need proof!"

Wavering slightly, Loki ducked his head in the direction of Sam Wilson's shout, not entirely eager to end your chat. He was worried that somehow the sugar spun bubble you two were in would burst, and that, well that just couldn't happen. Conspiratorially, invading your space across the narrow table, "I will be back. Please, don't go away?"

Feeling like a movie heroine, you felt yourself nod, giggling a little at the spectacle of Loki's clear need. In the glimmering low-lights, under the clink of champagne flutes and husky hum of conversations, Loki wanted to spend his time with you. It was surreal and surprising, but you wanted him too. There was no shame in that, right?

Glued to the spot, feet unmoving, Loki wouldn't leave until you said, "Go on, then. Show me what you've got. I'll be right here."

With a cocky grin, Loki loped toward the waiting circle of people and the makeshift dance floor. Tinny, tinkling piano music was replaced by electronica, pumping through Tony's beyond state of the art sound system. It felt like you were inside the speaker, thumping and bumping, in time with the dance hall beat.

What a sight! You guessed it shouldn't have been so surprising, but seeing Loki, normally so reserved in your daily interactions, grinding and bouncing to the rhythm… it made you feel things. Pulse pounding, deep sighing, clenching your muscles things. Sexy things.

You could have stood there, enchanted from afar, for hours. And you would have too, if Thor hadn't stumbled to your stand, nearly toppling the table with his unsteady bulk, "Oof! A thousand apologies, my dear sweet bakery maiden."

Diverting your attention, you quickly stepped back into vendor mode, "No trouble! No trouble at all! What can I get for you?"

"Well, I have been wondering, what did my brother get a taste of that made him smile so wide? It must have been a truly delicious nibble." Thor, mimicking a mouse nibbling at cheese, was clearly past the point of sobriety.

Turning thoughtful for a second, you realized Loki hadn't eaten anything of yours tonight… at least not yet. So it had been your easy back and forth that made the frosty boy happy. Smiling secretively, suddenly supremely pleased, "Um… I have some special items this evening. Would you like to try a peach pie?"

Blowing a raspberry, rolling his eyes, "Did Loki like it?"

"He hasn't tried it yet! You'd be first!" Trying to redirect the sloshed slab of man in front of you, offering the pastry up on a dainty napkin, it’s funny how quickly he snatches it from your hand. Looking tiny in Thor's enormous paw, he devours it whole, swiping at the leftover crumbs on his chest.

"Delicious! Another!" Even shouting, Thor's voice doesn't crack through the party goers busting their moves. Sighing, you hand over another, only to watch it be gulped down without thought or consideration.

Spitting crust at you, Thor bows over the display you painstakingly built to showcase your wares, his weight making the table creak, "You know, my brother normally likes little women."

"Excuse me?"

Waving his hands, pontificating, "Small, shapely… you know the type! Waifs. Skinny, like him. Narrow hips and-" attempting to whisper, "-tiny breasts."

Clearly, Thor was hammered, you knew that. But what he was saying was just hard to hear. You didn’t want to be compared to other women Loki had known, and you certainly didn’t want to hear that they were prettier, or smaller, or skinnier than you. But your roller coaster ride of emotions was derailed when Thor slapped his hand on your table, making you jump.

"Now, you… you're a woman. Strong, sturdy. Could really ground him, you know? Give him children worthy of Valhalla."

In his stupor, Thor couldn't read the warning in your expression. Willing him to stop, shut up, go away with just your monosyllabic responses wasn't working. But, alas, the Space God continued on, "It's all your sweets, you know? Candy and cupcakes and… all those little… What do you call them? The circles, fried and filled with jam?"

Flat, without feeling, "Donuts."

"Donuts! Yes!" Pausing for a breath, which you hoped would last all night long, Thor caught your eye. "I approve. Of the match… that is. Loki has been alone too long. He needs a thick woman to warm his bed, a fair, faithful filly to take-"

Thor's voice cut out, a thin line of shimmering red glowing around his throat, stopping his words. You could still see his mouth moving but the sound was, thankfully, muted. It was then that Wanda slunk close to Norse God, wide orb-like eyes full of knowledge, "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

Mumbling, struggling to sound bright as you gave too much attention to arranging cookies on the tray, "It's ok."

Her delicate hand rested on your own, "No it isn't. Thor's a buffoon when he's downed too many bottles of mead. I hope he didn't say anything too… unpleasant."

Waving her off, working hard to regain your composure, "Naw… it's fine… Thank you, though."

Thor, shrugging off Wanda's limited charm, "What's the big idea? I was telling this lady that my brother likes her! Her ample bosom, her gracious bum… and he always talks about her tasty cakes!"

Steve, sidling up at the first sign of trouble, grabbed Thor's arm, "Come on buddy. Time for bed."

"But! I am not tired! I want more pie! And mead!"

Wanda, rolling her eyes, "May I have another? For the road?"

Quickly wrapping up a few of your crusty delicacies, you handed them over, now eager for the night to end. It seemed tarnished somehow, spoiled by Thor's observations, like an unrisen souffle. Glancing at the clock, you were amazed at the time! It was late even for a late night event and you began packing up regardless of the people still partying their evening away.

You were hoping for a quick departure. Seamless, silent, without distracting anyone, including a certain raven haired hottie. No one would notice if you snuck away now, you were sure, and you had already fulfilled your obligation to Pepper. In fact, with Thor's little outburst, you were well over your allotted time. And, you reasoned, Loki could find some small little twig, more to his taste, if you weren't there to distract him.

That thought made your throat burn and your eyes water as you quietly broke down your area. Even now you could see him, a head above everyone else, spinning with a smile on his face. Loki looked so at ease, you refused to be the wet blanket on his good time. Besides, flirting was one thing, but Loki wasn’t yours and you were old enough not to be crushed by a crush.

With one last, longing look over the assembled Avengers, you bumped your bottom into the exit door, shuffling toward the service elevator. As the doors closed, shutting out the jubilation inside, you slumped against the wall. How could you think Loki would want you?

Having spent a significant amount of the late evening busting a move, Loki had managed to keep one eye on you most of that time. Noticing Thor bumble your way, he was nervous about what his brother might say, but Natasha had challenged him to a dance off. How could he resist?

By the time Loki stopped to catch his breath and collect his cookies, you were gone. Vanished. The only trace of you? A small, golden box, stuffed with your divine delicacies. Loki needn't see the name scrolled on the label to know it was for him.

But like Cinderella, you had fled and Loki had no way to find you. Sinking his heart, Loki clutched the box, padding away to his room and the solitude of silence. At least he had your thoughtful gift of goodies to keep him company. It was almost enough. Almost.

For all the numerous things The Avengers were good at, it was a non-hero who observed Loki slide away, sad and silent. Never one to let a party end on a low note, a new plan was formed to unite the Trickster and the Treat Maker. But it would need time to rise, like decadent cinnamon rolls, and like those sticky sweet buns, would be totally worth the wait.

When Monday dawned, you loaded up your goods and trudged to work. For the first time since starting your business venture your heart wasn't in it. Not when you plated blueberry buckle with lavender scented whipped cream, not when you swirled almond milk into fresh brewed coffee, not when you bagged cheesy bagel bites.

And it was, apparently, to be a day of firsts. Because this was the only day that Loki failed to make an appearance at your stand since you’d opened. Thor, pushing people aside, had made a point of apologizing for his behavior. It was kind and honest, yet, hollow since it didn't make Loki materialize in your line. But you appreciated it, nonetheless.

Before long, the day was done, your cleaning ritual initiated, your mind wandering. That it circled back to a certain blue eyed mischief maker over and over wasn't shocking. Where had Loki been? Had you driven him off? Would he come back tomorrow?

"Ahem… Excuse me!"

Squealing, you dropped the tray you'd been wiping with a clanking clatter, "Miss Potts! You startled me!"

"I didn't mean to!", stooping to hand you back your platter, she lifted her smart eyes to yours.

"I know… I'm so sorry! I've been… a little off today."

Shrewd, searching, Pepper looked you over, "You're not the only one."

Laughing nervously, “Oh? Who else is having a tough Monday?”

“A friend… listen, I wanted to thank you for the other night. It was really wonderful having your exceptional snacks at the ready.”

Allowing yourself a small smile, nibbling your lip nervously, “The pleasure was all mine.”

Pepper, shifting on her high heels, “I’d like to hire you again.”

“Really?” Snapping your head up at the offer, you were a little surprised by her request. Even though that night hadn’t ended the way you had hoped, necking with Loki like a teenager after prom, it had still been a lucrative evening for your little start up company. But so soon?

“Yes! This is a smaller event. Actually, more of a date than anything. This Friday evening. Would you be free?”

Grabbing your phone, confirming the date on your calendar, “It works for me! What time were you thinking?”

Blinking, Pepper took a minute to contemplate before answering, “Let’s say seven. Upstairs, on the outdoor deck?”

“That sounds great, Ms. Potts! How many people are you expecting?”, making notes, head down you missed her gentle smile.

“Just two.”

That made you giggle. So, it was a night of romance with Tony she was after. Flashing your benefactor a knowing smirk, “Sounds lovely.”

“I hope it will be!”

You didn’t see Loki all week. There was rumor going around the tower that he was off on a mission somewhere, very hush, hush. Your limited intell was gained only because of Thor’s inability to lower his booming voice while waiting for a croissant on Tuesday morning.

It got easier. Not seeing him in your daily line, not giving him his cappuccino, not buttering his scone. By Friday you finally felt like Loki was out of your system, which was a good thing, because you knew Ms. Potts was expecting you to knock it out of the park tonight.

“Things are going to be a little different for this evening, if that’s ok. I thought you could set out your dessert courses here, on the counter, and we’d have someone bring them out to the patio area.”

Unafraid to go the extra mile, you were quick to volunteer, “I’d be more than happy to act as a server if-”

Talking over you, “Oh no, dear! I have someone for that already. Really, all you have to do is make sure your treats are in order.”

Slightly crestfallen, but always a good sport, you agreed. As she’d requested, you had prepared three special desserts for the night, hoping you covered all of Tony’s favorite flavors. First, lemon cake with a cracked sugar glaze and fresh raspberry sauce to garnish. Next would be the white chocolate cheesecake studded with plump blueberries and piles of fresh vanilla flavored whipped cream. Last, and perhaps most importantly, was your personal favorite, tiramisu. Simple, delicious, and perfect with a strong cup of espresso.

Clapping her hands, Pepper was so pleased at the thought you had put into each plate, “Wow, does this look amazing! There’s really only one other thing that we need for this.”

Wiping a stray stripe of sauce from the plate, a piping bag cupped in your hands, you lifted your head, “What’s that Ms. Potts?”

“Why, you of course.”

Stalling in midair, you slowly lowered the tool of your trade, wiping your sugary fingers on the seat of your jeans. “I’m right here! What can I do to help?”

Coming around the island now, Pepper drew close enough to take your hands in her own, “You’ve already done it. Tonight is my way of saying ‘Thank You’... and I hope you’ll accept a small gift as a token of my appreciation.”

As the last word hung in the air between you, the lift doors parted, and Loki stepped into the room.

Pepper had summoned him, asking only that he arrive on time and not “look a mess”. Since Loki had never been anything less than elegant in all things, he had no intention of breaking that streak this evening. If only he knew what to dress for?

So, he split the difference, going for casual cool. A jet black polo shirt, unbuttoned, clung to him like a second skin, caressing every muscle. Black trousers and a black belt made him look dangerously seductive as he sauntered closer with each step.

Your mouth went dry at the sight of him. Missing Loki all week made seeing him like this stupefying. Fuzzy brained and dull minded, you weren’t capable of wrapping your head around what was happening.

“Pepper? What… what is all this?” Loki’s husky baritone questioned the set up, your presence, the pretense. At least you weren't the only one who was confused.

Pulling you along, Pepper maneuvered you next to him, “Loki, It’s all arranged. Dessert by candlelight, under the stars… FRIDAY, start my Date Night playlist.” The strains of “In the Still of the Night” by the Five Satins filled the air.

It was right then that Loki got it. The strange summons, the dress code, the secrecy. He knew why you were here, with your bespoke baked goods, looking like a snack yourself. Pepper had listened when Loki recommended you for the first gig, and somehow she had heard the unspoken recommendation of his heart. A rush of feeling flowed over him at the idea.

Looking sheepish and flustered, Loki caught your eye, “Hello.”

“Hi…”, bashful yourself, you struggled not to look too giddy.

“See, you’re already on your way. Have a good night kids!”

You and Loki stood there, staring, until the click of Pepper’s heels on the marble had faded away. This is awkward, you thought, unsure of what to do next. Here with the man you wanted, you weren’t entirely sure what to do, but luckily for you, Loki knew how to take charge, “Shall we?”

Lacing his fingers with yours, Loki led you to the open deck where a small bistro table was waiting, already set for the two of you. Pulling out your chair, Loki made sure you were comfortable before taking his own seat at your side, as opposed to across the table. It was a cozy and romantic scene.

The song shifted. Now The Platters crooned, “Only You”, and your hand was itching to grab Loki’s under the table. Before you could, Pepper’s hired server for the evening brought your first plate, and a bottle of Prosecco.

So far, neither of you had really spoken. Words seemed too difficult to use when the situation was so formal. And yet, it really was lovely of Ms. Potts to do this for you… and for Loki.

“Did you make all of this?”

Picking up your fork, giving Loki a small nod, “Yea… I thought Pepper was planning a date night with Tony. I had no idea that this… any of this… was happening. Did you?”

“No. But, I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised. She did hire you because of me.”

Taken aback by his admission, “Really? Care to elaborate?”

Tucking into the lemony piece of heaven in front of him, Loki closed his eyes in bliss, “Hmm… that is delicious. You are really so good at this! And that, my purveyor of pound cake, is what I told Ms. Potts.”

“Well, thank you! I mean, I knew you liked me!”

Hotter than opening your oven, a blast of heat swept over you, reddening your cheeks in shock. Flustered now, you could barely speak, cursing yourself for letting your real feelings slip out like that unfiltered. Mortified, you grabbed your glass, slugging half of it down in a second.

Loki’s fork froze, almost to his lips, as his own eyes widened. Sighing, he placed the utensil, covered in lemon and raspberry deliciousness down gently. Feeling his scorching gaze, you sat stock still, Loki’s wry whisper reaching you, “I do. And I should have told you that before… before Pepper had to go to such great lengths to prove it.”

“But Loki… I’m just… I’m not…” Stammering, you couldn’t quite find the best way to explain the reservations you had been carrying, the reasons Thor had so clearly defined.

“You are though. You are so kind hearted… to everyone. Even the dullards and bores. I hear you, you know? What you say, how you say it. No one leaves your little station without being complimented, enlightened, enriched. It is the best part of my day, coming down to see you… and taste whatever marzipan masterpiece you’ve graced us with.”

Starting to feel the bubbles of Prosecco in your brain, your lopsided smile spread at the emotion Loki expressed, “Loki… it’s the only thing that gets me through sometimes. Seeing you, knowing that you’re in line. And how cute you are when you spell out your name, like I haven’t written it a hundred times before.”

It was his turn to blush, “I knew that. I knew it was adorable.”

Playfully pushing against his shoulder, you chuckled, “Loki! That’s not fair!”

“Then you won’t like this, darling.”

Catching your arms in his firm hands, Loki tucked your body into his, finding your mouth as you laughed at his antics. Using his top lip to trap your own, Loki’s bottom lip gently parted, as the softness of his kiss blended into the lemon scented sweetness of his sigh. His tongue, probing slowly, pressed between your lips stealing a shaky breath for Loki to treasure.

Rising, Loki’s hands cradled your cheeks, ensuring that you couldn’t break away from his kiss. As if you wanted to! Your own hands wandered, with one resting on the warm slope of his wide thigh and the other pressed against Loki’s broad chest.

Deepening the kiss, you pushed forward, nestling between Loki’s spread legs. Trailing a hand along his hip, scooting closer, you moaned at the luscious texture of his tongue on your own. When Loki pulled back, you followed, unwilling to break the beautiful bond your mouths had sealed.

Swallowing hard, unable to believe that he was really here with the flavor of your candy kisses filling his senses, Loki shook his head. Seeing your own dazed expression made his heart soar. He was going to have to write Pepper a thank you note or have you bake her a cake, because this was the best thing that had ever happened to the Prince of Asgard.

“Are you ready for the next course?” The server, having popped out of the compound, was struggling to hide his own smug smile at the sexy little show you two had put on.

A new song started, the notes drifting through the air, making you smile. Sam Cooke’s eternally youthful voice sang, “Cupid… draw back your bow…” and Loki slowly stood. “Uh, please, hold the next one, if you don’t mind.”

Coming around behind you, offering you his hand, “Loki? What are you doing?”

“What I should have done last week… Ask you to dance…?” Voice brimming with hope, Loki quirked an eyebrow, anticipating your acceptance.

“About time.”

Rumbling through Loki’s solid torso, his laugh greeted you as you fell into his arms easily, chuckling yourself. It was so familiar and yet so different. His hands rested over the curve of your back, pulling you tighter, controlling the sway of your hips. Circling the delicate strength of his neck, your fingers teasing into those long locks of tousled hair, you let Loki take the lead.

Tipping you back, over balancing you but still in control, Loki’s look was pure lust, “I apologize for running late. I should have-”

Cutting in, husking into the shell of Loki’s ear, “Don’t. We’re here now. And besides, you were worth the wait.”

Squeezing you, putting every ounce of feeling into his hug, Loki found it hard to loosen his grip. Now that he had the thing he wanted, he never wanted to be separated from it… you… ever again.

Twirling you out, tugging you back in, as the song came to its close, Loki took the opportunity of dipping you low enough for your head to graze the ground below. Breathless and giddy, you were lifted back to standing, clinging to the demi God before you. Parting your lips, anticipating another of Loki’s kisses, your eyes fluttering closed, “Sir? Madame?”

Shifting his focus from your glossy, eager mouth to the server once more, Loki’s own giggle shining in his face, “My good man, please… just pack it all up! We’re not staying.”

“We’re not?” A hint of surprise colored your tone as you took in the ecstatic look on Loki’s face.

Nodding at you, “Nope.”

Waiting only a moment or two for a bag stuffed full of your goodies, Loki slung it over this wrist before taking your hand and leading you through the Tower’s maze of floors. Of course, he stopped at almost every corner to sneak a peck, pat your tush or cage you against the wall so that his hips were flush against your own as he licked the soft spot under your ear.

“Hmmm… Loki… That feels so good.” Mewling softly, your nails scratching into his scalp, as he swung open the door to his room.

Ushering you inside, Loki paused only to set his blistering, needy eyes on you once more, “We are not children, you and I. If you want to wait, I will be patient… but, believe me, my darling little patisserie, when I say this: I want you. I want to devour you… I want to know if you’re as sweet as strawberry shortcake or tart like key lime pie.

“I need to see if you-” here he swallowed so hard his Adam’s Apple bobbed, “-sigh when I kiss you the same way you do when you slide a hot cup of tea over the counter. Or how you’ll sound when you call my name in ecstasy. Because I’ve already thought about these things a hundred times over. While I wait in line for a moment of your attention or when I taste those lovely delicacies, you fill my thoughts.

“Do you always smell of vanilla and butter, I wonder. Will my sheets be scented with marshmallow and marzipan? Almond and cherry?”

Advancing on you now, hunger heating his look, “But just know, little one, if you do come to my bed, I will make sure it’s the last one you’ll ever need.”

Stepping closer, baiting the bear in him, you bit into your bottom lip, “Are you saying that everyone will know I belong to you… L, O, K, I… Loki?”

“My sweet, sweet thing. That is exactly what I mean.”

In a flurry of movement, Loki swept you against his kitchen table, the wood strong and sturdy behind you. Kisses, hot and happy melted you like butter, as Loki spread your legs to stand between them. When you heard the sound of paper crumpling, “What’s that?”

“Oh! Our to-go bag! Your luscious desserts!” Sounding slightly panicked, Loki quickly removed the items from inside the bag, before turning to you with a look that said trouble.

“What? What’s that face?”

“I’ve told you how much I fancy your food… and now you know how much I adore you... “

“Uh huh…”, still unsure about where this was going, your eyes followed Loki as he pulled your tub of whipped cream from the ruined sack. Snapping off the lid, his long finger scooping out a big glob, only for Loki to brush the airy confection over your mouth.

Licking the cream from your lips, Loki tongued the seam of your pretty pout, moaning at the burst of vanilla he tasted there, “I don’t know what’s more delicious, your frothy garnish or this mouth.”

“What if I want some, huh?” Grabbing at Loki’s finger, the one he’d used to snag the sample with, you pulled it into the warm inlet of your mouth, sucking lightly.

Growling low in his throat at the erotic scene before him, Loki issued a command, “Bedroom. Now.”

Sliding off the table, right into Loki’s space, “Bring the whipped cream though, ok?”

Clothes were shed in a rush. Each piece unveiling soft skin and new places to explore, reminding you of a creme brulee’s hardened caramel layer. The way you crack it open, revealing the cool custard beneath the scorched sugar crust, a gift unwrapped for all your senses.

By the time Loki lowered you onto his bed, he had already sampled swatches of your skin, leaving behind the marks of his possession. His hands never seemed to stop. First they were dusting over your shoulders, then across your thighs, next on your generous bottom, squeezing hard.

Sighing in contentment, you closed your eyes, lost in the moment of making love to Loki. As he lay down over you, the press of his rigid planes met the soft curves of your figure, you wrapped yourself around him. Tangling those rich, dark locks in your hand, forcing your mouths together, panting with shared passion.

Connecting with his hip, you slid your palm over the rise of his bottom, squeezing just a little, “You know, you have a great ass, right?”

Sucking against the ridge of your clavicle, Loki kissed over your jaw, “I do?”

“Oh yea… I watch you walk away everyday thinking, damn. That ass.”

Brushing stray strands from your face, “That’s funny, because I think the same thing every time you bend over to get those little swizzle sticks for stirring coffee!”

Setting off a fit of giggles, the pair of you with arms and legs akimbo, laughed like children. There was something so freeing about being naked and comfortable with the man beside you. Quieting only when you heard the pop of the frosting bowl's lid coming off, you sucked in a breath as Loki lowered his lips to your waiting nipple.

Playful and pleasing, he released you just long enough to sit back on his heels, surveying the state of you. "Now, It's my turn."

"Your turn to what, exactly?"

"Decorate!" Producing an assortment of sprinkles and frosting, sanding sugars and coconut shreds, caramel sauce and raspberry coulis as if from thin air, Loki grinned at you wickedly before setting to work.

For every place that was home to a dollop of icing or a squirt of sauce you were licked, nibbled, nuzzled or bitten. As Loki worked lower, you squirmed in anticipation, as your pastry chef in training sucked your inner thigh free of chocolate fudge. Before you could prepare, Loki's tongue parted your slippery center, making you call out, "Oh! Yes, Loki!"

Parting your swollen sex, circling your stiffened bud, Loki lapped at your sensitive skin gently. His fingers, long and reaching, stroked into your sticky channel, stretching you sweetly. Rocking against Loki's oral affections, the beginning of bliss burning in your belly, you gripped him tightly seeking release.

For his part, Loki needed no encouragement. Bringing you to the pinnacle, alternately sipping at your slick core, and sucking on your sweet pearl was making Loki ache with want. Even when you pulled at his onyx locks, inner thighs trembling, struggling to stave off your peaking pleasure, Loki only worked harder, "Don't hold back. We've already wasted too much time!"

"Uh huh… um… shit… Loki…" mumbling was the most you could do as you felt a third finger enter you, widening you, readying you. It was enough. Cumming hard against him, stiffening and then softening like taffy, you gave yourself over to the pleasure Loki provided.

Smacking his lips lewdly, licking his fingers, "I knew it… I knew you'd be delectable."

Grinning broadly, happy and satisfied, "Am I gonna get a taste? You're not the only one with a sweet tooth, ya know!"

"Only when I've had my fill… and I'm not close to being finished, darling!"

Sticky, sweet and satiated, you and Loki lay in each other's arms smiling. He'd asked about a gift for Pepper and you were already planning a cupcake basket for your matchmaking mentor. You had just licked the last of your lemon curd from his abs, curling into his side, "I need a shower."

"Oh, yes! Let's do that!" Rising, dragging you with him, Loki could picture you under the steaming water, begging him to please you. He liked that idea!

"And after…"

Pausing to look at you, "After?"

"Can you find me something salty to snack on… ya know, for a change?"

Pressing a kiss to your hand, Loki flashed you that megawatt smile, "Absolutely, darling. Absolutely."

My Minxes: @alexakeyloveloki @vodka-and-some-sass @just-random-obsessions @brokenthelovely @lots-of-loki @thefallenbibliophilequote @iamverity @iluvsumbucky @unadulteratedwizardlove @wolfsmom1 @procrastinatinglikeabitch @mizfit2 @shxdowofdarkness @nonsensicalobsessions @ahintofkiwistrawberry @jessiejunebug @rorybutnotgilmore @crystalizedcaramel @lokislittlecorner @scrumptious-finicky-illusion @capcapcapsicle @jamielea81 @caffiend-queen @thenatilie @sammy-jo1977 @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

#loki x reader #loki x you #hot loki #loki smut #loki love #mcu smut #MCU fanfiction #loki fanfiction #1000 followers

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isitgintimeyet · 4 years

Text

Just A Friend

AO3

Thanks for all the support.

Thanks to @wickedgoodbooks for the beta

I’m on holiday next week so the next chapter may be slightly delayed, but for now here’s...

Chapter 9: From Siblings to Safety Net

Jamie leads the way through the car park. I tread gingerly, the combination of unaccustomed high heels and uneven ground—a potentially lethal combination. He turns and notices my dilemma.

“Here,” he holds out his arm for me. I smile and gratefully take hold of his forearm until we reach the comparative safety of the marquee.

Once inside, Jamie pauses and looks around, trying to find his sister. I look around too, not that I know what his sister looks like, but I’m assuming, based on her brother, that she’ll be pretty easy to spot in the crowd.

The room is full with a steady stream of people moving swiftly towards the bar and rather less swiftly back to their tables carefully balancing bottles and glasses. I spot, through a break in the procession, Rupert sitting at a table talking to a petite brunette, who I assume is his wife Morag.

“Look,” I nudge Jamie and point towards the table. “It’s Rupert and—“

“Aye, so it is.” And he deftly negotiates our way through the maze of alcohol carrying individuals to the table.

Rupert and his wife stand up as we approach and he greets us enthusiastically, patting Jamie on the back and kissing my cheek.

“Nice tae see ye again,” he says, smiling.

“Good to see you too, Rupert.”

Jamie envelopes Morag in a huge bear hug. Is this the usual greeting for Rupert’s wife? I glance at Rupert but he’s totally unperturbed by this display of affection.

Eventually, Jamie stands up straight. “Claire, I’d like ye tae meet ma sister, Jenny. Jenny, this is ma friend, Claire.”

The intimate bear hug makes more sense now to me.

Jenny holds out her hand.“Nice tae meet ye Claire.” She smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“And you too, Jenny. Jamie has told me so much about you and your family. And those photos that you took, wow, they’re amazing.” I can hear myself talking over enthusiastically and force myself to shut up. It’s a habit I have when I’m nervous.

Physically, Jamie and Jenny couldn’t be less alike. With his curly red hair and tall stature, Jamie is some sort of Viking throwback, whereas Jenny’s straight brunette locks and petite, delicate features give her a fragile, almost doll-like quality. I feel like an Amazon standing next to her. As she continues to talk to her brother, berating him for his last minute appearance, I rack my brains. She reminds me of someone, but I can’t for the life of me think who.

Then it dawns on me. When I was a junior doctor working in Trauma and Orthopaedics, the matron there was a brunette too, whose air of fragility belied a rock hard will and determination. Her wards were run with military precision and, without ever raising her voice, it was clear that her command was absolute. She never shouted, she never belittled, but somehow everyone, even the consultants, knew exactly who was in charge. I get exactly the same feeling with Jenny.

A noise behind me rouses me from my contemplation and a large tray of drinks is placed on the table.

“Ian, man, did ye get me a drink?” Jamie laughs.

“But of course, and,” Ian turns to me. “I presume ye’re Claire. I took the liberty and got ye a gin and tonic—double, jes’ in case that was yer tipple. But it’s nae bother if ye dinna want it. I can go and get ye something else. I’m sure I can think of someone who will drink it.” He nods his head towards his wife and mimics drinking with his hand

“Cheek of the man.” Jenny playfully slaps his hand down and smiles. This time the smile lights up her whole face.

“No, gin and tonic is great, thanks very much,” I accept the glass gratefully and take a sip. Well, maybe a little bit more than a sip, but it is much needed.

“Seeing as yer man there canna be bothered wi’ the introductions, I’ll have tae do it maself. I’m Ian, Jenny’s husband and it’s a pleasure tae meet ye,” His introduction is full of real warmth.

“I was jes’ getting ‘round tae it,” Jamie says mock defensively and grabs a pint from the tray. “Anyhow, sláinte, everyone. Here’s tae a good night.”

**********

During dinner, I sit between Ian and Jamie who has Jenny on his other side. Ian is an absolute delight. He listens to my stories with genuine interest, laughing in all the right places and regaling Morag and me with tales of his son’s antics (‘Wee Jamie, jes’ as mischievous as his uncle ever was’).

Once dinner is over, Jamie and Ian spot an acquaintance on another table and excuse themselves. Jenny shuffles over onto Jamie’s newly vacated chair.

“Havin’ a good time are ye, Claire?”

“Oh yes, thank you. Ian has been telling us about your children. They sound like real characters. Just adorable.” And here I am, back to my nervous over enthusiasm. Just like that matron years ago, Jenny has the ability to do this to me.

Jenny gives a tight little smile that doesn’t linger. “Can I be honest wi’ ye Claire?”

My heart sinks. When someone says that, it’s never good. I mean, they never follow that statement with ‘your hair looks lovely’ or ‘the way you handled that developmental dysplasia of the hip was excellent.’ It’s always a criticism. Although I’m not too sure what I’ve done for Jenny to feel the need for such honesty, but I’m guessing it involves Jamie in some way.

“I ken Jamie invited ye tae come tonight as friends, before he met Kelly,” she continues. “But could ye no’ have stood aside and let him bring her as a date? He said he’d already asked ye when I mentioned it to him. But if ye’re just friends ye could have.”

I don’t know what to say. What can I say that doesn’t cast Jamie in a bad light with his sister? Jenny clearly wants there to be something between him and Kelly, which, based on what Jamie’s told me, just isn’t going to happen, no matter how much Jenny pushes. And I’m somewhere in the middle of this.

Jenny looks at me and I don’t think I have to speak. My glass face is doing the work for me. “Ah, I see.”

I spy Jamie making his way back to our table. He hesitates slightly as Jenny’s steely gaze falls on him, before continuing.

Jenny shuffles back to her chair, and pats the now vacant seat between us. He sits down and glances at us both.

“Have ye got something tae tell me, bràthair?” Jenny begins.

“About what?”

“About why ye told me ye’d already asked Claire when I mentioned asking Kelly?”

Jamie turns to me, as Jenny carries on talking. “Claire didna say a word about it. She didna have tae.”

I smile apologetically at him, but say nothing and take a swig of wine. This is between Jamie and Jenny. I’m keeping well out of this.

He sighs. “Jenny, ye wouldna let it lie. Ye kept telling me I should invite Kelly. On and on ye were. I had tae do it.”

“Ye said the date wi’ Kelly was good.”

“If ye think back, what I actually said was that the food at the restaurant was good. I didna say the date was good. That wasna good. We had a nice meal, then we shook hands and said goodbye. I made no promises tae see her again.”

“But Kelly—“

“Jenny, it isna going tae happen no matter how much ye mither. Ye dinna always ken what’s best fer me even though ye think ye do.”

I feel a hand on my arm and turn to find Ian sitting next to me once more. He jerks his head towards Jamie and Jenny. “I find it easier tae jes’ let them get on wi’ it themselves. This is what they’re like, wi’ the bickering. They’ll sort it out, they always do. That’s brothers and sisters fer ye.”

That familiar pang hits me for a brief moment. Of course, I don’t know what it’s like, this familial bickering or teasing, safe in the knowledge that you’ll always have their love. And then it passes.

“I suppose you’re used to it by now?”

“After twenty five years, I guess so. They were jes’ the same as children. See?” Ian points to my other side. I turn to find Jenny tenderly patting Jamie’s hand.

“Sae, Claire,” Jenny leans across Jamie to talk to me. “I see ye’re still drinking that horse piss. What say we send Jamie tae get us all some real drinks? I take it ye like whisky?”

Jenny smiles, and this time it’s genuine.

************

After that brief sibling squabble has been sorted, the evening can only get better… I think. Actually, it does improve. The combination of good whisky and a friendlier Jenny, and I begin to really enjoy myself.

The disco has started and the dance floor is filling up, mainly with groups of women while the men sit on the sidelines only venturing up once copious amounts of alcohol have been consumed and the DJ starts to play the classics— ‘YMCA’, ‘Night Fever’ and ‘Dancing Queen’.

We stay at our table, chatting, our voices becoming louder as the dance floor fills and the dancers begin to sing along to some of the songs. The singing rises to a crescendo for the choruses then rapidly quietening at the lesser known verse lyrics.

“D’ye no’ want tae dance? Jamie asks, a bit reluctantly, it seems.

“No, I’m enjoying myself here,” I reply and watch the relieved expression appear on his face.

“Unless, of course, you do,” I add teasingly.

“It’s no’ really ma thing. I’m no’ much of a dancer. Rupert and Morag enjoy it though.”

We watch for a moment as Rupert tries out some John Travolta moves. I pick up my glass and notice that it’s empty. That seems to be happening a lot tonight.

“I’ll go and get some more drinks,” I announce to the table.

“Let me,” Ian jumps in.

“No, you’ve bought more than enough. I’ll get these. Same again?”

Everyone nods and passes me their empty glasses. Jamie makes to get up, but I shake my head. “I’ve got this. Relax.”

I weave my way through the tables and lean at the end of the bar, money in hand waiting to catch the eye of one of the bartenders. Judging by the size of some of the orders being placed, I resign myself to being stuck here for some time.

A man squeezes next to me, mirroring my position— elbows on the bar, ten pound note in hand. “Snap!” He laughs. “D’ye think we’ll be served before last orders?”

I smile politely and shake my head, all while trying to breathe through my mouth. Even at this stage of the evening, his aftershave is overpowering, applied with all the finesse of a fifteen year old boy. I try to edge away from him a bit, although I do risk disappearing from the bartenders’ line of sight. He shifts a little closer to me which makes me a bit uncomfortable. It might be perfectly innocent, he might just be moving to try and get served quicker. I don’t really want to challenge him if all he’s trying to do is catch the bartender’s eye.

“I’ve no’ seen ye ‘round the club afore,” I catch him glancing at my ringless left hand. “Are ye here with friends or…?”

“Friends.” I mumble, trying to make it clear I don’t want to start a conversation and I turn my head away from him.

I feel a slight touch on the skin of my upper arm. Whether deliberate or accidental, that combined with his closeness, makes me feel even more uneasy .Instinctively I take a step back and my heel lands on someone’s foot.

A familiar voice whispers in my ear. “Oof, Sassenach, yer shoes are lethal,” and an arm snakes over my shoulder, pulling me towards his body.

In a louder voice, clearly aimed at the pest next to me, Jamie continues. “Ach, love, thanks for saving ma place at the bar. Tell ye what, sweetheart, now I’m here ye can go and sit down and I’ll get the drinks.”

He gives me a slight peck as I smile at him gratefully and make a quick exit. Walking back to the table, I can still feel the roughness of his stubble against my cheek. I stop myself reaching up to touch my face, and shove my hand into my pocket instead.

I sit down next to Jenny. “Jamie’s getting the drinks in.”

“Aye, he thought ye needed tae be rescued from that wee dickhead at the bar.”

“Yes, a timely intervention. Your brother’s a good pal.”

“Aye, he says ye’re good friends.” Jenny stares at me, as if searching for something deeper that I’m hiding.

“Yes, that’s it. Good friends.” I answer, confident that my face will tell the same story.

#outlander fanfiction #outlander fanfic #Just a Friend #Jamie Fraser #Claire Beauchamp #Chapter 9

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johannstutt413 · 4 years

Text

(requested by coldgoldlazarus)

“Hey, Rope, question.” Vanilla approached the Cautus while they were both working the northern trading post. “Did you grab a bottle of pills from my pocket earlier?”

“Maybe? Hang on...No, I’ve just got mine in my pocket.” She gave the Vouivre a thumbs-up after patting herself down.

The Vanguard reached into her bag and pulled out a prescription bottle. “You might want to check the label, because these aren’t Biggie’s stomach meds.”

“They aren’t?” She read the label on her bottle. “Oh, okay, so those are my- Oh! Oh, no...”

“It’s fine - I’m just glad we checked before you had to get your stomach pumped, and Biggie melted through his home again. Honestly, it’s really impressive you took them in the first place and remembered to give them back. I remember the last time you accidentally took my wallet and I had to ask Liz to cover lunch for me.”

Rope sighed. “Yeah, that’s good, it’s just...I didn’t want anyone to know, you know? Being infected is one thing, but if people knew, they might look at me differently.”

“...If they knew what?” The Vouivre cocked her head. “I think I’m missing something.”

“Wait, so you didn’t read the bottle?”

Vanilla was steadily getting more confused. “No, I read it, but I don’t know what it is. What do you take Aldactone for? It’s not a migraine medication, is it?”

“No, it definitely isn’t that.” She couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that; she’d forgotten who she was talking to. Telling her couldn’t hurt at this point. “It’s part of my hormone therapy so I can, uh...be the me on the outside I am on the inside, if that makes sense?”

“Not really?” The Vouivre was quick to admit.

To be fair, the Cautus never knew how to answer questions like this. “I’m a woman, but my body doesn’t match - or at least, it didn’t until I met Aak.”

“Oh!” A few puzzle pieces clicked together in her mind. “Now I get it.”

“Good, cuz I don’t know if I could find another way to explain it,” she sighed, relieved.

That didn’t mean that was her last question, though. “Do you not like talking about it?”

“No, I don’t.” For exactly this reason, honestly. “People start asking me all kinds of questions about it, and I just wanna be me, you know? That’s the whole reason I have to worry about the pills and stuff.”

“Right, sorry. I, uh, won’t ask anything else.”

Rope looked at her for a moment before sighing again. “You have a lot of questions, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” Vanilla visibly relaxed. “I don’t want to bother you, though.”

“...Tell you what: buy me dinner, and I’ll answer a couple questions, whatever you’ve got. Sound good?”

That did perk the Vouivre’s interest, and, somewhat unexpectedly, a bit of a blush, too. “I’d like that, yeah. Tonight or...”

“Sure, if you don’t have plans.” That was a very enthusiastic no, apparently. “Cool. Well, I’m gonna take a break, so talk to you later!”

“Uh-huh!” Once she’d left, Vanilla let herself start breathing rapidly before pulling out her phone to text Franka. She had a favor she needed to ask.

--------------------

About an hour after dinner service opened in the cafeteria, Rope got a message from Vanilla saying she was on her way; that’d given the Cautus enough time to pick out something to wear - something without pockets, to keep herself from stealing as much stuff as she might with places to put it - and psyche herself up for a kind of awkward conversation with someone she worked with and hung out with at a couple of parties but didn’t talk to all that much otherwise. Still, that put her in the Top Ten on her “friends and associates” list, since Rope didn’t really talk a lot, period, and she was so innocent and soft...Would’ve been a good mark back in the day, honestly. Course, if she tried anything serious these days, Dobermann would chew her head off, and who knows what Blacksteel would do to her…

Ding-dong! That was her cue. The Cautus gave herself one last once-over and opened the door. “Evening, Va...Vanilla.” Holy shit, she cleaned up well.

“Good evening.” The Vouivre looked more than a little out of her element, admittedly, but that just added to the charm. “I, uh, already got us a table at a place, if that’s alright?”

“Hey, I came in from off the streets; anything’s good enough for me.” True, she did have a couple preferences, but since her...since Vanilla was paying, it wasn’t going to be an issue. What was this, exactly? And wait, didn’t this imply she’d make reservations somewhere? Like people did on dates in movies or whatever?

Doing her best not to jump to conclusions, Rope walked with Vanilla to a nice-looking Siracusan place not too far from her apartment. “This place looks nice, but you didn’t have to spoil me.”

“I know, but uh...I wanted to.” Since there was no way in hell she could be nonchalant about this, she was just going to be as genuine as possible. “We’re at a corner booth, and they aren’t too busy tonight, so we won’t have people listening in on us.”

“Well, well, I didn’t expect you to think of that. Sorry, that sounded meaner than I meant it to be.”

The Vouivre shrugged. “It’s fine - I know people don’t expect it from me. Um, are we drinking tonight, do you think?”

“It’s your money, not mine,” the Cautus replied, “but it’ll probably help if I have a lil’ wine.”

“That works. Excuse me, reservation for 2 for Vanilla?” And with that, their dinner date began.

Once they’d been seated, given a bottle of wine to start with, and ordered their meals, Rope took the lead. “So, you’ve got at least a couple questions for me, right? Wanna make this worth the cash you’re spending on me, after all.”

“How did you know?” That was the most interesting question to her. “Your body says one thing, your heart says another, how do you know which one’s right?”

“I mean, you don’t eat the wrapper, you eat the candy, right? Took some time to figure out why I felt so uncomfortable just, well, being, but as soon as I did, I knew what I wanted to do. Problem is, it’s kinda expensive to get the medications and the surgery and stuff, so for someone stealing just to eat every day, there wasn’t a lot I could do. Then I met Aak, and he helped me out a lot before I got locked up - he’s actually the one who gets me my prescriptions here, too - but I lost some progress since they wouldn’t let me take my meds in prison. The Doctor got me out of there, though, and now I have all the support I need. Sorry, that was more than you asked for.”

Vanilla smiled. “That’s alright; I wanted to ask about all of it. You know, I really had no idea. I mean, even up close, you’re so pretty, I’d never have guessed...”

“Thanks, I think.” Something about that smile raised a question in the Cautus’ mind, so she decided to try and confirm her suspicions. “Where’d you buy that dress, by the way? It looks really good on you.”

“Oh, thank you! Croissant’s resale shop, they might not have another one, but she sells a lot of good stuff for reasonable prices.” It helped that she had a concrete answer, but there was no hiding how happy the Vouivre was to receive that compliment.

Which gave Rope the confidence she needed to say, “It looks like it’s pretty easy to take off, too.”

“Yeah, it’s only got the one strap that...” Vanilla realized what’d happened when the Cautus started giggling. “I was going to ask for help with that later, but I guess you beat me to the punch.”

“If I ever had doubts I was a woman, I definitely don’t right now.”

Now the Vouivre was bright red. “Am I really that obvious?”

“You don’t wear a sign or anything,” Rope replied, still smiling genuinely, “but the way you’ve been looking at me tonight was enough.”

“Yeah, I guess I, um, have been staring...Does this count as a date?”

Rope nodded, having thought she’d regained her composure but finding more giggles to release. “It does now. Oh, man. This was the idea from the beginning, right?”

“I was going to ask you out when I went to give you your meds back,” Vanilla admitted, “so when you asked me to take you out, it was kind of perfect.”

“Wow. I played right into your hands, huh?” The Cautus hadn’t done something like that since she’d tried to pick Miss Swire’s pocket all those months ago - the thing that’d gotten her locked up, actually.

She shrugged. “You kind of did, yeah. We should probably eat our food before it gets too much colder.”

“Shit, how long have we been talking? I lost track.” The ex-thief cut into her steak, watching it bleed with a satisfied smile. “Nice and rare. Oh, sorry, you’re an animal-person, right?”

“W-well, as long as they’re raised humanely, being used for protein isn’t the worst thing that could happen to them. I mean, slugs eat meat, too, although Biggie’s actually doing really well on the low-meat high-protein diet I have him on.” At the mention of her beloved pet, her eyes lit up.

Rope leaned forward. “I’ve seen you driving him around base in a stroller before. You really love him, don’t you?”

“He’s so precious, how could you not!” And as planned, she was off. “Oh, you should have seen him the other day...”

What’d started off with an awkward moment in the trading post was quickly shaping up to be the best night either of them had had in awhile; as the Vouivre began regaling her with stories of her precious pet slugs, the Cautus ate her meal, paying close attention. Vanilla would’ve made an easy mark, it was true, but looking at her now, that was the last thing on Rope’s mind, even though she had plenty of thoughts on what she could do with her...

#arknights #arknights fic #rope (arknights)#vanilla (arknights)#i have no idea if what i wrote even remotely resembles something realistic #except for Vanilla going off about Biggie of course #and them both working at a trade post together #cuz base skills #but uh...yeah #comments compliments critiques and what have you if you don't mind #thanks for not murdering me on the spot for trying this #and thanks coldgoldlazarus for submitting the request and helping me expand my writing horizons

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has-gilgamesh-doneanythingwrong · 3 years

Note

I meant a foreign Princess from some other Kingdom like say Egypt for instance and he maybe meets her at some banquet or her father the King visits Gilgamesh and brings her along. How do you think he would behave around her?

Hello, anon. Thank you for getting back to me. I wasn't sure of this request at first, but I get it now ^^

TIME FOR ME TO UNLEASH THE BIG GUNS!!!!!!!!!!

Gilgamesh's Banquet with A Princess From a Distant Land

- Today, Gilgamesh was going to host a banquet with a King from a distant nation. Together, they would procure an influential trade deal; which would not only bolster the prosperity of Uruk, but also help the other nation with their food shortages.

- Although Gilgamesh was up until his very ears with work and assignments, he was a little bit excited for today (not that he'd admit it, mind you). In particular, Siduri took note of the buoyant cheer lurking beneath his steely exterior.

- 'I hope this goes well...I haven't seen him look this excited in a while.' As Siduri chuckles softly, she congregates with the other staff and servants to prepare for tonight's massive feast. If the guests weren't to Gilgamesh's liking; who knows what havoc he'll wreak?

- Hopefully they'd be able to keep him entertained over mugs of beer and talks of politics.

- The moon glows splendidly within the midnight black night sky, Uruk enshrouded within an effervescent pale light. The banquet was finally ready. Dancers twirl around the palace, as glowing lights illuminate their glistening bodies. In the very center is an enormous feast, with Gilgamesh situated right at the very helm.

- He is incredibly bored from the waiting, and even threatens to scold the other king. Luckily, before Gilgamesh loses his patience; the king arrives!

- Once the King from the other nation arrives- decked in an array of glowing amber robes and a crown of laurel- he bows politely before the entrance to Gilgamesh's palace.

- "You certainly tarried about, didn't you?" Gilgamesh is rather put-out by that. The correct decorum was to arrive early; in order to highlight one's gratitude towards their benefactor. By arriving just on time, this king had more or less acted as if they were equally benefiting from this trade deal. "After all we have done to regale you and greet you as one of our own, I would assume that you'd have the decency to arrive when I expect you to."

"I apologise, dear King. I offer you the very best of our treasures as an apology..." Lifting up an ornate box that contains an delicately sculptured gem, Gilgamesh orders one of his servants to take the package.

"No matter. Your offerings shall suffice for now." Clapping his hands, Gilgamesh orders him to rise; as the king's own band of servants, soldiers and staff troop behind. "Now let us dine together, post haste."

- As they carry on their way, Gilgamesh briefly looks back and is surprised to see a young woman trailing behind; glittering gems sparkling all over her body, as she walks proudly behind them. "Hoh, to think you'd bring a mongrel donning enough jewelry to corrode the entirety of the gem trade industry; yet not introduce her to me? What folly!"

At this, an expression of anger briefly shoots across the king's face until he finally caves in. "That is none other than my very own daughter, a being that is worthy of wearing all of the gems in the world. I would rather you do not refer to her with such malice, dear King."

As Gilgamesh's lips part with amusement at the king's response, he turns to grin rather ferociously at the princess; who bows politely in response- the light of her gems radiating from her body like an angelic light.

- 'It seems like tonight will be even more entertaining than I originally anticipated it to be...' He certainly was going to tease this princess; and push her buttons as far as he possibly could. Hopefully her reactions wouldn't bore him...

THE BANQUET!!!

- The banquet is rather merry, as the trade deal is successfully signed. Somehow, the King had managed to pass Gilgamesh's standards. Now that the most difficult part of the day had finally ended, everybody was free to enjoy themselves!!

- As soon as the king busies himself by dancing alongside the beautiful dancers as he grabs some drinks, Gilgamesh spins to face the princess; passing her a golden canister of beer. Now was the perfect opportunity to attack?!!

- Gilgamesh had been looking forward to doing this all night. He was going to challenge the princess to one of his most favorite endeavors of all time: A BATTLE OF WITS.

- He tries to catch he off guard by testing not only her knowledge- but by also saying things that would certainly get underneath her skin. However, he is taken aback by her sharp and witty responses.

- In other words, I believe that he would certainly give this princess a very hard time; and depending on the types of assumptions he'll make based on her appearance and demeanor, he may be quite harsh at first towards her. "Who do you take yourself to be, wreathing yourself in such imperial attire? A primordial goddess of creation?"

- Despite this, the princess responds to his malice with an even temperament. "I must thank you for your rather lofty, if not absurdly magnanimous praise. However, I would declare myself to be more of a goddess of studying, rather than the kind of divine being that you contrast me to."

"Oho, is that so..." Almost as if he is testing her; Gilgamesh asks her a rather difficult assortment of questions, yet she responds at ease and is not afraid to speak her truth, giving him no choice but to finally respect her status as a princess. "How unexpectedly humble of you, princess. I must profess that I am actually quite impressed."

- A night of mind games ensues between the two; and the Princess is relieved once her father states that it is time to go home. 'I'm not sure I can take this for much longer', the Princess sighs as Gilgamesh challenges her on geographical knowledge. 'This feels exactly the same as if I'm being challenged by my tutor, except this time it's as if my tutor wants to see me lose my temper...'

- Once everybody gathers at the gates to say farewell, Gilgamesh gives the other king a friendly smile. "King. Not only have you provided me with ample entertainment, but you have also raised a fine daughter. I shall praise you appropriately for your efforts today."

- As the king looks between Gilgamesh and the princess in shock, he bows deeply. Afterwards, Gilgamesh stares the princess square in the eyes. "You have done well today, princess. If you shall ever require the assistance of Uruk, or require any more gems to add to that rather ridiculous collection of yours; then you shall be granted permission to lay your feet within my lands. Now, be off!"

- The princess is astounded by this. SHE HAD SURVIVED!!!

- Once the two of them return home- the skies twinkling beautifully overhead- the princess turns to face her father; her expression eager.

"Father, I did it! I survived this night's ordeal!"

"You certainly did...Good job."

And thus, the night ended well.

THE END

#gilgamesh #fate series #gilgablog #my writing #i hope this was okay...its a bit of a tough request so i had to think a lot about what i could do and how it could be written fairly

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one-leaf-grimoire · 3 years

Text

"the knight who pierced the king's heart"

Chapter 2

Hey! yes, I'm actually continuing this medieval AU story!!! Please let me know if you like it so far~ Thanks for reading!

Warnings: alcohol use/drunkeness

Ao3 link

The jousting tournament was just one part of a three-day event, one that pitted all the squads of knights against each other in various forms of combat. Jousting, archery, and dueling are the three pillars of strength for a knight, so those were the three events.

"Congratulations, Fuegoleon. Your squad won 2 of the 3 events!"

"Thank you, your majesty-" Fuegoleon bowed his head politely to Julius. The next day after Lisa’s jousting win, Sei went on to win the dueling competition for the Crimson Lions, and now all the captains were attending a royal lunch in the castle as a celebration. “My squad has exceeded my expectations this year… especially Lisa.” Fuegoleon took a sip of his drink, so he did not notice the multitude of expressions that crossed the king’s face at the mention of the woman. “Although, I had to give her a stern talking to… she joined the tournament against my wishes, and even though she won, she got herself badly hurt.”

“Oh… is it that bad?” Julius frowned a bit, his heart pounding.

“She’ll be in that cast for a month. Strict bedrest.” Fuegoleon let out a sigh. “The squad is holding a celebration tonight, which she probably won’t be able to join.”

Celebration? Julius thought, glancing around the banquet hall. Nobles and Captains alike were standing around a little awkwardly. All of the royal events ended up like this, stiff and boring. Augustus invited me to dinner tonight… but maybe I should skip…

The event ended, and Julius was alone in his room, begrudgingly getting dressed for the dinner party. He buttoned up his shirt and stared at himself in the mirror. He knew it would be just like all the other parties, with Augustus gloating about something or other, and everyone there bored out of their minds. Plus, the Kira family didn’t even really like the Novachrono family, and just wanted to rub in that their house was more prestigious or dominant. It would be unpleasant all around.

I really don’t want to do this anymore… I wish I was still a knight. I wish I could go to the Crimson Lion party… and I wish I could get to know that girl better…

His gaze flickered down to his crown before going back to his face. With the crown on, he looked so regal… but that wasn’t him. He liked the face he saw now better.

… or… to hell with all that. I’m the King! I should be able to do whatever I want!

Without another thought, Julius quickly changed clothes, into something more casual. He wrapped a bandana around his head, covering up the birthmark that had been passed down through his family. Finally, he was ready to go, and without telling anyone his plan, he dashed out of the castle and made his way through the town unnoticed.

Meanwhile….

“SEI! What on earth is going on here?! And-” Fuegoleon’s eyes widened when he saw who was standing with his husband. “Lisa?! You should be in bed!”

Lisa and Sei turned to look at their captain, both standing by a large wagon that had just pulled up outside their squad’s headquarters. “Look, Captain! We’re going to eat well tonight!” Lisa pointed at the wagon with her good arm, and Fuegoleon saw that it was laden with every type of food imaginable. “And alcohol too!!!!”

“WHAT?! But-” Fuegoleon frowned, unsure of what to make of this. “I said we were going to just use the food in our storeroom, why did we need more?!”

“I used my authority as Vice Captain to buy more,” Sei answered, his lips twitching as he suppressed a smile. “We won two of the events, and that makes us the champions, so we deserve it.” He turned to the man who delivered the wagon, pulling out money. “Here, this should cover it.”

“THAT’s MY WALLET!”

“What’s mine is yours, remember?”

Despite Fuegoleon’s protests, all the food made it inside. “HOORAY! Thank you, Captain!!” the other knights cheered, already geared up for a long night of celebration. Their friends and family were invited too, so the room was packed, but also packed with joy and celebration.

“I suppose this is fine… we deserve to let loose after all that hard work.” Fuegoleon smiled to himself as Sei handed him a drink. “However… Lisa, don’t stay up too late, I don’t want your arm to get worse.”

“You’re not my dad!”

Lisa was already a little tipsy, waving around her mug with her good arm while the other rested in her cast. “Someone get me more!!! I won this tournament for you guys after all!” The people around her laughed, and she couldn’t help but laugh with them. Wow… she thought to herself, a little dazed but feeling great. A year ago, I could never have imagined that people would be cheering for me… or that I would have so many friends! Two of her comrades had their arms slung around her shoulders. I’m so glad I finally listened to my father’s advice… even if it was too late for him to see it himself. Her gaze moved up to one of the higher windows, where she could see the starry night. But, I’m here now… I’m sure the future will be even more exciting!

It wasn’t long before Lisa was in need of another refill, but this time she stood up to get it herself. Her knees were feeling pretty weak by now as she weaved her way through the crowd. Her broken arm was throbbing a little, but she ignored it as she clumsily poured herself another drink. Smiling to herself, she turned around to go back to her seat, but ran right into someone. “Ah!”

“Oh, are you alright?!”

Julius turned around to see none other than Lisa standing there, staring sadly at her now-empty cup which spilled on impact. His stomach immediately did a somersault. Ah! It’s her- ok, ok, stay calm- he gulped nervously before cracking a smile. “I’m very sorry-”

“It’s alright.” Lisa looked back up at his face, her eyes immediately narrowing. Uh oh, did she notice me? “My drink though-”

“Oh, I’ll get you another! Come on-”

Julius went to touch her shoulder and gently lead her back to the keg, but Lisa instinctually weaved her arm around his, holding it tightly in an effort to stay upright. Julius somehow managed to keep cool, ignoring how… close she felt as he walked off with her. So far so good… he thought to himself as he poured her another drink. No one’s recognized me so far, so the disguise is working! Even Fuegoleon didn’t notice me. And now Lisa’s here, right by me- She was pretty tipsy, but Julius was determined to talk to her longer. He wasn’t sure what he wanted out of this yet, but that’s why he had to “investigate.”

“Thank you.” Lisa took a long sip of her drink before looking back up at his face. That curious look appeared in her eyes again. “... have we met?”

Julius sucked in a breath, maintaining his easy smile. “N-No, I don’t believe so-”

“Huh-” Lisa cut him off, cocking her head to the side. It was… very cute. “I feel like I recog- hic- recognize you… hmm.” She shrugged before closing her eyes and grinning. “Maybe we were lovers in a past life or something!”

The smile combined with the sudden comment was enough to make Julius’s ears turn red. Lovers in a past life?! She’s so blunt- He managed to laugh it off, but his heart was pounding in his chest. So… does that mean she thinks I’m attractive? Or did she just say that for a laugh-

“Come on! I’m hungry!!!” Lisa suddenly grabbed his arm again and started dragging him away. Julius yelped, letting her lead him away. “The food is really good- and there’s a lot of it!”

Julius listened to her ramble on about it, smiling a little to himself. She was standing very close to him, her whole side pressed up against his arm, her hand balled up in the sleeve of his shirt. She has so much energy… I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone like her. Soon, they were sitting down again as Lisa ate.

“- and then- I knew they wouldn’t let me play anymore if they knew i had cracked my arm in half, so I just- hic- pretended I was fine! It was -hic- hard, but look where it got me!” She giggled to herself, chewing on the rest of her food. “Were you there? Did you see me?”

Julius nodded, resting his hand on his hands, propped up on the side of their table.

“I was there… and you were amazing.”

Lisa smiled again, and Julius swore he saw a blush on her cheeks.

However, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end. Unnerved, Julius looked around the noisy hall. What was that? I feel like I’m being-

His eyes suddenly met someone else’s.

… watched…

Sei was staring dead straight at him. As soon as their gazes met, Sei didn’t look away. Instead, he frowned, recognition all over his face. Julius’s heart jumped into his throat, his blood running cold. Shit! Seiros recognized me-

After a moment of tension, Sei finally rolled his eyes and looked away, uninterested. Julius gulped before turning back to Lisa, his heart still pounding. Did he actually recognize me? Or am I just being paranoid-

“Oooh! Someone’s playing music-” Lisa suddenly jumped to her feet, her grip still on Julius’s arm. “Come on, handsome stranger, let’s dance!”

“H-Handsome stranger?!” Julius stuttered, caught completely off guard. “And- er- no one’s playing music-”

“So?”

Next thing he knew, Julius was on his feet, and Lisa had wrapped an arm around his middle. The man, for once in his life, had no idea how to react or what to say. All he could do was stand there, his face turning bright red.

“You… you’re warm…”

Lisa suddenly buried her face in his chest, letting out a soft, happy hum. Julius could feel it against his heart.

This… this is unexpected-

Julius didn’t know if he should be giddy or embarrassed, but it was hard for him to not descend into the former. There were many eyes upon the pair now that they were standing, and Julius started to get nervous about getting recognized. There were plenty of family members here that he managed to blend into, but now he was… exposed. He didn’t dare look Sei’s way but his attention snapped back to Lisa as she giggled drowsily and shifted her head so her cheek was squished against him.

“Warm…”

Her voice was weakening, and her eyes closed as she let her blissful haze take over.

Her knees wobbled, and Julius instinctively wrapped an arm around her to keep her upright. Lisa let out another happy sound. “Come on- I think you need to sit down-” Julius said, unsure of what he was supposed to do. Yikes, I didn’t expect any of this to happen- I’m glad she seems to like me, but she’s probably not going to remember any of this tomorrow. He started to inch back towards the table, wanting to sit down before people started to get suspicious or anything. Maybe I can try to see her some other time-

“LISA!”

Uh oh. Julius looked up just in time to see none other than Fuegoleon pushing his way through the crowd, a concerned look on his face. Julius quickly looked away just as Fuegoleon reached them. “Lisa! What on earth are you doing?! I told you to take care of yourself, and here you are dragging yourself all over this poor man! Do you have no shame-”

Lisa blinked her eyes back open, seeing a blurred image of Fuegoleon’s face. “H-Huh? Oh!” She giggled dumbly and pointed a finger into Julius’s chest. “This isn’t just a m-man- this is my boyfriend-”

BOYFRIEND?! Julius thought, feeling his stomach do another flip.

“BOYFRIEND?!” Fuegoleon barked, and to Julius’s displeasure, immediately looked right at him. Luckily, Julius’s disguise held up and Fuegoleon did not seem to notice that he was looking into the eyes of the same man he had spoken to at lunch. “Is this true?!”

“Er- no-” Julius stammered, his heart pounding with adrenaline. “I- uh- I’m just… I’m just here-”

“Well then-” Fuegoleon scowled before looking back down at Lisa. “You need to go to bed, before you fall over and break your other arm!”

Lisa stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re not my dad!”

“Come on- He has a point. You there, help me get her out of here-”

Julius felt Lisa shift in his arm, and looked down to see that none other than Sei had appeared to grab Lisa from the other side. He bit the inside of his mouth to keep from gasping out loud, but Sei didn’t seem to be any grumpier than usual.”O-Okay-”

“I’m sorry about this!” Fuego called after the trio as they hobbled off. “She’s usually better behaved than this! All the fame is going to her head!”

Lisa mumbled something incoherent as she stumbled along between the two of them. “I’m not even that drunk! I’m going to remember all this tomorrow-”

“Sure you are.” Sei hushed her, stealing a glance up at Julius, who was examining the floor ahead of them as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. He narrowed his eyes again before looking ahead as well. Before too long, he kicked open the door to her room and the two men got her inside. “Alright, get out of here-” Sei told Julius, starting to pull Lisa away. “I can do this myself.”

“Oh… okay.” Julius gulped before trying to stand back. However, it wasn’t so easy; Lisa’s grip tightened on his sleeve, and she let out a tired sound of protest.”

“No- don’t go- stay with me-”

“I can’t- come on-” Julius nervously reached up and started to pry away her fingers. Lisa looked like she was about to cry, and his heart felt like it was about to break. He had hoped to actually get to know her, and the night had been far too short. However… maybe this was the time for him to shoot his shot. “Well… I can come back tomorrow?”

Lisa’s eyes popped back open. “Really?”

Sei shot Julius a warning glance. Julius still wasn’t sure how much Sei knew about him, but he knew Sei was at the very least not about to trust him. However, he wasn’t about to give up. “How about lunch tomorrow? I’ll meet you here?”

Lisa nodded slowly, her grip finally loosening. Julius smiled and held onto her hand for just a moment longer. “Alright… goodnight.”

The skin on her hand was very… enticing. Julius wanted to lean down and place a kiss on it, something for her to remember him by until they next met. But Sei tugged once, and her hand slipped away.

“Come on, shoo-”

Before Julius knew it, the door slammed shut in his face, and he was alone once again in the hallway.

I… I did it… I’m going to see her tomorrow-

Before Sei came back out a couple seconds later, Julius was already gone, running away as fast as he could.

“...what happened to that weirdo?”

“Weirdo?” Fuegoleon looked down as Sei reappeared at his side, slipping a gloved hand into his own. “Who would that be?”

“Lisa’s ‘boyfriend,’” Sei added, glancing around. “Where did he go?”

Fuegoleon shrugged. “No idea. He disappeared. And you can’t just go around calling people weird-”

Sei stopped listening at that point.

Disappeared? Hmm. Maybe I was right… that man…

Julius didn’t stop jogging until he was almost back to the castle. He leaned on the side of a building, catching his breath. Despite the adrenaline from multiple close calls tonight, he couldn’t help but smile.

It was short… but I’ve never had so much fun. Maybe sneaking around is a good idea after all.

He straightened up, looking off into the city one last time.

Until tomorrow, Lisa… I hope you remember me.

He turned and walked off, a newfound skip in his step.

Sei belongs to @fuegoleonvermillion

#julisa #julius novachrono #bc oc #other's ocs #fuegoleon vermillion #oc: lisa #medieval au #au #black clover #fic #tkwptkh #horrible tag I know

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strongsassysexysloane · 4 years

Text

Twelfth day of Twelve - A Finale Worth Waiting For.

A/N - well. I made it. >.< Thank you for all the likes and love. I really did enjoy writing these no matter how tired I have been ( I just slept 11hrs) I hope you enjoy it as much I just did writing it.

Happy Holidays! However you celebrate it or not 😊

Click below for previous days

Gif by @regal-roni

. . . .

The day had finally come and to say you'd woken up with a bounce in your step was an understatement. Regrettably and something you wouldn't share with anyone if they asked was that you ran to your front door when your eyes popped open at 0710.

Nothing was there of course but a thin layer of snow dusting your front porch. You'd even gone to your regular coffee shop this morning just in case they dropped it off there or ordered you something but Sharon didn't have anything for you but a knowing smile. So you order a cup to go and a freshly baked muffin to fill you up.

You'd stayed home all day other than the coffee run, never mind the things you needed at the shops you wanted to catch the person of they dropped something off. It was day 12, finale, so where was the surprise?

All your hopes and prayers were on it being Jacqueline, to no one's surprise, but there was massive doubt that it was actually her. She had an outstanding poker face, spending so much time with her last night, she gave nothing away even when you hinted towards it and there was no way she could be pulled it off unless she had help. Help in the form of the team and no one was that good at hiding secrets other than Gibbs. There was no way he would be in on it.

You thought about all the gifts, all the time it took for this person to go to so much effort, not just to get them, but to plan and organise it all so it was a secret.

It was getting late, the hope for the twelfth day was fading as the sun went down bit you pottered around your place, tidying up at bit as.youd neglected your home from working so much.

There was a sound that came from your front door and you sprung to check but there was nothing. Only footprints on the snow of a bird landing there and taking off again. You'd checked your front door more times than you'd like to admit today. Even Ellie had messaged twice, once at lunch and then an hour ago even though you assured her you would let her know when you found out. Your gut was telling you she knew something and was busting at the seems to tell you. If today was a work day you knew the secret would be out by now.

The sun was almost gone on another chilly December day and you were thinking about dinner. There was hardly anything in the fridge or pantry, you really shouldve done a quick shop while you were out for coffee. The only thing left that resembled some kind of dinner was a frozen cheese pizza so you turned on your oven, not wanting to go out for takeout and not wanting to spend the money on delivery. The snow had started to fall about an hour ago and you knew delivery would take longer, patience was lost around 0900 this morning.

You were about to unwrap the plastic from the pizza when the door bell rang. Your stomach dropped but your heartrate tripled and you couldn't move. The thought that it was just another delivery with no clue had crossed your mind but would the person be that sneakily cruel?

Yes.

They'd clearly been close enough the past 12 days to hear one or more of your conversations so...There was that hope again.

The knocker thumped three more times and your legs managed to skip to the front door in a calm manor unlike the pace of your heart right now. Taking a deep breath, you plastered a on smile your very nervous face and twisted the door handle.

The door cracked open a few inches and there was silence. A million things running through your mind all stilled when you finally got your answer.

"I was going to get Ellie to rock up and video your reaction but I thought, best not." She waited for you to say something, do something but you were searching for the right words. "Well, you going to let me in?" She shivered, looking around nervously as the snow started to pour down again.

You were shocked. The moment you'd been waiting for for twelve days was here and you had no words. Well, you had one. "Why?"

"Why should you let me in? Well the food is getting cold as I got your favourite from the little Italian place across town and it's been a traffic filled drive because no one in DC knows how to drive in snow so I took some back streets to get to your place so-"

"No, Jack. Why?" You were gripping onto your solid wooden door for life. She was nervous too, you could tell by her avoidance of eye contact and rambling. You couldn't tell if her cheeks were pink because of the chill or the situation.

Covering her mouth and clearing her throat, she looked up at you then. The first actual solid eye contact since you opened the door. "As good as I am at reading people and figuring out what to say at work. When it comes to this-" She gestured with her spare hand between you both. "- I fall awfully short." She paused, looking down again and you opened the door. "Thank you." She smiled, walking past you but you grabbed her hand to stop her in the doorway.

"You didn't need to buy me gifts to tell me you..." You didn't know how to finish that sentence. To date you? lo- no.

"I've always enjoyed buying gifts for people and receiving them, of course, but seeing your face, albeit frustrated sometimes, it was worth the surprise tonight." She shook off the cold and some snow fell to the floor.

"Jack!" You tugged her, closing the door and grabbing the bag of takeout from her and putting it on your small entry table. You laced your fingers together and brought your other hand up to cup her face, her eyes finally meeting yours. "Please."

She smiled, a soft curve to her lips and the best gift of happened, she was kissing you. Your eyes took a second to fall shut at the sudden soft contact. You melted into each other, her hand gripping your waist, grounding you while the soft kiss turned heated.

She pulled apart just far enough to catch her breath, your laced hands falling away as you picked up the takeout and lead her into your lounge room. The kiss had ignited something in you, you felt invincible and the nerves suddenly vanished. Nothing was said while you unpacked the meals she brought, you were about you hop up to get cutlery because the wooden ones they'd given you just wouldn't do but her hand squeezed your thigh stopping you in your tracks.

Your heart rate picked up again, not from nerves but from her touch. You hadn't looked at her since the kiss, although you felt like you could do anything right now, you couldn't look at her and see regret in her eyes. Unsure why you suddenly felt that way was a shock but -

"Y/n.." She breathed, her hand moving in soft circles over your thigh.

The low tone, almost a whisper, made you swallow hard. Her hand came up to cup your cheek and guide you this time to look into her eyes.

"Y/n -"

"Jack, please stop saying my name like that. I need dinner before I can do the things that that voice makes me want to do..." You rolled your eyes at how bad that sounded but relief came when her lips curved into a sultry smirk. Your avoidance of emotions wasn't lost on her but for now it would have to do.

"Fine. Dinner then dessert."

"Oh my god you didn't bring dessert did you?" She kissed you instead of replying, the answer on her tongue as she explored your mouth once more. "Right.. Shut up." You poked your tongue at her cheeky expression before turning back to dinner.

Surprisingly you managed to eat all the dinner before the make out session returned. At this point you were unsure if the dinner or her was the twelfth gift.

"What are you laughing at?" Her hand came up to cup the side of your face as her other ran down the side of your body, slipping under your shirt, again.

You were both stretched out on your sofa, Jack slipped in between you and the back of the sofa. You couldn't stop looking at her. "I wasn't laughing."

Her lips came down and ghosted over yours. "Your eyes were." She murmured before kissing you hard and fast.

You swallowed when she broke free, such a tease. "Was wondering what my day 12 gift actually was?" You smirked and squirmed under her ticklish feather light touch. You'd get her back for it later.

"In other words me or the dinner?" She said with a raised brow.

This time you did laugh.

"Think I got the best gift..." It was almost a whisper and you immediately stopped laughing and saw how serious she was.

You rolled onto you side so you were face to face. Your fingers tucking a few strands of hair that had fallen over her face, behind her ear. "Think we have different opinions there." You bumped your nose against hers, lightening the mood.

You were rewarded with a cute curve to her lips. "Don't fight me on this. You'll lose."

"I'm sure to lose many things that will come up in the next few months but my feelings for you. You can't win." You heart picked up, the feelings you just have away were much more than you planned in revealing.

She brushed her nose against yours, placing a gentle kiss to your lips which you tried so hard to extend but you pushed back with a laugh. "As much as I want to kiss you til the sun comes back up on Monday morning. I need to say something."

"Of course you do." You smirked at the light shove you got but you didn't care what she did to you. Right now Jacqueline Sloane was on your couch, in the middle of make out sessions. If you died tomorrow you'd be a happiest person in the world.

"I'm definitely going to win all the arguments over the next many years."

With that there was nothing else to say, the past twelve days had been fun and exciting with all the gifts you'd received but nothing compared to day twelve.

. . . .

I tried so hard. SO hard to not make who the gift giver was so obvious but like... You all know what stories I write. If Jack Sloane isn't the centre of the story then why am I writing it??

Drop a comment, I'd love to hear from all of you :)

#ncis reader insert #ncis christmas #ncis x reader #ncis 12 days of christmas #jack sloane #jack sloane x reader

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botwstoriesandsuch · 4 years

Text

Oblivious Actions Part 2 of 2

Revali x Reader

5827 words (hey you asked for a big boi so)

Part 1

Thank you for your patience! I really love how this turned out, even though I suck at endings. Critiques and any typo finds are appreciated if I missed anything. Anyway, enjoy!

Music filled the air, the stable was lively, and full of chatter. Understandable, considering it wasn’t everyday the Champions would grace the common folk with their presence. Many travelers were already making their way up the bridges to Rito Village, in anticipation for the Champion celebratory party set for that night. Around Rito Stable, workers had begun lighting up amber lanterns, in preparation for the sun setting in a few hours. A few Hylians were walking about. One Sheikah was playing his instrument by the campfire, humming a familiar tune, while others watched and danced along. Rito and Hylian children zigzagged between the large, wooden crates, painted with the Hyrulean crest. A worker with a maroon tunic was stirring a large pot of stew, its savoury aroma filling every part of the woods. The winds rustled through the dancing trees, creating its own, cutting melody. However, the chill was not felt from within.

Inside, the curtains by the stable entrance were half drawn, people lounged around tables, talking and eating. Warm, yellow light illuminated the room, the lanterns occasionally flickering. Workers and guests clattered about. A few men in the corner were on their third pint of ale, while a few Rito women were giggling from across the room, staring at a particular Rito and Gerudo.

He hadn’t bothered to wear his blue scarf, even though he adored it (and he would never say so out loud), he found that its emblem attracted much unwanted attention. Urbosa, on the other hand, had her sky blue skirt on, draped across the stool she was sitting on. It was the figure of a Gerudo so far into the Tabantha Region, combined with her Champion status that attracted attention. So in essence, it was her that negated any efforts Revali made to stay away from the crowds. He leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling restlessly, waiting for her to be finished with the last of the lingering fans.

With a flick of her wrist, Urbosa finished writing her name across the piece of parchment. The black ink at the tip of the quill soaked into the paper, leaving Urbosa’s cursive name in large letters. A thin and lanky Hylian man took it excitedly.

“T-thank you, Chief Lady Urbosa ma’am! Really! Truly! This means a lot, I’m going to— I mean… my kids are gonna love this.”

The Gerudo gave him a kind look and tilted her head, her emerald eyes gleamed. There was not a sliver of annoyance or mocking on her face. “It’s not a problem at all, sir. I find it encouraging whenever people come up to greet and support us. Don’t you think, Revali?”

Although the blank, wooden image of the ceiling was very entertaining, Rito pried his gaze away and narrowed his eyes at the two of them. The man was rocking back and forth on his heels, hugging two pieces of paper to his chest. One, already autographed with Urbosa’s loopy handwriting. The other, blank and waiting. His posture was jittery and nervous. The Hylian was switching his gaze between the Rito and the quill on the table.

Ugh.

“Why yes, Champion Urbosa. It’s always nice to meet the adoring fans.” Revali enunciated the end of the sentence carefully. He continued with a regal tone. “Especially, since we’ve wasted the last hour of our free time watching you write the same word over and over. Theoretically speaking, we have greatly supported the ink business with our presence alone.” He leaned forward, speaking directly to the Hylian. “However, I think we’ve taken enough of this gentleman’s time, so why don’t we send him on his way. After all, I’m sure there are more actually important matters that we all need to attend too.” He flicked his wing in a motion towards the stable exit.

A beat of silence. Then, the Hylian started to sputter, his cheeks reddening. “O-Oh... oh-oh yes, yes! Of course! I’ll just…” he took a shaky step back, “...be on, my, way, then. Thank you very much for your time!” He shuffled outside, nearly tripping on the step out the exit.

Letting out a huff of air, the Gerudo Chief muttered under her breath. “Ink business...hilarious as always, Revali.” He let a smirk cross over his feathered face, “Yes, I already knew that, thank you.”

Revali turned his gaze back towards the ceiling, finding comfort in the fact that all the pestering fans were gone. Urbosa rolled her eyes. “Would it kill you to be nice? Or at the very least, polite?” He scoffed.

“I don’t think having to endure lines of mindless devotees is part of our job description. Last I checked, I was chosen for my masterful skill set and bond with Medoh, not my penmanship.”

She gave a tired sigh. “We both know that’s not the point, it’s about inspiration and giving people hope.”

“If people are so eager to have my name on a piece of paper,” he picked up the quill the Hylian had accidentally left on their table, “they can write it out themselves. By this point most people have the ability to spell, correct?”

The two continued their idle banter for a bit. The conversation at this point was mostly out of a lack of other things to do, as no food or drink had arrived yet. Then, another Hylian approached their table, cheerfully.

“Excuse me, Champions, I have—”

“OH for the love of Hylia!” the Rito interrupted, “I’m afraid I’m not in the mood to deal with whatever requests you have for me.” He held his head towards the ceiling, exasperated.

“So pardon my bluntness, but why don’t you—”

“Revali,” Urbosa interjected.

He looked back towards her, a sarcastic response already at the tip of his beak. That was when he caught a glance at the Hylian woman in question.

She was holding up a wooden tray, dark and stained. A large pitcher sat on top of it, and she balanced two cups on either end. Her leather cap sat lopsided on her yellow hair. The symbol of a horse etched onto the fabric of their hat and tunic. The look on her face was that of confusion.

“Oh.”

The stable worker cleared her throat with a forced cough. “Um, you ordered the apple cider, right Champion Revali?” She set the cups down without waiting for a response. The Rito fixed his eyes on his drink, mumbling. “Yes, thank you Lucile.” At least, that’s what he thought her name was. He couldn’t bother to remember all of [Name]’s friends. The bronze colored liquid swirled in his cup.

Attempting to lighten the mood, Urbosa quipped in. “It wouldn’t be very responsible of me to let him get drunk, lest he become even more dramatic than usual.” She exchanged a quiet laugh with the waiter. Revali clicked his tongue. “I am in no need of your motherly supervision, Urbosa. Besides,” he laid his wing across his chest, theatrically, “I’m sure I can handle my drink much better than anyone here ever could.” At that, Urbosa gave a wink towards the waiter, whispering something about ego.

After pouring their drinks, the Hylian that was probably named Lucile put the pitcher back on the tray. “Alright, well, call for a refill when you want it. And don’t worry about the price or anything. [Name] said to put the rupees on their tab.”

At the mention of their name, Revali perked up. “Wait, Lucile, I noticed I haven’t seen [Name] around yet. Are they…?” he let his voice trail off. It’s not like he cared that much, he was just curious. He hadn’t seen them all day. It’s not like he was looking forward to their interactions or anything. Yeah, curious, that was the word.

“If you’re referring to your little get together later, they’re still on for that.” Lucile gave a warm and knowing smile. “The place is busier than usual, thanks to you guys. So it’s ‘all hands on deck’ if ya know what I mean.” She gave a quick nod outside, where a savoury aroma was starting to swirl its way inside. “They’re making your on the house dinner right now, so just wait a little bit longer.” Lucile tucked her blonde hair behind her ears, and picked up the tray. “Okie dokie, then. I’ll be seeing you.”

The Rito allowed himself to look outside. The view was partly obstructed by the purpleish curtains on either side, but the unmistakable glow of embers and flickering firelight could be seen. Craning his head forward a bit, he caught a glimpse of a coffee colored boot in front of a cooking pot, tapping along with the music. Huh, only one stable worker he knew would still be dancing along to the music despite working all day. Revali thought back to that time when [Name] would force him to sing along with the sparrows, just to annoy him. Or how he would invite them to Warblers nest to listen to the Rito kids chirp their tunes. I wonder how they’re doing, have they been working all day? Have they taken a break yet? I know I’ve been caught up with Champion duties, but maybe tonight—

“Wandering eyes kill, little Rito.”

Snapping back into reality, Revali quickly blinked and turned to face Urbosa. There was a calm and almost pitiful tone in her voice that he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be at the end of.

“Ah, my apologies. I should have asked for your permission to use my sense of vision.”

Unbothered by his comment, she kept the smirk on her face. “You know, I’ve never seen you laugh so easily until the other day.” He let out a loud scoff. What was that supposed to mean? Am I not allowed to express emotion on duty? Perhaps I should don the same stupid expression as that little knight.

“Well, perhaps that’s because everyone else in the group is boring.”

Urbosa leaned forward in her seat, letting her elbows rest on the table. “Let down the act, Revali. Everyone can see the big picture but you.”

“What are we even talking about?”

“[Name]”

“Uh-huh. Right, I think it would save us both time if you bothered to be specific in what you mean.” He lifted his wings in fake surrender. “What about them? You insulted by their choice in flower crowns? ”

Putting his wings down, he went for his drink. Taking up the cup of cider, Revali lifted it towards his face, using it as an excuse to not continue further into the conversation Urbosa so clearly wanted to have. Urbosa let out a huff of air. “Look, I’m just trying to compliment you two. You really are a cute couple.”

Instinctively turning to the side, Revali spat out his drink wildly. His coughing fit caused the surrounding conversations in the stable to trickle into curious whispers. A few other Rito in the back were giggling. Thankfully, he hadn’t sprayed anyone as no one was in range. He wiped down the front of his clothes and part of the table with his wing. He cleared his throat and half stood up, addressing the people that were looking at him quizzically. Revali’s voice raised in pitch and his speech quickened.

“AHEM! Wow, that was absolutely appalling and disgusting. I can’t believe the staff would be so careless as to let a dragonfly swirl around in my cup! I WILL be sure to speak with someone later concerning the cleanliness and hygienic practices of this place. So...yeah…” he let his voice echo in the room for a few more moments before sitting back down completely. Urbosa’s hands were folded as if in prayer, but her fingertips were pushed in front of her lips, as if to keep from laughing.

“Great save.”

“Shut up, will you? What in the hells did you just say? Couple? I think you’re clearly misreading things.”

She let out a short laugh. “Well, the fact that you reacted so enthusiastically says otherwise.”

“Wha—what…?” He shook his head quickly. “Urbosa, whatever you think you saw the other day isn’t what you think. [Name] and I are very obviously not dating, or seeing each other, or whatever your proper terminology is.”

“You both are very obviously into each other. You always hang out, you have cute banter. You’re dating, no?”

“NO!” He quickly shushed her comment, lowering his own voice and glancing around to see if anyone else was listening in. “The answer is NO because I don’t even like them that much. They’re very stupid, and unattractive, not to mention a Hylian. They’re an acquaintance at most. Maybe a friend.” He propped his own wing on the table and rested his beak on it. “Or close friend. A confidant...or—agh! Point is we’re not whatever you think we are!”

Urbosa let out a huff of air, letting her shoulders slump. “For a Rito, you are quite blind.”

He went for his cup again, fiddling with the chipped white paint that decorated the side. Revali didn’t bother to look up at Urbosa, for fear of unconsciously communicating something with his eyes. “Fine, then. Please, enlighten me into what I am so blind to.”

She furrowed her brows in confusion. Was he seriously not getting it? “You and [Name] seem to talk and visit each other all the time, considering you even know the staff here. You both have known each other since childhood, no doubt you’ve formed a bond. Both of you were so incredibly flustered just being in each other’s presence yesterday. Also,” she held up her head to imitate Revali’s posture, “You look pretty too!’ Does that comment ring any bells? Come on, Revali. And this is only the stuff I’ve seen in one day.”

Shocked and speechless, Revali let the silence between them settle for a bit. He considered her argument, thinking over what to say next. “OK fine, I tolerate them. Sure. That doesn’t mean it happens both ways…”

The Gerudo Chief looked as if Revali had just told her that the current King of Hyrule was five stacked cuccos. “They practically invited you for a date earlier.”

“But, we do that all the time.”

“You do!?” it was Urbosa’s turn to be shocked.

“Wait,” Revali narrowed his eyes, wheels turned in his head. Did that time he invited [Name] to watch his archery practice count? Or when [Name] had baked him a fish pie when he came to visit them even though they were sick? Wait, wait, no. Friends do that all the time, that’s absurd. Yet, he couldn’t ignore the incessant fluttering in his stomach whenever he thought about braiding their hair...or laughing beside them...or— ah! What did it all mean? He scrunched his face in confusion, lowering his voice to a whisper, “Have we already...what does...are we dating?”

Urbosa held the bridge of her nose with her fingers, sighing. “Everyone with eyes can see it. You are.”

Revali practically squaked. “WE’VE BEEN DATING?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, you’re... dating Urbosa?”

Both Revali and Urbosa whipped around in unison to face [Name], who was standing behind them holding two hot bowls of spicy meat stew.

Spirits bless his quivering soul, [Name] was here. There were still droplets of cider on his clothes, his braids were probably all frizzled from the trip down here. Was what he was wearing too formal? Too casual? Maybe he should have worn something more colorful. Hold on, was [Name] wearing their hair differently? When did they start wearing that yellow ribbon? It looked nice...should he say something? What was that new leather pouch on their belt, did someone give them that? Why all these changes? Are they seeing someone? Well it would be fine if they were...considering they were just friends. Right, they were friends— Wait a moment, did they just ask if he was dating Urbosa??

The Gerudo Champion, ever quick to regain her composure, was the first to respond. “Unfortunately, no. I’m afraid I’m a bit out of the Rito Champions league. We were talking about something else.”

The slight tension in [Name]’s shoulders relaxed, just barely noticeable. They chuckled, setting down the stews. “Ah-ha, well that’s good. Hylia knows Revali’s much more trouble than he’s worth.”

The Rito in question, who had still been sputtering over the several revelations he had come across over the last few minutes, finally regained the ability to formulate words. “...What? Hey! I’m right here!”

“Oh, sorry about that!” [Name] leaned down to face him, “I didn’t see you there. When you’re sitting down, you’re even shorter than usual! ” To further add to their quip, [Name] booped the tip of his beak with the end of a spoon. The feathers on his neck poofed up from embarrassment, though probably no one but him noticed. After placing napkins and silverware on the table, [Name] gave a deep, exaggerated bow. Their leather pouch hung out, half-open, revealing a few colorful hair ribbons. “Enjoy the meal, and thank you for staying with us, esteemed Champions,” their words were more of a tease towards Revali. “Just holler if you need anything, Revali! I’ll see you...later.” And with that, [Name] strode back outside, the brisk breeze fluttering the edges of their maroon tunic.

Revali’s thoughts were racing. Mainly centered around one word.

Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy

Urbosa looked at Revali, a twinkle in her eye. “Truly, you are made for each other. They’re the only one I’ve seen with the ability to actually make you shut up.”

Ignoring her comment, the Rito continued to stare at [Name] as she bantered with the other guests and workers outside. Then, he exhaled quickly, muttering comments that would make any mother click their tongue. Attempting to alleviate the tension, Urbosa asked, “Can I ask you a question?”

Quickly rebuilding his walls, Revali let out the usual quip. “You just did, but you have my permission to ask a secondary one.”

“Do you believe they like you back?”

He rolled his eyes. “Ugh, spare me your useless fledgling gossip and prattle. What are you going to do, exchange handwritten love letters between us? Unfold the schoolyard drama? Maybe later we can skip around in circles as we talk about our crushes before bedtime.”

She rolled her eyes. It might as well be an exercise when around Revali. “How about you answer the question?”

He turned away, looking outside and watching the dancing trees and people. “[Name] and I have been friends for years. I think I’d know if we had mutual feelings.”

Taking a napkin and placing it on her lap. She focused on enjoying her meal. “Oh but you do. You’re both clearly head over heels for each other already. Considering you're already basically dating.”

Turning back to face her, he started sputtering. “Wait, wait. Let’s back up, shall we? If we’re, as you said, basically dating, does that mean they know this? Do...do they already consider me their significant other? Do they know we’re…” he lowered his voice again, gesturing at himself wildly, “...you know.”

Urbosa slurped her stew, but held Revali’s gaze. She enjoyed its warmth and savory smell for several, several, several long seconds, still looking Revali in the eye. He spread his wings, exasperated. “Your condescending stares aren’t improving the situation.”

Finally, she finished her sip, giving a satisfied sigh. The spicy taste tingled in her mouth. “Mmm. Delicious. [Name]’s cute and a good cook. You have good taste.”

“Did you just make a pun?”

“Pfft, like you haven’t done that before?” Revali responded with a grimace.

The Rito asked again, “Can you just please take this seriously and help me with all this? You should already be flattered that I’m even bothering to continue this conversation with you. I don’t just babble about [Name] with anyone. So just...tsk...I don’t know, grace me with whatever wisdom you have.”

Urbosa raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Why should I? I’m not your mother or anything…” She flipped her velvet hair and looked away dramatically. Seems the Rito’s personality rubbed off on her.

Revali rolled his eyes, “Are you really going to make me—”

“Yes.” she said bluntly.

“Well, I’m not—”

“Hm?”

“I said—”

“What?”

“Can you—”

“Yes?”

Revali sat there, eyes narrowed. Seems there was only one way he was gonna get her to talk. Urbosa gave a hearty laugh, her chocolate smooth voice echoing through the room. She kept her eyebrows raised, looking at him expectantly. After letting out another sigh, the Rito grumbled, barely opening his beak. “Can you please help me with all this...” Urbosa cupped a hand around her ear, a smirk plaster on her face. Revali quickened his speech. “...ugh you’re insufferable...considering you are the closest thing to a parental figure in my life and you’re more of an expert in this than I am, please tell me what in the hells I should do about [Name]—THERE! Happy?”

She started chuckling again, laughter must come easy for her. Shooting him a wink, Urbosa mused, “I think that’s satisfactory. Was that so hard?”

“Very.”

She snorted. Leaning back in her seat, she jeered him further. “Alright, maybe I won’t let you crash and burn this cute relationship of yours, considering it’s my responsibility to look out for all the little children in my life.” Revali scoffed.

Before he had the chance to nag her further, Urbosa continued. “So, Revali, from my own expert deductions on your whole,” she moved her spoon towards him in a circular motion, “situation, I’ve concluded that you’re both idiots.” He grumbled and shot daggers at her.

“Thank you. Very helpful.”

“You’re welcome. Now,” she set down her spoon, “Listen close and listen well, Revali. You’re both in the same boat here. [Name] didn’t react that badly at the prospect of you going out with me. However, their eyes immediately lit up when I clarified that you were not, infact, taken.

“This means that they also don’t realize the obvious fact that you’re dating each other. Yet, they reacted with a hint of jealousy, so there’s no question they’ve got it for you.” Revali shifted in his seat, but allowed her to resume.

“They were completely oblivious to Daruk’s earlier comment about you being cute together. Yet, they’ve continuously made moves that suggest they really like you. Did you see their face when you put your wing around them yesterday?” She sighed. “ Who knows what other signs you’ve both been oblivious to all your lives.” Finally, she leaned forward and pointed a finger at Revali.

“You’re both too lovestruck to see how lovestruck your loves are for you.” Then, she went for her drink, sipping it slowly.

Taking her silence as a cue to speak, he asked softly. “Alright, so what do I do?”

“I don’t know,” was all that came from behind the cup.

He practically squaked again. “What? But? You just? Why—”

She held up a finger to shush him. “The best I can say is that you should probably openly confess so there’s not anymore confusion between you two fools. How, where, and when? Well that’s entirely up to you. Maybe at the party tonight you can whip up something.”

The likelihood of someone like [Name] showing up to a party filled with stuffy nobles, pestering fans, and overall loud people seemed slim. From experience, Revali probably thought [Name] would spend the night in the woods or something, searching for wildflowers. “I can assure you that’s not going to happen.”

Urbosa gave a final shrug. “Well then, good luck.” She went back to eating the rest of her meal.

Revali cast his eyes to the floor, deep in thought. What was he gonna do?

Several minutes passed, and Urbosa basked in the rare occurance of the Rito Champion's silence. Thoughts and anxieties swarmed his head like bees to a courser honey comb. Then, the wind swept past the curtains and through the stable entrance, fluttering something under Revali’s foot. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a feather. It was a familiar deep blue, bordering on indigo, the edges were stroked with white. The color and hue was unmistakable.

Losing one or two happened everyday, sure, but what was peculiar was that this particular feather was that it seemed to be from a fledgling. The white marks faded to grey slightly, indicating the not yet fully formed colors of a young Rito hatchling.

Tsk. I’ll admit I have youthful looks, but I’m not that young.

Picking it up off the floor, he studied the stiff end of the feather, he was surprised to find it was decorated. A yellow ribbon was wrapped around its end. At one point, it was a brighter, daffodil like color, but now it had faded with time to a more pastel shade. The color matched well.

Why on earth does someone have my—

Suddenly, Revali stood up, almost flipping the table. “Hey!” Urbosa held the table steady. “Revali? Are you alright?”

Earlier, they were wearing a new leather pouch. It was half open, there were trinkets...ribbons inside.

“Revaaaaaaali?”

When they were joking around, they fake bowed. Did this...did this fall out?

“Are you alright? Where’d you get that feather? Is it yours?”

[Name] kept this? After all this time? That idiot, don’t they know about Rito custom by now? Someone might get the wrong idea.

Or the right idea...GAH! Whywhywhywhywhy—

Breaking his eyes away from the feather, he pushed in his seat and started to leave. “Well, you’ve had your free meal, hope your food was good Urbosa. Now I have to go.” Revali started shuffling out towards the exit, hastily shoving the little feather into his own pocket. “I’ll meet up with you at that idiotic party later. Right now I need to be somewhere.”

Urbosa started to chuckle. “So, heading out early to your date?” Nearly outside, The Rito abruptly stopped and turned to face her. Her eyebrows were raised in suspicion. “And Urbosa, if you tell anyone at all, and I mean even the slightest whisper in the breeze, about our conversation, I have a bomb arrow nocked and ready for you.” He gave her a death stare, but she just laughed.

Her chocolatey voice resonated through the air once more, laughter must truly come easy for her. After shooting him a wink, she smiled.

“Good luck, little Rito.”

- - - - -

Ironic, that the Champion of the sky would frequent the area of his first failure. But, the woods had their own calm and beautiful atmosphere, made all the more pleasant when he and [Name] would hang out here through their childhood. Revali knew these trees all too well, from when he first crashed into them as a child to when he practiced his archery in the time before the Flight Range was built.

Walking along the dirt path, he spotted them up ahead. Their secret spot wasn’t that secluded, it was by a small grassy clearing within the forest. Tall pine trees swayed in the wind, the setting sunlight was cut apart by the shifting shadows. The rose, orange, and yellow light coated the sky and shimmered through the branches. The bushes during this time of year held small buds, some had already bloomed into more colorful yellow flowers, although most were still a young green. Kneeling on the ground [Name] was shuffling through a leather pouch, spilling the contents on the ground and searching for something among the mess. A few hair ribbons, a spare quill, a comb, empty elixir bottles, and other junk cluttered the forest floor. Sensing a presence behind them, [Name] spun around to find Revali, standing there with his wings folded behind his back.

“I don’t suppose all that is to help the fertility of the forest?”

[Name] rubbed the back of their neck, brushing aside their hair, embarrassed. “No, I was just...organizing my things.” Trying to move the conversation away from that, they asked, “So, how’ve you been, Master Revali?”

The Rito brushed his wings against the pocket on his side, where a certain item was tucked away. Tilting his head, he innocently asked, “Are you sure you weren't looking for something just now? We both know you have a habit of being terribly irresponsible.”

[Name] started to formulate an excuse at the tip of their tongue, but one glance at Revali’s expression told them it would be useless. “Alright, fine. Yeah, I lost something, but I’ll find it later. We don’t need to worry about it right now. Why don’t—”

“What did you lose?” He didn’t mean to come off so blunt, but he needed to know. He wanted to be sure. He needed to remove any doubts from his mind. [Name] gave a hasty shrug.

“Uh, just an old trinket. It’s nothing, really. It’s just this dumb thing I had as a kid—”

“So what is it?”

“Nothing! OK? You don’t need to push it, there’s no need to concern yourself with it…” their voice trailed off.

“Was it blue?”

Both their hearts stopped. [Name] suddenly looked up into Revali’s eyes. The looks they both gave each other confirmed their wordless questions. Letting the silence fall a bit longer, [Name] finally dared to whisper.

“How did you...?”

He reached for his pocket. He meant to do this confidently, to swoop in and present it with flair. Perhaps say a quip like “Aha! Of course you kept this. My feathers are of the most dazzling color and quality after all!” Yet, no words escaped his beak. He held out his feather, the pale yellow ribbon hung lazily in the wind. He held it out in front of him, his usual confidence left him. No need to get my hopes up early, just please tell me, if it’s true.

The feather stood between them, shifting back old memories. The sounds were only that of the forest. Crickets softly chirped, and the wind danced through the trees. The sunset trickled through the leaves. Revali let out a cough.

“Ah, well....I believe you left this at our table.”

Neither of them made a move. [Name] was just standing there, bewildered, their gaze constantly shifting between Revali and the feather. They rubbed their boot on the ground awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Finally, the Rito started to speak again.

“Did you know—”

“Yeah,” they said. “Yes...I’ve known about the whole Rito culture thing since when we were kids. You exchange feathers to show that a piece of you is bound to that person for eternity. Then you can, like, braid it into their hair or something? You only do it with your soulmate, or significant other, or whatever the proper terminology is.” Memories started to stir in the back of Revali’s mind, but they continued, waving their hands in front of them in surrender. “I mean, when I first asked you for it, I had no idea about the custom. I just thought it looked nice,” they rubbed the back of their neck, their cheeks rosening. “When I got back to the stable, some elderly guy told me about it. But I didn’t have the heart to throw it away or anything. I just kept it under the floorboards so no one would find it.

“Ah, but tonight there were so many people, plus the Champions… I thought it would be safer on me.” They gestured to Revali, “And, of course, I was wrong, haha….” They let their shoulders slump. “Goddess above, I’m sorry, this is so weird huh. I didn't want to tell you in case you...took it back. I probably should have, I don’t have the right to keep something that should be sentimental...but…”

Their voice trailed off. Revali continued to say nothing. Taking this as a cue to say something more, [Name] added, “I’m sorry, obviously when we were kids you didn’t mean anything that way. I should have told you sooner.”

His heart was racing. Well, both of their hearts were. Taking in their words, Revali could feel his stomach start to flutter, the winds played with the end of his braids. Still holding the feather in front of him, he extended it towards them shakily. “Well, take it. It’s yours.”

They looked up from the ground in shock. “R-Revali! Don’t feel obligated to do anything just because I—”

“And there’s a comb among the junk you’ve littered on the forest floor, correct?”

They took a step back. “Wait, wait. Does this mean you—”

He suddenly took their arm and twirled them around, facing them away from him. “Yes, now sit down already. I’m not gonna do this standing.”

His feathers were poofed out, from the mixed emotions of pride, embarrassment, and adoration. Plopping [Name] in the grass, he went over and picked out the wooden comb among their belongings.

Seeing [Name] about to churn out more excuses and questions, he held up his wing to shush them. “Shut up will you? This is long overdue.” He sat down behind them, the grass prickling against his feet. Revali started to carefully undo the yellow ribbons in [Name]’s hair. Softly, they asked “So for you, how long? When we were kids? Teens?”

“A while,” he simply stated. “It just took me some time to really accept it I suppose.” Silence overtook them once more, though its atmosphere was much more pleasant and warm. Parting their hair into sections, Revali started to lighten the mood with a quip.

“Did you know we’ve already been dating over the last few years?”

“What?!”

“Yeah, you’re pretty much an idiot for not seeing it. I mean, all those times we’ve been in each others’ company. I don’t know how you’ve gone this long without realizing.”

They laughed. “Maybe the idiot Rito I’ve been hanging out with rubbed off on me.”

“Maybe.”

Finally, he placed the feather within their hair. After braiding it halfway, he twisted the yellow ribbon with it, and finished off the braid. The colors of his feather and the ribbon matched perfectly.

“Is it done?”

Before he could give an answer, [Name] brushed their hand against their hair. They both sat there, in the grass, for another eternity. Suddenly, [Name] turned around, and planted their lips on his beak. After releasing him, they stared into each other's eyes for a moment. “Heh, I’ve been waiting a long time to do that.” they mused. “What’s with the look? Should I enlighten you on the Hylian custom then?”

His feathers were now fluffed up mainly from embarrassment, but he regained his composure at their smile. “I’m quite aware of what a kiss is. It’s just that Rito have something better.”

Revali wrapped his wing around the back of their head, moving it gently towards his. Pressing their foreheads against each other, they both smiled, half flustered. His soft face tickled their skin, but they smiled for more reasons than that.

“This works too.”

“Of course, I’m an expert at this sort of thing.”

A beat, and then they both laughed. The sun was almost completely swallowed by the horizon . The Rito Champion was probably going to miss the party, but it didn’t matter. He was busy with more important matters, anyhow.

#botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda botw #loz botw #revali x reader #botw fanfiction #revali #revali botw #urbosa #urbosa botw #rito #rito botw #rito stable #botw x reader

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alitotechelamine · 4 years

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Hen Bie - Chapter 2

Archive of Our Own

Chapter 1

It wasn’t long before the four of them fell back into their old ways of Zizhen and Jingyi teasing Jin Ling while Sizhui mediated, or Jin Ling and Jingyi teasing Zizhen while Sizhui mediated, or maybe even Jin Ling and Zizhen teasing Jingyi while Sizhui mediated.

There was a lot of Sizhui mediating. He was then promptly teased.

Jin Ling only held the group back long enough to tell Lei Xiaosi he was going out.

“Very well Young Master Jin,” The head disciple said, “Before you go, can I ask how Jiang-Zongzhu was when you left him?”

Jin Ling’s smile turned rather small and bittersweet, “He said he was doing better.”

Lei Xiaosi actually brightened at that, and he was happy to wave Jin Ling on as his friends called after him.

“What are they doing here?!” Jin Ling cried as he was pulled into the inn.

“Don’t be like that A-Ling!” Senior Wei cried, holding out his arms, “Come say hello to your uncle!”

“No! What are you doing here?!”

Behind them, Hanguang-jun stood passively observing.

“We heard about how much of a disaster the night hunt was, we wanted to make sure you boys were alright!” Senior Wei said, his grin turning a bit sheepish, “Everyone was so sad earlier, we were worried something happened to you!”

Jin Ling rounded on his friends, pointing an accusing finger.

“You led me here under false pretenses! You lied to me!” He cried, indignant.

“It was meant to be a surprise!” Jingyi protested, not quite managing to look completely innocent. Zizhen was grinning widely, no shame to be found anywhere.

Sizhui was the only one to bow in apology, though he was quick to say, “Now we’re all even.”

“Then that means I don’t have to buy dinner anymore.” Jin Ling sneered, earning a cry from the other three, “No, I was tricked and manipulated! I don’t have to do squat for you deceivers anymore!”

Senior Wei snickered, stepping back to hang off of Hanguang-jun’s arm, “Aren’t they so cute Lan Zhan?”

“Mm.”

“It doesn’t matter though, right? We’ll buy all of them dinner?”

“Mm.”

“See A-Ling, no reason to fuss!”

“That’s not the point!” Jin Ling cried, even though he wasn’t all that sure himself what the point was. Something about lying to him, maybe surprising him too.

Senior Wei and Hanguang-jun made themselves comfortable at one of the empty tables, waiting for the four juniors to join them. Only Senior Wei was allowed liquor, the rest sipping tea, but Jingyi promised he would get his hands on at least one cup next time before remembering who he was with and diving head first into his tea.

“Knowing what happens when a Lan drinks, I certainly hope not,” Senior Wei said as he smirked in Hanguang-jun’s direction, his husband staring at his disciple in disapproval, “Although I am curious as to what kind of drunk you would be Jingyi.”

Their food arrived before anyone could ask what was meant by that, but considering how giddy it made Senior Wei, Jin Ling had to guess it was nothing good.

“So,” Senior Wei eventually said, “What did happen? Why was everyone so upset?”

“No talking while eating.” Hanguang-jun stated.

“I’m not eating right now, am I?” Senior Wei argued, “And once A-Ling swallows, he can tell me.”

Jin Ling resolved to never swallow.

“Everyone was really upset over the results of the night hunt, and then they needed a nap.” Zizhen said.

“I’m sure your Uncle was furious considering what we’ve heard,” Senior Wei sighed, turning to Jin Ling, “How many legs did he threaten to break? Did he go through with any of them?”

Jin Ling couldn’t swallow fast enough to stop Jingyi, the idiot , from saying, “He wasn’t there. That’s probably why it went so poorly.”

Senior Wei blinked, frowning, “What?”

“Sandu Shengshou wasn’t at the night hunt,” Sizhui said, “In fact there wasn’t much of a Jiang presence at all. Only about a handful of senior disciples.”

“Oh?” Senior Wei looked towards Hanguang-jun, “I wonder why.”

“A few of the more minor sects demanded his attention,” Jin Ling said quickly, “He was more focused on that than another night hunt.”

“Still, it’s out of character for him to leave you to your own devices A-Ling, Wen Ning being there or not.” Senior Wei said, and he truly looked worried now.

“I may have… let him assume you and Hanguang-jun would be there…” Jin Ling muttered.

At that, Senior Wei burst out laughing at his “naughty nephew”. Hanguang-jun eventually had to place his hand over Senior Wei’s, silencing him.

Senior Wei pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, “It’s unfortunate that I seem to be rubbing off on you A-Ling. What do you think Jiang Cheng’s going to do when he finds out?”

“Probably actually break his leg,” Jingyi supplied unhelpfully, “Yours too just because.”

Senior Wei huffed, “I’d like to see him try. I may not be as powerful in this body as I was in my last, but I’ll still outrun him!”

The rest of the meal passed much like that, with the juniors regaling their seniors about how disastrous their hunt was, and their seniors responding with their own stories of failure. Jin Ling at first did his best to avoid divulging the parts that led up to his fight with Jingyi, but that simply allowed for his friend to tell his version of events first. Everytime he did so though, he made sure to look back and grin at Jin Ling, as if to tell him everything was still okay. Outside the sun began to sink, the streets slowly emptying out. Eventually, Hangaung-Jun stood, declaring it was nearly time for bed.

“Ah, but we should escort these juniors back to Lotus Pier first, shouldn’t we Lan Zhan?” Senior Wei said, nodding sagely to himself like it was an approval.

“We’re perfectly capable on our own.” Jin Ling snapped.

“But what if you’re not?” Senior Wei whined, “What if some nasty monster jumps out and kidnaps you four again? Jiang Cheng might actually break my legs!”

Jin Ling figured Hanguang-jun of all people would let them go alone, maybe even provide a distraction for Senior Wei so they could escape. He wasn’t a fan of Lotus Pier, his silent grudge match with Jin Ling’s Uncle alive and well if subtler than in the past. He always looked a little more sour if still expressionless when he visited, and in fact was donning such an expression now. There was no way he’d allow himself to be dragged to Lotus Pier tonight, which meant there was no way he was letting Senior Wei leave this inn.

Instead, the whipped traitor held the door open for everyone and brought up the rear of their group as they began to walk back. Senior Wei led the charge, and reluctantly Jin Ling figured he should match pace with him so that he was at least the first one through the gate.

Lei Xiaosi met them in the courtyard, bowing politely to Senior Wei and Hanguang-jun.

“I’m afraid I wasn’t notified of your arrival,” He said, “I haven’t had time to make up a room.”

“We have a room in town Lei-gongzi, don’t worry,” Senior Wei smiled, much calmer than he had been a moment ago, “We simply wanted to ensure the juniors got back safely, and to also say hello to Jiang Cheng.”

“Ah,” Lei Xiaosi smiled tightly, “I’m afraid Jiang-zongzhu is rather busy at the moment, but he’ll be perfectly free to entertain you tomorrow.”

“Is he sick?” Senior Wei asked, looking surprised.

“Earlier, yes,” Lei Xiaosi admitted, “However he’s feeling much better now and requires rest to make a full recovery by tomorrow.”

“Did anyone make him soup?” Senior Wei asked, “The special one?”

“I’m not sure Wei-gongzi.” Lei Xiaosi said, and then after a moment he asked, “Did you want to make it for him?”

Senior Wei’s entire face lit up as he looked between Lei Xiaosi and Hanguang-jun. Jin Ling had no idea how Hanguang-jun was possibly reacting to this, if he approved or not. Lei Xiaosi on the other hand looked somewhat hopeful, and Jin Ling had to wonder whether or not he was pretending to be polite.

“It’s not perfect, but I’ve been trying to recreate my Shijie’s soup as a gift for him.” Senior Wei muttered, “What do you think? Is it too late for soup?”

“I don’t believe Jiang-zongzhu has eaten yet, no.”

His Uncle hadn’t eaten? But it was past dinner time!

“That settles it!” Senior Wei declared marching past, “If I may?”

Lei Xiaosi gestured for Senior Wei to follow him and the two were merrily on their way.

Jingyi frowned, “I thought your Uncle was busy, not sick.”

“He was both.” Jin Ling snapped, feeling sullen. He could feel the guilt returning ever so slightly, remembering his Uncle sitting alone in a dark room. He hoped Fairy was still there.

“That’s not good!” Zizhen fret, “He’ll just get even more sick at that rate!”

“He could get a fever,” Sizhui nodded, looking grave, “Or end up bedridden if he’s not careful.”

Jin Ling swallowed, wondering how best to redirect his friend’s attention to something else.

“Bedtime.” Hanguang-jun declared, breaking up the conversation and staring the four of them down until they started to move. Somewhat relieved, Jin Ling followed his friends at a sedate pace, bidding each of them goodnight before turning in the direction of his own rooms. As he reached his door however, he stopped and decided to head towards the kitchens.

Jin Ling felt like he knew what his Uncle would and would not like most of the time. It came as a byproduct of being raised by someone. He liked it when the disciples he was training kept up or exceeded his expectations. He liked when Jin Ling bought him sweets or new calligraphy brushes from the market in Yunmeng.

He did not like to be seen as weak or foolish. He’d never cried in public, and up until the incident in Yunping, he’d almost never cried in front of Jin Ling.

If Senior Wei managed to barge into his rooms and saw what Jin Ling had, he was a little afraid his Uncle might actually try to break the idiot man’s legs.

It seemed Senior Wei had already managed to make a disaster of everything by the time he arrived. Not that it seemed to matter, Senior Wei was solely focused on the soup which he tasted here and there before throwing more spices in. Jin Ling blanched as he stood in the door and watched, feeling his stomach turn.

Hanguang-jun sat patiently waiting off to the side, watching his husband work.

“I think I’ve almost got it Lan Zhan!” Senior Wei declared, “Or… well, as close as I can get. Shijie was too much of a genius to imitate perfectly.”

“Mm.” Hangaung-Jun replied thoughtfully.

“I can’t believe Jiang Cheng went all day sick and didn’t eat anything!” Senior Wei continued, “Or that Lei Xiaosi let him!”

“Jiujiu was busy dealing with me, so they may not have wanted to disturb us.” Jin Ling said, causing Senior Wei to jump about a foot into the air.

“Jin Ling!” He cried, holding his wooden spoon like a sword ready for combat, “What are you doing sneaking up on people?!”

“I’ve been standing here for awhile! You just didn’t notice!”

“Because you didn’t announce your presence!”

“I made myself perfectly noticeable approaching the door!”

“Obviously not!”

“Wei Ying, the soup.”

Senior Wei turned to see his liquid monstrosity was getting ready to burn and he hurried to save it. Jin Ling stepped closer to watch him work, cringing at how red the stuff in the pot looked.

“It’s a good thing Jiang Cheng likes things spicy too,” Senior Wei sighed, “No one in Gusu appreciates spices like they do in Yunmeng. It’s rather sad.”

“That’s not spice, that’s suicide.” Jin Ling declared flatly.

“And they don’t appreciate it in Lanling either, apparently.” Senior Wei moaned, giving the glop in the pot another stir. Jin Ling rolled his eyes, watching Senior Wei work for a while before turning to raid the cupboards for anything actually edible.

“Didn’t you just have dinner?” Senior Wei snickered, reaching out to pinch at Jin Ling’s waist, “Are you really still hungry?”

“I’m finding something for Jiujiu to actually eat. He’ll take one bite of your poison and spit it out.” Jin Ling snapped.

“He will eat it.” Hanguang-jun declared from his seat, although when Jin Ling turned he didn’t appear to be annoyed or disapproving of Jin Ling, simply as serenely stone faced as usual, “He’s eaten similar.”

“He has not! Not like that!” Jin Ling protested. The offending food bubbled loudly as if to agree with him.

“Actually, we used to have contests to see how hot we could make the food before one of us had to bow out all the time.” Senior Wei said, reaching past Jin Ling to grab a bowl.

“And? Who won?” Jin Ling prompted as Senior Wei started ladling bright red soup.

“Well at first it was your uncle, but eventually I took the lead and I’ve yet to be surpassed.”

“Probably because it got to the point he didn’t want to burn his tongue off.”

“I still won.” Senior Wei sing-songed, setting the bowl on a waiting tray. He then turned and reached above the cupboards, having to jump once or twice before coming back with a large jar. He opened it to reveal several small pastries inside, taking three to add to his spread. He then winked at Jin Ling before jumping up to toss the jar back into its hiding place.

“Don’t let Jiang Cheng know I still remember his favorite hiding places, okay?”

“You must not be clear on where my loyalties lie when it comes to Jiujiu.”

Senior Wei pouted, “But if you keep quiet, then you’ll have access to it too.”

Jin Ling huffed, turning instead to pick up the tray, “I’ll let Jiujiu know you stopped by and made him… this.”

“Hold on! I want to see his face when you give it to him!” Senior Wei frowned, moving to block the path.

“Well he probably doesn’t want to see you, not when you’re making an attempt on his life!” Jin Ling argued, trying to edge past Senior Wei and towards the door, only to have his path blocked more aggressively.

“What’s wrong with him? Why is he working while he’s sick? That’s my destructive behavior!”

“I don’t know, you think he tells me everything?” Jin Ling sneered, “He said he was tired. He’s probably asleep already and all you did was waste your time making this.”

“Well then, let’s go find out.” Senior Wei smiled angrily. He turned to go and Jin Ling briefly considered throwing the tray at his back.

“Wei Ying, it’s late.” Like a deity coming to personally deliver a miracle, Hanguang-jun called out. Senior Wei froze where he stood, turning slightly to frown at his husband.

“I want to check on Jiang Cheng before we go Lan Zhan, it won’t be more than a minute.”

“He’s tired and needs sleep, you’re just gonna make him angry.” Jin Ling snapped, “Then he won’t sleep and I’ll have to deal with it in the morning.”

He hefted the tray up, “I’ll deliver your poison soup okay? And then he can tell you tomorrow how he threw it out when you come to drag Sizhui and Jingyi home.”

Senior Wei arched a brow, “So you’re telling me I should come by tomorrow morning? That you want to see me again?”

Sensing a trap, Jin Ling mirrored the expression right back and simply said, “I’m just stating what you were already planning.”

“And just got express permission for!” Senior Wei cried, twirling around and happily marching off…

In the direction of Uncle’s rooms.

“I told you to leave him alone!” Jin Ling hissed, chasing after him.

“I’m going to get the door for you!” Senior Wei chuckled, keeping just enough ahead that Jin Ling couldn’t stop him.

Playing his last, desperate card, Jin Ling hissed, “I left Fairy with him!”

That stopped Senior Wei short, meaning Jin Ling nearly dumped the tray all over him.

“And there’s no way she’d have gotten out?” Senior Wei asked, voice shaky.

“I ordered her to stay there.”

Senior Wei stood frozen, giving Jin Ling the opportunity to slip past him. Hanguang-jun stepped forward to take his husband’s arm, calling to him softly. Senior Wei was frowning into the distance, before heaving a deep sigh that Jin Ling took as conceding defeat.

“Then I really will just hold the door open for you.”

Dammit!

Jin Ling watched in disbelief as Senior Wei darted forward, Hanguang-jun close behind. Jin Ling debated just yelling at them to leave, or maybe getting Lei Xiaosi to throw them out.

Ultimately he just hurried to catch up, trying to keep the tray balanced so none of the demon soup sloshed out and burned something. He’d done everything in his power to preserve his Uncle’s dignity but it was all for nothing. At this rate, he could only hope he wasn’t on the list of people his Uncle might try to cause bodily harm when Senior Wei threw that door open.

He caught up just as they reached the door, Senior Wei hesitating with his hand raised ready to knock. The earlier confidence seemed to be fading, hesitation keeping him frozen.

“Go on.” Hanguang-jun said gently after a moment of nothing happening. Senior Wei shot him an indulgent smile before seeming to brace himself, rapping on the door before opening it.

Uncle looked up from where he was on the bed just as Jin Ling bustled into the room, setting the tray down on the small table nearby. Jin Ling watched carefully, waiting for an outburst but finding only confused disbelief among the pale shadows and drawn face. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought Uncle truly was just sick.

This wasn’t what he’d expected to happen, and he found himself for once wishing he might be threatened.

“Jiang Cheng!” Senior Wei whined, looking as far into the room as he could from the door, “Lei Xiaosi tells me you’re sick and not eating!”

His Uncle just raised an eyebrow, passively blinking as he waited for Senior Wei to continue.

“I made you soup! It’s not perfect, but it should still be good enough.” Senior Wei smiled, “You need to eat, or you’ll never leave that bed.”

His Uncle’s gaze dropped to his lap, where Jin Ling found Fairy fast asleep. His Uncle ran his fingers through her fur a few times, scratching behind her ears. Jin Ling was forced to simply exist in the silence, wanting to leave and yet feeling bound to remain as a buffer between Senior Wei and his Uncle. It’s not like there would be much he could do if an argument broke out, but he was still reluctant to just go.

Just as Jin Ling was becoming convinced the silence would last forever, his Uncle coughed awkwardly.

“Thanks.” He muttered quietly, not looking up from the dog in his lap.

Senior Wei immediately brightened, “You’ll have to tell me how close I got! Lan Zhan says its good whenever I make it, but he has to say that so I need an outsider’s opinion!”

His Uncle grunted, still not quite making eye contact with anyone in the room. Jin Ling feared another stretch of silence, but Senior Wei simply chuckled though his smile seemed to dim.

“Eat up Jiang Cheng! I’ll expect a critique tomorrow!” He turned to go, pausing only to turn back, “Feel better, okay?”

His Uncle just nodded, looking awkward.

Jin Ling tried not to fidget, growing more and more uncomfortable.

Senior Wei seemed satisfied though, and he skipped away from the room, Hanguang-jun presumably right behind. Jin Ling cast one more scathing look at the red death in the soup bowl before turning to look at his Uncle.

He tried to pretend he didn’t see the unnatural shine in his eyes, or how his Uncle seemed to hold Fairy just a bit tighter.

“I saw him dump like half the spice rack in, so I’d be careful.” Jin Ling said, if only to say something , “In fact, I’d just dump it out. I could go make you something else.”

“No... “ His Uncle sighed quietly, “I’ve eaten his poison before, I’ll be fine.”

Jin Ling bit his lip, giving in to the urge to fidget only a little . His Uncle made a passing swipe at his own eyes, breathing deeply before lifting Fairy up and rising from the bed. He crossed the room and deposited the dog into Jin Ling’s arms.

“Here,” He said, running one last soothing palm through the dog’s fur, “She’s a good dog, though I’d advise cutting back on the treats a little.”

Jin Ling sucked in his cheeks in an effort not to pout. Fairy licked his hand for his efforts.

“It’s time for you to go to bed,” His Uncle said, stepping past Jin Ling to inspect the goo in the bowl, “You’re still growing and need sleep.”

“I’m seventeen!” Jin Ling cried.

“So young, you must be so tired.” His Uncle nodded to himself, sitting at the table and stirring the sludge with a spoon. Jin Ling wondered how the wood didn’t burn on contact with all the red.

“Should… should Fairy stay here tonight?” He found himself offering, “She seems so comfortable here.”

His Uncle smirked, the one that meant Jin Ling wasn’t fooling him.

“I’ll be fine A-Ling.” His Uncle said, lifting the spoon and, horrifically, tasting the soup. His face twisted in discomfort and Jin Ling’s horror was assuaged, but then he swallowed and Jin Ling feared his Uncle might not be capable of processing taste or something. His Uncle stared at his mockery of a dinner critically, “It’s way too spicy, but it’s... a decent attempt.”

The shine in his eyes was just from all the spices, Jin Ling forced himself to believe that.

Jin Ling sighed, “Are you sure you don’t want Fairy to stay the night? She never gets to see you.”

“She saw me today,” His Uncle said dismissively, “Now go to bed before I have to order you.”

“You can’t order me around anymore! I’m a Sect Leader, same as you!”

His Uncle sneered and Jin Ling tried not to smile.

“I’m your uncle, and a Sect Leader with more experience than you,” His Uncle snapped, pointing a soup covered spoon at him, “Get going before I make you eat this!”

“If it’s bad I’ll make you something else!”

“Out!” The order was snappy enough, it almost made his Uncle sound like he was supposed to.

Jin Ling huffed in indignation, but quickly lost his annoyance to a smile. He bowed a goodbye, arms still full of Fairy, and slowly made his way out. He caught sight of his Uncle lifting the bowl to his lips as the doors closed and cringed.

The quiet around him seemed less oppressive now, less heavy with trepidation. Fairy snuffled in his arms, perfectly content to remain where she was. Jin Ling also would have been perfectly content to keep her pressed close to him, but his Uncle was right that she needed less treats. Jin Ling’s arms were beginning to burn.

He set his spiritual dog onto the floor beside him and she gave an indignant snort. Then her nose lifted and she trotted past him in pursuit of her own interests.

“Is it gone?”

Jin Ling whirled around to see Senior Wei peeking out from behind a column, eyes wide and shifty.

“The most perfect dog in the world is gone, yes,” Jin Ling huffed, “Probably to get comfortable on your bed.”

“Lan Zhan would never let that happen,” Senior Wei said dismissively, his confidence oozing back into him. He seemed to give Jin Ling a once over before asking, “Did he eat it?”

“Somehow.” Jin Ling wondered how much trouble he’d get into if he tried to check his Uncle’s mouth for blisters or scars tomorrow.

“All of it?”

“I hope not!”

Senior Wei pouted, “How’s he going to get better if he doesn’t eat all of his meal? If he actually was sick he’d never recover.”

Jin Ling swallowed, “What do you mean?”

The withering flat look he received brought a flash of heat to his face.

“I grew up with your Uncle,” Senior Wei said, “I’m not stupid. I know when he’s sick and when he’s not.”

“Maybe he was feeling better by the time you saw him.” Jin Ling argued, knowing it was a weak reasoning.

“A-Ling, we all know what’s going on. Let’s not lie to each other.” Senior Wei sighed, throwing his hands to rest behind his head and stepping past Jin Ling in the direction of the guest quarters, “I’ve seen your Uncle depressed before, but back then I was in a position to do something and only made things worse. These days I can only offer soup and hope it makes things better.”

“You could offer more…” Jin Ling muttered quietly, unsure if it was the right thing to say.

Senior Wei turned back to offer a brief and stilted grin, eyes shining as unnaturally bright as his Uncle’s had moments ago.

“Baby steps A-Ling. Your Uncle can’t handle more.” Senior Wei turned and took Jin Ling by the shoulders, “Until then you’re the one with the most to offer.”

“What do I have to give?”

Senior Wei’s smile turned sadder, “You’re giving him everything he needs, just keep doing it.”

Afraid this was heading towards a hug or some sappy moment between the two, Jin Ling ducked his head and wiggled free of Senior Wei’s grip, “Both of you like to talk in circles, you never make sense.”

“Oh A-Ling, you really are Jiang Cheng’s nephew!”

“Goodnight Senior Wei!”

“And that was when Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui came to assist me.”

Jin Ling stood in front of his Uncle in Sword’s Hall, his Uncle reclined on the nine petaled Lotus Throne as he skimmed through his own disciple’s night hunt reports. He’d been here for the last ten minutes giving a detailed oral report of what had happened, hoping his Uncle hadn’t yet noticed there’d been no mention of Hanguang-jun or Senior Wei anywhere.

His Uncle snorted derisively, handing the reports in his lap back to Lei Xiaosi’s waiting arms.

“It sounds like whoever organized this night hunt has never organized one before, let alone faced an actual enemy,” He sneered, turning to his Head Disciple, “Almost every account so far has emphasised how underprepared everyone was. If another one gets called, we’re going to assume authority. If another one doesn’t get called, we’re calling one. This is ridiculous.”

“Yes Jiang-zongzhu,” Lei Xiaosi said, “Shall I return these to your office?”

“Put them with the invitation we received, I want to send a message to the sect responsible.” His Uncle huffed, waving Lei Xiaosi out the door and turning his attention back to Jin Ling, “So the three of you managed to exorcise the pack you were fighting?”

Jin Ling nodded, “Yes Uncle.”

“Then what happened?”

“By then most of the fighting had ceased and we began tending to our wounds. Shortly after we decided our best option for rest and recovery was Lotus Pier.”

“And did Wei Wuxian and Hanguan-jun arrive from Cloud Recesses before or after you did?” His Uncle asked, tone low and flat.

Jin Ling felt his heart stop, “Eh?”

“You heard me.” There was a warning in that voice.

“I… I’m not sure, I met them at the inn last night.” Jin Ling admitted, beginning to shrink with guilt.

“Stand up straight and look me in the eye,” His Uncle barked, waiting until Jin Ling had done so to continue, “You led me to believe there would be someone there to watch out for you and that was clearly a lie!”

“Senior Wen was there!”

“Senior Wen can only be in so many places at once! I should break your legs and strap you to a chair until I’m certain you won’t run off to do stupid things!” His Uncle snarled, “I give you my trust and this is what you do with it? Lie to my face?”

“It wasn’t an… outright lie-”

“It was lie enough you brat! What, you become a Sect Leader and now you think you’re untouchable? Fierce Corpses won’t bother to consider your station as they tear into you!” His Uncle shot to his feet, thrusting a punishing finger in his nephew’s direction, “To the training fields with you! I don’t want to see you until the sun goes down!”

“You can’t punish me! I’m a Sect Leader!”

“How many times are you going to use that line of reasoning until it gets through your thick head that I am your Uncle! I’ll punish you all damn day if I like! Now get out of here!” His Uncle snapped, dismissing him with an aggressive wave of his hand.

With a stomp of his foot, Jin Ling turned and stormed from the hall. He caught sight of Senior Wei approaching as he left, only bothering to roll his eyes as a greeting.

“I see Jiang Cheng is back to normal.” Senior Wei chuckled as they passed each other, and the observation caused Jin Ling to stop short. Memory of the pale face with dark shadows, framed by limp hair. All of it attached to a listless body sprawled out in the dark. Sometimes his eyes were shiny with threatened tears, thought that was the only emotion the husk from yesterday seemed capable of showing.

Compared to just a few minutes ago, his Uncle up and walking around, red in the face with fury as he barks orders and sneers at incompetence. Full of energy - of life .

Jin Ling realized he was smiling as he hurried towards Yunmeng’s docks so he could say goodbye to his friends. Then he was going to train until his Uncle came out to yell at him to stop.

He’d listen to his Uncle yell forever if it meant he didn’t have to look like yesterday.

Wei Wuxian watched Jin Ling runoff in the exact opposite direction of the training grounds and snickered. He turned to enter the hall, lingering in the doorway until Jiang Cheng looked up from polishing his sword to notice he was standing there.

His former shidi sneered, though there was less heat in the expression compared to maybe a month or two ago.

“What do you want?” Jiang Cheng asked.

“I just came to say Lan Zhan and I are taking Jingyi and Sizhui back to Cloud Recesses.”

“Well good riddance then.” Jiang Cheng said simply, turning back to Sandu.

“How was the soup?”

“It did its job, I’d give it three points.”

“Only three?!” Wei Wuxian cried, “What kind of a ranking is that?”

“You really think you can compete with A-jie’s soup?” Jiang Cheng snapped.

“No! I just want better than a three!”

“Then learn to cook!”

Wei Wuxian pouted, falling back to lean against the doorway. The two stared one another down before Jiang Cheng gave Sandu one last wipe and seemed to deem the sword clean enough. He sheathed it and stood up, stretching until his spine popped.

“I have a lot of work to do,” Jiang Cheng said, “There’s a lot of cleanup and damage control to be done because some idiot in a nothing sect couldn’t do their job. If you don’t need anything else, leave already.”

Wei Wuxian snorted, “Alright, alright, Lan Zhan’s waiting at the docks anyway.”

“Make sure to tell A-Ling he needs to hurry to the training fields when you see him.” Jiang Cheng said, walking past Wei Wuxian.

“Jiang Cheng?”

“What?”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

Jiang Cheng stilled, starting to turn around before aborting and remaining where he was.

“You and A-Ling… were an appreciated help… yesterday.” He said awkwardly before turning to glower, “Now get out! I’m busy!”

Wei Wuxian snorted, waving goodbye as he walked off. Jiang Cheng watched him go, the usually ragged pain in his chest whenever he saw Wei Wuxian not feeling quite as gaping and all-consuming. The thought of the soup last night, an awkward and timid but sincere gesture to show someone cared, managed to keep the sneering vitriol that usually ran constantly through his head quiet just a bit longer.

The phantom aches in his chest were still there, but they were lighter. As though the memory of his nephew lingering as close as he was able, refusing to leave him when so many already had, kept them soothed just a little longer.

He was feeling better. A lot better than he usually did after days like that.

It was nice.

30 notes · View notes

notyetneedcoffee · 5 years

Text

Crossroads

Answer to Lexi’s 1k @the-omni-princess Challenge! Congrats!

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader; some Steve x Peggy; very Steve-centric

Warnings: ANGST and loads of it!

Author’s note: This is my AU of Steve’s final Pym jump from End Game

____________________

The silence reminded him of the nights during the War. After the raging battle, even the animals and bugs refused to reveal their whereabouts. Although tonight he wondered if even the forest mourned Tony Stark. Steve Rogers sat alone in the middle of a glade not too far from the cabin Tony had called home. He tried to sleep, attempted to rid himself of the bone-weary exhaustion, but his mind would not shut down.

He knew everyone assumed his withdrawal, his moodiness and pain, stemmed from the battle and loss. A part of him felt immense guilt that they should be right, but they weren’t. After all these years of war on various scales, he felt the pain of loss differently. It just was a fact of life.

What spun his mind into a maelstrom of conflicted thoughts, tore his gut up with guilt, was something completely personal. Every option his highly strategical brain considered ended in pain and suffering for people he loved. Every option terrified him.

He’d seen Peggy.

It’d only been a moment, but seeing her young and vibrant sent his world spiraling. She wasn’t ravaged by age and Alzheimer's. As strong and lovely as the picture he carried with him, but in the flesh. Every missed opportunity and regret hit him all at once. It pulled at his heart, making him want to hold her like the awful pain of the years never happened.

The threat of Thanos did allow him to think about it. So, it just took up residence in mind.

Then there was the battle.

Those once lost were back. Sam in his ear. Bucky fought his way to his side.

He’d seen you.

Among the chaos, with your beautiful face set in grime determination, he caught a glimpse of you battling your way through the aliens. Fierce and powerful, you looked exactly the way you had the day he’d lost you in Wakanda. All the nights of passion, the solace and trust found in one another, lit his chest. Seeing you made him fight harder, renewed his strength.

The war was won. Friends were lost. Bodies were battered. Steve found himself holding you, but unable to do much more. Those who were lost tried to fathom being gone for so many years, to comprehend the changes to the world. You clung to him and wept. He’d missed you. He felt such relief having you in his arms.

Guilt ate him alive.

“You look like you’re planning all kinds of stupid.” Bucky’s voice came out of nowhere, making Steve jump.

“I’m just thinking.” Steve sighed.

“Like I said, stupid.” Bucky sat down on the log next to him so close their thighs touched.

Steve laughed without any humor. He felt tears push against the back of his eyes. Bucky’s arm wrapped around his shoulder. His head fell forward into his hands. He was exhausted.

“Rhodes filled me in on a few things.” Bucky squeezed his buddy’s shoulder. “Sounds rough, particularly for you and Natasha.”

“God. Nat.” Steve choked. He looked up at the stars, sniffing back reluctant tears. “I am so tired, Buck. I don’t have any fight left me. None.”

Something inside Bucky crumbled. He knew Steve meant it. That kid who got up time and time again after getting his ass beat, ready to go again because it was the right thing to do finally couldn’t. He just nodded, squeezing his friend tighter, not trusting his own voice.

“Part of me just wants to go back to a simpler time, make different choices.” Steve whispered, hating himself a little for saying it. “Not take on the fight, not take on the pain, and just live a simple life.”

“Yeah,” Bucky cleared his tight throat. “Although even when we were kids, things weren’t so simple.”

A long silence stretched before Steve moved away a little. “Not talking about when we were kids. I mean actually going back.”

Bucky froze. No.

Steve glanced at his friend, the hurt look staring back doubled the guilt eating away at his gut. “I saw her, Buck. Peggy.” He returned his focus to the stars. “I never stopped loving her.”

Torn between wanting to hit him and wanting to shake him, Bucky stood up. He paced, stopped, and paced some more. Steve stared at his hands in silence. Finally, Bucky stopped in front of him. His words were tight, ground out through clenched teeth. “Never mind me, or Sam, or anyone else on the team... what about Y/N? You don’t love her anymore?”

“Of course, I love her.” Steve’s face crumbled.

“So you’re just going to abandon her?” Bucky snapped.

“She’s strong, a fighter...”

Buck cut him off. “Yeah and Carter was always such a pushover.”

Steve pushed his hands through his hair. His voice broke, cracked with pain and exhaustion. “I can’t do it anymore. Bucky, please. I can’t fight anymore battles. I don’t have it in me. I’ve given up my whole life for everyone else. Always. I just...” A sob ripped free, and he stuffed his fist in his mouth.

“Pal,” Bucky put his hand on Steve’s head. “If anyone deserves to have a happy ending, it’s you.” Tears of his own slipped down his face. “You know I have your back, no matter what. If never seeing you again means that you’ll be able to have a happy life, then there’s no way I would hold you back. I’d hate it, but it would be worth it if I knew you were happy.”

“Buck.” Steve sniffed. “I don’t mean to...”

“Just be sure before you tell Y/N. I mean be absolutely positive.” Bucky’s face went hard. “Don’t break her heart and then change your mind. I swear I will break your neck.”

“What if I don’t know?” Steve whispered.

“Then don’t say anything to anyone.” Bucky sighed. “If you don’t come back, then I’ll explain it.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not. I’m telling you, that’s how it should go.”

“Buck,” Steve stood. They embraced, hugging tight. “Love you, punk.”

“You too, jerk.” Bucky squeezed him hard, praying to whatever powers that be that he would not have to tell everyone who loved Steve too that he would never be coming home.

__________________________

“Don’t do anything stupid ‘til I get back” Steve tried to smile. ‘I still don’t know. Don’t say anything.’

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” Bucky forced a smile, too. ‘Be sure, whatever you do.’

Steve stepped up on the platform. The first jump would take him to Asgard.

Thor gave him very specific instructions on how to return the Aether. Steve chuckled when Thor told him to put the hammer down anywhere, but on a window sill would be best... less damage to the building when he called it.

He arrived in a cavernous hall, surrounded by stone and gold. Unfamiliar scents filled the air, pleasant and rich, but he could not place them. Steve heard footsteps and ducked behind a corner. The person stopped close. He waited, silent.

“You must be a very close friend of my son’s.” A woman spoke. “Come out. I won’t raise the alarm.”

Steve cautiously stepped into the open. She was regal in every sense of the word. “Why not?”

“You are able to wield Mjolnir. It’s no small feat.” She smiled gently. “He was here earlier. The future is not going to be kind to Thor.”

He swallowed, taking a deep breath. Thor confessed to him privately he’d seen Frigga. Now seeing her for himself, Steve understood why. He didn’t even know her and he wanted to tell her everything even if he knew he couldn’t. She just radiated a calm, a peace he wanted to drown in.

“It’s not kind to any of us.” Steve sighed. “I have to return this to Dr. Foster. I don’t want to, but I can’t risk not doing it.”

“Alright.” She smiled sadly. “Let me see what I can do to help. Follow me.”

He did, without question.

“I don’t want to know what is going to happen, what has happened to you. It has something to do with the Infinity Stones, though doesn’t it?” Frigga glanced sideways at Steve. His jaw clenched. She slipped her hand into his elbow and grinned when his arm instinctively came up to properly escort her. “Did my son tell you anything of my power, my upbringing?”

“Thor say you’re the kindest and wisest person he’s ever known.” Steve answered. “You taught Loki much of his magic and that you see things, the truth of things.”

“That’s one way of putting it. I can follow of the strings of destiny.” She patted his bicep. “I can tell that you, like my son, stand at a crossroads. Perhaps the most important one of your life, because this one is a decision all your own. I don’t know what, but I know it’s deeply personal and profoundly painful.”

Steve stopped, staring wide eyed into her calm face.

“I find when I cannot unravel the answer, I lean on wise counsel.” Frigga led him on. “I may not be the best counsel for you. There is an Ancient One more familiar with your ways that is close to where you call home. Before you do anything else, I would seek out her.”

Steve’s mind jumped to the encounter Banner told him about with the woman who gave him the Time Stone. “Do you know her?”

“No, not personally.” Frigga smiled. “But she protects not just Midgard but all of Yggdrasil. Those of us with the ability definitely know of her.”

They stopped before a large door ornately carved. “Give me a few moments, then come in.”

Steve waited, listening intently. Nothing but the distant sounds of the city reached his ears. Finally he pushed open the door, peering inside. Frigga stood over the sleeping form of Jane. She waved him over assuring him that the little mortal would not feel a thing, nor would she remember. He felt a little sick when he injected the Aether back into Foster.

He stood back, staring into Frigga’s kind eyes before deciding to change his plans. Reprogramming the controls for the jump to take him to New York instead of Morag. Extending a hand, Steve took her small hand in his. “Thank you, for everything.”

“When you see my son, tell him to take care of himself.” She pulled him close and kissed his cheek. “Take care of yourself, too.”

Steve nodded, unsure how he would do it, but willing to try. He stepped back and pressed the button.

________________________

The jump dropped him on the roof of a building. He looked around, seeing the Chitauri battle not far away. His stomach dropped, the memories of the losses still keen. Another day when everything changed. A battle won, but the world’s innocence died. Aliens were real, and they were as bad as people ever imagined.

“It seems as if Dr. Banner was true to his word.” A calm voice spoke.

“I’ve come to return the stone to you.” Steve turned to see a small, bald woman in eastern clothing. Although nothing like the Norse Goddess, she radiated a similar calm...a powerful presence, like a monolith unmoving among the storm.

With a wave of her hands, the green stone rose from its container and return to its home in the Eye hanging around her neck.

“Captain,” She stared at him in a manner that left him feel exposed. “Walk with me.”

She turned, entering the building. Steve followed. Inside the temperature dropped, not uncomfortably. The dim light reflected off the well-polished wood. Cases held artifacts and books lined the shelves. The air smelled spicy, like raw incense.

“Time is an interesting thing. It is complex.” She spoke melodically as she wove through the glass cases. “It is linear, yet not. It is set, yet holds immeasurable permutations. What is not complex is our journey through it. With every moment, every experience, we change. We incorporate all that we learn as time passes, yet if we move through time we do not unlearn what we know.”

Steve felt his brow pull together. “I suppose we are all molded by our experiences.”

She paused at an hourglass, looking at sands drop a few at a time. “I think you are looking to unlearn what time has taught you. I’m afraid you cannot dial back who you are as easily as rolling back the hands of a clock. Somethings are too powerful to unmake, some threads of who we are cannot be broken.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Steve frowned. He just wanted to rest, to have his turn to be happy.

“You are tired, Captain.” She stepped closer, arms folded behind her back. For all of the intensity, she looked upon him kindly. “We often cannot see clearly through weary eyes.”

His eyes closed, feeling the burn of frustrated tears again. Steve ground his teeth together. “I am.” He sighed. “And I have a lot more to do before my mission is complete.”

“I would offer you safe place to rest, but I don’t think you will accept.” The edge of her mouth tipped up with a hint of a smile.

“No.” Steve took a deep breath. “I have a long way to go.”

“Very well,” she led him to a large round window where they could see the battle raging in the distance. Turning, she placed a hand on his chest over his heart. “You are a good man, Steve. Through trials and strife, you have remained true to yourself. What’s more, you have evolved. You’ve grown.” A calm smile spread across her face. “Like so many things in the universe, the more you grow, the more you realize how small you are. The more you know, the more you realize you have yet to learn. It can be burdensome, exhausting. But it can also be an exhilarating adventure if we can see it through fresh eyes.”

Steve knew he should be contemplating her words more deeply. He knew he should heed Frigga’s words and seek this woman’s counsel. However, it just caused the pain in his head to increase. He didn’t want to consider the cryptic meaning behind this woman’s words. He wanted to fold Peggy in his arms, in a simpler place, in a simpler time, and just sleep for days.

The strange woman stared at him, making him feel like she could see straight through him to question his inner most desire without ever saying a word. A defensive urge surged, but he fought it back. Strange called her the Ancient One. Frigga said she defended the world on this plain and others. Getting defensive over her stare, especially when he carried so much doubt was foolish.

That small smile touched her lips again. “Be well, Steve. May your path eventually lead you to happiness.”

Steve stared out the window at the battle once more, another memory rising to the surface. Out there, among the populace running for their lives, you were helping Clint after he crashed through a window. You helped him evacuate the building and fight off invaders. It was the turning point that brought you into his life. It was the day you decided to give up your job at the FBI to join the Avengers Initiative.

Guilt twisted his insides, and he choked out “thanks” before turning to leave. He had to return the scepter to Stark Tower. He stopped when she called out his name once more.

“At least allow me to help you get to your next destination safely." She held out one hand and formed a circle with the other. A portal opened.

He could see the corner of the elevator banks in the lobby of Stark Tower. Steve’s mouth opened slightly. Did this woman really know what he was thinking? It was exactly where he wanted to intercept the Hydra Agents. “Thank...thank you.”

She gave him a nod, and he stepped through.

_______________________

Returning the Power Stone turned out to be thankfully uneventful. Steve hoped, as he climbed the mountainside on the Vormir, that the Soul Stone would be equally quiet. He did not see anyone. All of the intelligence proved out, no cities or even life forms to be seen.

“I never thought I would see you again.”

Steve brought his shield up, shooting with the other hand. The black clad figure only looked down at himself, unmoved as if the bullets passed straight through. Johann Schmidt laughed, red skulled face cracking in a grotesque mirth.

“Captain.” He held out both hands. “You cannot kill me. I’m already in purgatory.”

“What?” Steve didn’t relax his stance.

“I made the mistake of trying to control a Stone and have been paying the price.”

“You’re...” Steve swallowed past the vice grip around his throat. Clint’s words echoing in his mind about the red floating guy who made them choose. “You were here when Natasha sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone.”

“Yes. A soul for a soul.”

“I’ve brought it back.” Steve strode forward, fury growing with each step. “I want her back.”

“Ah. Interesting.” Schmidt’s red face tilted sideways, studying him. “Her soul would have worked for you as well.”

“A soul for a soul. That’s what you said.” Steve growled. “I want her back.”

“Yes, because you are tied to her, returning the stone will release her.”

Steve gasped.

“Though not the way you wish, I think.”

Cap tried to grab him but got a fist full of black mist. “What do you mean?”

“If you return the stone, her soul will return to your life somehow, though not in the form you knew.”

“Like, what? Reincarnation?” Steve frowned.

“No. Yes.” Schmidt shrugged. “The souls that weave together over time touch and change over lifetimes. If you return the stone, her soul will be free to join the tapestry again.”

“How?”

“Throw it into the abyss.” The black spectral hand pointed to the edge.

Steve approached the edge, acutely aware this was the last place Natasha was alive. His breath grew shallow. The pain of her loss stabbed his chest. He never properly mourned Nat, his sister in every way but blood. He trusted her, loved her, would never be the same without her.

Finding himself looking down into a deep chasm, the bottom obscured by black fog, Steve threw the stone. He gave a silent prayer that she would be free, would touch his life again. As the stone disappeared, a golden orange shaft of light shot skyward. Brilliant, like the burning of the setting sun over the desert. The light spread radiating heat. Then vanished.

Steve looked down to see a solid stone floor far below in the chasm. He stepped back from the edge with a sharp intake of breath. Then it hit him. Faint, but undeniable, Steve could smell her. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. Natasha. Another breath and it was gone.

He turned around, remembering Schmidt, but didn’t see him anywhere. Perhaps it was true. Perhaps Nat’s soul was free and that somehow, someway, it would touch his again. The thought brought a little bit of warmth back.

There was only one stone left to return. Steve set the controls for New Jersey 1970.

______________________

Returning the Tesseract was simple now that Steve knew his way around the secure sections of the Army base. He made his way through the halls towards Peggy’s office, nerves moving him forward, but having no idea what he would say. The lights inside the office were office, creating both a surge of anxiety and relief.

Making certain no one noticed, he slipped inside. In the dim light he saw the photo of himself on the desk. Not after the procedure, but from when they’d first met. It warmed his heart that this was the version of himself she chose to remember.

He set it back down and looked around... and froze.

He did not notice the far wall last time. It was full of framed photographs and certificates. A large photo of Peggy and her family held a place of honor in the center. Her husband was a kind looking man, her children were beautiful. They looked to be young teens in the photo.

Another photo showed her and her daughter when she was a baby. Another of her son in his little league gear. Peggy and her husband stood beside Howard Stark and John F. Kennedy in one picture.

Certificate and diplomas memorializing Peggy’s hard work and advancement were presented side by side with her family. She showed everyone she could fight the good fight and what she was fighting for...all on one wall of photographs.

All the memories Peggy told him about.

Steve found himself sliding to the floor, back against a file cabinet and hand squeezed tightly over his mouth. He wanted to scream. All her hard work, everything Peggy did for the world, and he hadn’t even considered it. She wouldn’t give up. If he showed up in 1945, she wouldn’t understand wanting to hide from the world. Even if she agreed, she would never do any of these things.

His eyes locked closed as he fought back a sob. It was all a foolish dream. There was no going back. The Ancient One spoke the truth. He may be able to go back in time, but he can’t undo what time did to him. He was not the naive soldier Peggy knew. Steve choked. He felt battered, and bitter, far too cynical to even pretend to be that man again.

Still, every fiber in his being screamed to hold her. The tears she shed every time he visited her in the nursing home killed him a little bit. He wanted his dance.

Turning to the filing cabinet at his back, Steve quietly dug through the files until he found what he needed. An old address and an old date.

_______________________

Steve reached the house just as the sun went down. The curtains were open and he could see Peggy moving back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. His palms were sweating. A brand new 1947 Buick drove by as he crossed the street to the front steps. His heart pounded so hard he could hear it in his ears as he knocked on the door.

Peggy answered with a smile, but her eyes went huge and filled with tears. Her hand covered her mouth.

“Hey, Doll.” Steve reached out, taking her by the elbow and stepping inside. “It’s okay.”

“St-Steve.” Peggy breathed. He nodded. Her hand came out and touched his chest, his face. Tears fell. She stepped forward and he wrapped his arms around her.

Steve sighed, holding her closed, breathing her in. Some deep empty gash began to stitch closed. They stood there for a long time before Peggy’s curiosity grew. “How?”

“We need to talk.” Steve’s fingers traced over her back. “Can I – Can I just hold you for a minute more?”

She nodded against his chest.

“I’m going to tell you something that’s pretty hard to believe.” Steve buried his face in her hair. “And I’m going to ask you to never tell anyone about it. Ever.”

“Steve,” She gave a tearful chuckle. “You’re back from the dead. You’ve got hard to believe covered.”

He pulled back, cupping her face in one large hand. Steve’s mouth covered hers, soft and sweet. Tentative, Peggy kissed him slowly. He found himself instantly conflicted. Relishing in the simple kiss, one he only dreamed of having, he simultaneously missed the ravenous intensity of the kisses he shared with you.

“How? Steve? What happened?” Peggy pushed back.

“Best we sit down.” Steve led her to the sofa. He took her hands in his.

Steve didn’t know where to start. He’d thought about it, considered all the best options, but there still did not seem like any good options. He turned to face Peggy more directly. His brows drew together.

“What happened after the crash?” Peggy asked.

“I was frozen... for about 70 years.” Steve stared at their joined hands.

“What?” She breathed.

“I’m - I’ve come back from, well, a long time from now.” Steve looked into her wide eyes. “I can’t explain how. I shouldn’t even be here. I just had to...” He bit back his words, fighting to control himself.

Peggy let out a slow breath. “That means... oh Steve. It would be a completely different world. Everyone you know. I’m so sorry.”

“No,” He shook his head. “I, um, found friends...people that became like family. But everything is so...” Steve’s face pinched, tears threatening to fall. He whispered. “I just really missed... I wanted to have that dance.”

Her hand ghosted over his face and he opened his eyes. “What happened? I’ve never seen you look so...”

Tears fell as he finished for her. “Tired. I’m tired, Peggy. I’ve fought, and fought, and I don’t think I can do it anymore. I’ve seen things, battled things, that make the Nazis look like pussycats. There’s no more clear right and wrong. There’s no more good answers.”

“Stevie.” Tears fell down her cheeks matching his. Her fingers stroked through his hair. “I’m so sorry. But if you have this ability, this technology, then can you keep these things from happening?” She watched him shake his head. “Too easy, huh? What about your friends?”

“Lost some of the best. Nat, Tony.” Steve’s face crumpled. “Tony is, was, Howard’s son.”

Peggy’s hand covered her mouth as Steve went on.

“He was brilliant, Peggy. Smarter than Howard ever imagined. He sacrificed everything. Now his little girl...”

“She has you, right?”

Shame flushed fresh over Steve. He’d never even consider Morgan. “Yeah, she has a lot of us. Every one of the Avengers will look out for her.”

“Avengers?”

“Um,” Steve frowned. “We’re a collection of highly skilled, gifted, agents of a sort. We fight the bad guys.”

“And there’s a lot of Avengers.” Peggy asked, still smoothing his hair.

“More that I would have thought possible when we first started.” Steve nodded.

Peggy held his face in her hands. “You are always the one to lay on the wire, to lead the charge. Steve, maybe you need to let your friends fight some battles, too.”

“They do...”

“Steve. Maybe you can let them fight a few without you.” Peggy’s worried expression finally registered in his tired mind. “You don’t always have to be the one leading the charge.”

He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers. “Always so smart. You’re going to do amazing things.”

“Don’t tell me.” Peggy placed a finger over his lips. “I want to be surprised.” He sighed. “We’re not going to meet again, are we?”

“You said you want to be surprised.” Steve whispered. His lips trailed over hers again. She pulled back before the kiss could deepen. “Never stopped lovin’ you, though.” He confessed.

“Me too.” Peggy cried. She sniffed. “I should let you know, though, there’s a very good man who wants to marry me.”

Steve sat up a little straighter, wiping his face before give her a smile. “You love him?”

“Yeah,” She wiped her own tears. “Although, I’m making him wait. There’s things I want to do first.”

He laughed. “That’s my girl.”

She laughed as well, taking his hand again. “Even though you’re out there somewhere, and I’m not going to have you in my life,” Peggy swallowed hard, “I’m so happy you’re still alive and have people who care about you.”

Steve stared at her for a long time. “Do you think I could have that dance before I go?”

____________________

You stepped up between Bucky and Sam when Bruce announced that Steve missed the return time. Sam looked confused, but the look on Bucky’s face made your heart sink. He knew something. You took his hand.

“You came?” He asked.

“Tried to get here in time to see him off but I was held up.” You chewed your lower lips. Pulling him away from the others, you dropped your voice. “He was really distracted, hurting, before he left.”

Bucky nodded.

“So was I.” You squeezed his hand harder. “God, Buck, I have the worse feeling. But I don’t know what I’m thinking right now. With everything that happened, learning about what we missed, losing Vis and Nat and Tony. Feeling like shit and now finding out...ugh, I’m just losing my mind right now.” Big tears filled your eyes.

He took you by the shoulders. He did not want to say anything, not yet. Steve just missed the return time a minute ago. “Finding out what, Doll?”

You reached into your back pocket and handed him your phone, a readout open on the screen. He looked it over carefully, twice. You cried as his eyes lifted back to you.

Wrapping you in his arms, Bucky rubbed your back. “Just breath, okay? When did you...”

“Just now. It’s why I’m late.” You held tight to his chest. “I should have done it earlier. What something happens and Steve...”

“Bucky!” Sam shouted.

You both looked up to see Steve walking toward you all from the lake. You felt Bucky take a deep breath. You let out a small sob. He placed his hand at the small of your back. “Come on.”

Sam was just pulling away from a hug when you come closer. Steve looked at you, seeing the tears in your eyes. “Buck?”

“No. She’s got news.”

“Sweetheart,” Steve pulled you closer, thumbing away a tear at the corner of your eye. You pulled him closer to kiss him. Your lips pulling at his lower lip, before your tongue slid along his, drawing a low moan from him. He pulled you close, burying his face in your hair. He whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” You pulled back some.

“Being an idiot.” He sighed. “A tired, stupid, idiot.”

Steve stood up straighter. “I need to tell you guys something. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I never thought I’d say this but, I’m stepping down.”

“What the – wha?” Sam sputtered.

Steve stepped away from you and gripped Sam’s shoulder. Every bit of anguish showed in his eyes. “I can’t do it, man. Not now. These last years, these battles, just took all I had left. I’ve thought about it.” He held out his shield. “I want you to hold on to this.”

“You’re full of shit.” Sam balked.

“No.” Steve shook his head. “You do what I do, remember? It’s you.”

Sam hefted the shield. Bucky smiled. “Doesn’t look like complete crap.”

“Piss off.” Sam laughed.

“So, what are you going to do, then?” Bucky asked Steve.

“It’s going to take a lot of work to just get things working across the world again. I’d like the Avengers to have a positive impact on the changes without having to resort to something like the accords.” Steve answered thoughtfully. “I think it’s work that would rejuvenate me. I’m tired of breaking things. I’d like to create something instead.”

“Sounds like you’ll be doing a lot of that.” Bucky’s smile spread ear to ear.

“Buck,” You rolled your eyes him as you slipped under Steve’s arm. “Come with me.”

You led Steve back toward the water. He held you close, voice tight. “Sweetheart, I’m really sorry. I’ve been...messed up. I should have been at your side every minute. I know I said it before, but my god, life just fell apart with you gone. Coming back, and everything is different, is such a shock. And it’s only been a few days...”

You stopped, facing him. “Steve, do you really mean you’re stepping down from missions?”

“Yeah, Sweetheart. I’ve got to.”

“Good. Me too.”

Steve’s quizzical look caused you to pull your phone from your back pocket.

“I didn’t make when you left out for your mission, because I was having this rerun. I didn’t think it was possible, but the test is conclusive.” You handed him the report.

Fresh tears filled Steve eyes, these washed away his pain and filled him with joy. He read the words again and again, pregnancy: positive. A bright smile met your own, he breathed out in awe. “I’m going to be a dad.”

You nodded as he swept you up in his arms and spun you around. He kissed you deeply, thoroughly. Finally, smiling against your lips, Steve said. “Love you. Thank you for being there for me, for being here for me. You and this little princess are everything to me.”

“Princess, huh?” You cuddled into him. “Already sure it’s a girl?”

“Just a hunch.” Steve kissed your hair, utterly confident in the turn he’d taken at the crossroad.

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